Bristleback/Counters

Bad against...

 * quickly depletes Bristleback's low mana, denying him the ability to spam Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo.


 * deals scaling damage and is useful against high health targets such as Bristleback.
 * disables Bristleback's low cooldown abilities, preventing him from triggering Warpath. With, it also breaks Bristleback's passive, rendering him more vulnerable.


 * provide a good source of healing, countering Quill Spray during the early game.
 * ' pure damage works well against Bristleback's tankiness.


 * prevents Bristleback from spamming his low-cooldown abilities, greatly reducing his damage and effectiveness.
 * allows allies to resposition and hit Bristleback from the front, bypassing his defensive bonus from behind.


 * silences Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray.
 * stuns Bristleback and gets allies in position faster with increased movement speed to attack his front, countering his passive ability.


 * greatly hinders Bristleback's chasing abilities as well as damage output.


 * makes Bristleback fight Legion Commander face to face, forcing him to take full damage.
 * dispels the slow from stacks of Viscous Nasal Goo.


 * is a headache for Bristleback to deal with during the laning stage, as it denies him the ability to get last hits with Quill Spray.
 * deals high damage to Bristleback, and only triggers his passive once.


 * and deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Bristleback's high health.
 * 's HP removal does not trigger Bristleback's passive.


 * Outworld Devourer's heavy pure damage output penetrates Bristleback's tanky items.
 * only triggers Bristleback's passive once, and deals high damage against Bristleback's low intelligence.


 * melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
 * can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.


 * stacks every time Bristleback uses an ability, forcing him to stop spamming his abilities, or take heavy health degeneration.
 * 's pure damage cuts through Bristleback's tanky items.
 * and stops Bristleback from using his abilities altogether.


 * allows Slardar to outrun Bristleback, even when slowed by Viscous Nasal Goo.
 * 's armor reduction makes Bristleback much less tanky.


 * deals damage as well while reducing 15% of Bristleback's strength, which reduces Bristleback's tankiness.
 * can sustain through multiple Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray stacks.
 * makes it hard for Bristleback to slow down Timbersaw with Viscous Nasal Goo.


 * disables Bristleback's passive.
 * and slow down Bristleback's movement speed so he's unable to get out from Nethertoxin.

Others

 * forces Bristleback to turn around with, allowing allies to attack him without fear of his passive.
 * 's is not affected by the Bristleback damage reduction.
 * 's turn rate slow from makes it harder for Bristleback to keep his back towards the enemy.
 * 's hinders Bristlebacks' tanking capabilities.  with  disables Bristleback's passive.
 * Heroes who deal single instance burst damage will only proc Bristleback once: ,

Items

 * gains many charges due to Bristleback's constant usage of Quill Spray, giving its holder an advantage in lane.
 * removes Bristleback's passive, taking away both his tankiness as well as his damage output.
 * reduces Bristleback's armor greatly, allowing teammates to beat him down quickly.
 * ' armor aura reduces Quill Spray's area damage significantly.
 * provides an easy means of escape from Bristleback, as he has no disables.

Good against...

 * Bristleback need not worry about charging into, and quickly clearing up Arc Warden's summons and with Quill Spray.


 * Quill Spray destroys spiderlings, and hits Broodmother even when she's regenerating in her webs. This makes Bristleback one of her hardest counters in lane.


 * Quill Spray quickly destroys Chaos Knight's s.


 * The damage from can be reduced by turning away from Huskar.
 * Bristleback can bait Huskar into using on him, then turn around and receive very little damage.


 * 's frequent damage ticks causes Bristleback to activate repeatedly, resulting in free damage as long as Bristleback faces away from Jakiro.


 * Multiple instances of damage from will trigger Bristleback's passive repeatedly in a short time, dealing tremendous damage to Luna and her teammates.
 * Luna's general lack of burst damage makes it hard for her to take down Bristleback.


 * Lycan's wolves deal little damage to Bristleback, and are easily killed by Quill Spray, even when they're invisible.
 * Lycan's lack of burst damage makes it very hard for him to kill Bristleback, especially when his back is turned.


 * Quill Spray usually hits Meepo's clones, although Bristleback can not turn his back when rooted with.


 * Quill Spray cleans up Phantom Lancer's illusions in no time.
 * Phantom Lancer's complete lack of burst damage makes it nearly impossible for him to kill Bristleback during chases.


 * Bristleback is one of the hardest heroes to gank with a and  combo, and attempts to do so sometimes backfire on Pudge.


 * Quill Spray will hit Riki even when he is invisible.
 * 's bonus backstab damage is rendered irrelevant against Bristleback.
 * does not stop Bristleback's passive from activating.
 * Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal carrier, directly countering Riki's invisibility.


 * Bristleback's abilities are nearly useless for Rubick to, as he does not gain the bonuses from Warpath.


 * Quill Spray will hit Sand King inside, damaging him and putting Sand King's on cooldown, preventing him from escaping.
 * 's numerous damage ticks will trigger Bristleback's passive repeatedly during teamfights.

Others

 * Heroes with damage-over-time abilities will not only proc Bristleback's passive continuously, they will also do little harm to him when he is facing away from the source: ,

Works well with...

 * helps Bristleback use Quill Spray more often during the laning stage, allowing him to harass and last hit better.
 * Viscous Nasal Goo works well with Crystal Maiden's slowing abilities, keeping enemies in range of Quill Spray and.


 * The extra time from allows Bristleback to get off a few more Quill Sprays due to its low cooldown, and potentially change the outcome of a fight.


 * ' slow works well with Viscous Nasal Goo.


 * 's cooldown reduction allows Bristleback to Quill Spray twice in a row.


 * 's mana restoration allows Bristleback to Quill Spray almost indefinitely.


 * 's slow stacks well with Viscous Nasal Goo, keeping targets in range of Quill Spray, as well as making it harder for them to move out of.


 * Venomancer's numerous movement speed slows stack well with Viscous Nasal Goo.

List of heroes that counter Bristleback, and list of heroes that work well with Bristleback.

Bristleback/Противостоящие