Welcome to the wonderful world of the burning vengeance. now i really wanted to do a yi build first, but i felt there was really no advice i could give that isnt included in other better builds. same with teemo, and malzahar. Brand however has not been given the justice of many adequate builds, so i thought i'd throw my hat in that ring.

Brand is the latest in DPS AP nuke technology. most (if not all) of brand's power lies in the way he combos his abilities.

Pros:
insane late game AP damage
squishies are doomed late game without some magic resist
he is one of the best harrasers in the game
all of his abilities are DPS pokes
even tanks will fall to his full combo late game
one of the best solo mids of all

Cons:
if someone dodges a skill shot, it can really mess with your mojo
your combos can be inturupted
squishy early game
he has almost no escape mechanisms other than his stun

Magic pen. marks are the clear way to go in my opinion. they give you adequate tank killing power for early game.

Mana regen. is important, mostly because its very sucky when you run out of mana while soloing mid lane.

cooldown reduction glyphs help because it alows you to cast your combos alot faster, which is very important.

Ability power quints. are great, you can never have to much AP, especially when playing brand

of course the classic 9/0/21 mastery build goes out here. take anything regarding boosts in mana regen. magic pen. or cooldown reduction. I go with improved ghost mostly because its one of his only real escape mechanisms so you need all the help you can get. i dont take improved clarity mostly because it doesnt help you all that much and there are better and more useful thing to take.

His passive has gotten me more kills than conflagration has! its insane what this does late game! even squishy units will feel its wrath as typically they wont has tons of magic resist. seriously if your oponents down to like a half a bar of health let em go and watch the QQ as they whine how OP your passive is.

I level pillar of flame first because in this build it will be your most frequently used harrasment. its range is long enough so that you'll be safe enough from most champs' retaliation (the only exception that comes to mind is corki or lux).

Sear is your stun and how you'll get most of your kills. if your not a good skill shotter, brand inst the champ for you. sear will not only keep your targets where you need the to, but do considerable damage on its own.

conflagration, in my opinion, should be used only in farming or kicking off your anti-champ combo. though it will do considerable damage at level 5, its damage is somewhat limited until your ability power is increased later in game.

pyroclasm is by far my favorite ultimate in the game, just purely for its appearance and the fact it has the coolest name EVER. this shud be at the end of your anti-champ combo, because its one of half of his abilities that isnt a skill shot. this will do insane amounts of damage in the right circumstances, bouncing from target to target.

Brand is almost totally dependant on the order in which he casts abilities. here are the basic ways to throw your abilities together:

Farming: Pillar of flame---> Conflagration

Anti-squishy combo: Conflagration---> sear---> pillar of flame
if they arent dead by then just auto attack until conflagration coolss then finish them with that.

Anti-tank combo: Conflagration---> sear---> pillar of flame---> pyroclasm
pyroclasm should be used with care, its cooldown isnt horribly long, but if there isnt another enemy nearby you may just end up doing minimal damage

Escape Combo: Conl***ration---> sear---> ghost
stun and run, real simple. this should work often even if ghost isnt cooled down

often you'll have to rely on your passive to finish an oponent, which is just fine if you cant get into range for one more conflagration. Remember your passive, dont tower dive someone for one more auto attack to finish, your passive will finish it.

Sapphire crystal: mana is important for brand as he is very mana hungry, this will keep in lanre that much longer

sorcerer's shoes: magic pen. is great and will help you destroy tanks that much easier

catalyst protector: brand is relatively squishy, so a little extra health will go a long way

rabbadon's deathcap: insane amount of AP bonus, this is must have item

void staff: AP+magic pen= perfect item for brand

rylai's crystal scepter: this gives brand that extra bit of survivability late game and the slow effect will help you hit your skill shots alot better

banshee's veil: yet more survivability, and has the potential to stop a stun that would inturrupt your combos

Zhonya's hourglass: that last bit of armor will help alot late game, and its active ability will keep you alive that much longer


Conditional items:

Mejai's soulstealer: good item to have if your racking up the kills pretty fast, but i dont recomend it unless the enemy is lacking a tank

Abyssal scepter: is good, but other items give you more useful benefits for less gold

Frozen Heart: good if there is more than one AD nuke on the enemy team, but i would leave it for the tank to pick up

Deathfire grasp: a good item if your combos arent finishing like they need to, just pop its active and drop that sucker, but typically you'll have enough ability power so that your combos are finishing.

Rod of Ages: this item should be used if they have more than one AoE or DPS champs on their team

items taken that probably shouldnt:
Warmog's: why? brand is squishy no matter what, might as well focus on his strengths. honestly ive seen so many brands take this, and i cant imagine why

hextech gunblade: spell vamp is fine, but thats not what brand is centered around. AP and magic pen. are better ways to go

Ghost: necassary for its escape potential, brand lacks natural escape mechanisms so this is the way to go

Clarity: keeps you from going back to base for mana, because beleive me, brand is totally useless without abundant mana.

Possibilities:

Teleport: brand is slow, so this is useful for running back to lane after recharging your mana supply.

Ignite: aside from this being made for brand, this along with your passive will easily drop any escapee, but it usually ends up being an extra passive for you, and you'll forget about it late game alot.

Exhaust: like ive said, brand is slow so this makes a good pursuit mechanism. however you have to get awfully close to use this, so i avoid it.

Heal: this is fine...if you wanna be a noob

Flash: this is good replacement for ghost as an escape or pursuit mehcanism, but i prefer ghost because it also allows you to get places alot faster than flash

In conclusion, brand depends heavily on acurate skill shots, and ALOT of ability power to take your enemies down in one burst. focus mostly on cooldown reduction, and mana regen. and AP for items and leave everything else to your masteries and runes. remember to be ganking if you have a free moment. hope this helps. if you liked it +1 =D