Braum/Strategy

Gameplay
is a strong and resilient melee support capable of making game-changing plays while saving his team from a barrage of enemy attacks. He forms symbiotic bonds with the marksman he fights alongside, forming a wall between the two teams and leaping to the aid of his allies as he transitions into a late game tank.

Bot lane
In lane, Braum functions most effectively as a reactionary or opportunistic support, constantly on the lookout for chances to apply to the enemy duo. Accurate use of Winter’s Bite triggers the mark on targets who’ve wandered from their minion wave, while Braum can tag aggressive enemies with basic attacks before leaping back to the ranged safety of his marksman with. After applying, Braum and his marksman have two solid options: either follow up hard and try to activate the stun, or zone the enemy and take up aggressive positioning. Concussive Blows is powerful enough to win almost any trade, while the threat of triggering the stun acts as a powerful deterrent, forcing the enemy marksmen away from valuable minion gold. Braum’s also a powerful asset during friendly ganks: by dashing to his jungler with Stand Behind Me, Braum’s able to get into the heart of the enemy duo. After they’ve been tagged with, the jungler’s extra attacks accelerate the stun and help secure kills.

But while Braum is undeniably useful on the offense, he’s an absolute colossus when defending. The additional defenses provided by help both Braum and his marksman survive otherwise lethal damage, while Unbreakable has the potential to completely shield his ally from all incoming damage when positioned correctly. When activated, Unbreakable protects all of Braum’s allies behind the shield from basic attacks and targeted and pass-through abilities like,  , and  , but not placed abilities like   or. More importantly, Braum can move while using, meaning he can reposition with his ally as they head towards the safety of their tower, or as the enemy team moves to flank around the shield. Braum is also able to continue attacking and casting abilities while he shields with - landing the slow from  while moving back deters enemy junglers and marksmen still further. Braum gains solid initiation or follow-up potential once he hits level six and unlocks Glacial Fissure, offering friendly junglers easy ganking targets with its huge knock-up and slow. If Braum’s looking to cut off his target’s escape route, he can quickly reposition with Stand Behind Me before firing behind his target. The ability’s slow field is large and powerful enough to force flashes and secure kills. Finally, is equally powerful as a disengage tool, nullifying chases when aimed correctly.

Teamfights
The more allies around Braum, the more his shield shines. In small-scale skirmishes, he darts in front of his allies with Stand Behind Me before using to block pick attempts and soak up the subsequent damage. Should his team be outnumbered, is again a strong disengage ability, particularly in the jungle’s narrow pathways. Alternatively, when Braum’s part of the more powerful skirmishing group, a well-aimed slows and applies, all but guaranteeing a kill.

While other supports operate best within their team or deep in the enemy ranks, Braum functions best as a physical wall between the two teams, soaking up damage with while his team’s damage dealers get to work. The low cooldown on helps Braum slow both approaching and fleeing enemies while setting up  for his team. His passive is strongest here – by floating between the two teams, Braum’s able to use basic attacks on the enemy tanks and fighters as he hits the enemy backline with, potentially setting up stuns against the entire enemy team. Meanwhile, gives Braum the sudden celerity he needs to dart to his teammates and protect them from harm with, which has the potential to turn around even the most lamentable of teamfights, or protect his squishies when they’re being attacked. Finally, unleashing through the enemy team splits and (literally) slows their hopes of a coordinated assault, giving Braum and his allies the opportunity to move in and clean up.

Skill Usage

 * abilities work best with allies, and as such, he should often be in a duo lane.
 * If solo laning, can be used to pounce on unsuspecting opponents. From then on, if there is no clear threat, using autoattacks and, applying  is a great way to set up ganks for your jungler. (Keep in mind that this tactic requires a nearby friendly target to initiate.)
 * With heavy resistance and the ability to intercept attacks, pairs well with allies who can heal or shield him, multiplying the effective HP.
 * can be a particularly good ally for, as her black shield will negate CC as well as damage.


 * can not only be used to protect your ally, but also to protect minions, denying enemies gold.
 * Likewise, allied minions can be used to close with (or escape) the enemy, by jumping to them with.
 * makes a very good dive partner for people who jump in, such as or . He can follow in with, shielding them from counter CC with , keep the enemy targets in range with , and stun with.


