Ursa
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Silencer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Phoenix
* Silencer will most likely disrupt an initiation with his ultimate, Global Silence, prevent escape with his
Last Word, and if Phoenix happens to die to him (or near him) enough times, he would sap enough of Phoenix's much needed Intelligence to make him a stronger foe and Phoenix with less mana than it already had.
Bristleback
* Arcane Curse stacks every time Bristleback uses an ability, forcing him to stop spamming his abilities, or take heavy health degeneration.
* Glaives of Wisdom steals intelligence both permanently and temporarily, causing mana issues for Bristleback .
* Last Word and
Global Silence stops Bristleback from using his abilities altogether.
Additional:
* Bristleback will not be able to cast Viscous Nasal Goo or
Quill Spray while silenced, effectively blocking a major part of the hero's damage and preventing
Warpath charges from stacking.
* Arcane Curse slows Bristleback down and lasts longer the more abilities he uses. On the other hand, if he doesn't use any abilitiess, he will begin to lose Warpath charges.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 14%)Phoenix
* 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.
Bristleback
* 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.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 5%)Phoenix
* Corrosive Skin gives Viper additional resistance to Phoenix's magical damage, and since they deal damage over time, Phoenix would be constantly afflicted by his passive's own debuff, making him not an ideal target for Phoenix's harassment. Phoenix's abilities also constantly drain its own health away, becoming more vulnerable to
Poison Attack.
Bristleback
* Nethertoxin disables Bristleback's passive.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack slow down Bristleback's movement speed so he's unable to get out from Nethertoxin.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin's break removes Bristleback and prevents
Warpath from building stacks. Besides losing his eponymous defensive passive, Bristleback also lose his ability to build up damage over lengthy battles.
* Viper can perpetually kite Bristleback with Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Bristleback
* Reaper's Scythe and
Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Bristleback's high health.
* Heartstopper Aura's HP removal does not trigger Bristleback's passive.
Additional:
* Heartstopper Aura deals percentage-based damage flagged as HP removal, so it is not reduced by Bristleback, nor does it trigger passive
Quill Sprays.
* Reaper's Scythe is very effective against Bristleback not only due to its percentage-based damage, but rather because it first stuns and then deals its damage, allowing Necrophos to position in front of Bristleback in time.
Phoenix
* Necrophos becomes a bigger threat the lower one's health gets, and unfortunately for Phoenix, most of its spells have noticeable health costs. Those costs, coupled with his Heartstopper Aura, means that staying in a teamfight for too long under Necrophos' presence will make Phoenix a more valid target for his ultimate, with its stun completely preventing any form of retaliation or protection. Necrophos players are also likely to buy more durability items such as
Hood of Defiance, making him more able to withstand Phoenix's damage despite having no escape mechanisms.
* However, it is also important to remember that a Scepter-upgraded Supernova can help protect an ally from his ultimate.
Additional:
* Phoenix constantly depletes its own health due to the health costs of its abilities. Unlike heroes that have a similar mechanic, Phoenix does not benefit from low health, nor does it really have a countermeasure for it. As such, Phoenix is a very vulnerable target for Necrophos to prey on, especially when caught off guard before it can cast Supernova.
Bristleback
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Bristleback
* Heroes who deal single instance burst damage will only proc Bristleback once: Lina,
Lion.
Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut,
Clinkz,
Troll Warlord,
Beastmaster,
Lina.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 7%)Phoenix
* Inner Beast helps Beastmaster's team destroy Supernova quickly.
Razor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Bristleback
* Eye of the Storm melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
* Static Link can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.
Additional:
* Eye of the Storm melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
* Static Link can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 7%)Phoenix
* Chemical Rage kills Phoenix very quickly in Supernova.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 17%)Bristleback
* Sanity's Eclipse only triggers Bristleback's passive once, and deals high damage against Bristleback's low intelligence.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 18%)Phoenix
* Juggernaut's high attack speed lets him destroy a Supernova easily. He can even attack a Supernova during Blade Fury with his regular attacks.
* Blade Fury protects Juggernaut from all of Phoenix's spells (except
Supernova, which pierces spell immunity).
