Phantasmal Flames GLC Set Review
Another set, another set review! Though Phantasmal Flames is only a small set, it still features a number of interesting cards for the Gym Leader Challenge format, as well as some strong options for pet cards, for those of you who want to try and make your favourite Pokémon work in GLC. Rather than going type-by-type this time, we’ll start with (my impression of) the main important Pokémon joining the format from the set, then move onto the more niche picks, and the slew of new optimal versions of evolving Basic Pokémon, concluding with the set’s new Trainer cards. Let’s get into it!
The Headliners
Genesect - Grass - HP120
Basic Pokemon
[G] Bug's Cannon: Choose 1 of your opponent's Pokemon. This attack does 20 damage to it for each [G] Energy attached to this Pokemon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokemon.)
[G][G][C] Speed Attack: 110 damage.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Keenly discussed since its initial reveal, this Genesect has been compared to the highly successful Raging Bolt (SCR 111) - though whether it will see similar success will have to be seen. (Indeed, I wasn’t sure whether to include this card here, or in the next section, but placed it here based on the amount of discussion of it I’ve seen.) By comparison to Raging Bolt, Genesect’s per-Energy scaling is worse - 20x rather than 30x - as well as having no access to a Double Dragon Energy equivalent. This will most likely give it less scope for applying Bolt’s crushing early-game pressure, but it has the potential to really shine when combined with Meganium (or Venusaur, if you still prefer - and no, they don’t stack with each other, that’s a bug in PTCGL). Doubling your Energy moves the effective scaling from 20x to 40x - sniping 120 for three attachments and retaining the Energy, unlike similar Pokémon in other types. My main concern with Genesect is its fragility - at 120 HP, it’s relatively easy to KO, though this could be mitigated by passing the Energy investment to your next attacker with a Wishful Baton, or by taking advantage of Grass’ myriad options to boost the effective HP of your Pokémon. Time will tell how things turn out for this Genesect, but I’m at least interested enough to experiment with it!
Reshiram - Fire - HP130
Basic Pokemon
[R] Flame: 30 damage.
[R][R][R][R] Burning Flare: 240 damage. This Pokemon does 60 damage to itself.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Also highly reminiscent of an existing successful card - this time Tapu Bulu (SFA 006) - and also likely very reliant on Energy-doubling effects, this Reshiram promises a simple route to a one-hit-KO on targets as large as Wailord. Though this is unlikely to single-handedly save the Fire type from its current viability struggles in the GLC format, it is at least a nice-to-have while the type waits for a boost.
Ceruledge - Fire - HP140
Stage 1 - Evolves from Characadet
[R] Purgatory Slash: 220 damage. Discard 4 Basic [R] Energy cards from your hand or this attack does nothing.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Promoted, perhaps brazenly, from the following section of this article as I write it, this card - available as one of the prerelease promos for this set - hits for strong damage, but at a fairly high cost resource-wise. With the right building around, I could definitely see this being repeatable, including cards like Superior Energy Retrieval, Fiery Flint, and the new Firebreather Supporter card. Alongside Fire’s inherent affinity for discarded Energy cards, this could prove to be a reasonable inclusion in the right deck, as long as it’s well-prepared to deal with moving so many Energy cards around so quickly.
Zacian - Psychic - HP130
Basic Pokemon
[P][C] Limit Break: 50+ damage. If your opponent has 3 or fewer Prize cards remaining, this attack does 90 more damage.
Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Purple stays winning, as always… As the latest entry to Psychic’s arsenal of Basic attackers, this Zacian is more-or-less a side-grade to the relatively-popular Mewtwo (CRZ 059), trading out 40 damage and the Psypump attack to reduce its Energy cost by one Psychic Energy. This could be a good inclusion in decks using Garbodor’s Garbotoxin (DRX 54) to apply Ability lock to the field, as an attacker with minimal need to power up through support Abilities like Malamar’s Psychic Recharge or Xatu’s Clairvoyant Sense (FLI 54, PAR 072). Art by kawayoo on the regular printing, as well as prerelease-promo- and illustration-rare options are definitely bonuses too, in my eyes!
Toxtricity - Darkness - HP140
Stage 1 - Evolves from Toxel
Ability: Sinister Surge
Once during your turn, you may search your deck for 1 Basic [D] Energy and attach it to 1 of your Benched [D] Pokemon. If you do, put 2 damage counters on that Pokemon. Then, shuffle your deck.
