Doom
[wiki] rating: 3.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 2%)Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 2.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Dark Willow
* Rage protects and dispels all of Dark Willow's abilities.
Additional:
* Rage protects Lifestealer from all of Dark Willow's abilities.
Arc Warden
* Slark,
Lifestealer,
Morphling and such with a good escape mechanism are a nuisance to deal with in the early-game.
Axe
* Feast's lifesteal makes it nearly impossible for Axe to initiate and bring Lifestealer's health low enough for Culling Blade, even with many procs of Counter Helix.
* Feast's healing is calculated as a percentage of a target's max health, turning Axe's high health against him. This allows Lifestealer to trade against Axe much better than most other heroes.
Additional:
* Feast makes it impossible to put Lifestealer's health for a Culling Blade and also deals high damage to Axe due to his naturally high health.
* However, Lifestealer's Rage can be pierced by Berserker's Call.
Sven
[wiki] rating: 2.2 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage is fairly fragile, and cannot stand against Sven in a prolonged fight.
* Sven's Black King Bar and low base mana protects against
Mana Break.
* Great Cleave destroys the illusions from Anti-Mage's Manta Style.
* Although Sven should be careful as a well-timed Counterspell can block and reflect Storm Hammer.
Arc Warden
* Heroes who depends on illusions and summons: Naga Siren,
Terrorblade,
Arc Warden,
Broodmother.
Dark Willow
* Fragile supports who die in a few hits against Sven's high physical damage: Crystal Maiden,
Vengeful Spirit,
Dark Willow.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Axe
* Outworld Destroyer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Axe.
* Astral Imprisonment is an excellent way to defend against an initiating Axe.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Axe due to his low mana pool.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call bonus armor doesn't block Arcane Orb's pure damage.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to prevent an ally or Outworld Devourer himself from an Axe initiation.
* Axe's low mana means he's susceptible to a powerful Sanity's Eclipse.
Anti-Mage
* Arcane Orb's pure damage goes through
Counterspell, and deals splash damage to illusions spawned from
Manta Style.
* Sanity's Eclipse hits Anti-Mage while he is disabled with
Astral Imprisonment, and forces him to take heavy damage due to his low intelligence.
* Essence Flux keeps Outworld Destroyer at high mana, thus greatly reducing the damage from
Mana Void.
Additional:
* Counterspell doesn't work versus Arcane Orb because it does pure damage.
* Anti-Mage cannot burn all of Outworld Devourer's mana without disables due to Essence Flux.
* Anti-Mage's Manta Style illusions are quickly destroyed by Arcane Orb.
* However, if the enemy has multiple means of removing mana, Mana Void becomes a threat to Outworld Devourer, Anti-Mage has better mobility than Outworld Devourer with
Blink, and
Counterspell blocks a large portion of the damage from Sanity's Eclipse.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 2%)Anti-Mage
* Disruption sets up Anti-Mage for a chain disable. The illusions will deal extra damage due to Mana Break.
* Soul Catcher causes Anti-Mage to take a large chunk of damage, and can hit him when he is inside from
Disruption.
* Shadow Poison hits Anti-Mage even after he's Blinked away.
* If Shadow Demon managed to get Aghanim's Scepter,
Demonic Purge will disable Anti-Mage's passive skills, making him more vulnerable and it cannot be dispelled.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Anti-Mage alone, Disruption's considerable cast range can become a perfect setup for any hard-disable to follow up. If he is pinned down, Anti-Mage will quickly face his demise when the illusions deplete his already low mana pool. Manta Style will easily allow him to escape, however.
* The illusions can be controlled to quickly sap mana from any other target, making Anti-Mage one of the most valuable targets to disrupt.
Axe
* Disruption will save Shadow Demon's teammates from being killed by Counter Helix or Culling Blade.
* Soul Catcher and
Shadow Poison can put Axe's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Demonic Purge slows Axe to a crawl, making him nearly useless after initiating. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, it will also break Counter Helix.
Arc Warden
* Heroes with summons or illusions to counter Flux, such as {Hero ID:Beastmaster} , Chen, or
Shadow Demon.
Arc Warden
* Chaos Knight,
Lone Druid,
Meepo and
Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
Chen
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 0%)Arc Warden
* Chen in the early game is a faster pusher than Arc Warden until Arc Warden buys Maelstrom or Necronomicon.
Axe
* Hand of God and Divine Favor make it hard for Axe to finish off allies with
Culling Blade.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage's
Mana Void won't do a lot of damage because Centaur has a low mana pool.
Mana Break is also relatively ineffective against him.
Arc Warden
* He can't take you very easily, and his nukes are not strong enough to deal with Centaur Warrunner.
* Centaur Warrunner deals huge AoE damage and applies an AoE disable through Hoof Stomp, affecting the double as well the main Arc Warden.
* Magnetic Field is not very effective against melee heroes.
* This ability also increases his allies' attack speed, meaning Retaliate will deal more damage.
* Stampede catches him easily due to the lack of escape mechanisms.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 17%)Anti-Mage
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Axe
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Arc Warden
* Smoke Screen prevents Arc Warden from initiating or helping his team, as he struggles to escape the silence with low mobility.
* With Arc Warden's low mobility, Tricks of the Trade is wide enough to deal decent damage to him.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Clinkz,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can use neither Blink nor
Manta Style to escape from Smoke Cloud.
* Even if he activates a Black King Bar, his
Manta Style illusions will still be blinded by Smoke Cloud.
* Riki has a very small mana pool and generally doesn't buy many items that increase it, making Mana Void ineffective.
Dark Willow
* Frail heroes who lacks mobility: Crystal Maiden,
Enigma,
Dark Willow,
Vengeful Spirit.
Additional:
* Smoke Screen prevents Dark Willow from using her close-range bursts with Bedlam.
* Blink Strike lets Riki jump past Bramble Maze.
Axe
* Axe can disable Cloak and Dagger's invisibility with Berserker's Call, which forces Riki to attack him at a very bad angle.
* Axe has a very high HP pool, making it hard for you to kill him before you get big items - that is if you survive engaging him. Counter Helix ignores your armor and goes straight for your tiny HP pool, totally ignoring Smoke Screen.
* Axe is a natural buyer of Blade Mail and Riki players generally do not buy lifesteal, causing you to kill yourself when attacking due to your tiny HP pool.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Fiend's Grip's very long disable prevents Anti-Mage from Blinking away or using
Manta Style. It also pierces spell immunity.
* Nightmare sets Bane's team up for chain disables on Anti-Mage.
* Enfeeble lowers Anti-Mage's status resistance and magic resistance, making him more vulnerable to disables and magic damage that normally would not affect him much.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Anti-Mage
* Crippling Fear makes Night Stalker one of the best early game gankers to shut down Anti-Mage.
* Night Stalker's low mana pool causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 17%)Anti-Mage
* Puck's high magical burst damage can be a threat to Anti-Mage early on in the game.
* Waning Rift Aoe Silences Anti-Mage, preventing him from blinking.
* Dream Coil Leashes Anti-Mage preventing him from blinking away, alternatively Puck can buy
Aghanim's Scepter causing
Dream Coil to pierce spell immunity and lock down Anti-Mage for 8 seconds.
Dark Willow
* All of Puck's abilities are area-targeted, and will hit Dark Willow when she uses Shadow Realm.
* Illusory Orb allows Puck to bypass Bramble Maze, close the gap and silence Dark Willow with
Waning Rift.
* Phase Shift helps Puck dodge attacks charged by Shadow Realm, and is easily timed against Terrorize's long cast time..
Arc Warden
* Arc Warden can turn Puck's Phase Shift ability against him by using Spark Wraith, ensuring it to hit. To make this worse, Arc Warden can do it twice with his
Tempest Double.
* Flux is also an instant spell (and therefore unavoidable) with a heavy slow and damage over time, which disables Blink Dagger for a certain period of time.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Anti-Mage
* While Anti-Mage does build a {Item ID:Battle Fury}, he cannot manfight Phantom Lancer due to Juxtapose.
* Phantom Lancer commonly builds {Item ID:Diffusal Blade} which can drain Anti-Mage's mana coupled with Juxtapose's illusions, making him unable to Blink away.
* Phantom Rush can be used to chase Anti-Mage after he
Blinks away.
Arc Warden
* Flux is paused if even one illusion remains near Phantom Lancer. It can also be dispelled with
Doppelganger.
* Phantom Lancer can also easily dodge an activated Spark Wraith, or use his illusions to trigger it safely.
* Phantom Rush allows Lancer to quickly close gap to get inside of Arc Warden's
Magnetic Field.
* Phantom Lancer and his clones are able to quickly drain Arc Warden of his mana with a Diffusal Blade. This means Warden's
Tempest Double will also be summoned without mana.
Additional:
* Doppelganger dispels Flux.
