Bristleback
* 
Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high HP targets such as Bristleback.
* 
Doom prevents Bristleback from casting his two low cooldown abilities, which then prevents him from utilizing 
Warpath.
* If Doom chooses the Level 25 talent {ValueColor:1|Doom applies Break|25tal} {Symbol:Talent}, he can disable 
Bristleback and Warpath, taking away much of his durability and damage potential in team fights.
Additional:
* Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high health targets such as Bristleback.
* Doom disables Bristleback's low cooldown abilities, preventing him from triggering Warpath. With his upgraded level 25 talent, it also breaks Bristleback's passive, rendering him more vulnerable.
Primal Beast
* Doom disables the toggling of Rot and, if cast at the right time, may leave Pudge with a potentially lethal health drain.
* Doom's naturally high health, strength gain and damage output makes him a poor target for Pudge.
* The damage of Doom's Infernal Blade scales with the target's maximum health, which is particularly effective against Pudge due to his naturally high health and further health granted by stacks of Flesh Heap.
Bristleback
* 
Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to outrun Bristleback, even when slowed by Viscous Nasal Goo.
* 
Corrosive Haze's armor reduction makes Bristleback much less tanky.
Primal Beast
* Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it hard for him to use Meat Hook from the fog of war on Slardar's teammates or Slardar himself.
* 
Slithereen Crush interrupts Pudge while he is using Dismember.
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to avoid Meat Hook.
Bristleback
* 
Shukuchi gets Weaver in front of Bristleback, negating the protection from Bristleback.
* Weaver's mana break talent depletes Bristleback's mana pool, preventing him from spamming abilities.
Primal Beast
* Shukuchi grants Weaver invisibility and a high degree of mobility for a short time, which can make him a difficult target to hook.
* 
The Swarm beetles are difficult for Pudge to remove, due to his low base attack time and poor agility. Additionally, it can be used to can scout out Pudge's location.
* Should an ally get snagged by Meat Hook, Weaver can use 
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Time Lapse on them to send them back to where they were before hooked, even if Pudge has already started to Dismember them.
Bristleback
* 
Essence Shift allows Slark to hit Bristleback freely whether on the front or back, stealing attributes and make Bristleback much less tanky.
* 
Pounce can be used to disengage and recover lost 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.
* 
Dark Pact makes it near impossible to keep the 
Viscous Nasal Goo debuff on Slark.
* Although Dark Pact cannot dispel 
Quill Spray, meaning that Slark will still receive quill stack damage even if he used 
Shadow Dance before.
* Slark builds 
Silver Edge in almost every game, an item that greatly counters Bristleback.
Primal Beast
* Dark Pact dispels Dismember if timed correctly.
* Pounce allows Slark to escape Pudge's Rot once Dismember is over, and allows him to dodge hooks.
* Shadow Dance hides Slark and grants him a high degree of mobility, which can make him a difficult target to hook and also protects him from Pudge's Dismember (including allies with an 
Aghanim's Shard).
Bristleback
* 
Duel makes Bristleback fight Legion Commander face to face, forcing him to take full damage.
* 
Press the Attack dispels the slow from stacks of Viscous Nasal Goo.
Additional:
* When dueled, Bristleback will have to face Legion head on, not allowing his passive Bristleback to come into effect.
Primal Beast
* Legion Commander can use Press the Attack on an ally to dispel Dismember. The bonus health regeneration also partially counters the damage of Rot
* Duel can be used on Pudge whilst Rot is active, disabling toggling which may result in a lethal health drain that leaves Legion Commander with a successful duel.
Bristleback
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Bristleback's small mana pool, preventing him from spamming Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Sprays.
* Bristleback has no innate mobility. Bristleback is easily kited by Blink, ignoring the protection from Bristleback.
Additional:
* 
Mana Break removes both a percentage and flat amount of your mana, preventing Bristleback from using abilities in the lane.
* 
Blink Anti-Mage has very high mobility with this skill, and can easily escape from Bristleback since he has no way to prevent his blink. He can also use this offensively to get in front of Bristleback during fights.
Primal Beast
* If Meat Hook is used before Blink, Anti-Mage may be able to escape Pudge's grasp by blinking to safety.