[D][D][C] Gentle Slap: 100 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Still struggling in the wake of the bannings of Double Colorless Energy and Twin Energy, this Toxtricity might have what it takes to bring Darkness’ Energy acceleration back up to speed, to say nothing of the additional synergy between Toxtricity’s damage counter placement and Spiritomb’s Anguish Cry (UNB 112)! As a bonus, the Toxel printed in this set has both 70 HP and the Call for Family attack to find two Basic Pokémon to your Bench, hopefully helping you out of awkward early starts. This line will definitely be a welcome addition to Darkness-type decks, and like Zacian, this card also gets both a stamped prerelease promo and an illustration rare variant!
Archaludon - Metal - HP180
Stage 1 - Evolves from Duraludon
[M][M][M] Coated Attack: 120 damage. During your opponent's next turn, this Pokemon can't be damaged by attacks from your opponent's Basic Pokemon.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: Grass (-30)
Retreat: 2
Another addition to a relatively underplayed type as of late, this Archaludon could pose a difficult question to the increasingly basic-focused decks of the current metagame, while also having respectable-enough HP and damage output in its own right to still apply pressure outside those matchups, especially combined with Metal’s array of Tool cards for damage reduction, and Galarian Perrserker’s damage boost (SSH 128). This card alone could definitely make me take another look at Metal as a type, which is an exciting prospect!
The Best of The Rest
Lokix - Grass - HP120
Stage 1 - Evolves from Nymble
[G] Cut Off: 30 damage.
[C][C][C] Jump Shot: 150 damage. Shuffle this Pokemon and all cards attached to it into your deck.
Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Mainly interesting for its Ability to reuse cards like Triple Acceleration or Ignition Energy (the latter of which receives a full-art printing in this set, along with Switch) while hitting for reasonable damage, this Lokix could be a fun niche pick. The only question to answer is what are you promoting after you use the attack? Lillie’s Poké Doll is a simple way to deny your opponent a Prize, but Grass also has access to a lot of fun disruptive Abilities, like Shifty Substitution Shiftry (VIV 012), or Disgusting Pollen Vileplume (BUS 6). There are plenty of creative ways to try and take advantage of this card!
Charmander - Fire - HP80
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Nimble
If this Pokemon has no Energy attached to it, its Retreat Cost is 0.
[R] Live Coal: 20 damage.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Not necessarily optimal, as 80 HP makes this Charmander incompatible with Buddy-Buddy Poffin, but worth a consideration if Charmander getting stuck in the Active is a concern. Could come in handy if you have a well-defined turn 1 attack, such as Volcanion’s Flare Starter (UNB 25).
Darmanitan - Fire - HP150
Stage 1 - Evolves from Darumaka
[C][C][C][C] Blazing Ball: 40+ damage. This attack does 40 more damage for each [R] Energy attached to this Pokémon.
Weakness: Water (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
This Darmanitan is a solid-enough card, but might end up being just slightly too slow to make the difference - though I’d gladly be proven wrong on that. Solid HP, Heavy Ball compatibility in the Retreat Cost, and good damage scaling along with Charizard to help it swing harder make this a good enough card - but being forced to meet the full four-energy attack cost in order to attack at all makes it quite dependent on either heavy investment Energy-wise, or having Charizard in play. If this could swing for just [C][C] instead, I think I’d be more convinced, but this could still be a fun build-around for Darmanitan fans!
Suicune - Water - HP130
Basic Pokemon
[W][W] Crystal Force: 30+ damage. If you have 4 or more [W] Energy in play, this attack does 90 more damage.
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
An interesting card for Water to gain access to, and perhaps I’m underrating it here. Typically, Water doesn’t tend to get cheap Basic attackers - so this attack could definitely fill that niche, attacking while you power up your next attacker on the Bench, so as not to have to risk all your attached Energy at once. Even then, despite the low attack cost, it probably still requires you to have some kind of Rain Dancer in play to utilise effectively, and at that point, perhaps there are more powerful attackers you could be attaching to - though those all tend to come with some kind of downside. If you’re sick of your Wishiwashi (CEC 62) shuffling itself and its Energy back into the deck, Kyogre (CRZ 036) bouncing its Energy to your hand, or your opponent playing Hex Maniac before KOing your Veluza (PAR 054), maybe this Suicune could be the safe, predictable option you’ve been looking for?
Prinplup - Water - HP100
Stage 1 - Evolves from Piplup
[C] Peck: 20 damage.
[C][C][C] Aim and Dive: This attack does 70 damage to 1 of your opponent's Pokemon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokemon.)