* Phantom Rush closes the distance between Phantom Lancer and Arc Warden.
* Juxtapose overwhelms Arc Warden and nullifies his kit which is only effective against isolated opponents.
Axe
* Berserker's Call helps locks down Phantom Lancer in a group of illusions.
* Counter Helix combined with
Blade Mail clears Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly.
* Phantom Lancer's low health in the early game makes him a frequent target for Culling Blade.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call catches Phantom Lancer when he is hidden among his illusions.
* Counter Helix quickly destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army. The more illusions there are, the more often Counter Helix is triggered.
* Phantom Lancer's low early game health makes him an easy target for Culling Blade.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Anti-Mage
* Slithereen Crush and
Bash of the Deep prevent Anti-Mage from using Blink, the latter even if Anti-Mage activates
Black King Bar.
* Corrosive Haze allows allies to take down Anti-Mage before he has a chance to Blink, and maintains vision over him even if he does Blink away.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage relies on blinking and attacking. Overgrowth prevents both.
* Be wary that he will eventually farm up a Manta Style that fully dispels Overgrowth. Good players will wait for your ultimate to use their manta. Perhaps an ally has a silence or similar that would force him to use his manta before your ultimate.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Anti-Mage
* Glimpse brings Anti-Mage back after he Blinks away.
* Static Storm stops Anti-Mage from Blinking.
Additional:
* Similar to Queen of Pain, Glimpse can disable Blink, negating his mobility.
* However, Counterspell can negate a majority of Disruptor's damage, which may require him to have a partner to successfully kill Anti-Mage.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Dark Willow
* Last Word and
Arcane Curse have the range to hit Dark Willow beyond Bramble Maze.
* Global Silence renders Dark Willow useless in teamfights.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Clinkz,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck
Arc Warden
* Ranged heroes will have a hard time hitting enemies inside Magnetic Field: Silencer,
Viper.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Dark Willow
* Ball Lightning allow Storm Spirit to bypass Bramble Maze, and zip back into battle if he gets hit by Terrorize.
Arc Warden
* Storm Spirit can hunt down Arc Warden with his Ball Lightning and kill him quickly due to his lack of escape abilities.
* None of his abilities are effective against Storm Spirit, as they can be evaded with Ball Lightning.
Anti-Mage
* Because of the high mana cost of Ball Lightning, Storm Spirit is often vulnerable to Mana Void.
* Mana Break diminishes Storm Spirit's mobility with Ball Lightning, and Anti-Mage can catch him with Blink over short distances.
* Almost all of Storm Spirit's damage is magical, which is severely reduced by Counterspell.
* Storm Sprit has a very large mana pool which means Anti-Mage can do large amounts of damage to him with Mana Break and Mana Void.
Additional:
* Mana Break can quickly burn Storm Spirit's mana, preventing him from escaping.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to catch up to Storm Spirit when he tries to use his Ball Lightning to escape.
* Mana Void deals massive damage to Storm Spirit as well as his teammates, as Storm Spirit depletes his mana pool by using Ball Lightning.
* Counterspell's passive magic resistance reduces much of Storm Spirit's magical damage dealt to Anti-Mage, and the active aspect may even make Storm Spirit disable himself.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Dark Willow
* Flame Guard blocks Dark Willow's magical burst damage, and harms her if she tries to get close to attack with Bedlam.
* Sleight of Fist and
Fire Remnant makes it hard for Dark Willow to fully disable Ember Spirit.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 8%)Axe
* Heroes who can slow and kite Axe will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
Dark Willow
* Quill Spray's constant AoE damage will hit Dark Willow even in Shadow Realm. Its automatic damage will hurt her if she tries to get close and use Bedlam.
Arc Warden
* Bristleback need not worry about charging into Magnetic Field, and quickly clearing up Arc Warden's summons and
Tempest Double with Quill Spray.
Additional:
* Bristleback activates frequently while he escapes from Arc Warden's Necronomicon army.
* Arc Warden has little armor and mobility, which makes him an easy target to apply Quill Spray and
Viscous Nasal Goo stacks.
Anti-Mage
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Bristleback small mana pool, preventing him from spamming Viscous Nasal Goo and
Quill Sprays.
* Bristleback has no innate mobility. Bristleback is easily kited by Blink, ignoring the protection from Bristleback.
Additional:
* Mana Break quickly depletes Bristleback's low mana, denying him the ability to spam Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo.
* Bristleback has no way to prevent Anti-Mage from using Blink.
Axe
* Axe forces Bristleback to turn around with
Berserker's Call, allowing allies to attack him without fear of his passive.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.8 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)Axe
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike slows Axe significantly, and puts his
Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from initiating.
* Nethertoxin can break Counter Helix.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin prevents Counter Helix from triggering, which significantly lowers Axe's damage output in the early to mid game.
* Viper's various slows and damage over time prevents Axe from initiating as well as putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Anti-Mage
* Viper's skill set makes him an effective early game ganker against Anti-Mage before he is sufficiently farmed.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin and low mana pool causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
* Nethertoxin disables Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion,
Anti-Mage
Arc Warden
* Ranged heroes will have a hard time hitting enemies inside Magnetic Field: Silencer,
Viper.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes with mobility spells like Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage,
Riki,
Puck, and
Spirit Breaker that are cancelled by Frostbite can suffer greatly from the presence of Crystal Maiden. It is absolutely critical, however, to have followup from teammates, as all of the above heroes can make quick work of the squishy Crystal Maiden after they are released from her grip.
Axe
* Heroes who can slow and kite Axe will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with large health pools (Pudge) or good innate magic resistance (
Anti-Mage) can be very problematic for Crystal Maiden, since even if they are under the effect of her ultimate for the entire duration, the damage output is simply not enough to kill or force them to retreat.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Axe
* Heroes who can slow and kite Axe will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Axe
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
Dark Willow
* Gust can hit Dark Willow beyond a defensive Bramble Maze, and before she gets close enough to hit Drow Ranger with Bedlam.
* Drow Ranger's long range allows her to hit Dark Willow's team without venturing into her Bramble Maze.
Anti-Mage
* None of Anti-Mage's skills are that effective against Drow Ranger. Gust prevents him from Blinking in or out,
Counterspell is totally useless against Drow's physical damage, and as she usually doesn't have a high mana pool,
Mana Break and
Mana Void don't do much either.
* If Anti-Mage is going for Heart of Tarrasque and
Black King Bar, heroes that do heavy damage-per-second are needed.
* Be careful however that Anti-Mage may eventually farm enough to Blink on top of you and kill you straight away, considering you have no natural tools to escape from him.
Arc Warden
* Magnetic Field cause attacks from Drow Ranger outside to miss, forcing Drow Ranger to go inside the field, nullifying marksmanship.
Additional:
* Magnetic Field protects Arc Warden and allies from Drow Ranger's ranged attacks. She most likely will not enter the field since she will lose Marksmanship's bonus agility.
* Beware however, as Marksmanship procs will still hit since they have True Strike, so the most damaging arrows will still hit you inside Magnetic Field.
Axe
* Berserker's Call forces Drow Ranger to attack Axe up close, disabling her Marksmanship bonus.
* Counter Helix occurs more often with Drow Ranger's high attack speed.
* Culling Blade is a dangerous ability against a low health hero like Drow Ranger.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 11%)Arc Warden
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan,
Arc Warden,
Warlock,
Chen
Anti-Mage
* Duel renders Anti-Mage's escape capabilities with Blink and Counterspell useless.
* A good initiation from Legion Commander and her team is enough to effortlessly kill Anti-Mage.
Additional:
* Counterspell offer no protection against Duel at all.
* Duel locks down Anti-Mage for a long duration, preventing him from escaping with Blink. One successful Duel initiation is usually enough for Legion Commander's team to kill Anti-Mage.
Arc Warden
* Magnetic Field prevents Legion Commander from easily gaining wins with Duel.
Additional:
* Magnetic Field prevents Legion Commander from getting wins with Duel.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Axe
* Heroes who can slow and kite Axe will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 4%)Anti-Mage
* Keeper of the Light can stall pushes with {Ability ID:Illuminate|Keeper of the Light} this makes him strong against pushing heroes:
Terrorblade
Naga siren
Nature's Prophet and
Anti-Mage
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 16%)Anti-Mage
* Despite high magic resistance provided by Counterspell, somehow he is vulnerable to physical damage.
Coup De Grace can destroy him in seconds when he is disabled or when his
Blink is on cooldown.
* Blur makes Anti-mage unable to deal significant damage to her.
* Phantom Assassin has low intelligence and low mana pool, meaning that both Mana Break and
Mana Void won't do significant damage to her.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical burst due to Counterspell, but he is still somewhat vulnerable to physical damage. Phantom Assassin's burst physical damage can destroy Anti-Mage while
Blink is on cooldown or while he is stunned or hexed.
* Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal significant damage to her.
* Phantom Assassin has an abysmal mana pool and intelligence gain, making Mana Break and
Mana Void deal minimal damage.
Dark Willow
* Heroes with high burst damage and Black King Bar can take down Dark Willow quickly:
Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Wraith King
Axe
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed causes Phantom Assassin to proc Counter Helix more often. Using it on Axe also makes Phantom Assassin an easy target for a counter-initiation with Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail.
* Most of Axe's abilities pierce Black King Bar, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
* Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe, and may cause her to kill herself when used with Blade Mail.
Additional:
* Jumping in with Phantom Strike makes Phantom Assassin an exceptionally easy target for Berserker's Call.
* The bonus attack speed from Phantom Strike also means that Phantom Assassin will proc Counter Helix numerous times.
* Black King Bar is generally useless against Axe's abilities and item build, as Black King Bar doesn't prevent Axe from finishing Phantom Assassin off with
Culling Blade. It also doesn't work against Berserker's Call and Counter Helix.
* Blade Mail is an item that Axe purchases every game, and it can be used to turn Phantom Assassin's critical strikes against herself. The situation becomes even worse if she's affected by Berserker's Call, as she has no way to stop attacking.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Kunkka can bring Anti-Mage back with
X Marks the Spot, effectively negating Blink or forcing him to wait out the debuff before Blinking.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Arc Warden
* Magnetic Field is useless against melee heroes, so Lycan can attack Arc Warden without missing.
* Flux doesn't affect Lycan that much, because Shapeshift grants immunity to slows and because he is never alone.
* If their Tempest Double has been called, Lycan can still kill Arc Warden before the double expires.
Axe
* Melee heroes who rely on summons, illusions or clones will trigger Counter Helix more often, thus taking more damage: Meepo,
Lycan,
Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer
Additional:
* Berserker's Call can keep Lycan in place during his Shapeshift even through
Black King Bar.
* Counter Helix is very effective against Lycan because of his summons.
* Culling Blade will prevent Lycan from running away with Shapeshift when he drops low.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 7%)Dark Willow
* Nyx Assassin's high burst damage can be the bane of Dark Willow, as her low health makes it difficult to survive long enough to escape through Shadow Realm.
* Spiked Carapace can be triggered by walking deliberately into Bramble Maze, leaving Dark Willow stunned and defenseless.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Luna
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Arc Warden
* Luna's Moon Glaives allow her to clear Arc Warden's Tempest Double.
* Luna's short range and fast movement speed allow her to fight Arc Warden inside his Magnetic Field.
Arc Warden
* Heroes that create illusions (such as Spectre,
Shadow Demon,
Phantom Lancer,
Naga Siren,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as
Nature's Prophet,
Lone Druid,
Chen,
Enchantress and the aforementioned
Meepo and
Arc Warden) can cause Eclipse to strike the illusions/summons unintentionally. (However, in many cases Moon Glaives can resolve this issue and eliminate them before activating Eclipse).
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Axe
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and
Mekansm makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Ghost Shroud's instant cast time allows Necrophos to turn ethereal before being initiated on by Berserker's Call. This prevents him from attacking Axe while taunted, thus lowering the chance to proc Counter Helix.
* Axe's high health is relatively ineffective against Heartstopper Aura's percentage-based health degeneration.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's durability, and can kill him quickly after initiation.
Additional:
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's tankiness, and can kill him quickly after initiation.
* Heartstopper Aura is effective due to Axe's high strength gain.
Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Arc Warden
* Flux is dispelled by Dark Pact.
* Pounce allows Slark to avoid Spark Wraiths.
* Tempest Double allows Slark to build up Essence Shift stacks, especially when it is being used for split pushing.
Anti-Mage
* Pounce prevents Anti-Mage from using Blink, and lets him disengage from Anti-Mage if needed.
* Essence Shift allows Slark to permanently steal agility from Anti-Mage.
* Shadow Dance stops Anti-Mage from being able to fight back in a slippery situation.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Axe
* Berseker's Call catches Slark in Shadow Dance, wasting its duration and preventing him from escaping to regenerate.
* Unlike most disables, Dark Pact cannot dispel Berserker's Call, and the output damage would be returned by
Blade Mail.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call forces Slark to attack him, even during Shadow Dance.
* Counter Helix will hit Slark in Shadow Dance, with pure damage. It also triggers frequently against Slark's high attack speed after having stolen agility with Essence Shift.
* Culling Blade finishes off Slark before he gets a chance to slip away and regenerate his health, preventing him from playing the hit-and-run style often associated with Slark.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Axe
* Omniknight's healing prevents allies from dropping low enough for Culling Blade. However, it can still go through all his buffs.
* Axe also enjoys getting close to allied heroes in order to damage them with his Counter Helix, which can easily be punished by Purification.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities: Lion,
Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Anti-Mage
* Phantom's Embrace stops Anti-Mage from Blinking away. However, it can be reflected back by
Counterspell if quick enough.
* Soulbind stops Blink and lets allies cast abilities on the tethered target to avoid
Counterspell. It cannot be reflected by
Counterspell.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Anti-Mage
* In early to mid stage, Silence is also a great way to counter escape oriented heroes such as Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain, and
Phantom Assassin to prevent them from escaping, provided that they don't have any basic dispels.
Dark Willow
* Heroes who can silence will shut down Dark Willow entirely: Death Prophet,
Silencer,
Drow Ranger
Anti-Mage
* Death Prophet has a high mana pool and due to her heavy reliance on her spells, she will be a prime target for Mana Void.
* Death Prophet has less mobility than Anti-Mage due to Blink.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Anti-Mage
* A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility: Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Dark Seer.
Arc Warden
* A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility: Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Dark Seer.
Axe
* Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use Time Lapse. It can also catch Weaver in
Shukuchi.
* Weaver's high attack speed, along with high attack damage from Geminate Attack, triggers Counter Helix continuously and the output damage would be returned by
Blade Mail.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use Time Lapse. It can also catch Weaver in Shukuchi.
* Due to his fast attack speed from Geminate Attack and items that give attack speed, Counter Helix will activate a lot, and the damage would be returned by
Blade Mail, which hurts Weaver far more than it hurts Axe.
* Culling Blade can finish off Weaver's low health pool before he escapes with Shukuchi and Time Lapse.
* Battle Hunger is a good tool to pop Weaver's
Linken's Sphere due to its low cooldown.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -2.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Anti-Mage
* Because Queen of Pain's spells cost a decent amount of mana, Anti-Mage can easily use Mana Void if she spams her spells recklessly.
* Anti-Mage has similar mobility through Blink, which can allow him to catch up with her.
* Counterspell will reduce the damage done by Shadow Strike and Scream of Pain.
Axe
* Heroes with gap closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call: Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void,
Slark,
Chaos Knight,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain
Additional:
* Berserker's Call prevents Queen of Pain from escaping with Blink and also pierces her
Black King Bar.
* Due to her fast attack speed from Mjollnir, it will quickly trigger
Counter Helix.
* Culling Blade finish off Queen of Pain's low health pool before she gets a chance to escape, preventing her from playing the hit-and-run style often associated with Queen of Pain.
Arc Warden
* Sonic Wave is a bad choice in abilities if he and the Tempest Double both use
Necronomicon and
Blade Mail to reflect the damage to Queen of Pain, potentially killing her outright if her health is low enough.
* Magnetic Field protects himself or his ally from Queen of Pain's attacks unless she has
Monkey King Bar.
* One more advantage of Tempest Double is that he can deny himself if he is close to death with Shadow Strike's debuff.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: -2.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Arc Warden
* Slark,
Lifestealer,
Morphling and such with a good escape mechanism are a nuisance to deal with in the early-game.
Arc Warden
* Arc Warden can counter Morphling's strong pushing capabilities by using Magnetic Field to protect buildings.
* Arc Warden also often builds an Orchid Malevolence or
Bloodthorn, which can prove dangerous for Morphling.
* Arc Warden can easily break Linken's Sphere with
Flux and then slow him with
Spark Wraith, making Arc Warden's
Tempest Double a legitimate threat as well.
Axe
* Jumping on Axe from Waveform he will be an easy target for a counter-initiation with Berserker's Call.
* Morphling is often played at low health to maximize the bonuses from Attribute Shift (Agility Gain), and also because his abilities cost health to use. This makes him especially vulnerable to Culling Blade.
* However, Morphling is common Linken's Sphere carrier to block Culling Blade forces Axe to use Battle Hunger to pop the Spell Block first.
* Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) gives Morphlig no protection against the pure damage of Culling Blade. Its attack speed bonus also means that Counter Helix will proc more often.
Anti-Mage
* Counterspell's bonus magic resistance causes the
Ethereal Blade and Adaptive Strike combo to deal significantly less damage.
