Brand, Brand, Brand. How can I talk about Brand without talking about how much of an overpowered POS he is in ARAM.
Brand is a long-range support mage who can cause high amounts of damage, stun enemy champions and regularly deal damage area of effect damage.
Brand, similar to Malphite or Singed is a champion that will have your team yelling, “Don’t clump! Don’t clump!” simply due to the amount of damage he can continuously deal if players do not separate, as Brand’s passive, Blaze will cause enemies who have taken 3 ability hits from Brand to ignite and spread the fire among other enemy champions in range.
If enemy players do not move from enemies who are marked with Blaze’s 3-stack indicator, a ring around them, they are at risk of Blaze (passive) exploding on them and providing them with a stack. Paired up with Brand’s ultimate, Pyroclasm, which is a fireball that bounces from enemy to enemy up to 4 times, adding stacks of Blaze (passive) shouldn’t be too difficult.
If players are able to stun enemy champions before popping Pyroclasm it would be most ideal as Pyroclasm would be able to apply the most stacks of Blaze (passive) as it can.
Brand’s Q, Sear, is a directional long-ranged attack that has the ability to stun enemies who are affected by Blaze (passive).
Players should regularly be using their W, Pillar of Flame, when it is off cooldown as Pillar of Flame is a high-damage AoE that can be used to both kill minions and regularly burst down enemy champions.
Brand’s E, Conflagration, can set enemy champions ablaze and will deal AoE damage if enemies already have Blaze (passive) on them.
As the main move combo, Brand has a few combos, though players will simply want to focus on building stacks of Blaze (passive) on enemy champions using any abilities that are available.
Brand can quickly stun enemy champions by using his Conflagration (E) then Sear (Q) immediately after, or can use Pillar of Flame (W) followed by Conflagration (W) to deal high amounts of AoE damage. Brand’s ultimate, Pyroclasm (R), can be weaved anywhere inside of that rotation though players should always prioritize using Pyroclasm (R) when all enemy champions are clumped together.
QUICK RUNDOWN:
SUMMONER SPELLS: Flash, Heal or Ignite (depending on preference)
RUNES: Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter // Manaflow Band & Transcendence
ABILITY POWER UP: W, E, Q
FIRST BUY: Lost Chapter
BUILD ORDER: Luden’s Echo, Sorcerer’s Shoes, Rod of Ages, Liandry’s Torment, Ryali’s Crystal Scepter, Morellonomecon
SUMMONER SPELLS FOR BRAND IN ARAM
FLASH
Other than Brand’s Sear (W), Brand doesn’t have too much escape as a champion and must rely on his teammates to get away in tricky situations.
Brand players will want to take Flash as one of their summoner spells as losing the damage that Brand deals can severely impact the amount of damage output as a team.
In most cases, players will want to use Flash defensively when playing as Brand as Brand’s abilities take too long to cast. The only case I can see players using Flash successfully to jump into a team fight is when they have Pyroclasm (R) off cooldown. Otherwise, walking up to the battle is probably your best option.
HEAL
Players who are nervous about staying up and dealing damage should stick to taking Heal.
Not only does Heal provide players with a good portion of health, but it also provides payers with a speed boost that will help them escape battle or may even help them catch up to an escaping enemy champion that is ripe for the harvesting.
Heal is your best defensive option when it comes to playing Brand.
IGNITE
When playing Brand, players have the option of focussing on dealing damage since none of Brand’s abilities are focussed on healing or shielding.
Brand players can successfully take Ignite as one of their summoners spells as Ignite will deal extra damage in combination with Brand’s Blaze (Passive).
Ignite can help secure enemy takedowns, though players will have to be in a fairly close range to the enemy if they hope to use Ignite on them.
RUNE TREES FOR BRAND IN ARAM
Brand plays like many other mages such as Veigar, Morgana, Twisted Fate, Heimerdinger, Karthus, Anivia, Teemo, Zyra, Soraka, Ziggs, AP Miss Fortune, and Malzahar where he can either use domination runes or sorcery runes.
There are two runes trees players can choose to use when playing Brand. The two most popular rune tree builds include:
Domination/Sorcery – Burst Damage Heavy
Sorcery/Domination – AP/Mana Sustain
Domination/Sorcery tends to be more aggressive than Sorcery/Domination, especially if players are able to harvest a good amount of souls by securing enemy takedowns.
