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Greetings, Summoner - welcome to my short guide about Braum, the Heart of the Freljord.
Braum is a tanky support champion with a very unique and fun-to-play-kit. Note that this guide is meant for people who know the game, it's not an in-depth-guide and will therefore lack any general information about how to play the game. Further note that this guide only covers support Braum, not other roles.
Now, without further add-on, let's start our journey to the icy mountains and valleys of the Freljord:
+ Very tanky for a support + Strong level 1 with Q and Passive + Great at peeling + Very mobile + Unique tanking potential with E + Scales on tank stats + Good base damage values + Has a mustache
Cons
- Melee ranged, can get poked easily - Q can be blocked easily - Relies on allies for a perfect use of his W - Doesn't do much damage without his team - No heal or shield to prevent damage - No Poro companion
Just like every other champion, Braum has his strengths and his weaknesses. He has great tankiness and peeling potential, but suffers a lack of range and damage. You can generally pick him in any comp built mainly around keeping your carries alive so they deal the damage. In best case, you have autoattacking carries and junglers to proc your passive fast in fights. Braum may struggle a bit in lane, especially if he is matched against poke-heavy champs like Caitlyn, Karma, Zyra etc. However he excels at counterattacking once enemies decide to engage on you as he is insanely strong if you get to proc his passive. With the enemies overextending a little and your jungler incoming, you can get some easy kills.
Once it gets to teamfighting, Braum starts to dominate. Or rather, his carries do so. Given the strong disengage and peeling potential you have, your carries will love you if you do your job correctly. The only thing you have to do is stick to your carries, cc anything close and block everything enemies throw at them.
Braums abilities benefit greatly from a variety of tank stats. His Q and the damage reduction on E greatly favor health and his W scales well with bonus resistances. As such, I recommend a 0/21/9 mastery setup, giving him tanky stats aswell as mana regeneration, trinket range, summoner cooldown and omnom-cookies. In the carry-survival build, we go 0/9/21, mainly because we got loads of active items and the CDR mastery alone is worth going down the tree, not to mention the speed and gold-boosts you get from it.
I calculated through all possible rune configurations between armor and health seals & quints (40 in total) and the result showed that pure health runes are better than any mix of health and armor at early levels, while a configuration of 9 Health Seals and 3 Armor Quints proved to be more effective lategame.
Still, the early game is what is important when it comes to runes, and my calculations were based on pure physical damage. As you are also facing a lot of magic damage from the support in lane, Health Quints are even more effective.
Summoner Spells:
For your summoner spells, take Flash for obvious reasons and either Ignite or Exhaust, depending on your playstyle and your matchup. While Exhaust is a great tool for peeling and for stopping enemy assassins from killing your carry, I really feel you should take Ignite if the enemy team isn't provoking Exhaust by taking multiple assassins. My reasoning is fairly simple: Braum already has loads of peel and protection for his carry, but he lacks damage. Ignite helps out a TON with that. It is very useful in lane, especially as Heal no longer removes the reduction effect, and it gives you significant impact in teamfights or skirmishes.
Concussive Blows is your passive ability. It applies a stack to any enemy you hit with a Q or an autoattack. Once an enemy has a stack on him, all allied autoattacks will add stacks aswell. If any enemy gets 4 stacks, he takes a fair amount of damage and is stunned. For 8 seconds, he can't get new stacks but takes bonus magic damage if attacked by Braum.
Tips and Tricks:
Getting a stack of this on assassins or bruisers during fights greatly helps out your carries' kiting.
In lane, try to trigger the effect often for great harass and kill opportunities. Usually you get a stack or 2 on an enemy, and your carry does the remaining autoattacks.
Constantly putting stacks of this on your enemies is great for zoning, as they will be afraid to come close until the stacks wear out.
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Winter's Bite is your Q ability. It's a ranged skillshot that damages and slows the first enemy hit and gives them a stack of Concussive Blows. It's a great tool to apply your passive from range and grants Braum some much needed chase and disengage potential. Max it first to lower its cooldown and increase the damage.
Tips and Tricks:
If you can't get close to your enemies to apply your passive, use this to setup some harass or a kill.
Care about your aim as it gets blocked by any enemy minion or champion.
You can also use it just to force enemies away from some creeps, it is fairly spammable and the passive proc is a huge threat for enemies.
