Silencer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
Grimstroke
* Disruption instantly removes Phantom Embrace, and can potentially save allies affected by Soulbind.
* Demonic Purge dispels Ink Swell.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Necrophos
* If Rubick steals Reaper's Scythe, he can turn the powerful ultimate back against Necrophos' team. Even his other spells are useful in Rubick's hands, giving him a sustain or a weak initiation/protection tool.
Grimstroke
* Spell Steal allows Rubick to claim Grimstroke's powerful abilities for his own, all of which are valuable.
* Arcane Supremacy increases the efficacy of stolen abilities.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Necrophos
* Necrophos' Ghost Shroud increases the magic damage taken by Necrophos.
* If Zeus builds both an Ethereal Blade and
Veil of Discord, it almost always guarantees a kill.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Grimstroke
* Heavenly Grace dispels the stun from Ink Swell, and greatly reduces Soulbind's duration.
* Purification can turn the tables on enemies trying to get close to stun with Ink Swell.
Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Necrophos
* Laguna Blade deals amplified magical damage (pure from Aghanim's Scepter) to Necrophos when he is under the effects of
Ghost Shroud.
Additional:
* Laguna Blade's damage will be greatly amplified during Ghost Shroud.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Necrophos
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden,
Enchantress,
Gyrocopter,
Lion,
Riki,
Techies,
Terrorblade,
Necrophos,
Invoker.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Necrophos
* The huge physical damage taken from Vendetta will force Necrophos to use Ghost Shroud, which is good for a followup with
Dagon and
Ethereal Blade, both of which are common items on Nyx Assassin.
* Using Ghost Shroud also sets Necrophos up for a Mana Burn or
Impale.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 12%)Grimstroke
* Cloak and Dagger's passive invisibility destroys Phantom's Embrace even when Riki is silenced.
* Smoke Screen prevents Grimstroke from shielding himself with Ink Swell.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Ice Blast completely nullifies any healing, making Necrophos unable to stay in a teamfight to sustain his teammates (and himself) or deal gradual damage to the enemy, else he be faced with a quick death if focused on.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Fortune's End can dispel Ghost Shroud, rending Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage. Also it's worth noting that Necrophos takes additional magic damage when in Ethereal state, which makes Purifying Flames a powerful nuke against him.
* Fate's Edict fully negates the damage from Reaper's Scythe, which its own delayed animation makes it relatively easy to predict and nullify.
Additional:
* During the laning stage, Oracle's Purifying Flames nullifies any damage that Heartstopper Aura might inflict.
* Fate's Edict and
False Promise can protect an ally from Reaper's Scythe.
* Oracle can dispel Ghost Shroud with Fortune's End.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 17%)Necrophos
* Tornado allows Invoker to purge Necrophos's Ghost Shroud, nullifying any benefits he could get out of it
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Necrophos's mana, preventing him to use his abilities constantly
Lion
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 16%)Necrophos
* 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.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Necrophos
* Dazzle's Shadow Wave is a spammable healing ability that spreads around his entire team, slowing the death of his teammates as effectively as Necrophos spreads damage to them.
* If not immediately, Shallow Grave delays his ally from gradually dying to Necrophos' abilities, especially Reaper's Scythe.
Additional:
* Reaper's Scythe is very predictable and gives you plenty of time to react with Shallow Grave: just keep a close eye on allies below 50% health.
* However, be sure to use Shadow Wave on that ally immediately after, or they will die from Heartstopper Aura when the Shallow Grave ends!
Sniper
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Grimstroke
* Sniper's position in the far back line makes him unlikely to be hit by any of Grimstroke's abilities during teamfights.
* Sniper is relatively unaffected by the silence from Phantom's Embrace.
* Sniper's long range and fast projectile speed allows him quickly to destroy any Phantoms attacking his allies.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Necrophos
* Nethertoxin prevents Heartstopper Aura from dealing damage or healing Necrophos.
* Viper's magic damage is amplified whenever Ghost Shroud is used.
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper tankier against Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Necrophos
* Necrophos struggles at clearing away durable illusions or summons. Meepo can overwhelm Necrophos with his many duplicates, especially in the later stages of the game, and his Earthbind will prevent Necrophos from getting away, even if he casts Ghost Shroud.
