Brawl Stars is turning a page. Season 53 "Windstock" is in its final days, the Season 54 "Royal Academy" update is rolling out around September 3, 2026, and the biggest structural change in years — Brawler Blast replacing Starr Road — just went live. But the combat meta has stayed remarkably steady: the same handful of Brawlers top every live win-rate tracker, and one Support Brawler now sits alone at the top of the charts. This tier list ranks the best Brawlers in Brawl Stars as of early September 2026, using live top-player data — not vibes — with the reasoning behind every placement and the best picks per mode.
Quick answer (TLDR): As of early September 2026, the single strongest Brawler on ladder is Wendy — her adjusted win rate sits at 69% on BrawlMetrics (and 76.5% on Brawl Time Ninja), #1 on both. The rest of the S-tier core is Nori, Gus, Bolt, Bo, Starr Nova, Shade and Amber. Note the split between ladder data and competitive data: on noff.gg (sampled from the world's top players) the best picks are aggressive divers led by Shade, Wendy, El Primo, Edgar and Melodie — brawlers that need coordination to shine. The latest balance patch shipped with the September 1, 2026 release notes; the roster is now 108 Brawlers (Brawlify).
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What's changing in Brawl Stars right now (Windstock → Royal Academy)?
We're at the seam between two seasons. Season 53 "Windstock," the second half of Update 68 "Ramen Rebellion," ran from August 6 to September 3, 2026, and Season 54 "Royal Academy" — a back-to-school theme revealed in the August 29, 2026 Brawl Talk — takes over as it ends (Brawl Stars official). Three things frame this tier list:
- Starr Road is gone — Brawler Blast is in. Per the official September 1, 2026 release notes, "Starr Road has been reworked into Brawler Blast, a new shooting gallery-style unlocking experience where Credits progress you toward your next new Brawler" (Supercell). Unlock costs are unchanged (Rare 160 Credits up to Ultra 5,500), but each unlock now also drops bonus Power Levels, Gadgets, Star Powers, Gears or even a Hypercharge. It's a progression change, not a combat rebalance — the tier order below is unaffected by it.
- A new Brawler is coming this season. Cosmo, a Mythic ranged Brawler and the first of a new "Scientist Trio," is releasing with Royal Academy in September. Until Cosmo is fully live, treat any early win rate for a new Brawler as novelty-inflated (more on that below).
- The balance state is fresh but stable at the top. The newest changes landed with the September 1 notes; the strongest Brawlers didn't move much. That stability is exactly why the trackers agree so tightly right now.
The state of the meta in one line
Support and control Brawlers that keep teammates alive — led by Wendy — now anchor the ladder, while aggressive assassins still dominate the competitive meta where teams coordinate. That gap between ladder and Ranked is the single most important thing to understand before you read a tier placement.
Brawl Stars tier list (September 2026)
This ranking synthesizes the leading live-data trackers — BrawlMetrics (a Wilson-adjusted win rate computed from 28,651,386 battles over the last 7 days, updated September 2, 2026), Brawl Time Ninja and noff.gg — cross-checked against Brawl Planet. It's weighted toward Brawlers that perform across multiple modes, not one-map specialists. Frame every placement as "as of early September 2026" — Brawl Stars rebalances every few weeks.
| Tier | Brawlers |
|---|---|
| S+ | Wendy, Nori |
| S | Gus, Bolt, Bo, Starr Nova, Shade, Amber |
| A | Trunk, Mortis, Damian, Jae-Yong, Lumi, Pierce, Gigi, Sprout, Doug, Chester, Draco, Mina, Meeple, Mandy, Finx |
| B | R-T, Lola, Sirius, Moe, Stu, Kit, Glowy, Gray, Kaze, Tara, Griff, Frank, Sam, Alli, Carl, Ruffs, Hank, Najia, Janet, Mico, Darryl, Edgar, Ziggy, Squeak, Ash, Nani, Emz, Bibi, Juju |
| C | Bull, Tick, Spike, Penny, Meg, Rosa, Max, Angelo, Chuck, Willow, Pearl, 8-Bit, Nita, El Primo, Fang, Leon, Gale, Buzz, Dynamike, Kenji, Colt, Rico, Jessie, Poco, Colette, Shelly, Maisie, Larry & Lawrie, Melodie, Otis, Sandy, Cordelius |
| D | Bea, Lou, Surge, Berry, Crow, Barley, Piper, Byron, Brock, Jacky, Belle |
Source: BrawlMetrics / Brawl Time Ninja / noff.gg live data, sampled September 2, 2026. Ladder win-rate lens (see the Ranked note below for the competitive picture). The lowest-ranked handful of Brawlers and any not-yet-fully-released picks sit at the bottom of D.
