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So the February 2026 update dropped the biggest matchmaking change Brawl Stars has ever had. Trophies no longer decide who you play against. Instead, there's a hidden MMR running behind the scenes. Cool. One small problem though – Supercell hasn't told us what it actually tracks.

All we got was "overall performance and player experience." That's it. Very helpful, thanks Supercell.

So let's do what any reasonable person would do: look at how every other competitive game handles MMR and try to figure out what Brawl Stars might be doing under the hood.

Wait, What Even Is MMR?

MMR stands for Matchmaking Rating. It's a hidden number that represents how good the game thinks you are. Your trophies are what you see. Your MMR is what actually decides who you play against. Two players could have completely different trophy counts but similar MMR, and the game will happily throw them into the same match.

Almost every competitive game does this now. League of Legends, Valorant, Overwatch 2, Apex Legends, Fortnite – they all have a visible rank for you to feel good about and a hidden number doing the real work behind the scenes.

How Other Games Handle It

Here's the interesting part. Every game does MMR differently, and the differences tell you a lot about what that game values.

• -Overwatch 2 keeps it dead simple – only wins and losses affect your MMR. Blizzard explicitly said individual stats like damage and eliminations don't matter because they don't want players farming stats instead of playing the objective. Smart.
• -Valorant uses two components: "Encounter MMR" based on individual duels and "Win/Loss MMR" for match outcomes. At lower ranks, your individual performance matters more. At higher ranks, winning is basically all that counts.
• -Apex Legends factors in placement, kills, assists, and the strength of the opponents you beat. Kills later in a match are worth more than early ones.
• -Fortnite tracks survival time, eliminations, damage dealt, and even team support in duos and trios. Kills have diminishing returns after five though, so you can't just W-key your way to the top.
• -Clash Royale (Supercell's other big game) officially uses trophies for matchmaking but has a hidden skill rating running underneath. Supercell has never revealed how it works there either. Typical.

The Three Big Algorithms

Most competitive games use one of three rating systems under the hood:

• -Elo – The OG. Created for chess in the 1960s. Simple: beat someone rated higher than you, gain more points. Lose to someone lower, lose more. Clean, but designed for 1v1 games.
• -Glicko-2 – Elo's smarter cousin. Adds a confidence rating that goes up when you play regularly and drops when you take breaks. CS2 uses a version of this.
• -TrueSkill 2 – Microsoft's system, built specifically for team games. It can factor in kills, deaths, whether you're in a squad, even quitting behaviour. Predicts match outcomes with 68% accuracy. Riot is apparently moving League of Legends to this. It would honestly make the most sense for Brawl Stars too.

So What Could Brawl Stars Be Tracking?

Here's where we get into speculation territory. Based on what other games do and the little Supercell has told us, here's my best guess at what the hidden MMR might factor in:

• -Wins and losses – Obviously. Every MMR system starts here.
• -Kills per match – How many eliminations are you averaging? This is one of the clearest skill indicators in a game like Brawl Stars.
• -Deaths per match – Are you feeding? Dying five times in a Gem Grab match tells the system something very different than dying once.
• -How quickly you die – This is a big one. If you're consistently getting eliminated in the first 20 seconds, that's a massive red flag for the matchmaker.
• -Opponent strength – Beating players with higher MMR should boost yours more. This is standard across every system.
• -Win streaks – We already know the trophy system gives win streak bonuses up to Prestige 2. The MMR probably accelerates during streaks too to correct placement errors faster.
• -Damage dealt – Though this one is tricky. A Piper dealing 50k damage plays very differently from a Rosa dealing 50k damage. If Supercell is smart, they're normalising this by Brawler.
• -Star Player performance – Getting Star Player consistently is a pretty reliable signal of carrying your weight.

What It Probably Doesn't Track

Some things would be too easy to game or too hard to measure fairly:

• -Gems collected or balls scored – Too mode-specific and would encourage selfish play.
• -Healing done – Doesn't work for 90% of the roster.
• -Brawler choice – Picking a meta Brawler shouldn't inflate your MMR. Valorant explicitly confirmed agent selection doesn't affect rating, and I'd bet Brawl Stars does the same.

