Earthshaker
* 
Poison Attack and 
Viper Strike allowing to kite and slow Earthshaker significally, putting 
Blink Dagger on cooldown and preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* 
Nethertoxin breaks Aftershock. The silence from Level 25 talent also prevents Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
Additional:
* Being a melee hero, Earthshaker's movement is liable to suppression by Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
* Earthshaker's kit, with the exception of 
Enchant Totem, deals magic damage. 
Corrosive Skin effectively blunts his killing potential with a standard Blink combo among other things.
* Nethertoxin disables 
Aftershock, which removes the stun and bonus damage from Enchant Totem and 
Echo Slam.
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:
* Nethertoxin disables 
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.
Earthshaker
* 
Static Link drains the damage bonus from Enchant Totem, until he purchase 
Aghanim's Scepter or 
Force Staff to break it.
* 
Storm Surge with Razor's high mobility items can easily avoid all of Earthshaker abilities.
* 
Plasma Field & 
Eye of the Storm prevents Earthshaker escaping from Blink Dagger.
Additional:
* Static Link drains Earthshaker's bonus damage from Enchant Totem until he purchases an Aghanim's Scepter or Force Staff to break it.
* Eye of the Storm and Plasma Field can disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
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.
Earthshaker
* 
Silencer's 
Global Silence and 
Doom's 
Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
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.
Earthshaker
* Supernova allows Phoenix to save himself (or an ally, with Aghanim's Scepter) through Echo Slam. Earthshaker will also have a difficult time destroying the supernova, due to his low base attack time and poor agility.
* Icarus Dive can pass through Earthshaker's 
Fissure.
* Most of Phoenix's abilities disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a good period of time due to the damage-over-time nature of its spells.
Bristleback
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: 
Axe, 
Pudge, 
Bristleback, 
Mars.
Earthshaker
* Silencer's Global Silence and Doom's Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
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 gets an Aghanim's Scepter, he can disable Bristleback and Warpath, taking away much of his durability and damage potential in team fights.
Earthshaker
* Frequent healing from 
Death Pulse and 
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves or 
Pipe of Insight makes it difficult for Earthshaker to execute his combo with Echo Slam.
* Necrophos usually buys 
Radiance to improve their burning aura damage from 
Heartstopper Aura will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* 
Reaper's Scythe allows to kill Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo (although Earthshaker is rarely a primary target).
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.
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
* 
Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to outrun Bristleback, even when slowed by Viscous Nasal Goo.
* 
Corrosive Haze's armor reduction makes Bristleback much less tanky.
Earthshaker
* 
Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past Fissure.
* 
Haunt will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* On the other hand, Haunt will amplify damage done from Echo Slam. Use this to your advantage.
Additional:
* Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Earthshaker's initiation attempts.
* Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past Fissure.
* Earthshaker often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so 
Desolate can be very effective against him.
* Beware that the Haunt illusions amplify the damage done from Echo Slam, which can prove fatal for Spectre's own team.
Earthshaker
* 
Thundergod's Wrath will often disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger before a fight starts.
Earthshaker
* Both 
Ice Path and 
Macropyre are the good setup against Earthshaker after he jumps in with Blink Dagger, and stay out of Echo Slam initiation radius.
* Jakiro's damage over time abilities can potentially disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger.
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
* 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.
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.
Earthshaker
* Ignite can prevent Earthshaker from escaping and/or initiating with Blink Dagger.
* Fireblast and Unrefined Fireblast may help prevent Earthshaker follow through with his combo after landing an Echo Slam.
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.
Earthshaker
* 
Arcane Bolt allows Skywrath Mage to harass Earthshaker out of lane.
* 
Ancient Seal is an instant silence that can be pre-cast onto Earthshaker to disrupt his combo, before he uses Blink Dagger to initiate.
* 
Mystic Flare will nuke Earthshaker down while he stands in place during his long cast animations.
Earthshaker
* 
Geomagnetic Grip can be used to silence Earthshaker after he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
* 
Magnetize does damage over time and thus disables Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a long time.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: 
Clinkz, 
Slark, 
Storm Spirit
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.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like Slark in his Shadow Dance and 
Weaver in his 
Shukuchi.
