How to win the jungle race as Xin Zhao against Brand · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Xin Zhao's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Brand.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Xin Zhao Dominant | Three Talon Strike's knock-up plus passive healing wins the first buff-pit duel. Later in the game this bites, because the E-Q ablaze stun rotation removes half your HP in a single combo. But before either of you has a second camp down none of it is online, so take the level-1 crossing and tax every camp Brand concedes. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Xin Zhao Dominant | Wind Becomes Lightning (W) challenge poke starts trades you finish for free, while ablaze combo poke chunks half a health bar through a wall. Only one of those wins on the second camp, so press it: take the level-2 skirmish, then leave with the second buff and the tempo that comes with it. |
| Level 3 Route | Xin Zhao Dominant | The full knock-up combo with W slow is among the top three level-3 duels. The full E-Q stun rotation is their burst window before sustain kits stabilize, and as the first scuttle timer lands that is not an answer. Take the level-3 river fight and make Brand path away from the camps you want. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Xin Zhao Dominant — Keep Fighting | Nothing about 4-5 helps Brand here: he converts 4-5 into cross-map 2v2s where a Conflagration bounce off a laner does most of the damage, while you can take any duel you can reach. Invade on the clear-timer, not on a whim. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Crescent Guard Favoured | Crescent Guard makes the 1v1 literal — outside help is deleted from your duel. Brand's six is not empty — Pyroclasm bounces melt any fight you take near teammates. Take the duel from even health rather than from behind, and split off your allies when it is up — the bounce needs a second body. |
| First Item Spike | Sundered Sky / Eclipse | Sundered Sky or Eclipse both reward closing the gap on a squishy mage fast: your Q knock-up feeds Sundered Sky's proc, while Eclipse's two-hit shreds Brand before Sear (Q) can land its ablaze stun. Both items make the burst window from your all-in shorter than the time Brand needs to stack Blaze and detonate it. Priority still lets you contest neutral objectives before Brand can zone the pit with Pillar of Flame (W). Brand's first item makes the Sear-into-Conflagration rotation a full health bar on a squishy, with no auto-attacks needed. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Danger — Brand Outscales | The clock is your enemy. He deletes a clumped fight with a Pyroclasm bounce and needs no auto-attacks to do it, so close the game on the first two objectives you actually win. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp utilizing your Q resets and passive to maximize early clear speed and health. Brand clears with Pillar of Flame and Conflagration and is healthy at three, but the clear costs him most of his mana.
Ranked by the race windows in Xin Zhao's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Xin Zhao vs Brand report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Xin Zhao's race plan controls 5 of the 7 windows — Xin Zhao holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Xin Zhao's race plan controls 5 of the 7 windows, so Brand is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Brand vs Xin Zhao guide →
All Xin Zhao jungle matchups →
More Xin Zhao jungle matchups: vs Zyra · vs Amumu · vs Bel'Veth · vs Briar · vs Diana · vs Ekko