The Elephant in the Room: "Forced 50% Win Rate"

Let's address this now because it comes up every single time anyone mentions MMR anywhere. No, the game is not deliberately giving you unwinnable matches to keep you at 50%. A roughly 50% win rate is what naturally happens when you're matched against players at your skill level. That's literally the point. If you were winning 70% of your matches, you'd be climbing against harder and harder opponents until you settle at... around 50%.

It's not a conspiracy. It's just maths.

The Real Problem: Nobody Can See It

Here's the thing that actually frustrates me. If trophies don't determine matchmaking anymore, what even are trophies? Just a progression bar? A number to make you feel good? Because right now there's no way to verify that the matchmaker is working. Every time you get a terrible teammate, your brain goes "broken matchmaking" instead of "bad game" because you can't see the evidence that says otherwise.

Overwatch 2 got hammered for this exact thing. Valorant players constantly complain about it. The EA forums are full of posts titled "stop with the hidden MMR." It's the one thing that unites every competitive gaming community – nobody likes a number they can't see.

What I'd Love to See

Supercell, if you're reading this – and I know you're not – here's my wishlist:

• -Show us the MMR. Or at least show us a tier based on it. Dota 2 shows the actual number and their competitive scene is thriving. Transparency isn't scary.
• -Tell us what it tracks. You don't have to give us the exact formula. Just tell us if kills matter. If deaths matter. If objective play matters. Players will play better if they know what "better" means to the system.
• -Per-Brawler vs Account MMR. Is my MMR the same when I play my max Prestige Colt and my Power 1 Gus? Because it really shouldn't be.

The Bottom Line

The hidden MMR is almost certainly a good thing for match quality. Every major competitive game uses one, and matches should feel fairer once the system has enough data to place everyone correctly. But the complete lack of transparency is going to breed conspiracy theories and frustration – it always does.

For now, the best advice is simple: play well, don't die unnecessarily, get kills, win matches. Whatever the MMR is tracking, those things are almost certainly part of it.

Okay so Supercell just dropped what might be the most packed update Brawl Stars has ever seen. There's a whole new progression system, two new Brawlers, new game modes, Buffies for six more Brawlers, and balance changes for basically half the roster. Let's break it down.

The Prestige System

This is the big one. Once you hit 1000 trophies on any Brawler, you can now Prestige them. Your trophies reset but you earn Prestige Trophies instead, and here's the kicker – all Prestige progress is permanent. No seasonal resets. Finally.

The milestone rewards are actually worth grinding for:

• -250 Prestige Trophies: Icon and Spray
• -500: Pins
• -750: A 29-gem skin (or 1000 Bling if there isn't one available)
• -1000: Gold Brawler title
• -Prestige 2: Neon Icon
• -Prestige 3: Neon Brawler Title

There's also a Battle Card that shows your total Prestige across all Brawlers, with visual upgrades at Prestige 1, 25, and 50. Leaderboards got reworked too – account leaderboards now factor in Prestige Trophies, and Brawler-specific boards rank by Prestige count.

Matchmaking Got a Full Rework

Matchmaking now runs on a hidden MMR that's completely separate from your Trophy count. At Prestige 0-1 you still get bot matches, Underdog Trophies, and win-streak bonuses. But once you hit Prestige 2, all of that switches off. Oh, and player names become anonymised at Prestige 2+ to fight win-trading. You'll just see "?" instead. Competitive players, this one's for you.

New Brawler: Sirius (Ultra Rarity, Controller)

Sirius is genuinely unlike anything we've had before. His whole kit revolves around collecting enemy shadows and then summoning them as minions that copy that Brawler's attacks and health. Every fourth hit stores a shadow (up to three), and his Super releases them all at once. You can even command them to move, guard areas, or return to you.

His Gadgets are wild too – one fires a projectile that creates a shadow on hit and slows the target, the other recalls your shadows and heals you based on a percentage of your health. The Hypercharge buffs your summoned shadows' damage and health. This is going to be a nightmare to play against. I love it.

