Pugna
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Batrider
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Lion
* Batrider often hides in the trees to initiate on a target. As such, he has a slight edge against heroes that have no scouting tools and cannot see him coming, such as Lion or
Sven.
Mars
* Sticky Napalm slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to control the direction he is facing to activate Bulwark.
* Flaming Lasso disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Lion
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden,
Enchantress,
Gyrocopter,
Lion,
Riki,
Techies,
Terrorblade,
Necrophos,
Invoker.
Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Kunkka's
Ghostship and
Torrent disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
Lion
* Lion lacks mobility or escape mechanisms, making him an easy target for abilities like Mirana's
Sacred Arrow or
Leshrac's
Split Earth, or combos like
Kunkka's
X Marks the Spot into
Torrent.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 8%)Mars
* Firestorm and
Pit of Malice are very disruptive in team fights, completely matching Mars especially since it can all be cast inside Arena Of Blood and also does percentage-based magical damage, negating Bulwark.
* Dark Rift can save any allies of Underlord trapped in Arena Of Blood.
* Atrophy Aura allows Underlord to lane against Mars quite well since he does not have the best base damage during the early game.
* Underlord is a common carrier of both Pipe of Insight and
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves, allowing his team to combat Mars in the mid to late game.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Lion
* Vendetta allows Nyx to sneak up on Lion and deal massive damage to him, especially when followed up with an
Impale,
Mana Burn, or even
Dagon.
* Spiked Carapace has the potential to not only nullify Lion's damage, but also cripple and potentially deal massive damage to Lion, especially if he reflects Finger of Death.
Mars
* Heroes with break abilities: Nyx Assassin,
Shadow Demon (with
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper.
Lion
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 8%)Lion
* Tidehunter naturally has a high health pool and thus makes it hard for Lion to burst him down. Kraken Shell further mitigates this by dispelling any disables Lion casts when Tidehunter takes enough damage.
* Gush and
Ravage can both not only burst Lion down, but also catch him out and prevent him from escaping.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* 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.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Lion
* Waning Rift prevents Lion from casting spells during team fights, effectively making him useless.
* Puck's burst damage potential through Illusory Orb,
Waning Rift, and
Dream Coil allows it to easily kill Lion.
* Combined with the lockdown from Dream Coil, Puck's high mobility through
Ethereal Jaunt and
Blink Dagger allows it to effortlessly chase Lion.
* Phase Shift allows Puck to dodge nearly all of Lion's spells, including Finger of Death.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
* Plague Wards can attack through Arena Of Blood.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison attacks are all magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective against Mars' low mobility.
* Plague Wards can attack through Arena of Blood.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Mars' own father is a formidable foe because Zeus deals mostly magical damage. The high damage, low cooldown nukes of Arc Lightning and
Lightning Bolt combined with the percent health magic damage of
Static Field will shred Mars' health because it bypasses Bulwark completely.
Undying
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Decay,
Soul Rip and
Flesh Golem all deal magical damage which ignores Bulwark.
* Decay reduces Mars' natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in lane.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Mars
* Dragon Slave deals reliable magic damage during the laning phase against Mars.
* Lina's Eul's Scepter of Divinity and
Light Strike Array combo can interrupt Mars from being disruptive for a decent amount of time and leave him vulnerable for follow up stuns.
* Laguna Blade deals massive magical damage, and pure damage with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Lion
* 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.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Lion
* Rage provides spell immunity to Lifestealer and thus nullifies all of Lion's abilities.
* Open Wounds allows Lifestealer to easily catch Lion out and prevent him from escaping.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Time Walk allows Faceless Void to escape or enter Arena Of Blood, and helps him recover from Mars' burst damage.
* Time Lock's magical damage ignores Bulwark.
* Chronosphere allows Faceless Void to reposition behind Mars, ignoring his Bulwark while he is helplessly frozen in time.
Additional:
* Time Dilation while Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Mars nearly useless.