* 
Counterspell grants Anti-Mage a large degree of magic resistance, a damage type Pudge is highly reliant on to secure kills. This makes Anti-Mage a bad target for Pudge. The active can also block Dismember if timed correctly.
* Mana Break can quickly drain Pudge's low supply of mana, which may render Meat Hook and Dismember unusable.
Bristleback
* Undying's Decay is a dangerous ability against Bristleback, as it makes him more vulnerable and reduces his tankiness.
* Undying's Tombstone together with Flesh Golem can slow Bristleback down significantly.
Primal Beast
* Anti-Tank heroes like: 
Razor, 
Necrophos, 
Undying.
Bristleback
* Eye of the Storm melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
* Static Link can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.
Additional:
* 
Eye of the Storm melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
* 
Static Link can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.
* 
Storm Surge allows Razor to outdistance Bristleback, even with a few stacks of Viscous Nasal Goo on him. Also, if Razor has his Shard, it will deal full damage to Bristleback every time he uses Viscous Nasal Goo (as Bristleback will face him to cast it).
Primal Beast
* Anti-Tank heroes like: Razor, Necrophos, Undying.
Bristleback
* Tanky melee heroes that can easily be kited, which allows Outworld Destroyer to deal heavy damage with Arcane Orb from a distance: 
Sven, 
Underlord, 
Bristleback.
Additional:
* Outworld Destroyer's high burst damage is not negated by Bristleback's passive. So, even if Bristleback turns his back on Outworld, he can decimate Bristleback quickly.
* If Bristleback attempts to flee, or tries to close the gap, Outworld can banish him with 
Astral Imprisonment, 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.
Primal Beast
* 
Sanity's Eclipse deals more damage the less max mana the heroes hit by it have, making Pudge an ideal target.
* Outworld Destroyer can save allies or himself caught by Dismember or Meat Hook with Astral Imprisonment.
Bristleback
* Heartstopper Aura deals percentage-based damage flagged as HP removal, so it is not reduced by Bristleback, nor does it trigger passive Quill Sprays.
* Reaper's Scythe is very effective against Bristleback not only due to its percentage-based damage, but rather because it first stuns and then deals its damage, allowing Necrophos to position in front of Bristleback in time.
Additional:
* 
Reaper's Scythe and 
Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Bristleback's high health.
* Heartstopper Aura's HP removal does not trigger Bristleback's passive.
Primal Beast
* Heartstopper Aura is effective against high health heroes, and Pudge is no exception. Coupled with his self-damage from Rot, being around Heartstopper Aura could prove risky for Pudge.
* Regardless of how much health Pudge gains through Flesh Heap, Reaper's Scythe will often kill Pudge should his health fall below 40%, making Necrophos an ideal counter versus Pudge.
Bristleback
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind), 
Spectre, 
Ursa, and 
Dragon Knight.
Bristleback
* 
Viper Strike can disable Bristleback and prevents Warpath from building stacks. Besides losing his defensive passive, Bristleback also loses his ability to build up damage over lengthy battles.
* Viper can perpetually kite Bristleback with 
Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
Additional:
* 
Nethertoxin disables Bristleback's passive.
* Viper Strike and Poison Attack slow down Bristleback's movement speed, making him unable to get out from Nethertoxin.
Bristleback
* 
Phantom's Embrace silences Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray.
* 
Ink Swell stuns Bristleback and gets allies in position faster with increased movement speed to attack his front, countering his passive ability.
Bristleback
* Bristleback will not be able to cast Viscous Nasal Goo or Quill Spray while silenced, effectively blocking a major part of the hero's damage and preventing Warpath charges from stacking.
* Arcane Curse slows Bristleback down and lasts longer the more abilities he uses. On the other hand, if he doesn't use any abilities, he will begin to lose Warpath charges.
Additional:
* 
Arcane Curse stacks every time Bristleback uses an ability, forcing him to stop spamming his abilities, or take heavy health degeneration.
* 
Glaives of Wisdom steals intelligence both permanently and temporarily, causing mana issues for Bristleback.
* 
Last Word and 
Global Silence stops Bristleback from using his abilities altogether.
