Slark
[wiki] rating: 3.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: 3.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Spirit Breaker
* Clockwerk can use Power Cogs to repel Spirit Breaker when he charges in with Charge of Darkness.
* Spirit Breaker's slow 0.6 second attack animation attacks do little damage against Clockwerk. It can also constantly be interrupted by Battery Assault.
* Nether Strike's 1.2 second charge time gives Clockwerk plenty of time to activate
Blade Mail and for Battery Assault to cancel it.
Additional:
* Battery Assault will continuously prevent Spirit Breaker from using Nether Strike, Charge of Darkness and even right clicking because of his long attack animation.
* Charge of Darkness can be cancelled by a correctly timed Hookshot.
* Should Clockwerk or his allies be targeted by Charge of Darkness, he can stop it by casting Power Cogs in Spirit Breaker's path or around the target.
Earthshaker
* Battery Assault interrupts Earthshaker's long cast animations, preventing him from using any abilities apart from Echo Slam.
* Power Cogs often separate the battlefield so that both enemies and allies are unlikely to cluster.
* Rocket Flare allows Clockwerk to scout Earthshaker before a fight starts and potentially cancel his
Blink Dagger.
* Hookshot enables Clockwerk to catch Earthshaker before he gets a chance to initiate a fight.
Additional:
* Battery Assault will continuously interrupt Earthshaker's long cast animations.
* Power Cogs can also trap Earthshaker after he initiates.
Sniper
* Clockwerk is also the least optimal target for Sniper to attack in a teamfight, although more experienced players will rarely make this mistake.
* With no mobility or disable skills, getting trapped in Power Cogs is a death sentence for Sniper.
Additional:
* Clockwerk can easily close the distance to Sniper using Hookshot and trap him with
Power Cogs.
* Even though Sniper is a natural Hurricane Pike carrier, Sniper's low health usually means Clockwerk can finish him off with
Battery Assault and
Rocket Flare.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 3.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Wraith King
* Invoker can drain Wraith King's mana with EMP, preventing him from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard.
* Even if Wraith King survives and reincarnates, Invoker still has an arsenal of spells to lockdown Wraith King, including an easily setup Ice Wall.
* Tornado applies an area dispel to clear skeletons.
Additional:
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Wraith King's mana to prevent Reincarnation from triggering (only until Wraith King gets his Aghanim's Shard).
* Ice Wall and Cold Snap are particularly crippling for Wraith King as they allow to kite him very effectively, preventing him from dealing melee attack damage.
Earthshaker
* Invoker's
EMP is extremely effective against Earthshaker due to his low natural mana.
Spirit Breaker
* Cold Snap allows Invoker to interrupt Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
* Tornado's long range can be used to cancel Charge of Darkness.
* Deafening Blast prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and thus proccing his Greater Bash.
Sniper
* Invoker's arsenal of magical spells are troublesome for Sniper who has low HP and high armor, which does not benefit him much against Invoker.
* Besides magical damage, he can be disarmed and repeatedly mini-stunned with Cold Snap, preventing him from reacting.
* Leveling Quas can allow Invoker to lane effectively against Sniper despite right-click harassment.
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 3.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Wraith King
* Riki is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier, and it doesn't help that he's easily capable of sneaking up on you due to
Cloak and Dagger.
* Riki can use Smoke Screen on top of you as you're reincarnating, making you a sitting duck for your second life. In addition, the blind prevents Wraith King from landing critical hits from Mortal Strike.
* Wraithfire Blast is quite predictable, and players with good reflexes will disjoint it with Tricks of the Trade.
* There is also a chance he will become invisible again as the projectile travels, disjointing it.
Shadow Shaman
* Riki is known for being a successful support killer, and not just for show. He can give you one hell of a time by constantly picking you off and/or forcing you to stick close to the rest of the team.
* Smoke Screen is particularly devastating to Shadow Shaman. With neither his various disables nor a solid health pool Shadow Shaman is usually dead. Consider a force staff if you find yourself in this scenario (to force yourself out of the cloud before shackling Riki) and buy sentry wards if you have the money.
Sniper
* Sniper has no natural escape and relies on his range and slows to keep himself safe, which you can bypass with Blink Strike and quickly deplete his miniature HP pool.
Earthshaker
* Careful not to blink into Riki's
Smoke Screen or
Night Stalker's
Crippling Fear, as these field effects will instantly silence Earthshaker and prevent him from initiating.
Spirit Breaker
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki,
Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 2.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Sniper
* Being mostly a physical damage dealer, Sniper's effectiveness is greatly reduced by Omniknight's Guardian Angel.
