Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 3.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 3.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Rubick
* Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge and dispel Fade Bolt's damage reduction debuff.
* Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge the stun from an incoming Telekenesis when he is not the primary target.
* Phantom Lancer is a common Diffusal Blade carrier leaving Rubick no mana to spam abilities from Spell Steal.
Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with no AoE abilities will struggle against Phantom Lancer: Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Broodmother
Ogre Magi
* Ogre Magi has no AoE damage or disables and has nothing to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Doppelganger disjoints and dispels Ignite.
Dazzle
* Juxtapose and
Doppelganger conjures too many illusions for Dazzle to deal with, given he has no inherent movement- or AoE-abilities.
* Phantom Rush and
Spirit Lance allow Phantom Lancer to trivially catch Dazzle even in the back line of a fight.
* Phantom Lancer has high base armor which counters Dazzle's physcial damage based spells in lane.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: 2.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them: Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight.
Rubick
* While Chaos Knight can land far away from Rubick due to Telekinesis, it can be counteracted by Reality Rift.
* Phantasm dispels Fade Bolt's damage reduction debuff.
* Rubick is fragile and can easily be killed by Chaos Knight and Phantasm's illusions, before he retaliates.
Ogre Magi
* Phantasm dispels Ignite and makes targeting the real Chaos Knight much harder.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 2.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Ogre Magi
* Fate's Edict gives full immunity from Ogre Magi's mostly magical damage.
* Fortune's End can dispel Ignite (when used on allies) and Bloodlust (when used on enemies).
* False Promise can dispel Ignite and Fireblast.
Rubick
* Oracle's high magic damage output can easily take down Rubick's low health pool.
* Because Oracle likes to combine his spells together, the only good Spell Steal target he gives is False Promise. This scenario can be avoided by shift queueing Fortune's End and casting it immediately, as it has no cast point, or by staying in the back line of fights if out of mana.
* As a position based hero, Rubick will have a very hard time against Fortune's End due to its absurd range and very long root duration.
Phantom Assassin
* Fate's Edict cripples many heroes who rely on attacks, such as Phantom Assassin,
Sven, or
Enchantress, without a dispel or a
Black King Bar.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: 2.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 7%)Rubick
* None of Spectre's spells are very good for Rubick to Spell Steal.
Phantom Assassin
* Black King Bar is useless, since all of the Spectre's abilities go through spell immunity,
* Phantom Assassin's Blur cannot evade Desolate because its damage is a separate damage instance and is applied before the attack hits.
* Spectre's high durability provided by Dispersion and damage block items makes her one of the hardest carries to take down.
Additional:
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Desolate ignores the evasion from Blur.
* Black King Bar is useless against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
Dazzle
* Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned Drow Ranger and
Sniper) and supports (like
Dazzle and
Shadow Shaman).
Doom
[wiki] rating: 2.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter, and hex abilities all prevent item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using
Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility.
Ogre Magi
* Doom makes Ogre Magi less disruptive.
* Infernal Blade effectively negates Ogre Magi's tankiness.
* With Aghanim's Scepter he can disable Multicast.
Invoker
* Doom completely takes Invoker out of a team fight, a hero who relies on using abilities and items to contribute.
Additional:
* Doom is a good way to shut down Invoker, preventing from casting spells and using items for a lengthy time, thus forcing him to invest on
Linken's Sphere.
Dazzle
* Supports with useful teamfight or contribution spells will be helpless against Doom: Dazzle,
Oracle,
Warlock.
Additional:
* Doom can completely shut down Dazzle through Doom, as it prevents him from casting his abilities and, by extension, gaining Bad Juju stacks.
Dazzle
* Heroes with the ability to heal allies, or those with good defensive abilities: (Chen,
Dazzle,
Io,
Oracle,
Omniknight,
Witch Doctor,
Winter Wyvern, (
Abaddon, etc.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 2.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 12%)Rubick
* Pounce and
Dark Pact together with some attacks can gank Rubick down quickly. Rubick can seldom retaliate because of the strong dispel of
Dark Pact. What is more, Rubick is the type of squishy support that Slark exactly wants to gank.
* Though Shadow Dance is a great spell to steal, Slark's untargetable nature and his low cooldown spells prevents Rubick from stealing it.
* Slark usually builds Diffusal Blade which can prevent Rubick to cast his abilities from Spell Steal.
Phantom Assassin
* Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with Phantom Strike.
* As a hero who always goes for the Silver Edge and
Abyssal Blade Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin and her
Blur and
Coup de Grace, drastically reducing her damage output and ability to evade attacks, and also preventing her from acting.
* Phantom Assassin's Coup de Grace requires Random Number Generation in order to proc, which gives Slark more than enough time to escape and recover himself.
Ogre Magi
* Dark Pact dispels Ignite's slow and Fireblast's stun.
* Shadow Dance allows Slark to regenerate HP, even when he is affected by Ignite and Fireblast.
Dazzle
* Heroes that can deny Slark early kills will prevent him from snowballing: Dazzle,
Abaddon
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Invoker is heavily dependent on his spells, making him useless during Global Silence, as well as interrupting Invoker during his combo.
* Arcane Curse is particularly deadly, because Invoker will continuously lose health if he keeps invoking and casting new spells.
* Last Word will silence Invoker when he casts Invoke, interrupting his combo.
Dazzle
* A well-timed Global Silence prevents Dazzle from saving allies with Shallow Grave or Shadow Wave. Items that could dispel the silence are expensive, and difficult for Dazzle to farm from a support role.
* Arcane Curse and
Last Word cause long damage over time, which may outlast Shallow Grave.
Rubick
* While many of Silencer's spells are a great steal for Rubick, Silencer effectively neuters Rubick's excellent counter-initiation potential thanks to Global Silence.
* Rubick's relatively low intelligence for such a heavy caster means that losing Intelligence to Intelligence Steal will make your mana pool even smaller.
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin doesn't care about Silencer's spells as she relies on right-clicks more than spells.
* Phantom Assassin often builds Black King Bar, which allows her to remove Global Silence before engaging.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Dazzle
* 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.
Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Ogre Magi
* 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.
Invoker
* 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.
Rubick
* 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.
Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Invoker
* Rage protects Lifestealer nearly from all of Invoker's spells.
Additional:
* Rage grants immunity from Invoker's spells and can dispel most of the disables such as the armor loss from Forge Spirit and the constant stuns of Cold Snap.
Ogre Magi
* Ogre Magi has nothing against Rage and his high health pool amplifies
Feast.
Additional:
* Lifestealer's Rage makes him immune to all of Ogre's magical debuffs and also dispels them.
* Ogre's as hero with great durability and high health is great target for Lifestealer in any stage of the game, thanks to Feast.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 14%)Ogre Magi
* Puck silences Ogre Magi with
Waning Rift, and
Phase Shift makes Puck untargetable for the duration.
Phantom Assassin
* Puck relies mainly on magical burst damage, which Phantom Assassin is most vulnerable against.
