The August 2026 update, published on 1 September, moved more of the roster than any patch this year: nineteen brawlers buffed, eleven nerfed, one full rework and two new Mythics. That list is the closest thing to an official signal Brawl Stars gives you, because Supercell publishes balance notes and nothing else — no win rates, no pick rates.
What follows is our ranking, split by mode rather than crammed into one board. A brawler that wins Heist can be dead weight in Knockout, and a single row of letters hides exactly that.
Short answer
- Balance changes come from the release notes dated 1 September 2026; every claim on this page is anchored to them.
- 19 buffs, 11 nerfs, one rework: Chuck now has four fixed Super charges and starts a match fully charged.
- New Mythics Cosmo (Controller) and Vince (Damage Dealer) are deliberately unranked.
- Ranking per mode, not overall — the same brawler swings two rows between Heist and Knockout.
- Build the version for the brawlers you actually own in the tier list maker; the Brawl Stars preset loads the released roster.
What the update actually moved
| Direction | Who | What it means for a draft |
|---|---|---|
| Buffed | Jae-Yong, Bea, Ziggy, Jacky, Jessie, Colette, Janet, Maisie, Clancy, Bo, Eve, Buster, Tara, Melodie, Lola, Leon, Dynamike, Hank, Shade | The long-range and thrower lanes both gained: Bea, Janet and Maisie on one side, Dynamike and Bo on the other. |
| Nerfed | Ash, Wendy, Nori, Meg, Griff, Max, Bolt, Brock, Lumi, Rico, Ruffs | Brock and Rico losing ground in the same patch that lifted Bea and Janet is a straight swap inside the marksman lane. |
| Reworked | Chuck | Infinite Super charge replaced by four charges, full at the start of a match. |
Read the two lists together and the patch has a direction. Supercell lifted a set of mid-tier damage dealers and controllers while trimming several of the picks that had been automatic, which is the shape of a balance pass aimed at widening drafts rather than crowning a new best brawler.
Two additions came with it. Cosmo, a Mythic Controller, fires projectiles that orbit and has a Super that magnetises enemies so teammates' shots home in on them. Vince, a Mythic Damage Dealer, spawns and collects caterpillars that raise his damage. Neither is in the rows below, and the reason is in the section on what we did not rank.
Why is one list for 108 brawlers useless?
Two reasons, and the first one is arithmetic.
A hundred and eight items in one board produces a picture nobody reads and an argument nobody can have. The common failure — most of the roster parked in two adjacent rows — is not laziness, it is what happens when you ask one scale to describe a hundred things.
The second reason is that the question is wrong. Brawl Stars is a mode game. Heist rewards raw damage into a fixed target. Knockout rewards range and cover. Gem Grab rewards holding a single square metre. The same brawler is a first pick in one and a throwaway in another, and a single letter cannot carry that.
So rank per mode, or rank the fifteen brawlers you actually own. Both produce a board someone can disagree with, which is the whole point — our guide on making a tier list people argue with walks through what the community attacks and why.
Our rows, by mode
Our assessment for the current update, mid to high trophies, and roles first because roles are what a mode demands.
| Mode | What the mode rewards | Who rises after this patch |
|---|---|---|
| Gem Grab | Control of one small area: throwers, a tank on the mine, a support behind. | Dynamike and Bo were both buffed; Tara's buff matters most here, where her Super groups a fight. |
| Brawl Ball | Mobility and burst — reaching the ball and surviving the return. | Melodie and Leon buffed; Buster's buff makes shielding a carry viable again. |
| Heist | Damage into a stationary target and nothing else. | Colette and Clancy buffed; Jacky's buff is a straight increase to safe pressure. |
| Knockout | Range, cover and first contact. | Bea, Janet and Maisie buffed while Brock and Rico were nerfed — the biggest swing in the patch. |
| Showdown | Sustain, escape and picking your fight. | Leon, Eve and Shade buffed; Ash and Wendy nerfed. |
The row worth arguing about is Knockout. Buffing three marksman-adjacent brawlers and nerfing two of the most-played long-range picks in the same notes is not a small adjustment, and it is the change most likely to show up in your next ten matches.
Heist is the row where the letters matter least. The mode asks one question — how much damage can you put into a safe — and the answer barely changes between patches.
What to do with Chuck now
Rebuild the habit, not the row.
