Brawl Stars: Ranked Refresh, Thunder Frogs, Rey & Ruby - Release Notes

The November 2026 release notes for Brawl Stars are live, and the headline is the biggest Ranked rework yet. Alongside it, the update adds three new Brawlers, two new Hypercharges, Buffies for six more Brawlers, a long list of balance changes and a pile of quality-of-life upgrades.

We will go over every major change in this update, from the Ranked Refresh and the new Thunder Frogs, Rey and Ruby to the balance tweaks and bug fixes.

Brawl Stars November 2026 Highlights

• Ranked Refresh: Stricter entry and Brawler requirements, a milder season reset, a rebuilt Pick & Ban screen and new rank cosmetics.
• New Brawlers: Thunder Frogs (Legendary), Rey (Mythic) and Ruby (Mythic).
• New Hypercharges: Cosmo and Vince.
• New Buffies: Mr. P, Lou, Gale, Mandy, Chester and Berry.
• New modes and maps: Counterlight, Mega Showdown, Super Hockey, a Loaded Showdown refresh and 18 new community maps.
• Quality of life: Pins and Sprays presets, Brawler Quests and chat improvements.

Ranked Refresh

Ranked gets its biggest rework yet. The developers say the playing field should be more equal, so the requirements are tighter.

Entry and Brawler Requirements

• Ranked now requires Power 11 Brawlers at every rank, up from Power 9 in Bronze through Diamond.
• Diamond now needs 12 Brawlers, the same as Mythic, increased from 9.
• Free maxed Brawlers per season go from 3 to 6 to make up for it.
• Ranked now unlocks at 5,000 Trophies, up from 1,000. Players who already unlocked Ranked keep access and get a Chaos Drop at 5,000 Trophies instead.
• Brawl Arena still unlocks at 1,000 Trophies.
• There are no Ranked teams at Masters I and above.

Elo and Progression

Seasons stay monthly, but the reset is much milder. The season reset now drops you 2 ranks, down from 6. Best-of-three Elo now depends on rounds won, so you gain extra for an Epic Win (2-0) and lose less for a Close Match (1-2). Elo gains are also higher in the early and middle ranks.

Pick & Ban and Final Preparation

• The Pick & Ban grid shows more Brawlers at once, with tiles that now show Gadgets and Star Powers.
• New Brawler filtering, class sorting as the default and Trophy sorting.
• You can now make ban suggestions, offer to swap pick order early and use quick chat during picks and bans.
• The final preparation screen has a full visual overhaul with a 3D map preview, and you can now change your Skin there.

Other Ranked Changes

• New 2026 Ranked frames with 9 tiers to unlock, plus a player icon and a Pin for each rank.
• Post-match stats and the Battle Log now show takedowns, defeats, damage, healing, damage received and objective score, split by round in best-of-three.
• Play Again is now available in Ranked, and spectators follow a best-of-three between rounds.
• The next Pro Pass season is shortened to 3 months, then Pro Pass becomes a monthly pass. Each Ranked win grants 60 Pro Pass XP, capped at 1,200 per week.
• Reaching Pro in Ranked no longer qualifies players for BSC 2027. You can enter the Challengers Program through the Championship Challenge instead.
• Extra ban phases were considered and rejected for now, because they prolong pre-match time and often come from meta frustration that balance changes should solve.

New Brawlers

Thunder Frogs

Thunder Frogs are a Legendary Artillery Brawler. Their Attack, Triangle Trick, sends a frog jumping to a spot before electricity links all three in a triangle of area damage. The Super, Frogzilla, combines them into one big frog with three jumps. Gadgets are Double Jumpers and Soothing Shock, and Star Powers are Leech Landing and Swamp Stomps.

Rey and Ruby

Rey (Mythic Marksman) and Ruby (Mythic Damage Dealer) share the Power Couple trait: Rey's main attack heals Ruby for 800 Health and Ruby's heals Rey for 400, and each moves 10% faster toward the other.

• Rey: Marked for Greatness fills a meter on enemies so shots deal more damage. His Super, Endgame, aims up to 3 seconds and fires at each visible enemy in range.
• Ruby: Draw Two throws a Club and a Diamond in a figure-eight. Her Super, Royal Flush, grounds enemies in an area for 4 seconds with swirling shots that deal 15% max health damage.

New Hypercharges and Buffies

• Cosmo (Cosmic Capture): The hyper projectile homes in on its target and roots it for 2 seconds.
• Vince (Bug Swarm): His Super is always at max power and releases Hypercharged caterpillars around him.

Buffies arrive for six Brawlers, each with Gadget, Star Power and Hypercharge bonuses:

• Mr. P: Service Bell gives his Porter +114 damage and +740 health, and Buffied it also shields him for 1070.
• Lou: Ice Block is reworked and Avalanche is the new name for his snowball Gadget. Cold Snap now deals 25% more damage to frozen or stunned enemies.
• Gale: North Wind Wall is reworked. Buffied, allied projectiles through it gain 30% projectile speed.
• Mandy: In My Sights joins her base kit, and Caramelize and Cookie Crumbs are now aimable and use ammo.
• Chester: Spicy Dice becomes Prankster's Surprise, and Sneak Peek becomes Jester's Privilege. He can also always see his next Super.
• Berry: Secret Formula replaces Healthy Additives, and Sticky Toppings is reworked.