Additional:
* Earthshaker's many AoE stuns help lock down Slark and will often waste the duration of Shadow Dance.
* As a frequent Force Staff buyer, he can later on escape or save teammates from Pounce.
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.
Earthshaker
* Death Prophet's 
Crypt Swarm and 
Spirit Siphon can repetively damage Earthshaker, preventing him from using Blink Dagger.
* 
Silence can be used to silence Earthshaker after he blinks in with Blink Dagger, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Spirits from 
Exorcism are completely invulnerable and cannot interact with anything at all, which will greatly weaken damage from Echo Slam. This can put Earthshaker in a serious disadvantage against Death Prophet.
Earthshaker
* Her 
Psionic Traps will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* 
Refraction blocks all of Earthshaker's abilities.
Earthshaker
* 
Shrapnel can be used to disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger from long range.
* 
Take Aim allows Sniper to harass Earthshaker in lane, and stay out of Echo Slam initiation radius.
Additional:
* Sniper is able to kite Earthshaker with his very long range.
* Sniper can dodge Earthshaker's stuns like Fissure and Enchant Totem with mobility items such as Blink Dagger, Force Staff/
Hurricane Pike and 
Shadow Blade/Silver Edge.
* Sharpnel can be used to cancel Earthshaker's Blink Dagger and preventing effective use of his Echo Slam in a majority of situations.
Earthshaker
* 
Thunder Strike can be used to cancel Earthshaker's Blink Dagger.
* 
Glimpse brings Earthshaker back after he jumps on Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem.
* 
Static Storm if used on a fight can prevent Earthshaker from executing his combo after blinking in with Blink Dagger.
Earthshaker
* Battery Assault will continuously interrupt Earthshaker's long cast animations.
* Power Cogs can also trap Earthshaker after he initiates.
Additional:
* 
Battery Assault interrupts Earthshaker's long cast animations, preventing him from using any abilities apart from Echo Slam.
* 
Power Cogs often separate the battlefield so that both enemies and allies are unlikely to cluster.
* 
Rocket Flare allows Clockwerk to scout Earthshaker before a fight starts and potentially cancel his Blink Dagger.
* 
Hookshot enables Clockwerk to catch Earthshaker before he gets a chance to initiate a fight.
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.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: Clinkz, Slark, Storm Spirit
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.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker must be careful not to use Blink Dagger or Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem to blink into 
Riki's 
Smoke Screen or 
Night Stalker's 
Crippling Fear, as these field effects will instantly silence Earthshaker and prevent him from initiating.
Additional:
* Fissure has a short stun and creates an impassable ridge. However, Night Stalker can fly over it during Dark Ascension.
* Night Stalker can find Earthshaker, disable his Blink Dagger with Void, and then take him out with Crippling Fear.
* Earthshaker may fail his blink combo against Night Stalker's team if he is not careful, as he can blink into the silence.
Earthshaker
* 
Warlock often stays back and counter-initiates by dropping his 
Chaotic Offering on Earthshaker and his allies.
Earthshaker
* 
Invoker's 
E.M.P. is extremely effective against Earthshaker due to his low natural mana.
Bristleback
* 
Shadow Demon's 
Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passives.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: Clinkz, Slark, Storm Spirit
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.
Earthshaker
* Techies is very good against roaming supports and gankers such as 
Bounty Hunter, Riki, Weaver, 
Earthshaker, 
Nyx Assassin, etc. that are constantly moving around the map.
Bristleback
* 
Batrider's turn rate slow from 
Sticky Napalm makes it harder for Bristleback to keep his back towards the enemy.
Earthshaker
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time works well against Earthshaker's which completes lack of mobility.
* 
Plague Wards are useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown if Venomancer has vision over Earthshaker.
Additional:
* Earthshaker can be kited by Venomancer's slows, which is lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is very useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
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.
Earthshaker
* 
Rage prevents Earthshaker from damaging and stunning Lifestealer.
* 
Feast is very effective against Earthshaker, because of him being a strength hero, allowing Lifestealer to heavily harass and kill him.
* 
Open Wounds prevents Earthshaker from escaping after he initiated.
* 
Infest gives Lifestealer an easy way to escape should he get caught out by Earthshaker. And against carry Earthshaker, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can be used to disarm Earthshaker and attack him from within, rendering him unable to attack with Enchant Totem.
