How to Play Against Brand Support in League of Legends?

Brand, once a tribesman of the icy Freljord named Kegan Rodhe, now a creature better known as Brand, is a very interesting champion, especially in the role of support. What is the role of Brand as a support champion, and how to fight him in that role? Let’s find out.

What Are Brand’s Abilities?

Brand belongs to the Mages family. He is usually chosen for mid-lane, but it is a pleasant surprise to see that Brand can also play the role of support in the bot lane. Let’s see what his abilities are:

• Ablaze – Enemy champions targeted with Ablaze are dealt (% of their maximum health over 3.25 seconds) as magic damage. Ablaze also deals 120% damage per tick to monsters, capped at 80. After three stacks of Ablaze, the fire cannot be controlled, creating a fire area around the target, exploding after two seconds. All enemy champions within the detonation area are dealt 10% − 14% (based on level) of their maximum health (+ 2% per 100 AP) as magic damage.

• Sear – Sear is a unique ability that allows Brand to create a fireball that launches towards an enemy target and deals it magic damage after it hits it.

• Pillar of Flame – Brand marks the targeted area in flames, making magic damage to the enemy champions affected.

• Conflagration – The Brand marks the targeted area in flames, making magic damage to the enemy champions affected.

• Pyroclasm – This ability which is Brand’s ult grants Brand a fireball who can launch at the enemy champion, also dealing magic damage.

Since he is the AP champion, his focus is on magic damage. Some of his additional items would be Boots of Mobility, Liandry’s Torment, Spellthief’s Edge, Rylai’s Crystal Scepter, and Zhonya’s Hourglass. As for the choice of runes, Scorch and Absolute Focus are the most important because they will give it some extra damage. Also, the Perfect Timing, Stopwatch, will save him from dying in the early game.

As support, Brand will not push the lane; it will leave it to its ADC, but nonetheless, Brand is not to be underestimated as the combination of him and the ADC can be very powerful for opposing champions.

Also read: Best Anti-Tank Items

Strengths and Weaknesses

It is important to recognize his strengths and weaknesses before we move on to strategies and tactics for defending against Brand’s fire attacks. You know the saying, you need to know the enemy well first so you can defeat him.

Let’s start with strengths: Brand is a poker, he’s used to poking enemy champions, his W allows him long-ranged poking, too. In this way, he deals magic damage to his enemy champions. His ult deals lots of damage when it comes to team fights, mainly if enemy champions are grouped. Brand can make his R bounces between enemy champions, thus increasing his damage over them.

As for the opposing sides, Brand is an immobile champion, which makes him an easy target for opposing ganks and CC. Fun fact: Brand is the champion who dies the most in the game! Brand also depends on mana, and since he quickly loses it, its W cannot be used aggressively at full power. The opponent can easily defeat him if Brand is left without his Flash, so he must be careful that the enemy champions do not poke him down and catch up with him because it will be easy to kill.

How to Play Against Him?

Brand in the role of support champion in the bot lane is dangerous due to several things, such as hp (%) damage, high burst damage, and low cooldowns. You have to try to dodge his W, as he will try to poke you until he gets you with his other abilities. It is important to keep your distance and avoid his poking attacks and stay away from your teammates – Brand can ultimately repel damage from enemy champions, and thus your team may suffer more damage.

For example, Nami and her stun bubble are incredibly effective against Brand because that stun is enough to finish off your Adc. After all, Brand can’t escape because of his immobility.

Furthermore, the bot lane is intended for a good Adc and Support team, so it is essential what the matchup is. Brand can sometimes be more robust than his ADC, so it is advisable to play more passively and avoid his pokes as much as possible.

But, as we have already mentioned, his flaw is his immobility which is why it is good to have a quality jungler champion who will be able to successfully gank bot lane and surprise Brand and prevent him from dealing severe damage and poking so hard. He is a squishy champion, so it shouldn’t be that hard to surprise him.

Some of the champions who can be successful against Brand as a support are Blitzcrank, Lux, Zyra, Sona, Zilean, or Janna. With proper strategy, good adc, and passive play, these champions can pull Brand out of his comfort zone and catch him unprepared, which needs to be done from an early game before Brand becomes an unstoppable creature and his fire indestructible.

Leona is also a good choice, along with Lulu and Soraka. With their poking Brand and his Adc, you can turn the game in favor of your team, and it is essential to make Brand make as many mistakes as possible and catch him on his mistakes.

Also read: How to Play Against Twitch

Final Thoughts

Brand is a very, very tempting champion for support roles, but when he is on the opposite side, Brand is a threat to the whole team. He is poker, and he relies on his W, which allows him to deal magic damage and eliminate enemy champions quite quickly. Also, his ult bounces several times from champion to champion, thus doing even more damage and potentially killing champions located within the area he set on fire. In addition to the above-mentioned some champions, against him are also successful Lulu, Leona, Nami, Twisted Fate, etc.

Whichever champion you choose, a few things are important: avoid his pokes, have a good bot duo, quality results are possible if you and your teammate in bot lane have an elaborate strategy and play together.

Passive play is highly desirable. With a passive play, you can make Brand make more mistakes, and if Brand makes a mistake, you can punish him. Simple as that. In addition to all its positive sides, the Brand also has a significant drawback – its immobility prevents it from escaping and avoiding ganks and attacks from opposing champions. So if you avoid his pokes, and if your jungler teammate manages to gank him, Brand will very quickly become the feeder of his team and very bad support, and then you can collect those kills.

Basically, suppose Brand can’t land his W. In that case, he won’t be able to do anything and will be powerless because he mostly depends on aggressive poking with his W. If you disable him, he is practically useless on the lane.

It is no coincidence that Brand is part of the black League of Legends statistics, according to which he is the champion who dies the most within the game.