This is a rant/ editorial about the 2 Charizards released in the US.
In my opinion, Base Charizard is better than Dark Charizard. In this
editorial/rant, I will provide insight onto why I think this way.(Card
data is from PoJo's Spoilers page {I didn't feel like typing extra
stuff})
Name:Dark Charizard
Type:Stage 2 -- from Dark Charmeleon
Rarity:Rare - Holo (and Non-Holo)
Color:Fire
HP:80 HP
Weakness:W
Resistance:F -30
Retreat:3
Attack:[1]  Nail Flick  (10)
Attack:[FF]  Continuous Fireball  (50x)
Flip a number of coins equal to the number of F Energy cards attached to
Dark Charizard.  This attack does 50 damage times the number of heads.
Discard a number of F Energy cards attached to Dark Charizard equal to
the number of heads.
My Comments: When I first heard of this card a few months ago while
reading translations in a magazine, I thought "Cool! Possible 300 damage
in 1 turn!' but then I saw it's many flaws. Continuous Fireball could do
2,850 damage in one turn (provided you include all energies exept 1
Charmander, 1 Dark Charmelion, and 1 Dark Charizard{which is highly
unlikely}in your deck),but it can also do 0 damage, even if you have 10
energies attached. The average coin flips heads about 49 times out of
100, so it is very possible to flip all tails for several turns in a
row. Also, it can only use Fire energy for the main attack, which can
render this guy almost useless if all you can draw is Fighting energy.
Shure it has Nail Flick, but do you really think that move can save you
against Wartortle, Electrabuzz, or other strong and popular Pokemon?
It's HP is conciderably lower than Base Charizard's, and any water
Pokemon with a 40 damage attack can creamatye it in one hit. Also, it's
retreat cost is too high for Mr. Risky here (most Pokemon with risky
attacks have 2 or less for retreat). I just cant see why people think
this card is so much better. Shure it has resistance to the popular
Fighting type but so dose Base Charizard.

Name:Charizard
Type:Stage 2 -- from Charmeleon
Rarity:Rare - Holo
Color:Fire
HP:120 HP
Weakness:W
Resistance:F -30
Retreat:3
Power:Energy Burn: As often as you like during your turn (before your
attack), you may turn all Energy attached to Charizard into R for the
rest of the turn.  This power can't be used if Charizard is Asleep,
Confused, or Paralyzed..
Attack:[RRRR] Fire Spin (100) Discard 2 Energy cards to use.
My Comments: Almost nothing can beat a properly loaded Charizard with
Potions and a few defenders (by properly loaded I mean drowning in
energies {10+ is good. Once I had them streching down to my opponent's
bench [he did too] I won though.}That way Charizard can go on for
several turns.). If your opponent has a Blastoise ready to do 60 damage,
just pop down a Defender or two, take damage, heal up, and burn the
Blastoise to the discard pile. Charizard has the highest HP in the game,
along with Chansey(they make a great pair too, use Chansey to stall
while you load Charizard). All you can draw is Electric energy? No
problem! Charizard turns it into Fire energy. It's attack can KO most
Pokemon in one hit (I say most because of HP, Defenders, and attacks
that reduce damage). Shure you have to discard energy, but if properly
loaded it isn't a problem, and if your going to use powerfull fire
Pokemon you have to discard energy anyways. If you play your energies
just right, Charizard can last the whole game, regardless of energy
removals, Super Potions, and being attacked. You should also build up
another Pokemon just in case Charizard gets KOed though(Raichus,
Hitmonchans, Scythers, and other Pokemon are great for back-up.).  The 3
retreat cost dosen't seem as harsh on Charizard either. To top it all
off, Charizard has a resistance to Fighting, one of the most popular
types! However, Charizard often gets mis-used. Some players only slap 4
energy down and use it early on, rendering it useless for the rest of
the game. This is probably the reason why a lot of players don't like
Charizard, simply because novices don't handle the dragon right.

A lot of people think Dark Charizard could take out Base Charizard any
day of the week and twice on Saturday. This can be true, if you're lucky
with the coin. The hard truth is, Dark Charizard is done for if  Base
Charizard has at least 4 energy. Dark Charizard can even be beaten by
Charmander if the coin flipper is un-lucky. Therefor I belive Base
Charizard is much better than it's Dark counterpart. I rest my case.
KasiTL- kasitl@hotmail.com