How Bristleback and Clockwerk perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Bristleback and Clockwerk win 45.75% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 2,776 matches.
Pairing these two seems like a clear setup for kills, with Clockwerk's Cogs holding a target in place for Bristleback. The issue is that Bristleback isn't a burst damage hero who can guarantee a kill during that short lockdown. He excels in long, messy fights where he can build up damage over time. A hero trapped by Hookshot might survive the initial Cogs duration and then simply walk away or kite him. Bristleback wants to be in the middle of the enemy team applying Quill Spray to everyone, not necessarily focusing on the single target that Clockwerk has isolated.
This creates a conflict of purpose in mid-game teamfights. Clockwerk wants to dive a high-value support or core in the backline, but Bristleback is a frontline hero who's often too slow to follow up on such a deep initiation. This can result in Clockwerk being stranded and killed before Bristleback can even join the relevant part of the fight. The two heroes end up wanting to fight on different parts of the battlefield, which prevents them from building any real momentum together and turning a pickoff into a decisive teamfight win.
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 | 45.55% | 191 |
| Crusader & Archon | 44.94% | 405 |
| Legend & Ancient | 42.12% | 330 |
| Divine & Immortal | 49.15% | 118 |
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 | 45.75% | ▼ -1.5pp | 2,776 |
| 7.41d | 47.23% | ▼ -1.2pp | 38,834 |
| 7.41c | 48.47% | ▼ -1.1pp | 21,761 |
| 7.41b | 49.55% | — | 15,805 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.