Is it better to engine brake in an automatic like in a civic to reduce brake pad fade?

I heard it's bad but my friend does it all the time in his civic and it works great. His brakes are amazing at 17k miles. Some say it's fine and some say it takes up more gas since your engine is more rev happy. He shifts to a lower gear and brakes at the same time but doesn't brake hard. I've also heard rumors about it hurting the transmission but they said it's okay to do it in the manuals.