Guide/Build to Braum by BLC Niko Bellic

Hello fellow summoners! I am BLC Niko Bellic, also known as Gabriel Walker, and I will be presenting a guide on how to play Braum as Support effectively. First, let's start with a little of Braums background and role.

Braum is the Heart of the Freljord. He is the mans man. He is the tank, the support and the wall between the enemy and your team. Be ready to take hits, spells and ultimates, you are the tank. You need to be ready to die, ready to be in front of the enemy and ready to do absolutely NO DAMAGE. (You will do some and I can help you build in that direction.)

Braum - Heart of the Freljord



Braum builds on Health, Health Regeneration and Armor. All of his items and play styles will be built around this. He does get a nice mana boost every level and this will help with using your abilities later on. He doesn't require mana regeneration so grab a mana pot and you will be ok.

Braums Abilities



Braums passive is pretty legit when it comes to tanks and how they support the carries. It is basically a 4 count stack that applies to the target champion when Braum either hits them with a basic attack or with his Q, each sequential basic attack from you or allies will apply 1 stack until 4 is met, once 4 is met the enemy will be stunned and will take Magic Damage. It is important to know that after you have stunned the enemy, they cannot have stacks apply again for several seconds BUT do take 12 + (2 × Braum's level) bonus magic damage from his basic attacks and his Q. Because of this, it makes him a very underrated source of damage when fighting early lane.

Use this ability to your advantage and rely on your health, armor and the carry to come through. You don't usually want to be the one to apply the stack fully, you usually want to hit the enemy once to start the stack and let your team apply it fully. So either by rushing in, taking damage and hitting the enemy once to start the stack and having the carry follow up while you jump back to the carry to help support and take more damage. Essentially, you are a damage sponge, your job is to protect the carry at all costs. You can also start Braums passive stack by Qing the enemy and having the carry apply the stacks while you protect them. We will get into Braums passive strategies later. Just understand with Braums passive you have the ability to hit an enemy, apply a 4 step stack that on the 4th hit, by either you or ally, creates a stun that also applies Magic Damage.



Winters Bite is a skill shot that does magic damage, slows and adds a stack of Concussive Blows to either enemy champions or minions, when it makes contact. To use it you press the Q button, aim and click to fire. It is a decent poke for Braum and doesn't use a ton of Mana, however it is easy for enemies to dodge it. Early game, you will want to refrain from spamming it. If you are planning to have your carry engage after landing one, you can continue to use Winters Bite as much as you can, as even after the Concussive Blows stack and stun, you will do extra magic damage with Winters Bite. Winters Bite also has a really low cool down. Once the skill is maxed out, it has a 6 second cool down. With 40% cool down reduction from items and it will be around 3.6 seconds. In the early lane phase, it is good to pick this skill first. It will help zone the enemy carry and support from getting too close to your carry until you get your other skills. I wouldn't recommend using it on the enemy support unless the enemy support is a softy early game, like Soraka, but even then, refrain from using it on them if you can, focus on zoning and landing your Winter Bites on the enemy carry and use it on the enemy support if you are being engaged. Braum can also use Winters Bite to kite if caught alone near lane or allies, or if you and your carry are being ganked by jungle you can use Winters Bite. Remember that Winters Bite works with minions so it helps a lot with leashing blue or red jungle in the beginning of the game for your Jungler and also with clearing small waves of minions when you are alone.



Stand Behind Me is an ability that allows you to jump to friendly champion or minion, and adding a boost to armor and magic resist for both you and your ally. It is so useful for escapes and engages. With Braums armor and health, you can easily jump to your ally, boosting both armor and magic resist for both of you, and you can then block the shots or engage with you Winters Bite and begin adding Concussive Blow stacks. This ability cannot cross the larger jungle patches but you can jump over certain walls. For example, Dragon or Baron. This ability is very good with other champions to can cross terrain where normal champions cannot. Lee Sin, Katarina and Ziggs are some examples. Lee Sin will place a ward over an impassible Jungle wall and Safeguard to the ward to move over it, Braum can then use Stand Behind Me to leap to him as well, bypassing the previously impassible wall. Same goes for Katarina and Ziggs. This ability is highly underrated when it comes to team fights, either 2v2 or above. You will have the ability to put yourself immediately in front of your ally and block incoming damage or engage. The added boost of armor and magic resist help in the frantic fight to the last few health points and can actually make a huge turn around quickly in a battle. More on how to combine this ability with Winters Bite in the strategy section later.



Ah yes, the shield. You ready to feel like Bruce Willis? Unbreakable is a perfect label for this ability. Braums shield, Unbreakable, allows him to block ALL INCOMING DAMAGE in front of him, or where ever you place the shield. This is so wonderfully paired with the abilities, Stand Behind Me and Winters Bite. You can use both Stand Behind Me and Winters Bite when having the shield up. Unbreakable truly makes you feel like a tank. You will need to make sure you are placing the shield between you and your allies, too many a time is the shield pointed in the wrong direction, not blocking any damage or used by the time the enemy has already made it past the front line. The cool down is high enough that you will want to time these just right, like before a Lucian ult or Jinx ult. Also keep in mind that his Unbreakable doesn't stop CC effects, so that Ashe arrow won't hurt but it will stun you.



Braums Ultimate ability, Glacial Fissure, is a really cool ultimate. You slam the ground in small radius around you so getting inside the enemy lines and popping this sucker is a really good way to engage. With the ensuing chaos, you can start the Concussive Blows stacks with your allies capitalizing on them. You will also stun anyone in the path in front of you and also the area that the ult is in, will slow enemies who try to pass through it. It is good in jungles as well. This ability does do magic damage so it has a bit of a punch. You can also use this ability to get your carry or allies out of some stick situations.

Strategies and Play Styles

- Use Stand Behind Me to jump to your carry then immediately use Winters Bite on the enemy carry and engage with your carry. Most of the time, you will get the kill. I have jumped from the bot bush or tri bush in river to my carry to all of a sudden engage and grab a quick kill. The enemy support will usually not have enough CC or damage to fend you both off. Enemy carries like Ezreal make this difficult.
- Do not be afraid to use Stand Behind Me to add a quick boost to armor and magic resist to you and an ally. You can also use this ability on yourself. You don't jump anywhere but get the armor boosts.
- You don't need much mana as Braum. If you buy a single mana pot around level 6 or so, it will be more useful in the end then buying mana regeneration items. As you are low, need mana but instead of putting hundreds of gold into mana regen, you now have a 35 gold pot that will give you the mana you need at that time.
- You are weak alone. Do not fight alone. DO NOT FIGHT ALONE.

Item Build



You will want to grab Face of the Mountain first. It helps with quick gold gain and health. You can last hit a couple minions to give yourself and your carry health and gold. A very good item for Braum. Next are health and armor items. You will want to grab a Health Ruby and upgrade to a sight stone as soon as you can. Vision is one of the supports main objectives. If you are dealing with an AP heavy team, please consider the following items:



Mastery Page and Rune Page

(Screenshots of Mastery and Rune page coming soon)