• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 03:09
CEST 09:09
KST 16:09
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Code S Season 1 - RO8 Preview3[ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Progenitors8Code S Season 1 - RO12 Group A: Rogue, Percival, Solar, Zoun13[ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt1: Inheritors16[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10
Community News
Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !7Weekly Cups (April 27-May 4): Clem takes triple0RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event12Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO12 Results12026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers25
StarCraft 2
General
Code S Season 1 - RO8 Preview Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book Weekly Cups (April 27-May 4): Clem takes triple Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO12 Results
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
Mutation # 524 Death and Taxes The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 523 Firewall Mutation # 522 Flip My Base
Brood War
General
Do we have a pimpest plays list? BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ (Spoiler) Asl ro8 D winner interview BW General Discussion AI Question
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro8 Day 4 Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL22] RO16 Group Stage - 02 - 10 May [ASL21] Ro8 Day 3
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread OutLive 25 (RTS Game) Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread US Politics Mega-thread The Letting Off Steam Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread 3D technology/software discussion
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
streaming software Strange computer issues (software) [G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
How EEG Data Can Predict Gam…
TrAiDoS
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1520 users

Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander - The Best?

Blogs > EsX_Raptor
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
EsX_Raptor
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States2802 Posts
April 07 2011 18:28 GMT
#1
Which one is the better starter?

This question has been asked several times ever since Pokémon came into the market. And why wouldn't it, when it's the biggest decision you have to make before embarking into the Pokémon world.

Most people will advise you to pick Bulbasaur due to its quick growing potential; it has a type advantage over the first two gyms and resists the next two well. However, the grass type is one of the weakest types there are and has almost no high-power moves besides Solar Beam, which isn't very useful either due to it having to take up to two turns to use (we're talking gen. 1 here). This boils the type down to one whose use would only make sense for annoyance purposes (Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, etc.). This coupled with Bulbasaur's secondary Poison type, allows it to learn Poison Powder and Sludge, further enhancing its pool of annoyance potential.

[image loading]

Nonetheless, the vast majority of people will choose Squirtle simply because it seems as though the water type is the most overrated in the game. It is also one of the most common, thus tending to get boring as hell and rather fast. But perhaps the biggest reason why people love Squirtle so much is because it can evolve into the badass-looking Blastoise as well as learn both Ice Beam and Hydro Pump; this allows it to fuck both Venusaur and Charizard like it's on a Disneyland excursion, rendering it the best starter out of the three (in terms of the two aforementioned Pokémon only).

[image loading]

Contrasted with the previous two, Charmander is the most hated Pokémon. This may be due to the fact that it sucks very hard against the first two gyms; you literally have to catch and train something else, like a Butterfree, simply because normal/fire attacks won’t do jack nut against Brock’s Golem army. Similarly, it is practically mandatory for you to catch and train a Gloom just to have a breath of hope when going up against Misty’s imbalanced Starmie. It is also very funny how you can literally skip on training for the third gym since you can go into Diglett’s Cave and find yet another imbalanced Pokémon: a level 30 Dugtrio which can dig the crap out of Lt. Surge. In the end, you’re left with three fairly high-leveled Pokémon and a crappy, level 8 or so Charmander which quickly ends up getting thrown into forgotten Box 7 or something. I also believe that another thing that adds up to this hate is the behavior of Ash’s Charizard in the anime; a complete dick.

[image loading]

I personally love Charmander myself. This is mostly because I have a lizard bias (I should post pictures of my lizards) and I’m a pyromaniac. But above all, I still believe that the best-looking starter second evolution is by far Charizard; it’s a fucking dragon!

I would like to know which of the three starters Teamliquid thinks is the best!

Poll: Which is the Better Starter?

Charmander (351)
 
41%

Squirtle (306)
 
36%

Bulbasaur (198)
 
23%

855 total votes

Your vote: Which is the Better Starter?

(Vote): Bulbasaur
(Vote): Squirtle
(Vote): Charmander



Vote away!

