Charizard Changelist V3

Charizard as a whole is in a relatively solid position, however a couple of key elements of the character overall hold him back from bringing out his full potential namely his physics and aerial landing lag values.  This means the character is highly susceptible to being camped and comboed and can't reliably apply pressure.  These changes are designed to address these issues while fixing a couple of other minor issues while still adhering to Charizard's design as a "fast, mobile super heavyweight" of the game.

Dash Initial Velocity - 1 -> 1.5
   Charizard (and Bowser) have uncharacteristically slow initial dash velocities for how fast their run speeds are.  The initial dash velocity is only present with these two characters (even DDD and Ganondorf have higher initial dash velocities).  This change improves his foxtrot and makes his dash more consistent with the rest of the cast.

Jump Squat - 7 frames -> 6 frames
Jump V Initial Velocity - 32 -> 35
Hop V Initial Velocity - 15.43 -> 16.5
Air Speed - 0.87 -> 1.00
Air Acceleration - 0.05 -> 0.065
   Currently Charizard's air physics are somewhat lacklustre and coupled with his large size it can be difficult for the character to weave around certain zoning options in the way that he would like to, resulting in his offensive capabilities being rather underwhelming when pitted against certain projectiles/projectile based characters where he's forced to approach.  These improve Charizard's overall jump height and air speed so that he's more of a threat in the air.  If anything it's more fitting for the character.


FTilt - Sourspot damage increased from 7% -> 9%
   Considering the startup and endlag of the move it's sourspot damage feels a little too unrewarding.  This damage buff puts the sourspot damage more in line with Brawl's sourspot damage, allowing the move to still be best when well spaced while being a little more rewarding for simply hitting.

UTilt - Startup reduced from frame 9 to frame 8.  Additional lingering hitbox from frames 14-21 that deals 6% (all other hitbox values remain identical to the initial hitbox.
   UTilt as an anti-air is largely out classed by USmash in terms of hitbox coverage, speed and damage.  The addition of a lingering hitbox gives it a unique niche as an anti-air, allowing it to more effectively frame trap airdodges and challenge aerial assaults.

DTilt - Startup reduced from frame 10 to frame 7.  FAF reduced from 31 to 27.
   This change helps create a stronger differential between FTilt and DTilt.  While FTilt is a potent kill move when spaced alongside being a little disjointed and safer on whiff, DTilt's reduced startup allows it to be a faster, more consistent poking tool that's safer on block, giving a stronger dynamic to Zard's ground game as a whole.


USmash - Hit 1 from frames 7-11 angle adjusted from 100 to 100/160/200.  Hitbox at frame 6 adjusted to hit both ground and air opponents.  Additional hitbox added frames 6-11 on Charizard's body with the similar attributes to the other hit 1 hitboxes (angle 110, WBKB 110, KBG 100).  Hit 2 hitboxes enlarged by 0.5 units.
   As it stands Charizard's USmash hits do not connect reliably, particularly opponents relatively high above Charizard.  These changes re-engineer the move to drag the opponent at different angles on the first hit depending on where they're hit on Charizard's wing, as well as not blind spot vs smaller opponents.  Alongside larger hitboxes on the second hit this should lead to improved consistency for the move as a whole.


NAir - Startup reduced from frame 9 to frame 5.  Landing lag reduced from 22 frames to 16 frames.  Damage increased from 10/7/7/7 to 11/9/11/9.
   Currently, despite the graphics indicating otherwise, Charizard's NAir phases through the opponent near the start of the move if he's facing away from them.  This serves more as a fix to allow the move to intuitively hit behind Charizard at the start of the attack as opposed to the flame and tail phasing through them, giving Charizard a good OoS option vs crossups.  Landing lag reduction to make landing with this move safer as well as helping make it more ambiguous in neutral since delaying or fastfalling it will be a tad safer.  Damage buff is to increase Zard's overall damage output and make the move a little more rewarding on hit.  Due to being quite central to his neutral and pressure game the move is prone to staling.

FAir - Landing lag reduced from 32 frames to 20 frames.
   Landing lag reduced to a more reasonable number as the landing lag of the move, despite the fact that it can autocancel on short hop, was disproportionate to its power, speed and range. It's still fairly long, fitting of a heavy character, but less so than before, and allowing fastfall FAir to be a more potent pressure option.

BAir - Landing lag reduced from 33 frames to 26 frames.  Hitboxes adjusted from 15/13/10/10 to 15/13/13/13
   Again, despite the power and range of this move its landing lag is disproportionately long to the point where spaced, frame perfect BAir is still incredibly unsafe on block.  This makes the move more rewarding to space and ground level, while still keeping it as punishing and risky if used carelessly.  The damage increase to its weakest sourspots is to make this high commitment move have a more consistent reward on hit regardless of spacing.

UAir - Late autocancel window changed from >41 frames to >34 frames.  Landing lag reduced from 22 frames to 18 frames.
   Landing lag reduction and autocancel window allow this move to be more threatening at ground level, allowing him to better pressure opponents above him on platforms and coming down for landings since the move would autocancel on short hop, as well as being able to apply pressure on cross-up.

DAir - Landing lag reduced from 35 frames to 28 frames.
   The landing lag reduction here coupled with Charizard's improved physics would allow him to convert more off of DAir ground bounces, being able to effectively true combo into moves such as UAir and possibly Fly to secure high risk/high reward kills.


Flare Blitz - Recoil damage reduced from 5+5% to 3+3%.  No longer puts you in tumble on successful hit but rather an air state action that is interruptible after 20 frames.  Initial hitbox made unclankable.
   This move is another case of rather skewed risk/reward ratio.  It's a very heavy commitment for a move that essentially nets you 9% over the foe.  However if they shield it you're incredibly susceptible to heavy punishes, particularly from jab locks.  Reducing the recoil damage would make the net reward more worthwhile (and adhere better to the Pokemon canon where Flare Blitz causes 1/3 recoil) and not being forced into tumble after landing a successful hit would allow you to quickly reassert stage control or continue pressuring the foe as opposed to lying vulnerable in a state where you are unable to do anything.  The initial hit being unclankable means that Zard's Flare Blitz won't trade with certain projectiles anymore, instead either powering through them with the 13% heavy armour or just losing to them entirely.

Fly - All hitbox sizes barring final one increased by 0.5 units.  Angle of multihits changed from 72/90/90 to 366/90/90.  Final hitbox increased by 1 unit.  Hitlag on final hit increased from x1.0 to x2.0
   Similar to USmash this move can be notoriously unreliable in terms of how its hits link together which is especially awful considering this move leaves Zard incredibly vulnerable at the end.  Increased hitbox sizes and adjusted angle designed to make the move's hits connect more reliably.  Added hitlag on the final hit designed to make the move feel a little more satisfying as a finisher visually (fitting more with Up Bs such as Rising Uppercut and Boost Kick).