Lycan
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 6%)Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Nyx Assassin
* Duel's long duration prevents Nyx Assassin escaping from Vendetta. With Aghanim's Scepter she can also bypasses
Spiked Carapace.
Earth Spirit
* Heroes rely on their debuff to control the opponent will have a hard time against Press the Attack: Venomancer,
Earth Spirit,
Ogre Magi
Techies
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Nyx Assassin
* Techies is very good against roaming supports and gankers such as Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Weaver,
Earthshaker,
Nyx Assassin, etc. that are constantly moving around the map.
Earth Spirit
* Stasis Trap's root prevents Earth Spirit from using Rolling Boulder to escape.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 3%)Nyx Assassin
* Impale and
Spiked Carapace stun can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* If he isn't break by Vendetta, Abaddon can use Borrowed Time and easily heal for the duration of Borrowed Time by his burst damage.
Earth Spirit
* Aphotic Shield is a strong dispel, meaning it can save allies from Earth Spirit's stun, slow, silence, and Magnetize.
* Borrowed Time makes it nearly impossible for Earth Spirit to kill Abaddon.
Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin might not kill Abaddon with his nuke, but a support Abaddon will struggle to protect an ally from him.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Earth Spirit
* Heroes with fast movement abilities will suffer huge damage when afflicted by Rupture: Spirit Breaker,
Earth Spirit,
Dark Seer.
Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with invisibility will be detected by Thirst when they have low enough health: Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Weaver,
Treant Protector,
Nyx Assassin.
Additional:
* While Burrowing, Nyx is an easy target for a Blood Rite, although he can at least partially counter it with a well-timed Spiked Carapace.
* Thirst is always a threat to Nyx Assassin, hindering his attempt of escape using Vendetta.
* Rupture also prevents Nyx Assassin from escaping with Vendetta, as it forces him to stay still.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 20%)Nyx Assassin
* Blade Fury completely counters all of Nyx Assassin's abilities except Vendetta, and does not allow him to disengage with Spiked Carapace.
* Omnislash makes quick work of Nyx Assassin, and Spiked Carapace offers no protection at all.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin wants to start ganking as soon as he gets his Vendetta. Keeping him Tracked prevents him from ganking, and thus from doing his job in the game.
* Nyx Assassin has a lot of armor and health regen, making the nuke damage from Shuriken Toss very good against him.
Additional:
* Track hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with Vendetta, making him an easy kill for gold as well.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Nyx Assassin
* Familiars deal many instances of damage quickly, minimizing the effectiveness of Spiked Carapace. They are, however, relatively fragile and can be killed quickly with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage, especially from Vendetta.
* Gravekeeper's Cloak and tanky item builds make him hard to kill with burst damage.
* Visage's long range on Soul Assumption and
Grave Chill make him hard to escape from, and
Soul Assumption's low cooldown outmatches Spiked Carapace.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Nyx Assassin
* Dragon Knight's heavy armor negates Vendetta's burst physical damage. His large HP pool also gives him a good chance of surviving Nyx Assassin's follow-up nuke damage.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Nyx Assassin
* Cyclone from Storm in
Primal Split can waste Nyx's Spiked Carapace, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 12%)Earth Spirit
* Pounce's root prevents Earth Spirit from using Rolling Boulder to escape, making it easier for Slark to shut him down especially in the laning phase.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Nyx Assassin
* Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage from Impale and
Mana Burn.
* Nyx Assassin cannot survive several poison damage-over-time, even Spiked Carapace is activated.
* However the Vendetta break can be dangerous for Viper.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* Rage completely negates all of Nyx Assassin's abilities except Vendetta, while
Open Wounds allow him to quickly close the gap.
* Infest combined with an ancient creep makes Nyx Assassin an easy target with
Dust of Appearance or a
Gem of True Sight.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage: Spectre,
Nyx Assassin,
Clockwerk,
Spirit Breaker,
Omniknight,
Pudge.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Nyx Assassin
* 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
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin's
Vendetta can be revealed easily by Corrosive Haze
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with Vendetta, as well as reducing his armor and make him very vulnerable due to his low health pool.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Earth Spirit
* Heroes with high mobility can be prevented from using it to their advantage with Earthbind, even if they pack a dangerous arsenal: Earth Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Anti-Mage,
Weaver.
* See items and abilities disabled by roots
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Earth Spirit
* In general, highly mobile heroes like Earth Spirit or
Storm Spirit are at a disadvantage against X Marks the Spot.
* Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as Tinker and
Nature's Prophet.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 3%)Nyx Assassin
* A well-timed Doom prevents Nyx Assassin escaping with Vendetta and does not allow him to disengage with Spiked Carapace.
* Doom's high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
Nyx Assassin
* 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
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 22%)Nyx Assassin
* Mana Burn completely drains Pudge's little mana which may render Meat Hook & Dismember unusable.
* Impale and
Spiked Carapace used to cancel Dismember if timed perfectly.
* Vendetta grants Nyx Assassin invisibility and a high degree of mobility for a long time, which can make Nyx a difficult target to hook. In addition, it also scouts out Pudge's location and surprising him with his attack,
Impale and
Mana Burn.
Earth Spirit
* Earth Spirit can easily disrupt Dismember because he can disable from a long distance with a Stone Remnant and Rolling Boulder. With talent he can even pull his teammates out of Dismember and also silencing Pudge with Geomagnetic Grip.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* His whole skillset acts like a counter to Tinker:
* Impale prevents Tinker from blinding Nyx Assassin or fighting back, while giving Nyx' allies time to catch up to Tinker's position.
* Mana Burn generally deals more damage to intelligence based heroes like Tinker
* Spiked Carapace can stun Tinker at a moment of Nyx Assassin's choosing if March of the Machines has been cast. It is also quite easy to time Spiked Carapace against Heat Seeking Missiles.
* Vendetta allows Nyx to approach Tinker in the trees or wait for him in common hiding spots and deal heavy damage to his low armor.
Additional:
* March of the Machines and
Heat-Seeking Missile allow easy Spiked Carapace stuns.
* As a fragile hero that relies on mana and intelligence items, Tinker is vulnerable to Mana Burn.
* Nyx Assassin's stuns can interrupt Rearm and leave Tinker helpless.
Earth Spirit
* Tinker is an easy target for Earth Spirit to initiate on. He likes to split push lanes once he acquieres Boots of Travel and Earth Spirit can jump him with his Rolling Boulder and disable him to buy enough time for his teammates to come and assist Earth Spirit.
* The huge range of Stone Remnant and Rolling Boulder enables Earth Spirit to stop Tinker from teleporting to his fountain since Tinker tends to buy Blink Dagger most of the time to escape.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 13%)Nyx Assassin
* Crystal Maiden has a very bad movement speed, so Impale is easy to land against her. Furthermore, even while trapped by Frostbite, Nyx Assassin can still cast Impale.
* Crystal Maiden has very low armor, so Vendetta is very effective.
* Nyx Assassin has two ways to stop Freezing Field, provided she doesn't get a Black King Bar. He can pop
Spiked Carapace and simply walk into the field, or he can use
Impale to interrupt the field, since Crystal Maiden has to channel it.
Additional:
* Spike Carapace easily interrupts Freezing Field.
* Frostbite's damage over time sets up an easy Spiked Carapace stun.
* Crystal Maiden is extremely fragile and dies quickly to Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
Earth Spirit
* Boulder Smash and
Geomagnetic Grip allow
Earth Spirit to easily disrupt Freezing Field, regardless of where Crystal Maiden is due to their incredible range.
Earth Spirit is quite possibly the best hero for stopping long channeling abilities, and Crystal Maiden is vulnerable to him without a
Black King Bar.
* All of Earth Spirit's spells allow him to easily close in on Crystal Maiden and kill her. Since she is a low health support, she generally stays behind in teamfights, but Earth Spirit can easily close the distance.
* Crystal Maiden has low movement speed and no other escape mechanism, rendering her extremely vulnerable to Earth Spirit's arsenal of long-range, damaging spells.
Lina
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 14%)Nyx Assassin
* Mana Burn does tons of damage against Lina because of her high intelligence. The mana burn also prevents Lina from casting her full combo.
* Spiked Carapace can easily be used to counter Lina's abilities because of their long cast animation, and could probably kill Lina outright if Laguna Blade is reflected.
Earth Spirit
* Squishy heroes (Io,
Crystal Maiden,
Lina...), as Earth Spirit can deal tons of damage with Magnetize.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Earth Spirit
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Nyx Assassin
* Assassinate is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for massive damage.
* Shrapnel's area damage can set up an easy stun with Spiked Carapace, especially when combined with Vendetta.
