This week got cut a bit short thanks to a certain hurricane, but I think I had plenty of time with Brand to assess his power level, play around with his build, and as with any Champ of the Week, lose enough games to see some of the champion’s downfalls. For Brand there are few, but they can make a game with him just as frustrating as any other character.

First, the good things. Really, the OP things. Brand’s lane harass is absolutely filthy – probably the best in the game. The range on his E skill, Conflagration, needs a nerf and has since day one. With the big burst and the passive proc, this skill alone can push an opponent off the lane. It’s also amazing when used with his passive effect. Missed your Pillar of Flame? No problem – just Conflag that caster minion and watch the damage bounce when your opponent gets too close. Brand is one of those characters that is such a huge threat that his presence is enough to push an opponent back. He doesn’t even have to be in position, just there and he’s terrifying.

I did have a little bit of trouble against Malzahar, really only because his Malefic Visions allowed him to keep me pushed, which meant I couldn’t exactly stand in the creeps and force him back. Obviously Brand’s ability to do that to most characters is pretty OP, but so is Malzahar’s ability to farm at my tower from his tower. It’s a mess.

Build
Brand is sort of unique in that his passive doesn’t scale with AP. It does, however, scale with penetration, which poses something of a build problem. If I’m rocking early game I like to pick up a Haunting Guise, just to utterly dominate my opponent. With Guise and Sorc Boots, only the best casters in the game will be able to hold you down. Brand churns through creeps, freeing him up to go and gank other lanes.

Unfortunately, that build doesn’t scale particularly well into the late game if your opponents are building magic resist. Basically, there are two routes as I see it. If my team has plenty of sticking power, I go with a Rod of Ages, Deathcap, and then Rylais or Void Staff or Will of the Ancients. If my team is lacking that sticking power, I’ll opt for a Deathcap to Rylais rush, which usually means stacking a couple Doran’s Rings for early survivability. I’m much more comfortable with the RoA build, and I like the survivability and growth it provides into late game. The other build is still quite strong, though, and definitely worth it if your teamfights will be sprawling affairs.

If I could change one thing…

If I could change one thing with Brand it would be to reduce his cast range on just about everything. Brand is powerful because he can land his spells easily from a distance. He can harass well from a distance and use the massive range on his stun to secure the kill.

If Riot did reduce his range, though, I think they’d have to compensate with a little movespeed. Brand feels woefully slow and vulnerable once an opponent is stuck to you. I know every champion needs a weakness, but because his stun is a directional cast, it’s almost too punishing for someone to get in your face, especially if he got a range reduction.

On the whole, I have a blast playing Brand. He’s one of few champions that feels like he has some variety to his casting rotation, and as with most of my favorite champs, he rewards aggressive play early in the game. If you’re looking to expand your AP carry roster, definitely give Brand a shot.

I’ve been trying to get one of my ranked ratings above 1485 for the Silver designation before the end of Season One. For me, that usually means playing an AP carry mid. It’s a position I always enjoy – it’s usually aggressive, which for me is a lot of fun. I’m usually a Malzahar guy, mostly because he’s crazy easy to dominate with, but I’ve been mixing it up lately with Brand and things have been going pretty well.

I feel like I’ve got some decent ideas about his build and his kit, but I want to spend some extra time with him, breaking down the mechanics that…light Brand’s fire. Yeah, I said it.

I’ll be trying out a few different builds this week, focusing on durability for comps that don’t have much peel and raw power for comps that bring plenty of CC. I’ll also be considering his matchups against champions like Orianna, Annie, and Malzahar. If you have any tips or…burning questions, drop them in the comments. Check back later in the week for more impressions of Brand.

I’ve been spending a lot of my LoL time on Brand, more than most of the recent champions and mostly because he’s a lot of fun to play. His combo system is an absolute blast – one of the best examples of a champions that forces you to make decisions when choosing your spells. For the most part, I also think he’s pretty balanced.

If I have one complaint about Brand it’s that the range on his E is just a little too long. He’s a fairly slow champion – he feels slow, anyway – so I understand that it’s a sizable radius, but coupled with his passive it deals an awful lot of damage from pretty huge distance. Other than that, I love the skill. The Blaze synergy is great for a little bounce damage off the caster minions if your opponent gets too close.

Pillar of Flame is probably my second favorite skill in Brand’s arsenal. The animation is great and the damage is impressive, especially if your target is ablaze. I do think the W->E combo might give him a little too much farming potential, but a simple mana tweak would address the problem.

As far as stuns go, I think Brand is in a good spot. His stun is not just a skillshot but a conditional skillshot at that. You miss it and you’re pretty much sunk if someone’s in your face. That kind of risk also makes it a lot of fun to land, especially when you snake it through a minion or two.

I have mixed feelings about his ult. If the circumstance is just right it feels pretty good, but the circumstance is rarely just right. In most cases I see it wipe out a few minions, dealing damage to a hero or two along the way. Though I do occasionally wish it dealt a bit more damage, I think erring on the low or unreliable side of damage is better than the alternative.

I’ve heard a lot of people complain that he’s OP, but I just haven’t seen it yet. He is very high burst, in much the same way that other casters can be, it’s just that his playstyle rewards skill more than many others.

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The official Brand ability list showed up pretty early this week – sometime yesterday evening if I saw correctly. It’s nice to see a champ in the mix that isn’t tanky DPS, though I do wonder if his ult won’t be a little strong. Let’s take a look at the skills.

Sear: Brand launches a ball of fire forward that deals magic damage. If the target is ablaze, the target will be stunned.

Pillar of Flame: After a short delay, Brand creates a pillar of flame at a target area, dealing magic damage to enemy units within the area. Units that are ablaze take additional damage.

Conflagration: Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target, dealing magic damage to them. If the target is ablaze, the conflagration spreads to nearby enemies.

Pyroclasm (Ultimate): Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire, dealing damage each time it bounces. If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm’s missile speed increases.

Blaze (Passive): Brand’s basic abilities light his targets ablaze, dealing a percentage of their maximum Health in magic damage per second.

I really like the synergy of his passive with his other skills. The overall strength of the passive will of course be determined by just how much of a percentage of the target’s health it deals. It’s interesting to see Riot trying to address the Tanky DPS issue directly through character design. I think it’s important to remember that the characters this passive plays best against are characters that already tend to stack a decent amount of magic resistance. My guess is that, even with the passive, Brand won’t stand a chance against a fairly tanky team. Magic resistance will negate a large portion of the damage, just as it does with characters like Kog’Maw and items like Bloodrazor/Deathfire Grasp.

I’m also interested in Brand’s ultimate design. Are we seeing a return to the AoE metagame? Be sure to check back on Tuesday for my impressions.

The champion sneak peek is up for Riot’s next addition to the League. Brand, the Burning Vengeance will be joining the game in the next patch.

Here’s the official blurb:

Here at Riot Games, we’ve been positively burning with anticipation to tell you about this next champion. And that’s not just smoke and mirrors! If you’ve ever come under fire from critics for leaving a candle unattended, forgetting to turn the grill off, or an over-enthusiasm for fireworks displays, he’s sure to spark your interest. Start getting fired up for Brand, the Burning Vengeance. He’s a real spitfire who is sure to attract all you combustion connoisseurs out there like a moth to a flame.

Hey, did we mention that he’s on fire?

His concept art is pretty cool, and, judging by the look of the image, could be his splash screen. I wonder if we’re looking at some sort of fire mage, maybe even Annie’s father? That would be an interesting bit of lore. You gotta feel at least a little bit bad for this guy – Lee Sin’s hype is a hard act to follow.