* Omniknight's Degen Aura allows him to slow sniper and catch him. Sniper has to then use some escape item.
* Omniknight can also protect an ally from being finished off by Assassinate by using Purification.
Shadow Shaman
* Omniknight can dispel Hex or Shackles with
Heavenly Grace. He can also heal teammates which you disabled. The same goes to
Abaddon's
Aphotic Shield .
Spirit Breaker
* In the early game, Omniknight can look like an easy target for Spirit Breaker, but with Purification and
Degen Aura, what could be an opportunity could quickly turn into disaster.
* Heavenly Grace can be used to counter Charge of Darkness by minimizing the damage and lowering the stun duration with status resistance.
* Spirit Breaker's Greater Bash from all sources (Charge of Darkness or normal attacks) deals lesser damage if he is within the radius of Degen Aura.
* Due to this, Spirit Breaker's damage will always be lower when targeting Omniknight.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 2.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Shadow Shaman
* Waveform allows Morphling to escape from Mass Serpent Ward
* Morphling can interrupt Shadow Shaman while he is shackling an ally with Adaptive Strike (Strength).
* With Ethereal Blade Morphling can quickly burst him down before he even has a chance to react.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that usually builds Linken's Sphere as a core item:
Weaver,
Medusa,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Sniper
* Morphling's high mobility allows him to easily get close to Sniper, who likes to keep his distance from enemies.
* Sniper's low health also makes him extremely vulnerable to Morphling's Ethereal Blade and Adaptive Strike combo.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 2.2 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 4%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden
Shadow Shaman
* Arc Warden with his Magnetic Field will protect allies from Mass Serpent Ward.
Sniper
* Magnetic Field's evasion completely negates Sniper's attacks unless he has True Strike.
* Sniper always positions himself far away from battles, which makes him especially vulnerable for Flux and Spark Wraith.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: 2.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Sniper
* Clinkz,
Sniper,
Lone Druid,
Troll Warlord,
Legion Commander and
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
Spirit Breaker
* Spirit Breaker's slow attacks cannot harm a hero shielded by Living Armor.
Additional:
* Living Armor can mitigate a large portion of Spirit Breaker's damage since his attacks are slow.
* Treant Protector can also counter initiate Spirit Breaker with Leech Seed and his bash from
Nature's Guise before he manages to escape.
Wraith King
* Clinkz,
Sniper,
Lone Druid,
Troll Warlord,
Legion Commander and
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Earthshaker
* Outworld Destroyer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Earthshaker.
* Astral Imprisonment catches Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Earthshaker has mana troubles, and Outworld Destroyer's abilities can press this by stealing intelligence comes from Arcane Orb, therefore depleting his mana pool and mana regeneration.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Earthshaker, due to his low intelligence and mana pool.
Spirit Breaker
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to protect allies by imprisoning either them or Spirit Breaker.
* Arcane Orb will heavily drain Spirit Breaker's intelligence, rendering him almost useless and unable to cast spells. Spirit Breaker's low intelligence also means
Sanity's Eclipse will deal a lot of damage to him.
Wraith King
* Sanity's Eclipse does massive damage to Wraith King who naturally has a low mana pool and typically doesn't build items to increase it.
* Wraithfire Blast's slow projectile speed makes it easy to avoid using Astral Imprisonment.
Sniper
* As Outworld Devourer has short cast ranges, a short attack range, and no gap-closing abilities, Sniper can kite and harass Outworld Devourer in lane with his long range and zone him out in fights. The continuous area damage from Shrapnel also prevents Astral-Blink escapes.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Spirit Breaker
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Supernova is problematic for Spirit Breaker to take down, and even more so with
Fire Spirits debuff applied.
* Icarus Dive grants Phoenix capability to quickly escape to safety.
Earthshaker
* Supernova allows Phoenix to save himself (or an ally, with Aghanim's Scepter) through
Echo Slam. Earthshaker will also have a difficult time destroying the supernova, due to his low base attack time and poor agility.
* Icarus Dive can pass through Earthshaker's Fissure.
* Most of Phoenix's abilities disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a good period of time due to the damage-over-time nature of its spells.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Earthshaker
* Rage prevents Earthshaker from damaging and stunning Lifestealer.
* Feast is very effective against Earthshaker, because of him being a strength hero, allowing Lifestealer to heavily harass and kill him.
* Open Wounds prevents Earthshaker from escaping after he initiated.
* Infest gives Lifestealer an easy way to escape should he get caught out by Earthshaker.
Sniper
* Lifestealer can close the distance to Sniper by using Infest on a fast or durable creep to tank Sniper's damage.
