7 Best Cards in Pokemon TCG Obsidian Flames Set

Overall Obsidian Flames is not the meta-shifting set some players hoped for, but these 7 cards may have an impact on the competitive scene.

The Pokémon TCG community was a bit underwhelmed with the latest set, Obsidian Flames. While some cards were a collector’s dream thanks to their stunning artwork and featured Pokémon, that seemed like the extent. Are any of the cards in Obsidian Flames competitive viable? Here are the best cards in Obsidian Flames.

Charizard EX

Charizard is no stranger to having cards printed of him and he is heavily featured in Obsidian Flames. In fact, he is the most expensive card in the set. But is this card any good?

Charizard ex is a dark-type shifted tera card with an ability called Infernal Reign that lets you search your deck for three basic fire energy cards and attach them to your Pokémon however you like. Its attack Burning Darkness does 180 base damage plus an added 30 for each prize card your opponent has taken.

Charizard ex is not the most viable card in the current meta but if you love playing fire decks, this could definitely be a good addition thanks to its early game energy acceleration and late game heavy damage.

Pidgeot EX

A lot of decks are utilizing Pidgeot ex thanks to its ability, Quick Search. This allows you to search your deck for any card once a turn and put that card into your hand before shuffling your deck. While Pidgeot ex doesn’t do a lot of damage, it’s a strong utility card that can help you stay ahead if you have room left in your deck.

Tyranitar EX

Tyranitar ex is an electric type-shifted tera card that has an impressive HP of 340. This is a tanky card that has the most HP of all ‘mon in the Obsidian Flames expansion. On top of not being able to damage him on the bench, Tyranitar ex is definitely going to be tough to knock out. Lightning Rampage can deal up to 250 damage, which is definitely a great bonus but don’t expect to see a bunch of Tyranitar ex decks popping up.

Poppy

This is probably not going to be the most competitively viable support card out there but it’s probably the best one in Obsidian Flames. Poppy lets you move two energy from one of your Pokémon to another. 

This can definitely help in certain situations but in most instances, this probably isn’t what you’d want to waste a support card on. You might see some decks playing a surprise Poppy here and there.

Glimmora EX

Glimmora ex has an ability called Dust Field that may come in handy. This ability ensures that your opponent can’t have more than three benched Pokémon at a time, which will force them to discard some that are already in play or limit the amount of utility on their bench.

 Glimmora has an okay damage output and with poison as well.

Palafin

Okay, we’re grasping here but Palafin at least has Justice Kick, which does 210 base damage if you move Palafin to the active spot that turn. It’s similar to Golisopod GX (RIP, one of my favorite decks) in that way.

If you want Palafin to be optimal, try pairing it with Decidueye ex, a grass ‘mon that can use Total Freedom to move both cards back and forth between the bench and the active spot. Decidueye isn’t the greatest card, however, and doesn’t do a lot of damage but it’s nice to be able to hit the opponent’s bench.

Toadscruel EX

This grass-type Pokémon has an interesting ability called Protective Mycelium. This will prevent all effects from your opponent's attacks to any Pokémon that has an energy attached to them. You’ll still get damaged, however. You can also deal up to 280 damage if you have eight energy on the field, which isn’t too shabby. But this may take a little bit to set up.