Bristleback vs Dazzle

How this matchup plays

Picking Dazzle into Bristleback presents a fascinating dilemma. The armor reduction from Dazzle’s spell casts is a direct answer to what makes Bristleback so durable, making him much easier for physical damage dealers to bring down. A few quick spells can shred the armor Bristleback relies on to stay in the fight. On the other hand, Bristleback’s damage profile is the opposite of what Shallow Grave is designed to counter. He doesn’t rely on a single big burst of damage. Instead, he applies constant pressure with Quill Spray, which allows him to simply outlast the Grave's duration and finish the job.

In practice, teamfights revolve around which hero can enable their strategy first. Dazzle’s team will try to coordinate to burst the newly fragile Bristleback down before he can get too many quills off. If they succeed, the fight is often won. The Bristleback player knows this and will often try to maneuver around the primary target. He can threaten Dazzle's entire team with stacking damage, forcing the priest to choose between saving one ally with Shallow Grave or watching the rest of his team slowly die to a thousand needles.