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Brand: Through the Fire and Flames






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Spells:
Ignite
Teleport
Ability Order
Blaze (PASSIVE)
Brand Passive Ability
Introduction
Now, I know that this close to release there are going to be a lot of very similar Brand builds, and most of them are probably much like mine. However, I'd like you to look past that fact. Frankly, if this guide helps one person play or build better, I've accomplished my goal.
That said, I'd like to welcome you to my guide/build for Brand, the Burning Vengeance.

April 18, 2011:
-Added two sections: Troll Votes and a Nota Bene section. The Nota Bene section is located near the top of the guide, as it addresses issues with the stat sheet at the top.
-Pointed out that

-Also updated the Items section, outlining why I have (and don't have) certain items in my build.
-The farming section was also updated to inform people why they shouldn't use

-Updated my Masteries section with reasoning for taking Good Hands.
April 17, 2011:
-Guide finally published. The wait for Mobafire to update their database is over!
-The stat sheet also doesn't show mana from




-

-Every section of this build has a logical argument behind it. If you troll me, and say my build sucks/is arbitrary/has no supporting evidence, it's obvious you didn't read through the rest of the guide.
-
Amazing early game damage
Great single-target damage
Great area-of-effect damage
Wonderful farmer
Perfect for mid-lane
Great combo damage
Good synergy with disablers/support champions
Great at ganking
Cons:
-
Squishy
Slow base movement speed
The damage-over-time from Blaze will trigger turret aggro
Focused
Expect to have your kills stolen
Expect to get some grief from random queue teammates
Somewhat expensive build
Did I mention squishy?
9x

9x Greater Seal of Knowledge,
9x

and 3x

This will give you magic penetration, mana, mana regen, and ability power.
If you feel your Brand is too squishy, or you want to get a better for-cost bonus from your seals, you can replace your Greater Seal of Knowledge stack with 9x Greater Seal of Vitality.
If you use different summoner spells, or if you don't care for my mastery setup, feel free to change it. It is, by no means, essential. It's merely the best way I've found thus far.
Why take Good Hands rather than Perseverance? Doesn't that imply that you're expecting to die?
Quite simply, because of the math. It's in much greater detail in this thread, but I'll summarize:
How many of your recent games are perfect games? Probably almost none of them, right? (Co-op vs. AI games don't count). Fact is, you're probably going to die. It may be your fault, you might get ganked, you may just get focused down in a teamfight before you can get away. What I'm saying is that the 10% reduced time you spend dead is going to make a difference. How many times have you seen the enemy team take out your inhibitor turret and inhibitor, while you had just a few seconds left on the clock?
And before you ask, oh sarcastic ones, I'm not going to ask you to take

Personally, I use


Why? Because the extra mobility from Teleport is very useful for ganking, supporting a folding lane, or getting back to your lane quickly after going back to the spawning pool.
Ignite should be obvious - true damage plus a +20 per-level damage over time element helps get that first blood, and stop escaping champions throughout the game, not to mention the 50% reduction in healing on the ignited champion.
Other worthwhile summoner spells:



Spells I, personally, wouldn't use:







Skill sequence is largely situational. This is less the case with Brand, but you may find yourself taking points in


That being said, my skill sequence is as follows:




Starting at level 1, take a point in



Now, focus on maxing out




And yes, I do have a reason for this sequence.
Why


Well, there are three reasons.
-First and foremost is the fact that


-Second, you're not going to be relying on



-Third,




Conflagration does, however, have a short (0.5 second) delay before being cast. While the damage and the Ablaze effect make it perfect for harassing, the sometimes lackluster range and the cast delay can be dangerous.
Why


True, it does. It is also an area-of-effect spell without synergy from

But what about those of you that don't want to take my word for it? Okay, I have some good reasoning. Rank 4 of


True,



I want you to take a close look at that. A really close look. See anything spectacular? No, not the "8% of the enemy's max health over 4 seconds" part. It was actually a trick question, because there's nothing there to tell you about Brand's spell synergy. His spell synergy is what makes Brand, for without it, he'd be just another second-rate caster with some bizzare form of pyrophilia.
What you really need to look at is the excerpts on the end of his spell descriptions:

Important bit: "If the target is ablaze, the target will be stunned for 2 seconds."

Important bit: "Units that are ablaze take an additional 25% damage."

Important bit: "If the target is ablaze, the conflagration spreads to nearby enemies."

