* Sinister Gaze forces Bristleback to face Lich, exposing him to damage.
* Lich's plethora of slows make it easy to kite 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.

* Lich's Chain Frost forces Io to give up providing buff to his ally with Tether or suffer devastating damage with his tethered ally.
* Lich could easily use Sinister Gaze to disable Io from getting away with Tether or Relocate.

* Grimstroke can catch Io and his ally easily with SoulBind as Io has a tendency to tether himself with an ally frequently.
* Io is highly vulnerable to disables. Hence, Grimstroke's Phantom's Embrace is a great ability to hinder Io's potential.
Additional:
* Soulbind can target both Io and its Tethered ally, allowing Grimstroke and his team to target both with single target spells. Should Io try to Relocate, Phantom's Embrace can stop its channel to prevent escape.

* Grimstroke's Soulbind will always reliably connect onto both of them if they are close together.

* Chain Frost will bounce between Lone Druid and his bear, forcing them to separate or suffer high amounts of damage.
Additional:
* Chain Frost can deliver high amounts of damage to Lone itself and his bear if they do not separate fast from each other.

* Frost Blast and Chain Frost can kite Troll Warlord effectively.
* Frost Shield can single-handedly waste most of the duration of Battle Trance, due to the extreme resistance to physical damage Frost Shield provides. In addition, Troll Warlord is incapable of switching targets during Battle Trance, so he cannot pick an easier target.
* Troll Warlord has little to no ability to regenerate HP, so Frost Blast together with Frost Shield can harass him effectively.

* Heroes who rely heavily on melee attacks and lack early spell immunity are easily blocked and interrupted by Ink Swell: Lycan, Ursa, Troll Warlord.

* Chain Frost can eliminate Chaos Knight's Phantasm army, especially after he clumped up using Reality Rift.
* Frost Shield will heavily reduce his army's effectiveness.
Additional:
* Lich's Chain Frost, especially after obtaining its respective talent that provides unlimited bounces, can take out all of Chaos Knight's illusions quickly.

* Heroes who are reliant on illusions or summons: Chaos Knight, Broodmother, Naga Siren.

* Lich's constant slows with Frost Blast and Chain Frost will slow Dragon Knight to a crawl, especially in a crowded teamfight.

* Poof combo puts all of the Meepos very close together, making them vulnerable to Frost Blast's AoE slow and multiple bounces from Chain Frost.

* Stroke of Fate clears Phantom Lancer's illusion easily as it deals bonus damage to more targets.
* Ink Swell can be used on an allied hero or Grimstoke himself to stun Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Phantom's Embrace and Soulbind have an undispellable debuff that can be used to mark the real Phantom Lancer.
Additional:
* Stroke of Fate's damage increases the more units are hit by it, making it effective against Phantom Lancer's army of illusions.
* Phantom's Embrace and Ink Swell's stun can prevent Phantom Lancer from escaping with Doppelganger if properly timed.
* If he has already used Doppelganger, Soulbind can tie Phantom Lancer to one of his own illusions to keep him in place, or to ensure a kill if Grimstroke's team is unsure which one is the real hero.

* Timbersaw relies heavily on his abilities so Phantom's Embrace's silence makes it more difficult for him.
* Timbersaw cannot use Return Chakram or attack the phantom during Phantom's Embrace, forcing him to take full damage and refreshes Phantom's Embrace's cooldown.

* Soulbind ignores spell immunity, forcing Pangolier to roll in place during his ultimate as well as anchoring the other victim to his vicinity.

* Terrorblade's lack of escape mechanisms makes it hard for him to escape both Ink Swell and Stroke of Fate.
* Phantom's Embrace's silence will also prevent him from casting Sunder to save himself.

* Soulbind pierces spell immunity and prevents Faceless Void from escaping with Time Walk.

* Frost Shield helps offset the armor reduction from Natural Order.

* Phantom's Embrace can silence Crystal Maiden and disrupt Freezing Field's channeling. Her slow movement speed and fragile nature will also make her an easy target for Stroke of Fate and Ink Swell.

* Ghost Shroud amplifies damage taken from all of Grimstroke's abilities. Necrophos is particularly vulnerable to Ink Swell and Phantom's Embrace while in Ghost Shroud.
* Death Pulse works against Necrophos in lane by keeping his creeps alive and add damage to Stroke of Fate.

* Heroes with nukes: Bane, Lich, Lion, Skywrath Mage

* Heroes who rely heavily on melee attacks and lack early spell immunity are easily blocked and interrupted by Ink Swell: Lycan, Ursa, Troll Warlord.

* Heroes who are reliant on illusions or summons: Chaos Knight, Broodmother, Naga Siren.

* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane, Pudge, Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Enigma.

* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane, Pudge, Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Enigma.

* Hard-hitters who relies mostly on raw stats or good passive and therefore make a perfect target for Dark Portrait: Naga Siren, Faceless Void, Terrorblade, Luna, Anti-Mage

* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane, Pudge, Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Enigma.

* Windranger heavily relies on her abilities for any form of tactical advantage and damage. A well timed silence will make her useless: Puck,Silencer, Death Prophet, Skywrath Mage, Drow Ranger, Earth Spirit, Grimstroke.

* Phantom's Embrace and Soulbind prevent Weaver from using Shukuchi or Time Lapse to escape.
* Ink Swell discourages Weaver from moving through and damaging allies with Shukuchi.

* Stroke of Fate deals more damage when it hits more targets which makes it very effective in dealing with Lycan and his units.
* Soulbind prevents lycan from running away and makes him very easy to deal with.

* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane, Pudge, Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Enigma.