Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 4%)Rubick
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (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.
Venomancer
* All of Venomancer's abilities are decent choices for Rubick's Spell Steal. Stealing Plague wards makes them apply Poison sting as well.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 47% 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.
Venomancer
* Dark Pact can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting.
* Shadow Dance allows Slark heightened regeneration when out of vision making DoTs effects less threatening.
Lion
* Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slarks poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early: Lina,
Lion,
Zeus
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)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.
Venomancer
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 12%)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.
Venomancer
* Deals damage over time: Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom
* 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
Lion
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 8%)Venomancer
* Dark Rift allows Underlord to transport allies from poison damage-over-time to the fountain.
* Underlord usually buys Pipe of Insight that gives a magic resistance to allies, inhibiting the damage from Venomancer abilities.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 3%)Venomancer
* Venomancer is a low health hero and low range distance attack hero easily to harass putting Ion Shell in a distance creep enemy in early game .
* Venomancer depends entirely on all his slows poison skills to keep distance or chasing enemy heroes, but Surge ignores slows, so is nearly impossible hunt or run away of Dark Seer or his surged teammates.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)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.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Lion
* Hex and
Earth Spike do not cancel Hoodwink's ultimate, making those two abilities ineffective against her.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% 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.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Venomancer
* Snowball can be used to save allies or himself during Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova.
* Venomancer lacks mobility and has low base health, so he can be killed by Walrus PUNCH!
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Venomancer
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Poison Nova and
Poison Sting.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 7%)Venomancer
* Teleportation allows Natures Prophet to save himself from the damage over time of Venomous Gale,
Poison Sting and
Poison Nova.
* Plague Wards can be destroyed with Nature's Prophet's treants or
Necronomicon.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Venomancer
* Venomancer has low health, which makes him vulnerable to Lina's heavy magic damage.
* Fiery Soul attack speed bonus removes Plague Wards easily in all stages of the game.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 5%)Venomancer
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Lion
* Heroes with low health: Lich,
Crystal Maiden,
Lion.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% 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.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Venomancer
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
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.
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.
Venomancer
* Fortune's End and False Promise easily dispel many crippling debuffs, such as Venomancer's
Venomous Gale, or
Skywrath Mage's
Ancient Seal.
Additional:
* Fortune's End can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting from allies.
* Fate's Edict grants 100% magic resistance to target, inhibiting the damage from Venomancer abilities.
Lion
* Heroes with long disables, like Lion,
Night Stalker, or
Legion Commander, can prevent Oracle from using spells or items.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)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.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)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.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Venomancer
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gaining
Bash of the Deep charges.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Venomancer
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)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.
Venomancer
* Heroes rely on their debuff to control the opponent will have a hard time against Press the Attack: Venomancer,
Earth Spirit,
Ogre Magi
Additional:
* Press the Attack dispels Venomous Gale and Poison Sting from Legion Commander or her teammates.
* Venomancer is an ideal target for Duel due to his lack of mobility and low starting health.
Lion
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman,
Lion
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)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.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 44% 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.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Venomancer
* Reflection illusion will apply Poison Sting to you if hit.
* Conjure Image and
Metamorphosis will make quick work of your Plague Wards.
* While ticking down from your poison, Terrorblade can wait until the last possible moment to Sunder a target, either friend or foe.
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.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Venomancer
* 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.
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.)
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage get away from Venomancer's slows.
Additional:
* Counterspell provides magic resistance, diminishing the effectiveness of Venomancer's spells.
* Venomancer's lack of hard disable allows Anti-Mage to use Blink, circumventing the slows Venomancer depends on.
Lion
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Venomancer
* Corrosive Skin means Viper can often outlast Venomancer in a battle of attrition.
* Venomancer has no mobility without items, which makes him vulnerable to constant slows.
Lion
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion,
Anti-Mage
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Venomancer
* Aggressively Poofing and Earthbinding is not going to end well against Venomancer, as he will be an easy target for Poison Nova.
* Venomancer constant slows greatly reduce Meepo's mobility.
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.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)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.
Venomancer
* Venomancer's poison damage-over-time are very effective against Spectre, which is lack of magic resistance from early to mid game.
* Venomancer's multiple slows greatly reduces Spectre's low mobility, even through Spectral Dagger.
* Plague Wards reveals Spectre while she is hiding on trees.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison damage over time is very effective against Spectre, who tends to lack magic resistance during the early to mid game.
* Venomancer's multiple slows greatly reduces Spectre's movement speed and mobility.
* Plague Wards can scout out Spectre while she is hiding in trees.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 42% 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.
Venomancer
* Untouchable won't mitigate Venomancer's magical damage, and Enchantress is vulnerable to magic damage.
* Both Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova lowers the amount of healing received by Enchantress and her allies from Nature's Attendants.
Axe
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Ward is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Additional:
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* For the same reasons, Venomancer is a good ally for Axe when the situation is reversed.
Lion
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
Techies
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (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.
Venomancer
* Plague Wards may reveal a hiding Techies. If there's a sentry nearby, they may also reveal a stack of mines hidden in a juking spot.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 10%)Lion
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light,
Ancient Apparition, or
Bounty Hunter.
Venomancer
* Venomancer's magical damage-over-time poisons greatly reduce Bounty Hunter's mobility.
* Venomous Gale,
Plague Wards and
Poison Nova with True Sight items can allow Venomancer and his teammates to gank Bounty Hunter while he is roaming alone.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Lion
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities: Lion,
Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin
Venomancer
* Heroes who can harass Omniknight out of lane will keep him weak in the mid game: Viper,
Venomancer,
Clinkz
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (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.