Old Chuck charged his Super without a ceiling, so the correct play was patience. New Chuck has four charges and starts a match with all four, which means his strongest window is the opening, and running out is a real state rather than a wait.
The practical version: spend two charges early to take map position while the enemy is still walking, and keep two for the moment the mode's objective appears. If you play him the old way you will spend the first thirty seconds hoarding a resource you already have.
Nothing else in the notes changes a playstyle this sharply, which is why a rework and a buff should never sit in the same row on your board.
Should you chase the new brawlers?
Usually not, and this update makes the maths explicit. Brawler Blast replaced Trophy Road, and unlocks are priced in Credits — 160 for a Rare, up to 5,500 for an Ultra Legendary — with Gem Fragments dropping along the way.
Two Mythics arrived at once. Cosmo and Vince both look designed around a team, and a brawler that needs a team is a poor first purchase for solo play.
The better use of a stack of Credits is the brawler you already play in the mode you already queue. A maxed brawler you understand beats a fresh Mythic in every trophy range that is not a video.
If you just want somebody to play tonight rather than a purchase plan, the brawler randomiser picks from the released roster, and our brawler quiz at least gives you a reason.
What usually goes wrong
One board for the whole roster. Symptom: most of your brawlers end up in A and B, and the comments ask for an S+ row. Cause: a single scale cannot separate a hundred items. What to do: split by mode, as above, or rank only what you own.
The update date is missing. Symptom: an argument about Chuck where both sides are describing different games. Cause: his Super mechanic changed on 1 September 2026 — infinite charge before, four charges after. What to do: put the update month in a row label so the board dates itself.
A buff is read as a tier jump. Symptom: nineteen brawlers get moved up a row on patch day. Cause: nineteen brawlers were buffed, but a buff is a change of numbers, not a change of place. What to do: move the row after you have seen the brawler win a game it used to lose.
Win rates arrive without a source. Symptom: a percentage nobody can trace. Cause: Supercell publishes none, and the community API we normally use for roster data refused our requests on 6 September 2026, so every figure in circulation is somebody's private sample. What to do: ask for source, trophy range and date, and drop the number if any of the three is missing.
Trophy range is never stated. Symptom: a list that is right for one player and wrong for another. Cause: a brawler that punishes mistakes is worth far more where mistakes are common. What to do: write the range on the image — "mid trophies, solo queue" is enough.
Make the version that fits your account
Load the Brawl Stars preset in the tier list maker, delete every brawler you do not own, and rank what is left for the one mode you queue most. That board is worth more than any page, including this one, because it answers your draft instead of an average player's.
If your reflexes are the reason your Showdown rows keep moving, the reaction time test is a two-minute reality check, a club needs a name from the clan name generator, and the same ranking job done for other games sits in the Valorant agent tier list and the Apex legend tier list.
FAQ
Which brawlers were buffed in the September 2026 update?
Nineteen of them, by Supercell's own list: Jae-Yong, Bea, Ziggy, Jacky, Jessie, Colette, Janet, Maisie, Clancy, Bo, Eve, Buster, Tara, Melodie, Lola, Leon, Dynamike, Hank and Shade. The nerfs went to Ash, Wendy, Nori, Meg, Griff, Max, Bolt, Brock, Lumi, Rico and Ruffs, and Chuck got a full Super rework.
What changed for Chuck?
His Super mechanic was rebuilt. Instead of charging without limit he now has four fixed charges, and he starts a match with them full. That flips how he is played: the opening thirty seconds are his strongest window, and running dry is a real state you have to plan around rather than a temporary pause.
Who are Cosmo and Vince?
The two Mythic brawlers added in this update. Cosmo is a Controller who fires orbiting projectiles, and whose Super magnetises enemies so teammates' attacks home in on them. Vince is a Damage Dealer built around spawning and collecting caterpillars that raise his damage. Both are new enough that a tier placement would be a guess.
Why is there no single S-to-C list of every brawler here?
Because 108 brawlers in one board is a picture, not an argument. A brawler that dominates Heist can be unplayable in Knockout, and a single row hides that completely. This page ranks per mode, which is the level at which the answer changes your draft.
Where do official win rates come from?
They do not. Supercell publishes balance notes but not win or pick rates, and the community API we normally read for roster data refused our requests when we checked on 6 September 2026. Every percentage you see in a Brawl Stars tier list is a third-party sample; ask for the source, the trophy range and the date before you use it.