I. Preface
II. Introduction
III. Skill Explanations
IV. Summoner Spell Explanations
-- Considerable Summoner Spells
V. Rune Explanations
VI. Masteries
VII. Core Item Build Sequence
-- Situational Items
VIII. Laning & Play Style
-- Early Game Phase
-- Mid Game Phase
-- Late Game Phase
-- Late Game Summarized
IX. Tricks & Strategies
X. Closing
XI. FAQs
XII. Changelog
XIII. Patch Notes

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This build excels in solo queuing in ranked games. Solo queue is all about getting that early advantage to win the lane. This build will help you stay and survive in lane and get you the farm you need. My top rating in season 1 was 1585 - never played much - and my current top rating in season 2 is 1755...

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Abbreviated Terms

• AA = Auto-attack (Basic Attacks)
• AD = Attack Damage
• AP = Ability Power
• AS = Attack Speed
• AoE = Area of Effect
• CC = Crowd Control (Stun, fear, slow, snare, etc)
• CDR = Cooldown Reduction
• DoT = Damage over Time
• ELO = Elo rating (Rating system designed by Arpad Elo that is now used in gaming communities worldwide)
• FB = First Blood
• GP10 = Gold Per 10
• HP = Health
• LS = Life Steal
• MD = Magic Damage
• MP = Mana
• MR = Magic Resistance
• MS = Movement Speed
• OOM = Out of Mana
• SV = Spell Vamp
• DPS = Damage Per Second; also: Strong Auto-attacker
• MDPS = Magical Damage Per Second; also:Strong spells; casters
• MP5 = Mana Regeneration per 5 seconds
• HP5 = Health Regeneration per 5 seconds
• ArPen = Armor Penetration
• MPen = Magic Penetration

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Pros: High burst Very decent early game High amount of AOE On fire Can stun Fun to play =)

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Cons: Squishy Vulnerable to CC 2 skill shot based skills Hard to master Somewhat itemreliant

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Blaze - Brand's spells light his targets ablaze, dealing 2% of their maximum health as magic damage per second for 4 seconds.

Sear - Brand launches a fireball forward that deals magic damage to the first enemy it hits. If the target is ablaze, the target will be stunned for 2 seconds.

• Cost: 50 mana
• Range: 900
• Cooldown: 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6 seconds
• Magic Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+0.65 per ability power)

Pillar of Flame - After a short delay, Brand blasts a target area, dealing magic damage to enemy units within the area. Units that are ablaze take an additional 25% damage.

• Cooldown: 10 seconds.
• Range to Center of AoE: 900
• Radius of AoE: 175
• Cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 mana
• Magic Damage: 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 / 255 (+0.6 per ability power)

Conflagration - Brand conjures an instant blast at his target, dealing magic damage to it. If the target is ablaze the conflagration will also damage nearby enemies, as well as setting the units ablaze.

• Range: 675
• Spread Radius: 200
• Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana
• Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 seconds
• Magic Damage: 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+0.55 per ability power)

Pyroclasm - Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire to a target that will bounce between enemies, dealing damage each time it bounces. If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm's missile speed increases. It will bounce up to four times for a total of five hits, and can hit the same enemy up to three times.

• Range: 750
• Cost: 100 / 150 / 200 mana
• Cooldown: 105 / 90 / 75 seconds
• Magic Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 (+0.5 per ability power)

Pillar of Flame deals most damage, and Conflagration has guaranteed damage and increases your ability to farm minion waves. You can get Sear before level 4 if your jungler plan on ganking mid, but if your opponent is smart enough, he won't let you hit him with Sear

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Flash: In the current meta game you almost don't see anyone without flash. A few exception like Singed who needs the movement speed instead. Really great for chasing or escaping

Ignite: Any AP carry takes this. Early game it increases your burst to just exactly manage to finish off that someone. Late game it's better for healing reduction.

Surge: Haven't played so much AP in season 2, but I guess this is pretty ****ing good.
Ghost: Best substitute for flash, but not nearly as good.
Exhaust: Depends on enemy team composition (fx. amount of healing power the enemy team has or the amount of burst your team has). Best substitute for Ignite.

Anything else is not worth getting in the current meta.

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There are a few optional rune setups depending on what YOU prefer.



Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Standard AP carry marks. Take out that magic resist!

