Hi, how's it going? This is in fact my first ever guide on Mobafire and I am hoping to do more. So I thought I would start it off with my number 1 champion, Brand.
Brand is an AP carry and is mostly seen in the mid lane. It would be a bad idea if he were to go top or bot lane or even jungle considering how squishy he really is.

The reason why Brand is my favorite champion is because: he is made of fire and my favorite element is fire, also because his burst damage is too much in late game and lastly because of his Pillar of Flame and its AoE damage.

I assure you that this guide will help loads because I am a really experienced Brand player. I have played 70% of all my games with Brand and won about 75% of my games with Brand.

Pros: *High AoE damage *Can easily kill squishy champions * Blaze is a mini Ignite *He has CC *Can farm with ease

Cons: *Very squishy *Skill-shots are hard to land *No escape tools *Hard to master *Weak in early game

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: I take AP quints to make Brand's abilities more op than it is.

Greater Seal of Armor: I take armor seals because Brand is really squishy and he needs some defence.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: I take magic penetration marks so that Brand can take down opponents with high magic resist.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: I take magic resist glyphs due to the lack of defence Brand has.

OFFENCE

I use Summoner's Wrath simply because of the extra Ignite damage, which is always good on Brand.


I take Sorcery for the cooldown reduction which is vital for Brand because he needs all his abilities to burst down his enemies.


Butcher is good to use because Brand needs those minion kills for important items.


Blast is pretty much needed for all mage champions to make them more powerful.


Well it's obvious that tanks are hard to take down but Arcane Knowledge will help kill the tanks easier.


Its obvious that Mental Force is needed so that in early game Brand can have extra AP, which makes it easier to kill in early game.


Spellsword is important because you can harass your opponents without any mana.


Archmage is simply important for all mage champions.


Executioner will help secure a kill from low-health champions.


UTILITY


Since Brand has no escape tool, Summoner's Insight will help out with his only escape tool, Flash, by reducing it's cooldown.


Brand is really mana hungry so having meditationn will help Brand have more mana.


Since Brand is really squishy, Improved Recall will help Brand when he desperately needs to recall. Even the smallest cooldown will help.


Brand will need a lot of mana during the whole game, so having Expanded Mind will really help.


Brand obviously needs both buff (mainly blue) whenever possible, so increasing the time of the buff would be a big help.

In most of my games, I start out with Boots, 2 Health Potion and 2 Mana Potion. This is because the opponent is more likely to have skill-shots so it would be better to have speed to evade those attacks. Also, the reason why I don't start with Doran's Ring is because Brand's AP is high at the start so there is no need for AP right at the start. I would only get it if the opponent is really squishy and I am certain of getting first blood.

In mid game I would want to build my first item, Void staff. The reason I get void staff fist and not Rabadon's Deathcap is because you would have to wait a long time for Rabadon's Deathcap and it would be better to get Void Staff because of it's passive, 35% magic penetration. After I get my Void Staff, I rush for my Rabadon's Deathcap. If I have extra gold I would get my Sorcerer's Shoes and even Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

In late game, I would grab my Zhonya's Hourglass because of the AP and the armor and Liandry's Torment because of the health and because of its passive.
I would get other items based upon who I am playing against. But this build works best against most opponents.

Blaze: Blaze is Brand's passive. It is considered as the 'mini Ignite. This is because whenever an enemy champion is hit by one of Brand's abilities, the target is set ablaze for 4 seconds, taking 2% of their maximum health each second, resulting in taking 8% of the enemy's maximum health.

Sear: Sear is a high-ranged skill-shot ability with the lowest mana cost out of all Brand abilities. This is used mostly to stun after the enemy is hit by either Conflagration or Pillar of Flame. It can also be use to poke opponent early game due to its low mana cost.

Conflagration: Conflagration is a medium ranged true damage ability with a medium mana cost. This is used to harass an opponent until there is an opportunity to stun the opponent with Sear. Also, due to its certainty of hitting the opponent, it is used when there are big groups of minions in the way.

Pillar of flame: Pillar of Flame is Brand's best ability (in my opinion). It is a high-ranged area of effect ability with a high mana cost. Pillar of Flame is used usually after the opponent is stunned, to give you a certenty of hitting the opponent. This works well because of the AP Pillar of Flame has. It can be used in many ways. For example: clearing out minion waves, getting buffs, hitting more than one champion, etc.

