Well, now that I’ve covered Delta Noivern, it’s time to take a look at the skeletal remains of an ever-favorite Pokemon. Good old Delta Charizard! This reanimated dragon bears the Ghost/Dragon typing, and the only other Pokemon to bear that typing is Giratina. As per usual, the stat distribution and total doesn’t change from normal to Delta, but unlike a fair few other Deltas this actually works in Delta Charizard’s favor, since a good number of its moves are Special Attack to begin with.
As far as resistances go, it has a bit of an odd duck pool to draw from. Resists Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Poison and Bug, is outright immune to Normal and Fighting, and is weak to Ghost, Dark, Ice, Dragon, and Fairy. Not a bad selection to draw from, honestly. No quad weaknesses here either, which is also nice.
Ability-wise, it gets Spirit Call normally, which boosts Ghost type moves when its health gets to about 1/3rd. It’s an alright ability, but nothing spectacular and nothing Delta Charizard wants to rely on since its defenses are a little on the frail side. Dark Aura, on the other hand, is a lot more useful at the expense of being a LOT more risky. Dark Aura boost the power of Dark type moves by 33%, which is helpful for the ghost dragon… and anything trying to fight it, seeing as it’s also weak to Dark type moves.
Kinda gives the impression that Delta Charizard was made with gambling in mind.
That aside, for normal Delta Charizard one should stick to using its special attack pool. Its base physical attack is still just 84, which is something one would typically overlook in favor of its 109 base special attack.
Move-wise, for offense it can happily grab not just STAB Shadow Ball and Dragon Pulse, but can also grab the likes of Dark Pulse, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Sludge Bomb in case any pesky Fairies get any bright ideas about coming out to fight it. Frost Breath and Lunar Cannon are more situational, but are also quite handy under the right circumstances as the former ignores positive stat changes on the enemy and negative stat changes on itself (as crits ignore that kind of thing,) while Lunar Cannon (a Dark type Solarbeam clone) is a straight upgrade over Dark Pulse under the right circumstances.
Coincidentally, its Mega Evolution just so happens to give it the means to abuse Lunar Cannon to heck and back.
Non-damaging moves include nasty little numbers like Will-o-Wisp, Toxic, and Taunt for disruption, and Dragon Dance can be useful for the speed boost if nothing else or you feel like trying to run a physical Mega Delta Charizard. Swagger’s riskier, but there’s your confusion chance right there. Substitute is also there as an option, but Delta Charizard simply isn’t the best user of it, especially since it can’t heal on its own.
I won’t cover the physical side of things because ironically enough, unlike regular Charizard, who previously held identity issues by being a special attacker with a physical attacker’s movepool, Delta Charizard’s physical movepool is notably more shallow.
Item-wise, Life Orb is a decent choice for more power and Choice Scarf is good for cranking up its middling base 100 Speed stat. Beyond that, I forget the name but the hold berry that reduces incoming Dark damage once is also not a bad choice if you anticipate the opponent using a Dark move.
I’ll leave movesets and stat spreads up to the people who respond to this thread, since I’m a bit dry on ideas at the moment myself.
Though the one you probably want to use the most is Delta Charizardite.
Taking after Mega Charizard Y rather than Mega Charizard X, Mega Delta Charizard sports a more fearsome appearance and a much more useful ability in the form of Noctem, which generates the New Moon weather condition upon entering the battlefield. At the moment, it raises the power of Ghost and Dark type moves by 50%, while also cutting the power of all Fairy type moves in half, effectively negating that weakness so long as New Moon is active.
While this can lead to many a ‘hoist by their own petard’ moment due to the ability raising the power of the very things one would want to use to slay this noble beast, fact of the matter is this ability benefits Mega Delta Charizard immensely as it both strengthens its own attacks while also making it so Lunar Cannon doesn’t need a turn to charge. Kinda like how Mega Charizard Y can abuse Drought to make Solarbeam into a staple of its movesets.
Nature-wise, I’d whole-heartedly recommend Timid alone due to the fact that while base 100 Speed isn’t bad, this Mega has to compete with a lot of other Pokemon and appreciates every little boost it can get. Its defenses are still just 78/78/115 so it won’t want to take hits if it doesn’t have to, especially if they’re coming from the physical side of things.
