Bel'Veth matchup: Generally speaking, Bel’Veth is just easier Briar. Briar actually has counter play and Bel’Veth does not, when she’s ahead. You should look to Q or E her E since it is her best spell. Sideways W's to dodge her W is THE KEY!. If she ever gets close enough to hit you with Q for free. You've made a mistake. Ward early to try and catch her invades and PING a TON for your team to punish her. Be okay with walking away because she will not scale as well as you!
Volibear matchup: I always try to E his Q stun. Either push him away or into a wall. Only use your W if you're going to deal enough damage that he will feel. Voli wants you to fight him when he W's you. He wants to spam his E shield and W heal to outlast every fight. So you have to keep your damage in mind and know if you will win the fight. If you don't know, you shouldn't fight
Gwen matchup: Early fights you can win by engaging first and dealing good damage. She will try to trade that damage back, when he goes for her snipsnip Q try to predict it and use your E to put her into the wall. Be careful using W towards her from too far because her W will cancel yours. This matchup early game is Briar favored but late game she wins pretty easily unless you play around your team well
Taliyah matchup: This matchup is playable if you position well and get full charged E combos. You have the damage to 1 shot her but if she has E, you can’t play regularly. She can E herself if you ult, you will get stunned then W’d. After that you can decide on going forward with WQ or just E'ing and resetting your cooldowns. Same thing for if you random W-Q her, she can stand on the rocks and W. Although you can W sideways then try to walk throw the rocks but she will probably just W your linear pathing if she plays well. Bad taliyahs will use EW really early to get the cooldown ticking, that's your time to fight!
Nidalee matchup: Nidalee matchup varies because the champion is one of the hardest in the game. Challenger Nidalee is a TERRIBLE MATCHUP. Gold Nidalee is FREE! Main things to do are dodge her Q (the spear) that's EVERYTHING she wants to do. Once she doesn't have that PUNISH HER HARD! Be careful of her jumping over walls to kite you into her team though!
Kha'Zix matchup: Kha'Zix can be a VERY TOUGH MATCHUP! His Q damage is insane so if you try to fight him make sure you have someone around! Kha'Zix will likely use his E (the jump) to last hit a teammate, use this opening to punish him with a W>Q combo! His ultimate makes him invisible so you will need to hit your ultimate to fight him late game BUT if you do hit ult, you win everytime!
Lee Sin matchup: Lee Sin is a VERY HIGH SKILL CHAMPION. So most likely people will make tons of mistakes. His Q (blue spell and he can reactivate it to jump to the target he hit) is his most important spell to E. So ALWAYS try to E him when he does that. If you hit him into a wall, FREE KILL. But he can ward hop to cancel it, which sucks. Look to sideways W to dodge his Q then punish him with your stun! Later into the game when he has ultimate, it can mess you up a ton since it kicks you far enough that you lose Frenzy BUT if you think he will R, you can use your R right before it and it still casts!
Rek'Sai matchup: Try to let her Engage on your team then you counter her when she is unburrowed. If Rek'Sai going to knock you up try to time your W to dodge it if you want to fight. E'ing Rek'sai is really smart because you will still complete your spell during the knockup! This matchup is all about who can play around their team better so try and not fight too many 1v1's. REMEMBER, if she ultimates she will always land BEHIND YOU. Use this with your E to counter her hard!
Viego matchup: Viego's main gameplan is to get his passive proc. If this happens IMMEDIATELY LEAVE THAT TEAMFIGHT unless you see a great angle. His passive is a game winner. Try to use your W1 to dodge his W stun. If he ever is too close to you or your team, looking for a fast W1>Q can be super valuable. During his soul steal you can sometimes setup a big E wallbang for him to eat. Overall, try to deny him getting resets or disrupt his team yourself.
Hecarim matchup: Mostly you E his E/R towards you if you think there is good value there. Try your best to fight him when he doesn't have Q stacks. W1>Q should be a good little chunk onto him, if you realize you didn't do much damage. GET OUT ASAP. He wins longer fights, you win fast ones.