* Mars cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the back, bypassing Bulwark completely.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* 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.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Lion
* While heroes with strong mobility able to get close/flee or long range disables do well against him, heroes with no escaping abilities/lacking long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the {U:Warlock Golem} lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Just watch your pet burn the enemies as they try running away or blow their strongest abilities to stop your {U:Warlock Golem}. Notable examples:
Huskar,
Drow Ranger,
Lion,
Elder Titan, etc.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Lion
* Heroes that deal few, powerful instances of damage, like Oracle,
Lion, or
Sven, have a hard time breaking through Gravekeeper's Cloak.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Lion
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's
Last Word, magic resistance like
Oracle's
Fate's Edict, and dispels like
Legion Commander's
Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Lion
* Heroes with long disables, like Lion,
Night Stalker, or
Legion Commander, can prevent Oracle from using spells or items.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Lion
* Lion lacks mobility or escape mechanisms, making him an easy target for abilities like Mirana's
Sacred Arrow or
Leshrac's
Split Earth, or combos like
Kunkka's
X Marks the Spot into
Torrent.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 17%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Lion
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's
Last Word, magic resistance like
Oracle's
Fate's Edict, and dispels like
Legion Commander's
Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 12%)Mars
* Bulwark is generally irrelevant against Riki as he primarily deals bonus damage from behind.
Additional:
* Blink Strike gives bonus backstab damage. Along with
Tricks of the Trade it completely bypasses Bulwark.
Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Lion
* Although Finger of Death can potentially bypass Borrowed Time, Finger's delayed damage allows an Abaddon with fast enough reaction time to activate Borrowed Time and heal from Finger.
* Aphotic Shield is extremely effective against both Earth Spike and Hex, nullifying the stun or hex while preventing further damage.
* Lion's lack of escape mechanisms allows Abaddon and his allies to pursue him with Curse of Avernus.
Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Storm Spirit's abilities all do magical damage, which can bypass Bulwark.
* Ball Lightning can escape through Arena of Blood and it is easy to dodge
Spear of Mars.
Additional:
* Ball Lightning makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating for you.
* Overload is not reduced by Bulwark and the magical damage spam can wear down Mars quickly.
Lion
* Any heroes with stuns or silences: Death Prophet,
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Skywrath Mage
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Burning Spear's magical damage is very troublesome for Mars in the laning stage.
* Life Break's percentage-based magical damage bypasses Bulwark, and can also be used to jump in or out of Arena Of Blood.
Lion
* Heroes with high magical burst can easily kill Huskar when he is at low health: Lion,
Lina,
Skywrath Mage
Axe
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix is a much stronger lane trader than Spear of Mars.
Lion
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 19%)Lion
* Hex and
Earth Spike do not cancel Hoodwink's ultimate, making those two abilities ineffective against her.
Mars
* Heroes that can negate Hoodwink's mobility: Kunkka,
Disruptor,
Mars.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Nethertoxin breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin breaks Bulwark entirely, making Mars far less tanky. Using Nethertoxin inside
Arena of Blood may discourage enemies from following up with Mars' initiation.
* Rod of Atos is currently common on Viper and keeps Mars in position long enough to be killed.
* Viper is not very tanky earlier in the game, so positioning against Mars is important since a well-timed Spear of Mars can be the end of Viper.
Lion
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion,
Anti-Mage
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Mars
* If Mars lanes middle, Shadow Fiend can keep the lane pushed against him.
* Shadow Fiend can go an entirely magical based build, which is very effective against Mars.
Lion
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina,
Lion,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Queen of Pain.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 8%)Lion
* 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.
Mars
* 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.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
Lion
* 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.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Lion
* Hex and
Mana Drain can be used to immediately destroy Spectre's illusion when she Haunts. A fast fingered Lion can protect himself and a teammate.
* Hex and
Earth Spike are good lockdown spells to control and kill Spectre, especially if she doesn't buy defensive items like
Linken's Sphere and
Black King Bar.
