Anyone got brand thoughts?

** This is posted in the mid year mage update as well**

Brand/Velkoz player here. It sounds like Vel isn't going to change much, which I'm fine with like just about every other velkoz player. It sounds like what you guys plan on changing won't have too much of an effect on his feel. Really what I'm curious about is our guy marlon aka BraNdo.

Brand has recently been thrust into a "semi?" spotlight with the release of Deathfire Touch. I've seen more of them around for sure. I'll just list off a bunch of thoughts I have on his current state and see if I'm on par with his current ideology:

Brand is the quintessential Magic PEN mage. His passive burns % max health making him great for tank shredding (along with Liandry's of course). Having a bunch of Magic Pen gives you the best effect of his passive as well as liandry's for that matter. This means while AP is still important, keeping his opponents burning is his best course of action.

He's a short range caster mage with very little survivability, making him a risky pick on that alone. Add in the fact he only has 1 form of innate CC that is very unreliable and it's not hard to see why he isn't in the best place at the moment. I have no problem with him being this type of champ - Mass aoe and die in a blaze of engulfing fury. One full combo of his abilities in a mid-late game team fight and you notice his effect even if he is dead after that one volley of spells. I think we need champs that fit that role and Brand should be that guy.

I read somewhere you consider him an AoE mage, which makes sense given his 3 aoe abilities, but it's hard to justify brand over other mages who offer more than just damage. I believe you already referenced this situation. I'm pretty sure you guys are aware of those who are just more complete champs at the moment so I won't waste time listing the better options out there.

Even if your able to land your Q you don't want to lead with it because of it's stun, so you find yourself holding your shortest CD, lowest mana cost (which I assume was intended to be his poke) ability as your only form of defense.

E has a hybrid role in wave clear and for a quick e-q-w stun combo used both for harass and escape. It fits his theme and fills the need for a targeted non ulti ability, and offers zoning opponents from their own minions.

While E and Q's passive effects have a very visible effect, I find W's to be slightly lacking. In order to take advantage of its effect you need to land a Q-E-W combo which is quite short in range, thus more risky and, as far as wave clear, casting w-e is just as effective and saves you mana.

It's pretty hard to justify using a Q-E-W combo. Even in team fights where it should shine you don't use it very often because you're losing the CC from your Q. Let's say you catch 3 out of 5 enemies with your passive enhanced W. The W passive proc's an extra 400 or so total damage mid/late game between those targets, and I think it's fair to say that it's unlikely you hit that many enemies consistently. A 2 second stun on any priority target is almost always a better option.

I feel like his combo's were intended to be more of an interaction than they currently are, or maybe I've just played enough brand where the best choice is obvious.

His ult is in a pretty solid spot. It's visually great and offers some awesome in-game moments with it's bounce mechanic. Not much to say about it tbh.

One thing that can't be overlooked is Brand's Casting Animations. He feels pretty cumbersome and clanky and his casting animations make it nearly impossible to contribute in chase situations (one of the many reasons Rylai's is a must have item). Speaking of items, he has some very extreme niche options which he has to buy. I don't think that's a bad thing, but I feel like there's very little variety in his end game build.

I think he needs to keep the stun or be given another form of CC, but Q as a general ability doesn't feel all that special and I don't think anyone would miss it.

Currently, regardless of my lane opponent or where I play brand, the first thing to level up is almost always W. Not only is it his most effective wave clear tool, it's aoe circle and range makes it his best harass ability as well, which I think shouldn't be the case (q suffers from minion block, E has a small niche vs dash/mobile champs but is the lowest dmg of the 3)

W is just too good as a blanket option spell even though it's passive is rarely taken advantage of. It's an aoe spell but the passive is typically used to punish enemy laners in 1 v 1 situations (a singular target).

If I were to rework brand, I could see slightly altering or completely changing his Q, as well as finding a way so W isn't always the best spell option. Q is lackluster both visually and gameplay wise. W is too powerful even with it's ineffective passive. Brand doesn't feel like the type of champ who should heal himself or gain a shield, so I think the best thing to play around is his blaze passive. I would keep the %health shred and probably try adding some more depth to it. Maybe less damage and a stacking effect? I haven't really been able to come up with anything as far as that goes. I thought about his W becoming an aoe stun if targets were under the affects of blaze, but that would just cement W as the #1 option which I expect is what your trying to avoid (probably to op anyways).

I haven't really seen too much about brand so if anyone does happen to come across anything about him don't hesitate to drop a link for me