Wukong matchup: Be careful of his W. This spells destroys us. Either he will hit W when you W1 and then you're hitting the wrong target or he will W your R before it hits. His double ult combo also bodies us. Overall just let him waste spells on someone else and PUNISH HARD. You do clear better and skirmish's better in the jungle if he uses W for damage
Poppy matchup: Poppy Jungle has pretty average/bad clear speed so it's all about tempo. If you can clear camps fast and trade plays it goes VERY WELL FOR YOU. Black Cleaver is a must vs this champion. Engaging onto Poppy can be easy just W1 towards her, she will answer with a W but DONT CAST Q. Wait till her W is over and you're standing on a cannon minion. She does have good burst if she angles you into a wall. Try and see this coming and buffer your E. One huge tip is to use your ultimate when you see her charging her ultimate. That way you can fly back into a fight after getting taken away
Gragas matchup: Always try to W sideways when he wants to E. If you can perfect this, it is HUGE. Be careful of charging E in a bad spot because he will just R you into his team since you aren't moving. Q him after his W damage reduction is down then make sure to W2! Generally, look to outfarm him and kill a different target then him.
Karthus matchup: You can’t farm as fast as him but you gank way better. Farm VERY efficiently and don't over force to kill him once. Play VERY SMART, about how much time you use, look to use your kit to dodge his Q's and always E his R!
Graves matchup: Graves favored because of his range. Look to counter his engage if he E's forward. Try not to just W towards him for free. You need W+Q and teammate to kill him for free.
Master Yi matchup: MASTER YI IS A VERY TOUGH MATCHUP! He does HIGH DAMAGE and can mess up your W with his Q. The biggest thing to do is make plays around your team and if he uses his Q, the moment he shows up USE YOUR Q! Yi is a 1v1 MASTER so you really have to choose your spots well. If he EVER Q's you, make sure to E and aim it towards a wall! If you catch him in a bad spot he might try to W ( the stand still and heal ) use this time to charge up your E also and PUT HIM INTO THE WALL!
Zac matchup: E his E (slingshot) every time or Dodge with W if you want to fight him. This champion IS BROKEN versus us unless you dodge his spells. Build Spirit Visage the moment you have enough damage. Be careful trying to punish him during his ultimate because it will cancel your Q!
Ekko matchup: Ekko is a VERY TOUGH MATCHUP! But it's all about how skilled the Ekko is. He has very high passive damage when he hits multiple spells so try to E during his burst. It's very smart to use your Q to stop him for ultimating! But remember, if he uses his E (the dash and auto) you can predict it and use your E to put him into the wall. Try to minimize early game mistakes because he snow balls very HARD.
Kindred matchup: Pretty fair match up, either you get kited or slam E her out of her R into a wall is a kill. You force her to R if you have enough damage on the initial burst You can R her R and it’s always huge. Just don’t get dogged super early
Diana matchup: Be creative with trying to E her engages. She will almost always dash to a target hit by her Q. If she goes forward too early engage on her and buffer your E. When people stack up she will look to ultimate, use your E before this happens to make her miss the damage. Sideways W1 to dodge her Q has good value.
Ivern matchup: Ivern has a very fast full clear so beware of random invades early game. He wants you to engage on his team so he can get full value out of his spells. His shield explodes and slows you and Q roots you. Try your best to W1 his Q and use your own Q to stick to your target better. E'ing Daisy away is a good play but be careful of not having the cooldown anymore. Serpents Fang can be VERY good into him. Try to engage on him first and it should be easy!
Brand matchup: Brand Jungle has a faster clear than you and scales better. It's worth noting that his gank tool is a dodgable CC. So, realistically he should only be strong by clearing well and getting what's given to him. A well timed invade is VERY good against him, if you throw him off his full clear, he will usually push forward to trade that camp and a mage walking forward is a good thing for you. Try to sideways W1 to dodge his stun OR Q him during his stun that way he's not walking away while you cannot move. This matchup is all about not taking free damage and having explosive plays! Don't forget to ultimate him if you're out of options since it cleanses crowd control!
