Hi there. In this post I cover the prerelease promos and some cards from the upcoming Pokemon TCG set Phantasmal Flames. This set is a part of the latest Mega Evolution series which aligns with the Legends Z-A video game. Any new set from now on is a part of the Mega Evolution series until there is a new Pokemon game.
About Prerelease Events
Prerelease events in the Pokemon TCG are casual tournaments where participants and players can buy cards before the official release of a set. In a prerelease tournament, you pay a fee where you receive a Build & Battle box and participate in the tournament. From the Build & Battle Box, you receive a pre constructed deck and a few booster packs to build your 40 card deck for the tournament. I think in Magic TCG, this is a sealed draft format.
The Pokemon TCG in a prerelease format is a scaled down version of the Standard Format Pokemon TCG. Power levels are lower which makes certain cards that are not good in competitive play better in the prerelease format.
More Revealed English Cards
Gligar + Gliscor
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Gligar is an okay Basic attacker. The evolved form, Gliscor, looks like a dangerous and annoying attacker in the prerelease format. One Fighting Energy for 50 damage + poison + no retreat effect is pretty powerful.
Alcremie + Krookodile
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Alcremie has a decent cheap attack for one Psychic Energy if you have many Pokemon in play.
Krookodile's Venegeful Fang is a good counter attack. The issue with this is getting this Stage 2 Pokemon in play.
Firebreather + Blowtorch
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The Firebreather Supporter card is a super powerful search card dedicated for Fire Energy. Not many cards are able to search for more than 3 cards out of the deck. This one lets you search your deck for up to 7 Basic Fire Energy from the deck and put it into your hand. (Shuffle deck after.)
Blowtorch is a good card that will see some play in competitive play. Discard 1 Fire Energy for the cost of this card. You then discard 1 Pokemon Tool, Special Energy card from an opponent's Pokemon or discard a Stadium in play. Having one of these 3 choices for this Item card is pretty powerful.
Grimsley's Move, Wondrorous Patch
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Grimsley's Move is one of those gamble Supporter cards. Look at the top 7 cards of your deck and put any Dark Pokemon (Basic or Evolution) you find there onto your Bench. You can potentially Bench an evolved Dark Pokemon and cheat the evolution process.
Wondrous Patch is a powerful Psychic Energy acceleration Item card. You attach a Basic Psychic Energy card from your discard pile to 1 of your Benched Psychic Pokemon. This card is good for the prelease format and in certain competitive decks.
Ceruledge Promo
Ceruledge is the Stage 1 evolution of Charcadet. If you have 4 Fire Energy in your hand to discard then you can do 220 damage from the Infernal Slash attack.
Zacian Promo
This Zacian card in the standard competitive game lacks fire power with all the Mega Pokemon ex. In a prerelease format, this Zacian is okay I think.
If the opponent has 3 or less Prize cards remaining then this Limit Break attack does 50 base damage plus 90 more damage.
Flygon Promo
Flygon could be interesting in the prerelease format. The Cutting Wind does 130 damage from 2 Fighting Energy.
In prerelease, decks are 40 cards in size. You have an opening 7 card hand and 4 Prize cards during setup. This leaves you with a 29 card deck. Flygon's Sandy Flapping ability can be activated when Flygon is Knocked Out by damage in the Active Spot. Then you can discard/mill the top 2 cards of the opponent's deck. A deckout strategy is possible with Flygon in theory.
Toxtricity Promo
Toxtricity is not a Pokemon ex attacker but this is very useful for Dark decks in prerelease and in competitive play. Once during your turn you can use the Sinister Surge ability. Search your deck for 1 Basic Dark Energy and attach it to 1 of your Benched Dark Pokemon. The drawback is that Pokemon takes 20 damage in the form of 2 damage counters. Energy acceleration is generally a good thing as you can power up expensive attacks faster than the standard 1 Energy card attachment per turn.
If you have multiple Toxtricity in play, then you can accelerate even more Dark Energy from hand to your Benched Dark Pokemon. Once during your turn per Toxtricity.
Notes
Phantasmal Flames releases on Friday November 14, 2025 with prerelease events starting as early as November 1, 2025.
There are some card stores that do midnight prerelease events on Saturday Nov 1, 2025. Some players like these midnight prerelease events as they want the cards as early as possible.
Although we are given information on the prerelease promo cards, the pre-constructed decks with the promo cards are not known. Support cards can make a bad promo card shine in theory. There will be Youtubers who will open these products and show cards.
I do think that some scalpers and collectors are entering these prerelease events to get cards. This Phantasmal Flames set is hyped as people want to chase Mega Charizard X ex. I like the illustration rares of this card but I will not break my wallet in trying to gamble for it.
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