Lanes Brand players love
- Tahm Kench: There’s nothing Brand loves more than playing against tanky supports. Sure, Tahm can gobble up his squishy ADC if they get hit with your full combo, but he won’t be able to Devour them when he’s the one cooking.
- Alistar: Similar story to Tahm, but without the ability to save one of his allies from your huge burst. With his damage reduction on his ult, whenever his big ability is on cooldown he’s vulnerable to your all-in.
- Braum: Yet another tank support, but there is one caveat. Braum’s shield can block your ult (since it’s coded as a projectile) so you need to be sure to play around that. Otherwise, your main damage dealing ability W – Pillar of Flames isn’t going to be blocked, so if you can land it Braum is going to be easy pickings.
Lanes Brand players hate
- Bard: Our old pal Bard can give you fits in the bot lane because of how he can completely stop your all-in burst. He can stun you before you get in range to land your abilities, heal up your damage with his shrines, and he can use his ult to stop your passive damage from going through if he plays it well.
- Nami: Well she’s a water support and water puts out fire right? Actually, it’s not too far off as Nami can heal up all your damage once she gets Athenes/Ardent. She can also use her W – Ebb and Flow to poke and beat Brand at the early levels and if she lands her bubble you could get bursted down.
- Pyke: He’s an engage support who can all-in, but he doesn’t have the problem of high HP to amplify Brand’s damage. He also has plenty of tools to dodge your W – Pillar of Flames and Q – Sear, with probably better Level 6 kill pressure.
Tips for playing Brand
- You can combo your abilities differently depending on what you need. If you need CC, use Q – Sear after using an ability, if you need more damage use an ability then W – Pillar of Flames. Generally, though, you’re going to want to try and lead with your W because it does the most damage and can hit multiple enemies.
- Your R – Pyroclasm will prioritize the champions with the most stacks of Blaze on them. Try to use it after you’ve thrown out all your abilities for maximum damage.
- Use your W – Pillar of Flames as a zoning tool. The area it covers is quite big and can block most choke points.
Tips for playing against Brand
- If you’re a tanky support, or a support with a lot of engage, you cannot afford to play back. He will eventually get his burst off on you and chunk your health out. Find the best opportunity you can and all-in when you can.
- Keep an eye on the detonation ring around allies when they have three stacks of Blaze built up. When the ring is about to close the area will detonate and do a lot of damage.
- Remember that Brand’s stun is conditional on you being hit by one of his abilities. If he lands his W or E on you, play back until the Blaze indicator fades.
Champion Difficulty: 5/10
Brand is very much a feast-or-famine support. If you can get ahead on him you can run over lanes, but you are quite dependent on items. When behind, Brand can feel quite bad to play as your flames won’t burn the enemy team but just singe their coattails.
Doing well as Brand means you’re going to have to know how to position, how to aim your skill shots, and how to be patient. If you use your abilities too liberally, not only do you risk running OOM, you risk your abilities being blocked or not having them to zone your enemies.
Similar to champions
Zyra, Vel’Koz, Veigar
Got any tips for players who are looking to learn Brand? Leave them for us in the comments!in the comments!