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Braum Counters: Who Beats Braum

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Braum counters are supports whose damage isn’t a projectile, because his shield eats projectiles for a living. He’s a 125-range tank support with a four-hit stun, a leap to allies that gives both of them resistances, a directional shield that intercepts missiles, and a knock-up ultimate, so area damage, beams and poke from beyond his reach beat him.

Five picks, read off his patch 26.21 ability text against theirs. No stat sites involved.

Braum counters: Braum, the Heart of the Freljord, splash art

Why is Braum hard to counter?

  • Concussive Blows (passive): his attacks apply stacks, and once the first is on, ally attacks stack it too. At 4 stacks the target is stunned and takes magic damage, then can’t receive new stacks for a few seconds but takes bonus magic damage from Braum’s attacks.
  • Winter’s Bite (Q): freezing ice from his shield that slows, deals magic damage and applies a stack. Cooldown 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds.
  • Stand Behind Me (W): a leap to an allied champion or minion; on arrival he and the ally gain Armor and Magic Resist for a few seconds. Cooldown 12/11/10/9/8.
  • Unbreakable (E): he raises his shield in a direction for several seconds, intercepting all projectiles so they hit him and are destroyed. The first attack is negated completely; later attacks from that direction are reduced. Cooldown 16/14/12/10/8.
  • Glacial Fissure (R): a ground slam that knocks up enemies nearby and in a line, leaving a fissure that slows. Cooldown 130/115/100.

Braum turns a bot lane into a wall with a stun attached. Unbreakable intercepts every projectile from one direction, which on a map where most marksmen attack with projectiles means the enemy carry’s damage simply stops arriving. Then he leaps to his own carry with Stand Behind Me, hands both of them Armor and Magic Resist, and the four-stack stun does the rest. What’s the catch? Direction, and range. The shield faces one way, and his 125 range means he has to walk to you to start stacking Concussive Blows, which is honestly a long walk against a support who pokes from four times that distance.

Which champions are the best Braum counters?

Brand

Pillar of Flame (W) is a delayed area under the target, not a missile, so Unbreakable has nothing to intercept. Conflagration (E) is a blast on the target that spreads to nearby enemies, and when the target is ablaze the spread doubles, which punishes a Braum standing next to his carry. Blaze (passive) stacks on every spell and detonates at 3 stacks for massive area damage, so the pair who stand together to share Stand Behind Me take the detonation together. Sear (Q) is a projectile and stuns an ablaze target; it’s the one spell the shield blocks, so throw it from an angle the shield isn’t facing. Pyroclasm (R) is a torrent of fire with up to 5 bounces between Brand and whoever stands near him. From 550 range, Brand sets the lane on fire and Braum walks at him at 125 (a long walk).

Zyra

Unbreakable blocks one direction. A garden fires from three (or more, if she’s been saving seeds). Garden of Thorns (passive) spawns seeds around her, and Deadly Spines (Q) or Grasping Roots (E) cast near them grows plants that fight for her, so a Braum who raises his shield toward Zyra still takes Thorn Spitter fire from the plants on his flank. Deadly Spines itself is an area of spines bursting from the ground, not a projectile. Stranglethorns (R) knocks up everyone in the thicket as it contracts, which includes a Braum standing behind his carry. Thing is, Grasping Roots is a projectile and the shield eats it, so the root has to come from the side or not at all.

Xerath

Eye of Destruction (W) is a barrage called down on an area, slowing and damaging everyone in it, and no shield direction helps against something that arrives from above. Arcanopulse (Q) is a long-range beam in Riot’s text, not a thrown object, and Rite of the Arcane (R) is numerous long-range barrages. Shocking Orb (E) is the projectile in the kit, and the stun it carries is the one thing Unbreakable will take for the carry. The real counter is Xerath’s 525 range. A Braum who wants to stack Concussive Blows crosses all of it on foot, through the slow.

Vel’Koz

Life Form Disintegration Ray (R) is a channelled beam that follows the cursor for 2.5 seconds, and Organic Deconstruction (passive) turns its damage true on researched champions. Funny enough, a beam isn’t a projectile, and true damage ignores the Armor and Magic Resist that Stand Behind Me hands out. Void Rift (W) is an area that bursts twice, and Tectonic Disruption (E) is an area that knocks up, which is an answer to Glacial Fissure’s engage and a second source of damage the shield can’t catch. Plasma Fission (Q) is the projectile, so it’s the poke tool for when the shield is down (it has a cooldown of 16 seconds at rank 1, after all).