Who are the best Brawlers in Brawl Stars right now?
S+ Tier — the two that break the meta
Wendy is the story of the season. The Mythic Support released with Windstock in mid-August, and after her launch novelty faded she stayed on top: 69% adjusted win rate on BrawlMetrics and 76.5% on Brawl Time Ninja, #1 on both, plus the top spot on Brawl Planet at a 67.6% win rate. Her Super, "Planet Protector," drops the biggest team shield in the game (absorbing roughly 75% of team damage in range), which is exactly what a survival-oriented ladder meta rewards. She has the lowest base health of any Brawler (~4,000 HP), so she's a positioning check, not a brawler you push forward — but in Gem Grab, Brawl Ball, Hot Zone and Knockout she is the safest first pick in the game. She also headlines the best team comps: Nori + Starr Nova + Wendy is the single most-winning trio on Brawl Time Ninja right now.
Nori, the Legendary Assassin from July, is the other S+ pick — a high-use, high-impact diver at 63.1% win rate over 864,842 matches (BrawlMetrics), and he appears in five of the top ten team compositions. Where Wendy protects, Nori closes games.
S Tier — the reliable core
- Gus and Bolt — a Support and a Tank both clearing 64% adjusted win rate; Bolt remains the open-map control king even after his summer shield trim.
- Bo and Amber — long-range control that punishes the poke-heavy Windstock maps. Amber jumped a remarkable 15 ranks on BrawlMetrics this cycle.
- Starr Nova — still elite after her mid-summer health-and-healing buff.
- Shade — a modern Assassin who is quietly one of the best picks in the game. Supercell tuned him in the latest patch: "Shade is a fairly powerful and modern Brawler. With his updates, we felt it was most important to balance out the power of his Gadgets and Star Powers so that they're all desirable," the developers wrote in the September 1, 2026 release notes (Supercell). He's the #1 competitive pick on noff.gg.
A and B Tiers — situational and map-dependent
A-tier Brawlers (Trunk, Mortis, Damian, Pierce, Sprout, Chester, Mandy and company) are strong picks that need the right map or mode. Mandy benefits from her July attack buff (2,600 → 2,960) and holds a healthy sample at nearly 280,000 matches. B-tier picks are viable in the right hands but out-classed at the top of Ranked; keep them for maps that suit them rather than blind-first-picking them.
Ladder vs Ranked: why the "best" Brawler depends on who you ask
Here's the trap that ruins most tier-list reads. BrawlMetrics and Brawl Time Ninja measure all players; noff.gg measures the top ~1% of players. They disagree sharply — and both are right for their audience.
The clearest example is Edgar. On ladder he is the most-used Brawler in the game by a mile — 7.04% use rate across 2,016,725 matches — yet he wins just 43.4% of those games, one of the worst win rates of any heavily-picked Brawler (BrawlMetrics). Yet Edgar sits comfortably in noff.gg's top five competitive picks. Nothing changed about the Brawler; the difference is coordination. Edgar (and El Primo, Melodie, Bibi and Brock, all high on the pro list but mid-to-low on ladder) needs a team that peels and follows up. Drop him into solo-queue chaos and he feeds.
How to use both lenses:
- Grinding trophies solo? Trust the ladder data — pick from the S/A tiers above (Wendy, Nori, Gus, Starr Nova) that win without a coordinated team.
- Playing Ranked with a squad or pushing high Ranked? Weight the competitive list — Shade, Edgar, El Primo and Melodie reward drafting and communication.
