With the meta of Pokémon UNITE being historically top heavy, will the introduction of Espeon help change the game among top 100 players? Let’s take a look at the main picks of the top 100 players as of Wednesday.
S Tier:
- Greninja – 17.5% (+3.5)
- Hoopa – 17% (+4.5)
A Tier:
- Blastoise – 14.5% (-1)
- Lucario – 9.5% (-4.5)
B Tier:
- Blissey – 7.5% (+1)
- Aegislash – 7% (+3)
C Tier:
- Greedent – 3.5% (-1)
- Dragonite – 3% (+0.5)
- Sylveon – 3% (+2.5)
D Tier:
- Ninetales – 2% (-1.5)
- Cramorant – 2% (+1)
- Cinderace – 1.5% (-2)
- Trevenant – 1.5% (+1.5)
- Machamp – 1.5% (+/-)
- Absol – 1.5% (+0.5)
- Azumarill – 1.5% (+0.5)
- Garchomp – 1% (+1)
- Duraludon – 1% (+/-)
- Gengar – 1% (-1)
- Tsareena – 1% (-0.5)
- Mamoswine – 1% (+1)
- Pikachu – 0.5% (-1.5)
- Venusaur – 0.5% (-1.5)
Charizard (-0.5), Crustle, Decidueye (-0.5), Eldegoss (-2), Espeon (NEW), Gardevoir, Mr. Mime, Slowbro (-2), Snorlax, Talonflame (-1), Wigglytuff and Zeraora all saw no noticeable usage among top players.
Below are the monthly moving averages for the top 10 Pokémon:
A history of Pokémon introductions and balance patches
Espeon’s introduction to Pokémon UNITE has been among the most lackluster since the game’s release. It is the 15th Pokémon introduced since the game’s debut but only the 3rd to see no noticeable play among top players. Counting the original 20 released Pokémon, it is instead the 9th to see no play at launch.
S Tier on release:
- Duraludon – 24%
- Dragonite – 19%
- Cinderace / Eldegoss – 17%
- Sylveon – 16%
A Tier on release:
- Blastoise / Tsareena – 12%
- Greedent / Hoopa / Machamp – 11%
- Gengar – 10%
B Tier on release:
- Aegislash / Blissey / Cramorant / Pikachu – 8%
- Snorlax – 7%
- Lucario – 6%
C Tier on release:
- Charizard – 5%
- Azumarill / Ninetales – 4%
- Gardevoir / Zeraora – 3%
D Tier on release:
- Crustle – 2%
- Greninja / Slowbro / Trevenant – 1%
F Tier on release:
- Absol / Decidueye / Espeon / Garchomp / Mamoswine / Mr. Mime / Talonflame / Venusaur / Wigglytuff – 0%
What tiers get balanced?
While play rates at launch do not denote long term trends, it can be useful to determine likelihood of a nerf or buff following release. Every Pokémon in S Tier and A Tier saw nerfs in the balance patch following their release.
In B Tier it is a much more mixed story. Blissey received buffs to its stats and Safeguard while Cramorant saw nerfs to Whirlpool. The remaining Pokémon in the tier saw bug fixes, if anything.
In C Tier, Charizard was the only Pokémon to see indisputable buffs. Zeraora was nerfed on the whole, though it did see a small increase in damage for Wild Charge. Azumarill received bug fixes following its release that were initially viewed as nerfs, though bug fixes claimed to increased damage output overall. Gardevoir and Ninetales were untouched.
In D Tier, Crustle, Greninja and Slowbro were untouched in the patch following their release. Trevenant saw several, small, Pokémon-specific patches after its release, but was buffed in the major patch following release.
In F Tier Absol, Talonflame, Venusaur and Wigglytuff all saw buffs following their release. Decidueye, Garchomp, Mamoswine and Mr. Mime were untouched following their release. In fact, Mamoswine has only received one patch note (lowering the learn level of its moves) during the game’s albeit brief history.
It looks as though Pokémon dominating the UNITE meta when released are all-but-guaranteed a nerf in the next balance patch. Pokémon seeing some play when released are a mixed bag, with about equal nerfs and buffs but most not seeing more than a bug fix. The unused Pokémon have a 50/50 chance of receiving a buff. If you are hoping to see Espeon get buffed in the next balance patch, it’s as likely as it can be — though that’s still no guarantee.
Methodology
This data is collected using both the rankings tab in Pokémon UNITE and the Pokémon UNITE API. A Pokémon is considered a “main” of a player if is it 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. If more than two Pokémon are tied, the 32 most recent matches will be considered instead.