* Counterspell's active component can reflect the Ethereal Blast and Adaptive Strike combo back into Morphling, dealing significant damage or even killing him.
* Mana Break combined with
Manta Style can quickly burn away Morphling's mana, leaving him unable to use his spells.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Axe
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
Arc Warden
* Magnetic Field's evasion completely negates Sniper's attacks unless he has True Strike.
* Sniper always positions himself far away from battles, which makes him especially vulnerable for Flux and Spark Wraith.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Axe
* Axe can easily close the distance to Sniper with either Blink Dagger or
Shadow Blade.
* With Berserker's Call in combination with
Counter Helix and
Battle Hunger, Axe can make short work of Sniper, finishing him off easily with
Culling Blade due to his low HP & high attack speed in the late game.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Axe
* Windrun does not provide protection against Counter Helix and
Berserker's Call. Her fast attack speed with Focus Fire will also quickly trigger
Counter Helix multiple times.
Dark Willow
* Windrun does not protect Windranger from Cursed Crown's stun or Dark Willow's magical nukes.
* Focus Fire cannot target Dark Willow in Shadow Realm and will be interrupted if targeted earlier, wasting the ultimate.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Axe
* Culling Blade ignores Borrowed Time should Abaddon's health falls under the threshold.
Additional:
* Culling Blade's instant kill is not prevented by Borrowed Time should Abaddon's health falls below the threshold.
Anti-Mage
* Mana Break drains Abaddon's mana, preventing him from using Aphotic Shield to zone out enemies in lane.
* Counterspell decreases the amount of damage received from Aphotic Shield and
Mist Coil.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes that can jump on her: Slark,
Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage
Arc Warden
* Magnetic Field makes Impetus miss; if Enchantress decides to enter the field, she is giving up bonus damage since Impetus deals greater damage at higher distance away from targets.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Axe
* Berserker's Call and
Counter Helix allow Axe to kill Shadow Fiend if he stands too close to a creep wave.
* Battle Hunger is very strong against Shadow Fiend in the early game because Shadow Fiend's low attack damage makes it hard for him to get last hits.
* Axe's naturally high strength and health regeneration will be enough to tank a lot of Shadow Fiend's damage in the early game.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Techies
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 8%)Axe
* Techies struggles early game against heroes with naturally large strength and health regeneration such as Pudge,
Axe or
Ogre Magi, as the player is forced to lay down more mines than usual to kill these bulkier heroes.
Anti-Mage
* Thanks to Counterspell Anti-Mage can fight Techies head on and trip multiple mines once the late game hits.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 13%)Axe
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
Anti-Mage
* Mana Break is very effective against Tusk, as he has a very low mana pool.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from an incoming Snowball.
* Counterspell reflects the Snowball back onto Tusk
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Dark Willow
* Shadow Realm makes it hard for Monkey King to land Jingu Mastery stacks. It also allows Dark Willow to escape from Wukong's Command.
* Terrorize can easily end Wukong's Command by forcing him to move out of the circle.
Additional:
* Terrorize forces Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
Axe
* Heroes that can keep Monkey King stunned for a long time can pose a threat: Axe,
Centaur Warrunner.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 14%)Anti-Mage
* Ogre Magi only deals magical damage, which Anti-Mage is exceptionally resistant due to Counterspell.
* Anti-Mage dispels Ignite with
Manta Style.
* Ogre Magi has a very large mana pool which means Anti-Mage can do large amounts of damage to him with Mana Break and Mana Void.
Arc Warden
* Arc Warden's
Tempest Double is helpful for killing Ogre Magi who lacks AoE damage and disables.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes that have superior mobility that can easily catch up with Mirana even after she used Leap to escape: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Riki.
Arc Warden
* Flux will slow and damage Mirana even after she Leaps, since she will likely not be near allies.
* Arc Warden can place Magnetic Field on an ally who has been hit by Sacred Arrow to protect them.
* As Necronomicon is his core item, Arc Warden can reveal Mirana and her allies hiding in Moonlight Shadow and the Necronomicon Warrior can kill Mirana with Last Will if he is unintentionally killed with Starstorm upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter or Sacred Arrow.
Additional:
* If Arc Warden builds Necronomicon 3 he can reveal Mirana's team while
Moonlight Shadow is active.
* A Starstorm upgraded by
Aghanim's Scepter can accidentally kill a Necronomicon Warrior, which can lead to her death if she hasn't built a
Black King Bar.
* Arc Warden can use his summons to prevent Sacred Arrow from hitting himself or his allies.
* Mirana doesn't build items that give armor often, so she usually can't fight against a late game Arc Warden.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Huskar's natural reliance on health instead of mana makes him very resistant against Mana Void. He is a proficient early ganker against Anti-Mage, but struggles to deal significant damage against Anti-Mage in the late game.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar, as he has no AoE abilities: Phantom Lancer,
Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Chaos Knight.
Axe
* Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail can be used immediately after Huskar jumps on Axe with Life Break.
* Huskar's high attack speed procs Counter Helix repeatedly.
* Huskar's health loss from using his abilities make him a frequent target for Culling Blade.
Additional:
* Huskar is often played at low health to maximize the bonuses from Berserker's Blood, and also because his abilities cost health to use. This makes him especially vulnerable to Culling Blade.
* Berserker's Blood gives Huskar no protection against the pure damage of Culling Blade. Its attack speed bonus also means that Counter Helix will proc more often.
* Axe's tankiness and base health regeneration makes it hard for Huskar to take him down with Burning Spears.
Arc Warden
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar, as he has no AoE abilities: Phantom Lancer,
Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Chaos Knight.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Arc Warden
* Rolling Thunder hits Arc Warden, his Tempest Double and any allies through
Magnetic Field.
* Rolling Thunder also causes Pangolier to take no damage from existing stacks of Flux as well as clear all
Spark Wraiths on the way.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with considerable mobility can easily escape from a rolling Pangolier: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit, moreover, if a player is familiar with how Rolling Thunder work, they can adjust their movement to avoid it entirely and of course outplay the Pangolier player.
Axe
* Heroes with other kind of disables that pierce spell immunity can hold Pangolier in place during Rolling Thunder: Axe,
Beastmaster,
Enigma,
Magnus,
Pudge,
Batrider,
Bane,
Winter Wyvern
Arc Warden
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Templar Assassin,
Arc Warden
Dark Willow
* Heroes with powerful rooting abilities will disable most of Pangolier's skill, a bonus point if it pierce spell immunity since it will also be able to stop Pangolier during his Rolling Thunder: Treant Protector,
Meepo,
Crystal Maiden,
Dark Willow,
Underlord,
Naga Siren
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Axe
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
Additional:
* Sun Ray allows Phoenix to heal any allies caught in Berserker's Call, while burning away Axe's high HP at the same time.
* Icarus Dive and
Fire Spirits puts Axe's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Axe's slow attack speed makes it difficult for him to destroy Supernova on his own.
Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage dispels Phoenix's slows with Manta Style.
* Anti-Mage can Blink directly next to Supernova, giving him more time to destroy the egg.
Arc Warden
* His Tempest Double is not an illusion, but rather a full hero unit, which effectively reduces half of the Supernova's health. His
Magnetic Field can tremendously boost his attack speed, allowing him to destroy Supernova in no time even when he's affected by
Fire Spirits.
Additional:
* Tempest Double, Magnetic Field's attack speed bonus, and Arc Warden's high attack range will easily destroy a Phoenix using Supernova much faster than usual.
* Phoenix is very weak against pushers, especially those like Arc Warden who can kill him easily, as his skillset works best in teamfights.
Gyrocopter
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Axe
* Heroes that relies on armor or other type of physical damage negation are easy for Gyrocopter to take down during the early game with his magical damage: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Sven.
Anti-Mage
* Mana Break makes Gyrocopter, who has low mana pool, unable to use his abilities that most of his damage output depends on.
* Counterspell negates magical damages from Gyrocopter and it can also reflect Homing Missile back to himself.
* Anti-Mage can easily escape from Gyrocopter's attack range and Call Down with Blink.
Arc Warden
* Magnetic Field evades most of Gyrocopter's attacks.
* Necronomicon can kill Gyrocopter with the summons. In addition, Last Will might activate if the Necronomicon Warrior gets killed through Flak Cannon or Call Down.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 5%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage's high mobility from Blink and tendency to build Battle Fury makes him strong against split-pushing heroes:
Nature's Prophet,
Tinker, and
Arc Warden.
Axe
* Heroes that have AoE damage: Lina,
Keeper of the Light,
Timbersaw,
Leshrac,
Bristleback,
Axe
Additional:
* Berserker's Call and Counter Helix will still hit targets inside of a defensive Sprout.
* Counter Helix clears treants in no time.
* Nature's Prophet's low damage is unlikely to hurt Axe until the very late game.
