What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
175 buys
2ndSecond most
130 buys
3rdThird most
64 buys
4thFourth most
55 buys
5thFifth most
33 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Bristleback
Melee · Strength
- Win rate
- 49.0%
- Pick share
- 0.7%
- Matches
- 328,107
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsCarryDurableInitiatorNuker
NeedsSupportDisablerTower damageEscape
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 50 min + — that is where this hero measures best, at 53.1% over 720 matches.
- You are playing around Herald — its strongest medal, 53.1% over 15,958 picks.
Avoid
- Batrider is on their side — this hero wins 36.3% of 113 matches against it.
- Phoenix is on their side — this hero wins 38.4% of 146 matches against it.
- Tiny is on their side — this hero wins 39.3% of 168 matches against it.
175 buys130 buys64 buys55 buys33 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Bristleback took at each level.
QViscous Nasal Goo
Covers a target in snot, causing it to have reduced armor and movement speed for 5 seconds.
Unit Target
WQuill Spray
Sprays enemy units with quills dealing damage in an area of effect around Bristleback.
No Target · Instant Cast · Autocast · Physical damage
EBristleback
Bristleback takes less damage if hit on the sides or rear.
Passive
RWarpath
Bristleback works himself up into a fury every time he casts a spell, increasing his movement speed and damage.
PassiveMax Order
WEQ
Max W first, then E, then Q. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QViscous Nasal Goo
- WQuill Spray
- EBristleback
- RWarpath
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QViscous Nasal Goo | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WQuill Spray | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| EBristleback | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RWarpath | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Bristleback performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
105 opponents · public matches40%60%Bristleback's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard
By medal
- Herald53.1%15,958
- Guardian51.5%47,651
- Crusader49.5%64,411
- Archon48.1%68,072
- Legend46.9%52,843
- Ancient45.7%25,380
- Divine45.4%12,274
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min40.3%2,581
- 20–30 min47.0%5,813
- 30–40 min48.9%3,708
- 40–50 min45.3%1,596
- 50 min +53.1%720
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Bristleback
Abilities
Viscous Nasal Goo
Unit TargetCovers a target in snot, causing it to have reduced armor and movement speed for 5 seconds. Multiple casts stack and refresh the duration.
Quill Spray
No Target · Instant Cast · Autocast · Physical damageSprays enemy units with quills dealing damage in an area of effect around Bristleback. Deals bonus damage for every time a unit was hit by Quill Spray in the last 14 seconds.
Bristleback
PassiveBristleback takes less damage if hit on the sides or rear. If Bristleback takes enough damage from the rear, he releases a Quill Spray of the current level.
Hairball
Point Target · AOE · HiddenCoughs a quill-packed hairball towards the target location. Erupts at the location, hitting enemies with Viscous Nasal Goo stacks and Quill Spray.
Warpath
PassiveBristleback works himself up into a fury every time he casts a spell, increasing his movement speed and damage.
Prickly
Passive · Physical damageBristleback has bonus damage and debuff duration amp against enemy heroes that are behind him.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 22 +2.8
- Agility
- 17 +1.8
- Intelligence
- 14 +2.8
- Move · range
- 295 · 150
Talents
- 4Bristleback Damage ThresholdWarpath Damage Per Stack
- 3+25 Health RegenQuill Stack Damage
- 2Goo Cast RangeBristleback Back/Side Damage Reduction
- 1+25 Attack Speed+1.5 Mana Regen
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Bristleback
Adds active ability to Bristleback. Bristleback rotates towards the targeted direction and, after 0.5s, forcefully ejects 5 sequential Quill Sprays in a tight conical pattern out of his back every 0.4s. Bristleback's facing is locked during this time, he is disarmed, and his speed is reduced by -40%.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Hairball
Coughs a quill-packed hairball towards the target location. Erupts at the location, hitting enemies with Viscous Nasal Goo stacks and Quill Spray.
Sources
- Kit, talents and upgrades · mechanicalread 22 Sept 2026
Ability names, icons, behaviour, damage type and text, plus the Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard descriptions — as the game itself ships them. Nothing here was counted over matches.
- Win rate by medal · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The same hero at each of Valve’s eight medals, over 4,610,063 public matches. Each medal carries its own sample, because the eight buckets are nothing like the same size.
- Matchups and match length · counted, on a narrower windowread 16 Sept 2026
Win rate against each opponent and across five match-length bands. This channel reports far fewer games than the medal figures above: the median hero pairing is 51 matches and the largest on the whole roster is 707. Rows under 30 games are absent rather than shown small, and the ones that remain are ORDERED by a figure shrunk toward even by its own sample — the rate you see is the real one, the ranking is the careful one.
- What players build · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The five most common items in each of Valve’s four game stages, with each row’s own pick count.
- Skill order · counted, in league matchesread 3 Oct 2026
Where skill points go, read off every player's own learning order in premium and professional league matches on patches 7.41 and 7.40. Each level shows the ability most players took there and the share that did — a column only a third agree on is printed as a third, not as the rule. Heroes under 30 counted games show no path.
- Situation index · derived, and checkableread 22 Sept 2026
Each situation is a phrase match against Valve’s own ability text, and every row shows the phrases that matched. No win rate is attached, because nobody counts one per situation.
Mechanics are the ones Valve publishes for patch 7.41f. GamGem is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.