I honestly hate dealing with brand in any situation and am not sure how to beat him.

Succubús GF·Aug 25, 2017·32 votes·1,686 views

If he takes ignite mid lane. You cant ever all in him. Yes I get he has skillshots but jesus fuck his early game damage is so stupidly obnoxious

30 Comments

thefanceAug 26, 201715 votes

I used to main Brand.

General:

Ganking a level 6 Brand may not go the way you expect.
Don't stand near caster minions. Otherwise, he can W both you and the wave simultaneously.
Hide behind casters if you're aflame. So he can't stun with Q.
Fuck him up if he misses Q. He wasted his only defensive tool. Bait it out if you can.

Midlane:

Shove him under tower. His waveclear is trash. This is primarily why he's rarely seen mid.
I recommend Mercs and HP. Mercs because he will always buy Rylai. HP is good because his % damage isn't that high and his AP ratios are worse than Vayne's. Banshee's Veil is underwhelming.
Hexdrinker is good too.
When I see an immobile mid-range Mage in midlane (like Brand), I like to counter with Xerath. He'll never combo you in lane. His AoE explosion won't reach you during teamfights. Skillshots are easy to land. He can't heal your poke.
If you're decent with Yasuo, Fizz, or Katarina, he will never be able to land W or Q.

Botlane:

Cheese him at level 2. His xp powerspikes are at levels 3 and 6.
Locket of the Iron Solari is your best friend. Buy it yourself or ask a teammate. Face of the Mountain is pretty good too.
Never pick Braum into Brand support. Unless you need negative freelo.
Heal & Shield supports are pretty good, so long as you don't get one-shot at level 6.

NyarlathοtepAug 26, 20172 votes

Something to add in the case of xerath, as xerath main. Its not that easy even with all this range. He can combo you. You cant use only your spells to farm. You have to go to aa range to farm/gain mana. And thats where you are prone to his combo And his w has big ass radius and range. His e is point and click, and his q is wide as fk.

thefanceAug 27, 20171 votes

The fact that Xerath must AA to cs and regenerate mana is a weaknesses inherent to Xerath's kit. I don't feel that Brand exploits this weakness better than the average midlaner. I often mitigate this weakness via dash-dancing.

As far as I can tell, Xerath's primary weakness is mobility. Which is something Brand sorely lacks.

NyarlathοtepAug 27, 2017

The fact that Xerath must AA to cs and regenerate mana is a weaknesses inherent to Xerath's kit. I don't feel that Brand exploits this weakness better than the average midlaner.

True but here is the catch, brands's w has a big ass radius that most of the times you wont be able to avoid if brands wants to hit you.

As far as I can tell, Xerath's primary weakness is mobility. Which is something Brand sorely lacks.

True. Unfortunately xerath is what most people call, balanced, which means he has other weaknesses. the 2nd biggest after mobility is burst dmg+coupled with decent range, something that brand has plenty.

thefanceAug 27, 20171 votes

I don't see how burst-damage and decent range differentiates Brand from the typical midlaner.

Brand and Xerath have similarly shaped hit-boxes. Ignoring Xerath's range advantage, it's purely a skill-shot matchup. If Brand is bullying you with Trading Stance, I think you just need to up your Dash Dance micro.

NyarlathοtepAug 27, 2017

I don't see how burst-damage and decent range differentiates Brand from the typical midlaner.

It is different because not many champs have an ability like his w.

it's purely a skill-shot matchup

You cant call it purely skillshot matchup when one of the sides has 2 point and click. With that being said brand has the edge because his q is fast and wide enough, and xerath has hard time avoiding it unless he has 2 tier boots.

If Brand is bullying you with Trading Stance, I think you just need to up your Dash Dance micro.

Its not guaranteed that it will save you.

thefanceAug 27, 20171 votes

Have you ever played Brand? Conflagration has a range of 600 units. I dare you to play a match with Brand and see how difficult it is to simply walk up and EQW an enemy mage without being annihilated. The only way Brand should be able to tag Xerath with Conflagration in lane is if Brand has already landed WQ. At which point it doesn't matter whether Conflagration is a skillshot or point-&-click since the stun practically guarantees a hit.

NyarlathοtepAug 28, 2017

Ofc i have played brand. Yes his e is not that big when it comes to range. But w is more than enough. Avoid w is difficult as fk.

thefanceAug 28, 20172 votes

I don't understand "It's not a skillshot matchup because Conflagration and Pyroclasm are point-&-click". This makes as much sense as "Fizz isn't a melee champ because Chum The Waters has a range of 1300".