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Stand Behind Me is your W skill. It is a single target ability that can be aimed on any allied champion or minion (Not wards, though). It makes Braum jump between the target and the nearest enemy champion and grants both Braum and his target bonus resistances for a short time. Max it last because the bonus from leveling it is fairly small compared with Q or E.
Tips and Tricks:
Using Minions as jump target can set up surprise attacks and can also be used to chase or escape.
Braum jumps between the target and the nearest enemy, so it is a perfect setup for a good use of Unbreakable.
Jumping to an ally while he dashes makes you jump with him. This can make for some really great plays if you got champions such as Shyvana or Malphite in your team. This requires perfect timing, though.
The resistance bonus is nothing to be underestimated. You can use it in small fights just to get the upper hand over your enemy damage wise. You can also cast it just on yourself if you need to.
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Unbreakable is your E skill and the defining skill in Braums kit. He puts up his shield in target direction, blocks the damage from the first incoming enemy ability and intercepts all following attacks so he takes the hits instead of the targets behind him. It also gives a 10% Movement speed bonus. Max it second because of the greatly reduced cooldown and the increased damage reduction.
Tips and Tricks:
This ability can make up for some hilarious escapes and saves, especially when combined with your W.
You can also use it to prevent the enemy from disengaging while you charge at them.
In teamfights, save it to block key skillshots for your team or your carries (e.g. Bullet Time, Trueshot Barrage, Rat-ta-tat-tat).
You can move, attack and use skills while your shield is up.
Be careful which direction you are aiming at when using the shield, you can not turn around while casting, comparable to The Culling.
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Glacial Fissure is your ultimate. It is an AoE skillshot that knocks up all enemies around Braum and in a line in front of him, deals magic damage and leaves behind a slow field. It is a great disengage or disruption tool for skirmishes and teamfights. Max it whenever possible.
Tips and Tricks:
The enemy champion immediately around Braum are knocked up higher. If there is no such enemy, the first champion hit will be knocked up higher.
Strategic placement of the slow will make any chase or escape almost impossible for the enemy team, especially if you are fighting in the jungle.
Tough its best use is disengaging, it can also be used as engage or followup-engage if it is needed.
Repositioning with your W before you ult can make it much easier to land a good ult. You can also jump directly on an ally in danger and ult for the devastating knockup on all enemies sticking to him. This should usually allow him to escape, especially if you chain your E afterwards.
There are many ADC's that can do well with Braum. Basically anyone who can either proc the passive easily or follow up on it, or both, will do well with Braum. Below are the best ADC's for Braum to go with, but don't think the others are trash with him, they just don't synergise as well as these do.
Synergies
Ashe has great synergy with Braum due to the constant slow from Frost Shot. With this slow she can easily proc Concussive Blows and wreck the enemy laners. Her ult is also great in combination with your ult and passive and can make engages very easy. Her only problem is a lack of escapes, and you are just the right man to keep her alive. Try to engage Level 1, as her passive plus your passive are immensely strong. Post-Rework Ashe is ridiculous, so she is a great adc to lane with at the moment.
Her synergy with Braum mainly comes from the huge range she has. Very safe laning phase combined with strong poke and easy harass and kills with your passive, that's what she offers. In teamfights, she is very safe and deals tons of damage, you can deal with anyone if you keep your passive on her targets. Tell her to place a trap while your passive stuns someone to snare the enemy even longer and create easy kills.
His synergy mostly comes from his mobility and his ability to proc your passive with Mystic Shot. Your Q abilities combined make for really great zoning and can give you a lead in lane easily. Getting loads of kills with him isn't as easy as with other carries, though, as he doesn't have any CC or high-burst ability to follow up on your passive. Try to burst the squishiest enemy down with your combined ults when you hit 6.
He has ridiculous burst to follow up on a stun and he can Quickdraw in with huge AS steroid to proc it very fast. His passive combined with your W can easily get him above 100 armor and MR in skirmishes, that is one tanky ADC. Utilize your amazing level 6 burst to score a kill for him.
Jinx is a very strong ADC to go with. She has great range with her missiles to proc your passive and can chain her traps to CC even longer. You have immense burst at level 6 with your ultimates, too. Later in the game, she'll wreck over anyone, just stay by her side and make sure she doesn't get hurt. When she starts running around with her Movement Speed boost, use your W to keep up to her.
