Dark Horses: Support Brand

Riot·11/26/2014, 8:35:01 PM·8 votes·192,257 views

Welcome to Dark Horses, where we dive deep, looking for your sleeper picks and why they might be ready to wake up. This go round, we’re lighting a fire under Support Brand.

Brand-aid

Ignite duo lanes with Brand’s signature mix of damage, crowd control and damage. Sustain? That’s for wimps. Feed your marksman a ham sandwich and these five facts when they whine about Brand heading to a duo lane.

Dat Base Damage

Supports need either high base damages or built-in utility to reliably succeed. Support Brand’s got the former in spades. Playing his level 6 combo to perfection nearly doubles the base damage potential of other “bursty” supports like Annie or Karma. Kill secured.

Easy Spellthief’s, easy life

You know what’s hot? Brand. You know what takes heat? Coin-making. Support Brand stacks serious change. Blaze, his passive, applies a mark that deals damage-over-time each time you land a spell. Each tick of his passive procs Spellthief’s Edge. That means if the Edge is fully charged, you earn 15 gold for landing just one spell.

Stunning

Brand’s coveted stun requires you to land two spells in a row, but we know you can do it: You’re the chosen one. Just land Sear, Brand’s long-range skillshot after knocking your opponent around with any other spell, and you’ve landed a stun that lasts longer than a Sona ult.

Pyroclasm makes more sense in a duo lane

In a duo lane, Pyroclasm hits two champions, not one. 2 > 1

Waveclear as Support

You ever try to clear a wave with Nami? Brand’s combination of high base damage and AoE spells mean he clears waves and nudges lanes in the right direction when his teammates are too busy doing whatever carries do.

Brand management

Naturally, some of Brand’s weaknesses follow him to botlane. He’s still immobile, making him eminently dousable for aggressive, tanky supports like Leona. Similarly, shielding supports like Lulu act as effective flame retardants, blunting the impact of Brand’s potent damage.

Brand is predictable

Brand’s spells need to combo to stun you forever. Meaning that when he casts one spell, it’s easy to sort out what’s coming next. Did you just dodge a Sear? His stun is down. Did you just dodge Pillar of Flame? A huge portion of his damage potential is gone. Now, punish him.

Limited mobility

Brand doesn’t go anywhere fast, leaving him vulnerable to crowd control. Incidentally, Pillar of Flame can push lanes when Brand’s trying to poke. If he’s pushing the lane, he’s making himself an even juicier target for your jungler.

Brand’s spells come all at once

Like we mentioned earlier, Brand’s all about the combo. This translates to long stretches of vulnerability during Brand’s spell-slinging hangover. If you’re still standing, now’s the time to counter-attack.

Whether you take him to a solo or duo lane, you can do it on the cheap through December 1. Brand is 440 RP (50% off 880 RP), and Cryocore Brand is 487 RP (50% off 975 RP). In short, yes, we do have your Brand.