New Brawler: Najia (Mythic, Damage Dealer)

Najia's all about poison. She throws jars containing snakes that can be redirected mid-flight, and anything they touch gets a stackable, cumulative poison. Her Super sends out three snakes that poison an area, and you can throw them in jars to redirect them. One of her Star Powers makes poison damage scale with the target's current health. Tanks are going to hate her.

The Sirius Release Event

Three ways to unlock Sirius for free:

• -Win With Every Brawler Challenge – Win one match with all 99 Brawlers and Sirius is yours. Hit 50 different Brawlers and you get a Sirius Box.
• -Sirius Box Challenge – 20 boxes needed, 2 wins each, 40 tickets total. If you earned the free box from 50 wins, you can only lose TWICE. Supercell called it the hardest challenge yet. They're not wrong.
• -Random Sirius Box – Supercell says it's the best Brawler Box they've ever released. Eight rewards per box including Brawlers, coins, power points, and more.

Loaded Showdown (New Mode)

Showdown but the crates are replaced with Mystery Boxes that drop permanent power-ups – 15% damage buff, 15% max health, 10% speed, or 10% damage reduction. There's also a 40% chance of getting consumables or carryables like a bowling ball that destroys walls and stuns, shurikens that cut grass, a literal car you can drive, or a throwable bomb. It's pure mayhem.

Shadow Smash (New 3v3/5v5 Mode)

Shadow spiders and Brawler clones spawn around the map. Defeat them and collect Moon items – first team to 60 moons (3v3) or 100 (5v5) wins. There's even a giant Sirius mini-boss. Sandstorms and slow-bullet modifiers rotate in and out. Eight maps across both formats.

Buffies Wave 2

Six new Brawlers got the Buffie treatment: Crow, Bibi, Bull, Nita, Leon, and Bo. Some standout Buffies:

• -Crow's Hypercharge attacks now pierce and return like a boomerang
• -Leon can swap positions with his clone
• -Bull gets 50% lifesteal on marked targets
• -Nita's bear can overheal up to 2000 HP
• -Bo gets a fourth arrow with his Hypercharge
• -Bibi's Home Run grants 20% bonus damage

The gears those Brawlers had (Crow's poison gear, Bull's super charge gear, etc.) have been removed, but you'll get full coin compensation.

Rush Events

Sugar Rush-style events expanded to cover Trophies, Coins, Power Points, Starr Drops, and Chaos Drops. Hit the Rush button in game mode selection for bonus rewards per win. Pretty straightforward but a nice addition.

Balance Changes – The Big Ones

Too many to cover individually, but here are the highlights:

• -Ziggy got a major buff – more HP, faster recharge, faster projectiles
• -Ruffs is looking way better – Field Promotion healing up, Take Cover sandbags tankier
• -Frank caught a bunch of nerfs – less HP, weaker star powers, gadgets no longer charge super
• -Mortis Combo Spinner no longer goes through walls (finally)
• -Spike Hypercharge needs more supers to charge and both gadgets got tweaked
• -Colette got buffed across the board – more attack damage and higher percentages
• -Rosa super went from 3 to 4 seconds
• -Kit got reworked – shorter stun but way more healing per second

Quality of Life Stuff

• -Free Play rotation slot added – random matchmaking with no trophy gain or loss
• -Shield effects now have different colours so you can tell them apart (white for invulnerable, yellow for damage reduction, purple-blue for extra health)
• -Pro Pass XP doubled across the board
• -Solo Showdown disconnectors now get zero trophies
• -Glowbert is now called Glowy. Adorable.

Two New Seasons Coming

Sands of Time brings Sandstalker Lily and Sultan Cordelius on the Battle Pass, plus some incredible gem skins including Magic Lamp Larry & Lawrie at Legendary tier. Dragons and Faeries follows with Faerie Bonnie and Dragon Griff, plus Dragrom as the Legendary gem skin. The skin game this update is strong.

The Bottom Line

This is a genuinely massive update. The Prestige system gives long-time players something meaningful to grind for, the new Brawlers look creative as hell, and the new game modes add real variety. Plus the matchmaking rework should make climbing feel less random. If you've been taking a break from Brawl Stars, now's the time to jump back in.

Okay so. All assassins banned for a day. Brawl Ball only across the *entire* game. Big head mode. I'm not making this up. Supercell has officially lost it, and honestly? I'm here for it.