* Blade Fury can also dispel the attack speed slow from
Fire Spirits and the movement speed slow from
Icarus Dive.
* Phoenix's Icarus Dive will not protect it from
Omnislash unless it dives into creeps, and Phoenix's low armor makes for an easy kill.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Phoenix
* Due to Fervor and Battle Trance, Troll Warlord is one of the best heroes to deal with Supernova.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Phoenix
* Although Blood Rite can be easily avoided, if it does hit, its lengthy silence and pure damage can be a severe punishment for a slow, unobservant, or simply unfortunate Phoenix. His
Rupture can turn Icarus Dive into a suicide option, and it cannot be dispelled, meaning even if Phoenix completes a Supernova, choosing to Dive may just cut its health back down. And finally, due to Phoenix's health costs, too much careless ability spamming may just put Phoenix into Bloodseeker's vision, making it a very tempting ganking target.
Additional:
* Phoenix expends health to use its abilities, making it a good target for Thirst.
* Rupture deals heavy damage against Icarus Dive.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Bristleback
* Mana Drain is a headache for Bristleback to deal with during the laning stage, as it denies him the ability to get last hits with Quill Spray.
* Finger of Death deals high damage to Bristleback, and only triggers his passive once.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Bristleback
* Shukuchi gets Weaver in front of Bristleback, negating the protection from the Bristleback passive.
* Weaver's mana break talent depletes Bristleback's mana pool, preventing him from spamming abilities.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Bristleback
* Bristleback's passive Bristleback can be disabled by Hoodwink's
Sharpshooter ability for a long period of time
Undying
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Bristleback
* Undying's Decay is a dangerous ability against Bristleback, as it makes him more vulnerable and reduces his tankiness.
* Undying's Tombstone together with Flesh Golem can slow Bristleback down significantly.
Lich
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Bristleback
* Sinister Gaze forces Bristleback to face Lich, exposing him to damage.
* Lich's plethora of slows make it easy to kite Bristleback.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Bristleback
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to outrun Bristleback, even when slowed by Viscous Nasal Goo.
* Corrosive Haze's armor reduction makes Bristleback much less tanky.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Bristleback
* Whirling Death deals damage as well while reducing 15% of Bristleback's strength, which reduces Bristleback's tankiness.
* Reactive Armor can sustain through multiple Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray stacks.
* Timber Chain makes it hard for Bristleback to slow down Timbersaw with Viscous Nasal Goo.
Snapfire
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)Phoenix
* Lil' Shredder will make quick work of
Supernova.
* Mortimer Kisses can easily hit a Phoenix using
Sun Ray.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)Bristleback
* Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high health targets such as Bristleback.
* Doom disables Bristleback's low cooldown abilities, preventing him from triggering Warpath. With
Aghanim's Scepter, it also breaks Bristleback's passive, rendering him more vulnerable.
Additional:
* Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high HP targets such as Bristleback.
* If Doom gets an Aghanim's Scepter, he can disable
Bristleback, taking away much of his durability.
* Doom prevents Bristleback from casting his two low cooldown abilities, which then prevents him from utilizing Warpath.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 14%)Phoenix
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like Death Prophet,
Skywrath Mage, and even
Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
Additional:
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt Sun Ray and
Icarus Dive.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Phoenix
* Heroes that deal damage over time will also fail to bring down Abaddon and his allies, such as Huskar,
Venomancer, or
Phoenix.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut,
Clinkz,
Troll Warlord,
Beastmaster,
Lina.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Phoenix
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like Death Prophet,
Skywrath Mage, and even
Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Phoenix
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like Death Prophet,
Skywrath Mage, and even
Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Bristleback
* Batrider's turn rate slow from
Sticky Napalm makes it harder for Bristleback to keep his back towards the enemy.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Bristleback
* Terrorblade's
Sunder is not affected by the Bristleback damage reduction.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Phoenix
* Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Faceless Void,
Magnus,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Pangolier,
Phantom Assassin,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Riki,
Sand King,
Spirit Breaker,
Timbersaw,
Tusk.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Phoenix
* Void can interrupt Icarus Dive.
