How to win the jungle race as Locke against Briar · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Locke's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Briar.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Respect Briar | At level 1 this window belongs to Briar: Head Rush's stun gives a clean engage trade at the first buff contest, and Blood Frenzy lifesteal out-heals your full combo once she commits. Disengage cleanly or finish her — half-measures just feed her frenzy healing. Skip the level-1 crossing and bank tempo on the opposite side of the map. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Respect Briar | Blood Frenzy lifesteal out-heals your full combo once she commits — Locke has no answer to that at level 2. Blood Frenzy sustain turns level-2 skirmishes into races she usually wins on their half of the map too, so refuse the level-2 skirmish and answer the pressure cross-map. |
| Level 3 Route | Danger — Avoid Briar | Briar out-classes you at the opening scuttle — frenzy healing plus charged Chilling Scream is one of the hardest level-3 all-ins, and Blood Frenzy lifesteal out-heals your full combo once she commits. Give up the level-3 river fight, full-clear away from them, and trade map pressure instead of health. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Danger — Avoid Briar | Do not be seen by Briar at levels 4-5 — you lose every exchange. Full-clear away from them, ward your entrances, and trade map pressure, not HP. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Respect Briar's R | Certain Death locks onto you from across the screen with a self-fearing all-in — Locke loses the straight post-6 duel. Peel her with CC mid-frenzy — she cannot disengage her own ultimate, and shift your pressure to the side of the map Certain Death is not on. |
| First Item Spike | Lich Bane / Shadowflame Spike | Lich Bane turns every blink-consume into a Spellblade chunk and Shadowflame sharpens the low-HP crunch. This is your strongest duel window of the game — cash it on a pick, not a coin-flip. Briar's first item is a step change: the frenzy lifesteal starts out-healing full combos rather than just chip damage. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Respect Briar Late — End Early | Late game you are a cleanup engine, not a frontliner: enter second, blink the marked kill, and chain E resets. Every sealed soul permanently raises the totem floor — your scaling is the seal count. |
Start Red with a leash and Q the camp from max nail range — W’s grey-health refund keeps the clear honest, but full clears cost real HP, so path toward a healthy scuttle, not a fight. Briar clears fast and healthy because Blood Frenzy heals her through the camps, so she is usually first to the river.
Ranked by the race windows in Locke's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Locke vs Briar 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.
Read the full guide — plans from $1.99/month →🔒 Secure checkout · 💰 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · ✋ Cancel anytime
Lane Pass $1.99/mo · All Lanes $3.99/mo · Annual $24.99/yr. Renews automatically — cancel anytime.
Briar pressures 6 of the 7 windows in this race — survive the early game and scale into your windows.
Not exactly — Briar pressures 6 of the 7 windows, so Locke is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Briar vs Locke guide →
All Locke jungle matchups →
More Locke jungle matchups: vs Amumu · vs Bel'Veth · vs Brand · vs Diana · vs Ekko · vs Elise