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 (unless you have an Aghanim's Scepter).
 * will melt your low armor and makes you more fragile.
 * can completely drain all your damage given by and give it to Razor.


 * The easiest way to deal with a Bristleback is to prevent him from turning so he can be attacked from the front, and Shadow Shaman is the best hero in the game to do that because of.


 * receives a stack everytime Bristleback casts a spell, so unless he stops using his spell for 10s (or 6s in the rare case that it is not cast in the moment he uses an ability) every 14s, the debuff will last until the fight is over or someone dispels him. This is much even worse as multiple instances of Arcane Curse do stack.
 * and also prevent him from using his spell at all, taking away a bit portion of his damage potential, while not preventing Arcane Curse's effect, as its duration counter is paused during silences.
 * will cut right through all armor and magic resistance bonuses he usually buys.


 * 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.
 * (with )
 * (with )
 * Axe's Berserker's Call make his passive doesn't work because Axe fights Bristleback face to face.
 * 's is not affected by the  damage reduction.
 * Heroes with an attack/spell that instantly deals massive damage at one instance will only proc once and not multiple times during each damage instance, so a spell that does net damage of 420 or more will still only proc Bristleback once. The passive does not benefit from overcapping a damage source.

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.


 * The bonus Backstab damage from is rendered irrelevant with.
 * Bristleback can keep harming an invisible Riki by spamming.
 * Bristleback is not too bothered by . Though he cannot use Quill Spray manually inside it, it still procs passively when damaged from the back. The movement speed of 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 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.
 * two active spells are next to useless for 's because Rubick doesn't get the additional benefit of.
 * Damage over time abilities are next to ineffective against if facing away from the source. Furthermore, because the passive will not proc multiple times if a single damage instance overcaps, Bristleback will always be proccing on damage-over-time effects

Works well with...

 * allows Bristleback to Quill Spray twice in a row.


 * allows Bristleback to Quill Spray almost indefinitely.


 * helps Bristleback's mana sustain during whole games.

Others

 * Warlock
 * Tiny
 * Spectre

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