* Phase Shift and
Illusory Orb disjoint Stifling Dagger, also allowing to kite Phantom Assassin.
* Dream Coil will stun Phantom Assassin if she uses Phantom Strike to blink away.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Ogre Magi
* Earth Spirit's useful kit of Slows, Stuns, and Silences can set up kills on Ogre Magi and the silence can stop him from using his abilities.
Invoker
* Earth Spirit is a dangerous foe to encounter for Invoker in the early stages of the game. Since Invoker needs to gain levels as fast as possible and is not very strong in the early game, Earth Spirit can use his incredible early game power to gank Invoker and ruin his game plan.
* Earth Spirit combines stuns and silences with his spells and can apply them from a great distance. This is bad for Invoker as he is dependent on a smart usage of his spells with Invoke and Earth Spirit can disrupt his combos easily.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Rubick
* Song of the Siren is very difficult for Rubick to Spell Steal when he is affected by sleep.
* Ensnare and Rip Tide together with some attacks can take Rubick down quickly, due to his low health pool and armor.
* Naga Siren usually buys Diffusal Blade, which will prevent Rubick from spamming his abilities from
Spell Steal.
* Mirror Image allows to dodge the incoming stun from Telekinesis (when she is not a target) and it can also to dodge and dispel
Fade Bolt's damage reduction debuff.
Dazzle
* Mirror Image's illusions can easily walk straight at Dazzle and attack him, due to Dazzle's lack of reliable AoE nukes or disables.
* Ensnare roots Dazzle or his allies, making it harder to stay range of Dazzle's saving abilities.
* Song of the Siren can be used to initiate a fight with superior positioning, potentially zoning Dazzle's high-impact spells out of the fight.
Phantom Assassin
* Cleave heroes will clear her illusions. Such heroes include Sven,
Magnus,
Dragon Knight in Elder Dragon Form,
Ember Spirit (via item),
Phantom Assassin (via talent or item), etc.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Time Walk can easily avoid Invoker's combo damage if doesn't have disables.
* Chronosphere will reveal Invoker during Ghost Walk.
* All of Invoker's hidden cooldowns are affected by Time Dilation, so Faceless Void can easily slow him down a lot.
Additional:
* Time Dilation prevents Invoker from further invoking for the entire duration of the debuff, as well as massively slowing Invoker based on the large amount of spells he has.
* Time Walk will completely negate Invoker's combo damage.
* If Invoker is caught in Chronosphere, he will most likely be the primary target due to the large teamfight contribution he can provide.
Rubick
* Time Dilation, while Spell Steal with
Aghanim's Scepter is on cooldown will make it unusable for a long time, reducing Rubick's potential.
* Rubick's own Chronosphere stolen with Spell Steal cannot stun Faceless Void.
Dazzle
* Any hero that can nullify effects of Chronosphere: (Omniknight,
Keeper of the Light with
Aghanim's Scepter during daytime,
Winter Wyvern), banishing him or Faceless Void (
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Earth Spirit with
Aghanim's Scepter) or protecting him in other ways (
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Abaddon) can greatly limit Chronosphere's potential.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 11%)Phantom Assassin
* Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. Especially Pugna and any hero that is wielding
Ethereal Blade, such as
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin or
Morphling.
Invoker
* Large area-of-effect with delay or require channeling: Enigma,
Crystal Maiden,
Invoker,
Shadow Fiend,
Pugna,
Keeper of the Light
* The nature of some abilities turn them into an easy target for a turnover from Spiked Carapace:
* Slow-moving projectiles: Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Necrophos
* Large area-of-effect with delay or require channeling: Enigma,
Crystal Maiden,
Invoker,
Shadow Fiend,
Pugna,
Keeper of the Light
* Deals damage over time: Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom
Additional:
* Nyx Assassin takes advantage of Invoker's massive intelligence gain and mana pool to do tons of damage using Mana Burn, as the spell does more damage based on the target's intelligence.
* Nyx Assassin can simply activate Spiked Carapace while under many Invoker's abilities to stun him.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Invoker
* Crippling Fear is a good way to shut down and gank Invoker in the early game..
* Void deals good damage to Invoker and makes escaping harder.
* With Hunter in the Night and
Void, Invoker can't get away from Night Stalker and won't be able to catch him with Sun Strike during the night.
Razor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Assassin
* Static Link can lower the damage output from Coup de Grace procs, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
* Eye of the Storm strikes cannot be evaded by Blur.
* Both Static Link and Eye of the Storm pierces spell immunity, as Phantom Assassin is often reliant on Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Static Link greatly lowers the damage output from Coup de Grace, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of scaling.
* Eye of the Storm strikes cannot be evaded by Blur.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* Troll Warlord can build a Silver Edge or a
Monkey King Bar to completely ignore
Blur.
* Whirling Axes (Melee) provides a 60% miss chance, making a Coup de Grace critical strike very hard to land.
* Battle Trance negates Coup de Grace, preventing Troll Warlord from dying to her critical hits.
Additional:
* Whirling Axes (Melee) makes it hard to land a Coup de Grace.
* Troll Warlord often buys Silver Edge and Monkey King Bar, the items that greatly counters Phantom Assassin.
* Battle Trance completely negates Phantom Assassin's large damage output, preventing Troll Warlord from dying easily. The lifesteal also allows Troll Warlord to restore much of his health.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Quas-Exort Invoker is also a good matchup due to the fact he has no Wex to run faster due to the movement impairment on his stealth. The
Forge Spirit and
Cold Snap combo doesn't harm her as well since you can drain Invoker's HP with Spirit Siphon which forces him to retreat.
* Silence also prevents Invoker from using Invoke or casting his main spells temporarily. There is no way Invoker can block it unless he has
Eul's Scepter of Divinity to cyclone himself or has help from allies.
Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Rubick
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter,
Brewmaster,
Death Prophet, etc.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Heroes with silence: Death Prophet,
Riki,
Drow Ranger.
Rubick
* A well-timed Gust will prevent Rubick from casting abilities from Spell Steal, and his lack of capabilities and low health pool usually dies very quickly.
* Drow Ranger can dispel Fade Bolt's reduction debuff with
Manta Style.
Phantom Assassin
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin,
Spirit Breaker, and
Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin's Blur will be useless if Windranger managed to get
Monkey King Bar or
Bloodthorn, and other than Stifling Dagger, Phantom Assassin has no abilities that can bypass Windrun.
* Focus Fire can still deal considerable damage despite Blur's evasion due to the increased attack speed.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Retaliate deals damage to Phantom Assassin for every attack and Stifling Dagger thrown at Centaur.
* Blur cannot evade Double Edge.
Additional:
* Retaliate turns Phantom Assassin's attacks against herself, as he deals damage with every hit taken, and his big health pool makes sure that a lot of hits will be needed.
* If Centaur Warrunner gets the jump on Phantom Assassin first, she will be unable to activate Black King Bar and might be burst down with the help of his
Double Edge.
