Typhlosion
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Always a budget option among the Fire Type starters, poor Typhlosion has steadily drifted farther and farther into obscurity with each new Fire Type Legend, Shadow, and Mega Evolution that's hit the scene. As it sits, it's simply not worth investing in poor Typhlosion, as the stardust could be better spent elsewhere.
Offense
- Incinerate is superior to Ember, and is recommended to fulfill a Fire-type role.
- Shadow Claw has fun uses against Ghost and Psychic types, but it’s far from optimal.
- Blast Burn, Typhlosion’s exclusive Community Day move, is the ideal Fire Type move.
- Overheat is the next best option, and outclasses Fire Blast in every way.
- Solar Beam and Thunder Punch’s lack of STAB renders them underwhelming.
Defense
- Incinerate is the best for defense due to its incredible base damage, not to mention STAB.
- Shadow Claw is favored over Ember; both have identical defensive DPS, but the former has neutral coverage.
- Thunder Punch comes out frequently, has counter-coverage against Water Types, and is off-type with Incinerate, making it the ideal defensive Charged Move for Typhlosion.
- Blast Burn is the silver medal for defense due to it being a 2-bar move.
- Solar Beam is very slow on defense, but has coverage against Water, Rock, and Ground.
- Overheat is superior to Fire Blast in all aspects, but neither offer additional coverage options.
Incinerate is a very slow 5 turn fast move, but its greater energy gains compared to Ember are needed for Typhlosion's costly charge moves. Shadow Claw lacks STAB, but it can offer neutral damage when Fire-type attacks would typically be resisted, in addition to having a significantly faster animation than Incinerate.
Blast Burn is one of the main features of Typhlosion, being one of the most powerful charge moves for PvP, but 50 energy cost isn't that cheap. If you don't have access to Blast Burn from Community Day, it's probably best to choose another Pokemon. Thunder Punch is Typhlosion's cheapest Charged Attack and provides it with coverage against Water-type Pokemon. Solar Beam is the only other consideration for Typhlosion since Blast Burn outperforms Fire Blast and Overheat. With an insanely high 80 energy requirement, you might not even use Solar Beam at all.
Typhlosion packs incredible potential thanks to the sheer power of its Incinerate and Blast Burn, further augmented by Thunder Punch's coverage and bait potential. It is rather fragile, however, so players must excel at shield and energy management to truly bring out its glorious sweeping abilities on full display. Players who seek for safer options may opt to run Skeledirge or Talonflame instead, but there's no denying that Typhlosion can be extremely rewarding in the right hands.
Shadow Typhlosion is often preferred to maximize its potential and further set itself apart from the aforementioned Fire-type Pokemon.
