Pokemon Unite meta tips you need to know

From scoring goals to stopping Zapdos, here are 11 of the most important Pokemon Unite meta tips that will have you outsmarting enemies and winning more matches in the Nintendo Switch MOBA.

For many players, Pokemon Unite is their first time stepping into the popular MOBA genre. Despite only having launched in July 2021, the free-to-play title has already developed a deep meta that some users may be missing out on. Do you find yourself often losing by just a few points or constantly being outplayed by your opponents? Well don’t worry, we got you covered! Here are 11 tips you need to know that will help you and your teammates secure a victory against your foes.

Pokemon Unite Meta tips

Jungle Enemies

In most matches, teams should have at least ONE Speedster Pokemon (which includes: Absol, Gengar, Talonflame, Zeraora). Due to their high mobility stat, the ‘mon is supposed to take the middle lane. At the start of the battle, Trainers should be using their speed to wipe out the neutral wild Pokemon (also called jungling) to quickly level up on XP.

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However, this momentum is instantly ruined when other players break from their lane and instead kill neutral enemies that should be used to feed the Speedster character. Not only are you NOT helping out in your lane, but you are also making the middle-laner’s job all the more difficult by stealing their experience points. Speedster Pokemon are supposed to be able to travel to each lane to help flank enemies, but they are now unable to do that if they are under-leveled. So if you find yourself constantly venturing into the mid-lane at the start of the match, stop it.

Supporter Pokemon

Despite choosing the Supporter class, many players will dive into battle as if they are an Attacker. In reality, they should be hanging back to aid their teammates in their lane. Eldegoss and Blissey, for instance, should be using their abilities to buff characters or heal them. This isn’t to say that Supporter Pokemon can’t pack a punch and do some serious damage. But your number one priority should be helping out your teammates – and you can’t do that if you keep getting knocked out first.

Defending your lane

Trainers who have the Sp. Atk. Specs or Attack Weight Held Items equipped automatically get a permanent increase to their Attack or Special Attack stat each time they score. Since the time it takes to score at the start of the match is so low, opponents will try to bomb your goal multiple times early on to boost their stats. If you and your teammates notice the enemy doing this, you need to stop what you are doing immediately and work together to stop the player from scoring. Even if it’s just a few goal points, the buff to their stats can be absolutely devastating and quickly snowball out of control.

Zapdos

Your team can be up by 300 points and dominating for 99.9% of the battle, only for the whole match to come crashing down in the last two minutes. If an enemy team decides to take on Zapdos and beats the Legendary Pokemon, it means that every goal location of yours is essentially turned into an instant scoring spot for a limited time.

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This means opponents can theoretically score 600 points within seconds, undoing all the work you and your teammates have done for the last nine minutes. So as soon as you see opponents taking on the Kanto bird, it’s absolutely essential you gather up and take the grouped-up enemies out. If you are thinking the easy solution is to just take out the Legendary first, well, that can also ruin your match quickly. Taking on wild bosses like Zapdos and Drednaw means leaving your lanes open. Even worse, enemies who are strategic enough can just swoop in at the last second and take credit for the kill, reaping all the benefits you fought so hard for. In this case, it’s better to just focus on your opponents and make sure they are not able to take on the Kanto Legendary in the first place.

Scoring goals

Did you know that each goal has its own health? If you look at the ring, it will actually list how much HP it has left out of 80 or 100 (depending on the location). While this may seem like common knowledge, too many Trainers clearly are ignoring this and often to their detriment. For example, in the final two minutes of the match goals points are doubled. If a goal only has 3 HP left and you are only carrying five orbs, DO NOT score if your opponent is carrying 40 orbs. Instead, let them redeem their orbs for 80 points. The problem is if you score without paying attention, the ring will become destroyed and your team would have only gotten a measly 10 points. So always pay attention to the health of a ring and the teammate with more orbs should be the one to score. This can literally make the difference between winning and losing a match.

