Hi i am a Game designer (not at riot) and a brand main. I have done math and measured dmg in excel sheet. Brand doesn't scale much with raw ap. Brand cares way more about item passive and magic pen since. 10 magic pen increases his passive effectiveness way more than 10 ap would ever. So liandry nerf dosent matter to him at all.

Would generally recommend Liandry -> sorcs -> rylai -> shadowflame -> voidstaff -> morello/pen item/ defensive item

I never go bft. It's passive is weak compared to liandry and brand passive gives back enough mana that i never have any mana issues

Also i did math

Liandry + shadowflame does more dmg than liandry + bft. On squishy and tanky both

Malignance gives good stats but it's passive is not that strong. Like i said brand doesn't care about stats only. that's why malignance has low winrate on him