2XKOBraum Guide - Moves, Combos, and Overview

For players who enjoy steamrolling their opponents, Braum is an excellent Champ to start learning.

Although Braum's large body and slow movement can be a challenge in neutral, once he has his foe cornered with Unbreakable Shield, he can snowball all the way to victory.

More than any other Champ, Braum utilizes Armor to tank hits and win trades. The Unbreakable Armor mechanic gives him the advantage when fights get scrappy, and players start mashing to try and get in the first hit. This enables him to be a potent pick for winning as a newer player.

At the top level, some of the pros have begun exploring Braum duos, so don't count him out just because you hear people say he's not top tier!

In this guide, we'll cover BnB combos that will carry you up the ranks and solid strategies for utilizing his kit. Additionally, you'll find his best mix-up and neutral options so you can learn how actually to land the hit that starts the combos.

If you're here because Braum has been giving you trouble, we also have you covered with go-to strategies on how to beat The Heart of the Frelijord!

Unbreakable

Almost everything that makes Braum good revolves around his Unbreakable mechanic:

"While in Unbreakable, Braum gains 1 hit of armor on his shield normals and improved special moves."

• Armor does not activate frame 1, there is a start up delay before the armor activates. The speed of armor activating is directly tied to the speed of the attack. Therefore, it activates quickest duringM Attack and latest during ForwardH Attack.

How to Activate Unbreakable

While in normal state (no Unbreakable)

• S2 Special > S2 Special (Glacier Breaker)
• DownS1 Special (Fight Mighty One)
• DownS2 Special (Ice Born Smash)
• • Even on block, if you hit an opponent with DownS2 Special, you'll become Unbreakable.

If you do any of these moves while already Unbreakable, Braum uses the Ice Shield to enhance his moves. However, the good news is that each of these can lead into a combo that gives you Unbreakable right back!

How Braum Loses Unbreakable

Braum loses Unbreakable when he is knocked down, NOT after taking a certain amount of damage. Consequently, this means you can use Break or Fury Break (Tag + S1 Special or S2 Special), while being comboed, but before he is knocked down.

• All throws immediately remove Unbreakable

Double Hits Counter Unbreakable

Moves that hit twice, such as Yasuo's S1 Special are double hits. Since Unbreakable only absorbs one hit, this means moves that hit twice will go through your armor and hit Braum.

Command Grab

DownS1 Special is Braum's command grab, Fight Mighty One where he calls down a large large poro that stuns the opponent.

If he is already in Unbreakable, the command grab will freeze the opponent in place, allowing for a huge combo follow up.

If he is not in Unbreakable, he will become Unbreakable and the opponent will fall to the ground.

• S1 Special Super can be used immediately after to hit OTG.

Ice Wall

A core part of Braum's kit is protecting his Assist Champ's Tag attack by holding up his huge Ice Wall BackS2 Special. We'll cover tech in detail under "How to Play Neutral"

Safest Options

• L Attack & M Attack

Braum's primary footsie tools are his L Attack and M Attack, of which both the standing and crouching versions can be utilized.

• Important Note: Braum is one of the few Champs with a 8 frame L Attack startup, meaning he will lose trades when him and his opponent are simultaneously recovering from hit stun and mashing to poke the other first.

The benefit is that Braum's L Attack has better range than most other Champs L Attacks, which allows him to use it to space and whiff punish opponents attacks.

M Attack is only -4 on block, making it safe and not possible to punish. It also have huge range for a M Attack, and can be chained into any of his H Attack or standing/crouching M Attack chain into one other.

However, if you M Attack, wait for the recovery animation then try to Throw or L Attack, the opponent can Mash between and punish you.

"Get Behind Me" (Ice Shield)

The primary way to use BackS2 Special is to hold it up, and call in your Assist with Tag.

Currently the shield is technically bugged on certain interactions, but aside from these inconsistencies, the following strategy applies.

• BackS2 Special has infinite armor, but is vulnerable to Throws and crossups that hit Braum from behind.
• Assists that are positioned behind Braum are protected from all frontal attacks.
• • Some Supers such as Jinx's S2 Special Super beam pierce through.
• Braum is not in block stun when blocking attacks with BackS2 Special. Therefore, he can always perform an action after the 9 frame recovery. Some opponent attacks can be punished by dropping Ice Shield that normally cannot be punished on block.
• • An example is Jinx's S1 Special machine gun. Test for yourself and discover more as you gain matchup knowledge.

Anti-airs

Launcher

• Down H Attack

Braum has a a unique launcher that comboes into another launcher. If an enemy is grounded, Down H Attack >Down H Attack always connects both.

Against aerial opponents, the 2nd H Attack only hits if they are low when the first one hits. Therefore, it's often best to immediately follow the frist DownH Attack with a jumping H Attack > AirS1 Special.

