Brand, in my opinion, is one of the best Solo Mid champions in LoL and I'll tell you why: He clears minion waves unlike any champion I have ever played, he's built to zone out champions and making them go where he wants, has a perfect synergy between his fire damage, stun and nuking abilities, making him an amazing choice for any game mode. No matter what your flavor is, Ranked, Normal or even CO-OP AI, Brand is a shockingly fun champion.

On a more serious note Brand can be a difficult champion as he has low health, low attack, but high spell attributes, making him very combo based. Stringing his abilities is CRUCIAL to mastering this hot head, and getting interrupted can result in a very quick but humiliating death. Making sure your fingers twitch in the right order can make you the most valuable player in your own lane and especially in team fights!

If you find yourself in need of providing constructive criticism, I'll review it and add it to my build, no questions asked! Even more, you'll get a cookie in the form of +rep! :) Jerks, on the other hand, will not. None for you.

Thanks to Searz for the awesome guide format! You can find it here.

Mouse-over any items or abilities to see their tooltip.

Pretty self explanatory. Just write whatever you like here to introduce the guide to the readers.

Legend

(for any abbreviations you don't understand)

are the most important for Brand. His spells benefit greatly from them.

is a very good masterie for Burst mages. With Brand especially this will allow his to ignore more magic resist and do greater amounts of damage.

There are many many runes for Brand. My main ones differ a little from most builds but for the most part are consistent.

Why fix what isn't broken, right?

This sequence is good for Brand for a couple reasons, the biggest being and are Brand's largest nuke moves, while is used mostly for the stun. The same with every champion you want to get your Ult every chance you have.

Brand's damage relies a lot on the order he uses his ability. I refer to them as Combos.

Combo #1: Maximum AoE Damage

If you need to wipe out a huge minion wave you will want to hit one minion with Sear, then hit the same minion with Conflagration to spread the Blaze through the whole wave and finish them off with a pillar of flame.

Combo #2: 1v1 champion fights

You are not going to need to spread Conflagration to multiple enemy's so it's safe to open with it. as pillar of flame is charging up you want to get the stun so they are stuck in the center. If you aren't comfortable with the timing you can cast sear before pillar of flame for the stun to hit before the pillar come out.

Combo #3: Team Fight

In a team fight you want to cause as much AoE damage as possible. With this combo you need to be a bit more careful because you wont have your stun at the start. Ideally you want to wait for your tank to initiate, after said tank initiates you will hit the champion closest to the rest of his team with your sear, then you will hit that same champion with conflagration to spread the blaze to his teammates. They should be pretty low by now, finish them off with a combination of Pillar of Flame and Pyroclasm.

Combo #4: Safe Stun

This is the easiest way to stun a champion you wan to hit them with Conflagration then follow up with the stun. This is good for escaping.

Brand's damage relies a lot on the order he uses his ability. I refer to them as Combos.

Combo #1: Maximum AoE Damage

If you need to wipe out a huge minion wave you will want to hit one minion with Sear, then hit the same minion with Conflagration to spread the Blaze through the whole wave and finish them off with a pillar of flame.

Combo #2: 1v1 champion fights

You are not going to need to spread Conflagration to multiple enemy's so it's safe to open with it. as pillar of flame is charging up you want to get the stun so they are stuck in the center. If you aren't comfortable with the timing you can cast sear before pillar of flame for the stun to hit before the pillar come out.

Combo #3: Team Fight

In a team fight you want to cause as much AoE damage as possible. With this combo you need to be a bit more careful because you wont have your stun at the start. Ideally you want to wait for your tank to initiate, after said tank initiates you will hit the champion closest to the rest of his team with your sear, then you will hit that same champion with conflagration to spread the blaze to his teammates. They should be pretty low by now, finish them off with a combination of Pillar of Flame and Pyroclasm.

Combo #4: Safe Stun

This is the easiest way to stun a champion you wan to hit them with Conflagration then follow up with the stun. This is good for escaping.

These are my opinions of good and bad matchups for Brand. keep in mind I only put champions i have gone Solo mid against. As well as my strategies for when you have no choice. More updates as I play different people in Solo Mid.