* Stampede can save an ally under attack by Phantom Assassin, offsetting the slow from Stifling Dagger. If he owns an
Aghanim's Scepter, he can prevent a low-health ally from being killed in one crit.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Queen of Pain usually outlanes Invoker, giving her team a significant early game advantage while Invoker is still farming.
* Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Invoker's combo if he doesn't have disables.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 22%)Phantom Assassin
* Sharpshooter breaks Blur and Coup de Grace especially with the level 25 talent.
* Because Phantom Assassin is often reliant on critical strikes, Hoodwink can have enough time to simply move near a tree and escape.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* Astral Imprisonment allows Outworld Destroyer to save himself or ally from Invoker's combo, or remove Invoker from a fight temporarily.
* Arcane Orb's pure damage will deal a lot of damage against Invoker's mediocre strength gain.
* EMP is useless against Outworld Destroyer by activating Equilibrium.
* However, be aware that Sanity's Eclipse will most likely not deal any damage at all, due to Invoker's high intelligence gain compared to Outworld Destroyer's.
Phantom Assassin
* Any heroes with low mana pools will die quickly or even instantly to Sanity's Eclipse: Doom,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord.
Dazzle
* Astral Imprisonment is a versatile nuisance:
* If it is cast on a low-enough-health unit at least 1 second into Shallow Grave's duration, the Shallow Grave will end during the imprisonment, and the target will take lethal damage when released.
* It can be used remove Dazzle from the fight at a time he could have saved someone.
* It lets himself or an ally dodge all of Poison Touch's effects, for long enough to recover their Blink Dagger.
Rubick
* Rubick can use Spell Steal to steal Astral Imprisonment, and if Rubick gets
Aghanim's Scepter he gets 2 charges of it. This can overpower Outworld Devourer in team fights.
* Rubick can also steal Sanity's Eclipse against Outworld Devourer's teammates.
Invoker
* Any heroes with high intelligence, such as Invoker and
Pugna.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Rubick
* 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.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 10%)Rubick
* Riki has high damage and invisibility, meaning he can easily gank Rubick and kill him before Rubick has the chance to react.
* Almost all of Riki's spells are useless to Rubick.
* Smoke Screen is the only of Riki's spells that can be of some use to Rubick.
* Similar to Clinkz, Rubick has to buy a large amount of Sentry Wards to keep track of Riki due to Cloak and Dagger, preventing Rubick from getting better items.
* Riki is a common Diffusal Blade carrier leaving Rubick no mana to spam abilities from Spell Steal.
Invoker
* Heroes with silence: Death Prophet,
Riki,
Drow Ranger.
Phantom Assassin
* Blink Strike does not grant Riki a mobility advantage over Phantom Assassin, as her Phantom Strike serves the same purpose, but with a higher range.
* A Carry Riki usually has a hard time dealing with Blur, as a Monkey King Bar or
Bloodthorn are unfavourable item picks for him (or, even more unlikely, a
Silver Edge).
* A Black King Bar is a very common pick for Phantom Assassin, fully countering
Smoke Screen and
Diffusal Blade while activated.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 3%)Ogre Magi
* In general, heroes that deal burst in multiple instances will trigger Borrowed Time and heal Abaddon for a large amount, such as Skywrath Mage,
Techies,
Juggernaut,
Shadow Shaman, or
Ogre Magi.
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 13%)Invoker
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Ogre Magi
* Arc Warden's
Tempest Double is helpful for killing Ogre Magi who lacks AoE damage and disables.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. Especially Pugna and any hero that is wielding
Ethereal Blade, such as
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin or
Morphling.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Because Invoker relies on casting a large amount of spells to contribute to fights, Nether Ward can force him to not cast anything at all or take a large amount of damage to cast spells.
Phantom Assassin
* Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. Especially Pugna and any hero that is wielding
Ethereal Blade, such as
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin or
Morphling.
Invoker
* Invoker can use Tornado or Cold Snap to prevent Pugna from channeling Life Drain
* A poorly used Decrepify on Pugna's allies means Invoker's abilities can be used to deal more damage to it
* Tornado allows Invoker to purge Pugna's Decrepify when it is used defensively
* Special care has to be taken, however, when casting several abilities within the range of a Nether Ward
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Invoker
* 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.
Phantom Assassin
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's burst damage.
* Nightmare and Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with Phantom Strike, and stop her from outputting damage, even with Black King Bar.
* Phantom Assassin's low health pool early on makes her susceptible to Brain Sap and Fiend's Grip's heavy nuke damage.
Additional:
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's damage output, crippling her damage with Coup de Grace.
* Brain Sap's deals high magical damage against Phantom Assassin in the early game. When upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter, it can pierce spell immunity.
* Fiend's Grip can disable Phantom Assassin, even through spell immunity.
Rubick
* Fiend's Grip is a powerful channeled ability, making it easy and useful to Spell Steal and interrupt with
Telekinesis.
* Stolen Fiend's Grip or Nightmare combined with Arcane Supremacy allows Rubick to disable Bane's allies for a long amount of time.
* As a natural Aghanim's Scepter carrier, Rubick can steal an upgraded Brain Sap and deal lots of damage to Bane's team.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Invoker
* Heroes with abilities which have a built-in spell immunity: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Pangolier.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,
Bloodseeker,
Lifestealer,
Troll Warlord
Additional:
* High armor thanks to Dragon Blood makes it difficult for Phantom Assassin to burst down Dragon Knight, as she deals 100% physical damage.
* Dragon Tail stuns Phantom Assassin as soon as she initiates, preventing her from gaining bonus attack speed.
* Dragon Knight is one of the few heroes who can safely solo lane against Phantom Assassin alongside a support.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Invoker
* Templar Assassin can easily counter Invoker's last hitting process in the early game with Refraction.
Refraction also negates the stun from Cold Snap, since it will need to deal damage in order to apply its stun.
* Additionally, Refraction completely blocks damage from Sun Strike should Invoker try to finish her off, provided she activate Refraction beforehand.
Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
Ogre Magi
* The damage block instances of Refraction can be burned down with Ignite.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Phantom Assassin
* Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter, and hex abilities all prevent item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using
Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Invoker
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Rubick
* Legion Commander's spells are relatively useless to Rubick, as Duel isn't suitable for someone as squishy as Rubick.
* Press the Attack can be useful, but its high mana cost will leave you with little mana.
* Overwhelming Odds only does damage and gives a movement speed bonus, Rubick can't do much with the extra move speed.
* Generally, you will be a prime target for Legion Commander's Duels, as Rubick is relatively frail.
Ogre Magi
* Heroes rely on their debuff to control the opponent will have a hard time against Press the Attack: Venomancer,
Earth Spirit,
Ogre Magi
Dazzle
* Shallow Grave prevents Legion Commander from killing her opponents in Duels.
* Shadow Wave will heal an ally caught in a Duel, as well as dealing damage to Legion Commander.