Sorcery/Domination is recommended for players who would like to build high amounts of Ability Power and have issues with keeping their mana up. Since players will not have access to Dark Harvest, players may notice a plateau of damage from building Sorcery/Domination.
DAMAGE HEAVY/BURST RUNES FOR BRAND (DOMINATION/SORCERY)
DARK HARVEST
Damaging champions below 50% deals 20-60 (+ 15% AP) damage based on your level. Each soul that you harvest adds +2 AP.
Players will only be able to collect souls every 45 seconds or can reset Dark Harvest’s cooldown to 1.5 seconds by being part of an enemy takedown.
Dark Harvest is most notable when Brand players use his ultimate Pyroclasm (R) or simply when players damage enemies using their Pillar of Flame (W) or Conflagration (E).
Dark Harvest is made even more effective with the addition of Luden’s Echo, as Luden’s Echo will raise the chances of splash damage.
Although players will want to focus on damaging champions that have souls ready to harvest, players can and should focus on killing minions as having all minions cleared will ensure that the enemy team is always exposed to your team’s attacks.
Dark Harvest will ensure that Brand players will have enough damage if they regularly harvest enemy champions, though if players die too frequently along the way or are unable to reach the enemy team chances are they will not receive enough stacks of Dark Harvest to see a difference between these runes and Sorcery-based runes.
Honestly, with Luden’s Echo, players shouldn’t have any difficulty collecting Dark Harvest stacks.
CHEAP SHOT
Cheap Shot will deal 10-45 (based on level) bonus true damage to champions who have impaired movement or actions. Cheap Shot has an extremely short cooldown, being 4 seconds.
Unfortunately, Brand himself doesn’t have too many ways to cause impaired movement, though players can activate Cheap Shot off of ally crowd control and Brand’s Sear (Q) and Pyroclasm (R).
If you choose to take Cheap Shot I highly recommend building Rylai’s Crystal Scepter as it raises the chance of activating Cheap Shot exponentially.
If players are having difficulty staying alive as Brand, don’t need to worry as much about dealing damage to enemies, or they are noticing they are unable to activate Cheap Shot consistently, players can trade Cheap Shot for Taste of Blood, which will heal Brand players as they damage the enemy champions.
Taste of Blood comes in especially handy if players do not have a tank on their team, though I can’t say that Taste of Blood is going to save you from tough circumstances.
Taste of Blood works really well with Rod of Ages though.
EYEBALL COLLECTION
Collect 1 Eyeball per champion takedown, up to 10. Each takedown will provide players with 2 AP. Once players have received 10 Eyeballs they will also receive an extra 10 AP.
Eyeball Collection is the only Rune you will be able to use in ARAM from this tier of Runes.
ULTIMATE HUNTER
Reduces the cooldown of the player’s ultimate ability by 5% (+4% per each unique champion killed) up to a maximum of 25% CDR at 5 stacks.
While I would usually take or recommend Ravenous Hunter on mages because of the healing it provides, Brand players are going to want to have their ultimate off of cooldown as often as they can have it, simply due to how powerful it is.
Brand’s ultimate can significantly tilt a team’s success in a matter of seconds, securing a pentakill and potentially the destruction of a turret, two or even the nexus itself.
Enjoy that ultimate beebee, because once bans come around for the alternative game modes, you’re going to miss Brand!
MANAFLOW BAND
Hitting enemy champions with an ability will permanently increase your maximum mana by 25 (cooldown 15 seconds), up to a maximum of 250 mana. Although players will receive an increase in the maximum mana they can have, proccing Manaflow Band will not provide an increase in your current mana.
Once players have capped out their maximum mana at 250 bonus mana, they will receive 1% of their missing mana every 5 seconds.
Manaflow Band is not absolutely necessary for Brand players to take since Brand has a fairly good grasp of his mana, so players can alternatively take Scorch or Gathering Storm for more damage.
TRANSCENDENCE
At level 10 players will receive 10% CDR and 2 AP for every 1% CDR that goes over the 40% cap (or 45% if using Cosmic Insight).
Players are going to want as much cooldown reduction as they can have on Brand, without building useless items.
Brand is pretty powerful with 30% CDR, so if players want to build more damage or health-based burn items they can do so with no fear.
