If you’ve ever stared at a locked mastery skin for your favorite Brawler and wondered how you’ll ever grind enough points to get it, you’re not alone. Most players spend weeks chipping away at mastery progress without a clear plan, wasting hours on matches that barely move the needle. Learning how to grind mastery in Brawl Stars doesn’t require you to play 12 hours a day, though—all it takes is a few targeted tweaks to your playstyle and queue choices to cut your grind time in half. I’ve tested every trick in the book over four years of playing the game, and I’ve unlocked mastery for 32 Brawlers so far without burning out.
How to Grind Mastery in Brawl Stars: Pick the Right Match Modes First
Mastery points are calculated based on your in-game performance, not just wins, so the mode you choose has a bigger impact on your hourly progress than your win rate. Avoid Solo Showdown for mastery grinding unless you’re a top-tier player for your chosen Brawler. Matches are long, you can get eliminated early with almost no points, and there’s no objective bonus to pad your total if you don’t get many kills.
Stick to 3v3 modes with clear objective bonuses for the fastest progress. Modes like Brawl Ball, Heist, and Hot Zone give extra mastery points for taking objectives, scoring goals, or dealing damage to the safe, so you get consistent points even if you lose. Power Play matches give a 20% bonus to all mastery points earned, so queue for those first whenever they’re available.
Party up with 2 friends you play well with to cut down on thrower teammates and boost your win rate by 20-30% on average. Even if you lose a 3v3 match, you still get 60-70% of the points you would for a win, so you’re never wasting time even if you have a bad streak. I usually queue with two of my regular teammates for Heist matches, and we average 1,200+ mastery points per match even when we lose.
Focus on One Brawler Per Session to Cut Grind Time
A lot of players swap between 5+ Brawlers every session, which slows down mastery progress a lot. When you stick to one Brawler for 2-3 hours straight, you get into a rhythm, make fewer mistakes, and earn more points per match than you would switching constantly. You’ll also learn small matchups and tricks for that Brawler that let you perform better even against tough teams.
Prioritize Brawlers that are meta for your go-to mode to maximize your points per hour. If you main Brawl Ball, pick fast, high-damage Brawlers like Buzz or Mico that get lots of kills and objective contributions. If you play Heist, go for high-damage Brawlers like Colt or 8-Bit that can rack up thousands of damage points per match. If you’re working on a support Brawler like Poco or Byron, stick to Hot Zone or Siege where healing counts for a huge portion of your mastery points.
You don’t have to play the strongest Brawler if you hate them, though. If you only enjoy playing Piper, stick with her even if she’s not top meta for your chosen mode. You’ll perform better with a Brawler you’re comfortable with than a meta one you don’t know how to use, and the grind will feel way less tedious.
Maximize Mastery Points Per Match With These Small Adjustments
You don’t have to pull off 10-kill matches every time to earn lots of mastery points. Small, consistent choices every match will add up to hundreds of extra points per hour, and you barely have to change how you play. Most of these adjustments take less than a second to implement, but they cut my total mastery grind time by almost 40% when I started using them.
- Prioritize objective contributions over kills: Taking a goal in Brawl Ball or destroying 20% of the Heist safe gives you more mastery points than 2 extra kills, so always play for the objective first.
- Use your Brawler's unique ability as often as possible: Using your super, gadget, and star power every time they're off cooldown gives you small point bonuses that add up over a full match.
- Play until the end of every match: Leaving early forfeits all mastery points for that game, even if you're 100% sure your team is going to lose. You'll still get 500+ points for a full losing match, which is better than zero.
- Avoid playing when you're burnt out: If you're making silly mistakes every match, take a 10-minute break. Playing poorly for an hour gives you less progress than playing well for 30 minutes.
I used to chase kills nonstop when I first started grinding mastery, and I was only getting around 800 points per match on average. Once I switched to prioritizing objectives first, that number jumped to 1200+ per match, even when I lost. For context, that’s an extra 4,000 points over a 10-match session, which is almost enough to complete an entire mastery tier.
Avoid These Common Mastery Grind Mistakes That Waste Hours
A lot of common player habits make mastery grinding take way longer than it needs to, and most people don’t even realize they’re doing them. The biggest mistake I see is players spreading their playtime across too many Brawlers at once, so they take months to unlock a single mastery skin instead of a couple of weeks. Pick 1-2 Brawlers to focus on at a time, and don’t move on to the next one until you’ve completed their full mastery track.
Don't grind for mastery during temporary event modes that have skewed rules, like Big Game or Robo Rumble. Those modes give very few mastery points per hour, even if you win, because they’re designed for fun, not progression. If you want to play those modes, save them for after you’ve put in an hour or two of mastery grinding, so you don’t slow down your progress.
Also, don’t ignore daily quests that give bonus mastery points. If you have a daily quest that asks you to win 3 matches with a damage Brawler, you can knock that out while grinding mastery for your Brawler of choice, and get an extra 2000 mastery points as a bonus. I once ignored daily quests for a week while grinding mastery for El Primo, and I calculated that I missed out on almost 15,000 extra points that would have cut my grind time by two full days.
At the end of the day, the best way to enjoy grinding is to balance efficiency with fun. If you hate the mode you’re playing, swap to something else for a few matches, even if it’s a little less efficient. Burnout will set you back way more than a few low-point matches ever will. With the tips we’ve covered, you’ll be able to learn how to grind mastery in Brawl Stars faster than ever, and unlock those exclusive skins and rewards without giving up all your free time. Just remember to stick to your plan, play for objectives, and take breaks when you need them, and you’ll have that mastery badge for your favorite Brawler before you know it.