Hello, I'm 20022012 of the EUNE server, and I'm currently Platinum III. I'm a boosted animal (just like you) which tends to only play lane crushing support such as Vel'Koz and Brand.

I don't play Zyra because I'm too poor to afford her in favor of the champion mastery coins, so if you like this guide and you maybe want to see a Zyra guide (because although I hate her and think she's inferior to these two, I know I'm just lying to myself), you can gift me it.

Also, make sure to read notes on masteries, runes etc. because they contain information I didn't put in the chapters which is essential for the build and the playstyle.

Without further ado, let's get roit into this!

Much like the once glorious Blue Build Ezreal (not this metagolem trash ripoff), Blue Build Brand is a type of Brand which delivers high damage at a low cost and high utility.

It's a build which utilizes Brand's base damages along with his passive to the maximum extent, all while still remaining a support, with the budget of a support.

This build focuses on snowballing as early as you can, it crushes enemies and steamrolls like release Rengar. It's cheap and has a very sharp power curve, with insane powerspikes as soon as after first or second back.

It's a build which can deal with being behind with slight adjustments, staying true to it's name, Blue (because Violet is close to blue, f*** you hehe)

Overall, over the next few Chapters I will teach you what I have learned about playing Blue Brand in the bottom lane. Hold your trash ADC tight, because this is the 9/11 of the 6.12 bottom lane.

Pros:

+ Items don't cost a lot
+ Easy to snowball even with the smallest of leads
+ Builds and acts like a support
+ Boosts ally morale by making them think they do a lot of damage
+ Strong Early and Late
+ Ability to outplay almost everything
+ Easily tilts enemies because you're not meant to do damage as a support

Cons:

- No mobility
- Can't waste spam spells like Bard
- Easy to pick
- Squishy before major items
- Useless if enemies are playing super defensively

You might have guessed that Flash is an essential summoner spell on Brand. I'm not here to prank you, it really is. So use it. Use it wisely. Don't use it too greedily or you'll get punished, but don't be a pus** and use it like a man.

What I mean by this is evaluating whether or not it is better to use Flash in a certain situation or save it.

Usually for a kill, Flash is only worth using early and early-mid game. Why? There is less threat early and early-mid game for you damage-wise, meaning that you should be able to survive by hitting a Q stun on someone and running, potentially with your trash ADC's Heal.

Late game, it's not worth flashing for a kill (because kills then are easy for you to get), but you should flash for picks you are confident you can pull off. Just don't get too cocky with it, or the enemy might end the game because you got caught.


As for the second Summoner Spell, try to always use Ignite. Ignite gets you that bonus oomph early game. It denies healing. It's just perfect for Brand in every way other than color.

If you aren't confident in crushing the lane, take it as well, since it'll be easier.

If you are confident you can win a lane, but you're not confident you or your team will be able to survive the enemy in fights or skirmishes, then take Exhaust. But if you don't win lane, it'll probably be useless since you're meant to do damage more than you're meant to peel for someone.

Brand's Passive took a bit of a hit in the DoT department after his rework. It does less damage in every case except the final tick, which I will from now on call Nuke. Essentially, the optimal damage is to apply 2 tick quickly, resulting in 4% Max Health damage over 4 seconds, and then applying the third tick, making it 6% Max Health damage over 4 seconds, along with Nuke, a nuke that nukes your enemies for A LOT.

But, how you should use it? In the past, support Brand used to space out his passive because it dealt 8% Max Health over 4 seconds. At lower levels this usually meant his skills did double damage, which was insane when spaced out.

Now, you cannot do that. You cannot spare a Q to apply Blaze. However, you can spare W's which now cost less mana and are relatively inexpensive when taking into consideration your Mana Regeneration. That's why you should use your Passive on champions as tags, rather than Damage. Nowadays, tagging does more than damage, since your Q stuns, W deals bonus damage (like before), but your Nuke ***** on your enemies, and it's your biggest damage in the whole kit.

On monsters, the story is completely different. You want to space out your skills. On champions, what matter is burst because DoT is outplayable and counterable, but monsters are hated by Riot, hence they can't buy QSS, so you can fu** 'em in the *** if you play it smarty. However, spacing it out as 2 - 4 - 6 is not always the best. Why? Because of your cooldowns. After Nuke is applied, Blaze cannot be applied for 4 seconds, meaning your spells wont apply Blaze on the monster. That's why you generally want to EW first (E longest CD, Q is essential as a defense mechanism and has the lowest CD), then wait for the last tick and then Q, applying 3rd Blaze and Nuke.

So, in short, on champions use your Passive as a tag and skills as damage, and on monsters, use your passive as damage, and skills as tags.

