Okay, to respond to the assorted people who wrote stating that Charizard is
not a crappy card, I agree.  There are a ton of cards that are a lot worse. 
However, there a ton of cards that are a lot better.  First of all, the
discard level is better only than Base Zapdos, Blaine's Arcanine, and Promo
Bakufun.  Yes, his Poke Power allows you to use any color energy, but it
really doesn't put him up there in the big bad pokemon level.  The ability to
knock out any pokemon in one shot is great, but it still isn't worth the
discard.  The same feat can be accomplished with a Ninetails or Arcanine with
a few Pluspowers as well, and there is no bulky stage 2 evolution.  Second,
the idea of using Charizard with Venusaur has been around for a while, but is
really unstable, as it relies on using a lot of Stage 2's (two different
lines is too much) and doesn't leave room for good basics.  So, yes, 100
damage seems nice, but it really isn't all that.  Secondly, DCE is rather
useless, as it requires the discard of TWO DCE, which is simply way too much.
 It is only useful as a surprise factor. 
    So, how do you use "Big Red"?  Well, most players would say, go sell him
and buy some boosters or trade for some better cards.  But if you really want
Charizard in your deck, you can do 1 of 4 things. 
    1.  Wait for Gym 2.  Blaine's Charizard is rather deadly, and has a
second attack to use while you're powering up for the Big Bang.  Downside: 
It will probably take 4 or 5 months for Wizards to even start considering Gym
2.
    2.  Use Dark Charizard.  Nail Flick is good vs. Mime, and Continuous
Fireball is reasonable to charge up.  However, you better get lucky with the
coinflips, since you'll either be energyless or damageless if you screw up.
    3.  Wait for Gym and use remembrance.  Charmeleon is a SOLID attacker
with some killer attacks.  Use slash while piling up the energy, then Fire
Spin your opponent into oblivion.  Downside:  see 1.
    4.  Use Base Charizard and Devolution Spray.  Basically, loa up
Charizard, Fire Spin like there's no tomorrow, then Devolve to Charmeleon and
Slash for the last few prizes.  Or, you could use Charizard's energy burn,
devolve into Charmeleon, the Flamethrower, making Charmeleon totally
colorless.  Either strategy is reasonably sound, other than the fact that it
relies on a ton of energy and perfect timing with trainers.  Downside:  You
better be packing several hundred dollars worth of Charizards.

    Well, to finish, Charizard isn't particularly bad, but does not lend
itself to competitive decks for several reasons:  Huge energy costs, huge
discard costs, Stage 2 evolution,  and the fact that there are many better
pokemon it its elemental type, fire.  Although all but the most finely tuned
charizard deck will find itself non-competitive in a tournament atmosphere,
but if you want to play one just for fun, then go ahead.  if you can make a
workable deck with him, all the more power to you.
                   
                                                -FossilMagikarp
    send constructive criticism or other positive commonts to: 
edestus360@aol.com