* Open Wounds will reduce Sniper's mobility heavily, and
Rage's attack speed bonus helps in taking down Sniper.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Shadow Shaman
* Dragon Knight can simply tank and destroy all Shadow Shaman's Serpent Wards.
Spirit Breaker
* Spirit Breaker's slow attack speed and moderate damage do very little to harm Dragon Knight, even if ganked with Charge of Darkness.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Sniper
* Ember Spirit can close the distance between Sniper easily with his Activate Fire Remnant and further keep Sniper in place with
Searing Chains.
* With the help of Aghanim's Scepter, Sniper cannot outrun Ember Spirit or chase him, even if Sniper builds mobility items.
Spirit Breaker
* Searing Chains can stop Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
* Activate Fire Remnant can be used to escape an approaching Spirit Breaker, or lead Spirit Breaker into a bad situation.
* Activate Fire Remnant and
Sleight of Fist allows Ember Spirit to dodge Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 7%)Sniper
* 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.
Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Earthshaker
* Death Prophet abilities disables Earthshaker's Blink Dagger.
* Silence can be used to silence Earthshaker after he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Earthshaker
* Windrun can be used to dodge Earthshaker's abilities if Windranger has a quick reaction time.
* Focus Fire and Windrun allows Windranger to kite Earthshaker.
* A Windranger with fast fingers can prevent Earthshaker from using Fissure with Shackleshot.
Sniper
* Other heroes that rely on physical attacks to deal damage and not their abilities: Troll Warlord,
Sniper,
Monkey King,
Sven.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 14%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi,
Earthshaker.
Earthshaker
* Damage-over-time Ignite can prevent Earthshaker from escaping with Blink Dagger.
* Fireblast and Unrefined Fireblast are the good setup while Earthshaker after blinking in (although Earthshaker is a primary target).
Lion
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 17%)Wraith King
* Wraith King has a very low mana pool and depends on it to cast Reincarnation. Mana Drain will render him useless.
* Wraith King has very low mobility, making it easy for Lion to disable and harass him.
Additional:
* While not being able to confront Wraith King by himself, Lion's Mana Drain helps in draining Wraith King's mana, preventing him from reincarnating unless he has his Aghanim's Shard.
* Lion's Earth Spike and
Hex provide decent lockdown against Wraith King as well, preventing the latter from benefiting from Vampiric Spirit bonuses.
Spirit Breaker
* Mana Drain has an extremely long range and low cooldown. It can easily deplete most heroes of their entire mana pools, especially those with smaller mana pools such as Tiny or
Spirit Breaker.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Earthshaker
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: Clinkz,
Slark,
Storm Spirit
Sniper
* Sniper is very squishy and cannot deal with heroes that jump onto him and lock him down. Storm Spirit closes the gap in a fight against Sniper, and Sniper has no way to escape except for some items.
* Storm Spirit can dodge Assassinate with a correctly timed Ball Lightning.
Additional:
* Storm Spirit can close the distance towards Sniper very easily with his ultimate Ball Lightning.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that usually builds Linken's Sphere as a core item:
Weaver,
Medusa,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Shadow Shaman
* Any heroes with stuns or silences: Death Prophet,
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Skywrath Mage
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Earthshaker
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Shadow Shaman
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for you, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt your channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
Sniper
* Axe can easily close the distance to Sniper with either Blink Dagger or
Shadow Blade.
* With Berserker's Call in combination with
Counter Helix and
Battle Hunger, Axe can make short work of Sniper, finishing him off easily with
Culling Blade due to his low HP & high attack speed in the late game.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna,
Razor,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Leshrac,
Sniper
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)Sniper
* Nethertoxin breaks Sniper's passives.
* Viper Strike together with
Poison Attack can slow Sniper and tears through his low health and mobility.
Wraith King
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: Treant Protector,
Kunkka,
Alchemist,
Troll Warlord,
Wraith King,
Tiny,
Sven.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden
Earthshaker
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike allowing to kite and slow Earthshaker significally, putting
Blink Dagger on cooldown and preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Nethertoxin breaks Aftershock. The silence from Level 25 talent also prevents Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
Additional:
* Being a melee hero, Earthshaker's movement is liable to suppression by Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
* Earthshaker's kit, with the exception of Enchant Totem, deals magic damage. Corrosive Skin effectively blunts his killing potential with a standard Blink combo among other things.
* Nethertoxin disables Aftershock, which removes the stun and bonus damage from
Enchant Totem and
Echo Slam. Additionally the level 25 talent will silence Earthshaker, making him vulnerable to Viper's teammates without stuns.
