Main picks of top 100 Pokémon UNITE players | July 21 meta update

The fourth season of Pokémon UNITE is winding down. As new Pokémon are soon to be introduced and a balance patch sits on the horizon, what is the final snapshot of the current Pokémon UNITE meta moving into the new season?

S Tier:

• Hoopa – 18.5% (-1.5)

A Tier:

• Absol – 14.5% (-8)

B Tier:

• Lucario – 9% (+1.5)
• Tsareena – 8% (+1.5)
• Slowbro – 7% (+3.5)
• Delphox – 6% (+0.5)

C Tier:

• Dragonite – 4% (+0.5)
• Blissey – 3.5% (-2.5)
• Cramorant – 3.5% (-2)
• Snorlax – 3.5% (+2.5)
• Greedent – 3.5% (+1)

D Tier:

• Talonflame – 2% (-0.5)
• Zeraora – 2% (+1)
• Cinderace – 2% (+1)
• Blastoise – 2% (+1)
• Greninja – 2% (+1)
• Pikachu – 1.5% (+/-)
• Garchomp – 1.5% (+/-)
• Aegislash – 1% (+1)
• Decidueye – 1% (+0.5)
• Machamp – 1% (+/-)
• Trevenant – 1% (-1)
• Mamoswine – 1% (+/-)
• Venusaur – 0.5% (+/-)
• Charizard – 0.5% (+0.5)

Wigglytuff, Ninetales (-1), Espeon, Eldegoss, Crustle (-0.5), Azumarill, Duraludon, Gardevoir, Gengar, Mr. Mime and Sylveon all saw no noticeable usage among top players.

Below is the monthly moving average for the top 10 Pokemon:

Defenders return to the meta

Blissey has dominated the meta as the de-facto defender among top players most of the season. Over the past few weeks that hasn’t been the case: Blissey’s usage rate has dropped from 17.5% a month ago to 3.5% today. What initially looked like an outlier is now a clear trend, with last week being the first time since October 24^th that every defender has been represented among the top players. This week, Crustle’s usage has dropped back to 0, but defenders have seen increased usage on the whole as Slowbro begins to reestablish itself as the premier tank in the Pokémon UNITE meta.

A dog and a ballerina walk into a lane

Lucario was on the backfoot for a large part of the season, and Tsareena was slipping in usage rates the past few weeks. This week, however, both of them have close, increasing usage rates. While neither are standing at their former highs, the two seem to be in close contention for top lane. This contention gives us one of the healthiest top-lane Pokémon UNITE metas in the history of the game.

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.