I choose you, Charizard: We opened a box of Pokémon TCG: Obsidian Flames early and scored big

When opening Pokémon cards, you are never guaranteed to get anything you want from a pack—but opening an entire box increases the odds at least a bit to nab a money card or two. We opened an entire box of the Pokémon TCG’s upcoming Obsidian Flames set early and managed to score some of the best pulls in the set.

Thanks to early product from The Pokémon Company, I opened a full booster box, or 36 packs, of Obsidian Flames more than a week before the set drops in the west on Aug. 11.

This set is going to be known for one card, and one card alone—Charizard ex. That is because Charizard is always going to be among the most popular Pokémon, which means its cards will be valuable pulls, especially when that includes the Special Illustration Rare variant that really shows off the Dark Tera Typing.

Over the last two Scarlet and Violet set openings, my luck has been pretty bad with what cards I was able to pull in a box. For Obsidian Flames, it appears my first starter was able to change my luck, and I pulled some literal gold—even if it wasn’t the top-of-the-line option most collectors will be gunning for.

Our best pulls from Pokémon TCG: Obsidian Flames 

Bar none, the titular “Obsidian Flame” Charizard ex Special Illustration Rare is the chase card for this set, clocking in at a pre-launch price of $280 dollars.

I wasn’t lucky enough to pull that raging demon, but I did get its golden cousin, the Hyper Gold Rare Charizard ex, which is about $100 cheaper. I actually like the shiny look of this Gold Rare version a lot, though it is missing the dynamic posing and shading that will draw eager pack-hunting players to the SIR variant. 

I actually knew this opening was going to be better than my last few based on my first pack since I pulled the Illustrator Rare Scizor right away; one of a handful of cards I was hoping to grab while popping packs. That was later followed by an IR Pidgey and IR Bellibolt, which are also fantastic pulls.

In the back half of my box, I was also lucky enough to pull a SIR Revavroom EX to pair with Double Rare Pidgeot ex, Decidueye ex, Dragonite ex, and more. But by far, the best non-Charizard pull this time around was a Full Art Tyranitar ex.

I only pulled one Trainer card worth mentioning, a Full Art variant of Ortega. The rest of my notable holo pulls were more Double Rare ex Pokémon such as Greedent.

Best cards you should try to pull in Pokémon TCG: Obsidian Flames 

If you aren’t just hunting for Charizard and full art cards, you should keep an eye out for a few pulls that could be useful down the line for competitive play too.

Charizard ex, even just the Double Rare variant, Pigeot ex, Eiscue ex, and several other Pokémon ex making their appearance have the potential to shakeup the meta. Eiscue ex can deal 160 damage and stop your opponent from attacking, Pigeot ex lets you search for any card in your deck and discard active Stadium cards when it attacks, and Charizard ex can turbo out some Energy and deal massive damage in a comeback state—just to name a few.

Don’t overlook some solid Pokémon like Palafin, Scizor, Cryagonal, and even Lunatone, which you can pair with Solrock to completely shut down the effects of Stadium cards. Other Pokémon ex to keep an eye on includes Glimmora ex, Toedscruel ex, and Revavroom ex.

Geeta, Ortega, and Poppy are chase cards at their higher rarity, but you are bound to get a playset of commons if you open enough packs. Each Trainer offers some nice support options, specifically Geeta letting you search out two Basic Energy and attach them directly to any Pokémon on your field. 

Pokémon League Headquarters, Artazon, and Town Store are all solid pickups at that Stadium slot too, even with many cards in this set bringing new counterplay to Stadium strategies. 

Pokémon TCG: Obsidian Flames releases on Aug. 11. Some players might already be eyeing up the next lucrative set—Pokémon TCG: Scarlet and Violet 151.