Morgana matchup: Use your W1 to dodge her Q, and your Q will probably get spell shielded but you'll still be melee range to deal damage! Be careful of her ulting you though, then she will sync up her next Q with that and you'll be in pain. You can get creative with baiting her spell shield and then Q'ing someone else to find value. Always try to find sneaky angles to E her before her ultimate or after black shield wears off
Zyra matchup: Zyra Jungle has a faster clear than you and scales better. It's worth noting that her gank tool is a dodgable CC. So, realistically she should only be strong by clearing well and getting what's given to him. A well timed invade is VERY good against her, if you throw her off their full clear, she will usually push forward to trade that camp and a mage walking forward is a good thing for you. Try to sideways W1 to dodge her stun OR Q her during his stun that way she's not walking away while you cannot move. This matchup is all about not taking free damage and having explosive plays! Don't forget to ultimate her if you're out of options since it cleanses crowd control! Often times people don't attack her plants with autos but there's good value in taking them out if you have free time in a fight
Nocturne matchup: Nocturne favored matchup BUT people over exaggerate how bad it is! Nocturne has his E (the fear tether) and that's what makes this matchup so bad. Try to use your W to jump over a wall to break the tether and then path to fight him! The second biggest thing to do in this matchup is USE YOUR SMITE. He will always try to W (his spell shield) your E. RIGHT before your E hits him, smite the shield away. BOOM he's in the wall because he didn't respect your smite.
Pantheon matchup: Some parts of this matchup are skilled based. Like you can buffer your E into his WQ combo. He will then E your WQ combo so it usually just turns into a stalemate unless one is more fed than the other. EQ-QE combo is usually good
Jax matchup: Jax can be very tough if they are GOOD. But 99% of them are not good vs Briar. If he uses E > Q onto you, Buffer your E immediately. Put him into the wall then damage check him with WQ. If you're late with the E or he has flash he will just dodge it and beat you. Times like this look to ward hop or W over a big wall / flash away then reset the situation. Ulting him after his E is a free win
Fiddlesticks matchup: If you catch him in jungle. W towards him and try to Q after he Q's you. It will not always break your frenzy. If he ever W's then you charge E. it should be a 1 shot, he can’t run from you because your second W will catch up to him after he Q’s. Care for Fiddle ult because you will die.
Kayn matchup: Generally speaking you want to Q him when he’s in walls to force him out of it! Use your W to dodge his W in EVERY FORM. THATS HIS BEST SPELL! Once Kayn gets his red or blue form and gets ahead. You're in for a tough game. So really path attention to your early game!
Qiyana matchup: Early levels you actually deal more damage than her. Try to dodge her Q. Look for your own Q>E early if she uses her movement abilities badly. Otherwise W1>Q. The main thing that makes this matchup annoying is her spamming green/grass Q to go invis. Be creative with your ultimate to counterplay this. Ultimate = Win, Miss = lose. Once teamfights hit, it'll be a battle of you disrupting her team and her disrupting yours.
Rengar matchup: This champions whole gimmick versus you is: He wants to either E > Empowered E to kite you. Or heal your burst with his W then try to damage you back. When Rengar gets very fed for free, the game gets tough. Try to E his jump from bush, this has a lot of value. If he tries to jump to your team, meet him with a W1>Q. Overall, you should be the aggro player here, bring good fights to him.
Naafiri matchup: This matchup seems like it would be bad because her W. Reality is, if you W1>Q and get Naafiri's W. You have a window to W1>Q again before her cooldowns are back. So, create your own windows for engage. Try and hide your W1>Q within other animations (like killing minions.) Use your E on her Q's or her ultimate to try and put her into a wall. Main thing in this matchup is sneaky engages and use your E into her W or E.
Trundle matchup: Trundle has AD reduction built in so taking fights raw against him is not very good. You should try to burst him with short combos and E him away. Be careful of missing your E because he can chase VERY WELL. I love W or Q over walls since he cannot jump them. Attacking Trundle with your team is a very good thing. You really need to see the fights before they happen and try your best to not get caught.
Talon matchup: Talon is usually an easy matchup, if he tries to combo you, E through it, if you combo him, it’s a one shot. His ultimate dropping you W1 frenzy can be annoying but that also makes him an awesome ultimate target because of the true sight.
