Bold red text spelling out 'FIRE' with a gradient background and a light gray border around the letters.

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


Swamp Fire

Source: Spencer Batton
08/2025

  • 1 Castform Sunny Form CRE 22

    1 Chi-Yu SVP 57

    1 Fuecoco PAL 35

    1 Crocalor PAR 24

    1 Skeledirge SSP 31

    1 Gouging Fire SSP 38

    1 Ponyta MEW 77

    1 Rapidash DRI 30

    1 Salandit CRZ 27

    1 Salazzle UNB 31

    1 Slugma PRC 22

    1 Magcargo CES 24

    1 Volcanion UNB 25

    1 Vulpix SSP 16

    1 Ninetales OBF 29

    1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92

    1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101

    1 Energy Retrieval WHT 82

    1 Escape Rope BST 125

    1 Evolution Incense SSH 163

    1 Field Blower GRI 125

    1 Fire Crystal UNB 173

    1 Heavy Ball BKT 140

    1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146

    1 Level Ball BST 129

    1 Nest Ball PAF 84

    1 Night Stretcher SFA 61

    1 Pokégear 3.0 BLK 84

    1 Professor's Letter BKT 146

    1 Quick Ball FST 237

    1 Rare Candy MEG 125

    1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130

    1 Trainers' Mail ROS 92

    1 Ultra Ball MEG 131

    1 VS Seeker PHF 109

    1 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99

    1 Float Stone BKT 137

    1 Muscle Band XY 121

    1 Giant Hearth UNM 197

    1 Lost City LOR 161

    1 Magma Basin BRS 144

    1 Arven OBF 186

    1 Ball Guy SHF 57

    1 Bird Keeper DAA 159

    1 Blacksmith FLF 88

    1 Guzma BUS 115

    1 Hex Maniac AOR 75

    1 Iono PAF 80

    1 Klara CRE 145

    1 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

    1 Marnie CPA 56

    1 Welder UNB 189

    8 Basic Fire Energy SVE 10

Phoenix Fire

Source: scallion
06/2025

  • 1 Castform Sunny Form SSP 20

    1 Chi-Yu PAR 29

    1 Entei CEC 28

    1 Reshiram CEL 2

    1 Salandit CRZ 27

    1 Salazzle UNB 31

    1 Slugma PRC 22

    1 Magcargo CES 24

    1 Torchic PRC 26

    1 Combusken DAA 23

    1 Blaziken DRI 42

    1 Vulpix SSP 16

    1 Ninetales OBF 29

    1 Battle VIP Pass FST 225

    1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144

    1 Evolution Incense SSH 163

    1 Field Blower GRI 125

    1 Fire Crystal UNB 173

    1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146

    1 Level Ball BST 129

    1 Nest Ball PAF 84

    1 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186

    1 Professor's Letter BKT 146

    1 Rare Candy PAF 89

    1 Rescue Carrier EVS 154

    1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130

    1 Tag Call CEC 206

    1 VS Seeker PHF 109

    1 Float Stone BKT 137

    1 Technical Machine: Blindside PAR 176

    1 Technical Machine: Crisis Punch PAF 90

    1 Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178

    1 Artazon PAF 76

    1 Lost City LOR 161

    1 Magma Basin BRS 144

    1 Training Court RCL 169

    1 Arven SVI 166

    1 Blacksmith FLF 88

    1 Colress's Tenacity SFA 57

    1 Cynthia & Caitlin CEC 189

    1 Guzma BUS 115

    1 Guzma & Hala CEC 193

    1 Hex Maniac AOR 75

    1 Iono PAL 185

    1 Klara CRE 145

    1 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

    1 Lt. Surge's Strategy HIF 60

    1 Lusamine CIN 96

    1 Raihan CRZ 140

    1 Welder UNB 189

    7 Basic Fire Energy SVE 10

    1 Capture Energy RCL 171

    1 Counter Energy CIN 100

    1 Reversal Energy PAL 192

Fire Mill

  • 1 Castform Sunny Form SSP 20

    1 Charmander VIV 23

    1 Charmeleon PAF 8

    1 Charizard PGO 10

    1 Fennekin SIT 25

    1 Braixen SIT 26

    1 Delphox XY 26

    1 Moltres TEU 19

    1 Oricorio CES 30

    1 Salandit CRZ 27

    1 Salazzle UNB 31

    1 Sizzlipede BST 29

    1 Centiskorch SSH 39

    1 Slugma PRC 22

    1 Magcargo CES 24

    1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101

    1 Counter Catcher PAR 160

    1 Escape Rope BST 125

    1 Evolution Incense SSH 163

    1 Fire Crystal UNB 173

    1 Heavy Ball BKT 140

    1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146

    1 Level Ball BST 129

    1 Nest Ball PAF 84

    1 Pokégear 3.0 BLK 84

    1 Professor's Letter BKT 146

    1 Quick Ball FST 237

    1 Rare Candy MEG 125

    1 Reset Stamp UNM 206

    1 Super Rod PAL 188

    1 Trainers' Mail ROS 92

    1 Ultra Ball MEG 131

    1 VS Seeker PHF 109

    1 Float Stone BKT 137

    1 Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178

    1 Giant Hearth UNM 197

    1 Magma Basin BRS 144

    1 Ace Trainer AOR 69

    1 Arven OBF 186

    1 Ball Guy SHF 57

    1 Blacksmith FLF 88

    1 Gladion CIN 95

    1 Green's Exploration UNB 175

    1 Guzma BUS 115

    1 Iono PAF 80

    1 Klara CRE 145

    1 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

    1 Lt. Surge's Strategy HIF 60

    1 Mela PAR 167

    1 Raihan CRZ 140

    1 Teammates PRC 141

    1 Welder UNB 189

    8 Basic Fire Energy SVE 10

Looking for more ideas or feedback on your deck?

Head over to Tricky Gym Discord’s glc-decklists channel for threads on every archetype to discuss strategy, get suggestions, and browse decklists!

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