Invoker
* Heroes with global abilities can give Legion Commander's opponent an edge in Duels from anywhere on the map: Nature's Prophet,
Ancient Apparition,
Zeus,
Invoker,
Treant Protector
Additional:
* Invoker's spells will disable and destroy Legion Commander while she's locked in a Duel.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Dazzle
* Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus,
Invoker or
Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Dazzle
* Heroes with high burst damage through their physical attacks or spells can kill Dazzle or his allies before he has a chance to use Shallow Grave. (Lina,
Lion, etc.)
Phantom Assassin
* Despite her high mobility, Hex or Earth Spike can lock Phantom Assassin down and make her vulnerable.
* Although she has high evasion through Blur, Phantom Assassin has a rather low health pool, making her weak to Lion's magical burst.
Additional:
* Hex and
Earth Spike's fast cast animations easily catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in to attack.
* Finger of Death often ends Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in the early to mid game.
Rubick
* Everything Lion has is great in Rubick's kit, further amplified by Arcane Supremacy:
* Earth Spike adds a second bit of crowd control and some damage.
* Mana Drain solves a lot of Rubick's mana issues.
* Hex is one of the strongest single-target lockdowns in the game.
* Finger of Death is one of the best magical nukes in the game.
Additional:
* All of Lion's abilities are worth stealing with Spell Steal.
* Arcane Supremacy makes the disabling spells stolen from Lion very useful, allowing you to disable enemies for an extremely long time during fights or ganks.
* By using Telekinesis, Rubick can easily catch Lion out. Without any escape mechanism, Lion is helpless, especially when ganked.
Gyrocopter
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Invoker's
Ghost Walk can be countered, however,
Invoker could also use abilities like
Tornado or
Ice Wall to escape by other means.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter, and hex abilities all prevent item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using
Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 20%)Invoker
* Juggernaut's instant spell immunity from Blade Fury helps him dodge Invoker's combos. He can dispel the disables from Cold Snap and
Deafening Blast and dodge the damage from
Chaos Meteor, as well as walk through
Ice Wall.
* Juggernaut's high DPS allows him to kill split pushing Forge Spirit(s) effortlessly, and his high armor prevents them from being a threat to him.
* However, Invoker can hit Juggernaut with Sun Strike through Blade Fury, making the
Tornado > Sun Strike combo a threat if he does not dodge Tornado.
Additional:
* Blade Fury, similar to Rage, grants immunity to Invoker's spells and can dispel some debuffs as well.
* Omnislash renders Juggernaut invulnerable to Invoker's spells and can easily take Invoker down.
Dazzle
* Heroes with abilities that can save are also effective such as Shadow Demon,
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Bane,
Pugna,
Tusk,
Winter Wyvern,
Io,
Underlord,
Treant Protector and
Keeper of the Light.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as
Windranger,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord and
Keeper of the Light.
Rubick
* Considering Rubick's abysmal armor, Rubick is a squishy target for Clinkz to gank. None of his spells are useful except for Skeleton Walk.
* Clinkz usually builds Orchid Malevolence, which disables Rubick's ability to retaliate.
* Vast numbers of Sentry Wards are needed to deal with Clinkz because of
Skeleton Walk, making it harder for Rubick to buy more expensive and more useful support items like
Glimmer Cape or
Mekansm.
Phantom Assassin
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack dependent heroes such as Viper,
Ursa or
Clinkz can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Dazzle
* Heroes that excel at grouping up with their team very early will be able to take advantage of a Clinkz that tries to pick off heroes that are alone: Brewmaster,
Dazzle,
Tidehunter.
Undying
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Ogre Magi
* Undying saps strength from heroes with Decay, and Ogre Magi's high strength gain will allow Undying to steal more and more strength, becoming stronger with each use.
* Due to the Strength steal from Decay, Undying is normally very tanky, and has high health, making it harder for Ogre Magi to kill him.
Invoker
* Invoker's multiple spells can lock down Undying and disable him from doing much.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Invoker
* In the early to mid game, Invoker is defenseless against Storm Spirit's ganking with Ball Lightning and
Orchid Malevolence.
Invoker
* Heroes with mana burn: Nyx Assassin,
Invoker,
Outworld Destroyer,
Pugna
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Arcane Bolt's long range and low cooldowns allows Skywrath Mage to severely harass Phantom Assassin in lane.
* Ancient Seal prevents Phantom Assassin from escaping or engaging with Phantom Strike.
* Mystic Flare's heavy magical damage nukes Phantom Assassin down quickly during the early to mid game.
Phantom Assassin
* Skywrath's pitiful defences also make him easy meat to heroes with high physical burst like Juggernaut or
Phantom Assassin, the latter occasionally downing a support Skywrath in a single
Stifling Dagger.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Ogre Magi
* Nethertoxin breaks Multicast.
* Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage during Ignite and Fireblast.
Phantom Assassin
* Nethertoxin breaks Phantom Assassin's passive skills.
* Viper Strike goes through
Black King Bar.
Invoker
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper receive less damage from Invoker's spells
* Viper can harass Invoker with his Poison Attack in the early game.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack can kill Invoker easily if Ghost Walk is on cooldown.
Phantom Assassin
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack dependent heroes such as Viper,
Ursa or
Clinkz can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Rubick
* If Rubick can use Spell Steal to take Nethertoxin, he will be able to disable Corrosive Skin, reducing much of Viper's durability.
* He can also steal Viper Strike, which can be used to hinder a hero on your team (or multiple heroes, if Rubick has Aghanim's Scepter).
Invoker
* Ice Wall and
Ghost Walk can be used to kite and escape from Viper.
* Chaos Meteor and
Sun Strike deal heavy damage and can quickly bring Viper down.
* Cold Snap,
Tornado, and
Deafening Blast are powerful disables that reduce Viper's effectiveness.
* EMP burns Viper's limited mana pool, reducing his potential poison damage.
* Forge Spirits can melt Viper's armor and reduce his durability.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -2.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Rubick
* Fissure has a shorter cast time in Rubick's hands, making it a nice ability to either initiate or interrupt enemy ganks from a long distance.
* Though Echo Slam isn't as powerful for the lack of
Aftershock on Rubick, the damage can still be massive on enemies.
Invoker
* Invoker's
EMP is extremely effective against Earthshaker due to his low natural mana.
Ogre Magi
* Damage-over-time Ignite can prevent Earthshaker from escaping with Blink Dagger.
* Fireblast and Unrefined Fireblast are the good setup while Earthshaker after blinking in (although Earthshaker is a primary target).
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -2.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Phantom Assassin if they are not careful. Look for Luna,
Venomancer and
Shadow Fiend and try to catch them off guard.
Dazzle
* Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities are easier to heal through with numerous Shadow Waves than other types of damage, and it's simple to time a Shallow Grave until the last possible second to save a teammate from them.