 * lands (1 stack), which slows them down long enough for the jungler to close and auto-attack (2 stacks).  can then jump to the jungler and auto-attack (3 stacks). Followed by 1 auto-attack from the Marksman (4 stacks).
 * The decision of skill maxing should be primarily affected by the player's playstyle. should be maxed first if you want ranged harass and frequent slows,  should be maxed if you want to roam more and need more resistance on your allies and  is maxed first if you want to deny minion kills or prepare for ganks if your lane get ganked frequently (to block spell projectiles).
 * Keep in mind that the slow of is the same through all levels, so one may mainly level it for more frequent use as a maxed  with 40% CDR is up every 3.6 seconds and thus fast enough to reapply stacks of.
 * Remember that is on a fairly high cooldown on lower ranks, and is not the strongest support ability for a poke playstyle; although the safety of his poke is unparalleled.


 * Due to his passive and  ability (overall CC power), a ganking/jungling  is a possible option if a late game tank jungler is required.
 * His jungling speed is not terribly slow, only needing to effectively clear camps.
 * Using on ranged monsters mitigates some damage for the duration.
 * Leashing with an applied stack of is an effective aid to your jungler (or you) - remember the stun effect also deals magic damage.
 * is not a bad ability for damage application, and can be used to catch up to opponents or finish off targets.


 * is most effective in teamfights - giving your team's assassin an easier time to assassinate enemy's marksman or mage.

Build Usage

 * does not do large amounts of damage, and does not scale well with the usual offensive items. He can also take more than his fair share of attacks. As such he should primarily be building Health, Magic Resist, Armor, with some Cooldown Reduction (where he is most effective).


 * mana cost are low, so he generally does not need much, if any, mana or mana regeneration.
 * Since can intercept auto-attacks  and can be a good choices, as  can make great use of their passives, and  scales on their armor.
 * are one of the few good ways for to get Tenacity.
 * is another strong choice, but is generally less recommended, unless the enemy team has a lot of auto-attackers and little CC.
 * is often a good defensive item, however it can be rather tricky to use well with, since both of them will "pop" with the same attack. Ideally, one would wait for the spell shield to activate, before using.
 * Cooldown Reduction allows to keep his shield up more often, intercepting and reducing more damage for his team. Fortunately, there are many items that give both defense and cooldown reduction.
 * is a viable armor option since all of its statistics are effective with - (high Cooldown Reduction, Mana, enemy AS reduction, and very high armor).


 * is one of the few offensive items that synergizes well with by removing magic resist before the passive stun triggers, and allowing for more of the passive's post-stun on-hit damage, without compromising his own defenses.
 * still has only a few ways to get close to a target however.
 * While it also allows him to stun slightly sooner, he will not stun more often due to the passive's cooldown.
 * This still however allows subsequent auto-attacks to deal more damage due to  having an after stun effect where he deals bonus magic damage per auto-attack.
 * Unlike magic penetration, this will increase damage from any allies triggering.
 * is another offensive item that synergizes with.
 * , and both will proc the stronger version of the burn.
 * The Health and Ability Power bonuses that provides also allows   and  to deal more damage.
 * All of offensive abilities deal only magic damage, therefore, he benefits greatly from magic penetration
 * is a powerful offensive item, increasing damage output and  stacking speed.
 * The item overall synergies with his offensive playstyle - assisting with the application of to proc the stun faster and easier.
 * Cooldown reduction is an invaluable asset to any support, and this item provides a considerable amount.
 * Keep in mind there is a cap of 40%, and many builds already reach this critical number without Nashor's.


 * A roaming can greatly benefit from a Tenacity + Slow Reduction + Furor build.
 * can kite better with when wearing boots with the  enhancement.
 * with and Tenacity items like  or (probably better yet)  allow him to move about the map extremely quickly. This also allows to escape some CCs faster, a great benefit considering Braum's habit of intercepting CC for his team.
 * This allows chasing and escaping capabilities to be much more effective.
 * The enhancment also allows Braum to stick to enemies with his auto-attacks easier, helping with the stacking of.

Countering

 * makes him very difficult to damage, but it only protects him from one side. Walking around it will allow you to do normal damage.
 * Mobile assassins like or  are good for jumping past  and getting to the squishier targets.
 * The shield does not actually protect from Crowd Control displacement effects like knock-ups, stuns or knock-backs.
 * is an effective counter pick as her is not blockable, and she has (%) percentage shred. She also kites very well with her slow and movement speed boost abilities, and can heal back most of Braum's damage.
 * is his only ranged attack (besides his skillshot ultimate) and it is a skillshot, making him fairly easy to kite, especially behind minions/monsters/champions where this ability will not be able to affect you.
 * If stacks defenses, which is likely to happen, armor penetration ( and ) and health % damage items  are effective items against tanks like him.