Briar vs Pantheon Counter Pick

Pantheon’s 345 base move speed edges out Briar’s 340, close enough that neither champion out-runs the other in a straight chase, so this jungle clash comes down to sustain and burst timing instead — and Briar wins 57.8% of 244 games on patch 16.13.1. Aegis Assault makes Pantheon briefly invulnerable to frontal damage while he strikes repeatedly, a strong tool in a vacuum, but it does nothing against Crimson Curse, which keeps healing Briar from bleed stacks applied before the shield went up.

Pantheon’s own numbers are respectable: 650 base health growing to 2,503 at level 18, with 124.2 armor at that mark. That durability is offset by Mortal Will only empowering Pantheon’s next spell periodically rather than on demand, leaving windows where his damage output is closer to a normal fighter’s than an assassin’s. Briar’s Head Rush stun into Chilling Scream gives her a two-step lockdown sequence that Pantheon’s Shield Vault dash can’t out-position if the first stun lands clean, and Certain Death threatens a beeline execution the moment Pantheon commits Grand Starfall without backup nearby. The matchup rewards Briar forcing fights near her own jungle rather than deep in Pantheon’s, where his engage options are more limited.