****
ReketSomething
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States6012 Posts
April 07 2011 18:31 GMT
#2
I voted squirtle T___T

These starters are all badass unlike some of the new ones T___T Ash's char was such a dick though, whereas his squirtle and bulbasaur were total ballerz
Jaedong :3
rastaban
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States2294 Posts
April 07 2011 18:31 GMT
#3
i have it on very good authority *cough* artosis *cough* that squirtle is the best pokemon, why would I ever believe differently?
Tyler: "...damn it, that's StarCraft. Opening doors is what we do. Being the first to find food is the greatest pleasure a player can have!"
Bibbit
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Canada5377 Posts
April 07 2011 18:32 GMT
#4
Always been a big fan of charmander. I actually played through pokemon blue pretty recently and chose him again. The first couple gyms are pretty hard with him though. :/

This last time I rocked a spearow and harassed the Onix to death with growl or leer or whatever it had. :D
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
April 07 2011 18:35 GMT
#5
blastoise was my favorite of all the tier 3 versions so i always went with squirtle!
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
holy_war
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States3590 Posts
April 07 2011 18:37 GMT
#6
From a competitive standpoint, Charizard is the worst (Never Used) while Venusaur and Blastoise are in (Under Used). Bottom line is that they're all pretty bad but Squirtle is the coolest.
Foreplay
Profile Joined May 2008
United States1154 Posts
April 07 2011 18:37 GMT
#7
charmander was the bees knees at the end though. I remember my brother raping me with his charizard over and over.
Better than Pokebunny
Kyuukyuu
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Canada6263 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-07 18:40:18
April 07 2011 18:38 GMT
#8
On April 08 2011 03:37 holy_war wrote:
From a competitive standpoint, Charizard is the worst (Never Used) while Venusaur and Blastoise are in (Under Used). Bottom line is that they're all pretty bad but Squirtle is the coolest.


From a competitive standpoint they all suck so whatever, not the point.

I always picked Charizard because dragons. Actually I've gone with the fire starter every game except Gen V so I guess I'm just partial to them.
EsX_Raptor
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States2802 Posts
April 07 2011 18:39 GMT
#9
On April 08 2011 03:37 holy_war wrote:
From a competitive standpoint, Charizard is the worst (Never Used) while Venusaur and Blastoise are in (Under Used). Bottom line is that they're all pretty bad but Squirtle is the coolest.

I thought many liked to use Bellyzards though. That thing is a monster!
Tschis
Profile Joined November 2010
Brazil1511 Posts
April 07 2011 18:40 GMT
#10
I don't really know which one is the best, I just voted for Charmander because I always picked him. I just liked fire a lot and I never had problems while playing it, ofc I was a kid and I don't even remember how I got the first insignias, but anyways... Charmander love <3

//tx
"A coward is not someone that runs from a battle knowing he will lose. A coward is someone who challenges a weak knowing he will win."
Trowabarton756
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States870 Posts
April 07 2011 18:42 GMT
#11
Squirtle hands down, charmander if you want a challenge, and bulbasaur if you want ez-street(has +damage to first 2 gym bosses and is half way decent against 3rd)
http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/Trowabarton756
jlim
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Spain943 Posts
April 07 2011 18:43 GMT
#12
Squirtle is way more cute than the other two. Even his sc2 player reincarnation is cute as hell. Wartortle is super duper cool and Blastoise is pretty badass. And his weakest stat, speed, was the least important one, so he had overall better stats than the other two.

And btw you could easily rape Brock with Charmander using Ember. Maybe a potion was required, but still, easy business.
Umbrella
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Taiwan936 Posts
April 07 2011 18:43 GMT
#13
On April 08 2011 03:39 EsX_Raptor wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 03:37 holy_war wrote:
From a competitive standpoint, Charizard is the worst (Never Used) while Venusaur and Blastoise are in (Under Used). Bottom line is that they're all pretty bad but Squirtle is the coolest.

I thought many liked to use Bellyzards though. That thing is a monster!


That doesn't mean it's any good. It's extremely gimmicky and most of the time relies on the other guy not knowing how to play.

All of the starters are pretty bad, but I'd still go with Squirtle since its water type is the best of the 3.

I also ditch the starter pretty fast when I play the storyline =P.
ChrisXIV
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Austria3553 Posts
April 07 2011 18:44 GMT
#14
Chose Bulbasaur in my first playthrough, restarted when I noticed that solar beams sucked. Poison, etc... works against human players, but against normal enemies a standard sweep is preferable.

