Everyone knows Brand support. Almost nobody has noticed that the version standing where the marksman should be is winning more games than it does.
Brand takes the bot lane carry slot in about one in every two hundred Ranked Solo/Duo games, which is rare enough that most players have never been on either side of it.
So how does this actually work?
Weird Pick #165
Bot Lane Brand
Everyone knows Brand support. Almost nobody has noticed that the version standing where the marksman should be is winning more games than it does.
Brand takes the bot lane carry slot in about one in every two hundred Ranked Solo/Duo games, which is rare enough that most players have never been on either side of it. That being said, he started taking off during the mage meta and calmed down a bit after that. Despite that, he's still quite fun to play and can work well with the right setup.
How to Play Bot Lane Brand
- Abilities
- W, Q, E to start, then prioritize R > W > Q > E
- Summoner Spells
-
Flash 
Teleport - Starting Items
-
Doran's Ring 
Health Potion Health Potion - Strategy
- Max Pillar of Flame [W] and use it as your wave clear and your poke at the same time, then look for a Sear [Q] stun on anything your support has already slowed, since a stunned target takes the full Conflagration [E] chain and Pyroclasm [R] bounces back onto them instead of scattering
- Core Items
-
Blackfire Torch 
Sorcerer's Shoes 
Rylai's Crystal Scepter 
Liandry's Torment 
Shadowflame 
Rabadon's Deathcap
Bot Lane Brand Runes Setup
Sorcery
Precision
Support Synergies
Leona
Brand's whole kit is built around landing Sear [Q] on a target who can't move, and Leona provides three separate ways to make that happen before level six. Zenith Blade [E] into Shield of Daybreak [Q] is long enough that Brand never has to walk forward himself, which matters for a champion with no escape at all.
Milio
Even though Milio is usually found with ranged ADCs, he somehow works well with Brand as well. Ultra Mega Fire Kick [Q] knocks a target back and slows them, which sets up Pillar of Flame [W] perfectly and Breath of Life [R] also covers the one thing that kills Brand in a teamfight, which is being caught by a single point of hard crowd control, since it removes the crowd control instead of just healing through it.
Lulu
Lulu similarly covers the escape weakness, which is a bot lane carry with no dash, no shield and no defensive item slot to spare. Whimsy [W] cancels an all in, Wild Growth [R] buys the seconds Brand needs to finish a Conflagration [E] chain, and Glitterlance [Q] slows a target directly into a Pillar of Flame [W].
When to Pick This
Bot lane Brand is a pick for lanes you can win by minute ten. He's much better in short games than long games, because a mage in the marksman slot puts out less sustained damage than the marksman he replaced once everyone has six items. Take him when your team has a jungler and a mid laner who want to dive bot early, and use the lead to close.
The matchup screen also matters more than usual here. Brand takes a losing record against Caitlyn, Jhin and Jinx, all of whom outrange him and can shove the wave into his tower without ever standing in a Pillar of Flame [W]. Against the marksmen who have to walk into their damage he's a completely different champion, and he beats Kai'Sa, Lucian and Miss Fortune comfortably.
How It Works
A Support Kit With A Carry Item Budget
Brand's damage was always there, but a support gold income means it arrives on two items instead of five. Give him the bot lane farm and the Blackfire Torch into Rylai's Crystal Scepter into Liandry's Torment line crushes both squishies and tanks alike.
The Popular Rune Page Is The Wrong One
The most common Brand page pairs Deathfire Touch with Legend: Haste, and it's sitting under forty nine percent. The page that swaps that for Cut Down wins far more of its games. Bot lane is where the enemy front line ends up standing in every fight, and a percentage damage rune against high health targets is worth far more here than the ability haste is.
Percent Health Burn Answers Bot Lane Tanks
The enchanters and tanks who normally make a bot lane unkillable have no answer to Blackfire Torch and Liandry's Torment layered onto Blaze [Passive]. Conflagration [E] spreads through a stacked enemy bot lane, and the burn keeps ticking through a shield or a heal in a way that a marksman's auto attacks simply don't.
Potential Pitfalls
No Escape And No Item Slot To Fix It
Brand has no dash, no blink and no defensive steroid, and this build spends every slot on damage. A jungler who ganks bot once at level three usually ends the lane, and there's no Immortal Shieldbow or Guardian Angel version of this build that solves the problem without gutting the damage that made the pick worth taking.
Teleport Is A Real Trade Off
Most players running this take Flash and Teleport rather than a defensive second spell, which fits the roaming solo laner style the pick rewards but leaves nothing in the bag when an assassin jumps on him at minute twenty five. If your team already has three squishy targets, that second summoner slot is worth reconsidering.
Bot Lane Brand Conclusions
Bot lane Brand works because the champion was never actually short on damage, only on gold, and the carry slot fixes that overnight. The pick asks for a support who can lock a target down, a jungler who wants to fight early, and a plan to end before the enemy marksman out-scales him. Get those three things and this is a lane most opponents have genuinely never had to play against.
Suggested Tier: Tier 3
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