Wraith King
* Viper's Nethertoxin cannot disable Reincarnation, which could put him in disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* In addition, Viper doesn't like buying Diffusal Blade, which is the only item that can help him against Wraith King.
* Wraith King's high burst damage allows him to kill Viper before being killed.
Shadow Shaman
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock
Spectre
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* Haunt instantly allows her to get up and close with Sniper, and
Spectral Dagger makes it difficult to escape from her.
* Spectre outcarries Sniper in the late game, so Sniper must try to end the game early before Spectre comes online.
Additional:
* Spectre can reach him easily in the backlines with Spectral Dagger or teleport to him with
Haunt.
* He is usually a fair distance away from his allies, so Desolate will quickly tear Sniper down.
Earthshaker
* Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past Fissure.
* Haunt will usually disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* On the other hand, Haunt will amplify damage done from Echo Slam. Use this to your advantage.
Additional:
* Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Earthshaker's initiation attempts.
* Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past
Fissure.
* Earthshaker often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.
* Beware that the Haunt illusions amplify the damage done from
Echo Slam, which can prove fatal for Spectre's own team.
Shadow Shaman
* Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned Drow Ranger and
Sniper) and supports (like
Dazzle and
Shadow Shaman).
Shadow Shaman
* Hex can be used immediately to destroy Spectre's illusion when she
Haunts.
* Shadow Shaman can use Shackles to lock down Spectre for his team.
* Shadow Shaman's Mass Serpent Ward and
Ether Shock help him push lanes and end the game early before Spectre can come online and take over the late game.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 4%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker,
Keeper of the Light
Wraith King
* Wraith King's poor mobility makes him vulnerable to Illuminate.
* Blinding Light can reduce his damage output as well as his already abysmal mobility.
* Chakra Magic drains Wraith King's much-needed mana resulting in him not being able to reincarnate
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Earthshaker
* Careful not to blink into Riki's
Smoke Screen or
Night Stalker's
Crippling Fear, as these field effects will instantly silence Earthshaker and prevent him from initiating.
Additional:
* Fissure has a short stun and creates an impassable ridge. However, Night Stalker can fly over it during Dark Ascension.
* Night Stalker can find Earthshaker, disable his Blink Dagger with Void, and then take him out with Crippling Fear.
* Earthshaker may fail his blink combo against Night Stalker's team if he is not careful, as he can blink into the silence.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage: Spectre,
Nyx Assassin,
Clockwerk,
Spirit Breaker,
Omniknight,
Pudge.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Earthshaker
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight,
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Earthshaker,...
Sniper
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Enchantress,...
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Wraith King
* Heroes with area dispel can kill multiple skeletons at once: Brewmaster,
Oracle.
Sniper
* Fortune's End can catch out or impair position-based heroes with low mobility, such as Sniper or
Razor.
Razor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 6%)Earthshaker
* Static Link drains the damage bonus from Enchant Totem, until he purchase
Aghanim's Scepter or
Force Staff to break it.
* Storm Surge with Razor's high mobility items can easily avoid all of Earthshaker abilities.
* Plasma Field &
Eye of the Storm prevents Earthshaker escaping from
Blink Dagger.
Additional:
* Static Link drains Earthshaker's bonus damage from Enchant Totem until he purchases an
Aghanim's Scepter or
Force Staff to break it.
* Eye of the Storm and Plasma Field can disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
Spirit Breaker
* Nether Strike can't remove Static Link and reduces Spirit Breaker's physical damage output.
* Eye of the Storm melts Spirit Breaker's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
Additional:
* Static Link drains damage bonus from Greater Bash, it cannot be removed by Nether Strike.
* Eye of the Storm melts Spirit Breaker's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
Sniper
* His increased attack range makes it very hard to get close enough for Static Link, Eye of the Storm and Razor's own attacks.
* Headshot procs will slow Razor heavily regardless of Storm Surge, as it will knock him back for a brief duration.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 2%)Sniper
* Sniper is completely helpless against Incapacitating Bite, and can be seriously damaged by Spiderlings in lane.
Wraith King
* Broodmother can easily clear Wraith King's skeletons with Spawn Spiderlings and summon spiderlings in their place.
* With Diffusal Blade, Broodmother can prevent Wraith King from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard.
Shadow Shaman
* Support heroes with low mobility can be slowed further by Incapacitating Bite, and swarmed by Spiderlings for an easy kill: Shadow Shaman,
Visage,
Dazzle,
Rubick,
Lich.
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases phenomenally due to Broodmother's hordes of spiderlings and spiderites.
