Every Phantasmal Flames Pokemon Deck, Ranked
Phantasmal Flames is releasing worldwide on November 14, 2025, and as usual with a main Pokemon TCG set, it’s coming packed not only with a glorious lineup of valuable cards to chase – including a Mega Charizard X ex SIR – but with plenty of new strategies to test out for yourself.
Below, we’ll be taking a look at the main new strategies entering the Pokemon TCG with Phantasmal flames, and ranking them based on their competitive viability.
#5 Mega Lopunny ex
There’s no easy way to sugarcoat the fact that Lopuny is not the strongest amongst the megas. It’s a decent Pokemon for sure, and I really like the way this deck pairs it with a lot of switching cards to enable a fast and aggressive play.
Use Iron Valiant ex’s “Tachyon Bits” ability to spread damage around the board before swapping in your Mega Lopunny to swing for 230 via Gale Thrust.
Decks that leverage damage spread via Tachyon Bits haven’t been meta in years, and they aren’t likely to be after Phantasmal Flames. However, it’s still a fun strategy that’s got enough juice to do well into certain matchups, especially those Stage 2 decks where you can easily deny a proper board set up thanks to how quickly this deck gets to work.
#4 Empoleon ex metal box deck
There’s a trend in Phantasmal Flames bringing powerful toolbox synergies into the meta based largely around typing. We’ll talk about another box deck in a minute focused on dark Pokemon, but for now let’s look for this admittedly solid metal box deck featuring the new Empoleon ex we should be getting in Phantasmal Flames.
Empoleon ex is the star of the show for this deck, acting as you typical metal defender who is impervious to effects from attacks while also taking 60 less damage from attacks after it attacks with its own powerful Iron Phaser.
This deck pairs itself with two other powerful metal attackers to give it that toolbox vibe. And it’s a smart choice, really, given how strong these two attackers can be.
Metagross ex provides powerful energy acceleration while Mega Mawile ex gives you some powerful late game closing – scaling up to an insane 400 damage (check my math on that) if you’ve taken five prize cards.
I think this one is a very fun strategy that could certainly pop off – especially given how many fans of metal decks there are out there in the wild.
#3 Mega Gengar/Sharpedo ex Dark Box
One really cool new strategy coming out of Phantasmal Flames is phenomenal support for Dark type decks. While there are two different Mega Pokemon ex in this deck – Mega Sharpedo ex and Mega Gengar ex – they both work so well together the strongest version of this deck is likely to be a combo of the two.
There’s a lot of new stuff here for players to wrap their heads around, but to begin with let’s look at the two Mega Pokemon ex.
Mega Sharpedo ex is a very straightforward, big-guy attacker. “Hungry Jaw” is the main attack you’re looking for here, dishing out an impressive 270 damage for just two dark energies. Mega Gengar ex, on the other hand, brings significantly more skill and trickery into the playing field.
Mega Gengar ex’s “Shadow Hiding” ability reduces the number of prize cards your opponent takes by damage from attacks from Pokemon ex. That’s a pretty insane ability, enabling a very positive prize trade which especially matters for a deck with three-prize Pokemon.
The other card that’s going to be a game changer for Dark decks is the new Toxtricity.
Toxtricity pairs really well with Mega Sharpedo ex, letting you search out Dark energies while also inflicting damage onto your Sharpedo. It’s also a great way to fill your board up with damage counters that can easily be moved strategically around using Munkidori.
Finally, we’re getting a pretty insane new single prize attacker that helps Dark Box pack a real punch.
Seviper hits for an incredible 240 damage if you have a dark type Mega Pokemon ex in play. This combined with your prize card reducing effect enables massive potential to gain a positive prize trade over your opponent.
#2 Gardevoir ex with Mega Diance ex
It feels a little bit naughty to include Gardevoir ex in this rundown given there’s not a ton of new stuff for it coming out in Phantasmal Flames. However, the deck does get a significant new card in its strategy around the time of Phantasmal Flames thanks to mega Diance ex. Mega Diance ex is a powerful new attacker into the Gardevoir ex deck, and the combined deck did exceptionally well at a massive tournament in Japan.
Despite having access to Mega Gardevoir ex, Gardevoir’s preferred companion may actually be Mega Diance ex based on early tournament data from Japan.
Hitting for 240 damage, being immune to any hit over 30, and complete with solid HP for a basic Pokemon makes this three-prize Pokemon an ideal fit for the existing powerhouse Gardevoir ex strategy.
This combined with a solid matchup into Mega Charizard X ex makes Gardevoir a deck to watch still years after it first came out in the original Scarlet and Violet set.
#1 Mega Charizard X ex
The Mega Charizard X ex deck is going to be an instant hit for Pokemon CG players. To build this in the current Pokemon TCG Standard format, you’re going to be combining it with the already tried-and-true Charizard ex deck. However, the deck gets quite a bit stronger thanks to two key new cards coming out in Phantasmal Flames: Mega Charizard X ex and Oricario ex.
Mega Charizard X ex is a very straightforward attacker – something which should make him both fun and easy to include in your deck. While he comes in as a big tank-like Pokemon with 360 HP (same as any Mega Pokemon), what really makes this guy special is his Inferno X attack – arguably one of the strongest in the game right now. For just two energy (a very easy threshold to meet with how much energy acceleration this deck gets), he can attack without limit, doing 90 damage for each fire energy you discard from your board.
So basically you now have access to all of the incredible power present within Charizard ex, and now an attack that’s even stronger and easier to navigate than Raging Bolt ex’s Bellowing Thunder.
Can anyone say top tier? I certainly expect to see this deck quickly rise to the top of best meta decks in the Pokemon TCG standard format.