* Meepo's high burst damage from {Ability ID:Poof|Meepo} and {Item ID:Ethereal Blade} can make it difficult for to Necrophos to stay alive, and as Necrophos excels in extended fights, he will not be able to do as much damage as he intends to.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 7%)Grimstroke
* Nether Swap breaks one ally out of Soulbind, and can be used to redistribute the shared damage to Vengeful Spirit herself.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Mana Shield tanks most of the damage from Reaper's Scythe; with sufficient mana, the kill threshold drops to 15%/17%/19% health (before reductions).
* Heartstopper Aura does not chip away at Medusa's mana, this makes it not a threat as it deals damage based on current health.
* Necrophos has a movement speed equal to Medusa, and is easy to chase down with a slowing item in Medusa's inventory.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Additional:
* If he isn't silenced, Abaddon can use Borrowed Time to escape Reaper's Scythe during the delay.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Grimstroke
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 19%)Necrophos
* Blade Fury blocks the damage done by Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe. Additionally,
Ghost Shroud decreases Necrophos's magic resistance, making him take more damage from Blade Fury.
Necrophos
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 20%)Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe can't kill Wraith King while Reincarnation is off cooldown
* In the laning stage Vampiric Aura can out-heal the slow {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Heartstopper Aura.
Additional:
* Using Reaper's Scythe against Wraith King is a bad idea as his Reincarnation can waste it.
* When upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter it can delay the deaths of allies.
Necrophos
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Necrophos
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace stops Anti-Mage from Blinking away.
* Soulbind stops Blink and lets allies cast abilities on the tethered target to avoid Counterspell. It cannot be reflected by Counterspell.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Grimstroke
* Terrorblade's lack of escape mechanisms makes it hard for him to escape both Ink Swell and Stroke of Fate.
* Phantom's Embrace's silence will also prevent him from casting Sunder to save himself.
Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe can kill Terrorblade quickly before he has chance to use Sunder.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos against Terrorblade's high attack damage.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Grimstroke
* Timbersaw relies heavily on his abilities so Phantom's Embrace's silence makes it more difficult for him.
* Timbersaw cannot use Return Chakram or attack the phantom during Phantom's Embrace, forcing him to take full damage and refreshes Phantom's Embrace's cooldown.
Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura effectively negates Timbersaw's large HP pool as well as HP regen.
* Death Pulse together with health and mana regeneration from killed creeps helps Necrophos and his teammates survive Timbersaw's burst damage.
* As a tanky hero that stays in the middle of teamfights, Timbersaw is an easy target for Reaper's Scythe.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Grimstroke
* Grimstroke's Soulbind will always reliably connect onto both of them if they are close together.
Necrophos
* Ghost Shroud can be use both offensively to slow Lone Druid or Defensively to prevent Lone Druid and The Spirit Bear from attacking him.
* Heartstopper aura burns the Spirit bear High HP over time. Additionally, it can deal decent damage to Lone Druid during his True Form.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 21%)Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura is effective against high health heroes, and Pudge is no exception. Coupled with his constant self-damage from Rot, being around Necrophos could prove risky for an overconfident Pudge.
* Regardless of how much health Pudge gains through Flesh Heap, Reaper's Scythe will often kill Pudge should his health fall below 40%, making Necrophos an ideal counter versus Pudge.
Additional:
* No matter how high Pudge builds up strength with his Flesh Heap, all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe. Considering his constant self-damage with
Rot, being around Heartstopper Aura will prove risky for an overconfident Pudge.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace can silence Crystal Maiden and disrupt Freezing Field's channeling. Her slow movement speed and fragile nature will also make her an easy target for Stroke of Fate and Ink Swell.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Death Pulse can easily wipe out Broodmother's spiderlings if they're too close while also offering Necrophos a source of regeneration for Broodmother's harass in lane.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Broodmother or her spiderlings from damaging Necrophos temporarily.
* Heartstopper Aura will regenerate lost health and mana for every spiderling or spiderite Necrophos manages to kill.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with area of effect abilities that increase in power based on the number of units struck: Legion Commander,
Grimstroke.
