Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Tusk
* Mana Break is very effective against Tusk, as he has a very low mana pool.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from an incoming Snowball.
* Counterspell reflects the Snowball back onto Tusk
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
Techies
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Nyx Assassin
* Some abilities deals damage from an independent source and not from the hero itself, so Nyx cannot counter them with Spiked Carapace: illusions or summoning units, Homing Missile,
Nimbus,
Mass Serpent Ward and especially
Techies's mines.
Tusk
* After using Snowball, Tusk can't control where he's going, allowing Techies to make him roll onto mines.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage: Spectre,
Nyx Assassin,
Clockwerk,
Spirit Breaker,
Omniknight,
Pudge.
Tusk
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 5%)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.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 1%)Nyx Assassin
* Lycan's high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% 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.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Tusk
* Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge an incoming snowball.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys a Diffusal Blade, which is very effective against Tusk's low mana pool.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys Manta Style which can also dodge an incoming snowball, much like
Doppelganger.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)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.
Razor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Tusk
* Static Link drains Tusk's base damage, and it also reduces his Walrus PUNCH! crit.
* Plasma Field and
Eye of the Storm allow Razor to chase Tusk after he uses Snowball.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Tusk
* Echo Slam is good against Snowball since it bunches everyone up. This can set up some prime opportunities for Blink Echo Slams.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Tusk
* Boulder Smash can return Tusk after his initiation.
* Geomagnetic Grip prevents Tusk from using Snowball to escape.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)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.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 1%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with very little to no area-of-effect abilities will struggle greatly against Broodmother: Sniper,
Phantom Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Bane,
Visage,
Bounty Hunter.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 13%)Tusk
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Tusk
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)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.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)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.
* With 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.
Tusk
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
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.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% 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.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* In general, attacks of the melee heroes who are entirely reliant on dealing physical damage and/or have very little to no area-of-effect abilities will make Underlord tickle and will have no effect against him, and will be unable to ambush Underlord and his team if Underlord chooses to use Dark Rift to get to a designated point of the map:
Phantom Assassin,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Bounty Hunter,
Alchemist,
Templar Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Bane.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Tusk
* 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.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 18%)Nyx Assassin
* Blade Fury makes Juggernaut immune to all Nyx's abilities, except
Vendetta.
* Omnislash. and
Swiftslash can burst Nyx down, ignoring
Spiked Carapace. However,
Vendetta can be used to escape, canceling
Omnislash/
Swiftslash.
Additional:
* 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.
Tusk
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon,
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Bane,
Pugna,
Tusk,
Winter Wyvern,
Io,
Underlord,
Treant Protector and
Keeper of the Light.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Nyx Assassin
* Impale and
Spiked Carapace stun can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Abaddon can use Borrowed Time and easily heal for the duration of Borrowed Time by Nyx's burst damage.
Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin might not kill Abaddon with his nuke, but a support Abaddon will struggle to protect an ally from him.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% 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.
Tusk
* Heroes who do not have nor rely on passive abilities make Nethertoxin much less effective: Clinkz,
Pugna,
Nature's Prophet,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Tusk
Additional:
* Viper Strike can be countered through Snowball, wasting Viper's mana through his ultimate.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)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
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 12%)Tusk
* Snowball allows Tusk to move himself and allies towards Sniper whilst invulnerable and hidden.
* His Ice Shards may also block pathing for Sniper as he has no means of moving through obstacles. In addition,
Tag Team can hinder Sniper's escape.
Additional:
* Tusk alone or with his teammates can close Sniper's long range easily with Snowball, even wasting Shrapnel, ending with a very vulnerable Sniper.
* Walrus PUNCH! damage can easily kill Sniper instantly due to his low health.
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.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Tusk
* Snowball and
Ice Shards keep Drow Ranger down and preventing her from running away.
* Snowball also lets Tusk get to Drow Ranger and stop her Marksmanship bonus. It can also be to save allies affected by Gust.
* Tag Team allows Tusk to slow her down and land a killing blow on her.
* Walrus PUNCH! slows Drow Ranger and deals a huge amount of damage to her.
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.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)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.
Tusk
* Snowball allows Tusk to easily cancel Freezing Field from a safe distance without putting himself in any danger.
* Walrus PUNCH! is most certainly a high enough damage nuke to easily kill off Crystal Maiden.
* Ice Shards can prevent the already immobile Crystal Maiden from escaping, making her an easy kill for either Tusk or a teammate.
Additional:
* Crystal Maiden's low health and armor make her an easy target for Walrus PUNCH!
* Tusk's Snowball can protect allies and cancel Freezing Field.
* Snowball and Walrus PUNCH! can interrupt Freezing Field.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 12%)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.
Tusk
* Pugna's low health and reliance on channeled abilities make him very vulnerable to Tusk, although Pugna can win in a straight up 1v1 later in the game.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Tusk
* Shadow Fiend's lack of mobility and low base health make him an easy target for early ganks.
Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina,
Lion,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Queen of Pain.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx can walk into Firefly with Spiked Carapace and stun Batrider if he has no Spell Immunity.
Tusk
* Shadow Demon,
Outworld Destroyer and
Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
Puck
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)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 turn into an easy setup for 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.
Tusk
* Heroes with spell immunity or pseudo-blinks which provide invulnerability: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Omniknight,
Huskar , and
Tusk have spells which allow them to easily escape Dream Coil.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)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
Tusk
* Snowball can be used to save allies or himself during Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova.
