Braum Counter: The Best Ways To Counter Braum (2019 Edition)

Updated:

23 Mar 2019

This is a guide on how to counter Braum and the champions Braum is strong against.

Braum is a champion with strong muscles, a big heart, and an even bigger shield. In patch 9.3, he is one of the 3 premier supports in the meta game. Why? Braum uses his passive, Concussive Blows, to dish out stuns while using his E, Unbreakable, to create an impenetrable wall for his backline. In this article I’ll be going over how to abuse his short range in lane, his low mobility alone, and how to catch him over extended.

Braum’s official page: https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/champions/Braum/

Champions that counter Braum:

5. Sona

Sona, Maven of the Strings

The most exploitable weakness of Braum is that he’s a melee champion. I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten absurd amounts of gold from my spellthief's, and that's something you’ll see in common with these 5 champions. They all can abuse their range against Braum.
In lane, Braum will want to take melee and cannon minions with his relic shield. Using Sona, everytime he does this use your Q and auto him. This does a nice chunk of damage and gives you a free 20g off him stepping up. Rinse and repeat for the entire laning phase and you’ll tend to give Braum a very hard time doing anything but recalling..
Braum might try to play aggressive and dash towards you, but your E and a nice dodge will always do the trick.

Braum Counter Rating: 72/100

4. Soraka

Soraka, the Starchild

Very similar process to Sona but with an added step. Since Braum is melee you can abuse your spellthief's. Some Soraka players take ancient coin, but for a melee opponent the spellthief's will always work better.
As Braum steps up to take a minion with relic shield, E and auto-attack for a nice trade, you can also add you Q to this step as it has a low cooldown, so you’ll on average get 10 more gold than the Sona.
Once again if he decides to go aggressive, a well placed Q will deter Braum quickly.

Braum Counter Rating: 78/100

3. Lulu

Lulu, the Fae Sorceress

Lulu still performs similarly to the first 2, but does it much more efficiently. Because of your passive, Pix, you are able to get double the amount of gold from your auto-attacks.
When Braum gets into your auto-attack range, give him a quick auto, then backup to drop minion aggro. This gives you the same amount as Sona, but leaves up your ability to help with your adc’s trades.
Lulu, unlike the two above, has a targeted, instant cc (crowd control) with her W, allowing her to completely stop the advances of the Braum.

Braum Counter Rating 81/100

2. Nami

Nami, the tidecaller

Nami is extremely similar to Lulu’s playstyle. You can usually get two bounces of your W, combined with an auto-attack give you the same gold. Her Q works in the same way as Lulu’s W, only it’s untargeted and can land on multiple enemies.
What’s different than Lulu though, is that her ultimate is much better at catching Braum out, making Nami a slightly better pick than Lulu.

Braum Counter Rating: 82/100

1. Zilean

Zilean, the chronokeeper

As mentioned in all of the other champions above, when Braum steps up, you can trade with him nicely. But, unlike the other champions, Zilean is able to completely shut down Braum
The combo works as follows. E Braum to slow him so much that he’s practically not moving. Then, in quick succession, Q,W,Q. This will detonate the first bomb when the second one is applied, stunning him. A final E as he walks away will maximize the amount of time he is in your auto-attack range. If you execute this properly, Braum will never be able to step up, denying him his only gold income.
In the later stages of the lane, Zileans R further solidifies that Braum will never win a trade.

Braum Counter Rating: 92/100

Champions that Braum is strong against:

5. Blitzcrank

Blitzcrank, The Great Steam Golem

These first three champions all play very similarly, as they all want to catch you out with a hook.
Blitzcrank’s is the hardest to deal with. When he lands his Q, all you need to do is put up your shield, then dash away to a minion or you laning partner.
When alone however, is when you can actually be caught. Because you have nothing to dash to, eventually your shield will go down and you will probably die.

4. Thresh

Thresh, The Chain Warden

Thresh’s hook lasts the longest, but pulls you the shortest distance.
Once again, very similar playstyles for the Braum. Dash away while taking the least amount of damage possible with your shield.
Make sure to stand on Thresh’s lantern if you get the chance, as it will obscure the lantern, making it difficult for the enemy trying to take it to click on it.

3. Nautilus

Nautilus, The Titan of the Depths

Nautilus is the easiest of the hook champions. His abilities do little to nothing to you, and most of his power comes from his R, which comes later in the game, when you have items, like Locket of the Iron Solari, to deal with it.

2. Leona

Leona, The Radiant Dawn

Note that the biggest weakness of Braum in lane was his range, in these matchups you are unable to exploit that.
Leona’s biggest strength is that almost no one rivals her level 2 power. Unfortunately for her, Braums level 1 is the strongest in the game, and most time’s will still beat her while being down a level.
Leona always wants to all-in her oppennents, Braum will stop her cold in her tracks. His W, gives him and his adc resistances, and his E, blocks the damage of the enemy adc.

1. Pyke

Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ripper

Pyke’s biggest weakness is cc. Braum is able to shutdown Pyke, even with Pyke’s strong level 2. Braum’s E, still blocks the adc’s damage, but now also blocks Pyke’s E. This time, instead of just stopping the enemy, Braum is able to kill him. Pyke’s low health pool and vulnerability while stunned by Braum’s passive makes Pyke play very passive during his laning phase.
In later team fights, it’s trickier to track down the Pyke, but a well placed Q will usually do the trick.

How to outsmart a Braum player

Braum’s key weakness is that his abilities require his teammates assistance. His passive is hard to trigger by himself. He can’t dash without an ally, and it’s not very effective to block projectiles with his shield when no ones behind him.
If you want to kill a Braum you’ll have to catch him first. Braum has one dash, his W, so you’ll need to get that out of him first. You can do this two ways. First, if he uses his W aggressively, he’ll have no way to jump out of the battle. Secondly, if he is all alone, he won’t have anyone to dash to. Either way, this leaves him immobile, making him an easy target for skill-shots and auto-attacks.
Braum is easily kited if he misses his Q. Using a ranged advantage against him is easy after his misses his Q. In a 1v1, he has no slow, no dash, and only his E for a small amount of movement speed. Any slow from your champion will give you a few free auto attacks at the least.

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