- Always cross-check the live win rate for your exact mode and map. A Brawler's overall tier is an average; on a specific map it can be S or D.
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Best Brawlers by mode (September 2026)
| Mode | Top picks | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Gem Grab | Wendy, Gus, Amber, Bo | Shielding and area control hold the mine and protect the carrier |
| Brawl Ball | Wendy, Mortis, Bibi, Nori | Mobility and shields dictate ball control |
| Knockout | Bolt, Bo, Amber, Pierce | Long-range poke wins the no-respawn format |
| Showdown (Solo/Duo) | Bolt, Starr Nova, Shade, Trunk | High individual survivability and burst |
| Heist | Colt, Bull, Shade, Nori | Raw single-target DPS melts the safe |
| Bounty / Hot Zone | Bolt, Amber, Bo, Wendy | Range control and shield uptime |
Match your pick to the mode and map rotation, not just the overall tier — the mode split is where most trophy gains actually come from.
How is this tier list calculated?
Tiers here blend three inputs, weighted toward Brawlers that perform across many modes:
- Wilson-adjusted win rate (BrawlMetrics) — a statistical floor that stops a rarely-picked Brawler from riding a handful of lucky games into S tier.
- Real-time win and use rate from Brawl Time Ninja, whose September list was voted with over 102,000 community submissions.
- Top-player pick data from noff.gg for the competitive/Ranked lens.
No Brawler is placed on reputation. When ladder data and pro data disagree, we split them out (see the Ranked section) rather than average them into a misleading middle.
Should you upgrade to Power 11 based on this list?
Yes — but spend Coins on Brawlers you actually play in the mode you grind, and prioritize the stable top tiers. Wendy, Nori, Gus, Bolt and Starr Nova have all held their placements for weeks, which makes them safe long-term investments. Avoid dumping resources into a brand-new Brawler like Cosmo on day one purely off an inflated launch win rate — wait a full balance cycle to see where it truly lands. And remember: a maxed B-tier Brawler you main will out-perform an under-leveled S-tier Brawler you don't.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the best Brawler in Brawl Stars in September 2026? Wendy. The Mythic Support tops both BrawlMetrics (69% adjusted win rate) and Brawl Time Ninja (76.5%), and holds the #1 S-tier spot on Brawl Planet at a 67.6% win rate. Her team-wide shield Super is perfectly suited to the current survival-oriented ladder meta.
Why is Edgar rated so low here when everyone plays him? Edgar is the most-used Brawler in the game (7.04% use rate over two million tracked matches) but only wins about 43% of ladder games — one of the lowest win rates among popular picks — because he depends on teammates to follow up his dive. On coordinated Ranked teams he's a top-five competitive pick, so his B-tier ladder placement reflects solo-queue reality, not his ceiling.
How many Brawlers are in Brawl Stars now? There are 108 Brawlers as of the September 2026 update, spread across seven rarities: Starting (1), Rare (8), Super Rare (10), Epic (30), Mythic (43), Legendary (14) and Ultra Legendary (2), per Brawlify. Cosmo, a new Mythic, is arriving with Season 54.
What is Brawler Blast and did it change the meta? Brawler Blast is the September 1, 2026 rework of Starr Road — a shooting-gallery unlocking mini-game that also hands out bonus Power Levels, Gadgets, Star Powers, Gears and Hypercharges when you unlock a Brawler with Credits. It changes progression and unlocking, not combat balance, so it does not shift the tier order.
How often does the Brawl Stars tier list change? Every few weeks. Supercell ships balance changes roughly monthly and a new season (with new mechanics) about every two months, so always check the current month and patch date on any tier list — including this one — and cross-reference live win-rate data for your specific mode before you commit resources.
Are the ladder and competitive tier lists really different? Yes, and meaningfully. Trackers that sample all players (BrawlMetrics, Brawl Time Ninja) reward self-sufficient Brawlers like Wendy and Starr Nova, while top-player data (noff.gg) rewards coordination-heavy divers like Shade, Edgar and El Primo. Pick your lens based on whether you queue solo or with a team.
