The Aeos Cup is on the way. What strategies and tactics will the top teams try to execute?
By Jake Sprague, Contributing Writer
The inaugural Pokémon UNITE Championship Series is starting
to heat up! The Aeos Cup competition running April 23–24 will be the first ever
in the Championship Series in which players battle for prize money on top of
Championship Points toward World Championship qualification. With more on the
line than ever before, this exciting event is a great chance to learn more
about competitive play.
If you’re playing your first competitive matches or just starting
to watch the stream at home, you’ll probably see some strategies and tactics that
are a little different from the games you play with your friends. Why is there usually
only one Pokémon on the top path? How do the players decide when to move as a
team and when not to? Why is Greedent SO MEAN? This article is here to help you
understand some of the exciting strategies and playstyles you’ll see the top
ranked teams use on Aeos Island.
If you are just starting to watch Pokémon UNITE and haven’t
played it yourself, it’s available now on Nintendo Switch systems and mobile
devices. The in-game tutorials explain some of the basic concepts that will
help you follow the championship games. They’re a good foundation to the
strategies that we’ll cover here.
Picking your Pokémon is one of the
first things you do in a match, so it’s a good place to start here, too. When
it comes to competitive play, you’ll often see certain Pokémon on paths you
might not expect from their usual roles. In your own matches, for example, you
might have seen a lot of Speedsters get chosen to battle in the central area. But
competitive players might take a different approach and choose an Attacker Pokémon
like Cinderace instead. This is because Attacker Pokémon like Cinderace,
Greninja, and Decidueye need plenty of Exp. Points to evolve and become super powerful,
and the central area provides a lot more Exp. Points than either the top or
bottom paths. So when that Raboot does evolve into Cinderace, look out!
More often, when you do see a Speedster like Talonflame in competitive play, it
might be heading to the top path to join an All-Rounder like Lucario instead.
You’re also going to see a smaller pool of Pokémon chosen
for competitive matches. Players have had a lot of time to figure out which
Pokémon work best in each position. Because of that, you are going to see plenty
of Pikachu, Venusaur, and Lucario picks but not very many of Cramorant or
Tsareena. However, as more Pokémon are released and the game gets updated with
balance patches, the most-played Pokémon don’t always stay the top picks for
long.
The metagame is constantly evolving, both with strategies
that become the dominant ones of the moment and with strategies for countering
them. Top players spend a lot of time playing similar strategies or counter
strategies, looking for the best playstyle possible. For instance, Cinderace is
a top meta pick right now for the central area, as it has been shown to perform
better than other Attacker or Speedster Pokémon that could start in the central
area, such as Decidueye or Gengar.
Now, let’s take a look at two of the most-played laning strategies in the metagame right now.
The 1-1-3 strategy is one that you may have seen in the North
America and Europe Championship Series or in top-ranked games. In fact, it’s
also called the North American or “western” strategy. Teams that use this
strategy will send one Pokémon alone on the top path, one Pokémon in the
central area, and three Pokémon on the bottom path, hence the name “1-1-3.”
For a typical team that sends only two Pokémon each on the
top and bottom paths, it’s difficult for them to deal with the additional
pressure of facing three opposing Pokémon on the bottom path. On top of that, a
Pokémon by itself on the top path can usually put up a decent fight against two
opposing Pokémon. If the three Pokémon on the bottom path can play
aggressively, defeat a majority of the wild Pokémon, and get a few KOs along
the way, they’ll be in a much better position to secure that all-important
Drednaw once it appears on the bottom path. This first Drednaw is extremely crucial
in the match, as the Pokémon on the team that defeats it will get both shields and
a big chunk of bonus Exp. Points! This can help that team’s Pokémon evolve, learn
their Unite Moves, and win big team battles.
You can expect to see top teams in North
America and Europe, like Gaimin Gladiators (undefeated in the North America February Finals)
and Five Guys (third place
in the Europe February Finals) play this strategy. The Pokémon on the top path
is often Lucario, Machamp, or Greedent. It focuses on getting as many Exp.
Points as possible while scoring often, and it’ll usually have a held item with
a stacking bonus, like an Attack Weight, so it can get even stronger each time it
scores. The central area Pokémon spends its time defeating wild Pokémon in the
center of the map, then usually heads up to assist the top path Pokémon with
battling the Vespiquen and Combee that appear at the 8:50 mark. The three Pokémon
that make up the bottom path group often include a Ranged Attacker like Pikachu
or Venusaur—Pokémon that can rain damage down on the opposing team and help
secure defeats on contested wild Pokémon. You’ll also see a Supporter or Defender
like Wigglytuff or Slowbro—Pokémon that are incredibly bulky and great at
bullying the opposing team. Finally, the third Pokémon on the bottom path is
often another Supporter like Eldegoss, Blissey, or maybe even Hoopa—Pokémon that
can keep the team healthy with shields and HP recovery moves, all while
attacking the other team’s Pokémon at every opportunity. You’d be surprised how
much damage a little Eldegoss can put out!
