Brand

Brand runs on one resource: the blaze his Blaze passive leaves on whatever he touches. Every ability ignites, and every following ability reads that state to change what it does. Sear stuns an already burning target, Conflagration splashes onto neighbours, Pillar of Flame hits harder, and Pyroclasm stops bouncing at random and goes after champions. You don't play him by stacking damage, you play him by picking an order of buttons.

The price is harsh. No dash, no shield, no cleanse, an ordinary mage's reach, and a mana bill that punishes every wasted cast. Brand deals area damage few mages on this roster can match, provided he survives long enough to land three spells back to back.

His real strength isn't burst on one target, it's what he does to a group. Conflagration cast on a burning enemy jumps to everything glued to them, and Pyroclasm rips through a clumped team as it bounces. Around dragon, or in any narrow corridor, he turns an enemy grouping into a collective punishment. His wave clear is also among the fastest in the mode once Pillar of Flame has a rank or two.

The weaknesses are as visible as the fire. Pillar of Flame lands after a delay, so anything moving sideways walks out of it. His stun is a condition, not a button: no blaze, no crowd control. And once the sequence is committed he stands there for several seconds, immobile, in range of anyone willing to eat it.

Your clean poke is Sear, never Conflagration. Conflagration forces you into the trading zone and it's half your ability to survive a gank. Land the ranged hit, let the blaze tick, then throw a second Sear while the target is still burning to collect the stun. That sequence, and only that sequence, wins lane trades.

Drop Pillar of Flame in front of your opponent rather than on top of them, or just behind them as they step in for a minion. Chain spells thoughtlessly and you're dry before your first back, and a mage with no mana is an expensive minion. As support the logic flips: hold Sear for the engage stun and let your carry finish the job.

Your first spike is the third rank of Pillar of Flame. From there you clear a wave in one cast and can start contesting the river instead of hugging your tower. The second is your ultimate, less for its raw damage than for what it does when two enemies stand close and already burning.

The real jump is your first large ability power item paired with sorcerer's shoes. Brand needs both together: his combo stacks three separate magic damage instances, so every point of penetration gets paid three times over. Adding Rylai's Crystal Scepter turns him from a mage who hurts into a mage you can't walk out of.

You don't pick a target, you pick an angle. Position so your Conflagration has neighbours to infect: on an enemy glued to their front line it's worth three times what it's worth on an isolated carry. Rarely open a fight, let your initiator bunch the bodies up, then light the pile.

Hold Pyroclasm until at least two enemies are burning and standing close together. That's the moment it stops being a finishing tool and becomes a fight-winning one. And never forget your actual place in the formation. You have nothing that survives a dive, so stand behind your heaviest allies and accept casting one spell fewer rather than dying in the opening exchange.