Bristleback/Counters

Bad against...

 * quickly depletes Bristleback's low mana, denying him the ability to spam Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo.
 * Bristleback has no way to prevent Anti-Mage from using.


 * 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.


 * 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.


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


 * forces Bristleback to face Lich, exposing him to damage.
 * reduces damage to a single target, counteracting Warpath and Viscous Nasal Goo.
 * Lich's plethora of slows make it easy to kite Bristleback.


 * 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.


 * gets Weaver in front of Bristleback, negating the protection from the Bristleback passive.
 * Weaver's mana break talent depletes Bristleback's mana pool, preventing him from spamming abilities.

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 Bristleback's 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.
 * cancels health regen and wears Bristleback down with percentage-based damage.
 * burns Bristleback's mana, which lessens his ability to spam Quill Spray.
 * and its upgrade provide protection against Quill Spray, and Bristleback's only means of dealing damage are through Quill Spray and basic attacks. In addition, he doesn't like purchasing dispelling items like  and.

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 damage burst may be high, but it will not be enough 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 cannot 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.
 * 's armor reduction improves Quill Spray's damage output.


 * ' slow works well with Viscous Nasal Goo.


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


 * '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/Combinações Bristleback/Противостоящие