As for movesets, it mostly depends on what you’re worried about and want to hit harder. Shadow Ball offers STAB damage and hits all the same things Lunar Cannon does while also benefiting from the New Moon weather condition, but I’ve heard that New Moon may be nerfed to no longer provide benefits to Ghost type moves in the future. If that happens, stick with Lunar Cannon since it’ll be stronger. If it doesn’t, stick with Shadow Ball since it very slightly edges it out while also offering the possibility of a Sp. Def drop on the opponent
Dragon Pulse goes without question. Ghost/Dragon has fantastic neutral coverage and since Steel no longer resists Ghost, there’s nothing left outside of very specific type combinations that can deal with both.
Flamethrower/Ice Beam are a bit more situational and depend on what you’re more worried about. The former is a good answer for Steel types if you want to deal greater damage, while it can prove to be a death sentence for Ice types who might otherwise bother you. Grass and Bug types hate it too, for obvious reasons. Conversely, Ice Beam has a bit of a niche in dealing with Dragons quad-weak to Ice as well as coverage against Ground, Flying, and Grass.
Sludge Bomb is your answer to most Fairies, and with New Moon cutting the power of Fairy type moves down to a more manageable level, Mega Delta Charizard will hold the advantage more often than not unless they’re packing another super-effective type.
That being said, not everything’s perfect with this thing. Pretty much anything with Sucker Punch will absolutely ruin this dragon’s day, and Bisharp is a particularly notable user as it resists both of Delta Charizard’s STAB types and can turn its own ability against it to take it out in one turn. It has to watch for Burns, however, which could negate its otherwise lofty advantage. Flamethrower also hurts it badly, and hits the bishop on its weaker defensive side to boot.
Gengar is another solid option, with its Mega being a nearly certain way to end the poor dragon. It’s faster, has a high special attack stat, and naturally learns the very sort of moves Delta Charizard hates to take. Even worse if it’s Mega Delta Charizard, whose New Moon ability will also boost Gengar/Mega Gengar’s OWN Shadow Ball.
Weather control also cuts into Mega Delta Charizard’s effectiveness, as while its base 154 Sp. Atk is quite solid, it doesn’t appreciate the reduction in its Dark and Ghost moves unless they’d be useless anyway.
Tyranitar is a notable weather control user that happens to resist the vast majority of Delta Charizard’s moveset, and with Sandstorm active it laughs off Ice Beam and Dragon Pulse. It can also carry Pursuit in case the dragon wants to switch out, and with that little HP and Def, it’s certain to cripple if not KO outright.
Dark and Ghost types in general tend to rain on this guy’s parade due to the way its ability works, but of course we can’t forget about its other weaknesses. The Lati twins outspeed Delta Charizard no matter the form and can land super-effective Dragon Pulses, though they may not get the KO and risk being KOed in turn. Other Dragons have to watch for Ice Beam and Dragon Pulse, with Garchomp being quite notable due to its ability to typically outspeed Delta Charizard and knock it out with physical Dragon type moves.
If it’s Mega Garchomp outside of the transformation turn, however, it has little hope of surviving.
Mamoswine’s Ice Shard can pose at least some threat, but risks getting KOed by Flamethrower if it doesn’t one-shot Delta Charizard. Similarly, most Ice types don’t like dealing with this dragon for the exact same reason they hate dealing with most any Dragon: Fire type moves.
If it’s Mega Delta Charizard, Fairies aren’t even a solid answer due to it being able to pick up Sludge Bomb and having access to a weather condition that gimps their damage against it. Mega Mawile can pose a threat with Sucker Punch, but has to watch for Burns and can’t punish Delta Charizard if it switches out.
Partner-wise, in a fit of irony Bisharp may be one of the best. It more or less resists everything Delta Charizard hates to take while often dealing super-effective damage in turn, or at least decent neutral damage. Tyranitar can be another for the exact same reasons it’s good against the delta dragon. The cherry on THAT cake is that Delta Charizard is immune to Fighting, which both hate taking!
So yeah, Delta Charizard and Mega Delta Charizard have clear-cut advantages and problems alike, but are solid enough options should you be looking to go down that route. New Moon opens up some possibilities team-wise as well, as it can also benefit Dragon, Dark, and Fighting team members who would otherwise fear the fey.