As we hop into Scorbunny Community Day in Pokémon GO, trainers will finally have every available Fire-type starter in their arsenal, that is until Pokémon Winds and Waves brings the super adorable Pombon.
These Blast Burn users are undoubtedly some of the hottest additions to your collection, but which of these fiery stalwarts are worth running in combat, particularly in Raids and the GO Battle League?
To find out, let’s go through each Fire starter in the game, emphasizing how they perform in Raids and PvP battles, with mention of their Mega Evolutions (wherever applicable).
Charizard
Charizard is one of the flagship Pokémon in the franchise, and despite the overexposure, it is certainly deserving of its fame.
In Raids, Mega Charizard Y is one of the best Fire types, and while it trails behind Mind Blown Blacephalon, Mega Blaziken, and the eventual Mega Delphox in DPS, it is a powerful contender with its own perks. Due to its subtyping, Mega Charizard Y is particularly amazing against Bug and Grass Raid Bosses. Not to mention, it also tanks a surprise Earthquake from the Boss (take Mega Meganium for instance).
Charizard is one of the few Pokémon blessed with a second Mega Evolution. Mega Charizard X is quite popular, but it is surpassed by many as a Fire type and many more as a Dragon type. Shadow Charizard does more damage than Mega Charizard X.
Coming to Max Battles, Gigantamax Charizard is quite dominant, but is second to Gigantamax Cinderace in raw power (around 6.7% lower). Both lack a 0.5s Fire Fast Move to salvage, but at the end of the day, GMax Cinderace is the way to go in Max Battles. However, the subtyping establishes GMax Charizard as a tank against Bug and Grass Bosses.
Finally, with Legacy Moves Ember and Blast Burn, along with the recently added Air Cutter, Charizard is solid in the Great League and a respectable threat in the Ultra League, beating a wide range of targets. Dragon Breath helps it face Dragon types without fear of super-effective damage in return. Shadow Charizard is a deadlier version of regular Charizard in PvP, cementing itself as quite a fearsome threat.
Overall, while its uses are a little specific, it is a very strong part of Pokémon GO that’s worth the resources you put into it. Mainly, try maxing it out for Mega Charizard Y applications or Shadow Charizard for the Great and Ultra League.
Typhlosion
Typhlosion doesn’t have any such PvE usage, with its ATK lower than many of its Blast Burn peers. However, Shadow Typhlosion is quite a menace in the Great League, with the hard-hitting and scary Incinerate, and the snappy Thunder Punch to bait shields. Of course, there’s Blast Burn to nuke targets.
Overall, it is quite a complete Pokémon in PvP, beating even core Water-type threats like Feraligatr and Empoleon (both regular and Shadow) in the Great League, and bulky opponents like Cresselia in general.
Blaziken
When you think of Blaziken, you think of Mega Blaziken, who has arguably been the most powerful Fire starter in the main series games, and to be fair, it is the best in Pokémon GO as well.
It already boasts the highest DPS of all Fire-type starters in the game, and is also just behind Mind Blown Blacephalon in overall Fire DPS. Being bulkier and also boosting the damage of all Fire attacks in the Raid, Mega Blaziken is easily the top Fire Pokémon in the meta. Shadow Blaziken is not far behind, having damage figures between Mega Heatran and Shadow Darmanitan.
With the recent addition of Aura Sphere to its kit, Mega Blaziken is also a top-notch Fighting-type monster, just behind Mega Lucario Z and Mega Lucario. In fact, Shadow Blaziken trails Mega Blaziken slightly in the Fighting department.
For PvP, Shadow Blaziken is deadly in the Great League, beating much of the meta, including both Swampert and Shadow Swampert, Wigglytuff, and Galarian Corsola.
There are seven other starters left to check out, but you can rest assured that Blaziken is the best Fire starter in Pokémon GO.
Infernape
The appearance of Infernape as a part of Ash’s winning team in the anime against archrival Paul made Infernape almost as popular as Charizard. Sadly, Infernape is one of the worst Fire starters in Pokémon GO.
In Raids, you have better non-Mega alternatives all across the board. And with Emboar and Delphox gaining Mega Evolutions in Legends: Z-A, Infernape doesn’t even have a gimmick to lean back on. Even its Shadow is disappointing.
In PvP, Infernape lacks the flexibility and power of Blaziken, making it super underwhelming in every regard. Infernape, dear reader, ends up just being a super amazing addition to your Pokédex, not a combatant you’d hope it was.
Emboar
I just slandered Infernape and voiced for Emboar getting a Mega Evolution. Do understand that while this makes Emboar more interesting than Infernape, Mega Emboar is overall quite underwhelming.
