Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Magnus
* Treant Protector can usually scout out Magnus in the trees with Eyes in the Forest and disrupt his initiation attempts. He can also counter Magnus' initiation with
Overgrowth.
Lycan
* Lycan has no kind of teleport, being only able to walk, and heavily relies on his attacks. As Overgrowth roots and disarms the targets, Lycan can't do much in an overgrowth field.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Magnus
* 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.
Lycan
* Kraken Shell grants him massive physical attack protection
* Anchor Smash will wipe the area, clearing Lycan's wolves.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 3%)Lycan
* Tidebringer's cleave will cripple any of his summons.
* Could potentially build Heaven's Halberd to cripple Lycan even more.
Additional:
* Tidebringer can be used to kill Lycan's summons.
* can also build into Heaven's Halberd which will disable Lycan's auto attacks crippling him even more.
Magnus
* 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.
Sven
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Magnus
* 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.
Lycan
* Great Cleave will kill Lycan's summons very fast.
* Warcry will allow Sven and his allies to tank Lycan's damage, which is mainly physical.
* Storm Hammer will damage and stun Lycan's as well as his summons.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Lycan
* Pugna's
Decrepify prevents the target from taking physical damage or doing damage, which poses a huge problem for Lycan, as he mainly deals physical damage.
Magnus
* 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.
Void Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 13%)Lycan
* Heroes that can summon units will have their summons destroyed very quickly if badly micro-managed, like Chen,
Lycan, and
Phantom Lancer.
Magnus
* Heroes who take a long time to become strong are in for a rough mid game, such as Outworld Destroyer,
Magnus,
Medusa, and
Anti-Mage.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Magnus
* Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Faceless Void,
Magnus,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Pangolier,
Phantom Assassin,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Riki,
Sand King,
Spirit Breaker,
Timbersaw,
Tusk.
Lycan
* Lycan cannot escape from a Pounce even if he uses
Shapeshift, and has no disabling abilities to stop Slark.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Magnus
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
Lycan
* Dragon Knight's insanely high armor and splash damage can cause Lycan to struggle taking him down.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Magnus
* 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.
Lycan
* 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:
* Guardian Angel completely negates all of Lycan's damage since Lycan mainly deals physical damage.
* Purification can also be a problem for Lycan, as Purification deals damage around the target, which poses a problem for him and his summons.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 4%)Lycan
* Keeper of the Light has a blind, which causes Lycan to miss his attacks.
Magnus
* 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.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 41% pickrate: 3%)Magnus
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
Lycan
* Faceless Void can lock Lycan down with his
Chronosphere pinning him down as long as his ultimate is up.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 8%)Lycan
* Can cast Demonic Conversion on one of Lycan's Wolves, making this a numbers fight.
* Malefice will greatly reduce his ability to engage
* Midnight Pulse can steep an area making it harder for Lycan to engage in.
Magnus
* 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.
Magnus
* Heroes who rely on illusions and spawns (Chaos Knight,
Beastmaster,
Nature's Prophet,
Enigma etc.).
Razor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 6%)Magnus
* Plasma Field can slow Magnus during Skewer, and when combined with
Eye of the Storm, will potentially disable his Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating.
* Static Link drains the bonus damage from Empower. However, it can be broken by Skewer and/or Force Staff.
* Storm Surge gives Razor and his allies high mobility needed to avoid Shockwave & Reverse Polarity.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 12%)Magnus
* Tinker can break Magnus's Blink Dagger using March of the Machines and
Heat-Seeking Missile, therefore delaying any initiation or making Magnus use Skewer or
Force Staff to initiate. Tinker usually gets his own Blink Dagger as well, which makes him harder to lock down unless Magnus commits Reverse Polarity only for Tinker.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 14%)Magnus
* Magnus has very mediocre damage against Alchemist, because he can survive the stun duration of Reverse Polarity with Chemical Rage.