* Long ranged Fissures can hit Broodmother if she runs into the treeline at the edges of the map.
Additional:
* Aftershock in combination with
Enchant Totem prevents Broodmother from continuing to attack Earthshaker without being repeatedly stunned.
* Echo Slam is greatly amplified by Spiderlings, often instantly killing Broodmother, her swarm, and anyone else unfortunate enough to be nearby.
* Earthshakers vast amount of stuns makes it difficult for Broodmother to continue attacking enemies (to continue lifestealing with Insatiable Hunger) without Black King Bar.
Spirit Breaker
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki,
Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 19%)Wraith King
* Wraithfire Blast is quite predictable, and players with good reflexes will disjoint it with Blade Fury.
* Omnislash with
Diffusal Blade &
Aghanim's Scepter can prevent Wraith King from reincarnating unless he has his Aghanim's Shard that removes the mana cost from Reincarnation.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Spirit Breaker
* Pit of Malice can be cast in the path of Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness to cancel it.
* Dark Rift provides a way to escape from a gank for Underlord and his teammates.
Wraith King
* In general, melee heroes without blink mechanisms or spell immunity will have a hard time positioning against Pit of Malice: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Dragon Knight,
Meepo,
Doom,
Bounty Hunter,
Dark Seer,
Undying,
Alchemist,
Legion Commander.
Sniper
* Heroes who Sniper can kite: Sven,
Wraith King,
Kunkka,
Doom,
Tidehunter,
Underlord,
Troll Warlord, and etc.
Additional:
* Sniper's very long range allows him to stay out of Firestorm and Pit of Malice as well as Atrophy Aura range.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that usually builds Linken's Sphere as a core item:
Weaver,
Medusa,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Wraith King
* Weaver can run away after killing Wraith King once thanks to Shukuchi.
* Wraithfire Blast is quite predictable. If Weaver is quick, he will disjoint it with Shukuchi and proceed to chase Wraith King down.
* Shukuchi does have a fade time. They cannot disjoint it if you use it right next to them. They will be stunned and take damage; however they will still become invisible if they used Shukuchi before the stun hits.
* Weaver can easily harass Wraith King out of his lane thanks to his high base damage and Geminate Attack.
* Weaver can burn Wraith King's mana quickly with his Mana Break or
Diffusal Blade, until Wraith King purchases Aghanim's Shard to remove
Reincarnation's manacost.
Additional:
* Wraithfire Blast is easy to disjoint with Shukuchi or Time Lapse, and it's the only way to break Weaver's Linken Sphere.
* Wraith King has no other disables and no mobility, allowing Weaver to chase or escape Wraith King as he wishes.
* With the Mana Break talent and Diffusal Blade, Weaver can prevent
Reincarnation from triggering until Wraith King has selected the chosen talent.
Sniper
* Shukuchi allows Weaver to close the gap between himself and Sniper with high speed, and to maneuver through teamfights to get on top of him.
* A combination of The Swarm and
Desolator tears through Sniper's low armor.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like Slark in his
Shadow Dance and
Weaver in his
Shukuchi.
Shadow Shaman
* Shadow Shaman's many disables can lock down Weaver. Even with Linken's Sphere, Weaver might not be able to escape should Shadow Shaman uses Shackles quickly enough following Hex.
* Mass Serpent Ward can make short work of Weaver once he is locked down.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Sniper
* Slardar can use Guardian Sprint with
Blink Dagger or
Shadow Blade to get close, and
Slithereen Crush will stun Sniper, making him vulnerable to Slardar's teammates.
* Corrosive Haze lowers Sniper's armor and makes Sniper's
Shadow Blade useless, easily killing him with a few attacks.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* A Blink Dagger combined with
Hoof Stomp can be used to catch Sniper.
* Centaur can also utilize Stampede to cover the distance.
* Double Edge can easily finish off Sniper after Centaur initiates on him.
* Retaliate punishes Sniper for focusing Centaur in teamfights.
Additional:
* Headshot and
Shrapnel slow is ineffective against a team with haste (which Stampede gives).
* Commonly picked up mobility items and hasted movement during his Stampede (as well as his high health pool) make him extremely hard to kill from a distance, damaging Sniper with Retaliate and
Blade Mail if he has one.
* A low health pool and no escape mechanism makes him an easy target for Centaur Warrunner's burst damage and initiation (even making his team possible initiators with Stampede).
Pudge
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 19%)Sniper
* Pudge's Meat Hook allows him to bring Sniper in the middle of any fight, and the pure damage does well against his high armor and low health.
* Dismember can lock Sniper down, which makes him highly vulnerable and gives enough time for Pudge to kill him alone.