* In the early game, Sniper's low health pool and high intelligence makes him easy prey for Nyx Assassin.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 16%)Nyx Assassin
* Many of Nyx Assassin's abilities are good against Windranger.
* Impale is great for stunning Windranger and allowing additional disables to be landed.
* Mana Burn is useful against Windranger's decent intelligence growth and also burns some mana, preventing her from using more abilities.
* Spiked Carapace is easy to use against Powershot.
* Vendetta allows Nyx Assassin to sneak up on and deal massive damage to Windranger without giving Windranger a chance to use Windrun to evade it.
* Nyx Assassin's item build allows him to easily deal with Windranger.
Earth Spirit
* 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.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 18%)Earth Spirit
* Earth Spirit is a dangerous foe to encounter for Invoker in the early stages of the game. Since Invoker needs to gain levels as fast as possible and is not very strong in the early game, Earth Spirit can use his incredible early game power to gank Invoker and ruin his game plan.
* Earth Spirit combines stuns and silences with his spells and can apply them from a great distance. This is bad for Invoker as he is dependent on a smart usage of his spells with Invoke and Earth Spirit can disrupt his combos easily.
Nyx Assassin
* Large area-of-effect with delay or require channeling: Enigma,
Crystal Maiden,
Invoker,
Shadow Fiend,
Pugna,
Keeper of the Light
* 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
Additional:
* Nyx Assassin takes advantage of Invoker's massive intelligence gain and mana pool to do tons of damage using Mana Burn, as the spell does more damage based on the target's intelligence.
* Nyx Assassin can simply activate Spiked Carapace while under many Invoker's abilities to stun him.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Earth Spirit
* Boulder Smash will push Sand King out of Sand Storm to reveal his position or an activated Epicenter off of Earth Spirit's allies, potentially wasting his combo
* Rolling Boulder and
Geomagnetic Grip allow Earth Spirit to easily stun and silence Sand King and interrupt the channeling of Epicenter, completely ruining his initiation.
Nyx Assassin
* 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
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Nyx Assassin
* Mana Burn can instantly deplete Tidehunter's low mana pool, especially in the early game, potentially preventing Tidehunter from casting Ravage.
* Ravage's travel time allows Nyx Assassin to easily stun Tidehunter with Spiked Carapace.
* Vendetta offers a very rare break effect, which fully disables Kraken Shell and makes Tidehunter susceptible to follow-up disables.
Earth Spirit
* Positioning-reliant heroes (Windranger,
Tidehunter,
Ursa...), since Earth Spirit can disrupt positioning with his Boulder Smash.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Earth Spirit
* Black Hole is a channeling ability and Earth Spirit has at least two possibilities which can interrupt these kind of spells. Enigma is exposed and cannot move while using Black Hole, thus making it easy for Earth Spirit to stop the feared ability with the huge range of Rolling Boulder and forcing Enigma to quickly rush a
Black King Bar to prevent this.
* Enigma is level dependant, squishy and relativly defenseless in the early game and therefore vulnerable to aggressive roam maneuvers in this stage of the game. Earth Spirit excels at ganking, shutting down a jungling or otherwise solo farming Enigma.
Nyx Assassin
* Enigma is fragile, and lacks escapes, being dependent on Blink Dagger for mobility. Ganking Heroes or Heroes with burst damage will likely kill him before he can do anything. Such Heroes include:
Lina,
Lion,
Puck,
Slark,
Nyx Assassin, etc.
Additional:
* Enigma's uncontrollable damage from Malefice and
Midnight Pulse make him easy to stun with Spiked Carapace.
* Black Hole can be easily interrupted by Impale or Spiked Carapace.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 19%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina,
Lion,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Queen of Pain.
Earth Spirit
* Heroes that can gank Shadow Fiend in the early game: Earth Spirit,
Nyx Assassin,
Riki,
Spirit Breaker.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* Mana Burn is strong against Keeper of the Light due to his high mana pool.
* Spiked Carapace can be used to reflect Illuminate damage and stun Keeper of the Light.
* Vendetta allows Nyx Assassin to follow Keeper of the Light around if he tries to split-push.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 2%)Nyx Assassin
* Vendetta breaks Untouchable and deals great damage against her.
* Enchantress' lack of mobility makes her a primary target for ganking with Vendetta.
* Spiked Carapace can reflect Impetus and stun Enchantress.