Your Q is your main defense tool. It is often the difference between life and death.

Do NOT use your Q as poke or a lvl 1 skill. Please just don't, it's harder to hit than W and you'll get hella punished. Also, do not use your Q to stun if you are not going to follow up or kill the enemy. It's just stupid, you wasted 50 mana for 2% more damage over 4 seconds and are now vulnerable like the boosted Mordekaiser you are. Finally, do not use it to tag someone you're going to E and then Q. You do this on minions, not on champions. Anyone who sees you doing this will mastery emote and taunt your dead body afterwards.

What you should use your Q is this: you should use it to last hit a cannon minion with no one around if you have to, or a champion if your think the Q alone will kill him and he already has 2 stacks of Blaze. You should also use it if no one is around on a huge minion wave your ADC can get, then E the minion, and then W. This will clear the wave with no trouble at all, and you won't die for it.

Now, a certain trick with Q you can use. If you are at max E range, you can Q the enemy, then quickly E him. You should be able to E him before the Q connects (it's slightly delayed), landing in a surprise for both your boosted ADC and your enemy XWX trying to earn some rent money. This is hard to pull off unless you mastered it, but it's always possible.

You can make this easier by using Q and then flashing to E if slightly out of range. This has the same effect, but wastes your only escape. Use this only early game or late game as a game changer. Picks with this aren't good as it's high risk.

Brands W has nowadays become Brand's poke tool. It's great because it doesn't cost a lot, is relatively easy to hit, and does a lot of damage. It's great for damaging enemies and for tagging minions just to E them to tag enemy champions.

It's also your main basic damage ability. You max it first just because it's the best no argument.

So how do you use it? The best use of it is mixed with feints. Think of it like Thresh or Blitz hooks. First you must keep track of enemy CSing - make sure you remember the timings on the first 3 minions. Then, you have to fool your enemies into thinking that they are not in the range of you, constantly walking back and forth trying to do something. Get closer and closer every time, but don't do anything. Then, once you're sure you can hit, blast your enemies with it. Like literally, this will break them a bit. Now, it's crucial you keep hitting them. Do not use them as a deterrent or a zoning tool, it will have the opposite effect, and your enemy will learn your timings, which is very bad.

Precision is more important that your mana efficiency. Generally, when you think you can hit your enemies in the center with it, you should immediately throw in a Q, especially if you were feinting the W. This will ensure a Nuke, making the enemy laner 100-50 or even 100-30. You can even all in if your boosted ADC commits instantly because you have ignite.

Later on, keep the same mentality - use W only if you can hit it. It's good to use in disengages when you have Rylai's, but think of what happens if you miss it at all times. Generally, you should be able to use it every time you stun someone, when it's guaranteed to do max damage anyways, so use it them.

Brand's E is most likely the most useless ability Brand has. However, it's good because the enemy doesn't usually play against Brand to know exactly what it does. It's the ultimate tagging ability because it's guaranteed to hit, but you can use it in a blazed minion wave to tag and surprise stun your opponent.

Nevertheless, you use this ability for tagging only, and never for damage. Even though using it on a blazed enemy team in a teamfight is better than using is as initiation, do not force yourself to do that, be flexible.

However, this will be the ability you start off most of the time, especially once you have Rylai's. Landing this is a 5 second slow, which makes landing Q easier. The only problem is it's range - it's easy for the enemy to turn to you if you're too cocky with it.

You can also use this as a feint - pretend to go after the ADC, but go for the support instead - usually supports try to turn, which makes them unsuspecting targets, and easy ones at that, so you can land your full combo, usually resulting in a kill.

Brand's ultimate is hands down best Brand skill after the rework. It prioritizes champions which means it triggers Nuke easily. It also slows now if the target is blazed, which is great: even better - at levels 2 and 3 it slows more than Rylai's, meaning you generally don't waste stats and abilities.

So how do you use it? There are 3 ways: execute, initiate, disengage.

Execute relies on the enemy minion wave to be close to enemy champions under a turret or something. Unsuspecting enemy champs with around 50% HP are going to stay and farm. If you canst your ultimate on them while the minion wave is approaching, it will bounce off them 3 times, triggering Nuke and most likely killing them.

As initiate, you start off with your ult to apply Blaze in a teamfight, so your W does more damage, your Q stuns, and your E spreads to everyone. This is very basic and not much different from the past Brand.

Finally, you can use your Ultimate as a disengage due to it's new slow - when being chased, ult the enemy champion, then instantly E - E will apply faster than your Ultimate, essentially slowing the enemy and letting you escape. This is the worst way to use it, but if there's a minion wave, you can use that to turn.