Kog'Maw himself isn't quite in flavor at the moment, but Braum is one of the best supports for him if you see him. Kog likes to have a safe laning phase and farm up for lategame, and Braum surely keeps him safe from level 1 to 18. His long range with Bio-Arcane Barrage also synergises perfectly with your passive for some strong harass or maybe even kills in lane.
This is probably the strongest ADC for you to go with. The synergy of your passives is just insane. Combined with Lucians mobility and burst potential, this lane will be hell for your opponents. You just Q someone, Lucian dashes in, double autoattack, passive proc, kill. Even if your enemies play safe and you don't manage to get kills, you can't really be bullied out of lane, as you just burst them down if they go in on you or go out of position. Only problem with this lane is that Lucian is such a highly contested pick you won't always get him.
Rat-ta-tat-tat
Sneaky, sneaky. He can Ambush enemies, you can suddenly jump on him with W, ult and rat-ta-tat-doublekill. Well, it won't be that easy, but the AS from Q and range from ult make it very easy for him to proc your passive and do tons of damage. Plus this sudden engage often catches your enemies off-guard. You can also protect him with your E so he isn't disturbed while ulting apart the enemy team.
Matchups
Braum is a strong laner against almost any melee support. His passive allows him to win trades with ease and the enemy can't deal a lot of damage without eating your passive. Braums problem are supports that can keep their distance easily and poke him down. He can still get the upper hand in these matchups if the opponent makes errors in their positioning, so be sure to abuse these. The following list contains all common supports, the difficulty of the matchup for Braum aswell as some tips how to fight them.
Matchups
Balanced Matchup
Not much is gonna happen in this lane. You are both tanky supports with great peel to prevent your carry from dying and low damage. Your passive will give you the upper hand in straight fights, but he can just knock you back and stay safe. The lane is most likely decided by the ADCs. You can go in if he gets oom, or you can get ganks. Be aware of his W-Q-combo, as it can quickly put you and your ADC in a bad spot. If he suddenly goes ham, its likely a gank incoming.
Balanced Matchup
Her range isn't that great and you can q her whenever she tries to poke you. She is quite squishy, so a passive proc most likely means Flash or kill. However, her burst with Summon: Tibbers is very dangerous if she hits your ADC, especially since you can't block it for him with Unbreakable. Play aggressive until she hits 6, then either stay passive, get a gank or bait out her ult before going in. Keep in mind that even though you can't block her ult for others, you can block the damage on yourself if your shield is facing her.
Favorable Matchup
He can't really do much to you. His damage is insignificant, just pay attention so you don't get caught out by his Cosmic Binding. If it's on cooldown, he is basically defenseless. Pay attention when he uses Magical Journey so you don't journey right into a trap. When he goes roaming, you can put even more pressure on the enemy adc. Be sure to have wards to see when he comes back, though.
Favorable Matchup
Great matchup for you. You win melee fights with your passive, so he can't pull you without getting in danger. If he grabs your ADC, just use Stand Behind Me to block the pull or W-E to save your carry if you didn't manage to block in time. Don't get baited by his Mana Barrier, watch out for enemy ganks and you can't really lose this lane.
Balanced Matchup
This lane is gonna come down to the ADC and to personal skill. If you got the better synergy, it is a good idea to play aggressive, and vice versa. Be sure to not overextend too far and watch out for ganks as they will turn the lane in his favor.
Favorable Matchup
Get in her face and you win, but it will be hard due to all her peel and mobility. However, if you can't get close to her, don't worry as she can do nothing to you. She has nearly no damage and you are way too tanky. If she is after your carry, you can block Howling Gale for him. So you either win lane or come out even, which is both totally ok for you.
Is there anyone who knows how to code the Zephyr-ability as icon? It always shows the damn item.
Unfavorable Matchup
This lane is gonna be QQQQQ the entire early game. She has just way too much poke for you to handle, on a much lower cooldown than your shield. Even if you do get in her face, she can likely get away with Inspire and Focused Resolve. If you can avoid this matchup. If you have to, pick flat MR glyphs and get early Mercury's Treads to avoid being bullied so hard. Lane is gonna much easier once you got your ultimate. Going all-in for her carry to burst him down with your ultimates can get you back a lot of control in lane. Ganks also help a lot.
Favorable Matchup
This is a matchup where your passive really comes in handy. You are hard for her to burst down and can return a lot of damage back with it if she engages. You can block Zenith Blade from hitting your carry with Unbreakable. After you peel her off, your carry got free fire onto her as she got no escapes except her Solar Flare. Plus you got a bit of poke with your Q, where she has neither sustain nor range.