These are my opinions of good and bad matchups for Brand. keep in mind I only put champions i have gone Solo mid against. As well as my strategies for when you have no choice. More updates as I play different people in Solo Mid.

These are what I see as Brand's Core items:
I count this as a "Core" Item because early game I always grab atleast one. It is a good item to get early game with Brand because it adds good AP and much needed Mana Regeneration. For normal matches i get one. Ranked matches or if I'm facing a very good mid opponent I will grab two. I almost always sell my Doran's Ring(s) when the game last's long enough. They are good but not a late game item.
Magic Pen is important for any mage. Once the enemy team see's the damage you are outputting they will buy some magic resist.

One of the highest AP items you can buy and it isn't too expensive once you get all your AP that 30% will make a Huge difference.

Unlike most mages I make this a core item for Brand because the slow is affected by his Passive. It will slow through the duration of the Tick and for 1.5 Sec after it is over.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a Burst mages best friend. Burst mages like Brand rely heavily on their abilities being off cool down to do tons of damage. You will want to use your combo then pop the hourglass if you get focused and wait for your abilities to come off of CD then use your combo again.

These are what I see as Brand's Core items:
I count this as a "Core" Item because early game I always grab atleast one. It is a good item to get early game with Brand because it adds good AP and much needed Mana Regeneration. For normal matches i get one. Ranked matches or if I'm facing a very good mid opponent I will grab two. I almost always sell my Doran's Ring(s) when the game last's long enough. They are good but not a late game item.
Magic Pen is important for any mage. Once the enemy team see's the damage you are outputting they will buy some magic resist.

One of the highest AP items you can buy and it isn't too expensive once you get all your AP that 30% will make a Huge difference.

Unlike most mages I make this a core item for Brand because the slow is affected by his Passive. It will slow through the duration of the Tick and for 1.5 Sec after it is over.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a Burst mages best friend. Burst mages like Brand rely heavily on their abilities being off cool down to do tons of damage. You will want to use your combo then pop the hourglass if you get focused and wait for your abilities to come off of CD then use your combo again.

In my build I showcase a couple different items. Here I will explain what they are and how they benefit Brand as a Burst mage.
I find this item to be incredible on Brand. While it may not give the most AP it makes up for it with the Mana Regen and Cool Down Reduction. It builds from the Fiendish Codex which is a really cheap early game CDR Mana Regen item. So you want to grab one of these early to give you an excellent lane.
Once people see the damage you can do they will defiantly but some magic Resist which will make your ability's do less damage. A void staff along with the runes and Masteries will make even Force of nature bow down to your burst.
With this you will almost never oom as long as you grab an early and start stacking your extra mana. I don't have this as a core item because it is expensive especially when combined with my actual core items, and I play arranged so my jungler is always getting me blue buff. But I do grab it every once in awhile when I'm not getting blue or I just want a larger mana pool.
This is a good item because it gives magic resist and a bubble that blocks one champion's ability, like for instance, a Jax leap strike.
A good item on brand, I have got it a couple times and liked it. You get the spell vamp which allows all your ability's to life steal. If the laning is taking a long time you will need the life you are getting back from it.
Since Brand is a mid range caster he can benefit from this item because it gives a lot of survivability. Since RoA takes about 20 minutes to get the complete bonus from it you are forced to buy it early. With Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Zhonya's Hourglass you get all the survivability you need. RoA is still a good item but I don't use it very often.
If you find Void staff to be too expensive or you want the extra health this can round out some good Magic Penetration.
If the enemy is full of tank and tanky DPS champions this item can be a very good buy to replace Morello's Evil Tome. The active will rip most tanks apart. You want to make sure that you make the Kage's lucky pick early to start getting the Gold.
If there is one thing Brand can do it is get stacks. If you have a really good early game and are not dying a lot this is an amazing item. I recommend it for when you just cant be stopped. It's not in my Core because Snowball items are some of the most situational items in the game.

