Want to know a quick summary of the things that happened in the Pokemon UNITE Winter Tournament Finals? 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, as well as highlights that defined this tournament!

Winter Tournament Finals Summary

Team 銀河団 (Gingadan/Team Galaxy) Steals the Championship Spot!

Team 銀河団 (Gingadan/Team Galaxy) squared off against Team Aeos Fortis Reges in the finals for the Championship spot.

In a shocking upset, Aeos Fortis Reges botches an early 2-0 lead against Team Galaxy. Failing to get a third win, which should have sealed their spot in the tournament.

Team Galaxy responds to the 2-0 lead with a straight triple win streak! Securing the win and crowning themselves as the Champions of this Winter Tournament.

Final Placements for the Winter Tournament 2022

Meta Highlights

No Healer/Support Team Comp

It's generally understood that having at least one healer Pokemon like Eldegoss in a team is vital for winning matches, especially in tournaments like this. However, in game 3 of the first series, the Orange team did a bold move by not picking a healer in their team, going instead for an offensive team comp. Fortunately, this decision paid off and won them the match as well as the series.

Lane Absol

Another highlight of the no healer team comp is the Absol bottom lane. This is an off-meta move since the Pokemon is mostly played as a jungler to give it a level advantage.

Blissey as Tank

Defenders typically take the role of tanks in team composition, using their high durability to soak damage for the team. But in both games of the second series, the Orange team picked Blissey, a Supporter, to take the role instead of a Defender. This allowed them to have a durable Pokemon that can also heal and save its allies.

Much like the previous highlight, this move paid off and led to a 2 - 0 sweep.

Team Gives Lillipup to Lucario

Lillipup is usually the first wild Pokemon that a jungler takes to get to level 3 quickly. However, in game 1 of the third series, the Purple team gave Lillipup to their Lucario instead of their jungler. The purpose of this strategy is to give Lucario a level advantage against its opponents in the top lane, making it easier to either dominate the lane or hold it.

Snorlax Invades Jungle

Greedent is usually the Pokemon that invades the enemy jungle due to its mobility and sustain. But in game 1 of the fourth series, the Purple team's Snorlax took the Greedent's mantle and invaded the enemy jungle. However, this did not go well since Snorlax lacks the mobility to traverse the map faster.

Pikachu as a Support

In the same game 1 of the fourth series, the Orange team did not pick Pokemon like Eldegoss to act as the support for the team. They instead picked Pikachu to fill the role, equipping Focus Band, Buddy Barrier, and Exp. Share as its held items. This is an off-meta move since Pikachu is mainly played as a high offense caster Pokemon due to its hard-hitting and low cooldown moves.

Wigglytuff Jungler

In both games of the fifth series, the Orange Team showed something new when they picked Wigglytuff as their jungler, learning Sing and Dazzling Gleam as its moveset. This has not been done before at a competitive level since Wigglytuff usually lanes at either the top or bottom lane, never in the jungle. It proved to be an effective strategy, leading to a 2 - 0 win.

Scoring Composition Strategy

During the finals, we see AFR used a composition that resembles that of North American teams, where they prioritize winning team fights with the support from Eldegoss and AoE damage from Pikachu. On the other hand, Team Galaxy opted for the scoring strategy that involves stealing as much of the opponents Wild Pokemon and then scoring multiple times, thus translating it into extra EXP. Although both strategies have their merit, the scoring strategy proved to be consistent enough to take the victory in the end. Below are some highlights of the strategy.

Crustle and Greedent Disruption

Crustle's durability, combined with Shell Smash's bonus movement speed, allows it to go in and out of the opponent's goal zone and score quick points. On the other hand, Greedent's berry mechanic makes fighting the Pokemon feel like a chore to fight and forces a team to guard the jungle area during the early game. These small but disruptive plays take away some of the advantages from the enemy team, which if done consistently, means that you can

In addition, both Pokemon influence on taking objectives for the team. We saw Crustle throwing a Stealth Rock in the middle of the Drednaw fight, potentially stealing the objective and pressuring its opponents at the same time. All of this while Greedent heads straight to the top lane and captures Rotom for the push. This forces the enemy team to guard both objectives when they spawn. And, since the enemy team relies heavily on strength in numbers, spreading the team members makes their chances of securing objectives fall significantly, which the scoring comp team took advantage of.

