Brand is a very powerful champion who can punish an entire team if they allowed him to get ahead. Massive AoE, single target nuke, and an ultimate that can lay waste to an entire team, each of which gain an added effect, Brand has a combo for every situation. This build displays how I play Brand, and I am not a 2300+ elo player, but I find this build to be very effective. Keep in mind that this is also my first guide, so bear with me, and feel free to help me improve this build with your comments.

Now the first thing people will tell me is "If you aren't rushing Rabadon's Deathcap you're doing it wrong." Yes, your damage will greatly increase, but its all nothing if you're melting in every battle because you have no survivability. Also, the moment you're our of mana you're dead useless. Rod of Ages helps by providing a great deal of health, mana, and even ability power, greatly boosting your overall effectiveness. In order to become even more durable, and to help your team catch that Teemo with 496 movement speed, Rylai's Crystal Scepter is my second item of choice. It provides more health, more ability power, and adds a powerful slow that helps you land your abilities and prevents enemies from escaping your team's grasp.

RoA and Rylai's are both very expensive items, and with Philosopher's StonePhilosopher's stone end up costing 6940 gold total. The key is to farm like crazy, and the gold/5 from Philo Stone will help. The most ideal place to do this is in mid of course. I try not to harass early, instead focusing on last hitting with Brand's awesome attack animation. I only cast an occasional spell to show the opposing mid that I'm not too passive. I start laying down heavy harass at level 4, with my second point in Pillar of Flame. However, your main focus should always be last hitting, unless you're sure you can secure the kill. The best way to manage both is to use Pillar of Flame on the enemy range minions when the enemy champ draws close. They'll have to back off for the moment, and whether they dodged it or not, they tend to return to their position right next to the minions. At this point use Conflagration to deal damage to enemy minions and the enemy champ. This is all the harass you need, the point in Sear is mainly for defensive purposes, stunning champs coming at you. Not using Sear for harassment has saved my life many times, preserving mana and always having it up just in case. Plus why use a stun for harassment, who do you think you are, Taric? Also, don't use Flash offensively, as Brand you should never need to.

With optimal farming, you can usually get that Rod of Ages somewhere between the 11 and 13 minute mark, and by the time you begin to enter the mid game you usually have gotten close to finishing your Rylai's.

Now if you find yourself in a duo lane as Brand there is only one solution, FARM CHAMPIONS.

Congratulations, if you've made it to mid game you don't have utter failure of teammates who lose their lane at the 7 minute mark. Now this is where Brand shines.

With Rylai's and Rod of Ages, you're very tanky while also dealing a good deal of damage, and all of it is slowing the enemy! Now, because each of Brand's abilities have side effects when hitting a target inflicted with his passive, Blaze, the order of which you cast your spells lead to greatly different effects.

-> -> ->

My personal favorite and most used combo. This combo is mainly used to set up a very powerful Pyroclasm, which means the target must be near minions or his teammates for maximum effect. Pillar of Flame, being an AoE and having the highest damage of his other two spells, sets the target ablaze. The next spell, Sear, is crucial because it stuns the target, preventing them from escaping Pyroclasm's bounces through their own means. Conflagration sets all nearby targets ablaze, so Pyroclasm's added effect allows for all the bounces to occur in a short time. If you're fast, you might be able to cast Pyroclasm before Conflagration, because of the initial slow missile speed, you might be able to get Conflagration off before the first bounce.

-> -> ->

-> -> ->


The second combo has two variations and is mainly meant for quick damage. It has two variations, the only difference between the two is whether Sear and Conflagration are used first or third. Pillar of Flame is the second spell, for when the target is ablaze, it deals a massive 25% more damage. Sear can be used third in order to allow your team to dive in on the stunned target, or Conflagration used third in order to set nearby targets ablaze for a devastating Pyroclasm.

While Brand is very powerful, don't get overzealous. Yes, you have a stun and great burst, but you aren't invincible. Stay of of melee range of enemy champs, because although you do have a lot of health, that's there to save you so you can survive long enough to run away, not 1v1 Xin Zhao. The health is supposed to be very intimidating, 3k health on a caster will more often than not prevent the enemy team from focusing your massive health pool first. Stick with your team, that is where you are most powerful and can put that stun to good use.

Now more often than not, the enemy team will realize that you may have a lot of health, but you're still squishy. That is why you build resistances. The idea of "I must build more damage so I can outburst them before they get to me" is not ideal, for if 5 champions are going for you you're going to drop really quickly. However, if you have resistance to where the majority of their damage is coming from, you can survive just that much longer to get off your full combo before you die, so you still leave a devastating effect on the battle. However, if you aren't getting focused, you should still at least build a Banshee's Veil to block the occasional CC that may be coming your way.

I know this is a very simple guide, but I hope it is effective in helping you become a better Brand. This is my first guide, so feel free to leave advice for how I can improve on it.

7/25/2011: Guide Published, WooHoo!