Rubick
* All of Venomancer's abilities are decent choices for Rubick's Spell Steal. Stealing Plague wards makes them apply Poison sting as well.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -2.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter.
Rubick
* If Rubick steals Reaper's Scythe, he can turn the powerful ultimate back against Necrophos' team. Even his other spells are useful in Rubick's hands, giving him a sustain or a weak initiation/protection tool.
Dazzle
* Dazzle's Shadow Wave is a spammable healing ability that spreads around his entire team, slowing the death of his teammates as effectively as Necrophos spreads damage to them.
* If not immediately, Shallow Grave delays his ally from gradually dying to Necrophos' abilities, especially Reaper's Scythe.
Additional:
* Reaper's Scythe is very predictable and gives you plenty of time to react with Shallow Grave: just keep a close eye on allies below 50% health.
* However, be sure to use Shadow Wave on that ally immediately after, or they will die from Heartstopper Aura when the Shallow Grave ends!
Invoker
* Tornado allows Invoker to purge Necrophos's Ghost Shroud, nullifying any benefits he could get out of it
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Necrophos's mana, preventing him to use his abilities constantly
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -2.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* Quas Exort Invoker has high physical damage in the form of Cold Snap and Forged Spirits that allows him to trade hits with Huskar.
* Although Huskar can dispel Cold Snap with Life Break.
* Sun Strike deals pure damage and pierces spell immunity, and Huskar tends to drain his HP, making him a susceptible target.
Phantom Assassin
* Carries that can out damage Huskar will do well against him: Legion Commander,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Phantom Assassin.
Dazzle
* Heroes with abilities that reduce armor will make Huskar very vulnerable: Weaver,
Dazzle,
Bristleback,
Vengeful Spirit.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* EMP is a large mana burn nuke which can hit Medusa's Mana shield with enough damage to lose even more mana.
* Deafening Blast disarms Medusa's ability to deal pseudo-AOE damage during teamfights.
* Cold Snap allows the opposing team to repeatedly stun Medusa in short succession, preventing her from successfully casting her ultimate due to its long cast time.
Additional:
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Medusa's mana to weaken Mana Shield.
* Medusa's lack of mobility makes her easy to kite with Invoker's spells.
Rubick
* Because of her need to get status items early to tank it up, Rubick can greatly reduce her damage early with Fade Bolt
* Her stationary nature and the slow cast time of her spells makes it easier for Rubick to steal Stone Gaze or
Mystic Snake
* Aghanim's Scepter's Mystic Snake is often better used by Rubick than by Medusa
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Ogre Magi
* Nature's Prophet treants can easily cleared by damage-over-time Ignite or Multicast Hand of Midas earning lots of gold.
* Fireblast and Unrefined Fireblast prevents or cancels out Nature Prophet from escaping with Teleportation.
Phantom Assassin
* Nature's Prophet's low mobility and health pool allows Phantom Assassin to destroy him in the early game.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to jump in and out of Sprout, provided she has vision.
Io
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Ogre Magi
* Ignite has long duration damage-over-time and prevents Io from healing his Tethered ally.
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
* Coup de Grace makes short work of Io's low health and armor.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike allows her to jump on Sniper with increased attack speed.
* Coup de Grace and
Desolator shreds Sniper's low health and armor.
* Blur can be activated to get within Phantom Strike's range, surprising Sniper before he has a chance to react. Its passive also reduces Sniper's overall effectiveness against Phantom Assassin, provided he hasn't purchased a
Monkey King Bar.
Additional:
* Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.
Invoker
* Invoker's arsenal of magical spells are troublesome for Sniper who has low HP and high armor, which does not benefit him much against Invoker.
* Besides magical damage, he can be disarmed and repeatedly mini-stunned with Cold Snap, preventing him from reacting.
* Leveling Quas can allow Invoker to lane effectively against Sniper despite right-click harassment.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin can easily escape Lich's slows with Phantom Strike.
* Phantom Assassin's Coup De Grace can be used to burst down the squishy Lich.
Rubick
* All his abilities is decent in Rubick's kit:
* Frost Blast allows Rubick to harass and constantly slow down enemies.
* Frost Shield increases Rubick's as well as his allies' and tower's survivability to physical attacks.
* A well-timed Chain Frost can be devastating to the enemy team.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 7%)Rubick
* Rubick can turn around entire teamfights if he manages to steal Reverse Polarity.
* Shockwave allows Rubick to farm pretty fast together with Fade Bolt, and also deals decent AoE damage in teamfights.
* If Rubick steals Skewer, he can use Telekinesis to displace enemies and Skewer them away.
Additional:
* All of Magnus's spells are perfect for Rubick to steal, especially Reverse Polarity for a counter-initiation.
* Telekinesis is one of the best instant-disables in the game, completely ruining Magnus's initiation.
Invoker
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven,
Omniknight,
Enigma,
Luna,
Naga Siren,
Mars,
Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Elder Titan,
Faceless Void,
Rubick,
Keeper of the Light,
Pugna,
Invoker,
Spectre,
Alchemist,
Treant Protector,
Lina,
Oracle,
Zeus,
Shadow Shaman,
Phoenix,
Razor,
Huskar,
Batrider,
Kunkka,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King,
Sand King.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Phantom Assassin
* Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore Windranger and
Phantom Assassin are poor choices to use it on.
* However, once the first hit landed, the bounces can no longer miss. Don't forget to manually aim for a target with no evasion !
Rubick
* Every ability Witch Doctor has is useful when Rubick manages to steal any of them:
* Paralyzing Cask provides an additional disable apart from Telekinesis and also helps Rubick to farm.
* Voodoo Restoration provides utility by healing Rubick and his team, since he has no heal of his own.
* Maledict is a solid damage-over-time nuke, which can be devastating to the enemy team.
* And most importantly, Death Ward is one of the best teamfight spells in the game. It also requires channeling, which makes it easy for Rubick to steal. And when combined with
Aghanim's Scepter, this can prove deadly to the enemy team.
* However, a skilled Witch Doctor will always toggle Voodoo Restoration while channeling
Death Ward to prevent that.
Additional:
* Rubick can steal Death Ward easily as it is a channeled ability and then use it to turn teamfight to his advantage.
* However, a skilled Witch Doctor will toggle Voodoo Restoration immediately after placing his Death Ward to prevent that.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with good mobility to avoid Jakiro's abilities and with good chase to punish Jakiro from pushing a tower: Bloodseeker,
Ember Spirit,
Juggernaut,
Phantom Assassin,
Weaver.
Rubick
* Fade Bolt can hinder Jakiro's early pushing power by clearing creep waves.
* All of Jakiro's spells are great for Rubick to Spell Steal.
* Ice Path is a great spell for Rubick so steal, since Rubick has no cast time on stolen abilities, making Rubick's version of Ice Path much more reliable than Jakiro's.
* Macropyre is a great way for Rubick to farm.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* All assassin-type carries in a one against one situation: Meepo,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Ursa.