Additional:
* Stroke of Fate can deal heavy damage to Broodmother and her spiders, and with enough spiders it can kill her instantly.
* Phantom's Embrace provides vision on Broodmother when she's fleeing into the trees.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 8%)Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace silences Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray.
* Ink Swell stuns Bristleback and gets allies in position faster with increased movement speed to attack his front, countering his passive ability.
Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe and
Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Bristleback's high health.
* Heartstopper Aura's HP removal does not trigger Bristleback's passive.
Additional:
* Heartstopper Aura deals percentage-based damage flagged as HP removal, so it is not reduced by Bristleback, nor does it trigger passive
Quill Sprays.
* Reaper's Scythe is very effective against Bristleback not only due to its percentage-based damage, but rather because it first stuns and then deals its damage, allowing Necrophos to position in front of Bristleback in time.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Due to Doom's naturally high health, strength gain and common itemization for durability, Heartstopper Aura is particularly effective. The health loss is also large enough that, throughout all stages of the game, the aura effectively neuters the health regeneration granted by Devour.
* Necrophos can help to keep both himself and his allies alive during Doom through his natural regeneration granted by Heartstopper Aura (which is not disabled by Doom), or in the case of an ally, through his
Death Pulse. Additionally, Necrophos is an ideal
Mekansm carrier. Should one be bought, kills against Necrophos' team can be difficult to secure due to the damage-over-time nature of Doom and his abilities.
* Doom typically wants to be a hero that soaks attention from the enemy team and takes the role of an initiator and disabler. As such, Doom is an ideal target for Reaper's Scythe, as it is likely Doom will be at the fore-front of any fight.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe will turn Tiny's high health against him.
* Heartstopper Aura does substantial damage to Tiny as a result of his high max health.
Io
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Grimstroke
* Grimstroke can catch Io and his ally easily with SoulBind as Io has a tendency to tether himself with an ally frequently.
* Io is highly vulnerable to disables. Hence, Grimstroke's Phantom's Embrace is a great ability to hinder Io's potential.
Additional:
* Soulbind can target both Io and its Tethered ally, allowing Grimstroke and his team to target both with single target spells. Should Io try to
Relocate, Phantom's Embrace can stop its channel to prevent escape.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 16%)Necrophos
* 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.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 0%)Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura can do a decent damage overtime to Chen's High-Health-Creep Army, and Chen does not have any source of burst damage to Necrophos.
* Necrophos can purchase a Spirit Vessel to provide an AOE debuff that reduce the healing from Divine Favor and Hand of God.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Necrophos
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves or
Pipe of Insight makes it difficult for Earthshaker to execute his combo with Echo Slam.
* Necrophos usually buys Radiance to improve their burning aura damage from
Heartstopper Aura will usually disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Reaper's Scythe allows to kill Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo (although Earthshaker is rarely a primary target).
Undying
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Necrophos is a dangerous opponent to go against with. Regardless of how many strength Undying has gained from Decay, Necrophos can finish off Undying with Reaper's Scythe once Undying's HP falls below a certain threshold.
* Heartstopper Aura will do more damage to Undying if he gained strength from Decay, as it does damage based on a hero's maximum health.
Axe
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Necrophos
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and
Mekansm makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Ghost Shroud's instant cast time allows Necrophos to turn ethereal before being initiated on by Berserker's Call. This prevents him from attacking Axe while taunted, thus lowering the chance to proc Counter Helix.
* Axe's high health is relatively ineffective against Heartstopper Aura's percentage-based health degeneration.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's tankiness, and can kill him quickly after initiation.
Additional:
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's tankiness, and can kill him quickly after initiation.
* Heartstopper Aura is effective due to Axe's high strength gain.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* With high health and rarely buying Linken's Sphere or
Black King Bar, Centaur Warrunner is a good target for
Reaper's Scythe. However, Centaur Warrunner can resolve this problem by buying
Pipe of Insight or
Hood of Defiance to diminish its damage.
* Heartstopper Aura will do well against high health heroes such as Centaur Warrunner.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Grimstroke
* Soulbind ignores spell immunity, forcing Pangolier to roll in place during his ultimate as well as anchoring the other victim to his vicinity.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 8%)Necrophos
* No matter how Tidehunter builds tanky items such as (Guardian Greaves,
Crimson Guard or
Pipe of Insight), all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe can kill Alchemist before Chemical Rage has the time to heal him.