* Mana Burn can deal tremendous damage against her due to being an Intelligence hero.
Additional:
* Vendetta disables Untouchable.
* Spiked Carapace reflects the damage from Impetus.
* Enchantress is a rather squishy hero, making her fall easily to Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Nyx Assassin
* Outworld Destroyer's high intelligence gain and fragility makes him an easy target for a massive Mana Burn, as well as killing him outwards with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
* Astral Imprisonment can be easily exploited by Nyx Assassin with his abilities. As long as Astral Imprisonment was not cast on Nyx Assassin, it will make an opportunity for an easy stun, either by Spiked Carapace (if Outworld Destroyer hid his allies or your allies) or Impale (if he hid himself). If Astral Imprisonment was cast on Nyx Assassin, using Spiked Carapace while banished will proc the stun after the disable, since Spike Carapace has a 0 second cast time and Astral Imprisonment deals damage right after the disable ends.
* An ill-timed Sanity's Eclipse or well timed Spiked Carapace can deal a lot of damage to Outworld Destroyer and stun him, unless Outworld Destroyer used
Black King Bar beforehand.
Additional:
* Outworld Devourer's high mana pool, high intelligence, and low health makes him a prime target for Mana Burn.
* If timed correctly, Spiked Carapace will return the full damage from Sanity's Eclipse back to Outworld Devourer. Even a reflected Arcane Orb can deal significant damage and make him vulnerable to a follow-up from Nyx Assassin.
* Spiked Carapace is also the perfect tool against Astral Imprisonment: if used on Nyx, he can reflect the damage back as he comes out of the prison by casting the ability while imprisoned.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Earth Spirit
* Rolling Boulder and
Geomagnetic Grip prevent Terrorblade from using Sunder.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 2%)Nyx Assassin
* With her passive Split Shot, Medusa can be easily interrupted by Spiked Carapace during combat, especially during her precious
Stone Gaze.
* Mana Burn quickly destroys Mana Shield, especially if Medusa only increases her mana pool by bolstering intelligence (which has the added bonus of increasing Mana Burn's damage).
* Uncontrollable damage from Mystic Snake and
Split Shot can trigger Spiked Carapace.
* Medusa lacks single target damage, making a Burrowed Nyx Assassin hard to kill.
Additional:
* Level 4 Mana Burn burns 38,5% of Medusa's mana every 4 seconds if Medusa only increases her mana pool with intelligence. Additionally, 60% of the
Mana Burn damage gets mitigated by Mana Shield, burning even more mana.
* Due to the passive nature of Mystic Snake and Split Shot, it can possibly proc Nyx's Spiked Carapace if he's within range of Medusa's abilities and isn't invisible.
* Medusa lacks single target damage, making Nyx with Aghanim's Scepter extremely hard to deal with if Medusa is the team's main damage source.
Snapfire
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Nyx Assassin
* Spiked Carapace stops Snapfire's
Mortimer Kisses.
* Snapfire's low armor and agility gain means that Vendetta will deal a decent amount of damage.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx can walk into Firefly with Spiked Carapace and stun Batrider if he has no Spell Immunity.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Nyx Assassin
* Vendetta disables Vengeance Aura and allows him to attack Vengeful Spirit with
Impale and
Mana Burn.
* Spiked Carapace is easy to use against a Wave of Terror or Magic Missile.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 12%)Earth Spirit
* Geomagnetic Grip is not blocked by
Linken's Sphere and can silence Morphling, preventing Morphling from using Waveform or Attribute Shift to escape from ganks.
* In addition, Boulder Smash and
Rolling Boulder provide a solid lockdown if used together.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Nyx Assassin
* A good Nyx can reflect Queen of Pain's Sonic Wave with his Spiked Carapace, or even initiate a gank on her in
Vendetta while she farms a creep wave with Scream of Pain.
* Her strength to intelligence ratio is bad enough that he should be able to kill her without even requiring a Dagon, provided he can get his full combo off.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Earth Spirit
* Geomagnetic Grip can be used to silence Earthshaker after he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Magnetize does damage over time and thus disables Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger for a long time.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Nyx Assassin
* 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.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Earth Spirit
* Boulder Smash can return Tusk after his initiation.
* Geomagnetic Grip prevents Tusk from using Snowball to escape.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* Silencer is rather squishy and has poor mobility without items, making him an easy target for Nyx.
