Dragon Knight
* In the early game, a Dragon Knight without 
Black King Bar is basically defenseless against Viper.
* Viper can harass Dragon Knight at any time with his 
Poison Attack and 
Nethertoxin.
* 
Corrosive Skin reduces damage from Dragon Fire and inflicts damage to him.
* 
Viper Strike disables Dragon Blood, negating his main survivability.
* Viper Strike and Poison Attack can severely slow him down even with his Elder Dragon Form.
Additional:
* Dragon Knight is easily harassed by Poison Attack after the laning stage ends.
* Corrosive Skin protects Viper from 
Breathe Fire and returns damage.
* Viper Strike can disable 
Dragon Blood, Dragon's Knight main source of armor and health regeneration.
* Between Poison Attack and Viper Strike, Viper can keep Dragon Knight permanently slowed even in 
Elder Dragon Form.
Bristleback
* Nethertoxin disables Bristleback's passive.
* Viper Strike and Poison Attack slow down Bristleback's movement speed, making him unable to get out from Nethertoxin.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* 
Static Link saps Dragon Knight of his already low base damage, making him even more useless in a fight if he gets kited.
* 
Storm Surge makes Razor much faster than Dragon Knight, and hard to catch.
* 
Eye of the Storm melts Dragon Knight's armor and bypasses Black King Bar, his core item.
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.
* 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).
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.
Dragon Knight
* Timbersaw's pure damage will kill Dragon Knight surprisingly fast, especially if he gets caught in a bad position while laning.
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.
Dragon Knight
* Counterspell can helpful blocked off to 
Dragon Tail.
Additional:
* 
Counterspell makes Anti-Mage exceptionally resistant to Breathe Fire, Dragon Tail, Fireball (requires 
Aghanim's Shard) and Elder Dragon Form's attacks. Its active component also blocks and reflects Dragon Tail back at Dragon Knight.
* 
Mana Break drains Dragon Knight's small mana pool, although it won't affect Dragon Knight much if he is in his Elder Dragon Form.
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.
Dragon Knight
* 
Slardar can chase Dragon Knight down with 
Guardian Sprint and stun him with both 
Slithereen Crush and his passive 
Bash of the Deep. He can also use 
Corrosive Haze to whittle Dragon Knight's armor.
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.
Dragon Knight
* Durable heroes relied a lot on their main passive effects and items' effects such as 
Bristleback, 
Underlord, 
Spectre and 
Dragon Knight can be disabled easily with 
Sharpshooter's break, reducing their potential in teamfights.
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.
Dragon Knight
* 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.
Bristleback
* 
Shadow Demon's 
Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passives.
Dragon Knight
* 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.
Additional:
* 
Cold Feet and 
Ice Vortex both hinder Dragon Knight's movement greatly during teamfights.
* 
Ice Blast ignores Dragon Knight's armor, disables his health regeneration, and kills him prematurely.
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.
Dragon Knight
* 
Fury swipes can tear Dragon knight down as it stacks infinitely.
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.
Dragon Knight
* Lich's constant slows with 
Frost Blast and 
Chain Frost will slow Dragon Knight to a crawl, especially in a crowded teamfight.
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.
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.
Dragon Knight
* Dragon Knight has no built-in disengage from 
Frost Arrows, and 
Marksmanship procs ignore base armor, bypassing Dragon Knight’s durability for the most part, making Drow one of the few heroes that can deal enough sustained damage to solo kill Dragon Knight.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Frost Arrows also apply hypothermia stacks, reducing her target’s regen, which is especially potent against tanks like Dragon Knight. (A similar effect can also be achieved with an 
Eye of Skadi).
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.
Bristleback
* 
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.
Additional:
* 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.
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
* 
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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* 
Heartstopper Aura and 
Reaper's Scythe go right through Dragon Knight's armor.
Bristleback
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* 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
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes who rely strongly on melee physical damage will fare badly against Omniknight's Guardian Angel: Phantom Assassin, 
Juggernaut, Dragon Knight, 
Lycan, Ursa, 
Troll Warlord
Dragon Knight
* Heroes with long cooldowns on their abilities or ultimate will struggle against the relentless pressure provided by 
Fiend's Gate: 
Terrorblade, Dragon Knight, 
Omniknight.