The post asked how to counter Brand, not about the Brand vs Xerath matchup. Pillar of Flame's wide effect-radius is irrelevant because its difficultly to evade is par for most immobile mages. The fact that Xerath's AA range is 525 and needs to AA periodically is irrelevant because that's par for most immobile mages. Arcanopulse is interesting because its effective range (1400) outclasses Pillar of Flame's effective range (900 + 250).

And lo, Brand's 2nd worst matchup according to na.op.gg is Xerath clocking in at 42.53%. The 1st and 3rd are Malzahar (39.25%) and Anivia (42.67%). Both of which have S tier waveclear. So I think the statistics support my experiences.

n.b. Brand's overview at na.op.gg says the Brand vs Xerath winrate is 42.77%. n.b. I'm surprised that Brand's general winrate after 40 minutes is 63.51%, the highest of any midlaner.

NyarlathοtepAug 28, 2017

To quote from you

it's purely a skill-shot matchup

How can in the teemo can something be purely skillshot when 2 of his skills are point and click?

Fizz isn't actually a melee champ because Chum The Waters has a range of 1300".

Thats not even a good analogy. Someone can be melee AND have spells with range.

thefanceAug 28, 20171 votes

Because E doesn't land unless W Q lands. There's a dependency. Landing a skillshot on a stunned target is indistinguishable from landing a point-&-click on a stunned target. I explained this earlier.

The analogy is great and you're being pedantic.

(p.s. I added text to my last comment. How do you respond to Brand's abysmall winrate against Xerath?)

NyarlathοtepAug 29, 2017

The post asked how to counter Brand, not about the Brand vs Xerath matchup.

Its true that post asked how to counter brand, but im trying here to tell you that xerath is not that easy.

Pillar of Flame's wide effect-radius is irrelevant because its difficultly to evade is par for most immobile mages

True but, well how can i say it. Because xerath's job is to shoot spells from a long range, when something gets close to him, he gets almost pooped because thats his weakness. I mean the other immobile mages have stronger laning phase. Lux can shield herself and proc her passive when brand tries to wq. Ziggs can unleash his whole kit. Swain is a bit more beefy compared to most mages. Syndra will demolish brand with her burst. But xerath? His q is easy to avoid even under the effects of his minor slow on his w. His e is almost a joke at laning phase, and his ulti roots him.

Arcanopulse is interesting because its effective range (1400) outclasses Pillar of Flame's effective range (900 + 250).

One does simply cant use q and never aa.

Anyway lets call it a day and lets stop this since we are getting off topic. It doesnt look like me or you is going to understand each other.

thefanceAug 29, 20171 votes

Brand can't get close because he doesn't have a gap closer. AA is hardly an issue since Eye and Pillar have the same effective range. If you have so much trouble landing Arcano pulse and Eye of Destruction on an immobile mage, should you really be maining Xerath?

I honestly believe you're playing the matchup wrong. You're probably mismanaging the wave or telegraphing your movements, and then you blame it on champ select because Dunning Kruger.

I don't play Brand mid these days. But I have hundreds of matches worth of ranked experience with Brand mid in Season 6 and my current winrate with Xerath in Season 7 is 58% over 26 matches. Meanwhile, eune.op.gg says you have one norms game with Brand from who knows how long ago. I insist that I have more experience, and that learning the matchup from Brand's perspective might change your tune.

na.op.gg actually lists Xerath as one of Brand's top three worst matchups. The fact that op.gg's statistics so heavily favor Xerath should set off alarms that your difficulty in dealing with Brand reflects a deficit in your skill and experience, not a deficit in your favorite champion.

And no, Syndra will not demolish Brand. He has 600 HP in his core items. Dash Dance laterally and giggle as she airballs her stun by a mile. I interpret your comment about Syndra as further evidence that you don't know how to properly juke. I bet you're accustomed to relying on your range alone to avoid damage.

TyrekGoldenspearAug 26, 20172 votes

Quality post. As a fellow who played Brand a lot, I approve of this.

Maligaro SpikeAug 26, 20178 votes

you don't beat him, he beats himself not being able to go item 3504 ;)

morris1Aug 26, 20174 votes

1․ Get Stoneborn

2․ Go item 3116 item 3504 into full tank.

