Mega Charizard X ex is the Pokémon card to chase

Phantasmal Flames prints the same card under three different rarities, at prices that have nothing in common. The version carrying this art is the set's chase card: this print belongs to the rarity the game calls special illustration rare, reserved for the catalogue's most recent sets. It is detailed on the Mega Charizard X ex card page and on the Phantasmal Flames set page.

The same Charizard, three prints

The character does not change from one card to the next: the print does. A special illustration print spills past the card's usual frame and covers nearly its whole surface, while the hyper rare print and the ultra rare print keep the game's standard layout. A buyer has to check the card number before comparing one amount to another, rather than trust the artwork alone.

Placing Phantasmal Flames in its era

Phantasmal Flames landed between the launch of the Mega Evolution era and the set that followed it. A chase card from a set this recent carries a shorter price history than the chase cards of older sets. A recently released market has simply had less time to build up readings than an older one.

Across a catalogue with dozens of sets, placing a release in its era helps compare what can actually be compared: two chase cards from the same moment, rather than two cards years of the market apart. That reading by era holds for any chase card in the catalogue, not just a Charizard.

This Charizard shares its name with two other prints from the same set; only the number printed on the card tells them apart.