How Bristleback and Vengeful Spirit perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Bristleback and Vengeful Spirit win 53.19% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 12,389 matches.
Taking down Roshan or an early tower often feels smoother with this pair. The core of it is how Vengeful Spirit amplifies Bristleback’s damage output. Wave of Terror reduces enemy armor, making every stack of Quill Spray hit harder since it deals physical damage. This effect isn't flashy, but it adds up quickly in a fight, especially against durable heroes who would otherwise ignore Bristleback. Vengeance Aura also gives a respectable boost to Bristleback’s own right-clicks as he's running targets down. It’s a straightforward way to make his constant pressure more lethal.
This setup often leads to an aggressive mid-game. Vengeful Spirit can initiate with a stun, apply her armor reduction, and let Bristleback run in to stack his spells for a kill. It makes ganks more reliable. If Bristleback gets focused and kited, Nether Swap provides a decent escape option, repositioning him to get his back turned or pulling him out of trouble entirely. The opposing team has to play carefully, as they can't afford to let Bristleback get on top of them when his physical damage is being boosted.
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 | 59.66% | 1,056 |
| Crusader & Archon | 52.34% | 2,077 |
| Legend & Ancient | 50.13% | 1,193 |
| Divine & Immortal | 46.25% | 240 |
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 | 53.19% | ▲ +0.2pp | 12,389 |
| 7.41d | 53.03% | ▲ +0.6pp | 144,857 |
| 7.41c | 52.45% | ▼ -0.9pp | 47,617 |
| 7.41b | 53.34% | — | 49,087 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.