Unfavorable Matchup
Can get really annoying for you. She can poke right through your shield with Help, Pix! into Glitterlance. Going all-in is hard, too, as she got a load of peel and escapes, especially once she got her ult. Thank Rito for the E nerf and play the lane out passively until she steps out of position or you get a gank. MR helps a ton, too.
Balanced Matchup
This is a dodgeball lane. You can't really get close to her unless she makes a mistake and her E and R ignore your shield (damage is still reduced for you, tho). Dodge her Q with your W and you shouldn't take too much harass. Once she gets a little too close, turn straight onto her to beat her up, even easier post 6. Getting a gank helps a lot, as her only peel comes from a small slow and a skillshot-root that can be blocked for your allies.
Unfavorable Matchup
She got the kit to counter every aspect of Braum. Your passive stun is useless if she shields it, her pool and ult can't be blocked by your E and her Q makes it hard to go in on someone. You have to play out this lane passively and try to bait out her abilities. Her shield got a very long cooldown early on, so take advantage when she uses it. Ganks pre 6 also help, as she can only snare 1 enemy with her Q.
Favorable Matchup
Her poke isn't that strong, especially if you dodge her Q. Plus she is very squishy and lacks escape abilities. Get a Q onto her, then try to proc the passive. If you can stun her, she is likely dead or has to Flash. If not, just keep on harassing. If she heals up with W, she wastes a lot of mana, so keep an eye on her resources. Your E can intercept her W and ultimate so she doesn't get a lot out of her abilities in fights.
Favorable Matchup Nidalee has pretty much been kicked out of the support role by the 4.10 patch. However, if you do meet her, it is a nice lane for you. Spears are now very easy to dodge and don't do nearly as much damage as before, most of her power has been transferred to cougar form, which means she has to come close to do anything to you. As you have extremely strong melee trading potential, she won't really stand a chance against you. The only thing you need to be aware of is her increased pounce range when she got her debuff on your ADC.
Favorable Matchup
Comparable to Nami, she is very squishy, so put pressure on her with your Q. You can block all her abilities with E, including Crescendo if timed correctly. Go all-in at level 6 and try to get some ganks to score easy kills on her. Vision Wards are excellent for a lanebrush to zone from, as a facecheck means her death and she can't even protect her carry without her ultimate. Just pay attention so you don't get poked too low by her Q-harass.
Favorable Matchup
Pretty easy matchup. He relies on fighting melee, and you win any melee trade due to your passive. His damage doesn't mean a lot to you and you can protect your carry if he is Dazzled. Watch out for ganks and nothing can stop you from rolling over him.
Favorable Matchup
This one is comparable to Blitzcrank, but a little bit harder, since Thresh is stronger overall. You can deny picks with your W, but you can't just punch holes in him as he can keep his distance with Flay and The Box. Even if you manage to catch his carry, he can escape with Dark Passage. However, he can't do sh*t against you, so you will win in the long run. Poke him down with your Q and wait for the time to all-in with your ult or a jungler gank.
Balanced Matchup
This matchup got a lot easier with Zileans rework. You can dodge or block Time Bomb now, so it is harder for him to poke you down. He is also fairly squishiy and an easy target if he doesn't have his ultimate. His tempoboost is now bigger and he has a stun if he hits you with 2 bombs, so watch out more for ganks. By himself, he can't really do much to you unless he catches you with a stun.
deadly bloom
Unfavorable Matchup
She is probably the closest to a direct counter to Braum. You cannot block her Q, W or R, she has long range spammable harass and can keep you at distance with her Grasping Roots. She can also use her plants to constantly annoy you. Avoiding the matchup at all is probably the best idea. If you can't, just play passive, try to not take too much harass, then go g*ngbang her at level 6 with your jungler.
That's it so far about this guide. If you are looking for item explanations, they can be found in the Cheat Sheet Notes (hover over the +Notes to see them). Items that are not listed there are not viable for support Braum on a consistent level.
Note once again that this is just meant as an introduction to the champion, not a fully in-depth guide. If any questions are left unanswered by this guide, that's what the comment section is for. Questions as well as constructive feedback are appreciated.
Have a nice day and enjoy the beautiful Freljordmoustache!
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