Luna
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Magnus
* If Luna can use Eclipse in anticipation, Magnus will be killed before he can even manages to cast
Reverse Polarity.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Eclipse is a very good counter-initiation tool against Magnus when he casts
Reverse Polarity, granted as long as Luna can cast it from safe distance.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Magnus
* Jakiro's abilities deal damage over time, which can disrupt Magnus's attempts to initiate with Blink Dagger and Reverse Polarity.
* Macropyre not only disables Blink Dagger for a considerable duration, but can also destroy Trees, revealing Magnus's cover and position.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Magnus
* Phoenix will usually be on the sidelines or further back ready to use Sun Ray. Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and skewer Phoenix's teammates, Phoenix can usually counter-initiate using all of its abilities.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Magnus
* 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.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Lycan
* Brewmaster can waste a large portion of Lycan's ultimate by putting him in Cyclone.
* Lycan has no way to stop Brewmaster from using Primal Split by himself.
* Lycan's team often tries to push towers as a group, and Brewmaster excels at winning teamfights while trying to defend a tower.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Magnus
* Disruptor can disable Magnus's Blink Dagger using Thunder Strike during a considerable duration, disrupting his initiation attempts.
* Glimpse brings Magnus back after he escapes with Skewer and/or Force Staff.
* Static Storm if used on a fight can prevent Magnus from using Reverse Polarity after he jumps in.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Lycan
* Arctic Burn allows Winter Wyvern to escape Lycan, even when he uses his ultimate.
* Splinter Blast is very effective in dealing with Lycan's summons.
* Cold Embrace saves allies from Lycan's raw physical damage and can buy allies enough time to turn the tide of battle.
* Winter's Curse stops lycan in his tracks and is very effective because of Lycan's summons.
Additional:
* All of Lycan's damage is physical which is totally negated by Cold Embrace.
* Lycan often moves around with large amount of creeps, wolves created by Summon Wolves, neutral creep dominated by
Helm of the Dominator and summons created by
Necronomicon which can be easily cleared by Splinter Blast or used as a great source of damage by Winter's Curse. If you catch Lycan with creeps nearby and affected by
Shapeshift using Winter's Curse on him will most certainly end up with his death.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Lycan
* A well landed Fissure can potentially take Lycan out of the fight for several seconds, who heavily relies on precious seconds from Black king bar and Shapeshift to fight.
* Aftershock reduces the effectiveness of his summons and can prove quite irritating for Lycan.
* Echo Slam is very powerful with the sheer amount of Lycan's units and will cause him to think twice when pushing towers.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Lycan
* 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.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Lycan
* Paralyzing cask bounces between him and his wolves, keeping him stunned for long amounts of time.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 16%)Magnus
* 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.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 8%)Lycan
* Lycan's wolves deal little damage to Bristleback, and are easily killed by Quill Spray, even when they're invisible.
* Lycan's lack of burst damage makes it very hard for him to kill Bristleback, especially when his back is turned.
Additional:
* Quill Spray can be used to kill Lycan's summons.
* Bristleback allows him to stay alive against Lycan while dishing out counter attacks
* He can overpower Lycan with his Warpath instead.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Magnus
* Heroes that have an escape that doesn't disjoint projectiles: Mirana,
Faceless Void,
Magnus
Lycan
* He relies heavily on right clicks making Untouchable very effective against him.
* If he tries to run away Impetus will do huge amounts of damage.
Additional:
* She can Enchant one of the wolves to her side.
* Untouchable still slows Lycan's attack speed.
Lycan
* Heroes with haste can negate Enchant's slow: Weaver,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Centaur Warrunner.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Lycan
* Her Mana Shield is too tough for Lycan to break in.
* Mystic Snake can hit for a massive damage once it spread between his summons.
Additional:
* Can be easily petrified despite his speed.
* Summoned wolves will be targeted by Split Shot or Mystic Snake
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 2%)Magnus
* 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.
Lycan
* Lycan is a hero focused entirely on single target physical damage and lacks disables or AoE damage. Due to this, he can't deal with illusions or Naga Siren's Ensnare.