* Nature's Prophet's low mobility makes him very easy for Axe to chase down or initiate on, especially when affected by Battle Hunger.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 8%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage usually relies on Blink to escape, but with vision from Charge of Darkness it is easier to catch him.
* Spirit Breaker could single-handedly lock Anti-Mage down for 4 seconds (or even more with lucky bashes), allowing his teammates to follow up.
* As Anti-Mage is an elusive hero who likes to farm alone, Spirit Breaker could choose to charge whenever Anti-Mage is in sight.
Dark Willow
* Bramble Maze stops Charge of Darkness in its tracks. Its very long duration means it can be used as an obstacle to block off an incoming Spirit Break during teamfights.
* Shadow Realm and Bedlam can be activated when Dark Willow sees Charge of Darkness coming, preventing Spirit Breaker from using
Nether Strike after the initial stun.
Arc Warden
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden
Axe
* Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna,
Razor,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Leshrac,
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Anti-Mage
* Blood Rite prevents Anti-Mage from escaping with Blink.
* Blink will trigger the damage from Rupture.
* Both Blood Rite & Rupture are pure damage which can bypass Counterspell.
Arc Warden
* Heroes with illusion and clone abilities may confuse Bloodseeker, causing him to waste time in fights: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Arc Warden
Axe
* Heroes with high armor and durability can be exceptionally hard for Bloodseeker to bring down: Dragon Knight,
Axe
Dark Willow
* Bramble Maze greatly hinders Bloodseeker's ability to run around in teamfights and pick off dying allies.
* Shadow Realm prevents Bloodseeker from attacking dark Willow, allowing her to safely teleport away.
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 16%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Clinkz,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck
Anti-Mage
* As a caster, Anti-Mage's
Mana Break and
Mana Void are highly effective against him.
Arc Warden
* Arc Warden with his Magnetic Field will protect allies from Mass Serpent Ward.
Axe
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for you, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt your channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 41% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Clinkz,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck
Additional:
* Chronosphere provides excellent lockdown against Anti-Mage, allowing for reliable kills in all stages of the game.
* Time Dilation while Blink and
Counterspell are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, shutting down his mobility and defensiveness.
* Faceless Void's low mana pool makes him a poor target for Mana Void, although he is very vulnerable should Anti-Mage burn all of his mana.
Axe
* Heroes with gap closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call: Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void,
Slark,
Chaos Knight,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain
Dark Willow
* Terrorize forces Faceless Void out of Chronosphere.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Axe
* Mystic Snake can harass Axe in lane and drain his small mana pool.
* Mana Shield reduces the effectiveness of Counter Helix.
* Stone Gaze makes it very difficult for Axe to pursue.
Arc Warden
* Unlike other illusion heroes, Tempest Double won't be instantly destroyed by Stone Gaze since it is considered a clone and not an illusion.
* He can use either his own or his double's Flux to bypass the spellblock from Linken's Sphere, using the leftover Flux +
Spark Wraith to slow Medusa's move speed to a crawl.
* Arc Warden has a farming advantage with double Hand of Midas, and can generally bully Medusa with other items that benefit from duplication.
Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage easily destroys Mana Shield with Mana Break, especially once he has
Manta Style.
* Anti-Mage effectively avoids Stone Gaze with Blink, and can reinitiate after its duration is over.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage's Mana Break burns Medusa's mana easily, especially when coupled with a
Manta Style.
* Can easily initiate on Medusa with Blink, burning her mana or forcing her to use Stone Gaze.
* Mana Void is effective against Medusa's big mana pool and mana usage, presenting a huge hazard to Medusa's allies around her since her Mana Shield still gives her some protection if she has mana.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Past the mid game, an isolated Vengeful Spirit makes for an easy kill for Anti-Mage.
* Magic Missile is the only disable Vengeful Spirit has against Anti-Mage, but he can either Blink away to disjoint the stun or reflect it back against Vengeful Spirit with
Counterspell.
* Nether Swap isn't very effective against Anti-Mage - if used offensively, Anti-Mage can simply blink away to safety, and if used defensively, Blink's low cooldown allows him to persistently chase as well.
Snapfire
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Anti-Mage
* Mana Break reduces Snapfire's already low mana pool.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to avoid being hit by
Lil' Shredder and
Mortimer Kisses.
Lina
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Anti-Mage
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to get on top of Lina and deal damage with his
Mana Break.
* Counterspell makes Anti-Mage tanky against Lina's heavy magic damage.
* A well-timed Counterspell can block and reflect Laguna Blade.
* Mana Void is very strong against Lina, who has a high mana pool and quickly depletes it during fights.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 16%)Anti-Mage
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Rubick's low mana pool, preventing Spell Steal abilities from triggering.
* Rubick's complete lack of mobility makes him very easy for Anti-Mage to chase down with Blink.
* Anti-Mage dispels Fade Bolt damage reduction debuff with
Manta Style or severly reduced by Counterspell.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Anti-Mage
* Terrorblade with Manta Style and
Conjure Image illusions overwhelms Anti Mage.
* Reflection turns Mana Break against Anti-Mage draining his mana making it useful in fights.
* Terrorblade's low mana pool makes him a poor target for Mana Void.
Additional:
* Reflection's illusion carries Mana Break as well, making it useful in fights.
Arc Warden
* Arc Warden’s Magnetic Field allows him to defend against Terrorblade if he used Metamorphosis.
* Arc also buys a Bloodthorn or a
Scythe of Vyse, which can prevent Terrorblade from using his abilities.
Axe
* Terrorblade's low base health and lack of mobility make him an easy target for Axe to initiate on, and kill.
* Counter Helix will trigger from, and destroy many of Terrorblade illusions.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call and
Counter Helix together can be devastating to Terrorblade, especially if Terrorblade has a lot of illusions. Their high attack speed will trigger Counter Helix a lot, and the pure damage will quickly slice through Terrorblade's low health and kill his illusions.
* Culling Blade finishes off Terrorblade before he has the chance to Sunder due to his low health in the early to mid game.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 8%)Anti-Mage
* Zeus almost exclusively relies on magical damage, which is heavily reduced by Counterspell.
* Zeus' complete lack of mobility makes him very easy for Anti-Mage to chase down with Blink.
* Zeus likes to stand in the back during team fights, but Anti-Mage can easily Blink to close the distance.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can burn mana, which is a big problem for a spellcaster like Zeus that heavily relies on it.
* Counterspell decreases magical damage taken from Zeus.
* Zeus' high intelligence and mana pool makes him a perfect target for Mana Void.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 16%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Dark Willow
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Axe
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix is a much stronger lane trader than Spear of Mars.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Axe
* Culling Blade ignores the protection from Shallow Grave, and will kill any target whose health is low enough. This makes Axe one of the hardest counters to Dazzle, and he neutralizes one of Dazzle's most important abilities.
Additional:
* Culling Blade kills any target under the health threshold, even through Shallow Grave.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 1%)Anti-Mage
* Echo Stomp and
Earth Splitter's long cast times give Anti-Mage plenty of time to Blink away.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Anti-Mage
* Mana Break prevents Warlock from casting his spells.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from
Upheaval.
* Counterspell reduces damage from
Shadow Word and the {U:Warlock Golem}'s
Permanent Immolation.
* Mana Void deals heavy damage after
Chaotic Offering and interrupts
Upheaval.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage's mobility and magic resistance make him nearly impossible to kill alone.
* Invoker's spells cost a lot of mana, and Invoker himself has a lot of mana. This means Invoker and his team are vulnerable to Mana Void's heavy damage.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Invoker's combo if he doesn't have disables.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Anti-Mage
* Both Gush and
Ravage do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage escape through Anchor Smash.
* Tidehunter's small mana pool can be eated by Mana Break, preventing to spam his abilities and ignores the protection from Kraken Shell.
Additional:
* Mana Break quickly burns Tidehunter's mana pool, preventing him from spamming his abilities, and Kraken Shell does not mitigate the bonus damage component.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to enter combat quickly and safely after Ravage.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Dark Seer's strength lies in his high-mana cost skills. So Mana Break can be a great nuisance for him, since it can reduce his mana and prevent him from casting his spells.
* Mana Void can deal a lot of damage if Dark Seer spent a lot of mana on his abilities.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Arc Warden
* Chaos Knight can dispel Flux with Phantasm.
* Chaos Knight can use Reality Rift to pull Arc Warden out of Magnetic Field.
* Once Chaos Knight jumps on Arc Warden with Reality Rift, Arc Warden struggles to escape due to low mobility.
Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage commonly builds Battle Fury, which can deal with Phantasm illusions easily.
* Counterspell, if timed right, will turn Chaos Bolt against the Knight, and can set up for a kill if he is not careful.
* Even if Counterspell is on cooldown, Blink can almost always dodge a Chaos Bolt because of its slow projectile.