Rubick
* Lucent Beam is a solid magic nuke.
* Eclipse can cause massive damage if cast in the right time.
* Rubick has a good chance to steal Eclipse for Luna has only two cast abilities.
* Aghanim's Scepter greatly increased the effectiveness of the ability, including more damage as well as longer cast range. In addition, it allows him to cast it on another hero so Rubick doesn't have to get close to the enemy team in teamfights.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 8%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain,
Phantom Assassin
Ogre Magi
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi,
Earthshaker.
Invoker
* Cold Snap allows Invoker to interrupt Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
* Tornado's long range can be used to cancel Charge of Darkness.
* Deafening Blast prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and thus proccing his Greater Bash.
Dazzle
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden
Techies
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Invoker
* Heroes with summons like Broodmother,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Nature's Prophet,
Lycan,
Visage;or illusions, like
Naga Siren,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade are effective at keeping the choke points and rune spawns safe from Proximity mines in the early game.
Ogre Magi
* 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.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
Dazzle
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Invoker
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Ogre Magi
* Mars has no way to trade with Ogre Magi in the early game thanks to his high base health, resistance and Ignite.
* Once Ogre Magi gets level 2 he may also have Bloodlust, which makes him even harder to deal with in lane.
* Fireblast can be ridiculously strong later on in the game for controlling Mars.
* Spear of Mars, which is Mars' main source of damage in the early game, cannot guarantee kills early on Ogre Magi.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Terrorblade is one of the strongest carries in the late game, due to his resilience against physical damage, which can be a problem for almost every strong burst physical damage carries, such as Phantom Assassin and
Templar Assassin.
Invoker
* Heroes that can stall pushes: Invoker,
Keeper of the Light,
Lina,
Luna.
Dazzle
* Shallow Grave saves an ally whom Terrorblade has used Sunder on.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Rubick
* Spell Steal allows Rubick to claim Grimstroke's powerful abilities for his own, all of which are valuable.
* Arcane Supremacy increases the efficacy of stolen abilities.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Ogre Magi
* Fireblast with Multicast can prevent Weaver from escaping with Shukuchi.
* However, the slow from Ignite is generally useless against Shukuchi haste effect or dispelled by
Time Lapse.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 13%)Phantom Assassin
* Though certainly not a "hard counter", Crystal Maiden's skillset (magical damage nukes) does pose a substantial threat to Phantom Assassin through the mid game, especially if followed up with engagement by her team.
* A quick use of Freezing Field directly after Phantom Strike can leave Phantom Assassin trapped inside the area of effect, capitalizing on Phantom Assassin's relatively low HP pool when she is not protected by
Blur.
* If Phantom Assassin chooses not to buy a Black King Bar relatively early, the attack slow from Freezing Field can greatly hinder the proc chance of
Coup de Grace in a teamfight.
* However, Phantom Assassin's massive damage, and her tendency to build both Black King Bar and
Skull Basher makes her a formidable foe the later the game goes, and fighting her without a team is almost never a good choice.
Rubick
* Everything she has is great in Rubick's kit:
* Crystal Nova deals crowd damage and slows enemies, also helps on farming.
* Frostbite helps Rubick locks down enemies, also is a decent farming ability.
* Freezing Field is a channeling ability and therefore can be stolen easily.
* Arcane Supremacy's Debuff Duration Amplification also benefits Crystal Nova and
Frostbite greatly.
Phantom Assassin
* Crystal Maiden's low health pool and slow movement speed make her a tempting and easy target.
* However, it may be wise to build Black King Bar first before attempting to fight her alone, as she can disable you and retaliate with
Freezing Field.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 1%)Phantom Assassin
* Blur allows Phantom Assassin to escape from Lone Druid and the spirit bear. Additionally, it provides evasion which effectively reduce the damage output from the Spirit Bear and reduce the chances to root her, forcing him to invest in
Monkey King Bar
* At late game, Phantom Assassin out carry Lone Druid.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Quas-
Exort Invoker can win the mid lane easily against Alchemist because
Quas regeneration will nullify Acid Spray's damage over time and
Exort damage bonus will allow Invoker to out last hit Alchemist.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 18%)Rubick
* In general, heroes who are melee with no way to fight back can be very easily poked by Monkey King to gain his Jingu Mastery stacks: Dark Seer,
Riki,
Rubick.
Phantom Assassin
* Blur makes it hard for Monkey King to stack Jingu Mastery.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to blink directly to Monkey King during Wukong's Command, bypassing all his clones.
* Coup de Grace's high damage can kill Monkey King quickly, thus ending Wukong's Command prematurely.
Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Underlord
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 8%)Rubick
* All of Underlord's abilities are useful for Rubick to Spell Steal.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: -0.8 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Ogre Magi
* Winter Wyvern's
Winter's Curse works very well against the increased attack speed from Bloodlust.
Phantom Assassin
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Phantom Assassin etc.
Invoker
* Cold Embrace is the perfect setup for all his nukes - Chaos Meteor,
EMP and especially global
Sun Strike.
Rubick
* All of Winter Wyvern's spells are generally good for Rubick to steal:
* Arctic Burn provides bonus attack range, night vision and burn.
* Splinter Blast makes farming and pushing efficient while also slowing down the enemies.
* Cold Embrace can heal an ally and protect them against physical attacks.
* Winter's Curse can be stolen by Rubick and use it against herself or her own team.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 42% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with teleports to escape Will-O-Wisp: Phantom Assassin,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Assassin
* Melee carries will have a hard time against Tiny's Craggy Exterior: Phantom Assassin,
Chaos Knight,
Juggernaut.
Phantom Assassin
* Due to Tiny's non-existent agility gain, high physical damage heroes are more effective against him (Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Templar Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King etc).
Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Lina
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 14%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with low health or rely on evasion can easily be bursted down, like Phantom Assassin or
Terrorblade.
Additional:
* Light Strike Array catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in.
* Laguna Blade kills Phantom Assassin's abysmal health before she can do anything in early to mid game and also pierces her spell immunity with an
Aghanim's Scepter.
Dazzle
* Laguna Blade can kill Dazzle quickly before he casts Shallow Grave.
Phantom Assassin
* Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as Lina and
Witch Doctor are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
Rubick
* Rubick will find all Lina's abilities useful:
* Dragon Slave provides a good way to clear creep waves and allows Rubick to deal tons of magical damage in teamfights.
* Light Strike Array gives Rubick a solid area stun, which is easy to set up right after Telekinesis.
* Laguna Blade gives Rubick a massive damage boost and great solo kill potential.
Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Chen
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Dazzle
* Hand of God has a long cooldown, so damage over time spells can be hazardous for Chen, forcing him to use it prematurely: Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Phoenix.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 12%)Phantom Assassin
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack dependent heroes such as Viper,
Ursa or
Clinkz can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Void Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Ogre Magi
* Side lanes with disables will greatly reduce the likeliness Void Spirit will be willing to rotate: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Ogre Magi.