Healing

If your health is low, DO NOT stand still on your lane’s goal zone. You get more HP back every time you re-enter it so run in circles instead. Pokemon with quick speed stats and dash abilities can also warp back to base and then rush back to the lane, but this can be risky as it leaves your goal unprotected. Next time you are in a match, think twice before using the yellow berries on the map. If you have 80% health and another teammate in your lane has lower HP then you might have just taken them out of battle by greedily using them. Have map awareness and always be considerate of your teammate’s HP before eating the fruit.

Speedster Pokemon

While earlier we scolded greedy teammates for stealing precious XP from the mid-lane, Speedster Pokemon can also throw a match right in the trash within minutes of the battle starting. Although the goal early on should be to wipe out all neutral wild Pokemon, some users can get tunnel vision and will ONLY stay in the middle of the map to jungle.

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After taking out all neutral monsters, you should absolutely move into either the top or bottom lane to surprise attack enemies. A major point of the role is to gang up on opponents so it becomes 3 vs 2 in a lane to turn the tides of battle. Conversely, if you see the other team’s Speedster Pokemon already flanking your own teammates, you should join the battle immediately to help out. One of the most infuriating things in Pokemon Unite is when the opposing team has their Speedster character constantly flanking, and yet your own Speedster Pokemon is just off in la-la land jungling away while their team is being decimated. The role requires you to move around the map.

Surrendering

The surrender option should only be used halfway into the match where the other team is six levels above you and your team is being absolutely dominated. Surrendering counts as a loss and penalizes you anyway, so stop using it on a whim. More importantly, many matches are actually decided in the final two minutes of the contest. Whether that is defeating Zapdos or a teammate sneakily dunking 50 Aeos Orbs to net 100 points, matches are not over until they are over. Even if it’s just destroying neutral enemies to get stronger, you would be surprised at how many matches are overturned in the final moments. You should always fight to the very end.

The final stretch

Because points are doubled, it is pivotal that you DO NOT allow enemies to score under any circumstances in the final stretch. In most cases, the opposing team is going to attack Zapdos, so it’s important that your team groups up to confront the opposition before they defeat the Kanto Legendary. Even if your team is the one to defeat Electric bird, players need to immediately get back to their remaining goal zones to defend each location. Matches have been lost because players assumed the match was over after their team took down Zapdos – but that is absolutely not the case. It’s also a valid strategy for Pokemon with a high-speed stat to sneak off and try to score a goal in the last two minutes of a contest. But this should only be done in scenarios where both sides are evenly matched, and the clock is being run out as they fight each other in the middle of the map.

Drednaw

While not as important in standard matchmaking, Drednaw can literally decide contests in Ranked Mode. If you see a teammate taking on the Galar ‘mon, warp back to base and head down to the bottom lane to help defeat the mini-boss before the other team does.

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Teams should be grouping up once the countdown clock for the beast appears on the map and launching a coordinated attack on the monster. The same strategy should also be used on the top lane’s Rotom. While large chunks of the match players will be broken up into lanes, it’s important to come together at various points. In terms of the end of the match, DO NOT attack Drednaw before taking on Zapdos. As of the August 2021 Patch, TiMi Studios has implemented a debuff that actually punishes teams who defeat the Galar Pokemon near the end of the match. The Legendary will take twice as long to defeat if you knock out Drednaw first.

Exp. Share

Far too many Trainers are not using this Held Item correctly. If you bring Exp. Share to a match, STOP landing the last hit on neutral enemies in your lane. The whole purpose of the item is for Supporter ‘mon to get a continuous stream of XP without relying on experience point farming. Because of this, your teammate (who is going to be an Attacker, All-Rounder, or Defender) is now able to level up quicker by being able to defeat all the neutrals in your lane. However, if you keep sniping last hits, you are essentially wasting the Held Item, and depriving your lane partner of points, making the Exp. Share completely pointless.