It's no secret that the Pokémon TCG is chock-full of Charizards. In Wargamer's recent review of Phantasmal Flames, we argued that though, for the most part, the set is awesome, it continues a tired tradition of pointing a dazzling spotlight on the fiery flyer. This can make it difficult for other Pokémon to get their time to shine. Today, I want to talk about another Kanto starter Pokémon that's not been given a proper chance to come out of its shell, Blastoise.
We moved from the Scarlet and Violet series into the Mega Evolution series in September 2025 with the release of the set of the same name (that is, a set called "Mega Evolution", not one called "September 2025", that'd be a bit of an avante-garde title). Mega Evolution included a Mega Venusaur card. While this Mega Venusaur wasn't the central focus of the Pokémon Company's marketing efforts (it was Lucario and Gardevoir who got the fancy golden art treatments), it was still present, and an indication that we were in for a new run of Mega-evolved starters from Kanto.
Then, November saw the release of Phantasmal Flames, which plastered Mega Charizard X front and center on just about everything. Charizard is on the packs, Charizard is on the elite trainer boxes, Charizard is on the prerelease kits, and, of course, there's a shining golden Mega Hyper Rare Charizard, beautiful and terrible as the dawn.
Now, if you're following the pattern, there's just one starter left. Surely, when Ascended Heroes comes out in January, it will finish the job and give us a badass Blastoise to complete the trio, right?
Wrong! Instead, it has been confirmed that Ascended Heroes will feature Mega Charizard Y, as the Pokémon Company double dips on the highly marketable burning lizard, while leaving the lesser-loved artillery wielding tortoise high and dry.
Hopefully, this is just a setback, and whatever follows Ascended Heroes will feature a Mega Blastoise that'll blast everyone's socks off. Surely the weaponized water type isn't going to get forgotten again… Right?
Are you a Blatoise buff, a Charizard cheerleader, or a Venusaur advocate? Let us know in the Wargamer Discord.
If you're looking for a history lesson on when Charizard and Blastoise were first printed way back in the Base Set, check out our list of every Pokémon set in order of release.