Wondering what the top Phantasmal Flames chase cards are worth?

Released 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 ex set.

Below, we’ll be diving into each of the top Phantasmal Flames chase cards and ranking their value based on actual sales data.

#1 Mega Charizard X ex – Special Illustration Rare is the most expensive card in Phantasmal Flames

Mega Charizard X ex SIR — Market price: $740

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Although not technically the rarest chase card in Phantasmal Flames, Mega Charizard X ex is easily the most valuable.

You might be wondering: what exactly is so special about Mega Charizard X ex?

Mega Charizard X hails from the Kalos region – a region which made up the Pokemon XY and XYZ games and era of the anime. 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.

#2 Mega Charizard X ex – Mega Hyper Rare

Second on this list 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, it packs a serious punch in the value department – a standard set by the incredibly valuable Mega Hyper Rares we got in Mega Evolution. While it may not have ended up fetching as high of a price as the number one Phantasmal Flames card, it’s still a truly epic pull if you manage to get it.

#3 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.

#4 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 that 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.”

— Satoshi Tajiri, Creator of Pokemon

While SIR supporters are mixed in how well they perform on the secondary card market, given how amazing this artwork is, I would not underestimate this card, and consider it one of the top chases from the entire set that could counterintuitively be worth a lot more overtime when people realize what a gem of a card it actually is.

#5 Mega Sharpedo ex – Special Illustration Rare

Mega Sharpedo ex SIR — Market price: $28.50

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I’ve been more recently introduced to Mega Sharpedo thanks to Pokemon GO which 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. Market data doesn’t show this card being massively valuable, making it an easily obtainable Mega Pokemon with a lot of flash.

#6 Mega Lopunny ex – Special Illustration Rare

Mega Lopunny ex SIR — Market price: $20.66

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This Mega Lopunny is giving me either dance-off or pro wrestling vibes. Although it was worth a decent amount upon the initial release of Phantasmal Flames, today it’s worth relative pocket change (for a Pokemon SIR card).

#7 Rotom ex – Special Illustration Rare

Rotom ex SIR — Market price: $20.38

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While not my favorite Rotom ex card ever (that would have to be the one from Lost Origins), it’s still rare enough to fetch some value, although my original guess that it would be the least valuable among the SIRs from this set has essentially proven to be true months later.

#8 Meowth – Illustration Rare

Collectors clearly have been biding their time waiting for this nostalgic Meowth Illustration Rare card to finally come out based on a relatively high (for an IR) market price. Although only getting its international release in Phantasmal Flames, Meowth has been available in Japan for months. Currently, it’s the most expensive Illustration Rare in all of Phantasmal Flames. And with artwork that clearly calls to mind some of Pokemon’s earliest games, it’s not hard to see why.

#9 Piplup – Illustration Rare

Piplup IR — Market price: $12.13

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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 Evolution 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.

Yet even apart from the overt Dawn tie-in, Piplup’s IR card presents a gorgeous winter wonderland just about to burst into spring, making it one of the best Winter-themed Pokemon cards we’ve seen to date.

#10 Dawn – Ultra Rare

While the artwork is quite good in this Ultra Rare version of Dawn’s card, it’s a far cry from what the SIR is conveying. Still, many Dawn fans will be happy to pocket this particular card.

#11 Wigglytuff – Illustration Rare

This enchanting Wigglytuff gets bonus points for being pictured squished in with the even more famous Jigglypuff. I don’t know why but if feels to me like these Pokemon are sitting inside a claw game waiting to get pulled out like the aliens in Toy Story. The colors and clever use of focal points add a ton of flavor to this card.

#12 Mega Charizard X ex – Double Rare

Double Rare cards like this rarely end up at the top of most expensive Pokemon card lists for modern sets unless there’s one thing that comes along with them: an immensely popular deck. Mega Charizard X ex is such a deck, with players everywhere looking to get their hands on this less rare but still relatively valuable card.

#13 Dewgong – Illustration Rare

Dewgong IR — Market price: $5

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It’s not hard to see why Dewgong is on this list. It’s a gorgeous card featuring an oldies Pokemon, and I especially love the way the Northern Lights are pictured with Dewgong looking thoughtfully into them.

#14 Flygon – Illustration Rare

Elegant, understated and complete with the evolution line watching in awe from below makes this particular Flygon Illustration Rare an instant classic.

#15 Paldean Wooper – Illustration Rare

You know that feeling of traipsing through the mountain pass in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, rounding the bend and spotting the edge of the next town surprisingly right there? If not, this Paldean Wooper will remind you of the joys of adventure and Pokemon, while carrying a decent value to boot.

#16 Mega Sharpedo ex – Ultra Rare

Mega Sharpedo X ex — Market price: $5

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Mega Lopunny may have the slight edge on Sharpedo in both alternate arts this set, but this colorful Mega Sharpedo ex card has a lot going for it.

#17 Zacian – Illustration Rare

It’s really cool to see this gorgeous Zacian Illustration Rare. Honestly this artwork and coloring is very gorgeous and I could see many collectors overlooking it given the Mega Charizard X chase cards in the set. But the card itself looks like something out of a 50’s Disney film like Sleeping Beauty. It’s a gorgeous treatment for this memorable Pokemon.

#18 Mega Lopunny ex Ultra Rare

If landing the Mega Lopunny ex SIR proves too difficult, you can have this almost-as-cool Ultra Rare Lopunny for half the price. Mega Lopunny ex should be a fairly popular Pokemon competitively, and many players will eagerly tech the Ultra Rare version of this card into their Gholdengo ex decks rather than sleeving up the SIR which would be more at home in a binder or a display case.

#19 Mega Heracross ex – Ultra Rare

While we don’t (yet) have a Mega Heracross ex SIR (maybe we’ll get one in the upcoming Ascended Heroes set), this ultra rare card is still pretty cool. What’s more, Mega Heracross ex is a fairly strong mega Pokemon. Having 280 HP as a basic while also dishing out a ton of potential damage via Juggernaut Horn makes this one scary Mega Pokemon ex that you’d much rather one-hit-knockout than leave around long enough to take revenge on you.

On the popularity front, Heracross is one of Ash’s earlier Pokemon in the anime. It gets bonus points for that even if otherwise this bug type easily slips under the rug in terms of people noticing it.

#20 Ludicolo – Illustration Rare

This colorful Ludicolo may not be worth a lot, but you never know – with artwork as exciting as this, Ludicolo could some day be worth a little more.

Phantasmal Flames feels like something of a polarizing set. Polarizing in the sense that the overwhelming value-share in this set is held by the top two chase cards: Mega Charizard X ex SIR and Hyper Rare. This is in stark contrast to other popular sets from this year that – while also having one or two top chases – still boasted a wide range of secondary chase cards that were still valuable.

The 20 Most Expensive Phantasmal Flames Pokemon Cards