Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)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
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Sand King
* 
Ravage, being an AoE disable, cancels Epicenter's channeling from a long range, limiting his potential to counter-initiate.
* This can be remedied, however, by first using a 
Black King Bar, then channel Epicenter, then finally initiate with 
Blink Dagger.
Razor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 1%)Tusk
* 
Static Link drains Tusk base damage it also reduces his Warlus Punch crit.
* 
Plasma Field and 
Eye of the Storm allows to chase Tusk after using his Snowball.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Sand King
* Sand King has nothing to deal with 
Supernova, as none of his spells are effective.
* The damage-over-time abilities of Phoenix disable Sand King's Blink Dagger very often.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Sand King
* Both 
Arcane Curse and 
Last Word punishes casters with spammable spells such as Sand King.
* As a strength caster, 
Intelligence Steal reduces Sand King's mana pool even more.
* 
Global Silence silences Sand King, effectively reducing Sand King's initiation and counter-initiation potential. It can also interrupt channeling of Epicenter.
Techies
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Tusk
* After using Snowball, Tusk can't control where he's going, allowing Techies to make him roll into mines.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 21%)Sand King
* Burrowstrike is one of the best and easiest steals for Rubick and Sand King should be careful when playing against him - it's much better to give away Sand Storm.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)Sand King
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from 
Epicenter, especially if he initiates during the battle.
* 
Sand King can't dodge X Marks the Spot - Torrent combo by his abilities. Torrent drags him out of his 
Sand Storm
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Sand King
* Quill Spray will hit Sand King inside Sand Storm, damaging him and putting Sand King's Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from escaping.
* Epicenter's numerous damage ticks will trigger Bristleback's passive repeatedly during teamfights.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 8%)Tusk
* Durable heroes can fight with stand against Tusk during 1v1: 
Axe, 
Dragon Knight, 
Night Stalker, 
Centaur Warrunner, 
Wraith King and more.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* 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
Axe
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Tusk
* Durable heroes can fight with stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe, Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, Centaur Warrunner, Wraith King and more.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Tusk
* Durable heroes can fight with stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe, Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, Centaur Warrunner, Wraith King and more.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 14%)Sand King
* 
Zeus usually stays at the back in teamfight and it is hard for Sand King to find Zeus and knock him down before Zeus deals his damage.
* All Zeus abilities, especially 
Thundergod's Wrath, disables Sand King's Blink Dagger, effectively reducing Sand King's initiation and counter-initiation potential.
* 
Lightning Bolt deals damage to Sand King in Sand Storm and reveals him, also interrupts channeling of Epicenter.
Tusk
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as 
Clockwerk, 
Kunkka, 
Puck, Skywrath Mage, 
Spirit Breaker, 
Tusk and others.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Tusk
* 
Echo Slam is good against Snowball since it bunches everyone up. This can set up some prime opportunities for blink echo slams.
Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, 
Jakiro, Pugna, 
Earthshaker,...
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Tusk
* 
Glimpse can return Tusk to where he was after using Snowball.
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
Slark
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)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.
Sand King
* 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.
Sand King
* He has a hard time killing Sand King because of the survivability he gets from Burrowstrike and Sand Storm.
* 
Shadow Dance, which usually allows Slark to survive fights, is ineffective against Sand King's AoE damage.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)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 Sharpenel, ending with a very vulnerable Sniper.
* Warlus Punch damage can easily kill Sniper's low health instantly.
Sand King
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, 
Clinkz, 
Sniper, 
Enchantress,...
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Sand King
* Sand King can quickly remove her 
Refraction with his Sand Storm.
* Once Refraction is down, she is very vulnerable to Epicenter's high magic damage.
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.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Sand King
* Sand King has many tools to deal with Nature's Prophet's treants.
* Sand King also can interrupt Teleportation with 
Burrowstrike.
Additional:
* With Caustic Finale, Sand King can easily kill the treants from 
Nature's Call.
* Burrowstrike allows Sand King to prevent Nature's Prophet from using 
Teleportation inside of his 
Sprout.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Tusk
* Tusk can 
Walrus Kick Monkey King from 
Wukong's Command. Making his ultimate useless.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Sand King
* Burrowstrike can stun multiple Meepos, making them vulnerable targets.
* Epicenter and Sand Storm's AoE damage ensures all Meepo clones get damaged, making it hard for Meepo to choose which one to flee as all are taking damage at the same rate.
* Just be aware when using Sand Storm to escape, as Meepo has good AoE damage and disables, which, as explained in the "Bad Against" section, works well against an invisible Sand King.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 1%)Sand King
* Snad King's Burrowstrike and Sand Storm will deal a large amount of damage to Chen's creeps.