* Finger of Death can be used to burst down Spectre when she is low on life as she has very poor magic resistance.
Mars
* Spectre cannot have a good game if she is pressured heavily in lane, which is something Mars can do.
* Spectre can use Haunt and
Spectral Dagger inside and outside from Arena of Blood, but it doesn't really matter since Mars does best during the early and mid game.
* Should Spectre get to the late game, Mars can block a large amount of her damage and split the teamfights in his advantage.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Bulwark blocks the attack from Meepo and his clones.
* Spear of Mars &
God's Rebuke prevents Meepo and his clones from initiation or escaping.
Lion
* Finger of Death's burst damage can kill him due to his low health pool, and
Ethereal Blade only makes it worse. If Lion purchased an
Aghanim's Scepter, the situation only grows worse.
* If Meepo ganks Lion with Poof and Earthbind, he will be an easy target for Earth Spike & AoE
Hex from his level 25 talent.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Shukuchi cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, so with vision, Weaver is an easy kill.
* Time Lapse will also not save Weaver in a large amount of situations inside Arena of Blood, especially if he's pinned to the walls with Spear of Mars.
* The Swarm and
Geminate Attack is not very useful against a hero that can tank 70% of his main damage source.
Lion
* Although Weaver can potentially Time Lapse out of any burst, Weaver has a fragile health pool, and Lion's disables can kill him before.
* Weaver is very mana dependent and has a rather small mana pool in the beginning of the game. Mana Drain can deplete him of mana and lessen his early game presence.
* Earth Spike can be point targeted and hits through Shukuchi to make him vulnerable.
* Linken's Sphere is easily broken by targeted spells with low cooldown.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Lion
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
* Mana Drain and Hex instantly kill any illusions. Finger of Death upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter also shreds most illusions.
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
Mars
* Bulwark negates most of the physical damage from Terrorblade and his illusions.
* Mars' AoE abilities kill Terrorblade's illusions quickly.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Lion
* Drow has a very low health pool, allowing Lion to burst her down.
* Drow has no innate escape mechanism, making her an easy target for Lion's disables.
* Lion should be wary of Drow's Gust however, as he has no natural means to deal with it.
Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Lion
* Hex and
Earth Spike can hold Clinkz down, giving him no chance to use
Black King Bar or Skeleton Walk.
* Finger of Death quickly kills Clinkz due to his low health.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Lion
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Lion
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
* Mana Drain and Hex instantly kill any illusions. Finger of Death upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter also shreds most illusions.
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 9%)Lion
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light,
Ancient Apparition, or
Bounty Hunter.
Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Lion
* Lion will continuously Mana Drain Tiny, depleting his small mana pool for his abilities.
* Hex will keep Tiny from using his high damage spells and attack damage.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Lion
* Lion possesses two strong disables in Earth Spike and
Hex and heavy magic burst with
Finger of Death which help lock him down and prevent him from escaping with Activate Fire Remnant. When getting his
Blink Dagger Lion can punish Ember Spirit's overextension immediately, or initiate a fight on him with disables.
Additional:
* Ember lacks any protection against Lion's disables early in the game and often does not acquire any later, allowing Lion to Hex or Earth Spike him before he escapes through his Fire Remnant.
* Although Flame Guard can prevent magic damage, it does not stop Lion's disables, and Lion can usually break through it with Finger of Death.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Lion
* Mana Drain rapidly saps Morphling's already low mana pool, making him unable to use Waveform or Adaptive Strike. Additionally,
Hex prevents these abilities as well.
* An Earth Spike and
Finger of Death combo can burst an unwary Morphling down if he has his strength fully shifted to agility.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Lion
* Hex's instant cast time will force Brewmaster into the awkward situation of needing some form of spell immunity or block to prevent being immediately hex upon blinking in, or wait until Lion has used all his crowd control before entering a fight. His direct magic burst also makes Brewmaster's Drunken Brawler worthless versus Lion.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Lion
* With a lot of disables with good range, he might cancel your Echo Stomp.