Venomancer
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden
Windranger
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Venomancer
* 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.
Additional:
* Due to lack of magic resistance, Venomancer poisons eats through Windranger's health.
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.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 1%)Venomancer
* Venomancer forces Sven to choose between using his Black King Bar or getting constantly slowed by his poison.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 3%)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.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 4%)Venomancer
* Venomancer can simultaneously scout Magnus hiding in trees and putting Blink Dagger on cooldown with Plague Wards, which makes Magnus real problems to blink and initiate.
Additional:
* Similar to Night Stalker, Venomancer can simultaneously scout Magnus hiding in trees and put Blink Dagger on cooldown with Plague Ward, which gives Magnus problems when trying to blink in and initiate.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)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.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)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.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)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.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% 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.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Venomancer
* 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.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)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.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time works well against Earthshaker's which completes lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown if Venomancer has vision over Earthshaker.
Additional:
* Earthshaker can be kited by Venomancer's slows, which is lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is very useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)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.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)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.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Venomancer
* Windranger's Focus Fire tears apart Templar Assassin's refraction very quickly and easily bursts her down due to her low health pool against Windranger's immense attack speed
* Templar Assassin's "Psionic Trap" doesn't slow down Windranger due to her skill Windrun
* Templar Assassin's high damage can also be easily evaded thanks to Windrun's 100% evasion
Additional:
* Venomous Gale and Plague Wards allow to quickly melt through Refraction charges.
* Both Poison Nova and Venomous Gale hit invisible units, so Meld cannot be used defensively.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% 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.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)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.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Lion
* Both Hex and
Mana Drain destroy 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).
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's magical damage-over-time poisons will constantly put Tree Dance on cooldown, greatly diminishing Monkey King's mobility.
* Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova will hit Monkey King when he is perched on a tree, or disguised with Mischief.
* However, Venomancer is also easily ganked by Monkey King if caught by surprise.
Additional:
* Venomancer's magical damage-over-time poisons putting Tree Dance on cooldown, greatly diminishing Monkey King's mobility.
* Venomous Gale and Posion Nova will hit Monkey King when he is perched on a tree, or disguised by Mischief.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% 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.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Lion
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina,
Lion,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Queen of Pain.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% 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.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Venomancer
* In general, heroes that can slow down Dragon Knight's movement speed will do well against him. This includes Venomancer and others in addition to the heroes mentioned above.
Gyrocopter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Lion
* Heroes with high magical burst damage will kill Gyrocopter before he gets to do much: Lina,
Lion,
Zeus
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)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.
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.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)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.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)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 in the 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.
* Lion has two abilities that can instantly kill illusions. Provided that he does not get stunned by Chaos Bolt first, Lion can render Phantasm near-useless.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Lion
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light,
Ancient Apparition, or
Bounty Hunter.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 7%)Lion
* Lion's disables are also really effective against channeling Heroes, like Enigma or
Crystal Maiden.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 0%)Venomancer
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
Venomancer
* Venomancer's damage over time can force Chen to use Hand of God prematurely, potentially wasting a chance to save his allies during a teamfight.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 15%)Venomancer
* 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.
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.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Venomancer
* Heroes with damage-over-time abilities will not only proc Bristleback's passive continuously, they will also do little harm to him when he is facing away from the source: Venomancer,
Arc Warden
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.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 5%)Venomancer
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
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.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)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.
Venomancer
* Plague Wards are very hard for Batrider to play against as they provide a lot of vision as well as disable
Blink Dagger for a long duration.
Visage
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 1%)Lion
* Heroes that deal few, powerful instances of damage, like Oracle,
Lion, or
Sven, have a hard time breaking through Gravekeeper's Cloak.
Venomancer
* Venomous Gale,
Poison Sting and
Poison Nova deal damage over time and will chip away at Gravekeeper's Cloak in addition to slowing an already sluggish hero.
* Venomancer's normal attacks deal
Poison Sting and will chip away at Gravekeeper's Cloak.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Venomancer
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
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.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 2%)Venomancer
* In the laning stage, making illusions of Venomancer will turn his Poison Sting back at him, making for an easy gank at level one, and for later when your mid comes for ganks.
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.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Venomancer
* Squishy heroes or heroes without hard disables or silences: Shadow Demon,
Shadow Fiend,
Venomancer,
Ancient Apparition etc.
Lion
* Any heroes with stuns or silences: Death Prophet,
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Skywrath Mage
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Venomancer
* Vulnerable spellcasters with no escape mechanisms are easy targets for Huskar: Lich,
Crystal Maiden,
Silencer,
Keeper of the Light,
Venomancer, etc.
Additional:
* Huskar can easily regenerate lost health from DoT spells through Berserker's Blood rendering them ineffective
* Venomancer has little armor and mobility, and rarely builds Linken's Sphere, so he is quite vulnerable to Life Break.
Lion
* Heroes with high magical burst can easily kill Huskar when he is at low health: Lion,
Lina,
Skywrath Mage
Puck
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 17%)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
* Unless Puck is facing the direction he wants to blink while in Phase Shift, the Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova combo consistently ticks many times over several seconds, making it very difficult to use
Blink Dagger towards the other direction. Puck's slow turning rate makes this even worse.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 18%)Venomancer
* While Reincarnation is off cooldown, Venomancer abilities can't kill Wraith King easier.
* Vampiric Aura can out-heal the slow {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Poison Sting.
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 Spirit bonuses.
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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Venomancer
*
Borrowed Time &
Aphotic Shield can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting.
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.
Curse of Avernus.
*
* Lion's lack of escape mechanisms allows Abaddon and his allies to pursue him with