* 
Caustic Finale will quickly clear Chen's creeps at low health.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Sand King
* Phantom Assassin relies on her 
Blur to stay alive, but is very vulnerable to Sand King's heavy magic damage.
* With Burrowstrike, Sand King can often catch Phantom Assassin before she can use her Black King Bar.
* Sand King can dodge 
Stifling Dagger with Sandstorm.
* Phantom Assassin has a hard time killing Sand King because of his high mobility.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)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 help 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.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 11%)Tusk
* Shadow Fiend is lack of mobility and low base health, make him a prime target for early ganks.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)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.
Viper
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Tusk
* 
Viper Strike can be countered through Snowball, wasting Viper's mana through his ultimate.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Sand King
* Pugna's 
Nether Ward damages Sand King when he channels Epicenter, preventing him from using Blink Dagger afterward.
Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, Earthshaker,...
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.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)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 makes her an easy target for Warlus Punch.
* Tusk's Snowball can protect allies and cancel 
Freezing Field.
* Snowball and Walrus PUNCH! can interrupt Freezing Field.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Tusk
* Walrus PUNCH! interrupts Black Hole and it pierces spell immunity.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 12%)Tusk
* Snowball can be used to save allies or him during 
Venomous Gale and 
Poison Nova.
* Venomancer has lack of mobility and low base health can killed by Warlus Punch.
Bane
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Tusk
* Bane has low mobility and health makes him an easy target for Warlus Punch.
* Walrus PUNCH! can be used to cancel 
Fiend's Grip if he is not a target.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Tusk
* Snowball negates 
Rupture and protect Tusk allies when Ruptured.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 13%)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.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Caustic Finale allows Sand King to easily kill Broodmother's Spiderlings throughout the game.
* Sand King can usually catch a split pushing Broodmother with Blink Dagger and Burrowstrike.
Additional:
* Burrowstrike can be used as an escape or initiation against Broodmother.
* Sand Storm quickly kills any spiderlings caught inside if Sand King can manage to stun them.
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 4%)Tusk
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, Clinkz, Sniper, Enchantress,...
Batrider
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)Tusk
* 
Shadow Demon, 
Outworld Devourer and Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
Puck
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)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.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Sand King
* Because of his massive AoE damage, Sand King is very effective against illusion heroes: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, 
Terrorblade,...
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Tusk
* Heroes that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like Tusk and Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Sand King
* Heroes that rely on slows to get kills: Lifestealer, Night Stalker, 
Ursa,...
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Sand King
* Sand King and Phoenix has many tools to deal with a crowd of Heroes, which will work well against a crowd of illusions.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Sand King
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: 
Sven, Omniknight, Enigma, 
Luna, Naga Siren, 
Mars, Jakiro, Venomancer, 
Elder Titan, Faceless Void, 
Rubick, Keeper of the Light, Pugna, Invoker, 
Spectre, 
Alchemist, 
Treant Protector, 
Lina, 
Oracle, Zeus, 
Shadow Shaman, Phoenix, 
Razor, Huskar, 
Batrider, Kunkka, 
Tidehunter, Wraith King, Sand King.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Because of his massive AoE damage, Sand King is very effective against illusion heroes: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade,...
Additional:
* Sand King's massive area damage output, particularly Epicenter, allows him to quickly take down Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* He can apply Caustic Finale to illusions with attacks for extra damage.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, Earthshaker,...
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 19%)Tusk
* Heroes with abilities that can save are also effective such as Shadow Demon, 
Dazzle, Oracle, 
Bane, Pugna, Tusk, 
Winter Wyvern, 
Io, 
Underlord, Treant Protector and Keeper of the Light.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 10%)Sand King
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, Clinkz, Sniper, Enchantress,...
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Sand King
* Lifestealer's Rage negates Sand King's spells which do magical damage.
Sand King
* Heroes that rely on slows to get kills: Lifestealer, Night Stalker, Ursa,...
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% 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.
Sand King
* All of Sand King's abilities deal AoE damage.
* Epicenter will usually eliminate all illusions in one cast. Phantom Lancer lacks any disables to stop the channelling.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 2%)Tusk
* Durable heroes can fight with stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe, Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, Centaur Warrunner, Wraith King and more.
Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, Earthshaker,...
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 6%)Tusk
* Durable heroes can fight with stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe, Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, Centaur Warrunner, Wraith King and more.
Sand King
* Heroes that rely on slows to get kills: Lifestealer, Night Stalker, Ursa,...
Tusk
*
Boulder Smash can return Tusk after his initiation.
Geomagnetic Grip prevents Tusk from using Snowball to escape.
*
Sand King
*
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.