Pyroclasm: Pyroclasm is Brand's ultimate ability. It is a high-ranged true damage ability that bounces of the target to nearby enemies up to 6 times. The best time to use it is when there are 2 or more enemy champions nearby and no minions at all. This will make sure that Pyroclasm will hit other champions and not go to waste on minions.

The basic combo for Brand is Conflagration, Sear, Pillar of Flame. The Conflagration, Sear combo is for the stun while Pillar of Flame is for the high AoE damage and since they are stunned there is no escape. When you get Pyroclasm, don't use it when you are 1v1, use it when they are near another champion or some monsters and minions because Pyroclasm move bonces of from the opponents up to 6 times. So use it effectively to get high damage.



Another combo is Pyroclasm, Sear, Pillar of Flame. Only use this when there are two or more champions near each other. You could even use Ignite just in case Blaze doesn't finish it off!

Ignite and Flash are used in almost every champion there is. For Brand these spells are good because it helps him finish off the job and escape from ambush.

Flash is Brand's only escape tool so he definitely needs it, otherwise you are screwed when the enemy comes for a gank.


Ignite is used on Brand to enhance his passive much more. This will make sure that you have got a kill which is useful for many champions, such as Brand.
You could have ghost for when you are trying to stun an enemy but there are minions in your way. But that is totally optional.

Brand can farm very easily due to his passive, his w move and also his e move. When I far I normally use w on a big crowd of minions and then use Conflagration so scatter the damage to nearby enemies. But if you have low mana then use q on a single minion and then use Conflagration on that minion to scatter the passive. This may be longer but it works fine like the first combo. If you happen to have your Pyroclasm move on cooldown and need to clear out large minion waves, then use Pillar of Flame move on the minions and then use Conflagration to spread the passive. This is probably the fastest, yet most mana dependent, way to clear out minion waves.

Brand is strong against champions that: are squishy, have no/low cc and are slow. For example, Brand is good against Akali, Ryze, Annie, etc. Basically any champion that is similar to Brand. This is because they have low health and defence (excluding items, runes and masteries), which means Brand can burst them down so quickly.

Another good thing about Brand is that not much people plays Brand. I don't know why, but this is good because there is a great chance that the opponent would not know much about Brand and also how to counter him. This also makes Brand unique!

One more thing that's good about Brand is that he has high range. This will allow him to finish off opponents that are running away. All you have to do is either place a pillar of fire in front of the enemy so that they will walk right into their death or use Sear to quickly shutdown the opponent.

Brand good skill-shot abilities. This is bad against fast champions,or champions that can dodge, such as Master Yi, Fizz, Kassadin, Katarina, etc. These champions can easily wait for Brand to exhaust his abilities and then attacks him easily because he doesn't have any escape tools. So when you are in lane with one of these champions, try to poke them as much as possible until they have low health so that you can finish them off.

When you first start with Brand, then you will struggle a lot because he is really hard to master with all of his combos. To resolve this, first switch to smartcast to quickly use your ability with ease. Secondly, go into a custom match to practice with Brand against a friend or bots to really get the hang of Brand because once you get the hang of it, you will start having higher kills and it feels good!

Since Brand's only escape tool is Flash, you should really think carefully when to use Flash. Don't use it if you are near your own turret. Use it, for example, when you have turret-dived and you might not make it out alive. Or use it when in large teamfights and you are the only survivor and opponents are chasing you.

*Always target the squishy champions because it will be easier to kill them.

*Don't jump into a team fight since Brand is ranged. Keep some distance away from the enemies to land your combos without any risks.

*Don't gank in early game until you have at least 3 kills since you are quite fed.

*When running away and Flash is on cooldown, try to stun the opponent so that it will give you time to run away.

*Learn to predict your opponents movement so you can land your skill-shot abilities.

*When you are up against two champions, always use Pyroclasm and then quickly Sear one of them so they are stunned which will give you time to think whether to run away or get a double kill.

*If you want a quadra or even a penta, save Pyroclasm when all the champions have at least 1/3 health left. If they are not together then use your basic combos one by one until they decide to regroup, giving you a chance to use Pyroclasm.

*Try to get blue buff more often because Brand is mana hungry.

*When chasing, land your Pillar of Flame in front of the opponent in order to hit them, the use Sear for the stun

Well this is all I know about Brand, from spells to farming. To summaries, he is squishy yet a high AP champion with abilities that are mostly skill-shots and his passive is a mini ignite. Hopefully this helps because I have been playing with Brand for a long time and he has never disappointed me in any games. He is very hard to master, but once you master Brand you can get those high kills and low deaths.