June was a busy month for Pokémon UNITE, with the introduction of two new Pokémon and two substantial balance patches. Entering July, it looks as though the updates are going to slow down as we approach the end of season four as well as the first anniversary of the game. But with an already hectic meta, is there still a place for things to keep changing?
S Tier:
- Hoopa – 18.5% (-0.5)
- Absol – 17.5% (+1.5)
A Tier:
- Blissey – 11% (-2.5)
B Tier:
- Lucario – 8% (+1.5)
- Tsareena – 5.5% (+0.5)
C Tier:
- Dragonite — 5% (+1)
- Delphox – 5% (-3.5)
- Cramorant – 5% (+4)
- Blastoise – 3% (+2)
- Zeraora 00 2.5% (+1)
D Tier:
- Venusaur – 2% (+/-)
- Pikachu – 2% (-0.5)
- Snorlax – 2% (-2)
- Greedent – 2% (+1)
- Ninetalees – 1.5% (+0.5)
- Greninja – 1% (+1)
- Cinderace—1% (-1)
- Slowbro – 1% (-1)
- Decidueye – 1% (+/-)
- Wigglytuff – 1.5% (-0.5)
- Talonflame – (-0.5)
- Garchomp – 1% (+/-)
- Espeon – 1% (-0.5)
- Machamp – 0.5% (+0.5)
- Trevenant – 0.5% (+0.5)
- Mamoswine – 0.5% (+0.5)
Aegislash (-2.5), Charizard (-0.5), Gardevoir, Azumarill, Eldegoss, Sylveon, Duraludon, Gengar, Crustle and Mr. Mime all saw no noticeable usage among the top 100 players.
Below is the monthly moving average for the top 10 Pokemon:
The surging supporters and diminishing defenders
While their lead has diminished the past few weeks, the Pokémon UNITE meta has been dominated by Support Pokémon since the end of may. Old meta staples like Eldegoss, Mr. Mime and Wigglytuff weren’t the cause of this either — those three have been struggling for relevancy the entire season. Instead, this was driven by Blissey and Hoopa; Hoopa has monopolized the role of supporter in the meta, despite seeing some nerfs in a recent patch that reduced its damage output. Blissey has taken the role of defender in the game, able to take damage, heal allies, provide unstoppable buffs, and stun foes.
With Blissey as the new default defender, the actual defenders in the game have been struggling for relevance. After a brief Blastoise revival, a patch in May reduced its usage rates to zero. Slowbro, despite sizable buffs to Scald, isn’t seeing a play rate corresponding with its increased damage output. Crustle remains the only Pokémon in the game to see no usage among top players this entire season.
Methodology: This data is collected using both the rankings tab in Pokémon UNITE and the Pokémon UNITE API. A Pokémon is considered a player’s “main” if it is the most played Pokémon in their most recent 16 ranked matches. In the event of a tie or near tie, the data will reflect that. When more than two Pokémon are tied, the 32 most recent matches will be considered instead.
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