Visage
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Dazzle
* Heroes with armor reducing abilities greatly hinder Visage's defense like Slardar and
Dazzle.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with high burst damage and Black King Bar can take down Dark Willow quickly:
Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Wraith King
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Rubick
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter,
Brewmaster,
Death Prophet, etc.
Additional:
* Fade Bolt reduces damage output of Anchor Smash.
* Ravage is an easy target to Spell Steal, so always be sure to use Anchor Smash immediately after Ravage when playing against a Rubick.
* Spells stolen by Rubick are potentially stronger due to the lack of cast animations, his talents, and his passive, Arcane Supremacy.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 22%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Dazzle
* Shallow Grave can be used to save an ally during Dismember and Rot.
* A combination of Bad Juju,
Poison Touch, and items like
Desolator or
Solar Crest can tear off Pudge's low armor, making him even more vulnerable to physical damage.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Rubick
* All of Vengeful Spirit abilities are very good for Rubick to Spell Steal:
* Magic Missile provides an additional nuke/disable to pair with Fade Bolt and
Telekinesis, respectively.
* Wave of Terror serves as a good scouting/armor reduction skill that Rubick and his team can benefit from.
* Nether Swap complements Rubick's mobility and pairs well with other mobility items he usually builds. He can also use it to save an ally from danger.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who rely on physical damage will suffer from Laser: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Huskar.
Additional:
* The blind from Laser can render Phantom Assassin useless if she is not protected by
Black King Bar.
* Tinker is a natural Scythe of Vyse carrier and can permanently disable Phantom Assassin, not giving her chance to activate
Black King Bar if she has it.
Invoker
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden,
Enchantress,
Gyrocopter,
Lion,
Riki,
Techies,
Terrorblade,
Necrophos,
Invoker.
Dazzle
* Shadow Wave provides good sustain against Tinker's spammable abilities.
* Shallow Grave can stop Tinker from bursting down a target.
Invoker
* Heroes that can gain vision over trees to catch Tinker: Invoker,
Shadow Demon,
Batrider
Additional:
* Tinker is relatively helpless against Invoker, as his Rearm and
Boots of Travel can be easily interrupted by Invoker's long range disables, even if he blinks away.
Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Dazzle
* Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus,
Invoker or
Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
Dazzle
* Shadow Wave will hit Clockwerk every time when he's fighting with an enemy inside Power Cogs.
* Due to Clockwerk's slow damage output, Dazzle will have more than enough time to Shallow Grave any enemy Clockwerk initiates on.
Additional:
* Shadow Wave will hit Clockwerk every time when he's fighting with an enemy inside Power Cogs.
* Due to Clockwerk's steady damage output, Dazzle has plenty of time to Shallow Grave anyone Clockwerk initiates on.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who rely strongly on melee physical damage will fare badly against Omniknight's Guardian Angel: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Juggernaut,
Dragon Knight,
Lycan,
Ursa,
Troll Warlord
Additional:
* Purification easily catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in to attack.
* Guardian Angel renders Phantom Assassin useless, as she depends entirely on physical attacks.
Ogre Magi
* Heavenly Grace reduces Fireblast stun time and dispels Ignite.
* Purification can heal damaged hero if needed.
Invoker
* Tornado dispels Guardian Angel from multiple targets.
* Guardian Angel is generally useless against Invoker as he primarily relies on magical damage.
* EMP depletes Omniknight's already small mana pool.
* Invoker's many disables keep Omniknight's team occupied until Guardian Angel times out.
Rubick
* All of Omniknight's abilities are valuable for Rubick to Spell Steal, and Omniknight has no throwaway ability to cover his last used spell.
Additional:
* All Omniknight's abilities are perfect to steal:
* Purification can heal allies as well as damage enemies under the right circumstances. It is extremely useful since Rubick has no heal of his own.
* Heavenly Grace gives a strength bonus, status resistance, and health regeneration, which can help an ally or Rubick survive longer.
* Guardian Angel can turn the tide of battle by negating all physical damage, which is especially useful if the opposing team has physical attackers.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Dazzle
* Bloodseeker's
Thirst,
Rupture, and huge AoE silence
Blood Rite can fare well against Dazzle.
Dazzle
* Shallow Grave prevents Bloodseeker from replenishing his health by finishing off enemies.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Bounty Hunter and
Slardar both have ultimates (
Corrosive Haze and
Track) that reveal Invoker through Ghost Walk.
Rubick
* Rubick is a potential counter to Bounty Hunter as he can steal his Track and use it against his invisibility, and also provide his team with more gold if the tracked hero is killed.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Rubick
* Everything Enigma has is something Rubick will like:
* Malefice helps with interrupting channeling spells in case Telekinesis is off cooldown.
* Demonic Conversion helps with pushing or counter-pushing a lane.
* Midnight Pulse is great for blocking off areas or just doing steady damage in teamfights.
* Black Hole is one of the best spells for teamfights, and could easily turn a losing one around.
* Black Hole also requires channeling, making it an easy steal for Rubick because he usually stays back in a teamfight, making it hard to catch him with Black Hole.
* Telekinesis can break Enigma's Black Hole fairly easily.
* Fade Bolt counters early push strategy of Enigma's waves of Eidolons.
* Spell Steal pierces spell immunity, so Enigma can't prevent Rubick from stealing Black Hole by activating
Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Telekinesis has a longer range than the AoE of Black Hole for the purposes of cancelling it.
* All of Enigma's spells are useful to Spell Steal.
* Malefice is useful for interrupting channeling spells or long cast animations.
* Demonic Conversion can be used to push or counter-push a lane.
* Midnight Pulse is useful to block an area or for team fights.
* Black Hole is very easy to steal, as it is a channeled ability. It's also one of the best ultimate abilities for team fights, and it can easily turn the fight around for the enemy team.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
Phantom Assassin
* Blur is a real problem for Lycan, while she deals critical hits.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 19%)Rubick
* On his own, Rubick can't do much to Shadow Fiend. However, Shadow Fiend can easily run Rubick over with his right-clicks and multiple Shadowrazes.
* Presence of the Dark Lord lowers Rubick's already low armor even further.
* Shadowraze can be somewhat risky to use if stolen, as two of them require Rubick to get up close, which is something Rubick doesn't like doing.
Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Phantom Assassin if they are not careful. Look for Luna,
Venomancer and
Shadow Fiend and try to catch them off guard.
Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 8%)Dazzle
* Ice Blast negates healing from Shadow Wave, and lasts longer than Shallow Grave.
Additional:
* Shallow Grave prevents Ice Blast's shatter for up to 5 seconds, but can mostly only delay it as Ice Blast's debuff lasts 10 seconds and prevents
Shadow Wave from healing them.
Phantom Assassin
* Ancient Apparition has no escape or reliable control and is very fragile, which makes him an easy target for anyone who can get on top of him, like Phantom Assassin or
Clinkz.