Bristleback
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback, Clinkz, Luna,
Shadow Fiend, 
Slardar, 
Terrorblade
Earthshaker
* Luna's 
Lucent Beams and 
Eclipse will prevent Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initiate against Earthshaker after he uses Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem.
* Skilled Luna can buy either {I|Gleipnir
Additional:
* Luna's Lucent Beams and Eclipse will prevent Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initiate against Earthshaker after he uses Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem.
* Skilled Luna can buy either {I|Gleipnir
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.
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.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like Slark in his Shadow Dance and Weaver in his Shukuchi.
Earthshaker
* 
Phase Shift allows Puck to dodge all of Earthshaker's abilites.
* 
Waning Rift disables Earthshaker's stuns, leaving him and his team vulnerable.
* 
Dream Coil takes a stun from Earthshaker if he tries to escape from Blink Dagger or Enchant Totem upgraded from Aghanim's Scepter.
Bristleback
* Axe, Bristleback, 
Centaur Warrunner, 
Spirit Breaker, Pudge, 
Huskar, 
Wraith King: 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.
Earthshaker
* Fissure does a great job at interrupting 
Black Hole immediately, especially with Blink Dagger and 
Aether Lens.
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to the eidolons created by 
Demonic Conversion.
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.
Earthshaker
* A well landed Fissure can potentially take Lycan out of the fight for several seconds, who heavily relies on precious seconds from Black king bar and Shapeshift to fight.
* Aftershock reduces the effectiveness of his summons and can prove quite irritating for Lycan.
* Echo Slam is very powerful with the sheer amount of Lycan's units and will cause him to think twice when pushing towers.
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.
Earthshaker
* Aftershock in combination with Enchant Totem prevents Broodmother from continuing to attack Earthshaker without being repeatedly stunned.
* Echo Slam is greatly amplified by Spiderlings, often instantly killing Broodmother, her swarm, and anyone else unfortunate enough to be nearby.
* Earthshaker's vast amount of stuns makes it difficult for Broodmother to continue attacking enemies (to continue lifestealing with Insatiable Hunger) without 
Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases phenomenally due to Broodmother's hordes of spiderlings and spiderites.
* Long ranged Fissures can hit Broodmother if she runs into the treeline at the edges of the map.
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.
Earthshaker
* Phantom Lancer's many illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Echo Slam deals tremendous damage when multiplied by Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Earthshaker's AoE abilities can quickly kill Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Enchant Totem with Aghanim's Scepter gives Cleave to help destroy illusions.
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.
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam will deal a colossal amount of damage to your Phantasms, as will Fissure at lower levels.
* The area stuns from Aftershock will always stun Chaos Knight's illusions, since they can't use Black King Bar.
* However, Earthshaker should not attempt to fight a farmed Chaos Knight, since he will be completely obliterated by Chaos Knight's colossal damage output, even if he managed to land an Echo Slam
Additional:
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to Chaos Knight's 
Phantasm illusions.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray quickly destroys Chaos Knight's Phantasms.
Earthshaker
* Each of Meepo's clones count as real heroes, meaning that an Echo Slam hitting them will deal catastrophic damage to Meepo and his team.
* Eathshaker's AoE stuns can interrupt Meepo's 
Poof cast animation.
Additional:
* Echo Slam deals catastrophic damage against a cluster of Meepos and anyone nearby.
* He can potentially stunlock any number of Meepos for a fairly long duration, often enough to finish one off.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray usually hits Meepo's clones, although Bristleback cannot turn his back when rooted with 
Earthbind.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: 
Crystal Maiden, 
Witch Doctor, 
Bane, 
Pugna, Pudge.
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.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
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.
Earthshaker
* Treants increase Echo Slam's damage.
* Earthshaker's AoE stuns can hit Nature's Prophet through 
Sprout, without having direct line of sight, in order to interrupt 
Teleportation.
Additional:
* Echo Slam can do a lot of damage to Nature's Prophet and his teammates if they stand close to his Treants.
Bristleback
* Heroes that have AoE damage: 
Lina, 
Keeper of the Light, Timbersaw, 
Leshrac, Bristleback, Axe.
