Doesn’t matter the patch, Bristleback is annoying. Follow this guide and learn how to counter him with the correct items, heroes, and strategies.
Bristleback is one of Dota 2's best heroes for beginners, and it's certainly hard to counter. While you can manage the laning phase with correct itemization, team fights are a nightmare. All of this gets harder when you don't know the basics of the hero. Here, you will learn not only which heroes are strong against him, but also how to understand his weaknesses.
Bristleback is mostly played in the offlane. However, some players try to surprise the enemy by using him as carry, or even midlaner. Jokes aside, this hero will only be strong on the offlane. If you find him in other lanes, the following knowledge about him still applies:
- Strong laner: Bristleback farms and harasses without compromises thanks to his quill spray. Most strong carries are melee, getting close to the creeps becomes a nightmare for them.
- Item progression: He doesn't need too many items, just needs to rush Aghanim's Scepter to dominate the mid-game.
- Flash farmer: It's not only the lane, Bristleback can stack and farm the jungle by himself. Thus, he makes reaching Aghanims Scepter + Bloodstone a very simple task.
How to counter Bristleback in Dota 2?
The first thing you need to understand is that Bristleback is balanced. This means, you can counter him with certain items, timings, and hero combinations.
The laning phase
This may sound obvious, but never ever start your lane against Bristleback without a Magic Stick. Upgrade it to Magic Wand as soon as possible, and don't be afraid to spend some money on tangos.
But remember, don't let Bristleback stack too many quill spray charges. They reset every 14 seconds, be mindful about this.
Team fighting
This is not a hero you want to gank, since he will take advantage. Unless you have a strong magic burst to nuke him, or a chain of stuns, try to engage Bristleback with enough teammates. To counter Bristleback during a teamfight in Dota 2, you must ignore him.
Focus on the supports that will enable him. Bristleback should be stunned and ignored unless he's not ready to fight. Also, try to force him to take as many fights as possible before the Aghanim's Scepter. This will break his economy and delay his power spike.
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Itemization
If you're a core, you may want to let the supports counter him with items and focus on your items. On very particular situations, you can counter Bristleback with a fast Dagon, since magical burst will always hurt him.
Silver Edge is a nice item for cores, since you always benefit from breaking his passives. But this is not an item you should rush. In the end, it's a 5v5 game. Don't stress trying to counter only him, since this is the second reason why he's so strong: Players focus on him and forget about the rest.
As previously said, it's different for supports. Eul scepter is one of the best items against him, since you will buy a lot of time for your team to restart fights with it. You also want to focus on Force Staff, not only to save yourself, but to save teammates and let them restart the fourteen-second window.
Glimmer's Cape is a good item, but it's not a priority unless it also helps against other heroes. Invisible or not, Bristleback will just spam Quill Spray; you may also be slowed by Nasal Goo anyway.
Best heroes to counter Bristleback in Dota 2
If you see a Bristleback in the menu, there are certain heroes that won't let him play at all. If you don't see any hard counters, give these options a try:
As a core
- Legion Commander: Front-facing Bristleback is the best ways to harm him. Duel not only allows this, but also disables him for a long duration, preventing him from using the Scepter upgrade.
- Viper: Applies break in area with Nethertoxin, slows him, and deals magical damage from a safe distance.
- Slark: The fishy-fishy enthusiast loves long teamfights. With Bristleback tanking for the whole duration of the fight, he'll get a lot of agility stacks. Also, Slark is a good Silver Edge holder.
- Axe: Bristleback likes to risk his position to make damage, and he is usually low HP as a result. DUNK HIM.
- Drow ranger: Builds Hurricane Pike, silences in area, slows, repositions with ease, has a lot of range. There are too many reasons to pick Drow against Bristleback. But be careful, don't pick her against other heroes with good catch, like Clockwerk.
As a support
- Shadow Demon: Don't wait for Eul's Scepter. Just disable him from minute one with Disruption, while dealing a ton of magical damage to him. Also, Demonic Purge applies break.
- Hoodwink: Sharpshooter, her ult, applies break up to five seconds. She also has a great disable ability and repositions easily.
- Bane: Same as how Legion Commander works, you can help your team hit Bristleback in the face while channeling Fiend's Grip, Bane's ultimate.
- Ancient apparition: Bristleback's late game is scary due to the Spell Lifesteal he gets with Bloodstone. You can prevent him from healing with Ice Blast.
- Pugna / Keeper of the Light: Supports with a great amount of magical burst damage are good counters during teamfights. Pugna and KOTL are great, because they also heal and control him in 5v5 scenarios.
Now that you know how to counter Bristleback, you can also counter the lack of interesting news by reading more of our stuff!
