Cinderace and Gengar nerfed on first Pokemon Unite balance update

William Davis Published 03/08/2021

As with any other MOBA, Pokemon Unite will be updated regularly with balance changes to Pokemon and items. For the first balance update, Pokemon Unite will bring out some nerfs to some of the current dominators in Cinderace and Gengar. 

This update is set to launch on Wednesday, August 4 and will deliver changes to a total of 14 Pokemon. Some of these changes will be regular bug fixes while others will be hit with either nerfed or receive some buffs to make them stronger in the current meta. With these updates, it’s expected that Pokemon Unite will continue to have a flowing meta with consistent changes to how the game should be played. 

Cinderace and Gengar nerfed in first Pokemon Unite patch

Some of the most notable changes for this update will be some of the most popular Pokemon in the current meta. These are Cinderace and Gengar, who are almost represented in any game currently. 

Cinderace has been considered as the strongest Pokemon in the whole game by many top players and will now see some consequences for its insane strength. So far, Cinderace has been the most reliable carry and very viable as a laner and jungler. This is enough of an indicator that the Pokemon might be a bit overtuned and could need some adjustments. 

The way Pokemon Unite will nerf Cinderace is by decreasing its attack and touch on a few moves. The damage dealt to opposing Pokemon will be decreased on Blaze Kick, which is Cinderace’s primary damage ability. Instead, Pyro Ball will get an increase in damage which might have Cinderace players reconsider the skill path. At last, Feint will get a move downgrade and potentially also fall out of priority. 

Pokemon Unite will look to do the exact same with Gengar, where its current primary damage move Hex will get a nerf in damage. Instead, Dream Eater and Shadow ball will get some damage buffs while a few bugs will also be fixed. Just like with Cinderace, this could change the way that Gengar is played by picking other moves instead of Hex. 

A few Pokemon that could enter the meta as new strong picks will be Wigglytuff and Venusaur, who will both be receiving a lot of significant buffs in this update.

Spectate feature coming to Pokemon Unite

Besides the Pokemon balance changes, this update will also include the first test for the spectate feature. This feature will perform a test from August 4 at 12 AM PDT until August 6 at 12 AM PDT, where it’s expected that The Pokemon Company can adjust the feature to run as smoothly as possible for the official release. 

With a spectate feature, it will suddenly become possible to host tournaments or other competitive events for Pokemon Unite. Like in League of Legends and Dota, this feature will allow spectators to broadcast games from any angle and potentially make a competitive scene out of it.

Even though it’s still very early days, there’s currently a chance that Pokemon Unite won’t just stay at a rather casual level with the addition of the spectate feature. 

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