Earthshaker
* Melee carries who usually buy an early Black King Bar, and have gap closing abilities can be good against the Arc Warden, such as Slark, Riki, Earthshaker with Aghanim's Scepter, 
Sven with Aghanim's Scepter etc.
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
* 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
* 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.
Earthshaker
* Having many summons out will cause Echo Slam to deal extra damage.
Bristleback
* Viscous Nasal Goo slows down Dragon Knight and lowers armor, locking him down and making him more vulnerable.
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam is good against Snowball since it bunches everyone up. This can set up some prime opportunities for Blink Echo Slams.
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.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's Aftershock combos and Fissure can stun Muerta consecutively and minimize Pierce the Veil's effective duration.
Bristleback
* Spirit Breaker's 
Nether Strike with 
Aghanim's Shard disables Bristleback's passives.
Earthshaker
* Fissure interrupts Spirit Breaker during 
Charge of Darkness.
Bristleback
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, 
Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, 
Death Prophet.
Earthshaker
* 
Mirror Image's illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Earthshaker's strong AoE abilities can clear Naga Siren's illusions, or at least make it easier to distinguish the real one by the damage they take.
* Echo Slam deals more damage against more enemies, which can be devestating against Naga Siren and her illusions.
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.
Earthshaker
* All of his spells can stun Elder Titan and interrupt Echo Stomp's channeling thanks to Aftershock.
* Fissure is particularly good for that purpose thanks to its long range.
* Elder Titan relies heavily on his spells and a chain-stun combo will usually be followed by certain death.
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.
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam will deal immense damage due to the amount of creeps Chen will have.
* Fissure and Enchant Totem deal large amounts of AOE damage, wearing down non-ancient creeps that Chen converts.
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
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: Tidehunter, Bristleback, Slardar.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: 
Necrophos, 
Phoenix, 
Alchemist, Earthshaker, Razor, 
Tinker, Leshrac, 
Queen of Pain
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.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
Earthshaker
* 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.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker must be careful not to use Blink Dagger or Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem to blink into Riki's Smoke Screen or Night Stalker's Crippling Fear, as these field effects will instantly silence Earthshaker and prevent him from initiating.
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.
Bristleback
* Terrorblade's 
Sunder is not affected by the Bristleback damage reduction.
Earthshaker
* 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.
Earthshaker
* Windrun can be used to dodge Earthshaker's abilities if Windranger has a quick reaction time.
* Focus Fire and Windrun allows Windranger to kite Earthshaker.
* A Windranger with fast fingers can prevent Earthshaker from using Fissure with Shackleshot.
Bristleback
* Combo Quill Spray and items Blade Mail can easily trigger from Focus Fire damage.
Additional:
* Focus Fire potentially trigger with Quill Spray very harassing and passive abilities from Bristleback Bristleback and Warpath stacked damage. Additionally,Combination Quill Spray and Blade Mail is very possible kill her's since Windranger's activated Focus Fire. At the same time,Windrun does not protect from Quill Spray.
* Bristleback's tanky in late game build 
Heart of Tarrasque and 
Vanguard until upgrade Crimson Guard or 
Abyssal Blade is very difficult for Windranger's kill Bristleback and her can need more damage.
* Spamming Viscous Nasal Goo is very harder Windranger's Windrun movement speed. Bristleback combinating build 
Assault Cuirass also render Windranger's loss armor.
* Bristleback must build 
Lotus Orb cause make reflects Windranger's target hard 
Shackleshot and 
Focus Fire.
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.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's AoE stuns can save ally against Duel, forcing Legion Commander to spend Aghanim's Scepter or Black King Bar.
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
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.
Earthshaker
* Zombies summoned from Tombstone will amplify the damage of Echo Slam due to them increasing the echo damage.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's stuns will rarely save him once Huskar has initiated on him with Life Break.
* A full initiation combo will not kill Huskar, only lower his health and increase his attack speed.
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.
Earthshaker
* Outworld Destroyer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Earthshaker.
Astral Imprisonment catches Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
Arcane Orb, therefore depleting his mana pool and mana regeneration.
Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Earthshaker, due to his low intelligence and mana pool.
*
* Earthshaker has mana troubles, and Outworld Destroyer's abilities can press this by stealing intelligence comes 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