Additional:
* Sniper has a low health pool and strength gain, making him vulnerable to Pudge's magical and pure damage.
* Sniper usually likes to deal damage away from the fight, and Meat Hook is capable of bringing him to the front lines.
* Assassinate won't do much damage against Pudge because of his high strength gain and the strength bonuses from Flesh Heap.
Shadow Shaman
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for you, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt your channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Sniper
* Range-reliant heroes: Sniper,
Drow Ranger
Spirit Breaker
* Spirit Breaker won’t do much harm because of Untouchable and Nature's Attendants. Unless Enchantress is low on HP, Spirit Breaker won’t catch her with mere spells.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes with nukes that can jump her: Clockwerk,
Snapfire,
Spirit Breaker
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* Low-health, normally mobile carries with a lot of damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Luna,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
Wraith King
* Wraith King,
Medusa,
Storm Spirit and other mana dependent heroes will have diminished impact on a fight if they survive Fiend's Grip due to its mana steal.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Wraith King
* Wraith King has no form of AoE to clear Chaos Knight's illusions from Phantasm.
* Wraith King is very vulnerable if he reincarnates in the middle of his illusions.
Shadow Shaman
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active: Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions.
Additional:
* Echo Slam will deal a colossal amount of damage to your army, as will
Fissure at lower levels.
* The area stuns from Aftershock will always slow down your illusions, since they can't have spell immunity.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* Omniknight can dispel Hex or Shackles with
Heavenly Grace. He can also heal teammates which you disabled. The same goes to
Abaddon's
Aphotic Shield .
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Sniper
* Sniper is suspectible to being ganked by Bloodseeker, who can easily kill Sniper due to his lack of mobility and escape mechanisms.
* Even if Sniper builds mobility items, Bloodseeker can prevent and even punish Sniper from/for using them with Rupture; Sniper is forced to stand still with
Shadow Blade, while
Hurricane Pike and
Blink Dagger deals damage if he attempts to use them while Ruptured.
Additional:
* Sniper's lack of mobility and escape mechanisms makes him one of the easier heroes for Bloodseeker to gank.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes with fast movement abilities will suffer huge damage when afflicted by Rupture: Spirit Breaker,
Earth Spirit,
Dark Seer.
Wraith King
* Reincarnation makes Wraith King nearly impossible to gank with Rupture.
* Vampiric Spirit restores Wraith King's health, reducing the effect of Thirst.
Additional:
* Rupture is meaningless while Reincarnation is off cooldown.
* Vampiric Spirit and Mortal Strike prevent Bloodseeker from achieving Thirst bonuses.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna,
Razor,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Leshrac,
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Earthshaker
* Her Psionic Traps will usually disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* Refraction blocks all of Earthshaker's abilities.
Sniper
* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat: Lich,
Lina,
Sniper,
Outworld Destroyer
Zeus
Wraith King
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
Spirit Breaker
* 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.
Shadow Shaman
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy Refraction
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Wraith King
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
Earthshaker
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves or
Pipe of Insight makes it difficult for Earthshaker to execute his combo with Echo Slam.
* Necrophos usually buys Radiance to improve their burning aura damage from
Heartstopper Aura will usually disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Reaper's Scythe allows to kill Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo (although Earthshaker is rarely a primary target).
Wraith King
* Reaper's Scythe can't kill Wraith King while Reincarnation is off cooldown
* In the laning stage Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the slow {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Heartstopper Aura.
Additional:
* Using Reaper's Scythe against Wraith King is a bad idea as his Reincarnation can waste it.
* When upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter it can delay the deaths of allies.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Earthshaker
* Thunder Strike can be used to cancel Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger.
* Glimpse brings Earthshaker back after he jumps on
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem.
* Static Storm if used on a fight can prevent Earthshaker from executing his combo after blinking in.
Sniper
* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider,
Disruptor,
Pudge,
Vengeful Spirit
Sniper
* Sniper can kill Disruptor while he is trapped by Kinetic Field from a long range.
* Sniper generally stays in the back, making it hard for Disruptor to cast any of his skills on him in lane.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Wraith King
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Phantom Assassin etc.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Wraith King
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Wraith King's small mana pool, preventing Reincarnation from triggering.
* Wraith King has no innate mobility. Even with Blink Dagger, Wraith King is easily kited by Blink.
* Anti-Mage can farm much more quickly than Wraith King, allowing Anti-Mage to overpower Wraith King once a significant farm advantage is established.
Additional:
* Mana Break can prevent Wraith King from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard that removes the mana cost from Reincarnation.
