10 Best Rental Decks & How To Get Them

Figuring out which Pokémon TCG Pocket deck to try and collect can be tricky. Luckily, the game includes several rental decks to help with this process. Rental decks are fully constructed decks that players can unlock to get a feel for a certain Pokémon and its strategies. Collecting the highlighted Pokémon from each rental deck will unlock it for temporary use, which is nice because new players can try the decks out without owning every card. After 10 uses, players will need to unlock every card in a rental deck to unlock it permanently.

While rental decks in TCG Pocket can be a good way to check out new Pokémon and how they play, not all rental decks are equal in terms of power. This is partially due to the Pokémon they’re built around, but it isn’t a clear one-to-one. Some of the top-tier Pokémon have rental decks that fail to do them justice because they lack important pieces from their meta decks. Conversely, some Pokémon who don’t crack the top tier of competitive decks have pretty good rental decks.

10 Nidoqueen & Nidoking Work Well Together

The Nidoqueen & Nidoking Deck Has More Synergy Than Some Rental Decks

There are a few qualities the Nidoqueen & Nidoking rental deck has that make it better than some rental decks. It’s nice that this deck has two each of Nidoqueen, Nidoking, and the Pokémon needed to get them out. This gives a bulk of the Pokémon in the deck a purpose, unlike some rental decks with many filler Pokémon. Additionally, Nidoqueen and Nidoking synergize well together, though getting them both out can be somewhat inconsistent.

The two highlight cards needed to unlock this deck are Nidoqueen and Nidoking. Any art treatment of these cards works to unlock this deck. Both Pokémon are only available through the Genetic Apex Pikachu packs, so players looking to unlock this deck need to open those packs specifically. Alternatively, keeping an eye on Wonder Pick for them to pop up is always an option for any of the highlight Pokémon in rental decks.

9 Blaine’s Rental Deck Is Similar To A Mid-Tier Deck

Blaine Decks Use The Blaine Trainer Card To Buff Their Pokémon

Like all rental decks, the Blaine deck has some downsides. It doesn’t have any powerful basic Pokémon, and it only runs one copy of its highlighted Trainer card, making it somewhat inconsistent. However, the nice thing about this deck is that it comes close to emulating a mid-tier deck in its entirety. That means it’s one of the rental decks that comes closest to showing players the best version of that deck.

While the rental deck adds Growlithe, Arcanine, and Magmar and doesn’t run as many trainer cards as a competitive version would, the basic strategy is still the same.

Try to quickly get out one of the Pokémon Blaine interacts with – Ninetails, Rapidash, or Magmar – and use the extra damage this trainer card provides to quickly finish off opponents before they can fully set up their board. Players must acquire a Blaine supporter card to unlock this deck, which they can find in the Genetic Apex Charizard packs.

8 Venasaur Ex Is One Of The Most Resilient Pokémon In The Game

Venasaur Ex Has 190 HP And Heals Itself

The Venasaur ex rental deck does a good job showing off its highlight Pokémon’s strength, and the upside to playing grass-types. Aside from Venasaur ex, the deck also has Exeggutor and Gogoat, two Pokémon with solid health for second-stage evolutions. Though this deck definitely feels the absence of Lilligant – which most players use to more quickly attack with Venasaur – its ability to tank damage can help players last long enough to get off Venasaur ex’s powerful Giant Bloom attack.

For the most part, ex Pokémon can only be found in one of the three Genetic Apex packs, and Venasaur ex is no exception. Players must get this card from a Genetic Apex Mewtwo pack or luck into it on Wonder Pick.

7 Charizard Ex Deals More Damage Than Most Pokémon

Charizard’s Most Powerful Attack Can Knock Out Any Pokémon In One Hit

Charizard ex hits harder than most other Pokémon in TCG Pocket. While its attack is costly, and it struggles a bit without the help of Moltres ex, Charizard ex is still a serious threat, even in rental deck form. This deck also provides a pretty nice counter to the tanky Venasaur ex deck, thanks to its type advantage over it. It still falls short of a few rental decks due to its bloat and fewer trainer cards.

Charizard ex is the highlight card for this deck, so players will need to find it to unlock it. As one might expect, the most likely place to find Charizard ex is in the Genetic Apex Charizard packs. Charizard ex is one of only three Pokémon with a crown version that can be pulled out of any pack, but it’s so rare that players who really want a copy would do best to try the Charizard packs.

Blastoise’s Rental Deck Benefits From The Addition Of A Good Trainer Card

Blastoise is a bit of a slouch compared to the other Gen 1 starters in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Right now, the most competitive water-type decks prefer to use Starmie ex, Articuno, and Greninja instead. However, Blastoise somewhat makes up for this by having the best rental deck of the three Kanto starters.