* Mana Drain can be used to drain Elder Titan's already low mana pool.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Lion
* Both Hex and
Mana Drain destroys Naga Siren's illusions in an instant, making it hard to teamfight or push against a team with Lion. If Lion chooses the AoE effect talent for Hex or the multi-target Mana Drain, it can negate her pushing potential entirely.
* Earth Spike is an AoE disable with good damage. If used well, it can help distinguish the true Naga Siren by the damage they take (illusions take more damage).
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Arena Of Blood prevents Bloodseeker from attacking a Ruptured target.
* Bulwark helps Mars survive Rupture ganks simply by turning towards Bloodseeker without moving.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can push Bloodseeker from Ruptured targets.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 20%)Lion
* Wraith King has a very low mana pool and depends on it to cast Reincarnation. Mana Drain will render him useless.
* Wraith King has very low mobility, making it easy for Lion to disable and harass him.
Additional:
* While not being able to confront Wraith King by himself, Lion's Mana Drain helps in draining Wraith King's mana, preventing him from reincarnating unless he has his Aghanim's Shard.
* Lion's Earth Spike and
Hex provide decent lockdown against Wraith King as well, preventing the latter from benefiting from Vampiric Aura bonuses.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 19%)Mars
* Juggernaut deals mostly physical damage, which is easily mitigated with Bulwark.
* Juggernaut's Omnislash switches to opposite directions which each slash, so Mars can mitigate most of its damage since he only takes full damage from one direction: his back.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 18%)Mars
* Monkey King's natural reliance on trees makes him an exceptionally prime target for Spear of Mars. Should Monkey King use Mischief to disguise himself, it will still hit him, stunning him in the process.
* God's Rebuke easily pushes Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom,
Magnus.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 5%)Lion
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom,
Magnus.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Lion
* Heroes with nukes: Bane,
Lich,
Lion,
Skywrath Mage
Additional:
* Enchantress is very fragile without any form of magic resistance, allowing Lion to easily burst her down.
* Nature's Attendants is a slow heal, making it ineffective against Lion's burst.
* Enchantress lacks any escape mechanism apart from her raw movement speed, allowing Lion to disable her.
* Since Lion's damage comes mostly from his skills, Untouchable does nothing to mitigate it.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Lion
* High priority targets like Queen of Pain,
Drow Ranger and even
Anti-Mage can't get caught out from Lion's long range disables.
Slark
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Lion
* Pounce allows Slark to close in on Lion and prevent him from escaping.
* Lion's fragile health pool makes him easy prey for Slark's high burst damage through Pounce,
Dark Pact and right-clicks.
* Shadow Dance prevents Lion from casting Hex, Mana Drain, or Finger of Death on Slark.
* Dark Pact allows Slark to dispel any of Lion's disables.
Mars
* Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during Shadow Dance.
* Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through Shadow Dance.
* Should Pounce be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.
Lion
* Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slarks poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early: Lina,
Lion,
Zeus
Techies
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Lion
* In general, heroes such as Lion,
Silencer,
Skywrath Mage,
Sven,
Ogre Magi and others with reliable disables are crucial to killing Techies before they can suicide.
Gyrocopter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Lion
* Heroes with high magical burst damage will kill Gyrocopter before he gets to do much: Lina,
Lion,
Zeus
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Lion
* Heroes that can kill Death Prophet with nukes can prevent her from using Exorcism to its full duration or using it at all: Lina,
Lion,
Puck,
Morphling.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Lion
* Since Windranger is bad against magical damage, heroes with continuous magical damage or magical nukes can blast her: Zeus,
Tinker,
Leshrac,
Viper,
Skywrath Mage,
Lion,
Lina,
Venomancer.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)Lion
* Lion's disables are also really effective against channeling Heroes, like Enigma or
Crystal Maiden.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Lion
* Mana Drain has an extremely long range and low cooldown. It can easily deplete most heroes of their entire mana pools, especially those with smaller mana pools such as Tiny or
Spirit Breaker.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Lion
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
* Mana Drain and Hex instantly kill any illusions. Finger of Death upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter also shreds most illusions.
