League of Legends has a handful of champions that qualify as “one-trick ponies” thanks to their simple yet effective combos. But one champ in particular is continuing to struggle to leave the blaze of glory he desires.
Over the last several patches, Riot Games has aimed at making certain champions relevant once more in their intended roles—mostly those that have been relegated to the support position, where even there they have mixed results. In Patch 13.16, Brand received substantial buffs that Riot hoped would increase his viability in the mid lane. These buffs consisted of ample increases to his AP ratios, as well as subtle changes to his mana growth that hurt Brand less for missing a skill shot. But the changes do not appear to have done too much to help the Burning Vengeance in either role.
While Brand mid’s win rate now sits around 49 percent, marking an increase of one percent from Patch 13.15, according to both OP.GG and U.GG, his pick rate remains one of the lowest in the position all due to the current priority of mobile mid laners in the meta. This immobility leaves Brand incredibly susceptible to bursts of crowd control from more popular champions like Naafiri, Neeko, and Ahri, all of whom have some sort of mobility of their own.
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Brand also suffers from having a niche specifically for teamfights—where he can set a group of opponents ablaze to deal immense damage regardless of how far behind or ahead he is—which unfortunately he struggles to be a part of due to this lack of mobility and overall fragility. Unlike other mages, he’s stuck to one particular build path of Liandry’s Anguish into Rylai’s Crystal Scepter to fully bring out his potential, while other mid laners have more variety depending on the matchup.
While the recent changes were helpful to Brand in the support position, the meta currently favors heavy engage champions like Rakan, Rell, Nautilus, and Alistar, all of whom Brand can deal with nicely thanks to his poke damage early but will obliterate his defenses if he gets too close. He also offers no utility to his lane partner, forcing them to depend entirely on their own skill—or the help of other allies—should they quickly fall behind.
As of now, Riot has not indicated that any further changes will come to Brand in the near future. It is possible that these recent buffs will prove beneficial with more time, particularly as the meta begins to shift. But at the moment, the Burning Vengeance has not yet reached his full potential.