In my build I showcase a couple different items. Here I will explain what they are and how they benefit Brand as a Burst mage.
I find this item to be incredible on Brand. While it may not give the most AP it makes up for it with the Mana Regen and Cool Down Reduction. It builds from the Fiendish Codex which is a really cheap early game CDR Mana Regen item. So you want to grab one of these early to give you an excellent lane.
Once people see the damage you can do they will defiantly but some magic Resist which will make your ability's do less damage. A void staff along with the runes and Masteries will make even Force of nature bow down to your burst.
With this you will almost never oom as long as you grab an early and start stacking your extra mana. I don't have this as a core item because it is expensive especially when combined with my actual core items, and I play arranged so my jungler is always getting me blue buff. But I do grab it every once in awhile when I'm not getting blue or I just want a larger mana pool.
This is a good item because it gives magic resist and a bubble that blocks one champion's ability, like for instance, a Jax leap strike.
A good item on brand, I have got it a couple times and liked it. You get the spell vamp which allows all your ability's to life steal. If the laning is taking a long time you will need the life you are getting back from it.
Since Brand is a mid range caster he can benefit from this item because it gives a lot of survivability. Since RoA takes about 20 minutes to get the complete bonus from it you are forced to buy it early. With Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Zhonya's Hourglass you get all the survivability you need. RoA is still a good item but I don't use it very often.
If you find Void staff to be too expensive or you want the extra health this can round out some good Magic Penetration.
If the enemy is full of tank and tanky DPS champions this item can be a very good buy to replace Morello's Evil Tome. The active will rip most tanks apart. You want to make sure that you make the Kage's lucky pick early to start getting the Gold.
If there is one thing Brand can do it is get stacks. If you have a really good early game and are not dying a lot this is an amazing item. I recommend it for when you just cant be stopped. It's not in my Core because Snowball items are some of the most situational items in the game.

Both of these items build from the . A lot of people like to rush the just as many people like to rush the .

I will list the Pro's, Con's and situations that come out of buying either one first.

• The passive will give you not just the base AP, but will add an additional 30% to all your existing AP.
  
• Gives a lot more AP than the hourglass, but with that you lose a lot of your survivability.
  
• I buy it first if my K/D ratio is very high (at least 4/1).

• If bought first, you get the armor that will help you survive more as well as the active that allows you to not only survive a team fight, but also wait for your Cool Downs.
  
• It gives less AP then Deathcap, but you will be able to stay in fights longer and do more damage over time than if you died first.
  
• I buy it first when I have a lower K/D ratio (about 4/2).

Both of these items build from the . A lot of people like to rush the just as many people like to rush the .

I will list the Pro's, Con's and situations that come out of buying either one first.

• The passive will give you not just the base AP, but will add an additional 30% to all your existing AP.
  
• Gives a lot more AP than the hourglass, but with that you lose a lot of your survivability.
  
• I buy it first if my K/D ratio is very high (at least 4/1).

• If bought first, you get the armor that will help you survive more as well as the active that allows you to not only survive a team fight, but also wait for your Cool Downs.
  
• It gives less AP then Deathcap, but you will be able to stay in fights longer and do more damage over time than if you died first.
  
• I buy it first when I have a lower K/D ratio (about 4/2).

Brand's Strategy is similar to most AP carries.

Early game/Laning Phase

In mid lane your job is to farm and get high leveled fast. That said, DO NOT auto attack minions, Only last hit. You want to keep the lane in the middle as much as possible. This is not only a great way to Zone your opponent by sending out AoE but also stops you from being an easy gank. If you don't harass your enemy they will harass you. So keep a good balance. If you do need to go back to base to get health, mana or shop then you will want to harass the opponent into going under their turret, or recalling, and advancing your lane. But be quick without you harassing they are free to farm.

Mid Game

Laning Phase ends when a Tower gets pushed. If you laned great and did the right amount of harass that could be your enemy's mid turret. Once you have pushed your lanes Turret you are at an advantage. When that happens you are now allowed to roam. You want to make sure that you keep awareness of your lane after you start to wander to Top or Bottom turret. the safest time to leave is if you push your lane to the next turret. That way the enemy has to fight through 3 or 4 minion waves to reach your turret. You now want to start helping other lanes push their turret's and help in the small team fights that happen around this time. All in all a pretty boring phase for Brand.

