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Esports
Follow Supercell's guide on how to choose the best Brawl Stars Brawler
We get the skinny on the best Brawlers to play and how to improve, straight from developer Supercell's mouths.
Brawl Stars, Supercell's latest original mobile hit, has only been available internationally for a matter of weeks, but the competitive team-based shooter/ action game has already developed a fervent following. How fervent? Enough for there to be widely-discussed hero tier lists that shift with the evolving meta, with different grades awarded for the various play modes.
That's common with competitive games, of course, but it shows that people are taking Brawl Stars' rapid-fire smartphone battles seriously. We'll also get our first glimpse at live, high-level action at the Red Bull M.E.O. by ESL Global Final on February 2–3. Alongside Supercell's own Clash Royale and Tencent's Arena of Valor, we'll see the world's top Brawl Stars teams battle it out for supremacy on the big stage in Dortmund, Germany.
Eager to level up your skills and get in on the rising wave of Brawl Stars esports hype? We spoke with Brawl Stars game lead, Frank Keienburg, to learn a few tips and techniques to help find the best Brawler for you, and improve at the game, along with some hints of changes on the horizon.
Don't stick to one Brawler
When you find a hero you like in a game, many of us tend to want to stick with what works. Why experiment with unknown characters when you already have a solid favourite? Why start all over again on character progression when you've put in so much time? Those points are valid, but as Keienburg notes, playing the wider field brings plenty of benefits.
"You'll learn much more how to beat specific Brawlers, or how to read the game if you play multiple Brawlers at a similar level," he says. "It might feel good initially, since you can easily push Shelly to 150+ trophies, and you can be fairly successful with solid positioning and auto-aim, but you will definitely hit a wall eventually."
Beyond that, the meta is still shifting. For example, Keienburg said that Barley/ Bull and Colt/ Darryl are current strong duos in Heist, but standout Brawlers could undergo significant changes when the next major game update releases. That's what Keienburg is teasing, at least. Essentially, don't get too locked into one character that could wind up nerfed.
"The meta is different depending on the trophy range, and changes quickly whenever we release balancing updates, new Brawlers, or change the map layouts," he says. "There are some interesting synergies, but it's really hard to give a generalised answer to this, and truth be told, we're about to shake the current meta quite a bit in the near future."
Move beyond auto-aim
Shelly is an ideal first Brawler, because she's incredibly easy to use, and solidly effective, but there's a limit to those kinds of characters, and they can be handily outmatched by manual-aiming characters with a skilled hand. If you're a veteran of first-person shooters, for example, then you might be well poised to switch to a manual-aiming Brawler, and understand how to read and react to enemy movements.
"Try to pick up aiming manually as soon as possible," advises Keienburg. "It's a good moment to transition when you get Colt from the trophy road rewards, since he has a higher skill-cap than Shelly and Nita, and you'll see more success aiming manually."
Other manual aiming Brawlers that Keienburg likes are Piper, Brock, and Dynamike, and he adds that Barley – a character awarded free for linking your account to a Supercell ID – provides an ideal opportunity to get acquainted with manual aiming. "Playing Barley pretty much forces you to manually aim, and to start anticipating movement from the opposing team," he explains.
The tier list isn't everything
Let's be honest, while a tier list can help you quickly understand the potential advantages that certain Brawlers have in different play modes or on certain maps, a skilled player with quick wits and a strategic mind can make even a low-tier hero dominate the competition. Such lists may not account for trophy range, which determines the kinds of opponents you'll face off against.
"In earlier stages, El Primo might appear super powerful, while later on it becomes much harder to play him successfully," says Keienburg. "In other cases, some people simply haven't figured out how to play a specific Brawler. The current example would be Darryl. Some people feel he's underpowered, since they used to play him in a specific way, while now he needs to be played more like an assassin."
Currently, Leon is considered the game's most powerful overall Brawler, as the hooded assassin can quickly eviscerate foes with his bevy of spinning blades. Keienburg suggests that changes are coming to that particular Brawler, but also notes that even the toughest opponent in the game can be beaten with the right strategies.
"Players can adjust to a Leon in the opposing team, which strongly depends on the team compositions," he says. "If you play Shelly, reserve your Super for Leon and 'protect' the softer targets in your team when he uses his Smoke Bomb ability. If you play a Brawler with an ability that grants more mobility, reserve it to escape his sneaky attacks. There's a lot of strategies; all of them require you to be mindful of what's going on right now, and to keep track of Leon specifically."
There's much more to come
It's early days for Brawl Stars, and especially for the competitive scene, which is still just starting to bubble up, but there's promise and potential ahead. For Supercell's part, they intend to keep expanding the roster, while making smart balance tweaks where needed. There's a lot of room left to grow and improve, so experiment, have fun, keep grinding out wins, and be ready to shift tactics again when the next big meta bomb drops in February.
"Less than one percent of our players have more than 5,000 trophies right now," says Keienburg. "The majority of players out there haven't collected most of the Brawlers yet, and we're going to release Brawlers very regularly moving forward. We're also looking at the end-game, and how to make it more meaningful. There will be a lot of new stuff coming up throughout 2019."
