Also, 50% of the time I will completely skip RoA and go with Hextech, just for the AP and spell vamp. Also a useful item :)

The reason I go with time spent dead is because of how minimal the increase in mana regen is. All 3 points added in only gives you 5 mp5... thats one mana per second. Its next to useless. Like I said earlier in the build, RoA is an optional item here. Its worth it late game to grab because it increases AP, mana, and health with every minute that passes. This helps you to stack more stats end game, thus making you harder to mess with as you push their nexus.
The reason you build Catalyst is because of the fact that you're ranged. You shouldn't be getting hit often enough to necessitate spending gold on regen items. The mana gain you get just from the mana gem in Catalyst is enough to let you use your abilities constantly while laning, and allow you push all the way to the tower and still have some left over. If you're blowing it all on missed PoF's and Sear's, yes you will probably be oom. Any good Brand should know how to conserve his mana, however, and only use his abilities when absolutely necessary. I usually just move around until a minion is about to die, then use auto attack to kill it and gain the gold. The only time i use abilities on minions is when I really need to push or clear a lane, or a champ is in amongst the minions.

hey so i have a few questions... one is with masteries... you alrdy have the first 4 pts in first lvl of utility. y put 3 pts into time spent dead? this is more for if you expect to die. why not just put those 3 into mana regen??? this will help mana a lot. also i understand catalyst is your heal and mana gain. but having only that to keep your mana up is going to hurt you a lot. brand can burn (no pun intended) thru mana quick with comboin minions and champs but the litl you gain from catalyst especially mid late game will not help enough even with golem, unless you stay bak and not use your skills as much. also by gettin RoA so late you minimize the unique of gainin all the hp mana ap you would by finishn it earlier. also fyi... deathcap only gives 30% ap not 40 (theres a description on items if you get confused ;) i agree with skill choice and most all else (maybe not RoA just b/c depending on catalyst for healin and mana isnt smart) but id like your feedback