* Mana Burn will deal increasing damage for each 2 points of intelligence Silencer has stolen, turning Silencer's intelligence steal against him.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin has a lot of burst damage from his Impale,
Mana Burn,
Dagon, and the bonus damage from
Vendetta. All of this damage is enough to kill Drow Ranger.
* Nyx Assassin is usually invisible most of the time thanks to his ability Vendetta, which allows him to gank Drow Ranger easily.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Nyx Assassin
* Skywrath Mage's low health makes him rather easy prey for Nyx Assassin and his lack of armor generally means he'll take the full brunt of a Vendetta strike.
* Mana Burn is annoying at all stages of the game as it turns Skywrath Mage's high intelligence growth against him.
* Spiked Carapace gives Nyx some degree of protection against Skywrath's spells.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Nyx Assassin
* Mana Burn is capable of removing most of Storm Spirit's large mana pool, along with dealing heavy damage and quickly depleting his chances of escaping a gank or fight.
Additional:
* Mana Burn removes much-needed mana for Ball Lightning.
* Spiked Carapace triggers on Static Remnant for an easy stun.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin's Spiked Carapace will stun Leshrac when hit by any of his AOE abilities.
* Mana Burn deals high damage due to Leshrac's high intelligence gain and burns a large amount of Leshrac's essential mana pool.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Nyx Assassin
* Due to Pugna's incredible intelligence growth and terrible strength growth, Nyx should always be able to take you out with his combo, with or without an added Dagon.
Mana Burn will deal a large amount of damage in particular, especially in the late game.
* Spiked Carapace is also a great tool versus Pugna. A good player will wait for you in
Vendetta until you farm a creep wave with Nether Blast and reflect it back at you as their initiation and setup for
Impale.
Additional:
* Nether Blast's animation makes it easy to time Spiked Carapace for a stun.
* Pugna has the largest intelligence gain in the game, making him a prime target for Mana Burn.
* Pugna needs to channel Life Drain, making him easy to hit with Impale.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* Impale interrupts
Upheaval.
* Nyx Assassin Vendetta allows him to escape from Warlock's
Upheaval with maximum move speed.
* Warlock's low health pool and mobility can easily take down by Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin's high burst damage can be the bane of Dark Willow, as her low health makes it difficult to survive long enough to escape through Shadow Realm.
* Spiked Carapace can be triggered by walking deliberately into Bramble Maze, leaving Dark Willow stunned and defenseless.
Razor
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 2%)Earth Spirit
* Boulder Smash's and
Geomagnetic Grip's (upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter) repositioning and disables make it very difficult for Razor to keep enemies within range of Static Link and Eye of the Storm.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 18%)Earth Spirit
* Boulder Smash can smash Monkey King out of the Wukong's Command radius.
* Rolling Boulder destroys trees and helps Earth Spirit close the gap between him and Monkey King.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 17%)Nyx Assassin
* Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. Especially Pugna and any hero that is wielding
Ethereal Blade, such as
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin or
Morphling.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with invisibility: (Riki,
Clinkz,
Nyx Assassin
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Earth Spirit
* Squishy heroes (Io,
Crystal Maiden,
Lina...), as Earth Spirit can deal tons of damage with Magnetize.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 16%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with break abilities: Nyx Assassin,
Shadow Demon (with
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin can reflect Life Break with
Spiked Carapace.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes that can pick you off: Clinkz,
Nyx Assassin,
Puck,
Riki.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Earth Spirit
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
Additional:
* Templar Assassin is dependant on Refraction in teamfights. Because Magnetize deals damage per second and Earth Spirit is even able to refresh the duration of his ultimate he is suitable for wasting Refraction and allowing his team to take her down.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities: Lion,
Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin
Chen
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with damage burst can often kill Chen or his allies before he can use Hand of God: Lina,
Techies,
Shadow Fiend,
Pugna,
Nyx Assassin.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 12%)Earth Spirit
* Positioning-reliant heroes (Windranger,
Tidehunter,
Ursa...), since Earth Spirit can disrupt positioning with his Boulder Smash.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Earth Spirit
* Heroes with considerable mobility can easily escape from a rolling Pangolier: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit, moreover, if a player is familiar with how Rolling Thunder work, they can adjust their movement to avoid it entirely and of course outplay the Pangolier player.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* 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
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Nyx Assassin
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like Death Prophet,
Skywrath Mage, and even
Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
Additional:
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt Sun Ray and
Icarus Dive.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Nyx Assassin
* 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
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 13%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin,
Bounty Hunter and
Slark can all sneak up and kill you, Nyx being particularly deadly. Watch Slark carefully, as he can break either (but not both unless you are making a mistake) of your disables, with
Dark Pact and leap out of a serpent ward ring. These heroes, however, rely heavily on escape and are themselves not very durable and none of them can survive a full lockdown with Mass Serpent Ward. Having Sentry Wards can turn you from prey to predator.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities: Invoker,
Silencer,
Nyx Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Shadow Shaman,
Lion and etc.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 17%)Earth Spirit
* Earth Spirit's useful kit of Slows, Stuns, and Silences can set up kills on Ogre Magi and the silence can stop him from using his abilities.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as Bounty Hunter,
Clinkz,
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin and
Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
Earth Spirit
* Rolling Boulder and
Geomagnetic Grip disable Faceless Void so he cannot escape with Time Walk.
