February Finals 2022 Analysis (North America) | UNITE World Championship Series

Want to know a quick summary and analysis of the things that happened in the Pokemon UNITE World Championship Series February Cup 2022 for North America? Read on to see the most used Pokemon, the Pokemon with the best win rate, the most used battle and held items, lanes for each Pokemon, where to watch the stream, as well as highlights that defined this tournament!

February Finals 2022 Summary (North America)

GAIMIN GLADIATORS Wins the February Cup!

GAIMIN GLADIATORS flexed their dominance by winning it all in February Cup and not dropping any match! FULL SEND and BLVKHVND have to settle for second and third place respectively to complete the Top 3.

Here's a summary of the Top 16 Teams with the corresponding Championship Points (CP) they earned in February Cup!

February Finals Top 16 Teams

Meta Highlights

Machamp as a Lucario Alternative

Lucario has been the most picked Pokemon in every tournament, having nearly a 100% pick rate with no alternatives. However, in one of their respective matches in this tournament, BlvckHvnd and Gengar's Goons picked Machamp in place of Lucario, taking the role as a solo top laner. Unfortunately, both teams lost in their matches with this team comp.

NA's Methodical Meta

We noticed that NA teams don't go outside of the typical gameplay, clearing out standard farming routes, rotating around to take Drednaw and Rotom, and engaging in a teamfight to secure Zapdos. Each match feels the same in terms of action and flow.

Same Team Comps

Part of NA's methodical meta is their repeating team comp for each match, resulting in teams choosing the same Pokemon throughout the tournament with a minimum of 1 alternative pick. This team comp consists of mainly Pokemon that were part of the original roster when the game was released.

Heavy Focus on Zapdos Objective

Another trait we noticed on NA teams is their heavy focus on securing Zapdos as their win condition. Most games have teams focusing mainly on farming and leveling up in the hopes of getting as strong as possible on or before the 2:00 minute mark, resulting in stagnating points from early to mid game. Once Zapdos spawns, opposing teams battle it out in a huge clash to take the legendary Pokemon. The team that takes Zapdos will most likely win the game.

First Goal Zone Concentration

Teams in the NA bracket often choose to focus heavily on the first goal zone. Either by destroying the first goal zone immediately then ignoring the second one or leaving the goal with low numbers.

Why not finish off the first goal zone?

Leaving the enemy first enemy's goal zone up denies the enemy a chance of leveling up through clearing their spawning Audinos.

When they finish off the first goal zone

Finishing off the first enemy goal zone was done when the ally team has fully stomped that lane. This ensures that your team kills the spawning Audino, rather than the enemy team getting it.

High DPS Pokemon for Jungle

As mentioned before, NA teams have virtually similar playstyle in terms of prioritizing objectives and EXP management. However, what tips the scales slightly is which Pokemon they put in the Jungle. In this bracket, Charizard and Cinderace received the most picks as the team's jungler. Although both of these Pokemon are mainly utilized for their high damage output, they have slight variations on their capabilities that enhance the team composition.

Charizard for Securing Objectives

Having Charizard as a jungler allows the team to brute force their way to secure objectives once it reaches Level 9. We see Charizard decimate the opposing team with Seismic Slam and increased critical damage with Scope Lens. Additionally, being an All-Rounder, Charizard is capable of maintaining its ground when teams push.

Fire Blast was a valuable disruptive move that constantly damages the opposing team during clashes for Drednaw. It also supplemented Slow Smoke's movement speed reduction, making it hard for the opposing team to get close to Drednaw or retreat when they fail to secure the objective.

Cinderace for Picking Off Single Targets

Teams who ran Cinderace as their jungler focused on the Pokemon's capabilities to pick-off single targets and whittle down the opposing team with consistent auto attacks. We also noticed that most teams learn Blaze Kick over Pyro Ball, which further emphasizes the goal to remove easy targets from the fight in quick succession, and allowing the team to push a lane. It also helps Cinderace to reposition itself and get out of harms way, allowing it to maintain its distance from the enemy while it pressures their HP.

Picks and Win Rates

Pokemon	Most Picked %	Win Rate %
Eldegoss	100%	100%
Lucario	89%	100%
Venusaur	67%	55.6%
Wigglytuff	61%	88.9%
Cinderace	50%	66.7%
Charizard	44%	33.3%
Slowbro	39%	11.1%
Pikachu	33%	44.4%
Machamp	11%	0%
Talonflame	6%	0%

Game8 Notes

Eldegoss is the most picked Pokemon for the North America February Finals, overtaking Lucario. Some teams tried to substitute Lucario with a Machamp but proved to be unsuccessful.

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during the February Finals.

Most Picked Battle Item

Battle Item	Most Picked %
Slow Smoke	32.2%
Eject Button	27.8%
Full Heal	21.1%
Potion	7.8%
X Attack	6.7%
X Speed	4.4%

Game8 Notes

Slow Smoke continues its dominance of being the best Battle Item out there with Eject Button and Full Heal in second and third respectively, picked mostly in response to the effects of Slow Smoke.

Battle Items not shown here were not picked during the February Finals.

Most Picked Held Item

Held Item	Most Picked %
Buddy Barrier	92.2%
Muscle Band	75.6%
Focus Band	32.2%
Exp. Share Scope Lens	20.0%
Score Shield	18.9%
Attack Weight	16.7%
Razor Claw	15.6%
Choice Specs	4.4%
Weakness Policy Energy Amplifier	2.2%

Game8 Notes

Buddy Barrier continues to dominate as the most flexible held item to use in Builds. Muscle Band coming in second means that Atk Pokemon dominates the current meta over Sp. Atk Pokemon.

Held Item not shown here were not used during the February Finals.

Pokemon Lane Picks

Pokemon	Top Lane Pick %	Jungle Pick %	Bot Lane Pick %
Charizard	--	100%	--
Cinderace	--	100%	--
Eldegoss	--	--	100%
Lucario	100%	--	--
Machamp	100%	--	--
Pikachu	--	--	100%
Slowbro	--	--	100%
Talonflame	--	100%	--
Venusaur	--	--	100%
Wigglytuff	--	--	100%

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during the February Finals.

Where to Watch February Finals 2022 (North America)

For the start of the North American March Finals stream, skip to the 04:27:30 timestamp.

The full livestream for the February Finals is available in the official YouTube channel of Pokemon UNITE. They usually stream the Monthly Finals so try catching it on scheduled times!

For the full schedule of the Championship Series, check out this article:

UNITE World Championship Series 2022 Schedule

Pokemon UNITE Related Guides

UNITE World Championship Series 2022

2022 Championship Series Analysis

2022 World Championship Series Analysis
2022 World Championships
Regional Finals (North America)	Regional Finals (Japan)
May Finals (North America)	May Finals (Japan)
Aeos Cup (North America)	Aeos Cup (Japan)
March Finals Summary (North America)	March Finals Summary (Japan)
February Finals Summary (North America)

All Pokemon UNITE Tournament and Analysis