Bristleback vs Dark Willow

How this matchup plays

Controlling Bristleback often backfires for Dark Willow. Her spells like Cursed Crown and Bramble Maze are great for locking heroes down, but they also tend to deal damage in small increments. Each tick of damage helps trigger Bristleback's passive, launching Quill Sprays back at her and anyone nearby. This means her attempts to control him can make him even more dangerous. Dark Willow relies on magical burst to be effective, but she lacks the right kind of damage to chew through his defenses, especially once he turns his back to reduce the impact of a full-duration Shadow Realm attack.

The result is that Bristleback can often play aggressively into Dark Willow's side of the map with little fear. In teamfights, he can run directly at her, forcing her to choose between using her spells on him or saving them for a better target. Dark Willow's best counterplay is to use Terrorize to force him out of position or make him face her allies, setting up a kill for cores with higher physical damage. If her team can't capitalize on that window, Bristleback will usually survive her combo and run her down.