* Mana Break will quickly drain Chaos Knight's mana.
Axe
* Berserker's Call and Counter Helix makes short work of Chaos Knight's Phantasms.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call allows Axe to lock down Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* Counter Helix combined with
Blade Mail clears illusions out in no time.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 12%)Anti-Mage
* Troll Warlord's passive root, high attack speed, and blind from Whirling Axes makes him an exceedingly difficult opponent for Anti-Mage to take down in a one-on-one fight.
* Troll Warlord's low mana causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
Additional:
* Whirling Axes (Melee) provides a 60% miss chance, preventing Anti-Mage from burning Troll Warlord's small mana pool.
* Troll Warlord's passive root allows him to very effectively fight an Anti-Mage by preventing Anti-Mage from Blinking away. This is even more effective when combined with a
Skull Basher or
Abyssal Blade.
* Counterspell will do nothing to prevent Troll Warlord's high physical damage.
* Due to Troll Warlord's abysmal base intelligence and intelligence gain, he is one of the worst targets to use Mana Void on.
Axe
* Troll Warlord has significant attack speed due to Fervor and Battle Trance, giving Axe a higher chance to proc Counter Helix and seriously injure Troll Warlord due to his relatively low maximum health.
* Axe often purchases Blade Mail, which can help Axe turn Troll Warlord's farm and high physical damage against him. The bonus armor provided by
Berserker's Call means that Troll Warlord will take a lot more damage than Axe.
* Culling Blade is still capable of killing Troll Warlord during Battle Trance if his HP is low enough.
Additional:
* Troll Warlord's high attack speed means Counter Helix will proc extremely frequently even without creeps near him. This, combined with a Blade Mail means Axe can easily solo kill Troll Warlord even in later stages of the game.
* Battle Trance does not save Troll Warlord from a Culling Blade.
Dark Willow
* Dark Willow's burst damage and stun prevents Troll Warlord from approaching her until he has Black King Bar.
* Troll Warlord's lack of burst damage makes it hard for him to kill Dark Willow before she slips into Shadow Realm.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage easily Blinks out of Cold Feet's freeze radius.
* Ancient Apparition lacks mobility, thus making him fall easily to Mana Void.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can Blink away from Cold Feet or build a
Manta Style to dispel it.
* Counterspell minimizes the damage Anti-Mage takes from all of Ancient Apparition's abilities.
* Mana Break and
Mana Void deal a lot of damage to Ancient Apparition due to his high mana pool.
Visage
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 1%)Axe
* Axe can
Berserker's Call into a flock of Familiars, proccing
Counter Helix and killing them off.
* Familiars' very fast attacks will proc Counter Helix, receiving full damage due to their low attack range.
Razor
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 6%)Anti-Mage
* Blink can easily break Static Link and
Counterspell reflects Static Link on Razor.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 4%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Arc Warden
* Arc Warden's
Magnetic Field dodges all damage from Death Ward. Should he choose to buy a
Necronomicon, they are quite effective to absorb some shots from your cask, and attack you during Death Ward.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Additional:
* Although he can be effective against Anti-Mage in an aggro offlane, Lich has a hard time nuking down Anti-Mage in the midgame due to his Counterspell.
* All of Lich's abilities are also targeted, which makes it much harder to disable Anti-Mage.
* In the lategame, Anti-Mage can easily pick off Lich with Blink, and the high mana cost of Chain Frost along with Lich's large mana pool makes him vulnerable to
Mana Void.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape Chain Frost.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Anti-Mage
* Blinking heroes like Anti-Mage or
Queen of Pain can often chase down an injured Brewmaster after his ultimate expires.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Axe
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Ward is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Additional:
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* For the same reasons, Venomancer is a good ally for Axe when the situation is reversed.
Arc Warden
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
Anti-Mage
* Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage get away from Venomancer's slows.
Additional:
* Counterspell provides magic resistance, diminishing the effectiveness of Venomancer's spells.
* Venomancer's lack of hard disable allows Anti-Mage to use Blink, circumventing the slows Venomancer depends on.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Dark Willow
* Fortune's End can easily dispel Cursed Crown before it times out and stuns. He can also save a stunned ally with False Promise.
* Fate's Edict can easily negate Bedlam's over-time damage, since the spell provides no form of control. Similarly, he can also negate the magic burst from
Shadow Realm.
* Fortune's End can dispel the fear effect from Terrorize, and it can remove the root from
Bramble Maze if you're quick enough. Be mindful that Fortune's End only dispels your allies' debuffs on the primary target.
Additional:
* Fortune's End not being disjointable is almost an ensured disable if Dark Willow tries to escape with Shadow Realm. Dispels Cursed Crown and Terrorize.
* Fate's Edict negates all her magic damage in case she catches a single hero.
* False Promise's strong dispel removes Dark Willow's disables.
Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Additional:
* Oracle has minimal damage potential against Anti-Mage due to Counterspell, and may even have some ability damage reflected at himself.
* Anti-Mage can easily overwhelm Oracle with Mana Break and
Mana Void.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to easily chase and take advantage of Oracle's low mobility.
Axe
* False Promise will not save an ally from Culling Blade if their health is low enough.
* Fate's Edict, offensively or defensively, does little to protect Oracle's allies from the majority of Axe's damage.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Additional:
* Counterspell severely reduces Leshrac's magical damage.
* Leshrac already burns through his own mana with Pulse Nova, Mana Break will burn through even more.
* Leshrac's high mana pool will increase the amount of damage Mana Void does to him when his mana is low.
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Axe
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 19%)Dark Willow
* None of Dark Willow's spells pierce Spell Immunity, making Blade Fury a good counter against her. Additionally, it dispels
Cursed Crown and
Bramble Maze.
* Dark Willow is generally fragile, which results in Omnislash being devastating against her.
* However, if Shadow Realm is activated during
Omnislash, then the attack damage is negated (though
Omnislash can still jump to other enemies).
Additional:
* Blade Fury dispels most of Dark Willow's abilities, allowing Juggernaut to pass through Bramble Maze and cancel out Cursed Crown before the stun occurs.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with escaping and disjointing abilities can be good against Juggernaut:Anti-Mage
Riki,
Queen of Pain,
Puck,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Slark etc.
Axe
* Berserker's Call pierces spell immunity, making a Blade Fury teleport escape impossible. It's very useful against
Omnislash as well.
* Juggernaut's low base health and high attack speed causes him to take a lot of damage from the pure damage of Counter Helix.
* Axe is a common Blade Mail and
Blink Dagger carrier making him a very big potential threat before Juggernaut get his items.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 12%)Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage's high mobility from Blink and tendency to build Battle Fury makes him strong against split-pushing heroes:
Nature's Prophet,
Tinker, and
Arc Warden.
Additional:
* Tinker is fragile and vulnerable against carries like Anti-Mage.
* Mana Break burns away his mana pool and deals bonus physical damage.
* Tinker's massive mana pool makes Mana Void deal large amount of damage, and can be used to cancel a
Boots of Travel teleport even through spell immunity.
* Blink gives Anti-Mage many options, like disjointing Heat Seeking Missiles or leaving March of Machines' area of effect. He can use Blink to wait out of sight for a split pushing Tinker or chase a blinking Tinker into trees.
* Tinker doesn't want any of his spells reflected back at him through Counterspell.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 10%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes that are naturally hard to gank, ranging from beefy tanks like Abaddon and
Wraith King to heroes with quick escape mechanisms like
Anti-Mage and
Storm Spirit are also undesirable targets for a lone, roaming Bounty Hunter to scout out and initiate on.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Clinkz,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck
Anti-Mage
* Counterspell gives Anti-Mage magic resistance to negate a majority of Skywraith Mage's magical damage.
* Anti-Mage often builds Black King Bar and
Manta Style which can dispel Ancient Seal and Concussive Shot.
* Huge mana cost on Mystic Flare means easy target for Mana Void.
* However, Anti-Mage is weak early-game to Ancient Seal until he can dispel silences, but still, Skywrath's solo kill potential is very low.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Dark Willow
* Heroes with high burst damage and Black King Bar can take down Dark Willow quickly:
Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Wraith King
Anti-Mage
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Wraith King's small mana pool, preventing Reincarnation from triggering.
* Wraith King has no innate mobility. Even with Blink Dagger, Wraith King is easily kited by Blink.
* Anti-Mage can farm much more quickly than Wraith King, allowing Anti-Mage to overpower Wraith King once a significant farm advantage is established.
Additional:
* Mana Break can prevent Wraith King from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard that removes the mana cost from Reincarnation.
* With Manta Style, his mana burning will triple because illusions can also use
Mana Break.
Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Axe
* Heroes who can slow and kite Axe will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
Anti-Mage
* Anti-Mage can Blink into or out of Power Cogs, negating Clockwerk's initiation and bypassing his defenses.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can easily Blink out of Power Cogs, escaping any ganking or initiation attempts.