SUSTAIN DAMAGE FOR BRAND (SORCERY/DOMINATION)
ARCANE COMET
Damaging enemy champions with an ability causes an Arcane Comet to be thrown at the enemy’s current location. The Arcane Comet can deal between 30-100 plus 20% AP. Damaging enemy champions with abilities will help reduce the cooldown of Arcane Comet, though the cooldown sits between 8-20 seconds based on player levels.
Unlike Dark Harvest, Arcane Comet has a cap on the amount of damage it can do and the increase in damage is tied to the player’s champion level, making early game buffing… well… unachievable.
Players can, however, rely on steady damage from Arcane Comet, which they will not see when playing with Dark Harvest, as Dark Harvest requires you to be alive and damaging when multiple enemies are burst down into oblivion.
MANAFLOW BAND
Hitting enemy champions with an ability will permanently increase your maximum mana by 25 (cooldown 15 seconds), up to a maximum of 250 mana. Although players will receive an increase in the maximum mana they can have, proccing Manaflow Band will not provide an increase in your current mana.
Once players have capped out their maximum mana at 250 bonus mana, they will receive 1% of their missing mana every 5 seconds.
TRANSCENDENCE
At level 10 players will receive 10% CDR and 2 AP for every 1% CDR that goes over the 40% cap (or 45% if using Cosmic Insight).
Players are going to want as much cooldown reduction as they can have on Brand, without building useless items.
Brand is pretty powerful with 30% CDR, so if players want to build more damage or health-based burn items they can do so with no fear.
SCORCH
Every 10 seconds players a player’s next damaging ability sets an enemy champion on fire dealing between 15-35 bonus magic damage after 1 second.
While it doesn’t seem like Scorch is all that powerful, especially in comparison to runes like Gathering Storm. Scorch can be extremely useful for Brand since his passive also applies a burn onto enemy champions.
It’s important that when enemy champions are low, they not only stay low, but they get killed. No one likes bursting down tanks over and over… trust me.
EYEBALL COLLECTION
Collect 1 Eyeball per champion takedown, up to 10. Each takedown will provide players with 2 AP. Once players have received 10 Eyeballs they will also receive an extra 10 AP.
Eyeball Collection is the only Rune you will be able to use in ARAM from this tier of Runes. Players can also choose Cheap Shot if they please.
ULTIMATE HUNTER
Reduces the cooldown of the player’s ultimate ability by 5% (+4% per each unique champion killed) up to a maximum of 25% CDR at 5 stacks.
While I would usually take or recommend Ravenous Hunter on mages because of the healing it provides, Brand players are going to want to have their ultimate off of cooldown as often as they can have it, simply due to how powerful it is.
Brand’s ultimate can significantly tilt a team’s success in a matter of seconds, securing a pentakill and potentially the destruction of a turret, two or even the nexus itself.
Enjoy that ultimate beebee, because once bans come around for the alternative game modes, you’re going to miss Brand!
SKILL LEVEL UP RECOMMENDATIONS & TIPS ON HOW TO PLAY BRAND IN ARAM
SEAR (Q)
A linear attack that deals 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 (+55% AP) magic damage and if the enemy champion has Blaze on them they will also become stunned for 1.5 seconds.
Sear has an 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6 second cooldown and costs 50 Mana to use.
Sear should be levelled up second or third based on how much you are using it in the battle.
If players are able to land Sear regularly and stun enemy champions, it should be powered up second since that will reduce its cooldown, however, if players want to deal more damage to enemies they should focus on levelling up Conflagration (E) second.
Sear does deal a good amount of damage, but depending on who you are up against, players may find difficulty landing Sear every time.
PILLAR OF FLAME (W)
Pillar of Flame is the most useful ability Brand players will have access to. Every 10 / 9.5 / 9 / 8.5 / 8 seconds players will be able to cast a Pillar of Flame which deals 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 / 255 (+60% AP) magic damage which increases by 25% if players are already affected by Blaze.
Empowered Pillar of Flames deal 93.75 / 150 / 206.25 / 262.5 / 318.75 (+ 75% AP) magic damage.
Pillars of Flame cost 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 mana to summon and have a 0.625-second delay making them a bit tricky to land.
Since Pillar of Flame deals the highest amount of damage to all enemies in the area it should always be used when off cooldown.
Pillar of Flame will also be how you initiate many fights as it will give you the option to either Sear (Q) and stun an enemy champion or use Conflagration (E) on enemies to deal area damage.