* Ghost Shroud can prevent Alchemist from attacking Necrophos, as well as make him immune to Acid Spray and Unstable Concoction damage.
* Heartstopper Aura will do damage as long as Necrophos is alive based on health percentage, which is a problem for a strength hero such as Alchemist.
Razor
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Necrophos usually doesn't build much attack damage to steal from.
* He can use Ghost Shroud to prevent Razor from attacking him with the stolen damage from Static Link.
* Razor is somewhat vulnerable to magical damage, and Reaper's Scythe prevents him from escaping with his high movement speed when things get dangerous.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 8%)Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe and
Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Underlord's high health.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 6%)Grimstroke
* 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.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 42% pickrate: 1%)Necrophos
* Some heroes, such as Necrophos can be an issue if not initiated onto by Sven first.
Additional:
* His Heartstopper Aura deals the same gradual damage over time no matter how high Sven builds his strength or health pool up, and should he fall down to a certain percentage, his high health will no longer matter if Necrophos manages to land his Reaper's Scythe, killing him instantly. But it is best if Necrophos can either catch him off guard before he can possibly use his Black King Bar (which is an item Sven players commonly purchase), or bait him out of it.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Sven from hitting Necrophos, and if he doesn't have his Storm Hammer available, it could make him completely immune to Sven and allow Necrophos to easily kite him around.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 6%)Necrophos
* 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.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 16%)Necrophos
* Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Grimstroke
* Windranger heavily relies on her abilities for any form of tactical advantage and damage. A well timed silence will make her useless: Puck,
Silencer,
Death Prophet,
Skywrath Mage,
Drow Ranger,
Earth Spirit,
Grimstroke.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Grimstroke
* Heroes who rely heavily on melee attacks and lack early spell immunity are easily blocked and interrupted by Ink Swell: Lycan,
Ursa,
Troll Warlord.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Heroes with area heals prevents Bloodseeker from bringing enemies low, and therefore deny him his Thirst bonuses and health return: Necrophos,
Dazzle
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Illusions make it difficult for Necrophos to target his Reaper's Scythe correctly, thus giving illusion heroes like Chaos Knight or
Naga Siren an edge against Necrophos.
Necrophos
* 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.
Grimstroke
* Heroes who are reliant on illusions or summons: Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 18%)Necrophos
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos,
Phoenix,
Alchemist,
Earthshaker,
Razor,
Tinker,
Leshrac,
Queen of Pain
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Necrophos
* Death Pulse can single out Spectre from her illusions, as well as heal his team against her. He also usually stands close to his allies for Death Pulse, effectively disabling Desolate.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Heroes with one single-target abilities such as Wraith King,
Necrophos, or
Doom will struggle against Weaver's Linken Sphere.
Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace and Soulbind prevent Weaver from using Shukuchi or
Time Lapse to escape.
* Ink Swell discourages Weaver from moving through and damaging allies with Shukuchi.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura and
Reaper's Scythe go right through Dragon Knight's armor.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Though Luna has a hard time laning against Necrophos, his
Ghost Shroud won’t protect him in teamfights because it will increase the damage from Lucent Beam and Eclipse.
Necrophos
* A couple of long-range heroes with excellent laning like Mirana,
Lina,
Necrophos,
Death Prophet. The key to success is sticking together and attacking Luna whenever she enters the range, without even giving Luna a chance to retaliate. Multiple long-range heroes is a reason to pick another hero.
Grimstroke
* Hard-hitters who relies mostly on raw stats or good passive and therefore make a perfect target for Dark Portrait:
Naga Siren,
Faceless Void,
Terrorblade,
Luna,
Anti-Mage
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Time Dilation while Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Necrophos nearly useless.
* Necrophos cannot use Ghost Shroud while he is inside Chronosphere which makes it easy to kill him.
