Sorry, Blastoise: The next Pokémon Unite character is Blissey

By Emily Morrow August 16, 2021

Blissey has been announced as the next battler in Pokémon Unite. Classed as a Supporter, Blissey joins Eldegoss as a character whose primary function is to protect and buff its allies. Blissey will be available in-game this Wednesday, August 18, which is also the date of the upcoming Pokémon Presents video. While the announcement was leaked a few days ago, Blissey’s inclusion still comes as a surprise to those who expected the previously announced Blastoise to be the next release.

https://twitter.com/PokemonUnite/status/1427253815720386570

Alongside the announcement, Nintendo shared a video showing off some Blissey gameplay. True to its visual design, most of Blissey’s attacks and support moves are egg-based. While Blissey’s full move set hasn’t been revealed yet, it appears as though Blissey can use eggs to both heal teammates and damage enemies.

The announcement reveals that Blissey’s Unite Move will be Bliss Assistance, a supporting move where Blissey dashes to an ally and protects it from attacks. It’s unclear whether “protects it from attacks” means simply giving that Pokémon a shield or granting it full invulnerability for a brief period.

Blissey comes as a surprise to those who expected Blastoise to be the next Unite fighter. Blastoise was confirmed as an upcoming character in a tweet from the Unite Twitter account prior to the game’s release on Switch, but Nintendo stated that neither it nor Gardevoir would be available on release day. Gardevoir has since been added to the game, but no additional word has come out about Blastoise, making fans wonder whether the delay was planned or unintentional. According to the coloring in Blastoise’s announcement, it appears as though it will be a Defender, making defensive players even more eager to give the legendary water-type Pokémon a spin.

Pokémon Unite is now available on Nintendo Switch and will release on mobile sometime this September.

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Emily Morrow is a games journalist and narrative designer who has written for a variety of online publications. If she’s…

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