Part of why the Blastoise ex rental deck is better than Charizard ex or Venasaur ex is its inclusion of Misty. While the deck only runs one copy, this Trainer card can help speed up powerful attacks. The addition of Lapras is also nice, as it gives the Blastoise ex deck a powerful basic Pokémon while the others are waiting to evolve into something stronger. The highlight card needed to unlock this deck is Blastoise ex which can be found in the Genetic Apex Pikachu packs.

5 Kanto Fossils Can Create Some Strong Early-Game Pokémon

Kanto Fossils Has Good Basic And Stage 1 Pokémon

For a rental deck that doesn’t have a clear meta-deck parallel, the Kanto Fossils deck is surprisingly good compared to the others. This is largely due to having basic Pokémon and stage 2 Pokémon that are pretty strong. Kangaskhan and Aerodactyl are two of the heavier hitters, with Aerodactyl’s attack potentially setting opponents back multiple turns. However, the titular fossils are a bit of a downside to this deck, as they aren’t as good as having a true basic Pokémon to work with while waiting to hit stage 2 evolution.

Kanto Fossils is perhaps the most challenging rental deck to unlock. It’s the only deck that requires players to unlock three separate highlight cards instead of just one or two. Thankfully, the three highlight cards – Omastar, Kabutops, and Aerodactyl – are less rare than cards like Charizard ex or Venasaur ex. Unfortunately, they are spread out across the three different packs. Omastar is in the Genetic Apex Pikachu packs, Aerodactyl is in the Mewtwo packs, and Kabutops is in the Charizard packs.

4 The Lt. Surge Rental Deck Is One Of The Most Well-Crafted

Lt. Surge’s Rental Deck Has No Wasted Slots Like Other Rental Decks

The nice thing about the Lt. Surge rental deck is its synergy. Every electric type Pokémon in this deck is included because it directly interacts with Lt. Surge in some way, whether it is the recipient of the extra energy or a storage for it like Magneton. This is a nice change of pace from the many rental decks that throw in a Rattata and Raticate just to fill spots despite not fitting the deck’s theme.

The Lt. Surge is also one of the easiest
Pokémon TCG Pocket
rental decks to unlock.

Although Lt. Surge can only be found in Genetic Apex Pikachu packs, it’s only a two-diamond card. The rarest cards in this deck are only three-diamond cards, meaning it isn’t too difficult to permanently unlock either. This deck would be even higher on the list if it had a competitive parallel, but unfortunately, Lt. Surge isn’t cut out for the current meta.

3 Koga Can Keep Pokémon Safe While Delivering Detrimental Effects

The Koga Trainer Card Can Be Used For Free Retreats

One thing that sets the Koga deck apart from other Pokémon TCG Pocket rental decks is its ability to defend itself. Being able to keep Pokémon safe is a huge plus for a rental deck, which will often be tasked with hitting above its weight class. This deck allows players to put Weezing or Muk into their hand, which also means switching to another active Pokémon for free. One nice way to use this is to poison an opponent’s Pokémon with Weezing, then swap Weezing for Muk with Koga, both protecting Weezing and allowing Muk to hit for 120 damage.

Like the Lt. Surge and Blaine decks, this one is easy to unlock since players just need the Koga Trainer card to do so. Players can find Koga in Genetic Apex Mewtwo packs in the two-diamond slot. If players build this deck on their own, they’ll probably want an additional Koga to get another free retreat at some point.

2 Mewtwo Ex Is One Of The Game’s Best Basic Pokémon

Strong Basic Pokémon Give Players A Head Start Over Pokémon That Need To Evolve

The Mewtwo ex rental deck is mainly powerful thanks to its highlight card. Mewtwo ex hits very hard for a basic Pokémon. While it takes four turns to power its most powerful attack, that can still be faster than evolving a Pokémon to stage three and pumping it with energy. Unfortunately, this rental deck suffers a little because of some lackluster support and is yet another deck that includes a somewhat useless Rattata and Raticate pairing instead of something on theme.

Players who want to unlock the trial version of this deck will need to get a copy of Mewtwo ex. Mewtwo ex is most likely to appear in the Genetic Apex Mewtwo packs. Like Charizard ex, there is also a crown version that could appear in any pack, but it is a lot more rare than one of the other art treatments.

This Rental Deck Is The Best At Emulating A More Competitive Deck

The Pikachu ex deck is the one that probably comes the closest to its competitive counterpart. While it feels the absence of Zapdos ex, it still has cards like Electrode and Zebstrika that appear in meta lists for Pikachu ex builds. It also has a full roster of electric-type Pokémon, meaning whatever is on the bench will fuel Pikachu ex’s powerful attack. While still not perfect, this is easily the best rental deck in Pokémon TCG Pocket so far.

Players will need to get their hands on a copy of Pikachu ex to unlock its temporary rental deck. Pikachu ex has two art treatments found in the Genetic Apex Pikachu packs and a crown version with a small chance to appear in any deck. Like Mewtwo ex, Pikachu ex is one of the best competitive cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket, so chasing it for a rental deck is hardly a waste of packs or Wonder Picks.