Match Masters Perks Guide: All 14 Perks + Best Tips

Perks are small, one-shot tools you take into a Match Masters match. They can’t replace a good booster, but the right perk at the right moment can charge that booster sooner, fix a bad board, or set off a chain of special pieces.

Quick answer: You can take 2 perks into each match. Hammer and Shuffle are free; the other perks are bought before a match starts. Using a perk doesn’t cost you a move, and if you bring a paid perk and don’t activate it, it stays in your inventory. With strong boosters at high levels, Star Maker + Mini Cleo is the pair we pick most, and the one we see most often from opponents.

What Are Match Masters Perks?

Perks are extra tools that change the board during a match. Your booster needs blue pieces to charge, but a perk is ready from the first turn, so it gives you something to work with even when the board is against you.

• Two perks per match: you choose them before the match starts, and each one can be used once.
• No move cost: activating a perk doesn’t use up one of your moves.
• Free perks: Hammer and Shuffle cost nothing, so you always have at least these two to bring.
• Other perks: you can buy them with coins right before a match, or collect them for free from boxes, spins, and other rewards. See How to Get More Perks.
• Unused perks are kept: if you don’t activate a perk during the match, it isn’t removed from your inventory.
• Booster Stakes Multiplier: perks are used only once, whatever multiplier you choose, while your rewards are multiplied. More on this in our Match Masters Boosters Guide.

How to Use Perks in a Match

You pick perks on the booster selection screen, before you tap PLAY. The YOUR PERKS bar at the bottom shows your two current perks; tap one to open the perk menu and swap it. The number on each perk is how many you own, the + button gets you more, and Shuffle and Hammer have no counter because they’re free.

1. Check the game mode first. Read the mode’s rules and modifiers before you pick, and change your perks when you switch modes or events. A perk that shines in one mode can be weak in another.
2. Pick two perks that match your booster. An expensive booster wants a charging perk; a booster that removes a color works well with Checkerboard.
3. Tap the perk on your turn. Some perks work instantly (Shuffle, Star Maker, Bomb Delivery, Mini Wand, Create Lightning, Mini Mastermind, Checkerboard, Detonator). Others ask you to choose a target first: a piece for Hammer, Mini Cleo, and Remove Cross, two pieces for Teleport, or a column for Mini Cobra. Energy Boost works on the very next move you make after tapping it, in the same turn.
4. Scan the board before you tap. Match Masters is timed, so look for the best target first. A perk fired in a hurry is a perk wasted.

All Match Masters Perks Explained

The game currently has 14 perks. They’re grouped below by what they do best: free perks first, then booster charging, board shaping, clearing, and special pieces. Looking for Explode Column? It was an older perk and is no longer in the game.

Hammer (Free)

Effect: Removes one piece of your choice from the board. You can use it on special pieces too.

How to use it: Removing the right piece can open up a strong match. Look for the one piece standing between you and a blue match or a bigger combination, and take it out.

Shuffle (Free)

Effect: Mixes up all the pieces on the board to create new combinations.

How to use it: Save it for a board with no useful moves. If the board still has extra moves or special pieces you can use, play those first, because Shuffle mixes them away too.

Star Maker

Effect: Adds blue pieces to your board, which makes blue matches easier and can even create blue special pieces.

How to use it: This is the classic pick when you’re short on blue pieces or bringing a booster that is slow to charge. The blue pieces land randomly, so look for new matches after it fires. Skip it in modes where blue pieces don’t charge your booster (see below).

Energy Boost

Effect: Tap it, and the very next move you make in that turn charges your booster as if you had matched blue pieces, whatever their color. A match of 3, 4, or 5 pieces adds that many to your booster bar.

How to use it: Its best use is right before you trigger a special piece. Some game modes put special pieces such as bombs or the bandit pieces in Dustville Duel on the board. Tap Energy Boost first, then make the match that sets one off: in our matches, the pieces its effect clears also count as blue, which can fill your booster bar in one go. With no special piece to trigger, save it for a 4- or 5-piece match of any color, since a bigger match adds more than a plain match of 3.

Teleport

Effect: Lets you switch any two pieces on the board and lock in the move you want.

How to use it: Use it to finish a blue match for your booster, or to move one piece out of the way of a big combination you can already see.

Mini Cobra

Effect: You choose a column and it is cloned to the right. If you choose the far-right column, it is cloned to the left.

How to use it: The clone puts two identical pieces side by side in every row, so pick a column with plenty of blue pieces or colors you want to match.

Mini Cleo

Effect: Releases one scarab onto a piece of your choice and adds more pieces like it across the board. It can copy special pieces too.

How to use it: Send the scarab to a blue piece to charge your booster faster, or to a special piece to fill the board with more of them. Because you choose the piece, it still works in modes where another color charges your booster: just pick that color instead.

Checkerboard

Effect: Duplicates two random colors across the board in a checkerboard pattern.

How to use it: Pair it with a booster that removes a color, such as Magic Wand. After it fires, play the extra moves near the top of the board first so you don’t break up the ones below. Avoid it with Doctor Color SE, which can be restricted when too few colors are left on the board.

Remove Cross

Effect: Works like the Laser Beam booster: choose a piece, and its whole row and column are removed.