* With Manta Style, his mana burning will triple because illusions can also use
Mana Break.
Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Shadow Shaman
* As a caster, Anti-Mage's
Mana Break and
Mana Void are highly effective against him.
Spirit Breaker
* Anti-Mage usually relies on Blink to escape, but with vision from Charge of Darkness it is easier to catch him.
* Spirit Breaker could single-handedly lock Anti-Mage down for 4 seconds (or even more with lucky bashes), allowing his teammates to follow up.
* As Anti-Mage is an elusive hero who likes to farm alone, Spirit Breaker could choose to charge whenever Anti-Mage is in sight.
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Clinkz,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden
Mars
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 16%)Sniper
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Sniper
* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider,
Disruptor,
Pudge,
Vengeful Spirit
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Shadow Shaman
* Lone Druid's early game is good against slow, squishy supports since his bear is very strong early game and an Entangling Claws proc almost always guarantees a kill: Ancient Apparition,
Crystal Maiden,
Shadow Shaman,
Skywrath Mage etc.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 41% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* Frail heroes who lack mobility can also be an easy target to lock down with Chronosphere, such as Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Terrorblade.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 1%)Shadow Shaman
* Due to their high attack speed, Summon Familiars will destroy Mass Serpent Ward quickly, granting Visage a massive amount of gold.
Additional:
* Due to their high attack speed, Visage's Summon Familiars will destroy Mass Serpent Ward quickly, granting Visage massive amount of gold.
Sniper
* Heroes with long ranged attacks or abilities can harass Visage from afar like Phoenix and
Sniper.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Spirit Breaker
* Bramble Maze stops Charge of Darkness in its tracks. Its very long duration means it can be used as an obstacle to block off an incoming Spirit Break during teamfights.
* Shadow Realm and Bedlam can be activated when Dark Willow sees Charge of Darkness coming, preventing Spirit Breaker from using
Nether Strike after the initial stun.
Wraith King
* Heroes with high burst damage and Black King Bar can take down Dark Willow quickly:
Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Wraith King
Puck
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 17%)Earthshaker
* Phase Shift allows Puck to dodge all of Earthshaker's abilites.
* Waning Rift disables Earthshaker's stuns, leaving him and his team vulnerable.
* Dream Coil takes a stun from Earthshaker if he tries to escape from
Blink Dagger or Enchant Totem upgraded from
Aghanim's Scepter.
Sniper
* Sniper has no spells to disable Puck. He lacks a silence to prevent spell casting and a stun to disable, allowing Puck to act instantly against Sniper.
* Sniper's main strategy is to attack his enemies from safe distance. Illusory Orb, combined with Blink Dagger makes it easy for Puck to get to Sniper. Due to his low health, he is also easily nuked down by Puck.
* The status debuff placed by Assassinate on its target makes it very easy to avoid it. Puck has 2 (3 when having Blink Dagger, 4 when having Eul's Scepter of Divinity, 5 when having Linken's Sphere) methods to disjoint or dodge the projectile, making it a bad spell for finishing off Puck.
Spirit Breaker
* Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
Wraith King
* Waning Rift's silence is almost completely worthless against Wraith King, due to him having only 1 active ability.
* Wraith King's only active ability, Wraithfire Blast, is strong against Puck if it hits, because it applies a damage over time on top of stunning and doing impact damage, disabling Puck for a while, and Blink Dagger for even longer. It is very important to avoid getting hit by this spell when playing against Wraith King.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Shadow Shaman
* Mirana can disturb your channeling even if you are under the effect of invisibility thanks to Sacred Arrow.
* Mirana armed with an Aghanim's Scepter is known to be able to quickly burst down heroes - especially supports. Together with
Ethereal Blade the bullying can continue for the whole match.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that rely on invisibility can be tracked with Charge of Darkness opening them to team attacks: Bounty Hunter,
Mirana,
Riki
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Wraith King
* Diffusal Blade lets Phantom Lancer drain Wraith King's mana, preventing
Reincarnation from triggering until he buys an
Aghanim's Shard.
* Wraith King is bad against illusions-based heroes, as Wraithfire Blast is his only single-target disable and can get overwhelmed easily.
* Doppelganger can disjoint
Wraithfire Blast.
Additional:
* Doppelganger disjoints Wraithfire Blast.
* Wraith King is not good at handling illusion-based heroes, as his only disable is single-target.
* Phantom Lancer tends to get Diffusal Blade, leaving Wraith King no mana to reincarnate.
Sniper
* Phantom Rush grants Phantom Lancer the mobility to close in the distance between Sniper.