• Braum's DownH Attack has very short vertical range, which makes him struggle to anti-air against champs who can air dash like Ekko and Ahri.
• However, it DOES hit behind him, making Braum uniquely good at anti-airing enemy air crossups.

6H

ForwardH Attack has a high hitbox and is Braum's best anti-air against opponents that are too far for DownH Attack to hit.

Especially good in the corner when the opponent is back jumping.

Can also beat enemy air approaches because its range can hit the opponent before their air move's start up frames.

Battering Ram

• S2 Special Hold

The held version of Battering Ram has a longer startup animation but reaches farther and is useful for its anti projectile property.

When you have Unbreakable the attack games armor so you can even use it to plow through any enemy attack.

Anytime you land in a Unbreakable S2 Special it will cause a wall bounce and let you start juggling the hit opponent for a big combo.

• Be careful with using this too often as opponents can wait and easily Parry the hit on reaction.

Block Strings

Never end a block string with H Attack or his regular S2 Special. Both of these attacks leave him super negative and give the opponent a free punish.

• If if you are going to end a block string with any of these moves make sure you cover yourself with an assist to keep the opponent in blocks done while Braum recovers.

Instead, his best block string enders are M Attack and ForwardH Attack.

Mix ups

For mixing a blocking opponent, Braum has a surprising amount of options.

• Use Overhead Down ForwardM Attack, mid-string if opponent is blocking low.
• • Combo into DownS2 Special
• Down ForwardH Attack to chase retreating guards
• L Attack or M Attack to tick throw into regular or command grab.

Braum's best mixup, is of course strike/throw with his S1 Special command grab.

Generally, his best tick throws are L Attack or M Attack (slight delay) > command grab.

Cross up

Braum's only crossup is his AirDownH Attack. It hits deep so you can wait to activate in air to mix up timing and make it harder to punish.

Unbreakable Normals

Since Unbreakable normal have armor, they are especially good when used in neutral, frame traps, and during opponents wake ups.

In a scramble, where both players can attack, Unbreakable M Attack is technically your fastest option to stuff the opponents attack.

• Braum's L Attack is a 8 frame startup, but Unbreakable M Attack armor starts on frame 7. While small, it can make the difference between tanking a hit and getting a punish, or getting your L Attack stuffed.
• • Plus the added bonus of its big hitbox and range.

Super Enders: Anytime Braum ends a combo with S2 Special > S2 Special, all three of his Supers/Ult will connect. Depending on your meter and situation, you can chose which to end with.

S1 Super Finisher

Braum's best mid-screen combo. Good damage, corner carry and gets you Unbreakable.

Note: If Braum is already fully into the corner, the ForwardS1 Special will miss. In which case, use either of the following combos.

• S1 Special Super does not use Unbreakable, so it's the best option if you already have, and want to keep Unbreakable.
• S1 Special Super only hits once in the corner for tiny damage, and let's the opponent wake up before Braum fully recovers.
• • Only S1 Special Super ender in corner if the opponent is at extremely low HP to kill without losing Unbreakable.

S2 Super Finisher

BnB for a corner combo. Very consistent to land, just make sure to immediately HOLD ForwardS1 Special after the second H Attack.

• Note: If you already have Unbreakable, S2 Special Super uses it in exchange for increased damage. Sometimes it's worth not Super ending so you have Unbreakable on their wakeup.

Ult Finisher

Braum's BnB combo starter. This should be the very first combo you master.

• Don't have to Ult at the end. Braum can 1 bar Super, or just let the opponent fall.

Throw

Off DownS2 Special Command grab, Braum can always S1 Special Super to hit the grounded opponent. Very good damage mid-screen.

When to Forward Assist

Most of the time you be using ForwardTag. Even the assist version of battering ram goes through projectiles so you can use it to cover your point champ from projectile spam, then juggle on hit, or HST to Braum to finish.

With Unbreakable

When Braum has Unbreakable and is on assist his ForwardTag will cause a wall bounce.

This is extremely strong and enables your point champ to pull off very high damage combos.

When to Back Assist

Unfortunately his BackTag is a bit delayed to activate and the timing window is very small. If you manage to get the hang of it you can call in Brahms back tag to cover an opponent's attack and get yourself a free counter hit.

With Unbreakable

When Braum has Unbreakable, his BackTag gains an extra hit of armor. It will tank 2 hits instead of the usual 1.

The the active window is still quite short so mileage may vary but is definitely worth trying to use BackTag more often when Braum has Unbreakable. However, that also means you're sacrificing using his much better ForwardTag with Unbreakable.

Double Down

Double Down is generally Braum's weakest fuse because most champs will not be able to DHC off his S1 Special Super, and opponents cannot be hit during his S2 Special Super when using the Double Down HST.

Braum's short range and slow movement speed also make it a bit hard for him to utilize Double Down handshake tags to attack opponents while they're in his point Champs super.

• Use Double Down when your other champ has strong synergy from the fuse.

