Hah! You better have Burn Heal if you think you’re ready to become a Fire Gym Leader! With explosive support options and multiple Supporter based Energy accelerators, there is a lot to love about Fire type Pokémon in Gym leader Challenge! It’s always fascinating to see cards from the Black and White era team up with Pokémon from the Sword and Shield block. That’s one of my favorite things about the Fire deck and about Gym Leader Challenge in general: at any point in the game you may have cards in play that span 10 years of the Pokémon TCG working together to form a cohesive Strategy!

Support Pokémon

Alright now, full disclosure, one of the reasons I love Fire so much is that I’ve been playing since Emboar and Delphox were in Standard format. Inferno Fandango! Get it!? It’s like the Fire version of Rain Dance! Emboar is also one of my favorite Pokemon Cards ever, specifically the Legendary Treasures print with the flavor text, “It can throw a fire punch by setting its fists on fire with its fiery chin. It cares deeply about its friends.” If you don’t think that’s cool, then becoming a Fire Gym Leader might not be for you. Delphox also has one of the best draw Abilities ever printed on a non Rule Box Pokemon in the form of Mystical Fire, which allows you to fill your hand to six once a turn. Combined with Magcargo, you can stack your deck and draw into exactly what you need when you need it! And don’t forget Charizard, which doubles all of the Fire energy on your board!

Attackers

Nobody gets the party started like Volcanion from Unbroken Bonds. Flare Starter, which can accelerate three Fire from the deck to your Pokémon if it’s your first turn going second, is the best way to kick off any game with Fire, which probably warrants choosing to go second. With Brigette and Sonia in deck its not uncommon to get a big turn one play with Volcanion! Ho-Oh from Celebrations is probably the front-runner for most reliable Fire type attacker, and another great way to kick off the game since it can do 50 snipe for just two Energy or 120 damage for three. My favorite Fire type attacker, however, is definitely Heatmor. If I’m playing Fire, I’m going full-greed and trying to load six Energy onto Heatmor so that I can unlock the absolutely insane 180 snipe effect of Exciting Flame. With so many options, there really is no wrong way to build a Fire type deck. It’s definitely one of the types with the most options, so pick your favorite Fire Type Pokémon and get building!

Decklists

Turbo Fire

Give 'em the heat and don't let up! Aiming to go second and play the turn 1 Volcanion, if you do, it's most likely game over. The deck is very consistent, even in the event of an unlucky discard from PokéStop, you have Rescue Stretcher and Klara to pick up the missing pieces. Arcanine, Blacksmith, Raihan and Magma Basin enable you to play energy from the discard pile. Castform Sunny Form is an amazing pivot that hits good numbers for just two damage. Heatmor wins games taking multi-KO turns, and Entei is a giant wall, especially with a Fighting Fury Belt equipped. Don't sleep on Wishful Baton either, it enables you to have 5 or 6 energy on the board at many points in the game!

Last Update: December 2023

Fire Mill