Brand is the Man

Brand is a versatile champ that has been used in multiple roles over the lifespan of League of Legends, even more recently becoming a Jungle option thanks to Riot's new focus on the Jungle Pool (see Patch 10.6). Although Brand hasn't seen much play in any Pro Leagues recently, he is still a viable champion in the Support Role for Solo Queue. I want to run you through a guide on how to play Brand in a way that will let you take control of a game that has become a buffet to the enemy team due to feeding teammates.

Champ Select

The first thing you need to focus on is the match up. When you have sized up your team comp to their's, you can better understand how to set up your runes in a way that is effective against that particular team comp. Does that team have heavy AP? Then run Magic Resist in your Defense on your runes. Are they heavy AD? Then run Armor or Health, though usually, you would want to take Armor. These are the runes I recommend when playing Brand support.

Game Start

When jumping into Summoner's Rift, make sure to pick up your essentials in the shop, which will be your Spellthief's Edge, 2 Health Pots and a Warding Totem (Trinket). You will want to start W and look to max it first. Your W (Pillar of Flame) will be your main setup for your other abilities and will be a great tool to poke and annoy the Enemy Laners and help secure CS for your Bot Laner.

Early Game

As Brand Support, your early game focus, as I mentioned earlier, is to keep the Enemy Laner from getting CS and helping your Bot Laner secure their CS. This is very important because, in the early game, the pace your Bot Laner sets will determine how aggressive you can be. Your Jungler can play a part in this too, but let's just imagine for a second that your Jungler has decided to not gank your lane (like usual). Try to make sure your Bot Laner secures the kills, but never let the enemy get away. If you have to secure the kill to make sure the Enemy Laner doesn't get away, then do so.

Look to pick up early items depending on your status in lane. We are looking to build AP and bulk so, we are looking for items like Liandry's Torment and Rylai's Crystal Scepter. If you are able to push up and be aggressive, lean towards getting a Blasting Wand. If you are pushed back under the tower and having a hard time staying healthy in lane, go for a Haunting Guise for that extra boost of health.

Last but very much not least, once you get about halfway through level 1 on your support item's (Spellthief's Edge) quest, go ahead and switch Warding Totem (Trinket) to an Oracle's Lens. Always remember to pick up a Control Ward to make sure you have great vision setup around your lane, your jungle area, the enemy jungle area, and especially objectives like Dragon.

Look to combo your W (Pillar of Flame) with your Q (Sear) for a nice amount of damage and a great stun from Q (Sear) to set up a kill for your Bot Laner. If you are Level 3 try to follow up with your E (Conflagration) to trigger your Passive Ability (Blaze).

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Mid Game

As a support, you will already want to roam when possible, whether it is to help your Jungler secure an objective, clear out the enemy vision, counter gank mid, or just secure a kill for your Jungler or Mid Laner. However now is the time where we start looking outside of our lane. This is the time where, as Brand, you begin to shine in objective-driven teamfights. You will want to either set up for a big objective like second Rift Herald or doing Baron, depending on match time. You will look to complete your Liandry's, Rylai's, and boots. In this case, your boots of choice should be Sorcerer's Shoes. You can always change this depending on the situation, but unless it is a rare situation where defensive stats are mandatory, you will want to stick with the Sorcerer's Shoes.

At this point you should have your W (Pillar of Flame) maxed out and working towards maxing out your Q (Sear) next. Remember to always put points into your R (Pyroclasm) as often as you can. Your support item should be level 3 or at least close but again, I can not stress this enough, make sure you buy Control Wards to keep up vision. Having vision set up could be the key factor in whether you are able to split push and get towers or have the enemy team 5-man you in lane and get an easy pick off.

Late Game

Let's be honest here, at this point in the game, if you followed the above instructions, the enemy team is scared of you. You are burning their whole team down with your annoying AOE damage from your R, W and E abilities. Now that you are in the late game, if the enemy team is lucky enough to make it here, you will be a key component in securing late-game objectives like Baron, Dragon Soul and Elder Dragon. This is due to your burst damage and your ability to zone out the enemy team from stealing the objective.

You will finish maxing out your Q (Sear) and putting the remainder of your points into R (Pyroclasm) and E (Conflagration). The items you will buy as you make it to full build will be Morellonomicon and Zhonya's Hourglass. These items again will build AP and Health to keep you in the fight with the extra bonus of going into stasis with your Zhonya's Hourglass.

Full Build

Your final build should look something like this:

• Shard of True Ice
• Liandry's Torment
• Rylai's Crystal Scepter
• Sorcerer's Shoes
• Morellonomicon
• Zhonya's Hourglass

If you find yourself already being able to stay alive in teamfights, some late-game items you could look to build are Void Staff, Rabadon's Deathcap, or Luden's Echo just to name a few. These items have big AP spikes that will help you prove to the enemy team that you are a high priority threat.

Burn the Enemy Team to the Ground!

If you follow this guide, you will see a difference in your games when it comes to either carrying from behind or snowballing a lead. Support differential is a real thing and you will be able to prove that.