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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’re able to 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 attempt 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:
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 mustignore 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
As a support
Now that you know how to counter Bristleback, you’re able to also counter the lack of interesting news by readingmore of our stuff!
