Regional Finals Analysis (North America) - UNITE World Championship Series

Want to know a quick summary of the things that happened in the North America Regional 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
Regional Finals (North America)	Regional Finals (Japan)

Regional Finals Summary (North America)

BLVKHVND is the North America Regional Champions!

After months of grueling competition, BLVKHVND is the top team in North America proving themselves worthy to join the best teams in London for the very first Pokemon UNITE World Championships!

In addition to that, the team will also take home USD$20,000 in prizes!

IX Gaming Forces a Grand Finals Reset

The North America Regional Grand Finals is not without any excitement - IX GAMING stood its ground in the Grand Finals against BLVKHVND and forces a Grand Finals bracket reset.

Though BLVKHVND ultimately won in the end, this is proof of IX GAMING's resilience and determination so watch out for them in the World Championships!

BLVKHVND and IX GAMING Advances To London!

In addition to the awesome prizes they got for being the top two teams in the North America Regional Finals, both of these teams will represent North America for the Pokemon UNITE World Championships in London:

UNITE World Championships Representatives (North America Region)
1	BLVKHVND
2	IX GAMING

UNITE World Championship Series 2022:
Information and Schedules

Meta Highlights

Blissey and Hoopa Duo

Much like in the JP Regional Finals, Blissey and Hoopa continue to be the go-to support duo for teams in this tournament. Both Pokemon have a jaw-dropping 100% pick rate.

Hoopa for Utility

Teams pick Hoopa mainly for its ability to quickly teleport its allies around the map using Hyperspace Hole and Rings Unbound. This proves to be extremely effective in various situtations, such as pushing lanes, securing Drednaw and Rotom, and winning teamfights.

Hoopa Guide: Builds and Best Items

Blissey for Support

Blissey, on the other hand, is played as the team's full-on support, healing, shielding, and buffing allies. Apart from this, it outshines other Supporters due to it having the largest HP pool in the game, making it a tough supporter to take down.

Blissey Guide: Builds and Best Items

Tri-Lane Meta

The Tri-Lane seems to be the staple strategy for NA teams in tournaments. Each game has teams following the same 1-1-3 lane format.

Solo Top Pokemon

Part of following a Tri-Lane format is having one Pokemon take the top lane. Teams mostly pick Lucario to take the top lane alone and take advantage of all the exp. there. However, they also pick Tsareena or Trevenant as alternatives to Lucario.

Lucario Guide: Builds and Best Items

Emphasis on Securing Drednaw

The goal of the Tri-Lane strategy is to try to secure Drednaw, particularly the first time it spawns. By doing so, whichever team secures Drednaw each time it spawns gets a huge level and power advantage during the late game, giving them a better chance of winning team fights.

Drednaw Buff and Spawn Time

Quad-Lane

While everybody understands the importance of Drednaw to win matches, teams have taken this a step further by pushing heavily on bottom lanes early on in the game.

Some teams have even gone so far as to deploy 4 Pokemon into the bottom lane to successfully secure Drednaw, leaving Lucario to solo the top lane.

Dragonite Returns

Similar to JP Regional Finals, Dragonite returns to the NA competitive scene after being missing in action for a while, garnering an impressive 83% pick rate in the tournament.

Teams pick the Pokemon mainly because of its high burst damage via Dragon Dance and Hyper Beam, something that is particularly effective in taking objectives like Drednaw.

Dragonite Guide: Builds and Best Items

Tsareena Queen Ascendant Shut Down

Tsareena saw an increase in pick rates because of its ability to shut down single targets with its Queen Ascendant. We saw multiple plays where key Pokemon like Dragonite and Absol were cut off from their team during decisive team fights. Coupled with multiple Stomp activations via Queenly Majesty, Tsareena was able to quickly dispose of multiple targets after getting buff from its Unite move.

Tsareena Guide: Builds and Best Items

Venusaur Petal Dance Support

Venusaur and its powerful Petal Dance and Giga Drain combo makes a return in this tournament. This time, the Pokemon was placed in a support role, utilizing its high sustain with an emphasis on defending goal zones and dealing incidental damage with its AoE moves. Players also equipped Energy Amplifier to get more damage out of Verdant Anger for potential objective steals and long-ranged snipes.