With so many Pokémon on the bottom path from both teams, it’s
no surprise that a big team battle breaks out right when the bottom path Audino
shows up. Whichever team can secure this Audino will gain a strong Exp. Point advantage
right away. It’s such an important first objective to battle over that Gaimin
Gladiators player Indiebear has referred to it as a “mini Drednaw.”
While the bottom path Pokémon fight over every last bit of
Exp. Points they can get from wild Pokémon, the top path and central area
Pokémon get lots of Exp. Points all to themselves by being alone. If all goes
well, the central area Pokémon will have gained enough levels to have their Unite
Move available by the time Drednaw appears around the 7:00 mark, which is when
the first huge team battle usually breaks out on the bottom path. If the
three Pokémon on the bottom path have performed well and can win this early
Drednaw battle, they’ll put themselves in a powerful position throughout the
rest of the match.
Many teams take different approaches after this first big
battle. Some teams decide to not score all of their points in the other
team’s bottom forward goal zone to prevent it from getting destroyed. Sounds
like a crazy play, right? Why wouldn’t you score as much as possible and destroy
the opposing team’s goal zone right away? Well, if both teams’ forward goal
zones on the bottom path remain active, wild Pokémon will continue to appear in
the center of the bottom path. This allows the team that is ahead to keep defeating
wild Pokémon and level up fast! Other teams might push their advantage and
start scoring goals, destroying the goal zone and trying to score extra points in
the middle goal zones early. Either way, teams playing the 1-1-3 meta are often
more focused on gaining Exp. Points and winning team battles throughout the
match.
Despite its regional nickname, this strategy has been
extremely popular and used all over the world! Variations on it have emerged,
too, such as top Philippines team Aeos Fortis Reges using Pokémon like Blissey and Venusaur as part
of this team.
Can this powerful strategy be beaten? If so, it might come from this next extremely popular play style…
Like a roller coaster with no brakes, a team that runs the “Score
Comp” meta strategy attacks the opposing team’s goal zones at breakneck speed
while having lots of ups and downs throughout the match. Whether the team wins
or loses big objectives or battles, they continue to push relentlessly toward
the opposing team’s base, snagging and scoring every bit of Aeos energy they
can. This exciting strategy rose to prominence in Japan and is still referred
to as the “Japanese meta,” but it has since been adopted by teams in every
region. The winners of the February Finals in the EU region, Random Gaming, and
the runners-up, Yerman Burger Flippers, both used this strategy! Not to mention
top teams from many other regions, including the top team from Japan, Team
Galaxy.
Simply put, the way to win in Pokémon UNITE is to outscore your
opponents, and this strategy is focused almost exclusively on that. You will
see Pokémon diving onto the opposing team’s goal zones, happily sacrificing
themselves to score even small amounts of Aeos energy. The teams that play this
strategy score so much that even if they don’t secure Zapdos near the end of
the match, they are often so far ahead in points that they can still win.
So what does this look like in practice?
The teams using this strategy often use Pokémon like Talonflame, Greedent, and
Crustle—extremely mobile Pokémon that can put pressure all over the map. You’ll
see a super-tanky Crustle scoring on the top path, a ravenous Greedent invading
the opposing team’s central area to take all the wild Pokémon and Aeos energy there,
and the rest of the team pushing hard toward map objectives and the opposing team’s
goal zones. While this team might not win a full-on team battle against their
opponents, they make up for it with their constant scoring.
The Score Comp meta is a real treat to watch, with some
games having both teams score over a thousand points! On the other hand, it’s
wild to see Greedent use its Unite Move and Buddy Barrier to score as little as
two points—or see Dragonite leave its team during a big team battle, take to
the sky, and fly toward the opposing team’s base to sneakily make a big score. You’ll
even see Score Comp teams purposefully avoid fighting Zapdos at the two-minute
mark altogether and instead run straight into the opposing team’s goal zones to
score enough points to win the match.
Which strategy is best? The deliberately planned 1-1-3, the
all-out Score Comp, or a clever combination of the two? It’ll be fascinating to
watch the season play out and discover which of these contrasting metagames
pulls ahead. And of course, we’ll find out for sure when all of the regions
collide this August in London for the World Championships! There are sure to be
a lot of things changing between now and then as more Pokémon are added and top
teams come up with new strategies.
After getting a better understanding of these contrasting
strategies, you probably have even more questions! That’s where the official Pokémon
UNITE Championship Series broadcasts come in. Watch and listen to the team of broadcasters
(including myself!) to learn all the info you need to follow along. Hope to see
you there!
For more Pokémon UNITE strategy and analysis, be sure to check out Pokemon.com/Strategy.
About the Writer
Jake Sprague
Jake Sprague, a.k.a. “spragels,” is a broadcaster for Pokémon UNITE Championship Series competitions and holds the record for the most “yeehaws” said during an official Pokémon broadcast.
Source: Pokemon
