Particularly in Silver where I see him constantly picked every 1 out of 3 games.
Unless mid lane is someone like Fizz, they get totally shat on by a decent enemy Brand. And the most common complaint from them, other than the usual jungler complaint, is that Brand can just build tanky (catalyst, giant's belt) and yet doesn't have a hard time dealing damage due to his base damage on his abilities and his passive.
Is this justified or just mindless QQ?
Mathbalnase1 votesIs this justified or just mindless QQ?
Brand's damage is almost entirely reliant on skillshots pre-6, and on pretty substantial CDs, too. He's also immobile, slow, and mana-hungry. To balance that out, he's got quite nice base damage, in both burst and especially harass.
As a sometime Brand player, a lot of people seem to get 'scared off' when he drops his spells, and then back off without unloading all of their damage, thus losing the trade quite badly, or they trade one spell of his for one spell of theirs (that deals less damage but has a lower CD), and then let HIM back off until his spell comes off CD, losing the trade that way (if slightly less badly than the overly cautious folks in my first case). This kind of playing into brand's strength allows him to bully his opponents out of lane or even get them low enough that the next rotation will kill them off (usually a few seconds into the burn, and/or an ignite)
Lugg1 votesThe QoL change to his ult made him VERY strong. I can't remember the last Brand game where he didn't have 20+ kills.
Bijorn1 votesShhh. If Rito finds out about Brand im screwed. Mord got fucked, Olaf and Shyv are up for the next reworks so they are fucked, and Yorick has been ignored for 3 years, along with poppy most likely losing her identity with her rework.
But for real, Brand has always been really strong, just has not fit any meta for a while. High CD's, high costs, skill shot reliant with no escapes. He does need to build damage for late game, he cant really build tanky and have a BIG impact. He can/will have one regardless but hes better off with some damage items. The AP itemization changes made him substantially stronger, specifically the Rylais/Liandrys buffs. Rush Rylais and permaslow for days.
stealthfox941 votesHe debatablely benefits from the recent AP item changes more than anyone.