Fast Objective Secure with Fluffy Tail

An important component of the strategy lies in utilizing the advantage that Fluffy Tail gives to farming and securing objectives. Using this Battle Item over an Eject Button or Slow Smoke allows the scoring team to compensate their lack of offense for team fights with a sudden burst of power that can take down objectives within seconds. Since the scoring team cannot face the opposing team head-on, they mostly avoid confrontations - unless they have to - and target the opposing team's Wild Pokemon instead to get the advantage.

Picks and Win Rates

Pokemon	Most Picked %	Win Rate %
Lucario	95.2%	100%
Venusaur	55%	57.1%
Eldegoss	55%	52.4%
Pikachu	50%	57.1%
Wigglytuff	40%	38.1%
Talonflame	29%	23.8%
Slowbro	21%	19.0%
Cinderace	19%	19.0%
Dragonite	19%	14.3%
Greedent	19%	14.3%
Snorlax	17%	14.3%
Mr. Mime	17%	9.5%
Blissey	14%	23.8%
Absol	14%	23.8%
Tsareena	10%	9.5%
Crustle	7%	9.5%
Blastoise	5%	4.5%
Gardevoir	5%	0%
Charizard	1%	4.8%
Cramorant	1%	2%
Greninja	1%	2%

Writer's Notes

Lucario is the most picked Pokemon for the Winter Tournament Finals, with Venusaur following behind by a wide margin.

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during the Winter Tournament Finals.

Most Picked Battle Item

Battle Item	Most Picked %
Slow Smoke	24.8%
Full Heal	22.9%
Eject Button	22.4%
X Speed	17.1%
Fluffy Tail	6.7%
Goal-Getter	4.4%
X Attack	1.9%
Potion	1.0%

Writer's Notes

Slow Smoke dominates the best Battle Item category, with Full Heal and Eject Button 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 Winter Tournament Finals.

Most Picked Held Item

Held Item	Most Picked %
Buddy Barrier	87.1%
Score Shield	51.0%
Focus Band	42.2%
Muscle Band	41.4%
Attack Weight	25.2%
Exp. Share	13.8%
Razor Claw	11.4%
Weakness Policy	7.6%
Choice Specs	6.7%
Scope Lens	5.2%
Energy Amplifier	2.9%
Float Stone	2.4%
Sp. Atk. Specs	1.4%
Wise Glasses	1.0%

Writer's Notes

Buddy Barrier is the most prominent Held Item in the Finals! Score Shield follows far behind which shows that the competing teams prioritize defense and scoring.

Held Items not shown here were not used during the Winter Tournament Finals.

Pokemon Lane Picks

Pokemon	Top Lane Pick %	Jungle Pick %	Bot Lane Pick %
Absol	--	--	100%
Blastoise	--	--	100%
Blissey	--	--	100%
Charizard	--	100%	--
Cinderace	100%	--	--
Cramorant	--	--	100%
Crustle	--	--	100%
Dragonite	--	75%	25%
Eldegoss	13%	--	85%
Gardevoir	--	100%	--
Greedent	62.5%	--	37.5%
Greninja	--	100%	--
Lucario	100%	--	--
Mr. Mime	--	--	100%
Pikachu	--	--	100%
Slowbro	--	--	100%
Snorlax	--	--	100%
Talonflame	--	100%	--
Tsareena	--	100%	--
Venusaur	--	39.1%	60.9%
Wigglytuff	29.4%	11.8%	58.8%

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during the Winter Tournament Finals.

Pokemon UNITE Related Guides

All Pokemon UNITE Tournament and Analysis

World Championship Series

Pokemon World Championships
2022 UNITE World Championships	2023 UNITE World Championships
2024 UNITE World Championships	-

Asia Champions League

Asia Champions League
2023 Asia Champions League	-

Winter Tournament Series

Winter Tournament Series 2022
Winter Tournament Finals Summary	3rd Winter Tournament Summary