How to use it: Choose the piece where the most blue pieces or special pieces line up in its row and column. It can also be a good pick in modes with treasure chests, such as Plunder Pirates.

Bomb Delivery

Effect: Plants a bomb in the middle of the board that explodes all the pieces around it.

How to use it: You can’t aim it, so it’s at its best when blue pieces or special pieces sit near the center.

Mini Wand

Effect: A smaller take on the Magic Wand booster: it picks a random color and removes it from the board.

How to use it: The color is random, so use it when the whole board is stuck. The pieces that fall in afterward open up new matches and can create special pieces.

Create Lightning

Effect: Creates two Lightning pieces on the board for you to use.

How to use it: Two Lightning pieces also mean Detonator always has something to set off, which makes these two perks a natural pair.

Mini Mastermind

Effect: Rearranges some pieces on the board to make special matches for you.

How to use it: A good pick when you want special pieces without hunting for the setup yourself, especially on a busy, timed turn.

Detonator

Effect: Explodes all the special pieces on the board at once. You need at least one special piece on the board to activate it.

How to use it: Wait until several special pieces are on the board. Firing it for a single special piece wastes most of its power.

Best Perk Combinations

You only get two perks, so pick a pair where one perk sets up the other or where both push toward the same goal. For pairs built around a specific booster, see Best Booster & Perk Combinations in our boosters guide.

• Star Maker + Mini Cleo (our main pick): this is the pair we use most, and it’s also the one we run into most often from other players. Star Maker adds blue pieces, then Mini Cleo’s scarab on a blue piece copies it across the board. At high levels with strong boosters, this fast charging is exactly what you need. With other boosters, the pairs below can serve you better.
• Create Lightning + Detonator (big turn): Create Lightning gives you two special pieces, so Detonator can always be activated and sets them off together with any other specials on the board.
• Teleport + Energy Boost (booster rescue): use Teleport to line up a 4- or 5-piece match of any color, and Energy Boost turns that whole match into booster charge.
• Checkerboard + a color-removing booster: with only two colors on the board, a booster that clears one color hits far more pieces.

How to Charge Your Booster Faster with Perks

In most modes, your booster charges only from blue pieces. When they’re scarce, the right perk decides whether you get your booster out at all.

• Normal board: Star Maker scatters blue pieces across the board, then Mini Cleo copies a blue piece you pick. Together they’re the fastest charging pair we use.
• A round with almost no blue pieces: this is where charging gets hard. Put Mini Cleo on one of the few blue pieces left, use Teleport or Hammer to finish a blue match, or tap Energy Boost before triggering a special piece so everything it clears counts as blue.
• Modes where blue doesn’t charge: some modes change what fills the booster bar. With the Rainbow Energy modifier, each color charges it differently (red and blue excluded); in Energized, two random colors fill it; in Plunder Pirates, you move treasure chests to the bottom. In these, swap Star Maker for another perk, but keep Mini Cleo and send its scarab to a color that charges.
• Read the mode tooltip first: it tells you what charges the booster in that match, so you can choose your perks before you tap PLAY.

How to Get More Perks

Hammer and Shuffle are always free. You can get the other 12 perks in several ways:

• Coins: perks are sold in packs of 5 and 20 from the perk menu (the + button on each perk). Prices can change, so check them in the game.
• Prize Center: some perks can be bought with the Credits you earn in The Arcade. Our Match Masters Arcade guide shows how to earn Credits faster. Not every perk is always on offer, so spend your Credits on the ones you actually use.
• Perk boxes: a perk box usually gives you three perk types. If you don’t like them, you can watch an ad to swap them for three other random perk types. You usually get a few swaps, around three.
• Lucky Spin and Piñatas: their prize lists include perk packs, and the Lucky Spin can also drop a perk box.
• Booster Run: this event gives you a free booster and extra perks for each game, so you don’t have to spend your own.
• Free gift links: Candivore gives out free rewards on MatchMasters.com and its social media channels. Some of these rewards include perks, but not every link does. We collect the current links on our Match Masters free gifts page.

Tip: build up the perks you bring most often, such as Star Maker and Mini Cleo, instead of buying a bit of everything. If a perk box doesn’t offer the perks you use, that’s the moment to spend an ad swap.

5 Perk Mistakes to Avoid

1. Keeping paid perks “for later” out of fear of losing them. A perk you bring but don’t activate stays in your inventory, so taking it into a match costs you nothing unless you use it.
2. Using the same perks in every mode. Some modes change what fills your booster bar. In Rainbow Energy or Energized, for example, blue matches don’t charge it, so the extra blue pieces from Star Maker won’t help your booster at all. Check the mode’s rules and update your perks when you switch modes or events. Our Match Masters game modes guide explains what each mode changes.
3. Firing Detonator too early. It can’t be used without a special piece, and one special piece isn’t worth it. Build up several first.
4. Shuffling a board that still has moves. Play the extra moves and special pieces you can see first, then shuffle if you’re stuck.
5. Wasting Energy Boost on a small match. It only affects the move right after you tap it. Spend it on a plain 3-piece match and you get very little, so save it for a move that triggers a special piece or makes a 4- or 5-piece match.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which two perks do you bring most often? Tell us in the comments. Need more perks, coins, or boosters? Check our Match Masters free gifts page for the current reward links.