Magnus
* 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.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 12%)Magnus
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 16%)Magnus
* 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.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Magnus
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Magnus
* 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.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Magnus
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Lycan
* Heroes who summon multiple units that are not spell immune. Nature's Prophet,
Lycan,
Beastmaster
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Magnus
* 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.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Magnus
* 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.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Magnus
* Heroes that have high health but little to no magic resistance are easy prey for Necrophos, as no matter how high they build their health up, Reaper's Scythe will kill them outright as long as they fall under a certain threshold, and Heartstopper Aura will deal the same amount of damage regardless, decaying their health the longer they stay within range. As such, Strength heroes like Chaos Knight,
Centaur Warrunner or
Magnus are good targets for his ultimate.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 1%)Magnus
* 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.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Magnus
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 8%)Lycan
* Reactive Armor makes Timbersaw very effective against heroes that control a lot of units, such as
Broodmother,
Lycan and
Undying.
Additional:
* All of Timbersaw's spells deal AoE damage, killing Lycan's summons very quickly.
* Reactive Armor will gain stacks quickly because of Lycan's summons.
Mars
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 16%)Magnus
* Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom,
Magnus.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Lycan
* Melee heroes who rely on summons, illusions or clones will trigger Counter Helix more often, thus taking more damage: Meepo,
Lycan,
Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer
Additional:
* Berserker's Call can keep Lycan in place during his Shapeshift even through
Black King Bar.
* Counter Helix is very effective against Lycan because of his summons.
* Culling Blade will prevent Lycan from running away with Shapeshift when he drops low.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 11%)Lycan
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan,
Arc Warden,
Warlock,
Chen
Batrider
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Magnus
* 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.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Lycan
* Heroes that heavily depend on illusions or summons, (Naga Siren,
Terrorblade,
Phantom Lancer,
Lycan,...) are vulnerable to Sleight of Fist and even more so if Ember Spirit has
Battle Fury.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Magnus
* 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.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Lycan
* Primal Roar allows Beastmaster to keep Lycan in place after he used his Shapeshift.
Magnus
* Heroes with AoE abilities are a bane to Beastmaster's summons: Storm Spirit,
Magnus,
Pangolier.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Magnus
* Magnus cannot manfight Huskar even with Empower, Berserker's Blood's high attack speed and health regeneration, combined with Huskar's high health and
Burning Spear stacks will allow Huskar to kill Magnus before he can kill him.
* From a safe distance, Huskar can surprise and counter Magnus's initiation with Life Break and
Burning Spear.
* Burning Spear also deals damage over time, disabling Blink Dagger and preventing him from initiating or escaping.
Lycan
* Heroes with low armor and little mobility, like Huskar,
Io, etc. will also have an unfortunate fate.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Magnus
* Even if Wraith King dies after Magnus disables him, Magnus' entire team will be slowed and vulnerable for counter-initiation.
Lycan
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)Magnus
* Most of Magnus' abilities except Empower will trigger damage through Corrosive Skin.
* Poison Attack and Viper Strike can slow Magnus during Skewer, as well as putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
Lycan
* Heroes who do not have nor rely on passive abilities make Nethertoxin much less effective: Clinkz,
Pugna,
Nature's Prophet,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Tusk
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 8%)Magnus
* Zeus can easily find Magnus who is often hiding in the trees with Thundergod's Wrath and
Lightning Bolt, which allows him to warn allies and disrupt his initiation attempts.
Lycan
* Zeus can deal a huge amount of damage, but he lacks defensive abilities, such as good mobility or resistance. Due to that, he doesn't like to be touched by any means. Heroes with higher damage output and good mobility will often get easily near Zeus and trade damage (eventually causing Zeus's downfall). Such Heroes include: Lycan,
Slark,
Storm Spirit,
Spectre and others.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 16%)Lycan
* Blur is a real problem for Lycan, while she deals critical hits.
Lycan
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Lycan
* Heroes with summons: Lycan,
Broodmother,
Visage.
Magnus
* Reverse Polarity pierces through Rage, wasting part of it's duration.
* Magnus is tanky and mobile hero and hard for Lifestealer to focus and kill in all stages of a game.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 0%)Magnus
* Heroes with cleave abilities and area of effect damage can make quick work of Chen's converted creeps and at same time gain farm: Magnus,
Jakiro,
Shadow Fiend,
Kunkka,
Luna,
Dragon Knight,
Medusa,
Alchemist.
