Quick answer: Brawler Blast is the shooting-gallery unlocking system that replaced Starr Road in the September 2026 update — Credit costs are unchanged (Rare 160 up to Ultra 5,500), every opening now pays 1-17 bonus Gem Fragments of progression for the new Brawler, and 50% of openings let you choose which Brawler you unlock.
Brawler Blast replaced Starr Road in the September 2026 Brawl Stars update (release notes published September 1, 2026) and kept all 6 Credit costs identical — 160, 430, 925, 1,900, 3,800, and 5,500 — while adding a shooting-gallery opening that pays between 1 and 17 Gem Fragments of bonus progression on every unlock. The most common result is exactly 4 Gem Fragments (20.04% of openings), a 4-Fragment pull can become a Hypercharge or a Buffie, and half of all openings let you select the Brawler you receive. This guide covers the Credit costs, the exact official odds tables, and whether the system beats the Starr Road it replaced.
What Is Brawler Blast in Brawl Stars?
Brawler Blast is the Brawler-unlocking system introduced in the September 2026 update as the direct replacement for Starr Road. Credits still progress you toward your next new Brawler, but the unlock moment is now a shooting-gallery experience: up to 10 unowned Brawlers of the current rarity appear as targets, you fire shots to knock them down, and the last Brawler standing is the one you unlock — with a chance of Gem Fragments revealed along the way that convert into upgrades for that same Brawler.
Brawler Blast lives inside the rebuilt Brawler Collection, which now scrolls horizontally and includes a Search feature; the Brawler Blast info panel displays to the left of the collection. Rarity unlocks follow a set order that you can view in that Brawler Blast section, and Credits immediately count toward the next rarity in the sequence. One naming change shipped alongside the system: the "Ultra Legendary" rarity was renamed simply "Ultra." The system arrived just before Season 54 — Royal Academy (September 3 – October 1, 2026), so it is the unlock path for every Brawler this season. For the full patch context, read the September 2026 update guide.
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How Do Credits Work in Brawler Blast?
Credits work exactly as they did under Starr Road on the cost side: every rarity price carried over unchanged, so no saved Credits lost value in the transition. What changed is targeting — instead of picking a specific Brawler to work toward, your Credits fill the next rarity in a set unlock order shown in the Brawler Blast section of the Brawler Collection.
| Rarity | Credit cost | Changed from Starr Road? |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | 160 | No |
| Super Rare | 430 | No |
| Epic | 925 | No |
| Mythic | 1,900 | No |
| Legendary | 3,800 | No |
| Ultra (formerly Ultra Legendary) | 5,500 | No |
Two practical consequences follow from that table. First, the full climb from a Rare to an Ultra still spans a 34x cost range (160 vs 5,500), so Credit planning matters as much as it did in 2025. Second, because Credits roll straight into the next rarity on the track, there is no longer a "parked Credits" state where you hoard progress on an unselected road — every Credit earned is always progressing something.
How Does a Brawler Blast Opening Work?
A Brawler Blast opening fills a shooting gallery with up to 10 unowned Brawlers of the current rarity. You fire shots to knock the targets down, and the last Brawler standing is the one you unlock. If you own most of a rarity and fewer than 10 unowned Brawlers remain, the remaining spots become empty targets rather than shrinking the gallery.
While targets are knocked down, each volley has a chance to reveal 1-4 Gem Fragments. After the new Brawler is delivered, all Gem Fragments found during the opening convert into progression for that specific Brawler — Power Levels, a Gadget, a Star Power, a Gear, a Hypercharge, or a Buffie, depending on how many you found. The Fragments are not account-wide currency you bank for later; they are spent on the Brawler you just unlocked, immediately.
Can You Choose Which Brawler You Unlock?