Primal Beast
* 
Impale and 
Spiked Carapace can be used to cancel Dismember easily, and can even do so when Pudge uses it on Nyx Assassin, if timed correctly.
Primal Beast
* Abaddon can activate 
Borrowed Time to dispel Dismember; breaking the disable and potentially allowing Abaddon to escape.
* 
Aphotic Shield can be cast on an ally to dispel the stun of Dismember, which can make kills difficult to secure, given that Dismember is Pudge's only reliable disable.
* Pudge lacks a mobility without a 
Blink Dagger, causing him to be easily chased with 
Curse of Avernus. The silence also prevents him from toggling off his Rot.
Primal Beast
* 
Void's mini-stun and silence from 
Crippling Fear will stop Pudge from using Dismember or turning off his Rot.
* Night Stalker has naturally high health, strength gain and common itemization for survivability through magic resistance, making Night Stalker a poor target for Pudge.
Primal Beast
* 
Kraken Shell can dispel Dismember after reaching a certain threshold of damage.
* Tidehunter's naturally high health, strength gain, and common itemization for survivability through magic resistance makes Tidehunter a poor target.
Primal Beast
* If Meat Hook is used before 
Leap, Mirana may be able to escape Pudge's grasp by leaping to safety.
* The invisibility from 
Moonlight Shadow gives a degree of mobility, which can make Mirana or her teammates difficult targets to hook.
* 
Sacred Arrow can be used to cancel Dismember from long distances.
Bristleback
* 
Sharpshooter deals massive damage to Bristleback and applies a high duration disable on his passive.
* 
Bushwhack and 
Scurry can be used to easily kite Bristleback.
Additional:
* Bristleback and Warpath can be disabled by Hoodwink's Sharpshooter ability for a long period of time, reducing his both offense and defense.
* Scurry and Bushwhack can be used to kite bristleback.
Bristleback
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: 
Axe, 
Pudge, Bristleback, 
Mars.
Bristleback
* Heroes that withstand damage like 
Timbersaw, Bristleback, Dragon Knight and others will have their durability largely reduced when hit by an Ice Blast due to the risk of shattering.
Bristleback
* 
Batrider's turn rate slow from 
Sticky Napalm makes it harder for Bristleback to keep his back towards the enemy.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with many summons or illusions are much harder to catch with Meat Hook: 
Nature's Prophet, 
Phantom Lancer, 
Chen.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: 
Ember Spirit, 
Riki, 
Clinkz, 
Queen of Pain.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: Ember Spirit, Riki, Clinkz, Queen of Pain.
Bristleback
* 
Lion's 
Mana Drain 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.
Bristleback
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, 
Phantom Assassin, 
Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, 
Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Primal Beast
* Generally heroes who don't rely on magical damage, such as Sven, Phantom Assassin, and 
Outworld Destroyer, as they can practically ignore Flesh Heap's damage block.
Bristleback
* Time Dilation while Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Bristleback nearly useless.
* Bristleback cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the front, completely bypassing his passive damage reduction.
Additional:
* 
Time Dilation prevents Bristleback from spamming his low-cooldown abilities, greatly reducing his damage and effectiveness.
* 
Chronosphere 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 
Time Walk.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who recklessly jump on Pudge with their gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember Combo: Phantom Assassin, 
Faceless Void, Queen of Pain etc.
Primal Beast
* 
Track can easily keep vision on Pudge, making it very hard for him to hook Bounty Hunter or his teammates from the fog of war.
* 
Shuriken Toss cancels Dismember from great range.
Bristleback
* Bristleback's Viscous Nasal Goo can catch and slow Bounty Hunter. Warpath and Quill Spray can defeat him quickly due to his small HP pool when compared to Bristleback's.
Primal Beast
* The lifesteal of 
Feast scales accordingly to the max health of its target, which is effective against Pudge due to his high health and further health granted by stacks of Flesh Heap.
* Lifestealer can activate 
Rage to be spell immune, making Rot deal no damage.
* Pudge's plentiful health makes him an ideal target for Lifestealer's Aghanim's Shard ability, 
Open Wounds.