2x Assist

Using two ForwardTag is strong for Braum. Moreover, holding "Get Behind Me" up while your assist performs two Assist attacks is an easy yet powerful tech.

2X Assist can be treated like a default fuse to start with on any Braum team. You can always branch out later to other Fuse's if you feel your specific duo may benefit more from the others.

Freestyle

Another great Fuse for Braum is Freestyle. Because his strike throw mix up game is so threatening Braum is very effective if he can get his opponent in a block string sandwich.

Look for ways to get your Assist champ behind the opponent whenever possible. Otherwise, use your assist champ to help with high low mix up and setting up Braum's tick throws.

Juggernaut and Sidekick

Braum's large body and slow speed doesn't make him particularly well suited to the solo-Champ Fuses. For example, one of his best moves is BackS2 Special Ice Shield, which is completely useless in Juggernaut. You're going to have a very difficult time getting in against zoners like Jinx and Teemo when using Juggernaut.

Sidekick would be the better solo-Champ fuse for Braum. You can still utilize Ice Shield > Tag combos. Also, having an assist champ with a long reaching hit like Illaoi's ForwardTag, will help Braum to get in close for Strike/Throw mixups.

Darius

The OG big body duo. Both Champs have good forward charging assists and big heavy hitting moves. They're similar playstyles make them a great pair to learn at the same time.

Darius's BackTag is great for pulling blocking opponent's into Braum's high/low and strike/throw mixups.

Any time Braum lands a S2 Special > S2 Special, use Darius's ForwardTag to extend the combo!

• 2X Assist, Freestyle and Double Down can all be effective fuses for this duo.
• Check out LightWhisp tournament footage on YouTube to see pro level gameplay is this duo.

Blitzcrank

If you like grapplers, why not play two? Blitzcrank's mix up game has a similar flow to Braum, which makes a lot of tech transferable between the two. Learning how to read opponent wakeup options, their block patterns and using strike/throw mix ups are all important skills to learn for both champs.

Blitzcrank's BackTag is amazing for helping Braum to deal with aerial opponents. His ForwardTag is equally good for its range, anti-projectile properties, and pull mechanic.

You should have no trouble keeping your opponents under pressure with this duo.

• 2X Assist and Double Down are the best fuses for this duo.

Warwick

Warwick with Double Down is another good choice if you want to focus on extremely high damage combos. Warwick has the horizontal speed needed to Double Down Tag combo during Braum's S1 Special Super.

During Warwick's S2 Special Super, end with Braum's S1 Special or Hold S2 Special (Unbreakable) to wall bounce and set up longer combos.

Warwick can use S2 Special to OTG off of Braum's AirS2 Special enders, and both champs and good routes for Tag Lauchner into the other.

Use ice shield to cover Warwick's ForwardTag, then HST to let him chain into a combo. If you want to keep Braum out, simply Double Down Super at the end of said combo.

General Strategy

Braum's main weakness is his large size and slow speed. If your champ has zoning tools, projectiles, or strong aerial moves these should be your go-to in neutral against Braum.

Watch for his BackS2 Special patterns, and react with a throw or crossup attack.

• BackS2 Special has infinite armor, but is vulnerable to Throws and crossups that hit Braum from behind, and moves that pass through or pierce Champs.

Watch for Patterns

All players have patterns to their play and mixups. Pay particularly close attention to Braum players Command grab patters, and be ready to neutral jump for a big punish.

Respect Unbreakable

When his shield is covered in ice, be extremely careful when the extremely cautious when thinking about trying to jab him in neutral.

• Braum players often try to spam M Attack and H Attack to use Unbreakable armor. These have a lot of recovery on whiff, so look to bait his moves out then counter with a whiff punish.
• Do not wake up normal attack or Super, because he can tank the first hit with Unbreakable and cancel into Ult or S2 Super to armor the next hit and beat yours.
• Look for an opportunity to Throw him.

Braum loses Unbreakable when he is knocked down, NOT after taking a certain amount of damage. Consequently, this means you can use Break or Fury Break (Tag + S1 Special or S2 Special), while being comboed, but before he is knocked down.

Double Hits Counter Unbreakable

Moves that hit twice, such as Yasuo's S1 Special are double hits. Since Unbreakable only absorbs one hit, this means moves that hit twice will go through your armor and hit Braum.

If you're champ has any double hitting moves, using them can catch Braum off guard and break him.

Dealing Corner Pressure

Stop Forward Rolling

When Braum get you in the corner with either his S2 Special Super or S2 Special > S2 Special to get Unbreakable, you're best option is generally to hold down and not tech roll.

His command grab has deceptively long range which allows Braum to position in such as way that he can cover both back and forward roll in the corner to get a free command grab.

Off of his S2 Special Super specifically, you can back roll to recover, and you'll only need to deal with block pressure unless you see Braum dash in. If he dashes in, you're dealing with strike/throw mix.