Invoker
* Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities: Invoker,
Silencer,
Nyx Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Shadow Shaman,
Lion and etc.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Tidebringer pressures Invoker easily in lane due to Invoker's low health and armor in the early game.
Rubick
* Despite most Kunkka players depending on their immense physical damage, his spells provide a lot of utility for Rubick:
* Torrent is very easy to land when paired with Telekinesis.
* X Marks the Spot can potentially be more effective in Rubick's hands due to his tendency to increase his cast range with his talents and items.
* Ghostship, paired with Telekinesis, allows Rubick to land it very easily without requiring
Torrent or
X Marks the Spot.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with high mobility can be prevented from using it to their advantage with Earthbind, even if they pack a dangerous arsenal: Earth Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Anti-Mage,
Weaver.
* See items and abilities disabled by roots
Ogre Magi
* Ogre Magi has single-targeted magical-only damage and disables and is less effective against Meepo's clones.
Invoker
* Heroes with powerful area-of-effect disables can initiate on Meepo and his clones and shut him down, such as Enigma,
Invoker,
Magnus,
Puck, and
Sand King.
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to jump on his clones.
* Meepo's low health pool can burst down by Coup de Grace critical strike.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 12%)Phantom Assassin
* Morphling's naturally high armor thanks to his high agility makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to take him down with Coup de Grace.
* Phantom Assassin is vulnerable to magical damage, falling easily to Adaptive Strike + Ethereal Blade combo.
Additional:
* Morphling's high armor serves as a direct counter to Phantom Assassin, causing her attacks to do far less damage. She is also very vulnerable to burst damage, and can be brought down quickly using his Ethereal Blade and
Adaptive Strike combo.
Rubick
* Rubick's ability to steal Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) makes him extremely annoying to deal with because Rubick's shifted attributes will remain even if he steals a new spell.
* If Rubick moves enough points to strength and then steals Adaptive Strike, he will have a powerful 3-second ranged stun in his arsenal as well.
* Waveform provides a reliable nuke/escape to Rubick.
Additional:
* Morphling's abilities can cause unique interactions on their own:
* Waveform is a damaging pseudo-blink, giving Rubick much needed mobility.
* Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) is a great ability for Rubick:
* The changes done by it are permanent even after losing the ability. Pumping all the agility into strength makes him much tankier. The armor loss due to reduced agility can be mitigated by cheap items like Medallion of Courage or
Solar Crest.
* The extra strength allows Rubick to survive Morphling's Ethereal Blade -
Adaptive Strike (Agility) combo.
* Beware when using Attribute Shift (Agility Gain)! Unlike Morphling, Rubick does not gain damage from it, since agility is not his primary attribute.
* Adaptive Strike (Strength) is a long-ranged stun.
* The true power of this ability is revealed when Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) has been stolen previously: it gives a 4 second ranged stun every 10 seconds, which greatly counters heroes with mobility, such as Morphling himself.
* All of Rubick's abilities break Linken's Sphere, a core item for Morphling.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Assassin
* In general, Brewmaster's Cinder Brew and Thunder Clap makes him good against physical damage carries: Ursa,
Clinkz,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Templar Assassin,
Phantom Assassin.
Rubick
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter,
Brewmaster,
Death Prophet, etc.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Assassin
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from Stifling Dagger, as well as ganking attempts.
* Phantom Assassin is a hero with moderate HP pool, and usually appears in the front line of battle. Because Blur does nothing against spells, she is vulnerable to Timbersaw's skills.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
Additional:
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from Stifling Dagger.
* Phantom Assassin has a moderate health pool and usually appears in the front line of battle, making her vulnerable to Timbersaw's magic burst.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
Invoker
* Cold Snap can prevent Timbersaw from using both Timber Chain and Chakram due to the frequent stuns interrupting the lengthy cast animations, as well as stopping him mid-chain. This can negate Timbersaw's attempts to escape or dole out extra ability damage.
* Later in the game, Invoker's heavy magical and pure damage can be difficult to avoid, meaning Timbersaw's armor is less useful.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Overgrowth prevents Phantom Assassin from using Blink Strike even through her spell immunity.
* Living Armor reduces Phantom Assassin's physical damage whenever she attempts to gank an allied hero.
Rubick
* All of Treant Protector's abilities are worth stealing, and Rubick is able to cast them with no animation time.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin relies on her Blur to stay alive, but is very vulnerable to Sand King's heavy magic damage.
* With Burrowstrike, Sand King can often catch Phantom Assassin before she can use her Black King Bar.
* Sand King can dodge Stifling Dagger with Sandstorm.
* Phantom Assassin has a hard time killing Sand King because of his high mobility.
Rubick
* Burrowstrike is one of the best and easiest steals for Rubick and Sand King should be careful when playing against him - it's much better to give away Sand Storm.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 21%)Rubick
* Wraith King's abilities are mostly passive (with regards to Spell Steal), so Rubick cannot steal most of them.
* Wraithfire Blast together with some attacks can gank Rubick down quickly.
Additional:
* Wraith King abilities are mostly passive making Spell Steal meaningless.
* Rubick's lack of mobility & low health pool is easily tear down by Wraith King physical attacks.
Invoker
* Invoker can drain Wraith King's mana with EMP, preventing him from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard.
* Even if Wraith King survives and reincarnates, Invoker still has an arsenal of spells to lockdown Wraith King, including an easily setup Ice Wall.
* Tornado applies an area dispel to clear skeletons.
Additional:
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Wraith King's mana to prevent Reincarnation from triggering (only until Wraith King gets his Aghanim's Shard).
* Ice Wall and Cold Snap are particularly crippling for Wraith King as they allow to kite him very effectively, preventing him from dealing melee attack damage.
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).
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Most popular searches list
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Invoker
* Broodmother can kill Invoker easily in the early game with her
Spawn Spiderlings and her spiderlings.
Orchid Malevolence and a
Nullifier carrier. As she can farm it early, she can kill Invoker easily.
* Broodmother is both an
Dazzle
* Support heroes with low mobility can be slowed further by Incapacitating Bite, and swarmed by Spiderlings for an easy kill:
Shadow Shaman,
Visage,
Dazzle,
Rubick,
Lich.
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of spiderlings.
Spin Web to save herself.
Incapacitating Bite can cripple her due to being reliant on physical attacks and critical strikes.
Incapacitating Bite cripples her due to reliant on physical attacks.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use
* Aside from Spin Web,
Additional:
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
*
Rubick
*
Spin Web and Broodmother's auto-attacks allow her to gank Rubick easily before Rubick has a chance to retaliate, especially if Broodmother obtains
Orchid Malevolence.
Diffusal Blade, which drains Rubick's low supply of mana, preventing Rubick from spamming his abilities.
Insatiable Hunger is a great spell to steal, Broodmother's untargetable nature and her low cooldown spells makes it a difficult spell to steal.
* Broodmother loves buying
* Though