* Rolling Boulder will allow Earth Spirit to get on top of Faceless Void at all stages of the game.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Earth Spirit
* Heroes who can dodge Earth Spirit's abilities: Ember Spirit,
Puck,
Weaver
Nyx Assassin
* With Vendetta, Nyx Assassin can move closely to Ember Spirit when he's farming with his Flame Guard and use
Spiked Carapace with
Impale to provide a reliable and long disable.
* Mana Burn is also good, as Ember Spirit relies on his limited mana pool for the early to midgame.
Additional:
* Spiked Carapace can be easily triggered by Flame Guard or
Battle Fury, setting up a deadly Impale.
Lion
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Nyx Assassin
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Nyx Assassin
* 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.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Earth Spirit
* Heroes who can dodge Earth Spirit's abilities: Ember Spirit,
Puck,
Weaver
Nyx Assassin
* Spiked Carapace allows Nyx to get an easy long-duration stun on Weaver once he uses Shukuchi, and then he can follow up with
Impale.
* Vendetta works as a great setup for both
Impale and
Spiked Carapace and can deal decent damage to Weaver. Additionally he can neutralize The Swarm beetles due to his invisibility duration.
Puck
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 14%)Earth Spirit
* Heroes who can dodge Earth Spirit's abilities: Ember Spirit,
Puck,
Weaver
Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin can take advantage of every one of Puck's weaknesses. His entire skill set is very effective in countering Puck.
* Because Illusory Orb is such a slow moving projectile, Nyx Assassin can simply walk into the orb and activate Spiked Carapace, stunning Puck and setting up an easy
Impale. This can be circumvented by using Phase Shift while the orb is traveling, however, that means that Puck cannot use Phase Shift to dodge any other skill nor use it to safely blink away from a fight.
* Puck is an intelligence hero that likes to build intelligence items such as Eul's Scepter of Divinity,
Scythe of Vyse, and
Dagon. This makes
Mana Burn that much more deadly against Puck.
* An ill-timed Phase Shift can easily set himself up to be stunned by Impale.
Additional:
* Illusory Orb is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace, either stunning Puck and setting up an easy Impale or forcing a premature
Phase Shift.
* Puck is an intelligence hero that tends to build intelligence items, making it vulnerable to Mana Burn.
* An ill-timed Phase Shift can easily set Puck up to be stunned by Impale.
* Puck's low base armor and below average agility gain mean it is always susceptible to Vendetta.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Nyx Assassin
* They are both nukers, but Centaur Warrunner has superior health and strength gain.
* Centaur's low Intelligence makes Mana Burn do low damage.
* Bar some creative skill builds, Centaur's Hoof Stomp stun duration should always last longer than Spiked Carapace stun, so escaping unscathed is hard for Nyx.
* With Blink Dagger and detection, Centaur can devastate Nyx in the open.
Nyx Assassin
* Once you've taken a point in Retaliate, Nyx can easily initiate on you: he can use Spiked Carapace and hit you with
Vendetta. The damage from Retaliate will be reflected back to you, stunning you with no chance to react after he's revealed himself, and should guarantee a successful
Impale.
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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Earth Spirit
*
Shapeshift allows Lycan to chase down Earth Spirit.
Nyx Assassin
* Lycan is a common
Necronomicon 3 carrier, hindering his attempt of initiate or escape using Vendetta.
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.
* And the
* Lycan's high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.