Gus

Gus is the most versatile brawler in the game, being an excellent support, area controller, and assassin. Depending on the mode and map, playstyles can vary from poking enemies, blocking key points, to focusing on charging the super for team support.

Knockout - Gus's long range, easy to hit shots, extremely high survivability, and burst damage combined with his area control capabilities make him an excellent pick for knockout. He can play offensively, chipping away at enemies until he gets his spirit charged up, after which he’s always threatening a quick kill with his gadget. His super also allows him (or his teammates!) to take and deal a lot more damage in crucial moments.

Bounty - Same reasons as for knockout; High damage, incredible area control, an ability to instantly get a shield and always be a threat, make Gus a perfect choice for bounty.

Gem Grab - Gus's spirits and shield allow him to excel at carrying gems and supporting his teammates - He can stack up spirits at the gem spawn and always threaten to eliminate the enemy gem carrier as soon as they try to get a gem, he can shield himself in a pinch if necessary to collect more gems himself and he can shield his teammates if they want to make an aggressive play and go into the enemy lines. He’s incredibly versatile as a gem carrier and makes for one of the best choices for gem grab because of that.

Hot Zone - Gus's ability to stay on the zone and control it is nearly unmatched; He can poke at the enemy team very easily, spawn spirits on the zone to force the opposing team into an unfavorable position, shield himself or his teammates to stay on the zone or - quite opposite - shield his teammates for a quick counterpush in order to regain zone control. All of these options combined are what makes Gus a wonderful pick for Hot Zone, no matter how open or closed the map may be.

Health (situational) - While this gear does make it easier for Gus to heal up after getting low, it’s often too slow to work with Gus's aggressive bursting-down playstyle. Can be used well for a gem carrier role.

Vision (ineffective) - Gus doesn’t benefit greatly from the vision gear, not having a piercing or multi-projectile attack and focusing more on hitting already visible enemies.

Speed (ineffective) - Gus mostly stays in the open and doesn’t like to play in bushes, therefore this gear is not a good option for him.

Shield (effective) - The 600 additional HP from this gear allows Gus to put on more pressure on the enemy team, making him harder to take down and allowing him to stay in his lane for longer.

Damage (effective) - This gear allows Gus to win some 50/50 encounters (such as Carl, Lola or Maisie) a lot more consistently, therefore it’s a very good option for him. The gear also stays active while his super’s shield is on, nearly removing this gear’s only weakness (that being low HP while having it active).

For the remainder of this section, we will be assuming Spirit Animal and Kooky Popper are selected; Soul Switcher and Health Bonanza are not the best options.

Gus is a very peculiar brawler to play 1v1 due to the incredibly high amount of interactions he has a 50/50 chance on, all depending on his spirit bar charge.

It’s a good idea to try and keep at least 1 hit’s worth of charge at all times. Doing so allows Gus to quickly get his spirit placed with 3 shots, which makes him able to counter brawlers such as Carl, Mortis, Maisie, or Leon.

All of those interactions rely on Gus’s better gadget - Kooky Popper. Besides the 1400 damage it deals, it triggers a knockback which works as a temporary stun. This is the most important part of the gadget and is what makes it so deadly. It should be noted that this knockback allows Gus to interrupt any long-lasting animation, such as Carl’s super, Bibi’s windup, Bull’s charge, etc.

In modes like Knockout and Bounty, 90% of the time this gadget should be immediately used and followed up with another shot. This allows Gus to output very high burst damage and makes him able to easily confirm kills. It also can be used this way in Gem Grab or Hot Zone (for example to kill the gem carrier or if there’s only 1 enemy in the zone), but I recommend stacking up spirits in the zone or close to the gem spawn and keeping them there for pressure and map control, as they effectively make that part of the map unavailable to the enemy team and force them into bad positioning.

Gus’s spirits don’t have to be used only with your gadget though. If a teammate picks them up, they heal them for 1200 HP (at power level 11). This also means that stacking up spirits near the objective also makes for a quick heal for your teammates. Both of those ways have their use cases and knowing when to apply the correct one is what separates a good Gus player from an excellent one.

