Brand Mid Lane Wild Rift Guide

Overview

Brand is a burst mage who spreads fire between targets. His stun only works on a target that is already burning, his pillar of flame erupts where you place it, his conflagration jumps between clustered enemies and minions, and his ultimate bounces between anyone standing too close together. Land the opener and the rest of the combo follows, which is why one mistake against him often costs a whole health bar. In mid he plays a burst-and-bully game. He shoves the wave with his spreading fire, chips immobile and short-range mages who have to stand in his zone to farm, and punishes any clump of minions and champions with a combo that hits all of it. Priority buys him roams: his burst does not need a lead, just a target standing still, and a stunned, burning enemy usually dies before they can react. He never turns into a hypercarry, but he stays a reliable source of burst that deletes squishies all game, and his damage chains through grouped enemies in a way single-target mages cannot match. The catch is mobility. Brand has no dash and no blink, and his whole combo depends on landing a skillshot stun on a burning target. Miss the opener and he is a stationary mage with everything on cooldown, and any assassin who reaches him in that window kills him.

Build Snapshot

Rune Setup

Summoner Spells

Brand Mid Lane Counters

Who counters Brand Mid Lane in Wild Rift (WR)? These champions beat Brand in the mid lane matchup, with how each one wins. Learn to play around them or ban them in ranked.

• Irelia: Irelia dashes through the wave and past your stun, with every low minion giving her another reset, and once she has items she can all-in you whenever she wants.
• Kassadin: Early he struggles against your burst and faster clear, but once his ultimate is online he blinks through your combo, closes the distance, and out-scales you outright.
• Zed: Your stun is a skillshot he can dodge behind a shadow, and the instant your combo is on cooldown he deletes a mage with no escape. A fair fight here is one you lose.
• Viktor: Viktor out-ranges your fire and out-scales you, his shield soaks the chip you do land, and his gravity field zones the ground you need while setting up a combo your squishy body cannot survive.

Champions Brand Is Strong Against

Brand's best matchups in Wild Rift. Brand holds an edge against these picks in the mid lane role, so look to press the advantage and contest objectives.

• Annie: Annie has to walk into your range to do anything with Tibbers, and your fire chunks her every time she steps up to farm, so your spreading damage beats her short range all lane.
• Akali: Her shroud hides her from targeted spells, but your pillar hits the ground she stands on, your fire keeps burning inside it, and your stacked stun catches her out of the reset she relies on.
• Swain: Swain needs long fights where his drain out-heals you, but your burst lands all at once, faster than his sustain can answer, and his root is his only way to force that fight.
• Vex: Vex's passive only punishes dashes, which you never use, and her fear is a slow skillshot. You stack your stun faster than she builds her combo, and her squishy, immobile frame folds to the all-in.

Early Game

Play the early lane aggressively around your wave clear. Your fire spreads through the wave, so you clear fast, hold priority against most mids, and chip the enemy every time they step up to last-hit. The stun only lands on a burning target, so tag them with conflagration first, then drop the pillar where they have to stand and confirm the stun into the rest of the combo. Save that full rotation for the moment they overstep instead of spending it on the wave, because a clean all-in chunks most mids close to kill range. You have no escape, though, so ward the river: an immobile mage who shoves carelessly is the easiest gank on the map.

Mid Game

Mid game is shove and roam. Clear the wave with your spreading fire, then walk to the river or a side lane looking for a stun from the fog, because your combo does not need a lead, only a target that stops moving. Priority lets you contest scuttle with your jungler and zone the enemy off dragon and herald, and if you arrive at a skirmish with your full rotation up, you can delete a squishy before the fight really starts. Group early around the first dragon, since your area burst is at its best in a cramped pit. Take side-lane tempo when the map allows it, but keep track of the enemy assassin, because getting caught alone is exactly how an immobile mage dies for free.

Late Game

At full items, one clean stun kills a squishy anywhere on the map. Find that opener from the edge of the fight, let the combo finish the kill, then look for the next target while your cooldowns come back. You never become a frontline threat; you stay a guaranteed source of burst that decides whether their carry survives the opening exchange. Stand behind your frontline like the fragile mage you are, because the only way you lose a won fight is dying before your combo goes out. Hold your ultimate for a moment when the enemy clumps, since a fireball bouncing through grouped bodies does far more than one spent on a single target.

Teamfights

You are the team's area burst, and the job is finding the angle where your fire hits the most people. The best case is a stun onto a clustered enemy, conflagration spreading to everyone nearby, and your ultimate bouncing between enemies who grouped too tight. Open from the back, burn whoever fronts the fight, and read the grouping before you spend the ultimate: a panicked early cast catches one stray, a patient one bounces through their whole back line. Stay close to your frontline so a diver has to go through them first, because once an assassin reaches you, you have no escape. Get the angle right and your fire decides the fight almost on its own.