* Venomancer lacks mobility and has low base health, so he can be killed by Walrus PUNCH!
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)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.
Tusk
* Walrus PUNCH! can interrupt Black Hole and it can pierce spell immunity.
* In pretty much any phase of the game, Tusk's abilities can easily cancel Black Hole and disrupt Enigma's positioning.
Snapfire
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 9%)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.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 24%)Nyx Assassin
* Mana Burn drains Pudge's little mana which may render Meat Hook and Dismember unusable.
* Impale and
Spiked Carapace can be used to cancel Dismember easily, and can even do so when Pudge uses it on Nyx Assassin, if timed correctly.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 4%)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.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin deals large amounts of pure damage with Vendetta and magical damage with
Impale and
Mana Burn, allowing him to ignore Terrorblade's armor and burst his low health pool down before he can use Sunder.
* Nyx Assassin commonly buys Urn of Shadows,
Dagon and
Meteor Hammer which deal magic damage that ignore Terrorblade's armor.
* Mana Burn might drain too much mana for Terrorblade to be able to use Sunder if he isn't careful in the early to mid game.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Nyx Assassin
* Spiked Carapace can be easily triggered by Flame Guard or
Battle Fury, setting up a deadly Impale.
Additional:
* 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.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 8%)Tusk
* Tusk can Walrus Kick Monkey King from
Wukong's Command, making his ultimate useless.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 5%)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:
* Spiked Carapace reflects the damage from Impetus.
* Enchantress is a rather squishy hero, making her fall easily to Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)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.
Lina
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)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.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 11%)Tusk
* Ice Shards can easily interfere with Rolling Thunder, making him stuck inside the arc and wasting his ultimate. Do not panic and use Shield Crash to get out of that position.
* Snowball helps Tusk and his allies follow a fleeing Pangolier, keep in mind that the Pangolier can always counter-initiate with his Rolling Thunder.
* Walrus PUNCH! deals heavy damage even during his Rolling Thunder.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)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.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx's Spiked Carapace can reflect the damage of
Sharpshooter, instantly killing hoodwink. Nyx can also use
Vendetta to position himself in such a way to screen allies from Sharpshooter and catch Hoodwink by surprise.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 16%)Tusk
* Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy
Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a
Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
* Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as even with early Bulwark points it deal so much damage and slow that Mars is forced to back off from the lane and play defensively every time the spell is used.
* Worth noting is that Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)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.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt Sun Ray and
Icarus Dive.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 17%)Nyx Assassin
* 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.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)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.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)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.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Nyx Assassin
* Outworld Destroyer's high mana pool, high intelligence, and 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 Destroyer. 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 12%)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, 70% 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.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)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 point of intelligence Silencer has stolen, turning Silencer's intelligence steal against him.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)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.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)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.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)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.
Dawnbreaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Nyx Assassin
* Spiked Carapace can stop Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian which will eliminate her global presence and limits her movement around the map.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)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.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 3%)Nyx Assassin
* Impale and
Spiked Carapace interrupts Upheaval with ease.
* Warlock's low health pool, mobility, and high intelligence gain makes him a prime target for Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 8%)Nyx Assassin
* Heroes with invisibility: (Riki,
Clinkz,
Nyx Assassin
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 14%)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.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Tusk
* 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.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)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
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Tusk
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)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.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Tusk
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as Clockwerk,
Kunkka,
Puck,
Skywrath Mage,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk and others.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 19%)Tusk
* Heroes that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like Tusk and
Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 16%)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
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 12%)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:
* 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.
* Keeper of the Light is very squishy and will very quickly die to Vendetta and it's followup abilities.
* However, Mana Burn's Mana Burn can be more or less mitigated with Chakra Magic.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 13%)Nyx Assassin
* Slow-moving projectiles: Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Necrophos
* 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:
* 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.
Bane
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Tusk
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Bane has low mobility and health, making him an easy target for Walrus PUNCH!
* Walrus PUNCH! can be used to cancel Fiend's Grip if he is not the target.
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.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 9%)Nyx Assassin
* Nyx Assassin can reflect Life Break with
Spiked Carapace.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 6%)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: 56% 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.
Lion
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 14%)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.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)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.
Tusk
* Snowball negates Rupture and protects Tusk allies when Ruptured.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 7%)Tusk
* Glimpse can return Tusk to where he was after using Snowball.
Nyx Assassin
* Heroes that can pick you off: Clinkz,
Nyx Assassin,
Puck,
Riki.
Tusk
* Tusk with
Snowball
* Heroes that can dodge Glimpse:
* Puck with
Phase Shift
* Riki with
Tricks of the Trade
* Phantom Lancer with
Doppelganger
* Ember Spirit with
Sleight of Fist and
Activate Fire Remnant
* Chaos Knight with
Phantasm
* Naga Siren with
Mirror Image
* Tusk with
Snowball
* Juggernaut with
Omnislash
* Brewmaster with
Primal Split
* Lifestealer with
Infest
* Phoenix with
Supernova
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Nyx Assassin
* Duel's long duration prevents Nyx Assassin escaping from Vendetta. With Aghanim's Scepter she can also bypasses
Spiked Carapace.
Tusk
* Walrus PUNCH! makes Legion Commander lose Duel easily, especially when she doesn't have
Blade Mail. Tusk can also snowball dueled allies, preventing them from taking damage for a large portion of the duel's duration.
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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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.
Tusk
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1:
Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.