Head-to-head Dota 2 7.41e win rate from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Slark wins the Bristleback vs Slark matchup: Slark beats Bristleback in 60.08% of 1,418 ranked matches.
Picking Bristleback early often feels like an open invitation for the enemy to grab Slark. The matchup is fundamentally lopsided because Slark's Essence Shift directly punishes everything Bristleback wants to do. Bristleback needs to stay in fights for a long time to be effective, but this gives Slark a free pass to steal huge amounts of Agility, shredding armor and attack speed. Pounce is also a massive problem, as it leashes Bristleback and prevents him from turning away to protect himself. If the Quill Spray damage ever gets dangerous, Slark can reset with Shadow Dance, heal up, and re-engage on a weakened opponent. It’s a fight Bristleback can’t win by attrition.
How the matchup shifts across skill brackets — Bristleback's win rate against Slark in recent ranked matches, split by average match rank. Ranks with too few recent matches are omitted. These rows use the last 30 days of quality-filtered ranked matches, all patches in that span combined — a wider window than the patch-scoped count above, so the per-rank match totals can exceed it.
| Rank | Bristleback win rate | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Herald & Guardian | 42.13% | 978 |
| Crusader & Archon | 41.94% | 1,967 |
| Legend & Ancient | 39.35% | 1,141 |
| Divine & Immortal | 41.84% | 282 |
Bristleback's win rate against Slark in each recent balance patch — whether this matchup is trending up or down. Patches without enough matches are omitted.
| Patch | Bristleback win rate | Change | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.41e | 39.92% | ▼ -3.5pp | 1,418 |
| 7.41d | 43.45% | ▲ +0.2pp | 153,163 |
| 7.41c | 43.25% | ▼ -0.3pp | 97,464 |
| 7.41b | 43.56% | — | 123,886 |
Move this data into a draft
Bristleback starts on Radiant and Slark on Dire. Add the other eight picks to see whether this head-to-head edge survives the full draft.
Data updated Aug 11, 2026.