This card was included in the Darkness Ablaze expansion with artwork by aky CG Works, first released as part of the Japanese Charizard VMAX Starter Set. A Rainbow Rare version with artwork by the same artist was subsequently released as in Japan as a S-P Promotional card. Participating Pokémon Centers, Pokémon Card Stations, and stores hosting Pokémon Card Gym meetings between July 23 and September 22, 2020 held Charizard HR Competitions, which were Limited format tournaments.[1] People wising to reserve their position could do so for most venues through the Player's Club website. Entrants received ten Legendary Heartbeat packs and 15 copies each of basic Grass, Lightning, Fighting, Psychic, and Metal Energy cards upon paying the entry fee and were required to construct a 40-card deck to use in games with four Prize cards. Each tournament consisted of multiple 4-player round-robin qualifying rounds with the top player from each group going on to compete in the knockout stages. The overall winners of a tournament were given a copy of the Rainbow Rare version of this card.[1] An invitation-only Charizard HR Competition consisting of eight players was held at Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo on July 17, 2020 to decide the first winner of the card.[2] Six hundred copies of the Rainbow Rare version were intended to be distributed at physical venues.[3]
A further 600 copies of the Rainbow Rare version were also to be distributed by lottery to participants of the Sealed Battle at Home Campaign[4], set up in response to comments following the initial announcement of the competition on July 3, 2020.[3] To become eligible, people were required to record the result of a Limited format battle played at home using the same resources as the physical tournaments. Results could be listed on a form downloadable from the official website, which also required people to affix a barcode from a Legendary Heartbeat booster box as proof. This form could then be sent to Creatures, Inc. in the mail and would be entered into the lottery if postmarked between July 23 and September 22, 2020. People could enter as many times as they wished but could only win one prize. Selected entrants received a copy of the Rainbow Rare version and a copy of a Full Art Charizard V.[4] Due to the popularity of the event, more Charizard HR Competitions were held at Pokémon Centers between September 28 and October 5, 2020.[5] The Rainbow Rare version was later included in the Champion's Path expansion.
A Shiny version of the Champion's Path print was included in the Shining Fates expansion, first released in the Japanese Shiny Star V subset. The Darkness Ablaze print was later reprinted in a second version of the Japanese Charizard VMAX Starter Set and was available in the VMAX Battle Triple Starter Set from December 4, 2020. A Full Art print with artwork by Shiburingaru was later released as a SWSH Black Star Promo and was available in the Sword & Shield Ultra-Premium Collection—Charizard from October 28, 2022.
Gallery
(Japanese: リザードンVMAX LizardonVMAX) is a Fire-type Pokémon VMAX card. It was first released as part of the Darkness Ablaze expansion.
