Bristleback/Counters

Bad against...

 * removes both a percentage and flat amount of your mana, preventing you from using abilities in the lane.
 * Anti-Mage has very high mobility with this skill, and can easily escape from you since you have no way to prevent his blink. He can also use this offensively to get in front of you during fights.


 * 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 reposition and hit Bristleback from the front, bypassing his defensive bonus from behind.
 * Bristleback has no way to prevent Void from using.


 * 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.


 * deals massive damage to Bristleback and applies a high duration disable on his passive.
 * and can be used to easily kite Bristleback.


 * 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.


 * only triggers Bristleback's passive once, and deals high damage against Bristleback's low intelligence.
 * Outworld Destroyer's high burst damage is not negated by Bristleback's passive, So even if Bristleback turns his back on Outworld, Outworld Destroyer can decimate Bristleback quickly,
 * If Bristleback attempts to flee, or tries to close the gap, Outworld can banish him with, both reducing Bristlebacks much needed mana, and allowing Outworld to move in front of him, forcing him to take the full damage from his spells, This will also allow Outworld to land a devasting Sanity's Eclipse, without it being reduced by Bristleback's passive,


 * melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
 * can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.
 * allows Razor to outdistance Bristleback, even with a few stacks of Viscous Nasal Goo on him, Also, if Razor has his Shard, but Bristalback does not, Viscous Nasal Goo will deal damage to Bristalback every time he uses it, And normally, it won't be affected by Bristlebacks Passive, as Bristleback will face him to cast it.


 * stacks every time Bristleback uses an ability, forcing him to stop spamming his abilities, or take heavy health degeneration.
 * steals intelligence both permanently and temporarily, causing mana issues for Bristleback.
 * 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.


 * allows Slark to hit bristleback freely whether on the front or back, stealing attributes and make bristleback much less tanky.
 * can be used to disengage and recover loss HP with his ultimate passive, and can return to fight in a short period while bristleback is already injured and got some of his attributes stolen.
 * makes it near impossible to keep debuff on slark.
 * Although cannot dispel, means Slark will still receive quill stack damage even if he uses  before.
 * Slark builds in almost every game, an item that greatly counter birstleback.


 * 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 with  disables Bristleback's passives.
 * 's with  disables Bristleback's passives.
 * 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.
 * disables Bristleback's passives, 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.
 * reduces 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...

 * 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.


 * 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.


 * Bristleback's tankiness and damage reduction from the rear makes him very hard for Phantom Lancer to chase and finish off, due to his lack of burst damage.
 * Quill Spray quickly destroys Phantom Lancer's illusions.
 * Bristleback's passive costs no mana, meaning that it will continue to trigger even if Phantom Lancer drains Bristleback's mana with.


 * 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/Neutralizações Bristleback/Противостоящие