Brawl Stars Effective Team Compositions Guide by OkapiLips

Intro

Hey guys, it’s OkapiLips. Welcome to all the new players with global! This guide is for you guys. I’m doing a series of posts rewriting and redoing some of my older guides because the game has changed a lot since soft launch! (Hopefully these guides will stay relevant for much longer.) So today I want to cover a topic that new players immediately need to get some intuitive sense for – building effective teams. These guides are really focused on getting players into the right mindset about things. I will not be going through specific suggestions on which team compositions to use on each individual map. (I’m honestly not the best at this, but if you have questions about team comps for a specific map during this meta, ask down in the comments and I’ll make sure someone will impart their knowledge!) Check tier lists for a better overview of information that’s meta-specific.

Table of Contents

A. Classifications of Brawlers

B. Map

C. Mode

D. Conclusion

A. Classifications of Brawlers

In this guide I’m going to be talking about a lot of different classifications of brawlers. Most of this guide I tried to write in a way that it’d be applicable after many more updates to this game, but this section I want to give a quick rundown of terms I’ll be using and give some specific brawler examples. If you’re familiar with game terminology, you can probably skip this section.

#1. Damage Per Second

• Burst (high damage per shot, slow reload speed) – Brock, Dynamike, Piper
• Chip (low damage, but consistently hitting) – Jessie, Poco, Pam, Crow
• Sustained (high damage, but less per shot, faster reload speed) – Colt, Nita, etc.
• Shotgunners (high damage close up, but low damage far away) – Shelly, Bull, Darryl, (Leon)

#2. Damage Type

• Single (only hits one enemy) – Shelly, Colt, Bull, etc.
• AOE (area of effect) – Brock, Dynamike, Barley, Bo, etc.
• Penetration (passes through brawlers) – Nita, Jessie, Poco, Penny, Frank, Tara, etc.

#3. Health

• Tank (very high health, can take a few direct hits) – Bull, El Primo, (Darryl), Frank, Pam
• Mid health (enough health to have staying power) – Shelly, Nita, Bo, etc.
• Fragile (low health, need to dodge more) – Colt, Brock, Dynamike, Barley, Ricochet, Piper, Spike, Crow

#4. Range

• Long (Can shoot very far, even off the screen) – Piper, Brock, Ricochet
• Mid (Can shoot in between) – Nita, Colt, Jessie, Bo, etc.
• Close (Needs to be close for high damage) – Shelly, Bull, El Primo, etc.

#5. Spread

• Wide (Easier to aim) – Shelly, Nita, Poco, Frank, etc.
• Narrow (Harder to aim) – Colt, Jessie, Brock, etc.

#6. Movement Speed

• Fastest (can often be used to dodge shots) – Mortis, Crow, Leon
• Fast (useful for chasing) – Primo, Bull, Darryl
• Regular (the default) – Shelly, Nita, Jessie, etc.

B. Map

The maps can be viewed by clicking the “i” in the top right corner of the event bar. There is a lot of variation between maps – brawlers and teams that work on one map likely won’t be as effective on another. Here I’m going to go through the most important features to look for and which brawlers to choose based on that.

• Lots of Bushes – Close range can use bushes to ambush enemies. This is especially useful in maps that have bushes in the center.
• Wide Open Center – Brawlers with a wide spread can use open areas to attack multiple targets at once. This is especially useful for brawlers with chip damage, as the open areas allow for harassment (slowly taking down health just often enough to deny passive regeneration) of enemies that cannot easily run to cover.
• Tight Choke Points – Choke points force the enemy team to clump up close to each other. Brawlers with AOE or penetration can spam these areas for some fast damage.
• Horizontal Walls – Throwers can lob their attacks from safety behind walls. Horizontal walls that allow throwers to be in range of an objective are especially helpful.
• Vertical Walls – The vertical walls create “lanes” that restrict strafing movements. When enemies move in predictable ways, longer range brawlers with high damage are more reliable.
• Bodies of Water – Brawlers with supers that allow them to move over water are generally much more effective. Mid-range brawlers can shoot across bodies of water with relative safety.
• Walls Protecting Objective – Sometimes walls are blocking the path to the objective. When this is the case, you need a brawler whose super can destroy walls.

C. Mode

Certain brawlers shine in different modes, as their unique set of skills sets them up perfectly for completing the objectives. For this section I’ll start by explaining team composition suggestions, then I’ll describe each role in detail.

• Gem Grab – Should have a Gem Carrier, a Support DPS and a Map Controller.
• Bounty – Should have at least one Burst Damager and one or two Support DPS
• Heist – Should have a designated Safe Damager, and one or two Support DPS.
• Brawl Ball – Should have a Ball Carrier, a Support DPS, and a Map Controller.

• Gem Carrier – (Gem Grab) Ideally the carrier collects gems spawning in the center and stays alive throughout the game. Mid to long range brawlers are good because they can stay far away from the fight. Brawlers with high health or a super that allows them to escape danger are also useful. Often (but not always) these brawlers have chip damage and a wide spread.
• Map Controller – (Gem Grab, Brawl Ball) Map Control brawlers attack multiple enemies at once. These brawlers often have supers that stun enemies or deal very high damage to an area, which makes them especially important for leading comebacks. They also have attacks and supers that allow them to be really aggressive, which can help to push the enemy back towards their spawn.
• Support DPS – (Gem Grab, Bounty, Heist, Brawl Ball) Having a brawler that has very high (and consistent) damage per second is very important to a balanced team. Brawlers with high damage, fast reload speeds, and that don’t miss frequently are the best for this. These brawlers can help to keep enemies at low health while others complete the objective, and they are the core of a good defense.
• Burst Damager – (Bounty) Ideally these brawlers get all the kills because of their ability to quickly kill enemy brawlers before they can retreat to safety. These brawlers are often long range burst damage. Although their shots are easier to miss, when the connect with the enemy they are devastating.
• Safe Damager – (Heist) Someone needs to damage the safe, even if it means repeatedly dying for the objective. Brawlers with very high close range damage and supers that can travel long distances or destroy walls are most important for this.
• Ball Carrier – (Brawl Ball) Some brawlers are better at getting goals than others. Brawlers with high health can often make it closer to the enemy goal, and brawlers with fast movement speeds can slip past enemy defenses.

D. Conclusion

I know that this guide was pretty long, but hopefully it covers a wide range of what to consider when forming a team. I’m hoping to spark some thought about this topic, but really most of the points I brought up could use entire guides going into detail about them. I’m wondering: What do you agree with, disagree with, or want to add to what I said above? Did I miss any important details? Is there another factor you think matters that I didn’t include?