Important bit: "If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm's missile speed increases."
Each and every one of his spells has synergy with the others. Unfortunately, this means you have to sacrifice an Ablaze effect on one spell in order to gain it on the others. Here is where you learn why I use my combo the way I do.
Since I use Brand as a mainly single-target nuker, this means that the Ablaze effect I can afford to sacrifice is

As such, the combo is as follows:
-Open with

-Next, hit them with

-Then, drop a


-Hit them with

You'll notice



Now, you're probably asking me, "Alex, why in the world would I want to OPEN with my ultimate, particularly since that means I'll be sacrificing the Ablaze effect?"
-Well, quite simply, because it's the exact opposite of what your opponent will expect. If you open with your ultimate, it'll be viewed as a newbie mistake, and they'll move in for the kill. This is a terminal error on their part.
-Actually, there's another reason.

Finally, I shouldn't have to tell you to make sure you can kill your target before they can get away. Don't rely on the damage over time portion of



Start out with a



I recommend staying in lane until you have enough gold to get your



So now that you've got those done with, start building your


I can hear you asking already, "Alex, why would I get the

Well, with the buff to its spell vamp in Brand's release patch, and the fact that it grants +30 ability power and the spell vamp to surrounding allies, I'd say it's just the ticket. It gives you +80 ability power, which is nothing to scoff at, and some survivability.

The next item is situational (actually, doubly so). If you need the extra defense, I'd recommend building the

If you're playing against more tanky enemies, I'd advise getting the


So once you've gotten your






And that's that, the build is finished. As always, if you decide you need to alter an item or two depending on your situation, that's entirely fine. In fact, I'd advise it.
Why no

Because I, personally, don't like relying on snowball items. Yes, it has everything you'd want on Brand, but it just doesn't rest very high on my list of items. If I could get a 7th item, though, it would be a Mejai's.
Why no

Okay, this one is a little less clear-cut than my argument against the Mejai's. While I agree that Rylai's is an extremely useful item, particularly on a nuker like Brand (hard to nuke if they've gotten away, eh?), it just doesn't fit into my build.
-Since the

-The

-The

-The


-The

-The


Why


Quite simply because Magic Penetration is good, and Brand's cooldowns are short enough already. Now, I'm going to be frank: I've not run detailed tests wherein I compared his beefier damage output with the Magic Penetration to his faster damage output with the Cooldown Reduction, but since you can never be sure if you'll be able to get that second combo off, it's better to hit harder when you have them.
This section is probably the least important for you to read, as it's still a work in progress.
Quite simply, Brand is brilliantly suited for mid-laning. He has powerful harassing capability, good last-hitting ability, and gains a definite benefit from higher levels, unlike some character, who are more item dependent.
Early Game: Levels 1-8
Yes, unlike most people, I consider early game to last until level 8 (or the 20 minute mark). I do have a reason for that, detailed in the Mid-Game section below.
Anyways, early game you should start off with your


I recommend staying in lane for as long periods of time as possible, and not leaving to gank until at least level 8 (or after you have your


Mid-Game: Levels 8-15
By this time, you should have the two aforementioned items and be able to start your ganking career, since at this point you'll have enough opening damage with

Once you start ganking, remember your combo and focus on squishier enemies; you don't have enough damage to take down a tanky enemy yet. This is going to be one of the more boring parts of the game, as you are going to be focusing on collecting enough gold to advance your build.
Late-game: Levels 16-18
By now, you'll have three points in




Note that as soon as you feel comfortable with it (and if your jungler will let you/there's nobody that'll need it mroe), try to snag the Golem Buff as often as possible. The cooldown reduction is ridiculously helpful, and you won't have to worry about mana.
Less than optimal scenarios:
Someone else takes mid-lane:
Don't worry about it. Yes, it sucks, but it's not worth raging over. If this is the case, try to stick with a disabler. If your team is lacking one (what kind of team is this, anyways?), I'd advise going to the bottom lane. True, you won't have the bonus experience of the solo top lane, but you also won't have to worry about going 1v2. In addition, your heavy AoE damage makes you perfect for intercepting enemy runs at the dragon.
You're getting focused WAY more than you should be:
Well, I can't really offer much advice on this one. Remember to stick with your team, and focus the enemy support and carries in teamfights, first. Your



If and when you end up clearing creep waves quickly, whether it's for farming purposes or just knocking out a huge wave of creeps that're charging haphazardly towards one of your towers, you only need




Having the ability to farm so efficiently is a definite advantage, particularly since this item build isn't cheap. It's also not horribly expensive, but still.
Oh! One other thing: I've seen many Brands using




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