3․ ???

4․ Heal

Supreme Senpai69Aug 26, 20178 votes

Get stoneborn
Be Ashe
Ardent Censer
Black Cleaver
Redemption

TimX24968BAug 26, 20174 votes

Isn't this what bans are for?

Frivolous FossaAug 25, 20173 votes

Don't get hit...he is almost all skill-shots.

Succubús GFAug 26, 20173 votes

E isn't a skill shot its point and click, same with r. 1/2 isn't almost all. Q isn't that hard to hit either. And w is a large aoe skillshot.

An Undead bratAug 26, 20173 votes

W is highly predictable, if you watch Brand, you will see when he's going to cast it, if you play against him regularly (if not, then you don't need tips anyway, lul). As for his Q, walk in a straight line to him and when he Es you, sidestep to the right angle right in that moment - he'll aim his Q to your previous position and misses it 90% of the time. If he reacts and hits his Q anyway, then you are playing in so high Elo (I don't actually mean high, I mean like, high enough) that dealing with Brand should be your last concern because if you can't deal with Brand players at that level, I can't imagine what champion would you deal with.

JmmanAug 26, 20172 votes

he doesn't have a heal and high mana cost.

Poke him and fake the entry and back. When you go at him don't go through the minions directly if he hasn't cast anything. You don't want him hitting you and the minions. Now if you are hit and burning get behind the minions so he cant stun you.

keys He can either use his spells on you or the minions. His Aoe circle on the ground is his major laning damage. If you can force that, he can't use it to farm. If you just play passive and just let him last hit you will lose. So force the spells. Might want to get boots or run speed help early for the dodging. Just challenging the CS will force spells.

Do not hard dive unless you are way ahead. Skill shots are easy to hit if you on brand. item 3155 item 3102 screws him. one saves you and eats the dots the other makes his stun hard to lane because he has to eat your shield and hit another spell before he can try to stun you.

get some kind of poke and boots. he doesn't heal and is mana heavy out last him not over power him.

Understand you will need some MR and HP because he is brand.

He had no escape. Jungle should jump him before 6. After look for the ult. Go in and move the opposite of the jungle once CC comes off brand or after his first spell because the ult is coming. If ult is cast either flash instantly or not at all. Don't wait til it hits you 2 times and on the way back.

MR tanks and bruisers will run over him.

Rins Thigh SocksAug 26, 20172 votes

He has high CDs so you can easily control the wave against him as long as you don't get too scared and back up levels 1-2.

On top of that, he's easily gankable and repeatedly killed.

The best thing you can do early on is play aggro against him while staying behind the minions and don't push too hard so that your jungler can gank.

AFK PushAug 26, 20172 votes

In your last 20 ranked games you have played 9 different mid laners. You should stick to about 3 tops, so you know those champs and the matchups like the back of your hand. As people have said, wave clear champs are very good into brand, and so are mages that outrange him. Lux Xerath Ziggs should all bully him in the lanephase.

Nut on my ButtAug 26, 20172 votes

You can easily cheese champs like Brand in midlane by rushing lvl 2 boots

He kinda has to be high damage to not be totally outclassed.

CalabokAug 26, 20172 votes

always stand next to a minion next to brand
he's weak so don't worry about anything, just stand still
Don't run away. Always attack even when on cool down
Good luck

DuskDaUmbreonAug 26, 20172 votes

You bring Nami, obviously. Water>Fire. :P

...But, seriously. Try Morgana. She's the safest midlaner there is (you're immune to pretty much everything, if you're competent, you're durable, and you have very long-distance waveclear). Buy t1 boots and Catalyst ASAP, rush RoA before anything else, get Ionian Boots, Torment, get some MR, Rylai's, and finish with Zhonya's, Morellonomicon, or Gunblade.

Run 18-12 with DFT as your Keystone.

SweedishGunnerAug 26, 20171 votes

Brand also scales like a mad man. I think he's really under appreciated.

korg023Aug 26, 20171 votes

Brand uses 4 abilities and is out of mana, good luck waveclearing as Brand without losing all mana pool in 2 minutes of the game. One of the reasons i love Xerath is that i feel like i just always have mana since i know how to manage his passive. All other mid laners like Ahri, Lux , Ori stay out of mana so fast (or i am just bad at managing mana pool) even if i am bad at managing mana pool i just feel lazy to do it. So every champ with low mana pool and high costs is a no no for me.