Dragon Knight
* 
Elder Titan's 
Natural Order completely nullifies Dragon Knight's high armor.
Dragon Knight
* Because Exorcism's damage is not reduce by damage block abilities or items, Death Prophet can be very good against heroes who rely on armor to survive: 
Axe, Terrorblade, 
Morphling, Dragon Knight
Bristleback
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, 
Pudge, Bristleback, 
Mars.
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.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that relies on armor or other type of physical damage negation are easy for Gyrocopter to take down during the early game with his magical damage: Axe, Dragon Knight, Sven.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes who rely on burst physical damage are affected by Lucky Shot's disarm: Terrorblade, Sven, 
Clinkz, 
Windranger, 
Alchemist, Dragon Knight, 
Legion Commander
Bristleback
* Terrorblade's 
Sunder is not affected by the Bristleback damage reduction.
Bristleback
* 
Batrider's turn rate slow from 
Sticky Napalm makes it harder for Bristleback to keep his back towards the enemy.
Dragon Knight
* The dragon's splash damage wears down his illusions.
* Early harassment with Breath of Fire hinders his farming.
* Fireball stops his pushes and allows for a defence.
Additional:
* Breathe Fire and Elder Dragon Form's splash damage takes out Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly.
* If Dragon Knight can Dragon Tail the real Phantom Lancer, he and his team can quickly kill him before he has a chance to escape.
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 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.
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 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.
Dragon Knight
* Dragon Blood's armor bonus greatly reduces the damage dealt by Phantasm.
* Breathe Fire and Elder Dragon Form's splash damage quickly destroy illusions and reduces their damage output.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray quickly destroys Chaos Knight's 
Phantasms.
Dragon Knight
* Riki does little damage to Dragon Knight, as he relies only on physical damage with modest attack speed and lack of burst.
Bristleback
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Breathe Fire will clear Broodmother's spiderites while significantly damaging her spiderlings and decreasing their damage output.
* Dragon Blood's added armor and regen mitigates the damage done by Broodmother and her spiders.
* Elder Dragon Form at level 2 and above applies splash damage to Dragon Knight's auto attacks.
Bristleback
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Dragon Knight's insanely high armor and splash damage can cause Lycan to struggle taking him 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,
Bloodseeker, 
Lifestealer, Troll Warlord, Sven
Bristleback
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback, Clinkz, 
Luna,
Shadow Fiend, Slardar, Terrorblade
Dragon Knight
* Despite the armor reduction from 
Meld, Templar Assassin's reliance on physical damage and medium attack speed is unlikely to harm Dragon Knight.
* Templar Assassin's Refraction charges also get quickly removed by the damage over time from Dragon Knight's ultimate.
Additional:
* The damage over time from Dragon Knight's Elder Dragon Form rapidly burns down Refraction, allowing him to attack her.
* Also, Breathe Fire reduces Templar Assassin's damage and Dragon Tail is a stun with a considerable duration, letting him and his team whittle her health down once her defenses wear off.
* Templar Assassin will struggle to kill Dragon Knight thanks to his high armor and health regen from Dragon Blood as she deals entirely physical damage.
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.
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.
Bristleback
* Bristleback's abilities are nearly useless for Rubick to 
Spell Steal, as he does not gain the bonuses from Warpath.
Additional:
* 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.
Bristleback
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Dragon Knight's heavy armor negates 
Vendetta's burst physical damage. His large HP pool also gives him a good chance of surviving Nyx Assassin's follow-up nuke damage.
Bristleback
* 
Spirit Breaker's 
Nether Strike with Aghanim's Shard disables Bristleback's passives.
Dragon Knight
* Spirit Breaker's slow attack speed and moderate damage do very little to harm Dragon Knight, even if ganked with 
Charge of Darkness.
Bristleback
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, 
Razor, Axe, Bristleback, 
Leshrac, 
Death Prophet, 
Jakiro.
Dragon Knight
* 
Death Ward does little damage against Dragon Knight's armor, and Dragon Knight's high health regeneration minimizes damage from 
Maledict.
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
* 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
* Combo Quill Spray and items Blade Mail can easily trigger from Focus Fire damage.
Additional:
* 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.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray usually hits Meepo's clones, although Bristleback cannot turn his back when rooted with 
Earthbind.