Playing with Squirtle was fun - I was a complete noob, though, so when I went against the Top 4 I had a Blastoise level 72 and nothing else. Restart again.

Charmander. At this point I knew what I was doing. Butterfree dealt with the first gym, Pidgeotto with the second. No problem. Charizard just rocks on later levels, and it looks cool. I never missed Blastoise, Lapras/Starmie always seemed better to me. And grass types sucked in Gen I lol, never looked back.
"Just stay on 1 base, make a lot of shit, keep attacking. It doesn't work? Keep attacking." -Chill
jimmyjingle
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States472 Posts
April 07 2011 18:46 GMT
#15
charmander is only getting votes because it's the "underdog", just like flash to jaedong.

(ps jaedong wins)
I get brain like a skull
Late
Profile Joined August 2007
Latvia418 Posts
April 07 2011 18:46 GMT
#16
Always preferred Charmander ,because, as you said, he's a fucking dragon. Who cares that when he evolved he became a rebel, Ash is a prick, he had all 3 of them and couldn't even be bothered to evolve them. ;/

Charmander in G1 might be pretty bad initially compared to G3 (for example) it's still Pokemon - spend some time to level up and it will be gross how easy you squash them gyms with normal type attacks.
jpak
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States5045 Posts
April 07 2011 18:47 GMT
#17
On the original Gen 1 Red/Blue, I chose Squirtle. I hated the fact that you had to get some other pokemon that has no further use to beat first Gym as Charmander.

However, in the Gen 1 remake of Firered/Leafgreen, going Charmander is a viable option, because at lvl 13, you learn Metal Claw. So I went Charmander in the remake.
CJ Entusman #50! #1 클템 fan TL!
Diglett
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
600 Posts
April 07 2011 18:48 GMT
#18
i used to choose charmander because charizard was the shit (the card too). my moveset was like ember/firespin/flamethrower/fire blast LOL.

but i learned the path to enlightenment that is squirtle.

i've never chosen the grass starter ever other than in my farming playthroughs to get extra tms

i still use blastoise on my ou teams, rapid spin is too good.
Roe
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Canada6002 Posts
April 07 2011 18:49 GMT
#19
well, the first boss would be pretty hard with charmander, and misty(2nd boss) would be as well, so i'm going with Bulbasaur as the better of the three just for starting out. after that point you can find enough diversity to counter the types of gyms you'll find later.
Synystyr
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1446 Posts
April 07 2011 18:49 GMT
#20
Squirtle was the best, Charmander was my favorite and Bulbasaur just frigging sucked =X

It was all about the first new move they learned, and Leech Seed did NOT make it fun xD
Sky Terran TvP V2.0: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=355839
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 2h 51m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft538
Nina 146
ProTech116
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 3831
Mind 265
Killer 174
Nal_rA 52
910 50
SilentControl 44
ZergMaN 13
Bale 11
NotJumperer 5
Horang2 0
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm102
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox324
Westballz51
Other Games
ceh9357
C9.Mang0348
monkeys_forever233
Sick125
Mew2King66
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick829
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 90
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• LUISG 4
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis4029
• Stunt544
Upcoming Events
Escore
2h 51m
The PondCast
2h 51m
WardiTV Invitational
3h 51m
Zoun vs Ryung
Lambo vs ShoWTimE
Big Brain Bouts
8h 51m
Fjant vs Bly
Serral vs Shameless
OSC
14h 51m
Replay Cast
16h 51m
CranKy Ducklings
1d 2h
RSL Revival
1d 2h
SHIN vs Bunny
ByuN vs Shameless
WardiTV Invitational
1d 3h
Krystianer vs TriGGeR
Cure vs Rogue
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 7h
[ Show More ]
BSL
1d 11h
Artosis vs TerrOr
spx vs StRyKeR
Replay Cast
1d 16h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Cure vs Zoun
Clem vs Lambo
WardiTV Invitational
2 days
BSL
2 days
Dewalt vs DragOn
Aether vs Jimin
GSL
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Soma vs Leta
Wardi Open
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
OSC
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Light vs Flash
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-05-05
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
Escore Tournament S2: W6
SCTL 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2

Upcoming

KK 2v2 League Season 1
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
YSL S3
Escore Tournament S2: W7
Escore Tournament S2: W8
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026: Closed Qualifier
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.