The latest set in the controversy-embroiled Pokémon TCG, Phantasmal Flames, is now out. And, as is becoming traditional for a November release, contains a brand new Charizard card that’s going to drive even more people (and scalpers) to the hobby. In this case, it’s the beloved Mega Charizard X, the gigantic blue variant appearing in both a stunning Special Illustration Rare and in one of the new-fangled gold foils. And yes, both are already fetching ridiculous prices. But in a stark change, they’re the only two that are.
I’m pleased to report that once again, if you’re actually able to find any packs to buy, Phantasmal Flames continues Mega Evolution’s new-found generosity when it comes to pull rates. Of the 55 packs we were kindly sent by The Pokémon Company, I pulled an extraordinary 24 ex or better cards, of which 13 were full art or better. Compared to the three year run of Scarlet & Violet sets, this is a dramatic improvement, with pretty much a 50:50 chance of not getting what is derogatively known as a “dud pack.” (For those wanting to play the game, there’s no such thing as a dud pack, and of course it’s these people who are most hurt by the current year-long period of scarcity.)
However, the cost of this does very much appear to be the pull rates on Special Illustration Rares. As with Mega Evolution, Phantasmal Flames has made these most desirable cards extraordinarily unlikely to appear, with the new iteration of gold foils proving farcically rare. With Mega Evolutions, this drove prices to new, all-time highs, but in the first few days of Phantasmal Flames things don’t appear to be nearly so out of control. The Charizards are, of course, outrageously priced at $600 and $800 each, but we then see a massive drop for third place, with Dawn’s SIR going for $60. That’s a very normal price for an SIR, and in a pretty small set with only five of them to find, it suggests that people are simply ripping packs for the Zards and caring about little else.
That becomes even more stark when you notice that fourth place goes to Mega Charizard X ex again, but this time in its much more common Ultra Rare form (I pulled one of these, as it happens) at around $57, the other four SIRs following for as little as $30. (Yes, $30 for a piece of cardboard remains ridiculous, but then I just spent way more than that on the Crown Zenith Leafeon VSTAR, so who am I to talk?)
Is this a good sign that cards like the Mega Sharpedo ex and Rotom ex SIRs aren’t going for megabucks? Or is it, and I do worry it’s this, that the SIRs in Phantasmal Flames just aren’t that appealing? The art is wonderful on both of those examples, but Sharpedo is rarely at the top of anyone’s favorite Pokémon list, and there really are a lot of pretty Rotom cards already. Then there’s the complete mess of the Mega Lopunny ex (see the card in the gallery), and, well, that’s all of them. The more common (and thus always cheaper) Illustration Rares are where the truly wonderful art appears in this set, with a stunning Zacian, Piplup, Flygon, Wooper, Togedemaru, Ludicolo and Ambipom to find, most of them selling during the peak price of the opening week for under $10! Meowth is the only one of the IRs that’s caught on at around $30 (with Piplup managing an impressive $19).
Compare this with Mega Evolution, where the tenth highest priced card was going for $50, and the SIRs fetching around $300 each, and it’s a striking shift. So, with all that said, click on for the cards you want to chase if you’re looking for value in Phantasmal Flames, but know that if you’re after the cards to play in a deck, most can be picked up in their basic form for under a dollar. (Even Mega Charizard X ex’s regular form “only” fetches about $5.) Again, if you can actually find packs to open.