CONFLAGRATION (E)
Every 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds players will be able to use Conflagration, which sets the target enemy aflame, dealing 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+45% AP) magic damage to enemy champions.
If enemies are already affected by Blaze, the damage from Conflagration will spread, dealing AoE damage.
Conflagration costs 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 mana and can be used to either spread AoE damage as mentioned or start a Brand combo.
Since Conflagration is a point and clickability, it tends to be easier to use than Sear (Q), so don’t stress out about “wasting it” on one enemy it’s going to be fine.
PYROCLASM (R)
Upon targeting an enemy champion a fireball will bounce between all nearby enemies up to four times dealing 100 / 200 / 300 (+25% AP) to them each time they are hit and placing a 30 / 45 / 60% slow on them.
Pyroclasm will prioritize getting 3 stacks of Blaze on an enemy champion and can be used every 105 / 90 / 75 seconds.
As mentioned earlier, Pyroclasm is one of the easiest ways players can solidify a pentakill, especially if enemy champions are clumped up and you are able to successfully land a Conflagration (E).
Get ready for multiple kills all on the backs of enemy champions having 3 stacks of Blaze.
GEAR BUILD FOR BRAND
LUDEN’S ECHO
90 Ability Power, 600 Mana, 20% Cooldown Reduction and can cause extra AoE damage to help proc Dark Harvest? Yes, please.
Luden’s Echo is remarkable for the amount of CDR it provides players and the huge amount of mana and damage. The only alternative players may be interested in getting is Archangel Staff, though players will miss out from the AoE damage.
I would highly recommend sticking to Luden’s Echo, as the more area damage you can deal as Brand, the more effective Brand is.
SORCERER’S SHOES
Sorcerer’s Shoes will provide players with magic penetration and movement speed. The only other shoes I would recommend are the Ionian Boots which will provide players with 10% Cooldown Reduction and will reduce the cooldown reduction of Summoner Spells.
ROD OF AGES
Rod of Ages gives bonus Health, Mana and Ability Power every minute for up to 10 minutes. This equals out to 200 Health, 100 Mana and 40 Ability Power, on top of its already 60 Ability Power, 300 Health, and 300 Mana. After 10 minutes Rod of Ages will have a total of 100 Ability Power, 500 Health and 400 Mana. Those are some pretty sweet stats at the end of the day. Players will also restore mana equal to 15% of the damage taken from champions.
Rod of Ages isn’t necessarily a requirement when it comes to playing Brand, but it does give Brand a healthy helping of Health and other base stats.
I personally love Rod of Ages for the amount of healing that it provides players as it can be really rough for players to heal when playing mages like Brand.
LIANDRY’S TORMENT
If players do not need any defensive items or do not need cooldown reduction I would recommend using Liandry’s Torment so they can do sustained burn damage.
Liandry’s Torment gives 75 Ability Power and 300 Health. As a passive Liandry’s Torment will also deal 2% more damage per second in combat with enemy champions, up to a maximum of 10%. Spells will also burn enemies for 3 seconds dealing 1.5% of the player’s maximum health per second. If enemies are experiencing movement impairments they will receive an extra 2.5% damage from the burn.
Liandry’s Torment pairs up extremely well with Rod of Ages, especially if players also build Rylai’s Crystal Scepter.
I love Liandry’s Torment, especially on Brand because of the burn it provides. Liandry’s pairs so well with players who have Dark Harvest. Get to collecting those souls mama!
RYLAI’S CRYSTAL SCEPTER
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter provides players with 90 Ability Power, 300 Health and will also reduce the enemy’s movement speed by 20% by one second.
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is a must build for players who are using Cheap Shot as one of their runes.
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter works so well with Brand, especially when using your ultimate Pyroclasm (R).
MORELLONOMICON
Morellonomicon will provide players will Ability Power, dealing 70 AP and giving players an extra 300 Health, which will also work very well with Liandry’s Torment.
Morellonomicon provides players with 15 Magic Penetration as well as Grievous Wounds for 3 seconds.
Morellonomicon is a must build for Brand players, but when to build it will depend on who you are up against.
If you’re up against a team of tanky enemy champions or champions who do a lot of healing, I definitely recommend building Morellonomicon 3 or 4th. If not, build it whenever else you want or need it!
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