How Bristleback and Earth Spirit perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Bristleback and Earth Spirit win 48.64% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 4,069 matches.
Setting up a gank with this pair can look pretty clean on paper. Earth Spirit can roll in and kick an enemy right into the path of a charging Bristleback, preventing any immediate escape. This gives Bristleback a perfect window to apply stacks of Nasal Goo and Quill Spray, ensuring the target can't easily turn and run. The initial stun and displacement from Earth Spirit holds someone down long enough for Bristleback to get his engine started, which is often all he needs to secure a kill on a lone target.
However, the overall impact across a full game tends to even out. Bristleback is already good at chasing, and Earth Spirit’s setup is often not the deciding factor in whether he gets a kill. In bigger five-on-five fights, their plans can diverge; Earth Spirit might be looking for a pick-off on a support while Bristleback is posturing against the enemy core. The combo requires a specific opportunity that doesn't always present itself, so while they can work together, they don't fundamentally change each other's game plan.
How this pairing performs across skill brackets — the duo's team win rate 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 | Team win rate | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Herald & Guardian | 47.50% | 240 |
| Crusader & Archon | 47.30% | 666 |
| Legend & Ancient | 45.67% | 600 |
| Divine & Immortal | 54.37% | 206 |
This duo's team win rate in each recent balance patch — whether the pairing is trending up or down. Patches without enough matches are omitted.
| Patch | Team win rate | Change | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.41e | 48.64% | ▼ -0.6pp | 4,069 |
| 7.41d | 49.19% | ▼ -1.3pp | 38,923 |
| 7.41c | 50.54% | ▼ -0.7pp | 16,592 |
| 7.41b | 51.28% | — | 17,731 |
Move this data into a draft
Both heroes start on Radiant. Fill the remaining slots to test this pairing inside a complete draft and get next-pick recommendations.
Data updated Aug 17, 2026.