Weakness: Lightning (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Unusual to have a mid-stage Pokémon here (and without a support Ability, no less), but this Prinplup bears highlighting for its compatibility with Triple Acceleration and Ignition Energy in order to snipe 70 damage for a quick KO on an evolving Basic. It’s not quite the 100 damage snipe of Prinplup from Cosmic Eclipse, but for [C][C][C] rather than [W][W][W], and not requiring Energy to be discarded when copied via Empoleon’s Recall (CEC 56) this might be marginally better. Losing compatibility with Level Ball in comparison to other Prinplup is a trade-off though - but still a card worth considering for fans of Empoleon!
Flygon - Fighting - HP150
Stage 2 - Evolves from Vibrava
Ability: Flapping Sand
When you play this Pokemon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokemon during your turn, or if this Pokemon is in the Active Spot and is Knocked Out by damage from an attack from your opponent's Pokemon, you may discard the top 2 cards of your opponent's deck.
[F][F] Cutter Wind: 130 damage.
Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
The final prerelease promo for the set, and definitely an interesting card, this Flygon adds to Fighting’s mill capabilities, netting four cards off your opponent’s deck between evolving and getting KO’d. Before the arrival of Lunatone and Solrock in Mega Evolution, I’d definitely have written this card off completely, but perhaps these new consistency options can make it work? Fighting has a surprising number of mill cards to try and combine it with, and four cards is nothing to sniff at!
Krookodile - Darkness - HP170
Stage 2 - Evolves from Krokorok
[D] Revenge Fang: 60+ damage. If 1 of your Pokemon was Knocked Out by damage from an attack last turn, this attack does 160 more damage.
[D][C][C][C] Hammer In: 160 damage.
Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
Swinging for 220 damage as a Revenge-style attack is excellent - as proven by Zamazenta (CRZ 097). Trying to play a Stage 2 Pokémon in Darkness can be rough at times though, due to the lack of draw power within the type. Grimsley’s Move (also of this set) could help change this, but whether this would be the best target for it is doubtful. Overall: a good statline and cheap attack cost, but hard to justify from a consistency point of view.
Eternatus - Darkness - HP150
Basic Pokemon
[D][D] Shatter: 50 damage. Discard a Stadium in play.
[D][D][D] Power Rush: 130 damage. Flip a coin. If tails, during your next turn, this Pokemon can’t attack.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
This is GLC’s first Darkness-type printing of Eternatus, and it’s kinda just… acceptable? (Which feels weird to say about a Basic Pokémon with 150 HP, but here we are.) Maybe I’m being too harsh, but 130 damage with (half) a drawback just isn’t cutting it in this day and age as HP starts to creep higher. Workable, for sure - but not blowing me away.
New Optimal Evolving Basics
I’ll keep this brief, rather than going into each card in detail, since what matters most for all of these is the grail for all evolving Basic Pokémon: having 70 HP. Slightly harder to KO for Raging Bolt, still compatible with Buddy-Buddy Poffin. Relevant or otherwise, here’s the overview as a table:
| Pokémon | Type | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Lotad | G | 70 HP |
| Swinub | W | 70 HP |
| Piplup | W | Still 70 HP, gains Lead to search for a Supporter card |
| Misdreavus | P | Still 70 HP, slightly better, cheaper damage, but no Sleep |
| Gligar | F | Still 70 HP, 10 damage and guaranteed Poison |
| Trapinch | F | 70 HP, but does give up Call for Family |
| Gastly | D | 70 HP |
| Carvanha | D | 70 HP |
| Toxel | D | 70 HP, Call for Family (and never before printed as Darkness) |
| Aipom | C | 70 HP |
| Zigzagoon | C | Still 70 HP, 30 for 1 on a flip |
Trainer Cards
Battle Colosseum - Stadium
Prevent all damage counters from being placed on Benched Pokemon (both yours and your opponent's) by the effects of attacks and Abilities from their opponent's Pokemon. (Damage is not an effect.)
Almost all the Trainer cards in this set are at least interesting, and so, going through in set order we reach Battle Colosseum first. This is fundamentally a tech card, similar to Sky Pillar, but different in that it can also block things like Dusknoir’s Cursed Blast (SFA 020) or Team Rocket’s Tyranitar’s Sand Stream (DRI 096). If someone in your playgroup is placing just a few too many damage counters on your Benched Pokémon every game, maybe this could help you!