* Mana Break depletes Clockwerk's much-needed mana.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 8%)Axe
* Enigma can be a perfect counter-initiator with his ultimate. A perfectly timed Black Hole will turn the tide of any initiation, especially from heros like; Spirit Breaker,
Legion Commander,
Axe,
Puck, and
Slardar
Anti-Mage
* Enigma's Midnight Pulse damage can be substantially mitigated by Anti-Mage's high magic resistance thanks to Counterspell.
* In the early game, Anti-Mage's Mana Void can cancel a Black Hole until Enigma gets his Black King Bar.
* Should Anti-Mage survive a Black Hole combo, Enigma will have exhausted most of his skills and items, preventing him from defending himself against any counter initiation or a follow-up from a blink escape.
* Anti-Mage's {Ability ID:Blink|Anti-Mage} will make him a very hard target to use your ultimate on, having to solo ult him later on in the game or leave him out of the black holes.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Arc Warden
* Arc Warden's Flux is meaningless against Meepo who loves to group up. Meepo is also a very good gap closer, so Arc Warden's Magnetic Field becomes useless.
Additional:
* Flux is severely impaired against Meepo because of Divided We Stand.
* Meepo's farming speed and early powerspikes allows him to pressure Arc Warden before he is capable of fighting effectively.
* Without Black King Bar,
Earthbind and
Poof can finish Arc Warden quickly before he has time to do much.
Anti-Mage
* Multiple Earthbinds allows Meepo to lock down Anti-Mage almost indefinitely.
* Meepo's clones can only use their mana for Poof, keeping their mana pool nearly full and thus making them a bad target for a Mana Void.
Additional:
* Earthbind can prevent Anti-Mage from using Blink, allowing Meepo to kill him with attacks and Ransack.
Axe
* Melee heroes who rely on summons, illusions or clones will trigger Counter Helix more often, thus taking more damage: Meepo,
Lycan,
Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer
Additional:
* The combination of Counter Helix and
Berserker's Call can disable multiple Meepos and deal heavy area damage.
* Axe's natural high survivability makes it difficult to burst him down with Poof or chip away at his health with Ransack.
Dark Willow
* Casting Bramble Maze on top of Meepo guarantees a root, as it is nearly impossible to leave the thorns with all of Meepo's clones.
* Terrorize and Cursed Crown offer great disables against the grouped Meepos and can prevent them from using Poof to escape.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 19%)Dark Willow
* Rot and
Meat Hook hits Dark Willow even when she uses Shadow Realm.
* Flesh Heap reduces Dark Willow's magic burst damage.
Anti-Mage
* If Meat Hook is used before Blink, Anti-Mage may be able to escape Pudge's grasp by blinking safety.
* Counterspell grants Anti-Mage a large degree of magic resistance, a damage type Pudge is highly reliant on to secure kills. This make Anti-Mage a bad target for Pudge. The active can also block Dismember if timed correctly.
* Mana Break can quickly drains Pudge's low supply of mana, which may render Meat Hook & Dismember unusable and making him a prime target for
Mana Void.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Axe
* Dispersion makes Spectre very durable, making it much less likely for Axe to bring her low enough for Culling Blade.
* Spectre can simply use Spectral Dagger to escape against an Axe gank.
Anti-Mage
* Spectre cannot chase down Anti-Mage with Spectral Dagger because of Blink, though it still grants her team vision over him.
* Counterspell reduces much of the damage from Dispersion and Spectre's
Radiance.
* Anti-Mage usually builds a Manta Style, preventing Spectre from dealing any
Desolate damage to him once he summons his illusions.
Additional:
* Spectre has no way to prevent Blink, for escape or initiation. Anti-Mage can easily pick off enemy supports and Spectre cannot do anything about it.
* Mana Break burns through Spectre's low mana pool.
* Manta Style's illusions prevent
Desolate's damage.
* Even though Anti-Mage is outcarried by Spectre in the later stages of the game, a competent Anti-Mage with a Battle Fury can easily outfarm and get ahead of Spectre before she can come online.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 8%)Anti-Mage
* Timbersaw Spells are all Pure damage which can be a threat to Anti-Mage in the laning stage however he has no way to prevent Anti-Mage from blinking away
Axe
* Whirling Death reduces Axe's strength by 15%, which makes him less durable, especially from early game. It's also stackable.
* Blade Mail are not effective against attribute changes, and
Timber Chain can wait out
Blade Mail's duration to wear off.
* Reactive Armor makes it harder for Axe to finish off Timbersaw with
Culling Blade.
* Chakram disarms Timbersaw, which makes Axe's
Counter Helix useless against him.
* All Timbersaw skills deal pure damage, which bypass Axe's high armor or bonus armor from Berserker's Call.
Additional:
* Whirling Death reduces Axe's strength by 15%, making him much less durable, especially in the early game. It is also stackable.
* Axe's Blade Mail is ineffective against attribute changes, and Timbersaw's mobility with
Timber Chain means he can wait out Blade Mail's duration.
* Reactive Armor's armor and regeneration makes it much harder for Axe to finish Timbersaw with Culling Blade.
* Chakram disarms Timbersaw, making Counter Helix less effective.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Dark Willow
* Bramble Maze prevents Timbersaw from Timber Chaining away without getting rooted.
* Cursed Crown can still catch Timbersaw if he Timber Chains away.
* Reactive Armor offers little protection against Dark Willow's high magical damage.
Void Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 13%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes who take a long time to become strong are in for a rough mid game, such as Outworld Destroyer,
Magnus,
Medusa, and
Anti-Mage.
Axe
* Heroes with burst damage of their own won't be afraid to go toe to toe with Void Spirit, like Ursa,
Lifestealer, or
Axe.
Undying
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Axe
* Decay's stacking strength reduction makes Axe much less dominant in lane.
* Tombstone's zombies take no damage from Counter Helix, and will continuously put Axe's
Blink Dagger on cooldown until dealt with.
Anti-Mage
* Tombstone's zombies rarely inhibit Anti-Mage, as he can either Blink away or onto the Tombstone and destroy it.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Axe
* Axe is a hero that is very vulnerable against magical nuke damage and disables, Jakiro is perfect against him with all of his spells.
Additional:
* Ice Path neutralizes initiation attempts with Berserker's Call, and its long area of effect discourages follow-ups from Axe's teammates.
* Ice Path serves as a large obstacle to stop Axe from chasing down fleeing stragglers to kill with Culling Blade.
* Jakiro's many damage-per-second skills prevent Axe from initiating with his Blink Dagger.
Anti-Mage
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to hunt down Jakiro, who has no way to escape.
* Counterspell protects Anti-Mage against all of Jakiro's magic damage.
* Mana Void is very effective against Jakiro because of his high mana.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Anti-Mage
* Refraction protects against Anti-Mage's low burst damage, and allows her to win most fights against Anti-Mage during the early game.
* Meld's burst damage and armor reduction is often enough to finish off Anti-Mage before he Blinks away.
Arc Warden
* Arc Warden's Flux tears through Refraction charges almost instantly. Should he have a
Tempest Double and no creeps are around, a 75% slow means almost certain death.
* Meld is useless against Spark Wraith.
Additional:
* Flux wastes Templar Assassin's Refraction unless she has a
Black King Bar or a
Manta Style.
* Spark Wraith can be used to bully a Templar Assassin that used Meld.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Axe
* Enrage reduces the damage from
Blade Mail and Counter Helix to a minimum, forcing Axe to play around Ursa's ultimate ability.
* Overpower and
Fury Swipes tear through Axe's low armor, even if he has relatively high health.
Anti-Mage
* Ursa can be kited by Blink. Additionally, Anti-Mage can steal
Aegis of the Immortal during Roshan attempts through the Pit.
* Anti-Mage usually builds Manta Style, which can dispel Earthshock's slow.
* Anti-Mage can control Ursa's low mana pool via Mana Break.
* Anti-Mage can farm much more quickly than Ursa, allowing Anti-Mage to overpower Ursa once a significant farm advantage is established.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Axe
* Decrepify can be used on allies to prevent them from attacking Axe and triggering Counter Helix during Berserker's Call. He can also cast it on Axe to prevent anyone from attacking him.
* Life Drain can be used to heal himself or allies caught in Berserker's Call, preventing them from dropping low enough for Axe to kill them with Culling Blade.
Anti-Mage
* Pugna only deals magical damage, which Anti-Mage is exceptionally resistant due to Counterspell.
* Anti-Mage can dispel Decrepify with
Manta Style.
* Pugna has a very large mana pool. This allows Anti-Mage to constantly deal bonus damage to Pugna with Mana Break and devastate Pugna's entire team with Mana Void.