Lycan
* Illusion and heroes with summons are difficult to kill with Chen's single-target offensive spells: Terrorblade,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren,
Lycan,
Visage. However, Chen can convert enemy summons with Holy Persuasion, as long as they don't bunch up.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Lycan
* Shapeshift allows Lycan to get close and disable Marksmanship.
* Shapeshift also makes him immune to slows like Drow Ranger's Frost Arrows.
Additional:
* The Wolves' speed causes the knockback from Gust to be ineffective.
* She lacks escapes and loses her Marksmanship when someone is near her. Lycan takes advantage of these weaknesses.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Lycan
* Lycan doesn't care much about Lich's slows thanks to Shapeshift.
* Chain Frost can bounce to the wolves that Lycan summons.
Additional:
* Lich possesses a lot of slows, which Lycan doesn't care about when he Shapeshifts.
* Lich has no in-built escape, which makes him a good target for Lycan.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Lycan
* Shapeshift allows Lycan to chase down Earth Spirit.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Lycan
* Shapeshift is useful for killing or escaping Silencer.
* Summon Wolves, and later
Necronomicon units, can be used to hunt a badly wounded Silencer down - even when Lycan himself can't fight.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Lycan
* Shapeshift allows Lycan to escape from
Upheaval with 650 movement speed.
* Warlock doesn't have a lot of AoE abilities to deal with Lycan's wolves from Summon Wolves.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Magnus
* Skewer and
Reverse Polarity will often push Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Magnus
* Empower helps Magnus' allies clear out illusions.
* Reverse Polarity and
Skewer will pull Phantom Lancer along with his illusions, and reposition them together for easy nuking.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Lycan
* Mirana's Leap is ineffective if Lycan uses Shapeshift. It also allows him to dodge Sacred Arrow.
* As a natural Necronomicon carrier, he can reveal Mirana and her allies hiding in Moonlight Shadow and the Necronomicon Warrior can kill Mirana from an unintentional Sacred Arrow or Starstorm upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Lycan
* Lycan's ultimate makes him immune to slows from Ursa's
Earthshock as well as allowing him to outmaneuver
Ursa during
Enrage. Lycan can also easily chase down
Ursa while shapeshifted, should
Ursa try to flee.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Magnus
* Using Reality Rift sets up a Reverse Polarity on Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* Shockwave and
Skewer kill Phantasm's illusions quickly, as can
Empower cast on a melee carry.
Additional:
* All Magnus abilities are very good against Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Lycan
* Shapeshift increases Lycan's movement speed and renders him unslowable, allowing him to easily avoid and escape Ancient Apparition's abilities.
* Lycan has many fast summons, both his wolves from Summon Wolves and from the frequently built
Necronomicon, all of which can do heavy damage to Ancient Apparition due to his immobility and low armor.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 4%)Lycan
* Magnetic Field is useless against melee heroes, so Lycan can attack Arc Warden without missing.
* Flux doesn't affect Lycan that much, because Shapeshift grants immunity to slows and because he is never alone.
* If their Tempest Double has been called, Lycan can still kill Arc Warden before the double expires.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 7%)Lycan
* Lycan is a common Necronomicon 3 carrier, hindering his attempt of initiate or escape using Vendetta.
* And the Last Will can be killed quickly with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage, although he can at least partially counter it with a well-timed Spiked Carapace.
* Lycan's high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 5%)Magnus
* Heroes with cleave damage: Sven,
Magnus,
Kunkka
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Magnus
* 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.
Additional:
* Meepo is vulnerable to area damage and disables from Magnus himself as well as his team through Empower.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Magnus
* Squishy core heroes (Shadow Fiend,
Sniper, etc)
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 2%)Lycan
* Lycan and
Weaver has abilities that allow them to move at maximum movement speed, and those abilities can't be dispelled, potentially wasting the slow from Demonic Purge.
