The best guide for playing and building Greninja in Pokemon UNITE for Nintendo Switch and Mobile devices. Read on to find out everything about Greninja including the best builds, Held and Battle items, move sets, as well as some general tips!
Greninja is a classic Pokemon Unite Attacker. He has never really broken through the 50% win rate mark during his long, long career, but he remains an extremely popular pick. This is probably due to the timeless design of the character.
This guide will let you in on a few tricks you can pull with Greninja, as well as which builds to run in order to maximize your win rate with this strong hybrid melee/ranged Attacker. Stick around and find out if Greninja is the character for you!
Table of Contents
Is Greninja Good in Pokemon Unite?
When it comes to using Greninja efficiently, positioning is crucial. Greninja should stalk the enemy team and choose his time to strike carefully to ensure easy KOs that could turn the tide of the match in your team’s favor. When a Greninja learns Surf or Water Shuriken at Level 7, its offensive potential is at its highest. Early on, stay away from team battles so you may concentrate on gathering EXP.
By playing in the jungle, you can farm in the fastest and safest method possible. Greninja has sufficient mobility and damage to eliminate the jungle camps easily. Greninja’s second move and its upgrade grant him his signature “slipperiness”. Despite the fact that both upgrades are Dash moves, each has a particular use.
Double Team produces illusions that mirror your gameplay. The illusions will also mimic your offensive moves. Utilize this to confuse opponents and make them guess which attack is a real threat. Keep in mind that the illusions’ attacks only cause minor damage.
On the other hand, when Greninja uses Smokescreen, it temporarily becomes invisible and blinds opponents who are caught inside it. Both are key for catching your opponents off guard or getting close to them.
When you utilize Double Team or Smokescreen, you briefly acquire the Unstoppable status effect, making you immune to disables, stuns, and slows for that time period. This mechanic allows you to negate some problematic moves if timed correctly.
Greninja normally acts like any other ranged Pokemon in the game, but when it attacks up close, it uses a different melee strike. Greninja’s passive grants him versatility thanks to the unique effects of both types of attacks. Utilizing Greninja effectively requires switching between melee and ranged strikes depending on the situation.
Pokemon Unite Greninja Best Build
Greninja’s passive ability is Torrent. While at half health or less, its Attack and movement speed is increased. In addition, Greninja has two kinds of basic attacks with both becoming empowered at every 3rd attack. When empowered, his ranged attack reduces the cooldown of Move 1 with every hit and reduces enemy movement speed.
Moving closer to the enemy causes Greninja to switch to melee attacks automatically which deal bonus damage based on how much HP the enemy is missing. The empowered melee deals even more of said bonus damage and will cause Greninja to dash behind his target.
The first move Greninja gains is Bubble. It’s a ranged attack that launches 2 bubbles in a straight line, which pop when they hit an enemy, damaging and slowing them.
Move 1 Upgrade Options
The first upgrade option for move 1 is Water Shuriken. Greninja throws 4 water shurikens which explode when they hit an enemy, damaging and slowing them while healing Greninja. After using this move Greninja’s movement speed is increased for a brief moment.
The other upgrade option for move 1, Surf, makes Greninja ride a wave, damaging enemies and healing themself for each enemy the wave passed through. Enemies below half health take bonus damage, and if this move kills an enemy Pokemon the cooldown resets.
Both upgrades of Bubble are quite viable. The water shuriken is hard to land at times, and it’s nigh on impossible to hit someone with all of them without them simply repositioning or dodging. Therefore I suggest Surf, it’s much easier to land while still offering great damage and more importantly healing and mobility.
Move 2 Upgrade Options
Moving on, we have the second move which is Substitute. Greninja dashes in a specified direction while leaving behind a decoy. Greninja becomes unstoppable while dashing.
The first upgrade option for move 2 is Double Team. Greninja becomes invisible before dashing forward and sending clones in different directions. The clones attack nearby targets, have the same HP and defenses as Greninja, but deal a fraction of Greninja’s damage. Greninja is unstoppable while dashing.
The second upgrade is Smokescreen. Greninja becomes invisible, gains increased movement speed and leaves behind a cloud of smoke. Enemies that stay in the smoke have their vision obscured. Greninja’s next attack deals increased damage. Greninja is unstoppable while dashing.
If you opted for Water Shuriken, then I recommend combining it with Double Team. But if you picked up Surf, as we recommend, then go for Smokescreen as it has better synergy.
Greninja’s Unite Move
Greninja gains Waterburst Shuriken at level 9. This move throws a giant water shuriken toward the designated area, dealing damage to enemies in the area and decreasing their movement speed. The water shuriken then immediately explodes, dealing damage to enemies and throwing them into the air. Once this move ends, Greninja may jump in a designated direction.
Greninja Best Skill Loadout
Without a doubt, the best skills combo you can pick for Greninja is Surf and Smokescreen. This offers Greninja crazy adaptability while still being an effective assassin who can demolish the enemy backlines. If you are in trouble, you have 3 moves that can get you out of a pinch via dashes, one of them giving you invisibility on top of that. Surf also provides healing, especially if you hit multiple people.
Best Held Items for Greninja in Pokemon Unite
Scope Lens and Muscle Band are a great combo to boost your attack so you can more effectively assassinate your enemies. Throw in Energy Amplifier for the great synergy with his Unite Move, and you’re a killing machine ready to go. Check out our Pokemon Unite Item Guide for more details on the best held items to use.
Best Battle Items for Greninja in Pokemon Unite
The best option for Greninja’s battle item in Pokemon Unite is the X Attack. Greninja has plenty of mobility options in his robust kit, thus he doesn’t really need X Speed or Eject Button. Furthermore, he can become unstoppable rending Full Heal not optimal.
Therefore the only logical option becomes more attack, so you can dispose of enemies even faster. Check out our Pokemon Unite Item Guide for more details on the best battle items to use.
More Pokemon Unite Guides from OCG
- Best Attacker Pokemon
- Best Defender Pokemon
- Best Speedster Pokemon
- Best Support Pokemon
- Best All-Rounder Pokemon
- Clefable Guide
- Azumarill Guide
- Absol Guide
- Venusaur Guide
- Eldegoss Guide
- Gardevoir Guide
- Decidueye Guide
- Snorlax Guide
- Dodrio Guide
- Mamoswine Guide
- Dragapult Guide
- Pikachu Guide
- Urshifu Guide
- Blastoise Guide
- Espeon Guide
- Wigglytuff Guide
- Dragonite Guide
- Zacian Guide
- Hoopa Guide
- Tips for Beginners
- Item Guide and Tier List
- Theia Sky Ruins Map
- Glaceon Guide
- Aegislash Guide
- Scizor Guide
- Greninja Guide
- Zoroark Guide
- Mr Mime Guide
- Mew Guide
- Sylveon Guide
- Alolan Ninetales Guide
- Cinderace Guide
- Sableye Guide
- Slowbro Guide
- Blissey Guide
- Delphox Guide
- Lucario Guide
- Machamp Guide
- Gengar Guide
- Tyranitar Guide
- Comfey Guide
- Trevenant Guide
- Pokemon List
Join our Community
If you found this Pokemon Unite Greninja Guide useful, then join our community below to be kept up to date on any new Pokemon Unite Guides published along with other interesting posts from the website.