User blog:BarrelRoller/Bad Charizard (Before GEN VI)

I really cannot stress this enough. You have no idea how frustrating it is to see this thing when laddering. No, Solar Power does not justify a Pokemon who can only switch into Stealth Rock once. Especially not in a metagame where goddamn Kyogre is the most commonly used Pokemon. Ho-Oh at least has utterly insane bulk, Roost, and Sacred Fire to make up for its crippling double Stealth Rock weakness. Reshiram can at least smack Kyogre with a Draco Meteor for some good damage if its rampage in the sun is about to be cut short. What's Charizard going to do? Tickle it with Hidden Power Grass? Yes, I realize Charizard is your favorite starter and Solar Power is a cool ability, but it's really just utterly impractical, especially in the face of such superior Fire-types. Hell, Charizard is used more than some legit Ubers.

Wait 90.7% of Charizard were running Blaze in June?

Yeah ok we're done here.

The same goes for most of your precious starter Pokemon. There are a few that are actually usable (Blaziken, Venusaur, end list), but most of them have no justifiable use, and Frenzy Plant's coverage really isn't all that great in Ubers. Especially when Torterra is using it. There are also other Pokemon who are inexplicably used with regularity on the ladder, such as Electivire and Dusknoir. Yeah, the rejects of DPP OU are sure to have some metagame niche that Zekrom or Giratina don't have. Oh and using Ninetales and Politoed as respective weather back-up for Groudon and Kyogre is a great idea! Or you could just run Flash Fire and Water Absorb respectively, since it won't hinder their effectiveness by much.

By the way, don't listen to trickroom. Gyarados blows.

Awfulness can also be subtle. While it's easy to note that the guy using Pidgeot is not going to be posing any threat, sometimes you'll find someone awful whose team at first glance appears to be competently built. Until he starts attacking.