Phantasmal Flames
Phantasmal Flames: Mega Evolution Stage 2!
The November 14 release of Phantasmal Flames marks the second main expansion in the Mega Evolution series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, following the self-referential Mega Evolution, which was released in September. As the name implies, this series continues to introduce new Mega Evolution Pokémon cards into the Western markets via the TCG. Mega Evolution Pokémon originally debuted in 2013 in the Japanese Collection X and Collection Y, but had been entirely absent from the game since 2019's Sun & Moon. Pokémon ex cards that depict a Mega Evolution stage are identified by a special black and yellow "EX" symbol, and they're among the most powerful Pokémon in existence: each of them rewards the player with a triple amount of Prize cards when defeated.
Mega Evolution contained 180 cards and featured two centerpiece Pokémon: Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex. However, Phantasmal Flames is a smaller set, with only 94 unique cards and 130 total cards. As such, it only has one star Pokémon, and this time it's the turn of Mega Charizard X ex under the limelight. Just like its predecessors, Mega Charizard X ex appears in the set in four different versions: double rare, ultra rare, special illustration rare as well as the gold-etched mega hyper rare that is the hallmark of this series. The Mega-Evolved form of the little dragon Charizard, Mega Charizard X ex is reprinted from the Japanese set Inferno X, released in September. The name of its attack directly references that set's title and lets us discard any amount of Fire energy from our Pokémon to inflict 90 damage per discarded energy.
Fire in the Dark
Aside from Charizard's Fire theme, the set also focuses on Darkness-type Pokémon like Mega Sharpedo ex and especially Mega Gengar ex (reprinted from the Japanese MEGA Starter Set: Mega Gengar ex). The mischievous little ghost is given the Shadowy Concealment ability, alluding to its knack for perfectly hiding in the shadows. Thanks to this ability, knocked out Darkness Pokémon reward one fewer Prize card to the opponent, provided they were defeated by an attack from another Pokémon ex. Additionally, Gengar's Void Gale attack allows us to move one Energy to one of our Benched Pokémon.
Overall, there are six Mega Evolution Pokémon ex in Phantasmal Flames, including Mega Diancie ex (originally from MEGA Starter Set: Mega Diancie ex), Mega Heracross ex, and Mega Lopunny ex.
