Smashboards

Well, I ought to let you in on something: I'm not that big of a Charizard mainer in Brawl, but I play as him in Project M A LOT, where he's gained a lot of buffs to help him stand out as an independent character. In that game, he plays like a hard-hitting grappler whose jabs are one of his assets in breaking the opponents. .

Grabs are also one of his pluses, as they can both rack up percentage (down-grab), or they can send opponents flying (his up-grab). Whenever I play against someone, I make sure that I'm on the defensive, and that I look for openings to grab after I've given out some damage.

But since this incarnation's Zard is more or less based on Brawl's, I can predict that he'll be an overall much better character to play as for both newbies and experienced Charizard players. His new side-B, Flare Blitz, seems to be the kind of move that I would use in a last-minute measure against an opponent on the ground with a high percent score.

Rock Smash is the kind of move that racks up damage almost instantaneously, which helps when you want to finish off opponents with an up-grab or side smash. The Final Smash, Mega Charizard X, seems to be just a super-powered version of him.

His gliding mechanic seems to be gone, which to me isn't too much of a waste. He has some pretty decent air attacks, as his neutral air is great for breaking off opponents' moves, and his new forward air, which was possibly based on Project M's, will probably be like Bowser's.

The only negatives that I can think of so far (throughout the series), is that his ranged attacks are pretty limited, and that his recovery is somewhat weak and susceptible to meteor smashes.

But oh wow, I wasn't expecting to write that much for you. I'm still happy you asked, though!

All in all, if you're familiar with Project M, then you'll know that Charizard will be much better off as a standalone fighter.

Both games will have taken their own route in buffing him, but SSB4 will be more like the Brawl incarnation. I think the reason why we haven't seen much of him in the following weeks after the Direct is because there haven't been very many significant changes to his moveset.

He'll be improved upon, I'm sure, but I don't think Sakurai is going to devote the PotDs to describing how much stronger Charizard is in this game.