Dawn - Supporter
Search your deck for a Basic Pokemon, a Stage 1 Pokemon, and a Stage 2 Pokemon, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
An interesting consistency card, akin to Arezu in its Pokémon-searching power. In my opinion, Dawn has its best home in Grass, where it could get an entire line of Pokémon to immediately evolve with Forest of Vitality in play, but it definitely has other potential applications. In Water, for example, it can effectively become Trainer search through the Shady Dealings Inteleon line. Though not quite as unconditional in its Evolution-searching power as Arezu, Dawn does at least always find a Basic Pokémon, for those games where it’s your only search card in hand as you start your tiniest evolving Pokémon in the Active Spot and need to avoid giving up the donk.
Firebreather - Supporter
Search your deck for up to 7 Basic [R] Energy cards and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
Mentioned earlier in conjunction with the Ceruledge of this set, this card is impressive for its deck-thinning power alone - that’s seven cards out of the way so you can draw pure gas for the rest of the game! (And if all your Energy are on the bottom of the deck from an Iono, at least you’re more likely to draw the Professor’s Letter, huh?) It’s definitely a strange card to try and evaluate, so I’m curious to see if- and how it gets use. Making Fire Energy more accessible like this could even see Salazzle come back to the spotlight over Rapidash! (Though depending on who you ask, maybe it never left.)
Grimsley’s Move - Supporter
Look at the top 7 cards of your deck. Choose a [D] Pokemon you find there and put it onto your Bench. Shuffle the other cards and put them on the bottom of your deck. You can't play this card on your first turn.
One of the other cards everyone has been talking about since its reveal in Inferno X - and the gateway to finally playing Darkness-type Tyranitar (among other things). Obviously, firing this off blind - while more funny if you manage to hit something powerful - is probably not advised, but by putting a powerful target into the discard pile, then back on top of your deck with Max Revive (or playing Ciphermaniac’s Codebreaking the previous turn, or playing Switching Cups, etc. - the list goes on), you can guarantee specific Pokémon hit the Bench with this effect. Daunting Gaze Tyranitar (JTG 095) - released in Journey Together to much GLC disappointment - definitely seems like the premier target for Grimsley’s Move, but my personal choice would be Hisuian Samurott (ASR 100), to try and patch up the consistency hit of installing the cards for Grimsley’s Rube-Goldberg Machine into the deck. Either way, you want to make sure you hit something valuable enough to your boardstate that it makes up for using your Supporter for turn just to bring it into play, and luckily Darkness has plenty of options!
Blowtorch - Item
You must discard 1 Basic [R] Energy from your hand in order to play this card.
Choose a Pokemon Tool, Special Energy, or Stadium card your opponent has in play and discard it.
Another option for what to spend your hand full of freshly-searched Fire Energy on. Interesting for its versatility, but probably competing more for Enhanced Hammer’s slot rather than Field Blower’s. The extra optionality is impressive though, and you can at least be sure that this card will never be useless in any given matchup!
Jumbo Ice - Item
Heal 80 damage from your Active Pokemon that has 3 or more Energy attached.
Usually, healing cards are pretty useless - even in GLC, we tend to live in a format of one-hit KOs, and for the Pokémon that could benefit from them, the typical cost of discarding Energy is too much of an inconvenience to be worthwhile. By contrast, this card just asks that you have a lot of Energy attached. And Wailord’s attack cost is four. ‘Nuff said.
In all seriousness, even with a card like Wailord as its target, the use of this could still be fairly niche, but I’ve been caught out by an (in)opportune (depending on your perspective) Mallow & Lana more times than I might admit, and putting a similar level of healing on an Item card leaves open the option to Boss something, disrupt, or draw more cards at the same time as shifting the goalposts of your opponent’s 2HKO to a 3HKO - not something to be dismissed lightly.
Wondrous Patch
Attach a Basic [P] Energy from your discard pile to 1 of your Benched [P] Pokemon.
For our final card of this review, once again - Psychic stays winning. Malamer has been converted into a sticker for easy use, without even needing the Bench space! If this had been in almost any other type, it’d probably have been an auto-include, but it’s a testament to the quality of both Water - and now Psychic - that theirs are solid maybes. Still a very good card though.
Final Words
Overall, despite its small size, this definitely looks like an interesting set at all levels, and hopefully the tools it provides to Darkness, and (maybe more wishfully) Fire can help boost their power a little more, to bring them toward equity with the other types.
Thanks for reading this far, I hope it was enjoyable and informative, good luck in all your upcoming prereleases, and have fun playing Gym Leader Challenge!
I’ll see you for the next one!