Pokémon Trading Card Game releases its latest expansion, Scarlet & Violet – Obsidian Flames, next week. With Charizard serving as the figurehead Pokémon for this expansion, it’s sure to be a popular release given that particular Pocket Monster’s history with the TCG. 

This expansion continues building on the Scarlet and Violet games with even more Paldean species but also adds type-shifted Tera Pokémon ex. This mechanic recalls the Delta Species mechanic from the early 2000s, where the strongest form of a Pokémon could be of a different type than its evolutionary chain. However, type-shifted Tera Pokémon ex actually make sense within the context of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games, as Tera Pokémon often change types when they Terastallize. One of the marquee type-shifted Tera Pokémon is a Darkness-type Charizard ex.

Obsidian Flames adds more than 190 new cards to the TCG, including more than 20 new Pokémon ex cards, more than 15 Trainer cards, and a bunch of special-illustration Pokémon and Trainer cards. The Pokémon Company sent a bunch of booster packs our way so we can see what we could pull. You can see my favorite cards I got in the gallery below.

I was initially underwhelmed by my pulls; I got a few favorites like Clefable and Scizor early on – but I was inundated by the same Darkrai and Geeta cards over and over. However, that was only until I got down to my final two booster packs when I apparently caught fire. There, in back-to-back booster packs, I pulled both of my Charizard cards – one of which is a special illustration rare pull. I also managed to get a hyper-rare Artazon card, complete with gold trim. This likely won’t go down as my favorite expansion Pokémon Trading Card Game has ever done, but I still love several of the cards included in this bunch.

Pokémon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet – Obsidian Flames arrives on store shelves on August 11, though some Build & Battle Boxes are available now. For more Pokémon TCG content, including galleries of past expansions, interviews, and the latest news, head to our hub by clicking the banner below.