Greater seal of replenishment Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration Many might disagree with me here. I like the flat one because you really need that bonus mana regeneration early game. You will also be getting blue buff a lot in mid-late game. Personal preference.

Greater Seal of Scaling Ability Power I saw Bigfatlp (high elo dude) run these on his mage class champions and I've started to use them myself. I like it a lot because it gives you a small edge on the enemy. Only do this if you're able to manage your mana well.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power If you get a bit behind, these will help you boost your AP by a bit. I combine 7 of these with 2 Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration so that I reach almost 10 magic pen - as most champions have a flat 30 MR you will deal 'true' damage with sorceror's shoes, since they have no MR left. I sometimes get Greater Glyph of Magic Resist against anoying matchups like LeBlanc

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power Basically, more damage and a better early game. Solo queue is all about early game!

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed Is also a very decent choice. Haven't been using them on other champions than Singed or Mordekaiser. Often little things like this matters. Personal prefference

Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp seem pretty decent if you are getting Will of the Ancients for the synergy at least. 6% is not much though... You could combine it with the mastery point in utility for 9% spell vamp at level 1 - I think they suite champions like Vladimir or Morgana better...




There is a little mistake though. Flat penetration > % penetration (which means flat penetration is applied first, so you won't be reaching the 30 but its very little resist anyway...

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Depending on your opponent you want to get 2 or 3 Doran's Ring
After that you want to build up your damage output really fast. Rabadon's Deathcap will help you with this. Void Staff Will help you increase you damage output even more even if they build MR. This item might not be necessary in lower elo.


Remember! Each game there is a different item build! Never use the same every game!

Boots This setup allows you to be really aggressive in the lane and avoid harassment. The health potions also lets you stay in lane longer.

Doran's Ring As explained earlier, solo queue is all about the early game. Getting 2 or 3 Doran's Ring will help you get that early advantage in the lane. You get AP, mana regeneration and HP. Really great stats for you early on! It will help you survive ganks and enemy burst e.g. Annie has a lot of base damage and can easily burst you down qucik. Depending on enemy burst and how much you get ganked get 2 or 3 Doran's Ring.

Sorcerer's Shoes or Mercury's Treads Get these at some point within 10-20 min mark. Merc's against high CC.

Rabadon's Deathcap Raising that AP!! If you have a decent game you should be able to get it before 20 min mark. This will raise your AP to 300 or something. That's quite a lot at 20 min.

Void Staff Every AP caster should get this and eventually swap to Mercury's Treads because late game, getting more AP won't cut it. With the mastery -- Arcane Knowledge -- you will cut off almost 50%, 46% to be precise - this is because percentage penetration doesn't stack addictive, but multiplicative.


Let's say they have 108 MR. You have 8 flat magic penetration from runes which let's you hit like if they had 100 MR. You have 46% magic pen which will leave them with 54 MR for you to hit on which is quite weak late game.

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Will of the Ancients This is very close to being a core item, but if you have a decent amount of healers on your team it won't be necessary to get. I tend to get it a lot though because your Pillar of Flame will return soooo much health to you. It's so ridiculous. It's also good due to his passive that will keep doing damage for another 4 sec. You can also get this item, or at least the Hextech Revolver, early game for better lane sustainability.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter It's very good if you feel squishy and it allows you to kite those big bruisers who is right up in your face trying to take you down. The slow will also proc on his passive for a 15% slow.

Zhonya's Hourglass I love this item. AP, armor and an OP active. You can dodge so much annoying stuff with this item. Pick this up against attack damage teams or against annoying burst ^.^

Banshee's Veil Overall the best defensive item in the game. HP, Mana, Magic resist and a spell shield. Pick up this one against magic damage teams and high CC teams.

Abyssal Mask If the enemy doesn't know how to build magic resist and vs magic damage.

Quicksilver Sash Against a high amount of CC or against suppression like Warwick's Infinite Duress or debuffs like morderkaiser's Children of the Grave or Exhaust

Rod of Ages If you want to get this, start with a Sapphire Crystal and 2 Health Potion instead and rush catalyst the protecter even before getting Boots. This will leave you more vulnerable in lane though. This item is better for premade 5v5 games.