* His Crippling Fear's silence will shutdown a spell caster Phoenix.
* However, Phoenix punishes Night Stalker with Supernova because it will turn night into day, and it has a higher priority than Dark Ascension, effectively canceling the passive bonuses Night Stalker gets from
Hunter in the Night.
Phoenix
* Phoenix turns night to day, overriding Dark Ascension during
Supernova.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 18%)Phoenix
* Although Phoenix has many ways to disable a Blink Dagger, the high cooldown of all of his spells makes them not as reliable for this. Also, his spells cost him a lot of health to use, making it easy for him to get nuked down.
* Waning Rift prevents Phoenix from using Supernova to refresh himself, giving Puck's team time to finish Phoenix off, or allow Puck to burst him down.
* Dream Coil prevents Phoenix from using Icarus Dive without consequences. Waning Rift and Dream Coil are also able to cancel his
Sun Ray, which is his main source of damage in the late game.
Bristleback
* Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
Mars
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Bristleback
* Bristleback's reliance on physical damage with Quill Spray is negated by Bulwark.
* Mars can knock back Bristleback to prevent him from chasing down allies with Viscous Nasal Goo.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Bristleback
* Duel makes Bristleback fight Legion Commander face to face, forcing him to take full damage.
* Press the Attack dispels the slow from stacks of Viscous Nasal Goo.
Additional:
* When dueled, Bristleback will have to face Legion head on, not allowing his passive Bristleback to come into effect.
Phoenix
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Legion Commander relies on her powerful attack and her Duel to be effective. But if Phoenix gets the jump on her first, she can find herself severely slowed, taking heavy damage, and find herself unable to Duel a burning Supernova.
* It must be noted that Press the Attack will both dispel the attack slow of Fire Spirits and grant her or whoever she targets bonus attack speed. This allows her to easily destroy a Supernova if caution is not taken to prevent this from occurring. As such, it would be a better decision to simply avoid a farmed or skilled Legion Commander instead of attempting to overpower her.
* If an ally is caught by Duel, Phoenix can use Sun Ray to heal the ally and damage Legion Commander, possibly swinging the Duel in their team's favor. Or with
Aghanim's Scepter, Phoenix can save an ally from dying in Duel with Supernova and cancel the Duel as well.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Bristleback
* Heroes that withstand damage like Timbersaw,
Bristleback,
Dragon Knight and others will have their durability largely reduced when hit by an Ice Blast due to the risk of shattering.
Phoenix
* Since all of Phoenix's abilities (except for Supernova) have health costs, heroes like Ancient Apparition or
Necrophos can turn Phoenix's abilities against it. However, Supernova does completely protect Phoenix from
Ice Blast.
Phoenix
* Supernova with or without Aghanim's Scepter allows to save ally or himself through Ice Blast.
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Cold Feet.
Additional:
* Icarus Dive helps Phoenix escape from Cold Feet.
* However, all of Pheonix's basic abilities do cost health, which can be harmful under the effects of Ice Blast
* Supernova can save Phoenix from Ice Blast.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 1%)Phoenix
* Lone druid's bear attacks on Phoenix's Supernova Egg don't increase the hit count. Given that Lone Druid's main hero often doesn't have much farm, the
Supernova Egg is less likely to get killed.
Bristleback
* Lone Druid and The Spirit Bear cannot burst down Bristleback due to Bristleback
* Bristleback can easily run to Lone Druid without any hesitation, with Viscous Nasal Goo to reduce armor and slow the Spirit Bear or Lone Druid and
Quill Spray can deal damage to both Lone Druid and the Spirit Bear at the same time
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Bristleback
* Bristleback's tankiness and damage reduction from the rear makes him very hard for Phantom Lancer to chase and finish off, due to his lack of burst damage.
* Quill Spray destroys Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Bristleback's passive costs no mana, meaning that it will continue to trigger even if Phantom Lancer drains Bristleback's mana with
Diffusal Blade.
Additional:
* Quill Spray cleans up Phantom Lancer's illusions in no time.
* Phantom Lancer's complete lack of burst damage makes it nearly impossible for him to kill Bristleback during chases.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's AoE abilities can prove troublesome for Phantom Lancer.