Choosing your Brawler happens on 50% of openings — the other 50% deliver a random result from the gallery. When choice does trigger, the size of the choice is itself rolled: a pick between 2 Brawlers is most likely, and a pick between 4 is rarest.
| Choice size | Odds when choice triggers | Approximate odds per opening |
|---|---|---|
| Choice of 2 | 57.14% | ~28.6% |
| Choice of 3 | 28.57% | ~14.3% |
| Choice of 4 | 14.29% | ~7.1% |
The per-opening column is the trigger chance multiplied by the 50% choice rate. Read it this way: on any given unlock you have a 50% chance of no say at all, roughly a 28.6% chance of a 2-way pick, and only about a 7.1% chance of the luxurious 4-way pick. That makes Brawler Blast a system you plan around probabilistically — you can hope for the Mythic you want, but you cannot guarantee it the way Starr Road's free road selection could.
What Are the Gem Fragment Odds in Brawler Blast?
Gem Fragment totals per opening follow a published odds table, and the headline is that 0 is not on it: 100% of openings pay at least 1 Gem Fragment. The distribution peaks at 4 Fragments (20.04%) and then falls away, with a small 0.40% spike at the 17-Fragment maximum.
| Total Gem Fragments | Odds per opening |
|---|---|
| 1 | 12.02% |
| 2 | 14.03% |
| 3 | 16.03% |
| 4 | 20.04% |
| 5 | 14.03% |
| 6 | 10.02% |
| 7 | 6.01% |
| 8 | 2.20% |
| 9 | 1.80% |
| 10 | 1.00% |
| 11 | 0.80% |
| 12 | 0.60% |
| 13 | 0.40% |
| 14 | 0.20% |
| 15 | 0.20% |
| 16 | 0.20% |
| 17 | 0.40% |
Three numbers from that table are worth memorizing. A result of 1-4 Fragments covers 62.12% of openings, so the typical unlock ships with a modest Power Level head start. Results of 8 or more Fragments total only about 8.8% of openings, so the big multi-reward hauls are genuinely rare. And averaged across the published odds, an opening yields roughly 4.2 Gem Fragments — meaningful, but not a substitute for normal upgrading on the Brawlers you actually play, which is still governed by the priorities in which Brawlers to max first.
What Do Gem Fragments Turn Into?
Gem Fragments convert into progression for the newly unlocked Brawler at fixed rates, and larger Fragment counts unlock better reward classes:
| Gem Fragments | Converts into |
|---|---|
| 1 | +1 Power Level |
| 2 | +2 Power Levels, a random Gadget, or a random Super Rare Gear |
| 3 | +3 Power Levels or a random Star Power |
| 4 | +4 Power Levels, a Hypercharge, or a random Buffie |
Every opening also enforces hard per-opening caps: at most 1 Gadget, 1 Gear, 1 Star Power, 1 Hypercharge, 1 Buffie, and +10 Power Levels. So even a maximum 17-Fragment opening cannot shower a Brawler with 3 Star Powers — the excess flows into the capped categories once each and Power Levels up to the +10 limit.
One eligibility rule matters for new releases: a Brawler cannot receive a Hypercharge or Buffies from an opening until it is fully released. Early-access Brawlers unlocked through Brawler Blast take their Fragments as Power Levels and the other reward classes instead. Buffies themselves are the permanent 4th build layer added in December 2025 — a Gadget Buffie, Star Power Buffie, and Hyper Buffie per Brawler, normally gated behind 1,000 trophies — so pulling one from an unlock is a genuine shortcut; see the best builds guide for how Buffies slot into full loadouts.
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Is Brawler Blast Better or Worse Than Starr Road?
Brawler Blast is better than Starr Road on value per Credit and worse on targeting, and the value side wins for most accounts. The case rests on 3 facts from the official numbers rather than vibes:
Value per Credit went strictly up. Every rarity costs exactly what it cost under Starr Road — 160 to 5,500 — but every opening now adds 1-17 Gem Fragments of free progression on top of the Brawler itself, with a 100% floor of at least 1 Fragment. A 4-Fragment result (the single most likely outcome at 20.04%) can be a Hypercharge or a Buffie, rewards that otherwise sit deep in a Brawler's upgrade path. Same price, strictly more product.
Targeting went down. Starr Road let you point your Credits at a chosen Brawler; Brawler Blast puts rarities in a set order and gives you only a 50% chance to select the specific Brawler, usually from a pool of 2 (57.14% of choice triggers). If there is exactly 1 Brawler you want and 6 unowned rivals in its rarity, the new system will feel worse on that specific unlock.