Balance Changes

Buffs

• Hank: Health 5500 ⇒ 6000.
• Shelly: Main Attack damage 300 ⇒ 340, Super damage 320 ⇒ 360.
• Ziggy: Main Attack damage 950 ⇒ 1050.
• Draco: Super damage 1120 ⇒ 1620, Super damage reduction 20% ⇒ 25%.
• Chuck: Main Attack reload 2000 ⇒ 1800.
• Darryl: Super damage 660 ⇒ 720.
• Melodie: Main Attack damage 460 ⇒ 500, note damage 920 ⇒ 1000.
• Buster, Angelo and R-T: Higher trait Super charge near allies (+10%), 10% faster full charge and 15% larger projectiles, respectively.

Chuck, Darryl and Melodie also no longer lose unused Super charges on death.

Nerfs

• Amber: Dancing Flames cooldown 14s ⇒ 20s, Fire Starters cooldown 24s ⇒ 28s, Super damage over time 480 ⇒ 400.
• Shade: Health 3700 ⇒ 3400, Super duration 6s ⇒ 4s, Jump Scare cooldown 18s ⇒ 24s and shield 1000 ⇒ 400.
• Gus: Max spirits on the map 10 ⇒ 3, Knockback Spirit cooldown 18s ⇒ 26s and damage 540 ⇒ 260.
• Wendy: Main Attack projectile size down 20%, Wind-Powered range 15 ⇒ 10.
• Max: Sneaky Sneakers cooldown 18s ⇒ 24s, Super Charged shield duration 4s ⇒ 3s.
• Pierce, Maisie and Nori: Pierce's last shot 1500 ⇒ 1400, Maisie's Main Attack 1500 ⇒ 1360, Nori's Super damage per fish 4% ⇒ 3%.
• Colette, Ash, Brock and Rico also get smaller Super charge, Hypercharge rate and Buffie nerfs.

Other Changes

• Surge: Hypercharge Super no longer gives an immediate level 5 upgrade, and Power Shield cooldown drops 22s ⇒ 18s.
• Cosmo: Health 3400 ⇒ 3600, Telescope Trap cooldown 20s ⇒ 24s.
• Damian: Super jump speed 3000 ⇒ 2400, regular punch damage 700 ⇒ 800.
• Squeak: Main Attack damage 1160 ⇒ 1280, Super damage 1000 ⇒ 1100.
• Kit: Super damage now lands at 0.75s and 1.5s instead of 1s and 2s.

Brawl Arena also gets its own scaling tweaks. Ollie, Janet, Grey, Gigi, Stu, Starr Nova, 8-Bit, Mandy and Piper are nerfed, while Nori, Fang, Najia, Doug and Chuck are buffed.

Modes, Maps and Rotation

• Counterlight: A 2-round mode where one team sets Blue Lights at one of two capture sites, then the other team tries to beat the time. A draw happens if neither team captures.
• Mega Showdown: 20 players on a bigger map with bosses and robots that drop Power Cubes.
• Super Hockey: Charge the puck for stronger shots while a goalkeeper guards each net.
• Jingle Brawls: The Christmas version of Topple the Tower, now with Look For Team support.
• Loaded Showdown: Returns with a refreshed power-up set and themed item sets such as Mobility, Throwables, Ghosts and Boosters.
• Returning modes: Drumroll and Present Plunder.
• New maps: 18 community-designed maps join the rotation across Hotzone, Brawl Ball, Heist, Gem Grab, Knockout and Bounty.
• Environments: Candy Stand, Katana Kingdom Rebuilt, Puzzle World, Retropolis, Snowtel, Starr Force and Stunt Show are added, while Duolingo, Poco's Bandstand, Ghost Metro, Gift Shop and Windstock are removed.

Quality of Life and Competitive Integrity

Pins and Sprays get presets, categories and auto-fire slots for match start, victory and 3-elimination streaks. Sprays are now unlocked by default. New Brawler Quests appear in their own section, with up to 6 active at a time, and chat now keeps history and supports reactions.

Brawler Blast choice odds rise from 50% to 100%, while the odds of higher Gem fragment draws are lowered. The 15 Gem Mega Quest is removed from November onwards, and Ukrainian language support is added.

The team also reports that it suspended 53,000+ accounts for 31 days for third-party software or idle trophy farming, and banned 4,000+ accounts involved in win-trading.

Bug Fixes

• Matchmaking failing after "Play Again" and "Server is busy" errors are much less likely.
• Shooting is more reliable under poor network conditions.
• Brock's Hypercharged Super now fires 4 waves of rockets instead of 3 when no Star Power is equipped.
• Fixes for Vince's caterpillars, Kit's stun, Griff's Coin Shower, Gus' Spirit Animal and many Skin effects.
• Server crashes caused by Finx's teleport Gadget and Chuck in Instagib are fixed.

And that covers all of the changes in the November 2026 Brawl Stars update. You can read the full list on the official Brawl Stars release notes. For more, see our Best Crow Build and our Legendary Brawlers tier list.