* Fire Spirits dramatically reduces Phantom Lancer and his illusions' attack speed.
* Icarus Dive's movement speed reduction makes retreating difficult.
* Supernova burns away illusions, and is invulnerable to attacks from illusions.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Bristleback
* Quill Spray will hit Sand King inside Sand Storm, damaging him and putting Sand King's
Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from escaping.
* Epicenter's numerous damage ticks will trigger Bristleback's passive repeatedly during teamfights.
Phoenix
* Sand King has nothing to deal with Supernova, as none of his spells are effective.
* The damage-over-time abilities of Phoenix disable Sand King's Blink Dagger very often.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 6%)Bristleback
* Bristleback decreases Tiny's high burst damage against Bristleback.
* Tiny's high damage will also proc Bristleback multiple times.
* Viscous Nasal Goo can help counteract the bonus armor granted by Grow.
Phoenix
* Heroes that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like Tusk and
Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 19%)Bristleback
* Bristleback is one of the hardest heroes to gank with a Meat Hook and
Dismember combo, and attempts to do so sometimes backfire on Pudge.
Additional:
* Pudge is particularly susceptible to Bristleback's Viscous Nasal Goo and
Quill Spray due to his naturally low armor & poor agility gain.
* Bristleback, in combination with his strength gain, high health, common itemization for magic resistance and damage reduction from Bristleback makes him a poor target for Pudge.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Bristleback
* Quill Spray quickly destroys Chaos Knight's Phantasms.
Phoenix
* Illusion-based heroes such as Naga Siren or
Chaos Knight are vulnerable to Phoenix's DPS and attack speed slow, as their illusions, no matter how many, will be unable to deal enough damage to actually be a threat, and they will all be completely useless against the Supernova.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)Bristleback
* Viscous Nasal Goo can hinder Crystal Maiden's already abysmal mobility, which allows Bristleback (or his teammates) to run her down and kill her.
* Bristleback frequently builds Blade Mail, which can quickly kill Crystal Maiden if her ultimate is used while he is under its effect.
* The passive part of Bristleback will trigger many, many times under the damage from Freezing Field, and as the stacks increase, the damage output from each successive cast (or proc) will eat away at Crystal Maiden's small HP pool.
Phoenix
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or
Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Phoenix
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Supernova is problematic for Spirit Breaker to take down, and even more so with
Fire Spirits debuff applied.
* Icarus Dive grants Phoenix capability to quickly escape to safety.
Bristleback
* Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna,
Razor,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Leshrac,
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 4%)Phoenix
* Supernova negates Kunkka's combo entirely, as it can't be affected by spells while using Supernova.
* Icarus Dive also allows Phoenix to dodge Ghostship and Torrent.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Phoenix
* Phoenix will usually be on the sidelines or further back ready to use Sun Ray. Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and skewer Phoenix's teammates, Phoenix can usually counter-initiate using all of its abilities.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 15%)Phoenix
* While her Phantom Strike does give limited extra attack speed, she cannot use the ability against the Phoenix Sun, and while her
Blur may protect her from attacks, Phoenix's strong magical DPS burns away her small health pool quickly, and the attack speed slow makes her unable to fight back (provided she has no source of spell immunity).
Additional:
* Fire Spirits applies a severe attack speed slow, severely hindering Phantom Assassin's damage output. While Phantom Strike may be able to slightly remedy the problem, Phoenix' magical and pure damage output completely ignore Blur's evasion, resulting in severe damage to her low health pool.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 0%)Phoenix
* Phoenix's large damage over time with Icarus Dive and
Fire Spirits can kill Chen's allies before he can use Hand of God.
* Phoenix's Supernova is not damaged by Chen's creeps.
Additional:
* Not only Phoenix is able to disrupt Chen's jungling with Fire Spirits, but its high damage over time can also force Chen to use Hand of God prematurely, potentially wasting any chance to save his allies during teamfights.
* Creeps' damage and attack speed are very abysmal, so Chen often cannot kill Phoenix whenever it casts Supernova.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Bristleback
* Bristleback's abilities are nearly useless for Rubick to Spell Steal, as he does not gain the bonuses from Warpath.