Bristleback
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback, Clinkz, 
Luna,
Shadow Fiend, 
Slardar, 
Terrorblade
Bristleback
* Viscous Nasal Goo can hinder Crystal Maiden's already abysmal mobility, which allows Bristleback (or his teammates) to run her down and kill her.
* Bristleback frequently builds 
Blade Mail, which can quickly kill Crystal Maiden if her ultimate is used while he is under its effect.
* The passive part of Bristleback will trigger many, many times under the damage from Freezing Field, and as the stacks increase, the damage output from each successive cast (or proc) will eat away at Crystal Maiden's small HP pool.
Primal Beast
* Meat Hook can cancel 
Freezing Field, even if Crystal Maiden has 
Glimmer Cape.
* She is also slow and fragile, making her a good target for ganking.
Bristleback
* Bristleback's constant harass from Quill Spray will greatly hurt Enigma's laning and kill his Eidolons.
* However, Bristleback has no way of canceling 
Black Hole at all. And Bristleback is not a hero that goes for disabling items to counter that problem.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who build a Black King Bar (or have any sources of spell immunity) to channel abilities/items can still get interrupted by Dismember: 
Enigma, 
Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, 
Pugna, 
Elder Titan.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray is very effective against Io, as it has very low armor and has to stay close to the fight to not break its Tether.
Bristleback
* Tiny's nonexistent armor in the early game makes him very vulnerable to Quill Spray's large amounts of physical damage.
* Bristleback decreases Tiny's high burst damage against Bristleback.
* Viscous Nasal Goo can slow Tiny to a crawl and allows Bristleback to easily kite him with his high movement speed and Quill Spray's long range, as Tiny has no ability to escape.
Primal Beast
* Meat Hook can be used to pull Tinker to Pudge while he is hiding in the trees, and a follow up with Dismember and Rot can lead to a valuable kill, as Tinker doesn't buy many survivability items.
* Flesh Heap makes it hard for Tinker to deal serious damage.
Bristleback
* Bristleback reduces most of Broodmother's and her spiderlings' damage.
* Quill Spray will hit any spiders in its proximity, hindering Broodmother's fighting and farming capabilities.
Additional:
* 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.
Primal Beast
* Zeus likes to stay far back in fights, dealing his damage uninterrupted, but once he gets hooked into the fight, he usually dies very quickly.
* Pudge's high strength from Flesh Heap makes it very hard for Zeus to burst him down.
* Zeus' low health pool makes him very vulnerable to the damage from Meat Hook, Rot and Dismember.
Primal Beast
* Pudge's Dismember stops Spectre from escaping with 
Haunt.
* He can easily tank the damage reflected by 
Dispersion due to his high strength and the healing from Dismember.
* Should Spectre try to get away through the trees or over a cliff with 
Spectral Dagger, Pudge can hook her back.
* Spectre takes a long time to become powerful, and Pudge can ruin her early game with ganks.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray will hit Sand King inside 
Sand Storm, damaging him and putting Sand King's Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from escaping.
* 
Epicenter's numerous damage ticks will trigger Bristleback's passive repeatedly during teamfights.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray's constant AoE damage will hit Dark Willow even in Shadow Realm. Its automatic damage will hurt her if she tries to get close and use Bedlam.
Bristleback
* Pudge is particularly susceptible to Bristleback's Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray due to his naturally low armor and poor agility gain.
* Bristleback, in combination with his strength gain, high health, common itemization for magic resistance and damage reduction from Bristleback makes him a poor target for Pudge.
Additional:
* Bristleback is one of the hardest heroes to gank with a 
Meat Hook and 
Dismember combo, and attempts to do so sometimes backfire on Pudge.
Bristleback
* Bristleback's tankiness and Bristleback allow him to outlast Burning Spears' damage-over-time at almost any point in the game. In addition, if Huskar chooses to cast Life Break on Bristleback, Bristleback can simply turn around before it hits and receive little damage.
* Viscous Nasal Goo will reduce Huskar's low armor even further, and Quill Spray and Warpath will tear him down extremely quickly.
Additional:
* The damage from 
Burning Spear can be reduced by turning away from Huskar.
