Uncovering the Dominant Bristleback Strategy at The International

It was a diverse Dota 2 meta pros and viewers alike experienced at The International this year but it was clear by the event’s conclusion one offlane hero stood above all others.

The Rise of Bristleback

Strangely, however, the pros were actually making distinct changes to the hero’s item builds that appeared to be more effective than in ranked play.

Bristleback saw plenty of interest from teams at TI, recording 40 picks and 70 bans throughout the tournament, according to Dota stats site Spectral. Mostly played in position three, the hero’s popularity in ranked matches has only grown in Patch 7.34d, but the bulk of the player base is still living in the past regarding his ability build.

In almost every case at TI, the pros opted to max out Bristle’s Q, Viscous Nasal Goo, after leveling Quill Spray up first. The movement slow plus the armor reduction allows Bristle to be a little more active through the early-to-mid game, while the inherent power of the Strength attribute in this patch makes up for the tankiness offered by the hero’s passive.

The Winning Strategy

The most common build at TI saw Bristle players go for Quill Spray at levels one and three, picking up the E in-between in order to ensure they’d get the Quill proc after damage was taken to Bristleback’s rear.

Then, it’s all about maxing out Quill Spray and Goo to keep up with their opponents. The hero’s ultimate, Warpath, is always picked as soon as they hit level six.

Pros were even choosing to max Goo before touching the level 10 Talent option, which makes sense given how underwhelming the Talent option feels. The fourth level of Q does a lot more than the 1.5 bonus mana regen, allowing Bristleback to truly lock down a hero and lay on the damage.

Item builds don’t differ too much apart from a greedier start used by pros. Instead of grabbing Boots as soon as possible, pro Bristle players saved starting gold and finished a Vanguard. Despite its heavy regen and damage block nerfs in 7.33c it’s still a premium pickup for Bristle before going straight for Arcane Boots and an Aghanims Scepter.

The Power of Aghanims Scepter

The Aghs Scepter upgrade to the Bristleback passive has proven incredibly strong, with the multiple stacks of directed Quill Spray ripping through armor and health and building up Quill stacks for further procs of the W to continue inflicting damage.

This spellcaster-style Bristle build only gets better with a Bloodstone for spell lifesteal and a Lotus Orb for a little extra tankiness and spell reflection. In all, with the Strength trait as strong as it is and Bristleback’s bonus armor and health, pros avoid further tanky items and aim to support the team by Goo’ing up enemy heroes and bursting them down with quills.

Looking Towards the Future

While his success at TI was limited thanks to effects like Break to cancel his passive and Silver Edge to burst through his armor, he remained a core centerpiece of the TI meta and a common go-to for Dota’s very best.

The only question, though: Will Bristle be hit with the post-TI Dota 2 nerfs? We’ll know for sure in the coming weeks when we can expect the meta to shift before the 2023 competitive season comes to a close.