Additional:
* Rubick deals little damage on his own, so Bristleback can simply shrug off all his spells and chase you down with his spells and attacks.
* Quill Spray requires multiple casts and close range to add up stacks. Because Rubick does not stay in the front lines, it's generally not a good spell for him to steal.
* Viscous Nasal Goo will slow Rubick down even further and reduce his armor, making him vulnerable to Quill Spray and the damage bonus from
Warpath.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Bristleback
* Viscous Nasal Goo slows down Dragon Knight and lowers armor, locking him down and making him more vulnerable.
Riki
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Bristleback
* The bonus Backstab damage from Cloak and Dagger is rendered irrelevant with Bristleback and hurts Riki more than him because of the passive Quill Spray.
* Riki still gets damaged by Bristleback's Quill Spray while invisible, and it can be hard to deal with in lane.
* Bristleback is not too bothered by Smoke Screen. Though he cannot use Quill Spray manually inside it, it still procs passively when he takes damage from the back. The movement speed from Warpath allows him to get out of the area easily.
* Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal Gem of True Sight carrier.
* Riki rarely buys Silver Edge to break Bristleback's passive because the invisibility aspect of it is redundant.
Additional:
* Quill Spray will hit Riki even when he is invisible.
* Cloak and Dagger's bonus backstab damage is rendered irrelevant against Bristleback.
* Smoke Screen does not stop Bristleback's passive from activating.
* Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal Gem of True Sight carrier, directly countering Riki's invisibility.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Bristleback
* Quill Spray and
Bristleback harass Luna more efficiently than she does with Lucent Beam.
* Bristleback withstands Luna’s nukes, and gives lots of damage in return.
* Viscous Nasal Goo and
Warpath are enough to outrun a speedy Luna.
* Bristleback tends to be a frequent carrier of Crimson Guard, which is good protection from bouncing glaives.
Additional:
* Multiple instances of damage from Eclipse will trigger Bristleback's passive repeatedly in a short time, dealing tremendous damage to Luna and her teammates.
* Luna's damage burst may be high, but it will not be enough for her to take down Bristleback.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Phoenix
* Supernova allows Phoenix to save himself (or an ally, with Aghanim's Scepter) through
Echo Slam. Earthshaker will also have a difficult time destroying the supernova, due to his low base attack time and poor agility.
* Icarus Dive can pass through Earthshaker's Fissure.
* Most of Phoenix's abilities disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a good period of time due to the damage-over-time nature of its spells.
Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Phoenix
* Clockwerk being confined in his own Power Cogs means Clockwerk is unable to quickly escape from Phoenix's Sun Ray and
Supernova.
* Sun Ray will also heal the enemy Clockwerk is fighting, making it unlikely for Clockwerk to take an enemy down with him.
* For the same reasons, Phoenix also makes a powerful ally for Clockwerk when the situation is reversed.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Bristleback
* Macropyre's frequent damage ticks causes Bristleback to activate repeatedly, resulting in free damage as long as Bristleback faces away from Jakiro.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Phoenix
* Icarus Dive allows Phoenix to shrug off the slow from her trap and make an easy escape from her ambush.
* As Templar Assassin relies on her quality-over-quantity bursting attacks to make quick work on fragile target, Fire Spirits' attack speed reduction can cripple her ability to deals any damage during combat. With the debuff applied in early-mid game, a Meld-breaking hit from her is significantly slowed to the point that her target can make a safe distance before she even landed the hit.
* Sun Ray has quick damage tick and will burn through her Refraction in no time.
* Supernova deals damage over time in an incredibly large area, and again with her quality-over-quantity style, she may not be able to attack quickly enough to break through the Phoenix Sun by herself. (not to mention the debuff from Fire Spirits) This can lead to a failed ganking attempt or even a turnaround.
Additional:
* Her Refraction charges can and will be easily burned away by Phoenix's damage over time abilities, and
Meld can't protect her from Phoenix's AoE abilities, even without detection.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Bristleback
* 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.
Visage
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 1%)Phoenix
* Phoenix's
Supernova cannot be damaged by Familiars.
