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Dear Fellow Toplaners: I'm Sorry

ModCaliCoastReplay·9/2/2018, 4:01:41 AM·8 votes·4,530 views

I regret to report that I am patient zero for taking Brand into the top lane.

To the many melee fighters desperately clinging to the last real melee arena in the game: Think having to go up against Teemo , Gnar , Kennen, Urgot, and Jayce was cancerous as you got shot to pieces simply trying to CS? Just wait until you're reduced to a smoking, triple-stacked future pile of ash from half a screen away by spells that didn't even hit you.

I feel I cannot be held accountable for the cancer I have contracted. It was forced on me by my own playing my best Urgot into a lane-swapped opponent forced to take Brand against me, who then utterly decimated and dominated the hell out of my best Mastery 7 champion, to the surprise of us both. It turns out percentage health burn against toplane fighters that procs every spell is like Gnar 's Hyper passive hits on a multiplier from Hell.

Nevertheless, it appears to be incurable. I am now playing Brand into a wide variety of dismayed toplane fighters. Drastic measures may be necessary.

I have placed this post in Player Behavior where it clearly belongs. I am also adding a poll to help the community pass judgment on my poor behavior.

26 Comments

disregardable9/2/2018, 4:36:46 AM4 votes

Garen

nice poke, just give me 20 seconds while u wait for cooldowns, yeah k I'm good.

VoraciousX9/2/2018, 4:42:55 AM3 votes

Honestly I'm kind of wanting to try this. We're seeing tankier top laners recently so Brand top with his %HP damage might be kinda ridiculous. Only problem is how long of a lane it is and ganks.

Moody P9/2/2018, 4:04:06 AM2 votes

please play this squishy immobile mage top, it'll give me a good excuse to start dusting off my XinZhao

GreatWhiteNorth9/2/2018, 9:25:59 AM2 votes

He might do well in lane, but late game, when there are no tanks on Brand's team, well...

Warlord Rhinark9/5/2018, 11:51:30 AM2 votes

Yeah- no.

Once the people you play against actually start developing a brain, they'll build Doran's Shield first item, take Second Wind and Revitalize in Resolve, and rush an Adaptive Helm.

Alzon9/11/2018, 3:42:05 PM2 votes

Not bad tbh. Handles ganks pretty well after 6 and heavily punishes the enemy top laner for not getting a gank at any level. Ludens > Ryliandry for spreading the burn/slow proc plus 30% CDR for more passive procs. Could alternatively build Liandry’s > FH if a frontliner is needed.

Biggest issue would be mana in lane, plus the long lane if you do mess up. I’d probably run Manaflow, Biscuits, and Time Warp, then start with CPot and get DSeal+boots first back. Should help with both issues.

If you’re against the rare sustain tank, you’ll have to concede them the mid game. Punish them before they get items, then wait through mid until you have Void and Morello.

EDIT: Been rockin this in flex, definitely viable. Frozen Heart plus health/AP items is so damn efficient versus multiple AD.

ModKnightsKemplar9/11/2018, 5:13:28 PM1 votes

I have many questions.

What's your win percentage? Is this a "win lane, lose game" strategy? With no tank, how do late game teamfights proceed? Is there a point where Brand falls off and you're likely to lose? Does having an immobile mage in the longer lane hurt your prospect of surviving ganks?

Basically, all these boil down to... I assume there's a counter. What is it?

Slythion9/9/2018, 10:08:34 PM1 votes

I feel like Brand should get stomped by most decent toplaners, especially fighters/bruisers

ModCaliCoastReplay9/11/2018, 5:53:41 PM1 votes

This whole thing that you guys are all worried about where Brand is just seen as this defenseless, squishy mage isn't really the way it seems to work out in practice. item 3027 item 3116 item 3157, the usual tankmage-top stuff you often see on Ryze Vladimir, it's all really pretty effective on Brand too. He actually gets pretty hard to burst down and can hold his own versus a lot of people you'd be surprised by, last game I just actually outplayed a Zed who caught me out crossing the river just by item 3157 'ing through his death mark and stacking him up.

Like I said, the actual biggest danger that I've seen so far is losing in lane to a giant self-healing damage soak. The late-game-no-tank concept is highly comp-dependent. I've seen it happen once or twice so far but I've had more games where the enemy team basically gets PTSD from a few failed teamfights and the "frontline" becomes a zone of fear the enemy team institutes by itself around you due to the fear of getting ulted or otherwise triple-stacked.

shrug

I had no idea people would actually take this post or the strat seriously, I thought everyone would call me cancer and be done with it. I'm sure high ELO can punish this strat and I'd hardly recommend anyone in a serious match take Brand on the blind. But as an off-meta pick or an unexpected counter to immobile fighters he's really surprisingly competitive. He just dumps on Jax Fiora Irelia Sion Shen in lane, and as a rogue counterpick to these champions or as counter-cancer against the eternal evils of Teemo (this matchup is skill-dependent but I find Brand has the edge) I actually say give him a try and see what fun is to be had. :)

epicgizmo5199/2/2018, 4:09:12 AM1 votes

your the kindof person to play brand/zyra support and say ez at end summoner 14

ModCaliCoastReplay9/11/2018, 5:08:55 PM1 votes

Best part of toplane Brand though:

He tends to beat Teemo.

In the matchup of pure toplane cancer, cancer beats cancer at long last.

Saezio9/5/2018, 11:12:39 AM1 votes

What elo? I bet some elo where junglers are braindead or else they just gank you level 2 and then lane is over for you.