The gallery shrinks the randomness as your collection grows. Because only unowned Brawlers of the current rarity fill the up-to-10 targets — with empty targets padding the rest — a nearly complete collection means small pools, and small pools plus a 50% choice rate means the "wrong" unlock costs you less over time.
Net verdict: for new and mid-game accounts unlocking many Brawlers, Brawler Blast is a clear upgrade — identical costs with a bonus reward layer attached to every single unlock. For a completionist account waiting on 1 specific Legendary, it is a sidegrade that trades certainty for free upgrades.
What Happened to Trophy Road Brawlers?
Trophy Road Brawlers of Rare and Super Rare rarity moved into Brawler Blast in the same September 2026 update. The Rares and Super Rares that older accounts remember earning from Trophy Road now come out of the same Credit-driven gallery as everyone else, at the standard 160 and 430 Credit costs for their rarities.
For new players this consolidates everything into 1 unlock system: Credits in, Brawlers plus Gem Fragments out, in the rarity order shown in the Brawler Blast section of the Brawler Collection. If you are early enough that those Rares are still ahead of you, the beginner guide covers which cheap Brawlers matter most in your first weeks.
How Should You Play Around Brawler Blast?
Play around Brawler Blast by treating Credits as a steady pipeline rather than a savings account, because the set rarity order removes most hoarding decisions. Three habits get the most out of the system:
- Let the Fragments pick your practice target. An unlock that arrives with a Star Power or +4 Power Levels is playable immediately; a same-rarity unlock that rolled a single Fragment is not. When a new Brawler ships with a strong Fragment haul, run its early Records win goals while the head start is fresh — the 20-win and 50-win goals pay Starr Drops either way.
- Value the 4-Fragment tier correctly. The 2-Fragment and 3-Fragment conversions (Gadget, Super Rare Gear, Star Power) save Coins you would have spent anyway, but the 4-Fragment tier can pay a Hypercharge or a Buffie — the 2 most expensive items in a modern build. At 20.04%, that tier is common enough to factor into which rarity you push toward next.
- Do not chase choice openings. The 50% select chance is flat per opening; there is no pity mechanic in the published odds. Budget Credits assuming the random half of outcomes, and treat every 2-, 3-, or 4-way choice (~28.6%, ~14.3%, and ~7.1% of openings respectively) as a bonus decision, not a plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Brawl Stars remove Starr Road?
Yes. Starr Road was removed and replaced by Brawler Blast in the September 2026 update, with release notes published September 1, 2026. All 6 rarity Credit costs (160 to 5,500) carried over unchanged.
How many Credits does a Legendary Brawler cost in Brawler Blast?
A Legendary Brawler costs 3,800 Credits in Brawler Blast — the same as under Starr Road. The full cost ladder is Rare 160, Super Rare 430, Epic 925, Mythic 1,900, Legendary 3,800, and Ultra 5,500.
Can you choose which Brawler you unlock in Brawler Blast?
You can choose on 50% of openings. When choice triggers, it is a pick between 2 Brawlers 57.14% of the time, between 3 Brawlers 28.57% of the time, and between 4 Brawlers 14.29% of the time.
How many Gem Fragments can you get per opening?
Gem Fragment totals range from 1 to 17 per opening, and every opening pays at least 1. The most likely total is 4 Fragments at 20.04%, and totals of 8 or more combine to only about 8.8% of openings.
Can Brawler Blast give you a Hypercharge?
Yes — a 4-Fragment conversion can pay a Hypercharge or a random Buffie, capped at 1 of each per opening. The exception is early-access Brawlers: a Brawler cannot receive a Hypercharge or Buffies until it is fully released.
What happened to Trophy Road Brawlers?
Rare and Super Rare Brawlers that used to come from Trophy Road now come from Brawler Blast, at the standard 160 and 430 Credit costs. All Brawler unlocking now runs through the 1 Credit-driven system.
Is "Ultra Legendary" still a rarity in Brawl Stars?
No — the "Ultra Legendary" rarity was renamed "Ultra" in the September 2026 update. Its Credit cost is unchanged at 5,500, still the most expensive tier in Brawler Blast.