Bristleback/Counters

Bad against...

 * is an incredible pain to deal with in fights as Bristleback is all about spamming spells, since it basically silences for 6-12 seconds + remaining time left on your cooldowns, slowing attack and move speed as well.
 * can be useful control, especially if you catch him while Bristle is facing your team, negating his passive. Void should always be able to face Bristle's front during Chrono.


 * can force Bristleback to face forward. Additionally, Legion Commander has less to fear about chasing or running as she can use to gain movement speed and  to dispel the  slow and buffing her up for a duel.


 * The high base strength is an actual disadvantage against . Additionally, it completely ignores the passive. Finally, every point of missing health causes  to do more damage. Thus having high health can be more harmful than helpful.


 * will purge you every time you cast on him.
 * will melt your low armor and makes you more fragile.
 * can completely drain all your damage given by and give it to Razor.


 * deals damage as well as 15% reduction of strength on strength heroes, which reduces Bristle's tankiness.
 * can sustain through multiple and  stacks.
 * provides a reliable escape in case Timbersaw gets too low, as well as dealing pure damage.

Others

 * 's will melt your health and your mana throughout the whole game. It also ignores armor and magic resistance.
 * Doom (with )
 * Shadow Demon (with )
 * Axe's Berserker's Call make his passive doesn't work because Axe fights Bristleback face to face.
 * 's Sunder is not affected by the damage reduction.

Items

 * A takes away both his tankiness as well as his damage output, leaving him very vulnerable during these 5 seconds. A  is not a safe counter, because the fights usually drag out very long until the Silver Edge cooldown wears off or multiple enemies tend to get one.
 * Entry
 * Entry

Good against...

 * Batrider has problems initiating onto tanky frontline cores like Bristleback. However, Bristleback has to be wary of the turn rate reduction from.


 * applies to all of the Meepo clones in range and Bristleback can still turn his back even during.


 * Bristleback can attempt to bait Huskar into casting on him, after which Bristleback can casually turn around and suffer very little damage. Also, the damage from  can be reduced by turning away from Huskar.


 * Lycan's wolves have trouble dealing damage to Bristleback because he can simply turn away from them. Additionally, Lycan has trouble locking down Bristleback. Consequently, Bristleback can run from Lycan easily and have little fear of dying, even with.


 * The frequent damage ticks of can cause  to activate very frequently, resulting in free damage as long as Bristleback faces away from Jakiro.


 * Riki deals bonus damage when hitting them from behind with his passive... But Bristleback takes reduced damage when being hit from behind. Overall, the match-up heavily favors Bristleback.
 * Bristleback can keep harming an invisible Riki by spamming Quill Spray.
 * Bristleback is not too bothered by . Though he cannott spam his quills manually inside it, it still procs passively when damaged from the back. The movement speed of Warpath also evens out the slow.
 * Riki is not a natural carrier, since the invisibility is wasted on him.
 * Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal Gem of True Sight carrier, the only item-based source of True Sight Riki cannot deal with.

Others

 * 's doesn't protect against melee attacks so Bristleback can Goo him and attack with  inside. Most Arc Wardens focus more on using all their spells and items than on staring at Bristleback, which could prove to be a mistake.
 * spells are next to useless for 's spell steal because Rubick doesn't get the additional benefit of ... Which would be mostly wasted even if he did...
 * Damage over time abilities are next to ineffective against if facing away from the source.

Works well with...

 * Keeper's Chakra Magic makes Bristleback's Quill Spray to Spray twice in a row. Making the enemy in the lane dead or force them to jungle.


 * Essence Aura allows Bristleback to Quill Spray almost indefinitely.


 * Arcane Aura helps Bristleback's mana sustain during whole games.


 * Reason

Others

 * Warlock
 * Tiny
 * Spectre

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