Pokemon Unite is off to a very strong start. The game has proven to be a hit with fans of both Pokemon and MOBAs alike, and despite some well-deserved criticism over its surplus of microtransactions, the title has thus far laid a fairly solid foundation on which it could feasibly build on for years to come.
And what better way to do that than by adding more Pokemon into the game? At present, 21 Pocket Monsters make up Pokemon Unite's roster, and that number is set to grow by one with the addition of Blissey later this week. However, there's still one fan-favorite Pokemon from the early days of the series who was confirmed to make the cut about two months ago but has yet to debut in-game. Of course, this is the highly-requested water-type starter, Blastoise.
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In terms of in-game utility, the online consensus seems to be that Blastoise will be a defender—an area in which Pokemon Unite could definitely use some growth. As the roster stands, there is a disproportionate amount of attackers compared to all other classes. Seven Pokemon are attackers, while speedsters, all-rounders, and supporters are classes composed of four Pokemon each. Finally, the defenders are only made up of three creatures: Snorlax, Crustle, and Slowbro.
Blastoise's addition stands to add some more variety to the defender role, but in more ways than one. Leaked footage of the Pokemon seems to indicate that the Blastoise evolutionary line—much like its neighboring defender, Slowbro—will feature some ranged moves, which should help balance out the presently melee-heavy defender class. Ideally, Unite's classes shouldn't be dominated by any one category of fighter over the other. Unfortunately, that's a pretty accurate descriptor for the current state of the undersized group of defenders; adding Blastoise could be a good first step towards addressing this particular class' woes.
Additionally, the case for Blastoise to make its debut just makes plain sense when looking at Pokemon Unite's roster. Currently, Pokemon's first generation of creatures is pretty well represented, but it's not because of Machamp, Gengar, Slowbro, or even Mr. Mime. Moreso, it's thanks to the presence of iconic starters like Charizard, Venusaur, and the series' mascot, Pikachu. At this point in time, Blastoise is the only Generation 1 starter not featured in the game, and while several other generations' starters are missing, too, Blastoise's omission feels especially curious given that every single one of its companions has been playable since Unite launched. Hopefully, it won't be too long before they're all reunited.
Blastoise has been confirmed to join Pokemon Unite's roster, but it's unclear when the water-type will be dropping into battle. Gardevoir's inclusion was announced at the same time as Blastoise's, and it was added into Unite a week after the game's launch. Now, Blissey is set to debut three weeks after Gardevoir did. Given Unite isn't even one month old yet, and as such, hasn't received a lot of post-launch Pokemon, it's hard to hammer down a pattern for the rollout of any extra fighters, but if the gap between Gardevoir and Blissey is any indication, one probably shouldn't expect to hear anything regarding new Pokemon for three-to-four weeks at the earliest.
It's important to note that all of this is speculative, and even if there is a new Pokemon announced to join the cast in the weeks following Blissey's addition, one shouldn't necessarily expect it to be Blastoise. At the time that Blastoise and Gardevoir were announced, the official Pokemon Unite Twitter account teased "other Pokemon" as well. Obviously, this umbrella term included Blissey, but it can just as easily include any one of the nearly 900 existing Pokemon, any of whom could potentially make their way into the game before Blastoise does. Right now, all that's confirmed is that Blastoise will eventually be in Pokemon Unite; it's not a question of "if," but "when?"
Pokemon Unite is out now on Switch and will be coming to mobile devices at a later date.