Brand/Strategy

Skill usage

 * Deciding what spell to apply first with is a very important factor when engaging the enemy.
 * If you are able to cast your spells quickly, can actually be very effective at close range. Close proximity allows  to hit a lot easier, so if  is used just before the missile hits, the stun is very reliable.
 * has the longest cooldown of all abilities, because of this, it is not the best ability to kill a single champion.
 * can easily clear minion waves. will allow  to deal Area of Effect damage since the  debuff will be active.
 * A deadly use of ultimate,, is when two enemy champions are standing close to each other.
 * Remember that, like is primarily a combo champion. Using one spell at a time is a huge waste of damage potential. When playing against him, keep this in mind. Interrupting his cast flow is detrimental to his damage output.
 * When you are focused on one champion, your combo should usually be, , then . This combo allows to stun, ensuring the enemy will be in the AoE for  and offering little time for them to retaliate. If you are fast enough, you may be able to cast  first and, while the missile is on its way to the target, hit them with  before it connects and throw down.
 * When you want to do maximum damage to multiple enemies, pick a target, cast at them, after  is applied, cast  to hit multiple targets and apply  to each one, then finish with . This combo, if all hits connect, can do huge Area of Effect damage. If your  is off cooldown, throw it out as soon as enemies are grouped together enough.

Build usage

 * Since his abilities combo with each other, will often need to cast multiple spells in a row, and so  can be a great early item to boost his mana regeneration and provide some early cooldown reduction. It also builds into  which is a good item on.
 * Because cooldown reduction works well with, a is a good item to go ahead and get first. It's cheap and provides a generous amount of ability power, mana regeneration, and cooldown reduction.
 * An alternative is Deathfire's Grasp. It may cost a bit more, but the active is great for tank busting, and gives him an excellent initiation skill, leaving his enemy hurting before he's even set them ablaze. It may be more expensive than Morello's Evil Tome, but has yielded positive results.
 * Since base damage is so high, starting with a  is a great idea to help with his mana usage especially if you intend to go the route of  and.
 * is also a viable choice to solve mana problems. This is especially true for summoners who do not have full masteries or runes (or simply wish to use runes other than mana regeneration).
 * Because is a mid-range caster, he greatly benefits from  and . These items are of moderate-expensive cost and provide a great amount of survivability.
 * The unique active from the will help keep yourself alive in a pinch, and the health from the  combined with the armor from  will make  more resilient, on top of the offensive benefits of having more ability power.
 * Items that provide magic penetration such as, , and are good for  since his passive  does not benefit from ability power but does benefit from magic penetration.
 * Getting every one of those items will sacrifice a great deal of other stats like health and resistances, so getting all 3 isn't recommended.
 * is another item which can accomplish the same effect for, though the effect is less reliable for him so it should only be considered if you find yourself in need of magic resistance.
 * will be very effective for since he deals a lot of AoE damage, and since the proc effect adds slows to his abilities. It also keeps his enemies in range of his skill shots and helps slow champions to make it harder to avoid the bounces on his ultimate. It even adds to his passive, effectively giving everyone you hit a 4s slow even after you stop casting.
 * is very useful on since he deals all magic damage to provide healing via spell vamp. All targets hit also continue to take damage from  to provide him with even more healing.
 * 's active is used when is focused and needs to get off his cooldowns  is a good first buy for survivability and also allowing  to slow multiple enemies.

Countering

 * Be careful about facing 1v1 or 2v1 (with  being the one).  1v1 damage output is still great despite having AoEs and he has a 2 second stun. 2v1 would be even worse after he hits level 6, as his ultimate will be able to do tremendous damage to you and your teammate.
 * When fighting against in a team fight, try not to stick close to your teammates. 's AoEs are rather small but very deadly.
 * Always focusing Brand in team fights is quite good, but can be a hazard if he uses his ultimate, Conflagration and Pillar of Flame because that will deal high damage to the team and might even get the Brand a penta kill
 * is very combo dependent, so stuns and silences can be very effective counters during team fights. When he is at a distance, his skillshots are easy to dodge, so be careful about getting near him in a fight if you are squishy.
 * When is applied to you, be very careful about getting within  range, especially if he can hit you with, as this opens you up to a lot of burst damage.
 * During laning, be careful about being on the wrong side of your minions when against . With his full combo, he can take a large amount of your health away while stunning you to prevent retaliation.
 * To avoid taking excessive amounts of damage, as well as not to kill friends, scatter when Brand uses his, as the missile will be unable to bounce back and forth unchecked.
 * A spell shield like  will not be consumed by.