There is no best or worst type of Pokemon, as each group has its strengths and weaknesses. All advantages in the ever-evolving franchise's games are situational. Be it in the games, anime, or Pokemon TCG, strategy and planning are the most important factors in attaining victory.

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Fire-types in the Pokemon TCG are known for hitting harder than most, though this method alone can be risky as the best cards and strategies for a fire deck can require a lot of time or energy to pull off. To properly scorch foes, every trainer aiming to fight alongside the flames needs to consider a few things if they want to be successful.

Updated on December 17, 2021, by Reyadh Rahaman: With each new expansion released for the Pokemon TCG, more and more cards of increasing strength get added. As such, it is subject to the "power creep" seen in a lot of other trading card game franchises. This means that trainers who are active in the TCG-battle scene should always check out new cards to see if they can use them to improve their deck. This is as true for Fire-type Pokemon cards as it is for the other TCG types.

Utilize A Unique Status Ailment

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"Burn" is the newest special condition out of all the status ailments that can be inflicted upon foes in the TCG. It acts like Poison in that it consistently chips away at the afflicted Pokemon's HP every turn until healed, though it does 20 HP worth of damage per turn instead of Poison's 10 HP damage-over-time.

How To Heal Burns

The way to heal a Burn is by flipping a coin after taking damage and getting heads. Otherwise, a trainer can use a trainer card like Full Heal instead. While not particularly dangerous to foes with a lot of HP, unevolved Pokemon and those resistant to regular damage from fire attacks can be weakened or knocked out passively from a Burn, making it a useful secondary strategy.

Don't Run Out Of Energy

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Quite a few of the most powerful Fire-type attacks have a negative effect, like discarding attached energies, in order to make them more balanced. Though, there is a way around losing energy after using each of one's more fierce attacks. Trainer cards, like Energy Retrieval, can alleviate frustration in this regard. Some Pokemon abilities and attack effects can do similar feats, therefore it is recommended that trainers intending on immolating foes should pack a few of these into their deck.

Bring The Heat

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The Difference Between Normal Energy Cards And Special Energy Cards

There are two main types of energy in the Pokemon TCG: normal energy and special energy. Normal energies are cards that provide one unit of energy to one Pokemon. Special energies provide one, or more, energies to a selected Pokemon and may also have additional effects.

Great Fire Special Energy Cards To Use

Heat [Fire] Energy cards are special energies introduced in the Darkness Ablaze expansion that came out during the summer of 2020. In addition to giving a Pokemon one Fire-type energy, they also heal the selected Pokemon for 20 HP upon being attached to them. Another excellent one is the Burning Energy card, which can be re-attached to a Fire-type Pokemon after it is used up by an attack.

Check Weaknesses

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What Fire Pokemon In The TCG Are Weak To

A Fire-type Pokemon's greatest weakness is Water-type attacks. In the TCG, most fire Pokemon take double damage from aquatic assaults, therefore Water-type decks can be very difficult to go up against. To avoid having one's deck doused into submission, trainers should have a few water-counters in their fire deck.

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How A Fire Deck Can Counter A Water Deck

It would be a good idea to have a few Fire-type Pokemon that take neutral damage to Water-type attacks, like Talonflame from the Darkness Ablaze expansion (it is instead weak to Lightning-type attacks). Having some Grass-types or Lighning-type Pokemon could also be useful counters, depending on one's deck synergy.

Strike First To Gain An Early Advantage

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Fire-type Pokemon hit hard, though they don't usually have high HP. This makes them the glass cannons of the Pokemon TCG world. If one does not set up their offense in time, they may lose Pokemon needlessly to opponents with faster decks. A way to avoid this is to start off playing weaker and quicker Pokemon first.

An Example Of A Opening Play For A Fire Deck

Cards with low-energy cost attacks can hinder the adversary while they are trying to set up strategies. Larvesta from the Darkness Ablaze expansion is a decent representation of this, as its Singe attack guarantees a Burn on the foe and only requires one Fire-type energy to play, making it an optimal card to use at the beginning of a battle.

Strike Hard To Keep The Advantage

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Fire-types excel at offense and don't have great defense or recovery, making the kind of playstyle required for a successful fire deck obvious. With heavy-hitting yet energy-expensive attacks, players can one or two-shot many opposing Active Pokemon, though this momentum can be difficult to keep up.

