The 10 Most Expensive Phantasmal Flames Pokemon Cards
Are you ready for the biggest Pokemon TCG set of the year?
While 2025 has been a massive year for the hobby, it feels like things are just going to get crazy before the end thanks to the final set of the year: Phantasmal Flames.
Releasing on November 14, 2025, Phantasmal Flames has all the allure of a truly massive set, thanks largely to the fact that it’s a Charizard set. And not just any old Charizard set – it’s a Mega Charizard X sex et.
Below, we’ll be diving into what the top chase cards are likely to be when the set releases internationally.
#1 Mega Charizard X ex – Mega Hyper Rare is the most expensive card in Phantasmal Flames
Starting this list off is the incredibly rare and valuable Mega Charizard X ex Hyper Rare. While this card doesn’t look quite as beautiful as the Special Illustration Rare that’s next on the list, it packs a serious punch in the value department – a standard set by the incredibly valuable Mega Hyper Rares we got in Mega Evolution.
Given how valuable the Mega Lucario ex Hyper Rare currently is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Mega Charizard X gold card reach the $1000 mark on the secondary card market. That sounds crazy, I know. But that precedent has already been set by super hyped chase cards like Umbreon ex from Prismatic Evolutions. I think that the most iconic Pokemon of all time can fetch that kind of value, as well.
#2 Mega Charizard X ex – Special Illustration Rare
Mega Charizard X ex is a safe pick for the second biggest chase from Phantasmal Flames.
You might be wondering: what exactly is so special about Mega Charizard X ex? Whether or not you know how cool Mega Charizard X is will largely depend on whether or not you’re primarily an OG Pokemon fan, a recent one, or one who has been there all along.
Mega Charizard X hails from the Kalos region – a region which made up the Pokemon XY and XYZ games and era of the anime. Surprisingly enough, the XY and XYZ era of the Pokemon TCG is one of the best – it’s certainly one of my favorite right up there with the original Kanto series.
Essentially, there’s a special phenomenon in Kalos that enables Pokemon to exceed their usual evolution line temporarily. It’s sort of like going Super Saiyan for Dragon Ball Z fans out there. Mega Charizard X is one of two “Mega Evolutions” Charizard is capable of Mega Evolving into. Of those two forms (X and Y), X is arguably more iconic. It was the Pokemon who was strongest in the XYZ era of the show, and it includes a gorgeous blue and black color palette that in some ways is more eye catching than even the original Charizard’s orange hues.
All of that exposition and we haven’t even gotten to the card’s artwork itself yet – artwork so beautiful that when it was originally leaked via unofficial sources many (myself included) thought it to be fake.
The artwork is just almost too cool…too iconic, complete with every one of Mega Charizard X’s evolution lines. It’s one of the coolest Pokemon cards I’ve ever seen, and could be known over time as one of the most valuable Charizard cards in history if things go its way from a market perspective.
#3 Dawn – Special Illustration Rare
Have you ever seen a full art trainer card with this much aura? I absolutely love this card and it’s not like Dawn’s my favorite trainer of all time – the card really is just the beautiful. Additionally, it almost completely comprises everything that originally made Pokemon so great and exciting: that desire for adventure. Indeed, the inclusion of Dawn’s bike here also calls to mind a quote from the creator of Pokemon who expressed the appeal of Pokemon in his own words:
“When you’re a kid and get your first bike, you want to go somewhere you’ve never been before. That’s like Pokémon. Everybody shares the same experience, but everybody wants to take it someplace else. And you can do that.”
While SIR supporters are mixed in how well they perform on the secondary card market, given how amazing this artwork is and the kind of value we’ve seen with Lillie from Mega Evolutions, I would not underestimate this card, and consider it one of the top chases from the entire set.
#4 Mega Charizard X ex – Ultra Rare
The Ultra Rare cards in the Mega Evolution era of the Pokemon TCG are gorgeous. I said that when reviewing the most expensive cards in Mega Evolutions, and I’m saying it again about Phantasmal Flames as they follow a similar pattern. The really nice thing about these cards is that they make for an excellent consolation pull. While you may not have pulled that epic Charizard X ex SIR, it still feels good to get this highly valuable and much less challenging to find Charizard X ex Ultra Rare.
#5 Mega Sharpedo ex – Special Illustration Rare
I’ve been more recently introduced to Mega Sharpedo thanks Pokemon GO that had a Mega Sharpedo Raid day. While I’m not sure how many huge Mega Sharpedo fans are out there, the most intriguing thing about this particular card are the gorgeous colors it bears: intertwining rays of purple, yellow and blue.
Mega Sharpedo ex SIR should be worth similar amounts to other supporting chase cards we’ve seen in Mega Evolutions – meaning around $100.
#6 Mega Lopunny ex – Special Illustration Rare
This Mega Lopunny is giving me either dance-off or pro wrestling vibes. Whatever its going for, Lopunny is cute enough to qualify as a significant chase card for many, landing it safely in the lower $100 range on the secondary card market (once the dust settles and packs have been ripped).
#7 Rotom ex – Special Illustration Rare
The final SIR we should be getting in Phantasmal Flames is Rotom ex. While not my favorite Rotom ex card ever, it’s still rare enough to fetch some value, although my guess is it will be the least valuable among the SIRs from this set – something which is already the case in the Japanese version of the set.
#8 Piplup – Illustration Rare
Although I favor the cool, powerful Pokemon over the cute ones, even I can’t help but feel a little warm just looking at this Piplup. I was just thinking that Pokemon missed a chance in Mega Evolutions to tie Lillie in with her famous Snowy (an Alolan Vulpix). Here in Phantasmal Flames, they made the astute decision to include Dawn’s iconic partner.
Most modern Pokemon sets have at least one runaway IR chase card, and Piplup looks to be THAT card in Phantasmal Flames.
#9 Dawn – Ultra Rare
If Dawn ends up being as popular in Phantasmal Flames as Lillie is in Mega Evolution, then we can reasonably assume that her ultra rare version will fetch a decent amount of value on the secondary card market alongside her SIR version. While the artwork is quite good in the Ultra Rare version, it’s a far cry from what the SIR is conveying. Still, many Dawn fans will be happy to pocket this particular card.
#10 Meowth Illustration Rare
While I’ve not seen it officially confirmed by the Pokemon Company yet, leaked images of this Meowth card resting lazily on a tree branch have surfaced online in English, leading me to believe it’s quite likely that we’ll get this card in the Phantasmal Flames set. Although released in Japan months ago, we never got it included in an English set – something which has created a sort of strange anticipation among Pokemon TCG fans.
It’s only an IR so it won’t be worth crazy value, but it could even rival the cute Piplup given the anticipation.