Lux

Lucent Singularity (E) is a slowing zone she detonates on command, and Final Spark (R) is a beam that damages everything in the area and refreshes Illumination (passive) on the way through. Neither is a projectile. Light Binding (Q) is, and it binds up to two enemies, which is exactly the pair that Stand Behind Me puts next to each other; throw it from the side and the shield doesn’t matter. Prismatic Barrier (W) protects any ally it touches from damage, which turns Winter’s Bite poke into nothing. To be fair, Lux is the squishiest pick on this list, and a Braum who lands Glacial Fissure on her gets to stack Concussive Blows at leisure. Keep the 550 range (all of it). It’s the whole plan.

How do you play the lane against Braum?

  • Watch where the shield faces. Unbreakable intercepts projectiles from one direction only, so attack from the side, or wait several seconds for it to drop.
  • Count the stacks. Concussive Blows stuns at 4, and after Braum’s first hit his ADC’s attacks add stacks too, so step back at 2.
  • Never line up with your carry. Glacial Fissure knocks up enemies nearby and along a line, and the fissure slows anyone who tries to walk back through it.
  • Poke when he leaves his carry. Stand Behind Me only protects the ally he lands on, so a Braum who walks forward to stack the passive has left his marksman without the resistances.
  • Use areas and beams, not missiles. Everything that isn’t a projectile is a free hit on him.

Which items counter Braum?

You don’t buy items against Braum so much as against what he does for his team, and that is resistances and a stun. For the stun, Mercury’s Treads give 30% Tenacity for 1,250 gold, and Quicksilver Sash removes crowd control debuffs on demand for 1,300 gold, which is the one answer to a four-stack stun that has already landed. For the resistances, penetration. Void Staff gives 95 Ability Power and 40% Magic Penetration, which cuts straight through the Magic Resist that Stand Behind Me hands out, and Lord Dominik’s Regards gives 35% Armor Penetration plus Giant Slayer, up to 15% bonus damage against champions with bonus Health, capped at 1500 bonus Health. Blade of The Ruined King’s Mist’s Edge deals a percentage of the enemy’s current Health On-Hit, which is how you take a tank apart without caring what he’s wearing. Every one of them has a page in our item database, and Rabadon’s Deathcap is there for mages who’d rather burn through him than around him.

When is Braum at his weakest?

With Unbreakable on cooldown. At rank 1 the shield is gone for 16 seconds after it drops, and a Braum without it is a 125-range tank whose only poke is a slow on an 8 second cooldown. That window is where every projectile he usually eats lands on the carry instead, and in practice it decides most trades in the lane.

And when he’s away from his ally. Stand Behind Me needs an allied champion or minion to leap to, and the Armor and Magic Resist go to the pair, so a Braum caught alone between the waves has neither the leap nor the resistances. Where does a lone Braum go? Toward you, slowly, which is where Brand and Xerath are already aiming.

If the support role is still a question, our guide to LoL roles explains what it owes the lane. Cosmetics sit on the Braum skins page; for the mode where his shield matters even more, read the Braum ARAM guide. Put simply, the best Braum counters never throw anything at him. They set the ground on fire and let him walk through it.

FAQ

Who counters Braum the most?

Supports whose damage isn’t a projectile: Brand, Zyra, Xerath, Vel’Koz and Lux.

What does Unbreakable block?

Projectiles from the direction Braum faces. It intercepts and destroys them, negates the first attack completely and reduces later attacks from that direction. Areas and beams aren’t affected.

How many hits does Braum’s stun take?

Four stacks of Concussive Blows. Braum’s attacks and Winter’s Bite apply stacks, and after the first stack his allies’ attacks stack it too.

Does Quicksilver Sash counter Braum?

It removes the stun from Concussive Blows once it lands, and the knock-up from Glacial Fissure is Airborne, which Quicksilver doesn’t remove. Buy it for the stun.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. Braum’s patch 26.21 ability text and the five kits above are the only sources; nothing here came from a statistics site.