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
Additional:
* Mana Drain is a real problem to Chaos Knight early game, considering his already low mana pool.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Finger of Death is an AoE ability, which can deal a tremendous amount of damage to his illusions.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Heroes with the capability of removing or destroying trees greatly hinders the effectiveness of Treant Protector's abilities: Batrider,
Nature's Prophet,
Lina,
Enigma,
Mars
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Lion
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light,
Ancient Apparition, or
Bounty Hunter.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Medusa's
Stone Gaze forces Mars to choose between getting petrified, or turning his vulnerable back on Medusa.
Lion
* Medusa lacks mobility or escape mechanisms. Earth Spike and Hex can neutralize her strong damage potential and allow for Lion's team to focus her down.
* In addition to easily breaking her commonly bought Linken's Sphere with its low cooldown, Mana Drain can quickly drain her
Mana Shield, making her far less tanky.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes with break abilities: Nyx Assassin,
Shadow Demon (with
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper.
Lion
* All of Lion's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Hex and
Mana Drain can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating, especially when he acquires his Talents at level 20 and 25.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Earth Spike or
Finger of Death with
Aghanim's Scepter for the enemy.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Lion
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's
Last Word, magic resistance like
Oracle's
Fate's Edict, and dispels like
Legion Commander's
Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
Mars
* Legion Commander is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with
Press the Attack and is a good
Silver Edge carrier. Mars is also not the ideal duel target, since he's not very useful after using his abilities anyway.
Lion
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman,
Lion
Mars
* Because Duel requires both combatants to face each other, Bulwark will reduce a large portion of her damage, reducing the chances that Legion Commander will win the duel.
* Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke pushes Legion Commander away during Duels against allies.
Additional:
* Bulwark prevents Legion Commander from gaining wins with Duel.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Mars
* Ursa is a special mention because despite his high physical damage attacking from the front won't achieve much against Mars but isn't a great target for Mars either since Ursa is very resistant to damage with Enrage so there isn't much that can be done to stop Ursa from going on your team.
Lion
* Lion has two low cast point disables (Hex and
Earth Spike) to control Ursa before he buys a
Black King Bar.
* Hex is one of the few abilities that cannot be dispelled even with an
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enrage.
* Lion can control Ursa's low mana pool via Mana Drain.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Lion
* Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* In addition, Lion can follow up with his Earth Spike and
Mana Drain combo, preventing Timbersaw to escape with Timber Chain. And he can finish Timbersaw off with
Finger of Death if the latter's HP is low enough.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Lion
* 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.)
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
Lion
* Mana Drain depletes Nercophos' mana pool, preventing him from using his abilities.
* Finger of Death deals high magical damage, which becomes amplified by Ghost Shroud.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Lion
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities: Lion,
Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Lion
* Lion lacks mobility or escape mechanisms, making him an easy target for abilities like Mirana's
Sacred Arrow or
Leshrac's
Split Earth, or combos like
Kunkka's
X Marks the Spot into
Torrent.
Lion
* Heroes with silences and hard stuns such as Doom,
Silencer, and
Lion can keep Mirana from Leaping away.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Lion
* Heroes with low health: Lich,
Crystal Maiden,
Lion.
Mars
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Dragon Knight,
Mars,
Centaur Warrunner.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Lion
* Lion's disables are also really effective against channeling Heroes, like Enigma or
Crystal Maiden.
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.
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Mars
*
Nether Blast,
Decrepify and
Life Drain deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
Nether Ward reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
*
* Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.
Lion
* Nether Ward will be problematic for heavy nukers and spammers like
Skywrath Mage,
Lina,
Lion and
Invoker, but don't use Decrepify defensively against them as you'll be helping them out more than anything.