* Bristleback can bait Huskar into using 
Life Break on him, then turn around and receive very little damage.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray usually hits Meepo's clones, although Bristleback cannot turn his back when rooted with 
Earthbind.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray can be used to kill Lycan's summons.
* Bristleback allows him to stay alive against Lycan while dishing out counter attacks
* He can overpower Lycan with his Warpath instead.
Additional:
* 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.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray and Bristleback harass Luna more efficiently than she does with Lucent Beam.
* Bristleback helps return a lot of damage to Luna’s team if she uses her nukes on him and he has his back to her, and her only way to counter this is by buying Silver Edge.
* Viscous Nasal Goo and Warpath are enough to outrun a speedy Luna.
* Bristleback tends to be a frequent carrier of 
Crimson Guard and 
Eternal Shroud, which are good protection from 
Moon Glaives and 
Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Bristleback makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Bristleback
* Lone Druid and The Spirit Bear cannot burst down Bristleback due to Bristleback
* Bristleback can easily run to Lone Druid without any hesitation, with Viscous Nasal Goo to reduce armor and slow the Spirit Bear or Lone Druid and Quill Spray can deal damage to both Lone Druid and the Spirit Bear at the same time
Bristleback
* Using Focus Fire on Bristleback tends to fare badly for Windranger, as he can trigger passive Quill Sprays many times, especially when she attacks him from behind. In addition, Windrun does not protect her from both Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray, rendering her helpless.
* Bristleback's natural tankiness makes it hard for Windranger to effectively burst her down throughout the game.
* Bristleback tends to continuously spam Viscous Nasal Goo to slow down Windranger when she uses Windrun to escape, potentially allowing him to outrun her with his Warpath stacks.
* Bristleback can build 
Lotus Orb to reflect Shackleshot and Focus Fire back at Windranger.
Additional:
* Combo Quill Spray and items Blade Mail can easily trigger from Focus Fire damage.
Bristleback
* Viscous Nasal Goo slows down Dragon Knight and lowers armor, locking him down and making him more vulnerable.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who build a Black King Bar (or have any sources of spell immunity) to channel abilities/items can still get interrupted by Dismember: Enigma, Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, Pugna, Elder Titan.
Bristleback
* Axe, Bristleback, 
Centaur Warrunner, 
Spirit Breaker, Pudge, 
Huskar, 
Wraith King, 
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
Bristleback
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: 
Tidehunter, Bristleback, Slardar.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who have low or high armor but very high health will be difficult for drow to burst down quickly: 
Primal Beast, Axe, Centaur Warrunner.
Additional:
* Meat Hook can pull Drow Ranger to Pudge, disabling her 
Marksmanship.
* Following up with Dismember will prevent Drow Ranger from using 
Gust or 
Shadow Blade.
Bristleback
* Heroes with damage-over-time abilities easily allow Bristleback to turn his back in order to proc Bristleback continuously and to massively reduce to damage dealt to him: 
Arc Warden, 
Venomancer, Luna.
Additional:
* Arc Warden has relatively lower armor and mobility, which makes him an easy target to apply Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo stacks.
* Arc Warden also does not like to build a Silver Edge as it takes a long time to build up and may slow down the timings for other important items needed in the game like 
Gleipnir.
* However, do note that in a game where Arc Warden's team has many jumping capabilities or good passives, like a Tidehunter or Spectre, a Silver Edge becomes incredibly valuable on Arc Warden as not only can he run away from the jumps, he effectively gets 2 breaks, and Bristleback may not be the best pick.
Bristleback
* Axe forces Bristleback to turn around with 
Berserker's Call, allowing allies to attack him without fear of his passive.
Bristleback
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback, 
Crystal Maiden, Batrider, Arc Warden, 
Winter Wyvern, 
Clockwerk
Primal Beast
* Long lockdown is a great way to deal with Axe to prevent Berserker's Call from being used, heroes such as 
Legion Commander, 
Beastmaster and Primal Beast are good examples of this.
Bristleback
* Heroes with damage-over-time abilities easily allow Bristleback to turn his back in order to proc Bristleback continuously and to massively reduce to damage dealt to him: Arc Warden, Venomancer, Luna.