Whenever you’re about to use Gus’s super, take a peek at your team and analyze - who can make the most out of it? In Gem Grab, there’s generally 2 good options: (1) If you have an aggro brawler on the team, it’s often a good idea to give him a shield if he’s ready to engage. Hitting this one is crucial and can be tricky, so I advise throwing it just before they move up, while they’re expecting it. (2) If your gem carrier (which, if you’re playing Gus, is most likely you) is low on HP or in a risky situation, shielding them should be a priority.

It’s a very similar story for Hot Zone, where, (1) If your teammates that are in the zone are low HP, you should give them a shield. (2) If everyone holding the zone is healthy, consider dropping the shield on your team’s aggro (if there is one) or simply yourself, when enemies try to retake the zone.

Both Bounty and Knockout play by very similar rules- (1) Your utmost priority should be shielding anyone low on HP. The last thing you want in those modes is to have someone die! (2) If your team has an aggro brawler like Carl or Gray, drop them a super before they engage. This gives them a higher chance of succeeding in getting kills while staying alive. You should only use your super in a knockout endgame provided you know that it’s required to make you win the round.

And if you happen to be playing Brawl Ball with Gus, your priority should be to shield the person that has the ball and can score (especially if they’re low health; it often allows for them to simply walk it in instead of shooting, which minimizes risk) or - if you’re playing defense - the teammate that has the most potential to stop the enemy push.

At level 11, Gus can 3 shot any brawler below 4230 HP. While not impressive, those 3 shots fully charge his spirit bar, making his next shot effectively deal 1400 extra damage due to the Kooky Popper gadget. It also allows Gus to land another shot on the affected brawler, effectively allowing him to deal that same amount of damage in a quick burst right after already weakening the enemy. This makes Gus excellent and bursting down enemies from a long range.

It should be noted that, against any aggro or assassin, it’s necessary to have some spirit bar charge to win the interactions. For example, it’s rather easy to kill Carl with Gus, provided you make sure that you can spawn a ghost on top of him as soon as he tries to super you; having an empty bar against flying hook + super makes you an easy kill, but having your gadget ready to pop in case removes that threat pretty much completely.

Crow’s attack should be avoided at all costs - Not only does it lower the healing his spirits provide, but with the ‘Extra Toxic’ star power also lower his damage output, severely lowering his burst capabilities. Byron’s ‘Malaise’ star power also lowers the spirits' healing!

It’s important to mention that Gus’s spirit bar can be charged on spawnables such as Mr. P’s porters, Nita’s bear, Tara’s shades, etc. (any spawnable that can move and take an independent action, such as healing or attacking) - you can use this to spawn a lot more ghosts than usual and it allows for great counterplay while facing those brawlers.

There’s technically a limit of 10 concurrent spirits on the map, and any spirit after that removes the oldest spirit. It’s not realistic to hit it, but it’s fun to mention.

Most notable combinations with Gus include :

Gus + Gray : Gus's shield stays with Gray after he teleports, therefore it allows Gray to stay alive much better and to kill higher HP brawlers than usual. The shield also stacks with Gray's Fake Injury star power, effectively giving Gray a lot more HP.

Gus + Sam : Gus’s shield doesn’t prevent Sam’s Hearty Recovery star power from working, effectively allowing Sam to heal up on top of Gus’s 4000 HP shield. Combined with the increased damage from the Spirit Animal star power, this makes Sam able to put even more pressure on the enemy team and makes him a way bigger threat than he already is.

Gus + any aggro / assassin: Brawlers that are fragile but deal a lot of damage up close all benefit a lot from Gus’s shield. Most notably: Mortis, Carl, Bonnie, Fang, Stu, Max, Crow and Edgar.

Gus + Nani : This one is a strictly playing-with-a-team-in-a-voice-chat combination, but if timed well, Gus can give Nani his shield during her super, heavily boosting Nani’s super damage or her normal damage, if she decides to teleport.