So What Actually Is This?

#RandomBS runs until January 23rd, and the whole concept is basically "what if we just broke the game in a different way every single day?" Each day brings a new modifier, a new community goal, and new rewards up for grabs.

It's chaos. Beautiful, beautiful chaos.

The Daily Modifiers Are Wild

Here's the kind of stuff we're talking about:

• -Brawl Ball. That's it. The whole game is Brawl Ball.
• -Only assassins playable (and Shelly, because... reasons?)
• -Showdown only, but everything has the Showdown+ modifier
• -Big Head day. Your brawler's head is massive. Good luck.

And these swap out every 24 hours. Right now we've got Instagib mode on all Trophy matches – basically everyone dies in one hit. It's as stupid as it sounds. I love it.

The Rewards Are Actually Insane

So here's how it works: each day has a community goal (today's is 700 million takedowns), and if we hit it, everyone gets a reward. But there's a twist – there are three possible rewards each day, and one of the Brawl CMs picks which one we get through these pre-recorded video challenges. It's wonderfully unhinged.

The loot pool though? Actually cracked:

• -Thousands of XP Doublers
• -Megabox and Mecha Box
• -Chaos Drops everywhere
• -Bling, Star Drops, Power Points
• -Gems (111, 11, or 1... classic Supercell troll move)
• -That Scratcher Poco Hypercharge Skin for free
• -A new Player Icon

But here's the one that made me do a double take: Finx. For free. A whole Legendary Brawler just sitting there as a potential daily reward. Wild.

Oh, and There's a Giveaway

Almost forgot – ten players are getting 100 Legendary Starr Drops each. To enter, just post any random gameplay moment from the event with #BrawlStars and #RandomBS on socials. Winners announced after January 23rd. Not bad for just... playing the game and posting a clip.

Honestly? This Rules

I know some people get annoyed when events mess with the normal gameplay loop, but this is exactly the kind of unhinged energy I want from limited-time events. You can't get too comfortable. Your main got banned today? Tough, figure something else out. Only Showdown? Guess you're a solo player now.

And the rewards are genuinely worth showing up for. Even if the CM challenge gods don't bless us with Finx, there's so much good stuff in the pool that you're walking away with *something* nice.

What Do I Need to Do?

Literally just play. Every match counts toward the daily goal. Check their socials each morning for:

• -What cursed modifier is live today
• -The community target
• -Which rewards are on the table
• -What we unlocked yesterday

That's it. Now go break the game.

If you've been anywhere near the Brawl Stars community lately, you've probably seen one question dominating Reddit threads, TikTok comments, and Discord servers: *who peed in the pool?*

Yes, really. This is what we're investigating now. Welcome to Starr Park.

The Setup

Supercell dropped an absolute gem of a mini-series to coincide with Pierce's release. The new Legendary Brawler isn't just here to snipe enemies from across the map – he's apparently Velocirapids' answer to James Bond, tasked with solving the park's most pressing crisis: someone has been peeing in the pool. Repeatedly.

The animated short opens with Pierce getting fired by his boss for getting "too close" without delivering results. In true dramatic fashion, Pierce fires back with "You don't have the balls to fire me," gets fired anyway, then immediately quits. Iconic. Chef's kiss. The man then proceeds to solve the case anyway because apparently job security means nothing when there's justice to serve.

The Clues (And Why Everyone Suspects Mortis)

The community has been going absolutely feral over this mystery. Supercell ran an interactive event where players could interrogate different Brawlers – and the suspects varied by account, which made piecing together the full picture a genuine group effort.

Here's what we know about the culprit from the footage: purple cloak, purple shoes, and a striped bow tie in the silhouette. The internet immediately pointed fingers at Mortis. The evidence? His cape matches, his slippers match, and his silhouette lines up suspiciously well. Plus, Pierce's new skin is literally called "Vampire Hunter Pierce" and shoots *garlic*. If that's not foreshadowing, I don't know what is.

But here's where things get weird.

Plot Twist: Is It Actually Pierce?

