May Finals Analysis (Japan) - UNITE World Championship Series

Want to know a quick summary of the things that happened in the Japan May 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, where to watch the stream, as well as highlights that defined this tournament!

Regional Finals Analysis
May Finals (North America)	May Finals (Japan)

May Finals Summary (Japan)

クロノワール (Chronoir) are the JP May Finals Champions!

クロノワール (Chronoir) won 2 - 0 in the Grand Finals Reset against Secret Ship, taking the title of JP May Finals Champions!

Secret Ship Forced a Grand Finals Reset

Secret Ship managed to defeat クロノワール (Chronoir) in a nail-biting 2 - 1 in the Grand Finals, forcing a Grand Finals Reset.

Championship Points Tally (as of May Finals 2022)

Meta Highlights (Japan)

Item Stacking Strategy

JP teams went for the same strategy as the NA May Finals, utilizing stackable items like Attack Weight, Sp. Atk. Specs, and Aeos Cookie.

Splitting Jungle Camps

One notable strategy that JP teams do is splitting their jungle camps into two, upper-half and lower-half, at the start of the match. This strategy ensures that every one in the team gets as much exp. as possible, allowing them to level up faster. However, this means they'll have two (2) junglers at the start.

Jungle Guide and Best Junglers

Lucario, Blissey, and Hoopa Core Picks

Much like the NA May Finals, there were three recurring core picks that teams go for throughout the tournament. The first one is Lucario, acting usually as a solo top laner. The second and third are Blissey and Hoopa, taking the support duo role.

Tsareena as Lucario Alternative

In certain matches, there were teams that picked Tsareena as an alternative solo top laner pick to Lucario.

Hyperspace Hole Tech

Hoopa has yet again dominated the tournament with the highest pick rate! This time, Hyperspace Hole was the premiere choice, proving that it is essential for any team to have. We saw countless plays where Pokemon are constantly teleported back and forth to their bases and fast lane transitions via goal zones.

Hyperspace Hole: Hoopa Move Effect and Cooldown

Objective-based Gameplay

JP teams are notable for pioneering the score comp strategy where the focused solely on aggressively scoring throughout the game, and treating objectives like taking boss Pokemon at the sides as secondary. However, after the 1.5.1.2 Update, this strategy was no longer viable. As a result, JP teams revert to the tried-and-tested objective-based gameplay with a more or less traditional team composition.

Starlight Recital Tech

Even though the scoring strategy is no longer viable, the team Secret Ship showed us that Pokemon like Wigglytuff and Dragonite can still dominate clashes when used correctly. Wigglytuff, in particular, acted as a counter to Hoopa by taking advantage of the mass shields from Starlight Recital whenever Rings Unbound was deployed. This gave the whole team extra protection to fight back against the teleporting enemy. Additionally, making the all allies immune to hindrances for a short time meant that Hyperspace Fury and Psybeam were not as effective.

Starlight Recital: Wigglytuff Move Effect and Cooldown

Speedsters Make a Return

The tournament saw the return of Speedsters, namely Talonflame and Zeraora. Because of their high mobility, they mainly focused on knocking down high priority targets like Cinderace, Hoopa, and other low HP opponents they can pick off before team fights happen. While both of them contributed to the burst meta, the strategy did not leave much of an impact as sturdy, heavy-hitters like Aegislash and Blastoise still kept the Speedsters at bay.

List of Speedsters: All Speedster Pokemon and Best Builds

Picks and Win Rates (Japan)

Pokemon	Most Picked %	Win Rate %
Hoopa	70%	63.6%
Lucario	57%	50.0%
Aegislash	50%	54.5%
Cinderace	50%	31.8%
Blissey	43%	27.3%
Blastoise	39%	40.9%
Sylveon	25%	36.4%
Tsareena	25%	22.7%
Cramorant	23%	18.2%
Zeraora	20%	22.7%
Greedent Talonflame	18%	13.6%
Charizard Snorlax	14%	13.6%
Dragonite Trevenant Wigglytuff	7%	9.1%
Duraludon	7%	4.5%
Absol Decidueye Slowbro	2%	0%

Game8 Notes

Hoopa keeps it's top spot with a huge gap on the second placer Lucario! It seems Japanese players like to experiment more on different team compositions in this tournament - with the pick roster totalling to 21 different Pokemon!

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during May Finals Japan.

Most Picked Battle Item (Japan)

Battle Item	Most Picked %
Eject Button	36.8%
Potion	21.4%
X Speed	18.2%
X Attack	14.5%
Full Heal	7.7%
Fluffy Tail	1.4%

Game8 Notes

Eject Button takes top spot as the most picked battle item in May Finals! Surprisingly, Potion takes second most picked, most likely to self heal and counteract the burst meta!

Battle Items not shown here were not picked during May Finals Japan.

Most Picked Held Item (Japan)

Held Item	Most Picked %
Focus Band	70.9%
Buddy Barrier	57.3%
Muscle Band	46.8%
Attack Weight	24.5%
Weakness Policy	23.6%
Exp. Share	17.7%
Choice Specs	14.5%
Aeos Cookie	14.1%
Sp. Atk. Specs	10.0%
Scope Lens	9.1%
Razor Claw	8.2%
Shell Bell	1.8%
Score Shield	1.4%

Game8 Notes

Buddy Barrier nerf showing its teeth in this tournament. The reliable sudden boost of health from Focus Band is preferred and more players tend to run Buddy Barrier less.

Held Item not shown here were not used during May Finals Japan.

Pokemon Lane Picks (Japan)

Pokemon	Top Pick %	Jungle Pick %	Bot Pick %
Absol	100%	--	--
Aegislash	13.6%	50.0%	36.4%
Blastoise	64.7%	11.8%	23.5%
Blissey	89.5%	--	10.5%
Charizard	66.7%	33.3%	--
Cinderace	--	100%	--
Cramorant	--	--	100%
Decidueye	--	100%	--
Dragonite	--	100%	--
Duraludon	--	--	100%
Greedent	--	--	100%
Hoopa	3.2%	--	96.8%
Lucario	60.0%	28.0%	12.0%
Slowbro	--	--	100%
Snorlax	--	--	100%
Sylveon	--	18.2%	81.8%
Talonflame	100%	--	--
Trevenant	100%	--	--
Tsareena	72.7%	--	27.3%
Wigglytuff	--	--	100%
Zeraora	66.7%	--	33.3%

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during May Finals Japan.

Where to Watch May Finals 2022 (Japan)

The full livestream for the Japan May 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