SAM

Who is SAM

SAM is a brawler of Epic rarity, class Assassin. This article summarizes their performance in the current competitive meta: best map, hardest counters, and the weekly trend of their win rate. The numbers come from top-PRO battles over the last 90 days, Bayesian-smoothed so a brawler with a small sample doesn't show a misleading percentage.

Over the 30-day window, SAM has shown up in 869 battles with a global win rate of 70.0%. That window belongs to the figure itself and is shorter than the one feeding the rest of the page, because a win rate needs recent data so it doesn't drag along a meta that already moved on.

Across the full 90 days, SAM has a pick rate of 0.6%. That pick rate is the share of matches where a top-PRO player chose SAM out of every available brawler, so it works as a thermometer for how meta they are right now. It uses the long window on purpose, because a brawler's popularity shifts more slowly than their win rate.

Across the full roster, SAM's trend is among the weakest: their win rate is falling below 7% of brawlers with a measurable trend this week. That signal often foreshadows the meta turning against the brawler before it even shows in their global win rate.

The two figures for SAM tell different things. The observed win rate, 70.0%, measures how often it wins in the hands of a top 200 player from its country. The discounted strength, 56.1%, estimates how often it would win against a mid-level opponent once the mix of opponents it happened to face is discounted. The first one orders the lists across the site and the second sits beside it, as context.

By discounted strength, SAM takes rank 29 of 107, inside the top third of the roster. Its observed win rate also holds up against the opponents that suit it worst.

SAM is an Epic brawler, a rarity where kits start to break conventions: unique mechanics, supers with special effects and gadgets that flip the whole game plan. The gem or Starr Drop investment is steeper, but in return you get a tool that defines entire lanes in draft and tends to be picked in tournaments whenever its signature map enters rotation.

As an Assassin, the pattern is aggressive burst: lean on the kit mobility to flank, eliminate a priority target and exit before the counter-attack lands. Super economy is critical because most assassins rely on it to escape after the pick. Maps with walls and blind angles amplify the playstyle; open maps punish it severely.

Best maps for SAM

The best map for SAM is Jungle Top in Knockout, with a Bayesian-adjusted win rate of 87.6% over 39 battles. That puts them above their class average in this mode, so it's worth picking SAM when that rotation is live. A strong run on Jungle Top usually combines favorable geometry (short ranges or cover) and a mode whose objective plays into the brawler's kit.

SAM's performance is highly map-dependent: there are 28.3 percentage points between their best and worst map. That high variance means it pays to check the rotation before locking them in, because the same brawler swings from one of the best options to a clearly unfavorable pick depending on the map.

As a second map option, SAM also performs well on Backyard Bowl (Brawl Ball) with a 80.9% win rate, only 6.7 points off their best map. When the gap between the top two maps is this small, picking one over the other comes down to the enemy team more than the brawler itself.

Rounding out the podium, SAM holds a 80.3% win rate on Match 1123581321 (Brawl Ball) over 34 battles. Having three competitive maps widens the rotation windows worth bringing them in for, not just their signature map.

Just above their worst result, SAM also struggles on Raging Ocean, where their win rate sits at 63.0%. Keep this map on your radar as a second warning sign when deciding the pick.

On the opposite end, Konnakol (Knockout) drops SAM's win rate to 59.2%. That's the bottom tail of a 28.3-point range between their best and worst map, so if that rotation comes up during a session, consider a different brawler to avoid throwing matches.

Counters and matchups

SAM clearly dominates the matchup against EDGAR: across the 129 recorded battles for that pairing, their win rate climbs to 79.5%. If you spot EDGAR on the enemy team in draft, that lane is an edge for SAM — seek the duel out rather than avoid it.

Their second-best matchup is against MELODIE, where SAM holds a 79.0% win rate over 30 battles. Two strong favorable counters like these give SAM real value as a targeted pick against comps that lean on those two brawlers.

Where SAM has a clear disadvantage is against SHADE: their win rate drops to 55.8% across the 89 battles recorded for that matchup. If SHADE shows up on the enemy team, consider not picking SAM or changing the game plan to avoid the shared lane, because SHADE wins that exchange.

Per-brawler matchups are the smallest-sample metric on the page: for SAM the samples range from 30 to 153 battles. Read them with the confidence that sample implies — a matchup at the low end says far less than one backed by the high one.

This section lists the matchups where SAM performs worst and best over the last 30 days, sampled from top PRO players and smoothed with Bayesian WR to avoid noise.

Read each row left to right: brawler, win rate vs SAM, and battle sample. The larger the sample, the more reliable the number.

Loses most against

Brawler	WR	Battles
SHADE	55.8%	89
GUS	61.0%	69
AMBER	61.5%	52
EMZ	63.9%	63
GRIFF	65.1%	69

Dominates

Brawler	WR	Battles
EDGAR	79.5%	129
MELODIE	79.0%	30
TICK	78.6%	66
MORTIS	78.4%	153
SURGE	77.0%	90

Star Powers, Gadgets and Hypercharge

To get the most out of SAM in the current meta, prioritize upgrades by synergy with their kit, not by gem cost. Star powers, gadgets and hypercharge change tiers depending on the meta, so the upgrade priority is dynamic.

As a general rule, the first profitable upgrade for SAM is usually the star power with the highest pick rate in PRO tournaments, followed by the gadget that best fits their role (lane, support, or pick). Hypercharge, when it exists, comes last because it costs more Coins and Power Points and only triggers with a full super bar.

By game mode, SAM performs best in Brawl Ball, with a 75.6% win rate over 1,046 battles — the mode with the most recorded sample for this brawler. That makes Brawl Ball the context where their performance is most reliable and where investing in upgrades pays off most clearly.

Beyond the immediate meta, the upgrade path for SAM should prioritize what moves the win rate needle the most: power 11 before gears, first star power before second, primary gadget before any hypercharge. Hypercharges cost a lot of coins and power points and only activate with a full super bar, so their real priority drops toward the end of the checklist.

Weekly meta analysis

Over the last 7 days, SAM's win rate dropped from 72.7% to 66.7%, a fall of −6.0 points versus the previous half of the window. With both halves above the sample minimum, that drop is a real signal: the meta is moving against SAM, usually from a rotation of maps or a rising counter.

Compared with the rest of the roster, that move leaves SAM falling below 7% of brawlers with a measurable trend this week — they're at the bottom end of those losing ground. It doesn't mean they're unplayable, but it's worth waiting for the next map rotation before prioritizing their investment.

Every percentage on the SAM page comes from real battles played by the world's top players, aggregated with statistical smoothing and recomputed every six hours. If you want to understand why one map performs better than another or how a rotation affects the win rate, the methodology page covers the technical detail step by step.