* In the early and mid game, Sun Ray won't deal enough damage to be reduced by Gravekeeper's Cloak.
* Once Sun Ray deals enough damage to protect Visage, a layer of Gravekeeper's Cloak is burnt every 0.2 seconds.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 6%)Bristleback
* Bristleback's tankiness can enable him to chase Enigma out of a teamfight, making it difficult to initiate with a Black Hole.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Bristleback
* Lycan's wolves deal little damage to Bristleback, and are easily killed by Quill Spray, even when they're invisible.
* Lycan's lack of burst damage makes it very hard for him to kill Bristleback, especially when his back is turned.
Additional:
* Quill Spray can be used to kill Lycan's summons.
* Bristleback allows him to stay alive against Lycan while dishing out counter attacks
* He can overpower Lycan with his Warpath instead.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 2%)Bristleback
* Quill Spray destroys spiderlings, and hits Broodmother even when she's regenerating in her webs. This makes Bristleback one of her hardest counters in lane.
Additional:
* Bristleback reduces most of Broodmother's and her spiderlings' damage.
* Quill Spray will hit any spiders in its proximity, hindering Broodmother's fighting and farming capabilities.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 3%)Bristleback
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: Tidehunter,
Bristleback,
Slardar.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Bristleback
* Heroes that have AoE damage: Lina,
Keeper of the Light,
Timbersaw,
Leshrac,
Bristleback,
Axe
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Phoenix
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or
Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 13%)Phoenix
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or
Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Axe
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Bristleback
* Axe forces Bristleback to turn around with
Berserker's Call, allowing allies to attack him without fear of his passive.
Phoenix
* 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.
Bristleback
* 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: 49% pickrate: 5%)Phoenix
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or
Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Phoenix
* Phoenix with
Supernova
* Heroes that can dodge Glimpse:
* Puck with
Phase Shift
* Riki with
Tricks of the Trade
* Phantom Lancer with
Doppelganger
* Ember Spirit with
Sleight of Fist and
Activate Fire Remnant
* Chaos Knight with
Phantasm
* Naga Siren with
Mirror Image
* Tusk with
Snowball
* Juggernaut with
Omnislash
* Brewmaster with
Primal Split
* Lifestealer with
Infest
* Phoenix with
Supernova
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Bristleback
* Heroes with damage-over-time abilities will not only proc Bristleback's passive continuously, they will also do little harm to him when he is facing away from the source: Venomancer,
Arc Warden
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Phoenix
* Sand King and
Phoenix has many tools to deal with a crowd of Heroes, which will work well against a crowd of illusions.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Phoenix
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos,
Phoenix,
Alchemist,
Earthshaker,
Razor,
Tinker,
Leshrac,
Queen of Pain
Additional:
* Icarus Dive, Sun Ray, and Supernova all destroy trees that Monkey King relies on to use his ability Tree Dance. If you spot him, you can quickly Icarus Dive in his direction and then follow up with Fire Spirits and Supernova. If you manage to cut the tree he is on, he will be stunned for 4 seconds and will be forced to take a lot of damage. However, most Monkey King players tend to build attack speed items to make use of their passive,
Jingu Mastery, so a battle against a farmed Monkey King will depend on who gets the jump on the other first.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 9%)Bristleback
* Bristleback's
Viscous Nasal Goo can catch and slow Bounty Hunter.
Warpath and
Quill Spray can defeat him quickly due to his small HP pool when compared to Bristleback's.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Bristleback
* Shadow Demon's
Soul Catcher hinders Bristleback's tanking capabilities.
Demonic Purge with
Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passive.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 41% pickrate: 4%)Bristleback
* Time Dilation prevents Bristleback from spamming his low-cooldown abilities, greatly reducing his damage and effectiveness.
* Chronosphere allows allies to resposition and hit Bristleback from the front, bypassing his defensive bonus from behind.
* Bristleback has no way to prevent Faceless Void from using Time Walk.
Additional:
* Time Dilation while Quill Spray and
Viscous Nasal Goo are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Bristleback nearly useless.
* Bristleback cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the front, completely bypassing his passive damage reduction.