Venusaur Guide: Builds and Best Items

Absol Score Stack Tech

Absol makes a return with its favorite Held Item, Attack Weight. The team IX Gaming focused on aggressively scoring during the early game to get the full stack as fast as possible. The strategy mostly resulted in early knockdowns for Absol, but the increase in attack was worth the trouble as the Pokemon was consistently dealing insane amounts of damage throughout the tournament!

Absol Guide: Builds and Best Items

Trevenant and Aeos Cookie Tech

Trevenant saw incredible plays from teams who utilized its strengths. The Pokemon's innately high durability combined with additional HP from each stack of Aeos Cookie allowed it to soak up high amounts of damage during every team fight. Moreover, it was able to sustain enough damage from high burst moves like Hyper Beam and essentially block key Pokemon from securing objectives.

Trevenant Guide: Builds and Best Items

Picks and Win Rates

Pokemon	Most Picked %	Win Rate %
Blissey Hoopa	100%	100%
Dragonite	83%	81.5%
Lucario	76%	74.1%
Absol	31%	33.3%
Venusaur	31%	29.6%
Tsareena	24%	25.9%
Trevenant	22%	22.2%
Sylveon	13%	14.8%
Aegislash Cramorant	6%	7.4%
Cinderace	4%	3.7%
Charizard Pikachu	2%	0%

Game8 Notes

Supporters reign supreme! Hoopa and Blissey dominate the current North American meta and are the most essential Pokemon in the tournament with a 100% pick AND win rate! We saw a reemergence of Dragonite as its Hyper Beam-Dragon Dance combo fits the burst damage meta perfectly like a glove. Absol is up there too - another proof that we are indeed in a burst damage meta. With the recent buff post-tournament that gives Absol innate lifesteal, expect the Speedster to have increased pick rate in the World Championships.

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during Regional Finals North America.

Most Picked Battle Item

Battle Item	Most Picked %
X Speed	55.6%
X Attack	19.6%
Full Heal	16.7%
Eject Button	4.4%
Fluffy Tail	3.7%

Game8 Notes

X Speed received the highest pick rate among all battle items - which means players opted for a short burst of movement speed than a sudden blink using Eject Button. X Attack came second with Full Heal on close third - a serene dance between a short burst of heightened attack vs. clearing oneself of hindrances that can burst you down.

Battle Items not shown here were not picked during Regional Finals North America.

Most Picked Held Item

Held Item	Most Picked %
Muscle Band	60.4%
Focus Band	59.3%
Buddy Barrier	35.2%
Attack Weight	31.1%
Razor Claw	27%
Exp. Share	20%
Scope Lens	18.9%
Score Shield	11.1%
Choice Specs	10.4%
Aeos Cookie	4.1%
Sp. Atk. Specs	3.7%
Wise Glasses	3.7%
Float Stone Rocky Helmet	0.7%

Game8 Notes

Buddy Barrier nerf proves to be effective for the second time. The reliable & sudden boost of health from Focus Band is preferred and more players tend to run Buddy Barrier less. The buff on Exp. Share made it a sure pick for supporters - considering Hoopa and Blissey, two supporters, are the top picked.

Held Items not shown here were not used during Regional Finals North America.

Pokemon Lane Picks

The percentage in bold is the most picked lane for that specific Pokemon.

Pokemon	Top %	Jungle %	Bot %
Absol	--	17.6%	82.4%
Aegislash	--	100%	--
Blissey	--	--	100%
Charizard	--	100%	--
Cinderace	--	100%	--
Cramorant	--	100%	--
Dragonite	--	77.8%	22.2%
Hoopa	--	--	100%
Lucario	95.1%	--	4.9%
Pikachu	--	--	100%
Sylveon	--	100%	--
Trevenant	25%	--	75%
Tsareena	92.3%	--	7.7%
Venusaur	--	--	100%

Pokemon not shown here were not picked during Regional Finals North America.

Where to Watch Regional Finals 2022 (North America)

The full livestream for the Regional Finals is available on the official YouTube channel of Pokemon UNITE. The winners of the Regional Finals will go head to head in London for the World Championships! We will surely report the stats for that one too!

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

UNITE World Championship Series 2022 Schedule

North America Regional Finals Day 1

For the start of the North American Regional Finals Day 1 stream, skip to the 04:03:10 timestamp.

North America Regional Finals Day 2

For the start of the North American Regional Finals Day 2 stream, skip to the 03:57:00 timestamp.

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