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Since you're the AP carry you will probably be going to middle lane. Try to outlane your opponent and get as many minion kills (creep score - cs) as possible. And try to not die against champions like LeBlanc or Annie

At levels 1-2, There might be a team fight, there might be nothing going on. If there is no team fight try and hit your lane opponent with Pillar of Flame since 80 +0.6 ability power + 8% max HP in damage is quite a lot of harassment at level 1. Try not to spam so much though and save your mana.

At levels 2-5, Pick up stun at level 2 if you can harass the enemy easy. If not, just farm. At level 4 you should have all your skills and Pillar of Flame in level 2 so go ahead and deal some nasty damage. E-Q-W for a guaranteed combo. If you can't get in range, just harass with Pillar of Flame.

At levels 6-9, At level 6 a two man gank on you can be dangerous to your opponent due to your ulti Pyroclasm. It can deal a heck load of damage if it just bounces between to champions. You might even get yourself a kill when you get ganked (depending on their CC). Otherwise either farm passively, try to kill your lane opponent or gank the side lanes. MAKE SURE TO GET BLUE BUFF AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE! This will let you clear minion waves in very few seconds and let you harass infinitely. Also make sure to show up for the first dragon fight!

Remember to try and 'zone' your opponent whenever possible to deny them creeps and experience! Be careful though as the enemy jungler might come to gank you.

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At levels 9-11, Same as early game levels 6-9, but try to take down the turret in your lane or help the side lanes do that after you ganked them. Be ready for more dragon fights. REMEMBER BLUE BUFF

At levels 11-16, Heading towards late game you should be ready for a fight for Baron and more fights for Dragon. Also keep pushing/defending turrets. REMEMBER BLUE BUFF

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At levels 16-18, This is where one team fight could end the game. Baron and pushing are the focus points. Makes sure to have a lot of space warded, especially key points around objectives. Also make sure to buy elixirs -- primarily red and blue elixir before the big fights! It could change the outcome of the game completely.

And for the love of god, don't get caught off guard and be held responsible for losing the game!! :)

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• Be Farmed
• Buy Elixirs
• Get Blue
• Get Baron
• DON'T GET CAUGHT!
• Let the enemy make the mistake

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• Deciding what spell to apply Blaze first with is a very important factor when engaging the enemy.
  If you are able to cast your spells quickly, Brand can actually be very effective at close range. Close proximity allows Sear to hit a lot easier, so if Conflagration is used just before the missile hits, the stun is very reliable.
• Brand can easily clear minion waves. Pillar of Flame will allow Conflagration to deal Area of Effect damage due to the active Blaze debuff.
• A deadly use of Brand's ultimate Pyroclasm is when two enemy champions are standing close to each other.
• By using the bounce of Pyroclasm, Brand can cast on a nearby enemy and subsequently hit, or even kill, a weakened enemy Champion who would otherwise be out of range.
• Remember that Brand, like LeBlanc, is primarily a combo champion. Using one spell at a time is a huge waste of damage potential and by waiting for your cooldowns on one of your 3 main abilities it is better to stay at the back of the fight.
• When you are focused on one champion, your combo should usually be Conflagration, Sear, then Pillar of Flame. This combo allows Sear to stun, ensuring the enemy will be in the AoE for Pillar of Flame and offering little time for them to retaliate. If you are fast enough, you may be able to cast Sear first and, while the missile is on its way to the target, hit them with Conflagration before it connects and throw down Pillar of Flame.
• When you want to do maximum damage to multiple enemies, pick a target, cast Sear at them, after Blaze is applied, cast Conflagration to hit multiple targets and apply Blaze to each one, then finish with Pillar of Flame. This combo, if all hits connect, can do huge Area of Effect damage. If your Pyroclasm is off cooldown, throw it out as soon as enemies are grouped together enough.
• Brand makes an excellent choice as a solo laner as the AoE , combo-effectiveness and spammability of his spells allows him to farm minions quite well and keep opponents out of exp range and from last-hitting minions.

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This is pretty much what you need to know to play Brand in solo queue ranked games. Early game decides most games, the amount of farm and feed decides most game and of course skill and teamwork decides most game, but without skill you won't get farm and a decent early game. So keep on practicing.

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Q. YOUR QUESTION
Ask me some questions and I'll answer them here or update the guide content

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28/08/2011
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