Phoenix
* Fire Spirits does damage over time, preventing Faceless Void from backtracking the full damage with Time Walk.
* Fire Spirits applies a big attack speed slow, stopping Faceless Void from doing many attacks while in Chronosphere.
* Sun Ray can heal allies and damage Faceless Void from outside Chronosphere.
* Supernova can be cast outside of Chronosphere, forcing Faceless Void to step away from it, lest he'll take a lot of damage
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Phoenix
* Meepo is unlike any other multi-unit enemy Phoenix may face in the battlefield. Unlike illusion-based heroes like Phantom Lancer or
Chaos Knight, Meepo's clones are not illusions, meaning they can deal full damage to the Phoenix Sun if all four (or five) are present.
Additional:
* Earthbind can prevent Phoenix from using Icarus Dive, the only escaping mechanism of this hero.
* Heavy burst damage from Poof can easily kill Phoenix even when it slows down all the Meepos with Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's clones destroy the Phoenix Sun from Supernova in no time, even when they are slowed down by
Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's naturally high magic resistance gives Phoenix a hard time with bursting him down. He can even turn the tide if Icarus Dive is on cooldown.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray usually hits Meepo's clones, although Bristleback cannot turn his back when rooted with Earthbind.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Bristleback
* Phantom's Embrace silences Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray.
* Ink Swell stuns Bristleback and gets allies in position faster with increased movement speed to attack his front, countering his passive ability.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive helps Phoenix escape the slow from Stroke of Fate's and Soulbind.
* Supernova protects Phoenix from spell damage during Soulbind.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Phoenix
* Heroes with spell immunity-granting spells will render Phoenix useless against them, as Phoenix has almost no spell immunity-piercing ability, other than the stun at the end of Supernova: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut.
Bristleback
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback,
Clinkz,
Luna,
Shadow Fiend,
Slardar
Io
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Phoenix
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
Bristleback
* Quill Spray is very effective against Io, as it has very low armor and has to stay close to the fight to not break its Tether.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Phoenix
* Phoenix does significant magic damage over time which can either be dispelled or negated by Fate's Edict.
* Since Phoenix sacrifices some of his health to cast abilities it makes him very vulnerable to Oracle's burst potential
Bristleback
* Fortune's End cannot dispel Warpath stacks on Bristleback or
Quill Spray stacks on allies.
* Bristleback can heavily reduce Oracle's damage output. With it, Oracle may accidentally heal Bristleback with Purifying Flames, especially if Bristleback has bonus magic resistance.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Phoenix
* Huskar's high attack speed can counteract Fire Spirits, and easily destroy the
Supernova.
Additional:
* Berserker's Blood will let Huskar easily face down a Supernova with increased attack speed.
* Icarus Dive may not be an easy escape from Huskar either as he can chase Phoenix during it with Life Break if Huskar times it right.
Bristleback
* Bristleback's tankiness and Bristleback allow him to outlast Burning Spears' damage-over-time at almost any point in the game. In addition, if Huskar chooses to cast Life Break on Bristleback, Bristleback can simply turn around before it hits and receive little damage.
* Viscous Nasal Goo will reduce Huskar's low armor even further, and
Quill Spray and
Warpath will tear him down extremely quickly.
Additional:
* The damage from Burning Spear can be reduced by turning away from Huskar.
* Bristleback can bait Huskar into using Life Break on him, then turn around and receive very little damage.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Phoenix
* Heroes that wish to disrupt fights with spell combos or big ultimates are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Phoenix
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Phoenix
* 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.
Bristleback
* 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.
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).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
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.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Bristleback
* Bristleback's tankiness doesn't help him very much against Fury Swipes in long teamfights.
* With no escape mechanism and a slow movement speed, getting jumped on by Ursa usually spell a quick end for Bristleback in the early game.
Phoenix
* Ursa can easily unleash a number of attacks in an incredibly short amount of time, easily destroying the Supernova in a couple of seconds regardless of Fire Spirits' debuff. His
Enrage also dampens any damage Phoenix might toss at his direction, as well as remove any debuffs Phoenix may place on him.