Primal Beast
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: 
Shadow Shaman, 
Witch Doctor, Enigma, 
Bane.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who build a Black King Bar (or have any sources of spell immunity) to channel abilities/items can still get interrupted by Dismember: Enigma, Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, Pugna, Elder Titan.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who build a Black King Bar (or have any sources of spell immunity) to channel abilities/items can still get interrupted by Dismember: Enigma, Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, Pugna, Elder Titan.
Bristleback
* Spirit Breaker's 
Nether Strike with Aghanim's Shard disables Bristleback's passives.
Bristleback
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, 
Leshrac, 
Death Prophet, 
Jakiro.
Primal Beast
* Durable heroes: Axe, 
Dawnbreaker, Bristleback, Mars, 
Omniknight, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Primal Beast, Underlord.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who have high health are a problem for Sniper because he likes to attack the closest target and sit at the back, much like a Terrorblade so when that hero doesn't die; he's forced to show his position for a very long time: Centaur Warrunner, Legion Commander, Primal Beast.
Additional:
* Sniper has a low health pool and strength gain, making him vulnerable to Pudge's magical and pure damage.
* Sniper usually likes to deal damage away from the fight, and Meat Hook is capable of bringing him to the front lines.
* 
Assassinate won't do much damage against Pudge because of his high strength gain and the strength bonuses from Flesh Heap.
* 
Shrapnel will be mostly blocked by Flesh Heap's active.
Primal Beast
* Abilities that deal low damage with high amounts of instances are irrelevant against Pudge during Flesh Heap's active: 
Gyrocopter's 
Rocket Barrage and 
Dark Seer's 
Ion Shell are just a couple examples.
Primal Beast
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman, Witch Doctor, Enigma, Bane.
Primal Beast
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman, Witch Doctor, Enigma, Bane.
Primal Beast
* Fragile,slow heroes whom Pudge can outlive (Crystal Maiden,
Muerta,
Sniper)
Primal Beast
* Abilities that deal low damage with high amounts of instances are irrelevant against Pudge during Flesh Heap's active: Gyrocopter's Rocket Barrage and Dark Seer's Ion Shell are just a couple examples.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: Ember Spirit, Riki, Clinkz, Queen of Pain.
Bristleback
* The bonus Backstab damage from Cloak and Dagger is rendered irrelevant with Bristleback and hurts Riki more than him because of the passive Quill Spray.
* Riki can still get damaged by Bristleback's Quill Spray while invisible, and it can be hard to deal with in lane.
* Bristleback is not too bothered by 
Smoke Screen. Though he cannot use Quill Spray manually inside it, it still procs passively when he takes damage from the back. The movement speed from Warpath allows him to get out of the area easily.
* Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal 
Gem of True Sight carrier.
* Riki rarely buys Silver Edge to break Bristleback's passive because the invisibility aspect of it is redundant.
Additional:
* Quill Spray will hit Riki even when he is invisible.
* 
Cloak and Dagger's bonus backstab damage is rendered irrelevant against Bristleback.
* Smoke Screen does not stop Bristleback's passive from activating.
* Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal Gem of True Sight carrier, directly countering Riki's invisibility.
Primal Beast
* Generally heroes who don't rely on magical damage, such as Sven, Phantom Assassin, and Outworld Destroyer, as they can practically ignore Flesh Heap's damage block.
Primal Beast
* If Phantom Assassin jumps on Pudge first with 
Phantom Strike, she will be a very easy target for Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember combo.
* Even though it can deal damage based on Pudge's max health, 
Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard cannot disable Pudge's 
Flesh Heap as Flesh Heap is one of the few passive abilities that cannot be disabled by break.
* Both Meat Hook and Dismember ignore spell immunity which allows Pudge to disable Phantom Assassin even while she has 
Black King Bar active.
* Pudge occassionally buys armor items like Blade Mail, which in combination with many stacks from Flesh Heap can make Phantom Assassin have little effect against Pudge.
Primal Beast
* Any heroes that naturally buy 
Diffusal Blade like Phantom Lancer or have a mana break talent is a big issue for Pudge because of his low mana pool.
Bristleback
* 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 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 Diffusal Blade.
Additional:
* 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 Diffusal Blade.