There's a scene in Episode 2 where Pierce is interrogating Spike, and eagle-eyed viewers noticed something flowing suspiciously under Pierce's feet. His mastery title? "Peed in the Pool." That's not even subtle, Supercell.

Some fans are theorising that the water gun Pierce wields might be doing more than just splashing enemies – the volume of liquid in the animations apparently doesn't look "natural" (yes, people are analysing pee physics now, this is where we're at).

Did Supercell give us the answer on day one and we were all too busy suspecting Mortis to notice?

The Dramatic Conclusion

The animated short ends on the ultimate cliffhanger. After a ridiculous chase sequence featuring hot dogs, 360 no-scopes, and someone yelling "Pierce, my hero!" – the reveal hits: "I can't believe it was..."

And it cuts to black. Classic Supercell.

My Take

Honestly? I think Pierce did it and the whole "investigation" is him covering his tracks. The man gets fired, quits dramatically, then somehow becomes the hero? That's exactly what a guilty person trying to control the narrative would do. The mastery title is right there. We just didn't want to believe it.

But whether it's Mortis, Pierce, or some wild third option like Mr. P (who literally has "P" in his name and was *very* defensive during interrogation), this event has been peak Brawl Stars storytelling. Ridiculous, self-aware, and genuinely fun to follow.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go analyse more cartoon pee trajectories. For science.

So Update 65 dropped and brought us Buffies – those collectible keychains from around Starr Park that R-T apparently found stashed in some underground warehouse. But what do they actually do, and are they worth your resources?

The Basics

Buffies are permanent upgrades that enhance your Brawlers' existing kit. We're talking buffs to Gadgets, Star Powers, AND Hypercharges. Each Brawler that supports them gets three Buffies you can equip simultaneously – one for Gadgets, one for Star Powers, and one for Hypercharges.

The first wave covers six Brawlers: Colt, Shelly, Spike, Mortis, Frank, and Emz – 18 Buffies total.

My Initial Concern (And Why I Was Wrong)

I'll be honest – when I first heard about Buffies, my gut reaction was "great, another pay-to-win mechanic." But here's the thing: they cost 2000 Power Points and 1000 Coins from the Claw Machine.

For us max players who've been sitting on mountains of Power Points with nothing to spend them on? This is actually fantastic. Finally, a use for those resources gathering dust. You unlock the Claw Machine at 1000 Trophies, and your first Buffie is free.

Yes, you can buy them with Gems (149-199 depending on type), but you absolutely don't have to.

Be Ready to Relearn Some Habits

One thing to keep in mind: some Buffies change how abilities work in ways that might throw off your muscle memory. Take Frank's Irresistible Attraction gadget – previously you had to manually activate it, but with the Buffie it fires automatically. If you've been playing Frank a certain way for ages, that's going to take some getting used to.

As more Buffies roll out for other Brawlers, expect more of these little adjustments. Not a bad thing, just something to be aware of!

Highlight Buffs Worth Knowing

Some of these upgrades are genuinely spicy:

• -Mortis gets a phantom attack that hits after his main attack, plus his Creepy Harvest now stacks bonus max health
• -Spike's Popping Pincushion can root enemies hit by 2 needles
• -Shelly takes zero damage during her Fast Forward dash
• -Frank's soundwave can destroy enemy projectiles

Once you've collected all 18, you can start hunting for Bling Buffies – rare cosmetic variants.

Hey Brawlers!

Welcome to Brawl Beat - your new home for everything Brawl Stars!

I'm excited to launch this fan site dedicated to the game we all love. Here's what you can expect from Brawl Beat:

What's Coming

• -Brawler Stats - Using the official Brawl Stars API, we'll track win rates, pick rates, and meta trends across all brawlers and game modes.

• -Guides & Tips - From beginner tips to advanced strategies, we'll have guides for every skill level.

• -Player Lookup - Find your player profile and track your progress over time.

• -Event Rotation - Never miss a map or event with our rotation tracker.

• -AI-Powered Insights - Get personalized analysis of your gameplay, club reports, and recommendations powered by AI.

Built for the Community

This site is a passion project built by a fan, for fans. It's built with modern web technologies (Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS) and hosted on Vercel.

I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions! Stay tuned for more updates.

Let's Brawl!