Pokemon Unite fans were treated to a solid year in 2023, with the game adding 14 new playable creatures for players to check out. Most recently, Pokemon Unite added Meowscarada and Metagross in December 2023, capping off the year with two popular mons joining its playable roster. While it might be hard for 2024 to deliver the same level of exciting new additions, Pokemon Unite is starting the year off right by bringing players one of the most iconic Gen 1 critters, and they won't have to wait long to try it out since this new addition releases on January 24.

Although it might seem like a strange choice to include in Pokemon Unite's roster of playable characters due to it being an infamously weak critter, Magikarp is likely one of the series' most well-known creatures outside of Pikachu. With this in mind, it's odd that Magikarp took this long to come to Pokemon Unite given its iconic status as a recognizable Gen 1 mon. The addition of Magikarp also means that Gyarados will be playable in Pokemon Unite, and players will be able to use this fearsome monster as well when Magikarp drops later this month.

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Magikarp and Gyarados Join Pokemon Unite on January 24

When Players Can Expect to Access Magikarp in Pokemon Unite

Players can begin accessing Magikarp and Gyarados in Pokemon Unite as the update starts rolling out on January 24 and 25, depending on the player's region. Despite not being fully released until this date, some information is known about how these characters will play based on their availability on Pokemon Unite's Public Test server back in December of last year. Those players who were able to access Magikarp and Gyarados during their test periods have revealed what players can expect in terms of gameplay when joining the fray as these new critters.

What Players Can Expect from Magikarp and Gyarados' Pokemon Unite Gameplay

Magikarp itself is not the most powerful creature, infamously only being able to use a few attacks in the mainline Pokemon series. These moves translate to Pokemon Unite as well, with Magikarp only knowing Splash, which doesn't deal damage but allows players to launch themselves a short distance, and Flail, which deals more damage the less HP Magikarp has left. Another interesting mechanic that Magikarp is introducing is a new evolution method, where Magikarp evolves into Gyarados when its effort gauge is full rather than when it reaches a specific level like other mons in Pokemon Unite.

Once Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, it gains access to some of Gyarados' most powerful moves from the main series, such as Waterfall, Aqua Tail, Dragon Breath, and Bounce. This moveset gives Gyarados a wide variety of options that support its role as a Melee Speedster since moves like Bounce and Waterfall give it mobility, while Aqua Tail and Dragon Breath deal damage and allow Gyarados to close the gap against opponents. Gyarados' aggressive play style is also supported by its Passive Ability Moxie, which reduces the cooldowns for its moves every time it scores a KO or Assist.

One factor that is still largely unknown about Magikarp and Gyarados' Pokemon Unite debut is the cosmetic options that will be available for them via Holowear. While giving Gyarados a costume themed around its classic Red Gyarados shiny form notable for its appearance in the Johto games makes a lot of sense, Pokemon Unite has yet to feature shiny variants of its playable characters as cosmetics. There will likely be some kind of special Holowear available to commemorate these new additions, but it's unclear what that cosmetic would look like.

Pokémon Unite

Franchise

Pokemon

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

July 21, 2021

Developer(s)

TiMi Studios

Publisher(s)

The Pokemon Company

Genre(s)

MOBA

Platforms That Support Crossplay

Mobile & Switch

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