Xin Zhao matchup: I like to E his engage just to break up his combo then fight him on my terms. He does have good skirmish early so if his team has first rotate, you're in a bad spot. E buffer his Q3 if you have it. Always try to countergank him though, he does not have good defensive options on a counter engage.
Cho'Gath matchup: Dodge his Q with your WQ if possible, charge E on his combo if possible. Sometimes he's too tanky and just body blocks everything. That's when the matchup sucks
Olaf matchup: You kinda hard win early game if you fight him till level 6. At level 6 you lose your Q and E versus him. Making him hard win. Best thing to do is bait his ultimate, jump over some walls with Q or W, run his ultimate out then look for a reengage. OR let him his your team then try to just W and deal damage to kill him
Jayce matchup: A good jayce with E buffer your Q which is usually pretty good for him. He will either ranged EQ you and run after that with phase rush and you're gone or he turns the fight and kills you. Usually you can kill him on the second rotation of cooldowns if you didn't 1shot him off the jump
Ambessa matchup: Ambessa has decent clear speed but her ganks are pretty weak. Early game you should be able to generate a decent advantage by default clearing and regular ganks. W1 towards her and let her use some spells to create distance then use your Q that you saved. Try to W2 late if she shields herself early. Her mid/late game around 3+ items, she can start to kite you while dealing more damage. Be aware of this and start changing targets or punishing her with your team.
Jarvan IV matchup: YOU DESTROY THIS CHAMPION IN 1V1! But he is a good team player champion. So be careful fighting him unless you know he's alone! If he ults you, just use E and slam him into wall or W-E over the wall! Punish him engaging too far into your team with your WQ and it's a good fight!
Shaco matchup: I tend the WQ on top of him then buffer E before he ults that way your E hits both of them. It's usually a free kill from there if he's in the wall. Putting the fight on him is what he DOES NOT WANT. He wants you to get baited into his team or traps so be disciplined about where and when you fight. Try to use your passive animation to find the real Shaco after he ults. Titanic Hydra is good in this matchup since it gives you good burst and can kill traps that he puts down
Sejuani matchup: Sejuani wants to frontline for her team and CC enemies for them to deal damage. Try your best to W1 her dash engage and trade back with your Q. Using E right before her stuns is a VERY GOOD interaction. Overall this matchup is decided by you not getting caught by her and going backline with ultimate can have good value. BotRK can be very good first or third.
Zaahen matchup: Zaahen does beat Briar in late game 1v1's but Briar wins early game 1v1's. Try to use your better ganking tools and even clear to get an advantage. I like to take short combos and E early vs him. Only fighting and trading on my terms. I never overextend vs this champion, that's what he wants. You can always time your E to put him into a wall right before his revive passive completes.
Zed matchup: This champ will kite you around by hopping to shadows. Generally speaking you want to buffer E into his R for a stun if you get the timing correct. In a world that he isn't ulting you, try to E the Shuriken combo he sets up as this is most of his damage. Fast combos are very good in this matchup
Udyr matchup: Better player wins. Focus on Q'ing Udyr when he gets too close to your team. You can skirmish with him but he will never fight without his team usually. AD Udyr likes to empower his auto attacks, it's very important to use your E during this. If he's AP Udyr he wants to be tanky and kite you around. Pick your spots wisely!
Malphite matchup: Malphite is pretty weak in jungle. He only really ganks by walking up to your team or ultimate. Ultimate has a long cooldown and walking into a gank isn't very good. Look to kill him with your team during your Q debuff or just ignore him. His attack speed slow can mess with your animations at times though, be aware of it so you don't cancel autos.
Lillia matchup: Try to burst her out with W1>Q when she gets too close. She will then try to R you and put you to sleep. Right before her R hits you always E to try and break up her combo. She will outfarm you so farm efficiently and gank without overforcing or wasting too much time. BotRK is really good because it slows her down!