* You can potentially kill a fragile Weaver by using disruption during
Shukuchi with a well-placed
Sentry Ward, wasting the Shukuchi. But odds are he'll wait to get low health,
Time Lapse the damage away and Shukuchi away once more.
Techies
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 8%)Lycan
* 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.
Additional:
* He can send wolves to defuse Proximity Mines, and he can catch up Techies and kill him before they can deny themselves. Even if the suicide is successful, Lycan can still survive because of his tankiness.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Lycan
* Skywrath mage also has a terrible time fighting against anything that isn't a hero. As Mystic Flare only affects heroes, his skills are mostly target-based and he has terrible strength and agility, he can easily be kited or harassed by illusion-based heroes like Chaos Knight and
Phantom Lancer, or by Heroes that summon other units like
Lone Druid,
Lycan and
Beastmaster.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Lycan
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Pugna
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Lycan
* Heroes with low armor and little mobility, like Huskar,
Io, etc. will also have an unfortunate fate.
Visage
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 1%)Magnus
* Heroes with cleave or multi-target attacks can quickly take on Familiars and reduce Visage's firepower like Gyrocopter,
Kunkka,
Magnus and
Medusa.
Puck
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 17%)Lycan
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Lycan,
Bloodseeker,
Anti-Mage,
Timbersaw
Lycan
* A Lycan with Shapeshift can always run down Puck and kill him very quickly due to his low armor. It is important to abuse as many cliffs and trees as possible to escape from a Lycan.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Magnus
* Shrapnel can sometimes scout out Magnus and also place his Blink Dagger on cooldown. Aside from that, Sniper likes to stay far back behind enemy lines, so it's difficult to catch him with Reverse Polarity unless you already have vision on him and can Skewer him to the rest of his team.
Magnus
* Squishy core heroes (Shadow Fiend,
Sniper, etc)
Lycan
* You can easily kill a squishy Sniper, due to your high movement speed and his lack of escape.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Magnus
* Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Magnus's initiation attempts.
* Spectral Dagger can severely slow down Magnus after he uses
Skewer.
* Magnus often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.
Additional:
* Spectre disables Magnus' Blink Dagger using her ultimate, and later into the game can usually outlive Reverse Polarity's duration.
Lycan
* The movement speed granted from Shapeshift means that Spectre has no way to punish Lycan if he wants to splitpush or pick off supports. Furthermore, he will kite
Haunt and cannot be slowed by
Spectral Dagger.
* As Lycan typically has Summon Wolves out and builds
Necronomicon, very rarely will he be damaged by
Desolate if he does manage to get into a fight against her.
* Lycan is often part of an early game push strategy which is often the best counter to Spectre because she needs a lot of time and space to come online as a late game carry.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Lycan
* Heroes who have summons, which can be quickly cleared by his powerful area of effect skill: Nature's Prophet,
Enigma,
Lycan
Magnus
* Heroes with other kind of disables that pierce spell immunity can hold Pangolier in place during Rolling Thunder: Axe,
Beastmaster,
Enigma,
Magnus,
Pudge,
Batrider,
Bane,
Winter Wyvern
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Magnus
* Dark Ascension reduces vision for the enemy team, which makes it more difficult for Magnus to initiate with Blink Dagger and Reverse Polarity. It is also more likely that Night Stalker will scout out Magnus with
Aghanim's Scepter and a
Gem of True Sight, after which he can silence Magnus with
Crippling Fear.
Lycan
* Void's slow is useless against Lycan by activating Shapeshift.
* Night Stalker's single target abilities (with the exception of Void upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter) is not very effective against Lycan's
Summon Wolves and Necronomicon minions during the early and mid game.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Magnus
* 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.
Lycan
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
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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Lycan
* Rupture completely negates Lycan's high mobility.
Rupture completely negates Lycan's high mobility.
Bloodrage.
* All of Lycan's summons are good sources of healing with Bloodrage.
Additional:
*
* All of Lycan's summons are good sources of healing with
Magnus
*
Rupture deals extra damage to Magnus during Skewer or
Force Staff, preventing him from escaping or counter-initiating, forcing him to invest on a
Linken's Sphere.