All Changes in the Japanese Pokemon Unite Beta

Woo hoo! The Japanese beta of Pokemon Unite is here! We've been playing it all day, all the while updating this site with the new hotness.

First, we're sad to confirm, Blastoise and Gardevoir have been removed from the game at this time. We're sure they'll be back, in a far less overpowered state than when we saw them in the Canadian beta a few months ago.

However, big news! Wigglytuff is now playable and it is a monster! I can't stop smiling as I run around the map, singing opponents to sleep and then slapping them silly. It's extremely satisfying. Literally, a giant gloved hand smacks your opponents around for way more damage than it probably should do. I predict nerfs in the future.

Additionally, there are a few changes to existing Pokemon. Timi has decided to rearrange the movesets for Venusaur and Garchomp. Venusaur's Giga Drain is now a level 5 move, and Petal Dance takes the level 7 slot. This makes Venusaur a lot more tanky, and may be a response to how effective the Petal Dance rush down strategy was in the previous version. Garchomp's Dragon Rush is now the level 6 move, and Dragon Claw takes its old level 8 slot. This is a most curious change, giving Garchomp an escape move much earlier in the match. We'll play with this change and see whether it was a terrible mistake.

If you find anything else new and different in this release, let us know! The game feels solid to play, even if I expect there will have to be loading and performance improvements before launch on Switch.

Good luck! We'll see you on the battle field.

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