Primal Beast
* Unlike any other illusion heroes, Chaos Knight is the worst target for Pudge to hook as it will definitely backfire him.
* 
Phantasm are significantly tankier than most illusion and deal full damage, which will quickly kill Pudge due to his low armor.
* it becomes worse if pudge is affected with 
Reality Rift, which reduces his already abysmal base armor even lower.
* Low movement speed and low mobility means Pudge will struggle to escape or outrun Chaos Knight in most cases.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray quickly destroys Chaos Knight's Phantasms.
Bristleback
* Terrorblade's 
Sunder is not affected by the Bristleback damage reduction.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with abilities that can lock down Terrorblade and prevent him from using Sunder: Bane, Batrider, 
Earthshaker, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, 
Invoker, Legion Commander, Mars, Primal Beast, Riki, Shadow Shaman, 
Silencer, 
Vengeful Spirit, 
Void Spirit.
Primal Beast
* Oracle can negate and shut down Primal Beast simply with Fate's Edict, especially in the early game, as a majority of his damage-dealing spells are magic.
* Oracle can interrupt Primal Beast's 
Onslaught charge with a well-timed Fortune's End.
* Primal Beast's lethal burst damage combos can be further stalled with False Promise; combined with Fate's Edict and regen from Purifying Flames, Oracle can even completely negate Primal Beast's offense.
Bristleback
* Fortune's End cannot dispel Warpath stacks on Bristleback or Quill Spray stacks on allies.
* Bristleback can heavily reduce Oracle's damage output. With it, Oracle may accidentally heal Bristleback with Purifying Flames, especially if Bristleback has bonus magic resistance.
Bristleback
* While Jakiro's damage is going to be little more then average against him due to his Bristleback. His large quantity of stuns can prevent Bristleback from getting his much needed Warpath stacks, while also giving his allies a chance to counter his high defense.
* Dual Breath and Liquid Frost both reduce Movement Speed, removing one of Bristlebacks greatest strengths.
* Liquid Fire reduces Bristlebacks Attack Speed, making it harder for him to burst down a hero with Warpath.
* However Bristleback can generally catch and kill a lone Jakiro. And Jakiro is only effective in a group.
Bristleback
* 
Macropyre's frequent damage ticks causes Bristleback to activate repeatedly, resulting in free damage as long as Bristleback faces away from Jakiro.
Primal Beast
* Meat Hook can prove annoying for Pudge if Rubick 
Spell Steals it, allowing Rubick to easily hook and save his allies being Dismembered.
Bristleback
* Rubick deals little damage on his own, and Bristleback can simply shrug off all his spells and chase Rubick down with his Quill Spray and the damage bonus from Warpath.
* Rubick does not tend to charge forward in teamfights, stay in the front lines under most circumstances, yet effective casts of Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo requires the opposite as they require multiple casts and close range to add up stacks.
* Rubick does not benefit from Warpath through casting the stolen spell.
Additional:
* Bristleback's abilities are nearly useless for Rubick to Spell Steal, as he does not gain the bonuses from Warpath.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with many summons or illusions are much harder to catch with Meat Hook: Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Chen.
Bristleback
* Heroes that have AoE damage: 
Lina, 
Keeper of the Light, Timbersaw, Leshrac, Bristleback, Axe.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: Ember Spirit, Riki, Clinkz, Queen of Pain.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who recklessly jump on Pudge with their gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember Combo: Phantom Assassin, Faceless Void, Queen of Pain etc.
Bristleback
*
Whirling Death deals damage while also reducing {Show:A|Timbersaw|Whirling Death|value4} of Bristleback's strength, making him less tanky.
Reactive Armor can sustain through multiple Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray stacks.
Timber Chain makes it hard for Bristleback to slow down Timbersaw even with Viscous Nasal Goo.
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Primal Beast
* The percentage-based primary-attribute reduction effect of
Whirling Death can be devastating for Pudge due to his high strength gain through Flesh Heap.
Reactive Armor's health regeneration and common itemization for magic resistance and durability makes Timbersaw a poor target for Pudge.
Timber Chain's high mobility makes it difficult for Pudge to hook or deal much Rot damage to Timbersaw.
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