Additional:
* Since Pugna relies on his teammates for protection, it is fairly common for Anti-Mage to get multiple kills with a single use of his Mana Void on Pugna if he's missing a considerable portion of his mana.
* Pugna's massive mana pool will result in Anti-Mage's Mana Break almost always dealing the bonus damage from the mana burn.
* Counterspell negates a large amount of Pugna's damage, as most of Pugna's damage comes from his spells.
* Blink can be used to get out of a bad situation, and Pugna has no way to prevent him from casting it.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Anti-Mage
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Clinkz,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck
Additional:
* Anti-Mage's Counterspell provides no protection against Clinkz's physical damage output.
* Clinkz can easily rush an Orchid Malevolence to prevent
Blinking, although Anti-Mage can easily dispel it via
Manta Style.
* Clinkz does heavy damage to towers, and can take map control away from Anti-Mage to limit the space he has to farm early game. If Clinkz is ahead he is capable of ending the game before Anti-Mage becomes a threat. He can also match Anti-Mage's ability to split push.
Anti-Mage
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 2%)Arc Warden
* None of Arc Warden's skills work against Broodmother and her Spiderlings.
* Arc Warden is forced to go any lane other than mid, which he doesn't want to do, because on the lane against Broodmother he'll die over and over again.
* Broodmother is a hero best known for ending the game very early, and Arc Warden needs a couple of items to be effective.
* Arc Warden has no disables to stop Broodmother from lifestealing with Insatiable Hunger and shredding through Zet's low armor.
Axe
* Berserker's Call can catch Broodmother in her web, as well as groups of spiderlings. This is particularly effective when Broodmother attempts to push towers with her spiderlings.
* Counter Helix destroys spiderlings very quickly, and earns Axe a good deal of gold.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call forces Broodmother and her spiderlings to attack, allowing for large amounts of pure damage to be done through
Counter Helix.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 2%)Arc Warden
* Song of the Siren stops Arc Warden from acting and allows Naga Siren's team to close in on him, past his Magnetic Field.
* Mirror Image dispels Flux. The illusions created from it also disable the slow from Flux if Arc Warden casts it after Mirror Image.
* Arc Warden's playstyle heavily favors split-pushing, which Naga Siren can compete against with her illusions.
Additional:
* Her illusions can push better than Arc Warden's Tempest Double because Mirror Image has a longer duration.
* Mirror Image dispels Flux, and the illusions stop Flux from working.
Axe
* Axe will destroy her illusions by proccing Counter Helix more often due to him being hit by more attacks.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero winrate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
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List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assasin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (dotabuff most played)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal winrate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest winrate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
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Most popular searches list
Slark, PudgeDazzle, Pudge
Techies, Spectre
Tusk, Elder Titan
Bounty Hunter, Huskar
Axe, Legion Commander
Ancient Apparition, Abaddon
Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage
Axe, Techies, Spectre
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition
Kunkka, Axe, Grimstroke
Phantom Assassin, Crystal Maiden
Phantom Assassin, Pudge, Pugna
Slark, Pudge, Ancient Apparition
Faceless Void, Drow Ranger, Slark
Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Bane
Abaddon, Alchemist, Ancient Apparition
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage
Pudge, Invoker, Drow Ranger, Weaver
Abaddon, Alchemist, Arc Warden, Bane
Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Axe, Dark Willow
Dazzle, Witch Doctor, Bristleback, Spectre
Riki, Crystal Maiden, Visage, Treant Protector
Anti-Mage, Abaddon, Axe, Bane, Batrider
Riki, Invoker, Bristleback, Sniper, Lion
Crystal Maiden, Magnus, Enigma, Sven, Luna
Weaver, Invoker, Pudge, Lich, Ember Spirit
Sniper, Slark, Troll Warlord, Visage, Ursa
Ogre Magi, Ursa, Troll Warlord, Meepo, Lich
Ogre Magi, Treant Protector, Necrophos, Chaos Knight
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden
Gyrocopter, Riki, Slardar, Bloodseeker, Meepo
Faceless Void, Tinker, Lion, Brewmaster, Pudge
Riki, Legion Commander, Tiny, Invoker, Spectre
Alchemist, Lina, Lycan, Luna, Nature's Prophet
Pudge, Zeus, Lich, Juggernaut, Centaur Warrunner
Clockwerk, Pudge, Invoker, Shadow Shaman, Sniper
Silencer, Zeus, Faceless Void, Sniper, Sand King
Huskar, Pudge, Alchemist, Luna, Phantom Assassin
Centaur Warrunner, Spirit Breaker, Tusk, Axe, Tiny
Drow Ranger, Sniper, Earthshaker, Bristleback, Riki
Tinker, Pudge, Earthshaker, Elder Titan, Gyrocopter
Phantom Assassin, Pudge, Riki, Invoker, Chaos Knight
Dazzle, Ogre Magi, Invoker, Rubick, Phantom Assassin
Spirit Breaker, Outworld Devourer, Axe, Warlock, Ursa
Winter Wyvern, Lich, Ember Spirit, Underlord, Leshrac
Leshrac, Shadow Shaman, Sniper, Necrophos, Terrorblade
Abaddon, Bane, Storm Spirit, Grimstroke, Phantom Lancer
Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Ancient Apparition, Axe
Windranger, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Riki, Alchemist
Brewmaster, Pudge, Storm Spirit, Phantom Lancer, Oracle
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Axe, Arc Warden
Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Axe, Alchemist
Luna, Vengeful Spirit, Storm Spirit, Undying, Beastmaster
Juggernaut, Zeus, Sven, Ancient Apparition, Spirit Breaker
Axe, Ancient Apparition, Bloodseeker, Clinkz, Chaos Knight
Phantom Assassin, Pudge, Huskar, Queen of Pain, Earthshaker
Axe, Drow Ranger, Vengeful Spirit, Windranger, Winter Wyvern
Juggernaut, Shadow Shaman, Windranger, Meepo, Spirit Breaker
Abaddon, Alchemist, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Ancient Apparition
Abaddon, Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden
Juggernaut, Ember Spirit, Shadow Shaman, Ogre Magi, Brewmaster
Shadow Shaman, Spirit Breaker, Sniper, Wraith King, Earthshaker
Invoker, Grimstroke, Windranger, Bounty Hunter, Phantom Assassin
Treant Protector, Puck, Vengeful Spirit, Shadow Fiend, Anti-Mage
Phantom Assassin, Wraith King, Skywrath Mage, Silencer, Shadow Fiend
Bristleback, Crystal Maiden, Invoker, Phantom Lancer, Vengeful Spirit
Arc Warden
* Arc Warden relies on items and abilities, as well as his
Tempest Double, to deal damage to enemies.
Doom effectively denies that and makes Arc Warden useless in fights.
Axe
*
Infernal Blade's damage is calculated by percentage of maximum health, meaning that it will hurt Axe more than most normal attacks, negating some of his durability.
Devour, some of which can be annoying to Axe.
Doom makes Axe less disruptive, preventing him from using his skills or items. With
Aghanim's Scepter, Counter Helix is also disabled, making him effectively useless for a lengthy duration.
Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high HP targets such as Axe.
Counter Helix less often and thus is an unideal target for initiation.
Culling Blade.
Berserker's Call and
Blink Dagger due to
Doom, Axe offers very little in the way of damage, effectively removing him from a fight.
* Doom can pick up several different abilities from neutral creeps using
* Mud Golem, Dark Troll Summoner, Harpy Stormcrafter, Satyr Mindstealer or Satyr Tormenter are good examples.
* Doom's naturally low attack speed makes Counter Helix less likely to proc, and his high base health allows him to take a few Helixes with no danger.
*
Additional:
*
* Doom has low attack speed because of his high Base-Attack-Time, poor agility gain and limited attack-speed granting items which are commonly built. This means Doom will trigger
* Doom has naturally high HP so it takes longer for Doom to be brought down to the killing threshold of
* Axe is highly reliant on his abilities and items to be effective during a fight. Without the usage of
Anti-Mage
*
Doom shuts down Anti-Mage's escape capabilities with Blink. The ability also deals pure damage, which ignores the protection from Counterspell.
Counterspell can reflect it back to Doom itself.
Aghanim's Scepter,
Doom can break Anti-Mage's Mana Break and counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Doom prevents Anti-Mage from maneuvering around a fight or escaping from an initiation using
Blink. Additionally, Doom deals pure damage, which is not affected by
Counterspell. This can quickly whittle away Anti-Mage's naturally poor health pool.
Doom as a well-timed
Counterspell can block and reflect it back against Doom himself.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Doom will also disable
Mana Break and
Counterspell, which makes Anti-Mage significantly less effective in fights and more susceptible to the high magical damage of Doom's abilities and his allies.
* Be wary since a well-timed
* If Doom has
* Doom's low mana pool causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
Additional:
*
* Be careful when using
* An