Breath of Evolution [Part 2] – Pokémon UNITE Patch Ver.1.18.2.7

By Shivam

The Pokémon UNITE devs are back again with another patch—Ver.1.18.2.7—and this one is one of those patches which just come from nowhere when we dont expect them. From powerful nerfs to much-needed buffs and quality-of-life changes, here’s what’s changing and why it matters.

Zacian Finally Reined In

Let’s just say it: Zacian even after the nerfs, was seeing a lot of plays in the competitive meta and had high pickrate and winrate in almost all the regions . High burst damage, insane hindrance, and an ability that basically rewarded you for dominating. But that reign has now been seriously trimmed.

• Intrepid Sword no longer causes extra Aeos energy to drop from KO’d opponents.
  
  

• Play Rough’s stun has been hit hard (from 0.7s to 0.25s).
  
  

• Sacred Sword’s damage was reduced by 25%.
  
  

Zacian is still viable, but no longer the “win early, win forever” button it used to be. A big W for balance.

In NA, Zacian had really high stats and similar was with other regions.

Alolan Raichu: Stored Power Nerfed

Raichu’s Stored Power was bursting people down a bit too comfortably, especially when snowballing. That synergy of high-speed attacks and bonus damage? Yeah, it's taken a hit.

• Cooldown increased from 4.5s to 6s
  
  

• Bonus damage reduced by 10%
  
  

• Attack speed boost dropped to 35%
  
  

You’ll have to time your combos better and won’t get to spam your way to victory anymore.

Gyarados: Slowed Down and Trimmed

This nerf is really very funny, as this moveset was not good until ACL 2025 Winners Insomnia played it in the ACL and won many games with this pokemon, then everyone just started playing it and now apparently it got nerfed:

• Rattled Effort Gauge gain slowed down by 10%
  
  

• Dragon Breath and Waterfall both hit with a 12% damage reduction
  
  

No more steamrolling lanes by the 5-minute mark. Still strong, but not a runaway train anymore.

Clefable: More Heals

Clefable gets a support-focused rework that shifts its identity more clearly into healer territory:

• Higher base HP, Defense, and Sp. Defense
  
  

• Draining Kiss heals more but deals less damage
  
  

• Moonlight now heals 5% more
  
  

This is a nice direction for Clefable players who felt squishy in late-game skirmishes.

Blastoise: Bulked Up and Better in Fights

Blastoise gets some much-needed love to make him more relevant in teamfights:

• Max HP buffed
  
  

• Hydro Pump stun now lasts longer during Rapid Spin
  
  

• Water Spout slows longer (though less severely)
  
  

The changes help make Blastoise more than just a Rapid Spin turret.

Garchomp: Sustain and Pressure Boost

They want Garchomp to stay in the fight longer—and now it can:

• Healing on boosted attacks increased by 50%
  
  

• Dig and Earthquake have reduced cooldowns
  
  

These buffs make it more forgiving to play and far stickier in drawn-out battles.

Blaziken: Unite Move Buffs?

Blaziken’s Unite move finally brings impact:

• Shield buffed from 5% to 12% of max HP
  
  

• Cooldown slightly reduced
  
  

• Focus Blast slow duration increased to 2s
  
  

This gives Blaziken some breathing room to switch styles mid-battle without getting punished immediately.

Held Items:

A few popular items got dialed back, especially the new ones which were released recently:

Accel Bracer & Drive Lens

• KO count to max effect: 5 → 10
  
  

• Per-KO boost halved
  
  

No more early stacking snowballs. You’ll need to earn those item procs now.

Rocky Helmet

• Cooldown dropped to 0.6s
  
  

• Activation now at just 3% HP damage
  
  

• Damage output nerfed, though
  
  

Expect to see this pop more often, but it won't chunk opponents like before.

Shell Bell

• Healing cooldown reduced to 8s
  
  

A small buff that makes this a bit more reliable again.

Bug Fixes

Several key issues fixed—most notably:

• Alolan Raichu moving while stunned (yes, that was busted)
  
  

• Zacian bugs with Intrepid Sword and Play Rough are fixed
  
  

• Gyarados can now Aqua Tail properly after Waterfall
  
  

Other Updates

• Attacker Special Challenge event is live—earn those sweet rewards
  
  

• Shop and event updates as usual