Buckle your seat belts, because I’m about to give you the most important tips for doing Duo Showdown with Randoms.
I have just done 125 games of Duo Showdown, with ONLY random teammates! That’s right, I was insane enough to do it. And now you get to review with me the meaty numbers from that awful grind!
Quick Links
Brawlers I do not own and could not generate data for: Mortis, Gene, Spike, Leon.
Additionally, it should be noted that in my games that Gene had zero appearances across all 125 matches.
125 Duo Showdown Games with Randoms
Ranking
The ranks of my brawlers (19/23): 15-18 (range, 300-440 trophies)
My total trophy count at the time these games were played: 6300-6400
Maps played
(normal unless noted otherwise) with number of Duo games played:
- Island Invasion (meteors): 9
- Double Trouble (two rotations): 16+15 = 31
- Rockwall Brawl(two rotations): 4+8 = 12
- Cavern Churn (two rotations): 34+13 = 47
- Dune Drift (robot): 1*
- Feast or Famine: 1*
- Thousand Lakes: 6
- Skull Creek: 8
- Scorched Stone (meteors): 10
(Total: 125)
*may introduce non-normative data due to low number of observations on that map
Showdown Brawler Frequency by Number of Appearances
Brawlers with less than 4 games played/recorded: Darryl, Jessie, Frank, Rico
Brawlers with 4-8 games played/recorded: Barley, Bull, Crow, Dynamike, El Primo, Shelly
Brawlers with 9+ games played/recorded: Bo (9), Brock (18), Colt (9), Nita (9), Pam (9), Piper (9), Tara (13)
Statistics
Of 125 games played with only random teammates
Average rank: 2.768
Total trophies won: 231
Average trophies won: 1.848 (x̄ = ∑(x) / N, where x = trophies won and N = number of games played)
Standard Deviation (won): 2.463, using σ = √((∑(x – x̄)²) / n)
Total trophies lost: 147
Average trophies lost: 1.176 (x̄ = ∑(x) / N, where x = trophies lost and N = number of games played)
Standard Deviation (lost): 1.901
Trophy Net Gain: 84
Trophy Win Rate: 61.11%, using ∑W / (∑W + ∑L), where W = trophies won and L = trophies lost
Extraneous variables: Connectivity strength, number of power gems on each brawler at any given time, number of power gems when the game was won, box spawn locations, base power rank of each brawler, brawlers with power rank 10.
Bias: I was the only player sampled. Ideally, in considerations for a future study, it would have been better if data were collected from 100 players each having played 100 recorded games.
Graphs
Rank #1 Ratio Graph by Brawlers Played:
Keep in mind, again, that some data are non-normative due to low frequency of games played (n < 4).
Win ratio was calculated based on number of Rank 1 appearances divided by total games played for that brawler (NR1 ÷ NT).
Teammate Brawler Charts
Now, let’s briefly discuss our favorite topic of interest: teammates!
First, I present how many times each random teammate brawler appeared in the total number of games played (NT = 125):
With that in mind, let’s look at how many times each teammate helped me come out to Rank 1:
The ratio then becomes:
Top 5 Factors To Win Duo Showdown Games
I will first lay out the top five influences in Duo Showdown and then describe them in further detail.
By far, the following were the biggest determining factors in whether the game was won, in no particular order:
- Initial brawler choice
- Middle box rushing
- Teammate’s brawler
- Mindset
- Map strengths/special modes
1. Initial Brawler Choice
The power level of the brawler was not as much of a factor as the choice of the brawler itself.
My data suggests that the riskiest brawlers to play with in the context of the experiment (random duo) are 
Frank, 
Tara, 
Barley, 
Nita, 
Piper.
The best brawlers, according to the data, are 
Bo, 
Dynamike, 
Pam, 
Poco, and 
Crow.
Remember that there is a chance your teammate can end up being your same brawler as well!
Also keep in mind that the data reflect my personal experiences and skill level on those brawlers.
2. Middle Box Rushing
This is the #1 reason for placing Rank 5 in a Duo Showdown with randoms.
This is also the #1 reason for making to rank 1 in Duo Showdown if you can pull it off right.
When you have the boxes secured, you need to either high-tail it out of there or stay and monitor the middle.
Exit only if it is better than staying (i.e., too much flak).
3. Teammate’s Brawler
The best random team composition goes to… Bo and Dynamike!
Of the 3 matches that I was either brawler and paired with the other, I placed Rank 1 in all 3 matches. Same-brawler match-ups either did really well or turned out to be a complete debacle.
Squishies paired with squishies were more pressured. Mid-range with mid-range did not perform well on more open maps.
4. Mindset
This… this right here is what grinds my gears.
Too often I saw my teammate splitting off from me (I was guilty of doing the same from time to time) for whatever reason.
Here is the problem when you split off from your duo: you lose protection, increased DPS (against boxes, enemy brawlers), and pressure/presence.
Enemies are way more likely to back off when your duo is present.
An enemy duo will always single you out if you are alone!
You cannot bring the MVP mindset to a Duo Showdown. If you have seen Infinity War, you catch my drift. One-by-one is not a good strategy against the enemy brawler that now has 18 Power Gems because he’s been farming with his duo.
5. Map Strengths / Special Modes
Sometimes, using the same brawler on different maps can literally mean the difference between Rank 1 and Rank 5 almost every time.
I can play Tara all day on Double Trouble and rake in the trophies, but the second I play her on Island Invasion with meteors, I am going to get absolutely cluster-ruffled (I made the phrase-up, just use your imagination).
Other than these 5 factors, teammates that disconnected at any point of the match contributed toward a loss in trophies and an overall decreased win-rate (I’m looking at you, Bo and 
Spike. Smh.).
From this data, solid teammate picks appear to be Bo, 
Colt, Dynamike, and somewhat 
Shelly. I exclude Piper because she had only 1 appearance, and it just so happened to come out to be a Rank 1 win.
The three most popular teammates, in order, were Shelly (24), Bull (18), and Bo (10). That is a combined 52 appearances, accounting for 41.6% of the games played!
That is all for now, I hope this has been a help for anyone wondering about the sporadic-ness of Duo Showdown, or maybe you haven’t wondered before until today!
If you’re asking why I excluded losses and wins (Rank 2 or better), it is because I have my eyes set on all or nothing, and Rank 3 only if all hope is lost.
Until next time!
Screenshot shared by IshCaracal