Shyvana matchup: Shyvana's do almost nothing all early game other than farming and dragons. Take advantage of this by forcing good ganks early. Always be aware of her wanting dragons, use this against her. Ping your team or ward dragon yourself. W1>Q should usually be a fight win, if she tries to fight back. Always E her E or Q. This matchup is all about you tracking her and denying dragons.
Warwick matchup: Tons of little interactions here. If you can buffer E into his ult, he still gets slammed. If you feed your W1 into his E then you lose. Try to bait his E by QE combo then W after wall slam or just out movement him.
Amumu matchup: If you engage onto him early game, you will deal a lot of damage. He will try to stun you then walk to his team. Be careful of his team. In 1v1 you win but teamfights is where he wants to be. Use your E when he tries to Q you and stun him into a wall. Also try to not over stack for his ultimate late game, it's usually a good idea to attack his team more than him.
Evelynn matchup: This matchup just spells "free early game" for Briar. This champion cannot skirmish with you at all! Use your early game prowess to take over the map and start bleeding her resources. It can be very annoying after level 6 when she is permanently invis and your team doesn't respect it. This can happen and if so, try and predict when she will full combo you and buffer your E.
Rammus matchup: ALWAYS E his engage on you and you should be fine. WQ after his W ends or punish by killing his team. He is a better champion when you're both broke so make sure to farm well and build black cleaver. It makes the matchup so much better. I do not think you need BotRK for him but some people like it. It's all about your E's in this matchup
Nunu & Willump matchup: You can mostly use your W to dodge his snowball, then proceed to deal a lot of damage to him. He will try to kite you with his E snowballs. You can take the damage or ultimate through the root. Both situations are winning. Only way Nunu wins is ganking your team more than you're able to handle.
Maokai matchup: Maokai is like most tanks, they want to CC you and waste your time. Try to dodge his Q with your W1 and be careful of his W making you drop frenzy. W1>Q really fast and deal a huge chunk to him. Buffer E into his engage and try to put him into a wall
Sylas matchup: Sylas can burst you down before your healing matters if he’s strong but usually you will W1 to dodge his E then just tear him apart. The real terror of this matchup is he can E2 ( chains ) your Q, which DRASTICALLY reduces your damage. So be careful feeding into that. One of the rare times that building anti heal has value but likely ignite should be enough. Any build works, Spirit Visage is huge vs him. When going to side lane, starting with ultimate is likely a free kill. Be careful of teammates in this matchup, people play towards Sylas often
Sion matchup: Use your W to dodge his Q or Just Q his Q. He shouldn’t really get that damage on you unless you ult him. If he is ulting towards your team you can just charge E and wall slam him and that breaks up his Ult + Q combo so it’s really good. Worst thing that happens is you W and he just body blocks hard
Skarner matchup: Counter ganking Skarner is a BIG PROBLEM FOR HIM. You skirmish well into him 1v1 but he will usually try to stay around his team and CC you for them. If 1v1 > deal a lot of damage look to kill. Otherwise, try your best to hit his team. You can use your E before any of his CC to counter his gameplan even his ultimate. Using your W1 to dodge his rock throw has good value also
Vi matchup: Dodge her Q with your W then you win the 1v1 every time. If she R's you just buffer E and put her into the wall. Early game and mid game you win but she punishes with her team way better than you do. Any build works vs Vi but BotRK is the 1v1 build and Titanic can live through her combo better. Regularly W1>Q should get the damage rolling and pressure her
Dr. Mundo matchup: Mundo's early game is pretty bad so just try to W1 his Q to dodge the slow, deal a lot of damage then fall back. Use the health loss to force your own plays. Going Blade of the Ruined King in this matchup basically makes it unplayable for him but you don't always NEED to. Try to Q him to break the CC immune and W1 to walk over it! Try to fight his team before him if he's too tanky
Nasus matchup: Nasus Jungle doesn't do objectives very well and have an average clear speed with weak ganks. Clearing well and using Briar's good early game will help you can an advantage early and translate to late game. Look to E him away after he withers you and never fight on his E. Other than that, short combos are good for you. Nasus wants long fights. Black Cleaver is very good for you in this matchup. Try to always hit him with your team and don't give him opportunities to run you down.
