How Bristleback and Phantom Assassin perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Bristleback and Phantom Assassin win 51.06% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 16,543 matches.
Having two physical damage cores on one team can put a strain on the map's resources and make the overall strategy predictable. Bristleback is excellent at creating chaos by running at the enemy team, forcing them to turn and focus him. This can give Phantom Assassin the space she needs to find a good angle for a Phantom Strike on a vulnerable support. The armor reduction from Viscous Nasal Goo also directly benefits PA’s burst potential against that primary target. However, the synergy is fairly one-dimensional, as neither hero brings the lockdown needed to reliably hold an enemy in place.
This duo often has to play apart in the mid-game. Bristleback can pressure an objective, hoping to draw rotations while Phantom Assassin farms safely elsewhere. When they do fight together, success hinges on PA being able to execute a key target before Bristleback gets kited or overwhelmed by magic damage. Enemies will typically itemize for armor and evasion of their own, knowing exactly what kind of damage is coming. Without strong lockdown from their supports, the pair can struggle to close out kills on mobile heroes.
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 | 53.26% | 2,009 |
| Crusader & Archon | 48.69% | 2,793 |
| Legend & Ancient | 42.73% | 1,196 |
| Divine & Immortal | 40.49% | 205 |
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 | 51.06% | ▲ +0.1pp | 16,543 |
| 7.41d | 50.97% | ▼ -0.4pp | 203,308 |
| 7.41c | 51.36% | ▼ -0.4pp | 99,858 |
| 7.41b | 51.73% | — | 102,262 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.