Grimstroke
* Soulbind pierces spell immunity and prevents Faceless Void from escaping with Time Walk.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Necrophos
* Necrophos's
Reaper's Scythe can finish off a low-health Morphling.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Necrophos
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit or
Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like
Rod of Atos or
Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Diffusal Blade is a core item on Phantom Lancer. Should it be purchased, combined with his numerous illusions, it allows him to rapidly deplete Necrophos' mana, rendering Necrophos incapable of casting anything.
* It can be difficult to single out the true Phantom Lancer among his army, giving Necrophos a hard time with aiming his ultimate.
* Even if his illusions are defeated, Phantom Lancer is capable of creating more at his disposal with almost no issues.
Grimstroke
* Stroke of Fate clears Phantom Lancer's illusion easily as it deals bonus damage to more targets.
* Ink Swell can be used on an allied hero or Grimstoke himself to stun Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Phantom's Embrace and
Soulbind have an undispellable debuff that can be used to mark the real Phantom Lancer.
Additional:
* Stroke of Fate's damage increases the more units are hit by it, making it effective against Phantom Lancer's army of illusions.
* Phantom's Embrace and Ink Swell's stun can prevent Phantom Lancer from escaping with Doppelganger if properly timed.
* If he has already used Doppelganger, Soulbind can tie Phantom Lancer to one of his own illusions to keep him in place, or to ensure a kill if Grimstroke's team is unsure which one is the real hero.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Grimstroke
* Heroes who rely heavily on melee attacks and lack early spell immunity are easily blocked and interrupted by Ink Swell: Lycan,
Ursa,
Troll Warlord.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Grimstroke
* Berserker's Blood can potentially out-heal the damage over time from Ink Swell and Phantom's Embrace.
* Life Break can break Soulbind if used correctly.
Necrophos
* Because Huskar tends to stay at low health to gain the maximum bonuses from Berserker's Blood, it makes him an exceptionally prime target for Reaper's Scythe.
Additional:
* Huskar is often at low health, making him easy prey for Reaper's Scythe.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Huskar from stacking Burning Spear, and if Heartstopper Aura stacks are active, can regenerate health lost to existing stacks.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Necrophos
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit or
Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like
Rod of Atos or
Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Illusions make it difficult for Necrophos to target his Reaper's Scythe correctly, thus giving illusion heroes like Chaos Knight or
Naga Siren an edge against Necrophos.
Grimstroke
* Heroes who are reliant on illusions or summons: Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Grimstroke
* Icarus Dive helps Phoenix escape the slow from Stroke of Fate's and Soulbind.
* Supernova protects Phoenix from spell damage during Soulbind.
Necrophos
* Necrophos becomes a bigger threat the lower one's health gets, and unfortunately for Phoenix, most of its spells have noticeable health costs. Those costs, coupled with his Heartstopper Aura, means that staying in a teamfight for too long under Necrophos' presence will make Phoenix a more valid target for his ultimate, with its stun completely preventing any form of retaliation or protection. Necrophos players are also likely to buy more durability items such as
Hood of Defiance, making him more able to withstand Phoenix's damage despite having no escape mechanisms.
* However, it is also important to remember that a Scepter-upgraded Supernova can help protect an ally from his ultimate.
Additional:
* Phoenix constantly depletes its own health due to the health costs of its abilities. Unlike heroes that have a similar mechanic, Phoenix does not benefit from low health, nor does it really have a countermeasure for it. As such, Phoenix is a very vulnerable target for Necrophos to prey on, especially when caught off guard before it can cast Supernova.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
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.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Necrophos
*
Arcane Curse punishes Necrophos if tries to spam Death Pulse, increasing the duration of the slow and damage taken over time.
Last Word heavily damages Necrophos and also silence him for a lenghty duration.
Glaives of Wisdom will reduce temporarily Necrophos intelligence on each hit dealing hindering his ability to spam Death Pulse, also reducing his attack damage and mana pool; dealing increasing amounts of phisical and pure damage each time. Silencer will permanently steal Necrophos intelligence if killed by him or dies nears him.
Global Silence turns Necrophos almost useless for a long time, allowing your team to easily dispatch him, since he heavily relies on his spells to survive.
*
*
*
Grimstroke
*
Arcane Curse punishes Grimstroke for spamming Stroke of Fate.
Global Silence takes Grimstroke out of team fights entirely.
*