Late game/Team Phase

This is the part where two or more turrets have been pushed and now your team has they ability to roam together almost freely. Keep your turrets in mind so they don't get back doored. Back Dooring is a strategy commonly used by the losing team or teams that can sacrifice one damage dealer in a team fight. Your team will want to do their best to bait (or force) a team fight. The location can vary. Some noted Locations to Bait a team fight is at Baron Nashor, Dragon, or Mid turret if your team can fight well while taking shots from it. With the Nashor and Dragon bait it is common for two or three people to make it look like they are going to start taking either epic monster. While the rest of the team sets up in a nearby bush. As long as you know the Enemy team has warded it. Most enemy's will ward Nashor (because fighting in a team fight against a team that buffed is nigh on impossible) and try to stop you from killing him, that is why it is an excellent location to force a team fight. What if they don't try to stop you? Well hey free Nashor. Never fight Dragon without Warding Nashor.

Team Fights and You

I talked a little about team fight Strategy's in my combo section but not enough. There are two roles that brand can play in a team fight.

Role A: Nuke and Stay

This is what I Commonly do with Brand, but only if the other team is bad at focusing me, or if i have my Hourglass. Since you get a Zhonya's Hourglass you can afford to stay in a fight longer then most caster's. Doing this allows you to do a lot of damage over time and a massive amount of AoE damage since most of your ability's will be on a low CD at this point.

Role B: Damage and Get Out

If you are the biggest focus in a fight like you should be. You need to do your team fight combo and get out as fast as possible. Returning only when your abilities except your Ultimate is off of CD. It is suicide to stay in the middle of a fight with no abilities. You will be leaving your team for a little bit but at least you are not feeding. Since Brand's passive is a mini ignite you aren't really leaving the fight.

Remember communication is key to any good team based game.

Brand's Strategy is similar to most AP carries.

Early game/Laning Phase

In mid lane your job is to farm and get high leveled fast. That said, DO NOT auto attack minions, Only last hit. You want to keep the lane in the middle as much as possible. This is not only a great way to Zone your opponent by sending out AoE but also stops you from being an easy gank. If you don't harass your enemy they will harass you. So keep a good balance. If you do need to go back to base to get health, mana or shop then you will want to harass the opponent into going under their turret, or recalling, and advancing your lane. But be quick without you harassing they are free to farm.

Mid Game

Laning Phase ends when a Tower gets pushed. If you laned great and did the right amount of harass that could be your enemy's mid turret. Once you have pushed your lanes Turret you are at an advantage. When that happens you are now allowed to roam. You want to make sure that you keep awareness of your lane after you start to wander to Top or Bottom turret. the safest time to leave is if you push your lane to the next turret. That way the enemy has to fight through 3 or 4 minion waves to reach your turret. You now want to start helping other lanes push their turret's and help in the small team fights that happen around this time. All in all a pretty boring phase for Brand.

Late game/Team Phase

This is the part where two or more turrets have been pushed and now your team has they ability to roam together almost freely. Keep your turrets in mind so they don't get back doored. Back Dooring is a strategy commonly used by the losing team or teams that can sacrifice one damage dealer in a team fight. Your team will want to do their best to bait (or force) a team fight. The location can vary. Some noted Locations to Bait a team fight is at Baron Nashor, Dragon, or Mid turret if your team can fight well while taking shots from it. With the Nashor and Dragon bait it is common for two or three people to make it look like they are going to start taking either epic monster. While the rest of the team sets up in a nearby bush. As long as you know the Enemy team has warded it. Most enemy's will ward Nashor (because fighting in a team fight against a team that buffed is nigh on impossible) and try to stop you from killing him, that is why it is an excellent location to force a team fight. What if they don't try to stop you? Well hey free Nashor. Never fight Dragon without Warding Nashor.

Team Fights and You

I talked a little about team fight Strategy's in my combo section but not enough. There are two roles that brand can play in a team fight.

Role A: Nuke and Stay

This is what I Commonly do with Brand, but only if the other team is bad at focusing me, or if i have my Hourglass. Since you get a Zhonya's Hourglass you can afford to stay in a fight longer then most caster's. Doing this allows you to do a lot of damage over time and a massive amount of AoE damage since most of your ability's will be on a low CD at this point.