To give you a perspective, Mega Emboar is a bit better than Mega Charizard X in Fire-type damage figures. In the Fighting-type category, its damage output is around the level of Mega Gallade (a better showing than its Fire performance).
Shadow Emboar is stronger, hitting around the level of Shadow Chandelure in Fire and Sacred Sword Keldeo in Fighting. This is definitely meta relevant!
Coming to PvP, Shadow Emboar is a force to be reckoned with in the Great League, but its best display comes from a pure Fire moveset, which limits its coverage. Shadow Blaziken remains the supreme Fire/Fighting Pokémon.
Delphox
Delphox and its Shadow version are decent parts of the Great and Ultra League meta, and there are better options in both its typings in these formats (Fire and Psychic).
What makes Delphox really, really, really interesting and insane is Mega Delphox. Ladies and gentlemen, Mega Delphox is all set to be THE strongest Fire-type Mega Evolution in Pokémon GO.
Yes, Mind Blown Blacephalon and Mega Blaziken do marginally higher damage, but Mega Delphox is appreciably bulkier than both. In an overall Raid battle scenario, Mega Delhox gives the best performance in the Fire department. Period.
Mega Delphox is also impressive as a Psychic type, flexing high DPS, at around the level of Mega Latios.
If only Delphox itself held PvP relevance, it would have probably tied with Blaziken as the go-to Fire type in Pokémon GO. You can call it a close second.
Incineroar
While not as bad as Infernape, Incineroar is yet another disappointing starter. It is wildly outclassed by many in both the Fire and Dark typings. It will certainly improve with its eventual Shadow inclusion, but not by much, unfortunately.
Right now, Incineroar’s only saving grace is its good performance in the Ultra League. It beats Giratina Altered and is a neat Dark-type attacker. In fact, the regular variant is better than the Shadow, so Incineroar in the Ultra League meta is the best you can derive out of this Pokémon.
Cinderace
Cinderace, the star of the March 2026 Community Day, gets good ol’ Blast Burn and its signature Pyro Ball to boot. While Blast Burn remains a better Charged Move courtesy of being 2-bar, the powerful Pyro Ball is great with Party Play. This makes Cinderace a solid Fire-type attacker, especially for lower-tier Raids. Its Shadow variant will be even stronger.
When not accounting for Megas, Cinderace, and by extension, Shadow Cinderace, will be the overall best Blast Burn user among its starter peers. While this is not exactly a impressive yardstick in an overall sense, it’s still something neat to know about this Pokémon.
In PvP, Pyro Ball does 75 DMG for only 40 energy, making it Cinderace’s go-to Charged Move and also its cheapest. The thing is, it needs a better Fast Move (Ember, for instance) and a good coverage move (Shadow Ball!) to really make an impact in PvP.
GMax Cinderace will remain the strongest Fire type for Max Battles, a position that will more or less remain unchallenged. However, it is fragile, so support from tanks is essential for optimal performance.
Cinderace is a worthwhile Pokémon with great potential for improvement. So hold on to your warm bunnies for a potential future moveset update!
Hisuian Typhlosion
Hisuian Typhlosion doesn’t learn Blast Burn, so it’s technically unfair to compare it with the others. As such, this one is the worst Fire starter in Pokémon GO. It’s even worse as a Ghost type.
Skeledirge
Firstly, Skeledirge has the lowest ATK of all Fire starters in Pokémon GO. Automatically, there’s not much to expect from this fiery croc in Raids. Its Fire damage output is lower than Magmortar’s, and even in the Ghost comparison, its DPS is lower than Trevenant. Yikes!
But…
Skeledirge is the best Fire starter in PvP, and yes, that also includes the Open Master League!
Incinerate, Torch Song, and Shadow Ball make for a formidable trio, helping Skeldirge croon through all PvP Leagues. It is decent in the Great League, but a phenom in the Ultra League, slaying a wide array of targets, including most Steel, Fairy, Bug, Ice, Cresselia, Bellibolt, Kyurem, and Empoleon.
Indeed, Ultra League is Skeledirge’s favorite playing field, but it is also viable in the big, bad Open Master League, blasting through both Crowned doggos, the Heroes, Dusk Mane Necrozma, Metagross, and more.
Skeledirge has got style!
All things said and done, Charizard, Blaziken, and Skeledirge are the leading Fire starters in Pokémon GO. Special mention for the eventual Mega Delphox, though! It is excellent for Raids.
We’ll be back with an analysis of the Water starters as Inteleon Community Day arrives in Pokémon GO.
Until then, have fun!