Tips For Keeping Up The Momentum For A Fire Deck

  • Set up your Active Pokemon with enough energy so that they can continuously attack
  • Don't neglect Pokemon on the Bench, as unexpected things can happen to render one's Active Pokemon unsuitable for battle.
  • Give Bench Pokemon enough energy to attack as soon as they become an Active Pokemon

Consider Using The Charizard Line

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Since the very beginning of the Pokemon TCG's existence, Charizard cards have been some of the most powerful in the series. Many are able to dish out huge damage in a single turn, which can fell many foes even if they are at full health.

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There are often huge energy requirements that come with implementing Charizard effectively, but these are usually worth the time and effort as a well-fueled one can raze entire enemy teams to the ground.

Support The Scorching

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Having powerful Pokemon and lots of energy is important but one should not forget to support them with the appropriate trainer cards. There are a few that can speed up the process of charging one's Pokemon with energy.

Some Useful Supporter Cards For Fire Decks

The Blacksmith Supporter card from the Flashfire expansion lets a trainer attach two energy cards from the discard pile directly onto a Pokemon. The Professor's Letter Item card from the BREAKthrough expansion is another useful one if low on fuel, as it lets the player search their deck for two energies.

Build A Balanced Deck

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Having a core strategy to focus on is ideal in that this allows one to concentrate on doing one thing really well as opposed to doing multiple things in a mediocre manner, though relying on a single card is a bad idea.

Total Deck Size And Card Limit

Decks need to contain a minimum of 60 cards, therefore even with 4 copies allowed per card, drawing one's best Pokemon could take a while. Instead, pick a small group of cards that work well with one another and build a deck around them.

How Many Energy Cards Are Ideal For A Fire Deck

It is also crucial to have the right number of Pokemon, trainer, and energy cards. Most decks use between 15 and 25 energies, though since Fire-types drain fuel a bit quicker it is recommended to lean toward having more of them than less.

Sizzle With Style

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Strategy and victory are important factors to be sure but don't forget to enjoy the battle. Use Pokemon that are interesting and fun to build a strategy that feels right. There are no wrong ways to enjoy the Pokemon TCG and innovation by utilizing new strategies can be satisfying. This can even give a trainer a leg up on the competition by unleashing unexpected battling techniques.

Update Your Deck With New Cards Once In A While

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Besides the powerful V and VMAX Pokemon cards that are becoming increasingly used in battles, there are still many other strong cards for a Fire-type deck. For example, take a look at a few from the Fusion Strike expansion that was released in November 2021.

Centiskorch - Rapid Strike

As a Rapid Strike card, this Censtiskorch lives up to its classification pretty well. On the first turn that it is in the Active Pokemon slot, it can use Coil to deal a bit of damage to the opponent as well as to buff itself. Coil will cause Centiskorch's next attack to deal an additional 90 damage. Therefore, if Centiskorch then uses their other move, Burning Train (which has a base damage of 120), this Fire-type Pokemon can slam the foe with 210 damage with no downsides besides a 1-turn buildup.

Ninetales

Interestingly for a Fire-type Pokemon card, Ninetales gives themselves and their allies significantly lower retreat costs by simply being on the field. Their ability, Byway of the Nine-Tailed Fox, essentially gives their trainer the ability to switch which of their Pokemon is in the Active slot with the utmost ease. With this, a trainer can create a revolving door of Pokemon that will keep the opponent guessing.

Heatmor

Normally forgotten about, Heatmor actually gets a bit of love in this TCG expansion. This card will take a lot of energy to get up to full power, however, when it does, it can be useful for a pretty unique and destructive strategy. Firstly, trainers can potentially fuel up Heatmor by using their Flame Cloak move, which will do a little bit of damage to the foe, however is better used for retrieving fire energy from the discard pile.

This, in addition to adding fire energy to Heatmor the normal way, will allow them to meet the requirement of their Exciting Flame attack's secondary effect. With enough fire energy attached, each of Heatmor's Exciting Flame attacks will deal 90 damage to the enemy Active Pokemon, but will also deal a huge 180 damage to one of their Bench Pokemon. As such, Heatmor can lay waste to the enemy's Bench and Active Pokemon at once.

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