Pokémon TCG is still red hot as we cross into the official 30th anniversary celebrations for the next 12 months. But there’s one card in particular that’s burning a hole in trainers’ pockets right now, and it’s driving a reignited interest in Phantasmal Flames.
Released on November 14, 2025, Phantasmal Flames is the second expansion under the Mega Evolution banner. Out of all 130 cards in the set, no other is hotter right now than the elusive Mega Charizard X ex 125/094 SIR (Special Illustration Rare).
The rare card has seen a 20% spike in market value on TCGplayer over the past three months, with prices going as high as $2000 for a graded PSA 10 card on eBay in the US.
It’s no surprise that fans want to get their hands on this gorgeous piece of art, with its roaring blue flames and high-contrast orange embers forming Charmander, Charmeleon, and base Charizard underneath.
It was designed by Danciao, the mind behind the stunning Brute Bonnet from Twilight Masquerade and Zekrom ex from Black Bolt. Combine his artwork with the fact that Charizard cards always fetch a pretty penny, and you can start to see why this card is so valuable to fans around the world.
According to official data from eBay, during Phantasmal Flames’ launch week in November last year, users searched for “Mega Charizard” more than “1,500 times per hour” on average – that’s around 36,000 searches per day.
Moreover, from November 2025 through to February 2026, according to TCGplayer, users were searching for “Mega Charizard X ex” around “400 times per hour”, and around 9,600 per day. The base non-SIR version (Mega Charizard X ex 013/094) is also the ninth most popular card sold on TCGplayer in the same time period.
Why is Mega Charizard X ex Spiking in Value Now?
A Charizard card breaking six figures is definitely not unheard of. This Gen 1 not-dragon has consistently topped players’ favourite Pokémon charts, and is, no doubt, one of the most iconic Pokémon of all time. In fact, the second-most expensive Pokémon card in history was the 1995 Pokémon Japanese Topsun Charizard, a pre-1st edition card that sold for an eye-watering €493,230 in 2021.
You can look at even more recent Mega Evolution sets for examples as well, with the Mega Charizard Y ex – 294/217 from Ascended Heroes settling as another remarkably popular card, with market prices listing it at around $523.28 at the time of publication.
Phantasmal Flame’s Mega Charizard X ex 125/094 SIR is no exception to the rule of cool. This was one of the most valuable Pokémon cards of 2025, second only to the remarkably rare and beautiful Umbreon ex – 161/131 from Scarlet and Violet’s Prismatic Evolutions set.
But, despite all this, you may be asking yourself: Why is Mega Charizard X ex spiking now? Well, there are three likely main reasons for that.
The first reason is the classic ‘out of print’ threshold. Larger retailers, such as Target/Tesco, have begun to slow down on Phantasmal Flame restocks to prepare for the next set, and the secondary markets, like your TCGPlayers and eBays, are beginning to take over.
The next major reason is likely to be related to Pokémon Day 2026. With the big 3-0 anniversary birthday just gone by, collectors are likely buying up as many iconic Charizard cards as possible now to resell later for profit and play on the series’s nostalgia.
Finally, we always typically see a spike in Charizard cards around the Pokémon World Championships, held this year in San Francisco, California, from August 28th to 30th. Fans are likely buying the dip, driving the price up, in preparation for 6 months time.
Phantasmal Flames Boosters Continue to Rise in Value
Interestingly, Phantasmal Flames’ Elite Trainer Boxes did hit all time lows of $75 just a couple of months back, but are now back on the rise in popularity, spiking to $95.93 at TCGplayer most recently. That’s a +23.97% rise in just the past 30 days. It’s still far from its $175 high, but trending upwards again, nevertheless.
Jump on the ETB hype all you want, as it’s good fun. But, if you’re seriously hunting for your own Charizard pull, I’d typically recommend buying a single card from a reputable seller and holding on for more value gains over time.
With a pull rate of approximately 1 in 400 packs, according to Pulse Collective, you’d need 12 full booster boxes to statistically find just one Mega Charizard X SIR. The odds don’t seem particularly in your favor, if you don’t mind me saying.
But, if you’re lucky enough to pull this card (maybe go buy a lotto ticket as well), it’s a prime candidate for grading at sites like BGS Black Label, which could push its value to those six-figure numbers at key moments in the Pokémon calendar.
Sara Heritage is a freelance contributor for IGN.
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