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.
Dragon Knight
* Dragon Knight can simply tank and destroy all Shadow Shaman's Serpent Wards.
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
* 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
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damage can make quick work of Chen's converted creeps and at same time gain farm: 
Magnus, Jakiro, Shadow Fiend, 
Kunkka, Luna, Dragon Knight, 
Medusa, Alchemist.
Dragon Knight
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe, Dragon Knight, 
Night Stalker, 
Centaur Warrunner, 
Wraith King and more.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes whose attacks can affect multiple enemies at once will clear Naga Siren's illusions. Such heroes include Sven, Magnus, Dragon Knight, Luna, Medusa, 
Templar Assassin, 
Gyrocopter, 
Muerta.
Dragon Knight
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: 
Huskar, 
Faceless Void, 
Weaver, 
Abaddon, Troll Warlord, Alchemist, Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, 
Viper.
Bristleback
* Heroes that have AoE damage: 
Lina, 
Keeper of the Light, Timbersaw, Leshrac, Bristleback, Axe.
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
* 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:
* 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.
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,Bloodseeker, Lifestealer, Troll Warlord, Sven
Dragon Knight
* Heroes with high armor and/or durability can handle Juggernaut's ultimate, such as Sven and Dragon Knight.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes who can match Void Spirit's mobility (like the aforementioned 
Ember Spirit or 
Queen of Pain) or tank his spells (Dragon Knight or Centaur Warrunner) are very problematic for him.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,Bloodseeker, Lifestealer, Troll Warlord, Sven
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that reduce the damage that Marci can deal during her ultimate, like Razor, 
Rubick, 
Bane, Dragon Knight and Underlord.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like Phantom Assassin, 
Riki and 
Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
Additional:
* The extra damage from 
Searing Arrows is largely blocked by Dragon Knight's armor.
* Clinkz has too low health to survive a gank.Getting stunned keeps him down long enough for a reaction.
* Breathe Fire reduces his damage, as he almost exclusively deals physical damage.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes with high armor and durability can be exceptionally hard for Bloodseeker to bring down: Dragon Knight, Axe
Additional:
* Bloodseeker's physical damage is unlikely to kill Dragon Knight, and therefore rarely get a chance to recover the large amount of HP from 
Bloodrage.
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.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,Bloodseeker, Lifestealer, Troll Warlord, Sven
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Dragon Knight, Mars, Centaur Warrunner.
Bristleback
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: Tidehunter, Bristleback, Slardar.
Dragon Knight
* Huskar can burn down Dragon Knight's health quickly during the early to mid game, but is not as effective during the late game. However, 
Life Break remains a constant threat due to the slow and percentage-based damage.
Additional:
* Huskar can negate Dragon Knight's passive with multiple trades of Burning Spear.
Bristleback
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* Shadow Fiend's 
Presence of the Dark Lord reduces Dragon Knight's armor considerably, and his strong base attacks are augmented by his 
Necromastery.
Dragon Knight
* Dragon Tail can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls.
* Breathe Fire reduces Shadow Fiend's damage even further.
* Dragon Knight's high strength and Dragon Blood means that he'll be able to tank Shadow Fiend's right clicks.
Dragon Knight
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, 
Pugna, 
Earthshaker.
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.
Dragon Knight
* In general, heroes that can slow down Dragon Knight's movement speed will do well against him. This includes Venomancer and others in addition to the heroes mentioned above.
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.
Bristleback
* 
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.
Additional:
* 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.
Dragon Knight
* If Silencer can't prevent Dragon Knight from using Elder Dragon Form, Silencer's spells aren't going to be that effective against him, as Dragon Knight relies on right-clicks and not spells.
* Dragon Blood's armor bonus and health regeneration allows Dragon Knight to stay in the lane against Glaives of Wisdom.
* Dragon Knight often builds Black King Bar, allowing him to remove Global Silence before engaging.
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.
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
Dragon Knight
*
Arcane Orb's constant pure damage output is devastating to Dragon Knight. 
Sanity's Eclipse, which also bypasses his armor.
* Dragon Knight's relatively low mana pool leads to heavy damage from
Bristleback
* 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.
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.
* If Bristleback attempts to flee, or tries to close the gap, Outworld can banish him with