Role B: Damage and Get Out

If you are the biggest focus in a fight like you should be. You need to do your team fight combo and get out as fast as possible. Returning only when your abilities except your Ultimate is off of CD. It is suicide to stay in the middle of a fight with no abilities. You will be leaving your team for a little bit but at least you are not feeding. Since Brand's passive is a mini ignite you aren't really leaving the fight.

Remember communication is key to any good team based game.

Not many people understand the importance of multiple Doran's items. But ranked play is all about the early game. Have a bad Early game and it's GG. When I play more ranked I'll add more advice, but as of now I'm still smoothing out my play with Brand a bit.

Not many people understand the importance of multiple Doran's items. But ranked play is all about the early game. Have a bad Early game and it's GG. When I play more ranked I'll add more advice, but as of now I'm still smoothing out my play with Brand a bit.

Here i will post some of my good match's as well as some fan matches. Send me your Pictures using my build and I will put the pictures here.

Here i will post some of my good match's as well as some fan matches. Send me your Pictures using my build and I will put the pictures here.

Play Video Play Video

Play Video Play Video

Newest Patches affecting Brand will be first. As you go down you will see back to when he was released.

Xerath Patch:
New skin: Cryocore Brand. Beware the Blue Slushie.

V1.0.0.125:

Conflagration: range reduced to 625 from 675.
Pillar of Flame: base damage reduced to 75/120/165/210/255 from 80/125/170/215/260.

V1.0.0.123:

Fixed a bug where Pyroclasm would sometimes disappear if Brand died.

V1.0.0.121:

Fixed a bug where Pyroclasm could instant-kill enemies under some circumstances.

V1.0.0.116:

Pyroclasm:
It no longer gets blocked by spell shields.
Fixed a bug where it could sometimes fizzle if there was an enemy stealthed nearby.

V1.0.0.115: Added. (Original Stats)

Sear: Brand launches a ball of fire forward that deals magic damage. If the target is ablaze, the target will be stunned for 2 seconds.
Pillar of Flame: After a short delay, Brand creates a pillar of flame at a target area, dealing magic damage to enemy units with the area. Units that are ablaze take an additional 25% damage.
Conflagration: Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target, dealing magic damage to them. If the target is ablaze, the conflagration spreads to nearby enemies.
Pyroclasm (Ultimate): Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire, dealing damage each time it bounces. If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm's missile speed increases.
Blaze (Passive): Brand's spells light his targets ablaze, dealing 2% of their maximum Health in magic damage per second for 4 seconds.[/color]

Newest Patches affecting Brand will be first. As you go down you will see back to when he was released.

Xerath Patch:
New skin: Cryocore Brand. Beware the Blue Slushie.

V1.0.0.125:

Conflagration: range reduced to 625 from 675.
Pillar of Flame: base damage reduced to 75/120/165/210/255 from 80/125/170/215/260.

V1.0.0.123:

Fixed a bug where Pyroclasm would sometimes disappear if Brand died.

V1.0.0.121:

Fixed a bug where Pyroclasm could instant-kill enemies under some circumstances.

V1.0.0.116:

Pyroclasm:
It no longer gets blocked by spell shields.
Fixed a bug where it could sometimes fizzle if there was an enemy stealthed nearby.

V1.0.0.115: Added. (Original Stats)

Sear: Brand launches a ball of fire forward that deals magic damage. If the target is ablaze, the target will be stunned for 2 seconds.
Pillar of Flame: After a short delay, Brand creates a pillar of flame at a target area, dealing magic damage to enemy units with the area. Units that are ablaze take an additional 25% damage.
Conflagration: Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target, dealing magic damage to them. If the target is ablaze, the conflagration spreads to nearby enemies.
Pyroclasm (Ultimate): Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire, dealing damage each time it bounces. If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm's missile speed increases.
Blaze (Passive): Brand's spells light his targets ablaze, dealing 2% of their maximum Health in magic damage per second for 4 seconds.[/color]