* Phantom Lancer can dispel Sniper's Assassinate easily with Doppelganger and causes confusion to Sniper with the latter effect of creating an additional of 2 illusions.
* Phantom Lancer's Juxtapose easily can overwhelm Sniper, as his damage is mostly single-targeted.
Earthshaker
* Phantom Lancer's many illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Echo Slam deals tremendous damage when multiplied by Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Spirit Breaker
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki,
Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Earthshaker
* Both Ice Path and
Macropyre are the good setup while Earthshaker after blinking in and stay out of Echo Slam initiation radius.
* Liquid Fire damage over time potentially disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger.
Sniper
* Heroes with good counter-push abilities to clear creep waves can hinder Jakiro's early pushing ability: Death Prophet,
Sniper,
Tinker,
Windranger.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 8%)Earthshaker
* Thundergod's Wrath will often disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger before a fight starts.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as Clockwerk,
Kunkka,
Puck,
Skywrath Mage,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk and others.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Sniper
* Sunder can save himself or his allies from Assassinate.
* Sniper relies on right-clicks to deal damage, and Terrorblade's high armor can reduce his damage by quite a bit.
* Terrorblade is a far harder carry than Sniper is, so a well-farmed Terrorblade can easily defeat a Sniper.
Wraith King
* Wraith King has no form of AoE to clear Terrorblade's illusions.
* Terrorblade is a common Manta Style and
Diffusal Blade carrier.
* Terrorblade has very high armor, which helps against Wraith King's physical-only damage.
* A reincarnated Wraith King is an ideal target for Sunder if Terrorblade's health is low.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with abilities that can lock down Terrorblade and prevent him from using Sunder: Earthshaker,
Faceless Void,
Legion Commander.
Shadow Shaman
* All of Shadow Shaman's abilities totally ruin Terrorblade: Ether Shock destroys his illusions, Hex prevents him from using Sunder or
Manta Style in bad situations, Shackles not only that prevent him from using
Sunder, but he has no way to cancel it and Mass Serpent Ward can help Shadow Shaman push faster than Terrorblade even in
Metamorphosis.
Additional:
* Ether Shock can destroy Terrorblade's illusions.
* Hex prevents Terrorblade from using Sunder or
Manta Style in bad situations.
Hex can also destroy one of his illusions.
* Shackles prevents Terrorblade from using his skills and items, whether to fight, survive, or dispel it in any way. In addition, Terrorblade has no solutions to cancel it.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 16%)Sniper
* Phantom Strike allows her to jump on Sniper with increased attack speed.
* Coup de Grace and
Desolator shreds Sniper's low health and armor.
* Blur can be activated to get within Phantom Strike's range, surprising Sniper before he has a chance to react. Its passive also reduces Sniper's overall effectiveness against Phantom Assassin, provided he hasn't purchased a
Monkey King Bar.
Additional:
* Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain,
Phantom Assassin
Lycan
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* You can easily kill a squishy Sniper, due to your high movement speed and his lack of escape.
Wraith King
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
Earthshaker
* A well landed Fissure can potentially take Lycan out of the fight for several seconds, who heavily relies on precious seconds from Black king bar and Shapeshift to fight.
* Aftershock reduces the effectiveness of his summons and can prove quite irritating for Lycan.
* Echo Slam is very powerful with the sheer amount of Lycan's units and will cause him to think twice when pushing towers.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 12%)Earthshaker
* Tinker's
March of the Machines will disable
Blink Dagger over a large area.
Wraith King
* Heroes who rely on physical damage will suffer from Laser: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Huskar.
Spirit Breaker
* Tinker relies on his high mobility from Boots of Travel and
Blink Dagger to survive. Those items don't help him if Spirit Breaker manages to cast Charge of Darkness on him.
* Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Rearm and
Boots of Travel.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 2%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon
Sniper
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper,
Shadow Fiend,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
Wraith King
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter cannot break
Reincarnation, which could put him in a disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* In addition Shadow Demon doesn't build Diffusal Blade to burn Wraith King's mana, which is the only item that can help him against Wraith King.
* Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, Wraith King is a single-target hero, so he cannot deal with Disruption illusions.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -2.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Spirit Breaker
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to gank Shadow Fiend in the early game, preventing him from getting Necromastery stacks.
* Nether Strike and
Charge of Darkness can be used to prevent Shadow Fiend from casting Requiem of Souls.
Sniper
* Shrapnel can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Blink Dagger from a huge range.
* Take Aim and Headshot allow Sniper to harass Shadow Fiend in lane without getting into the range of his Shadowraze.
* Assassinate can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls if he is not a target.
Additional:
* Shrapnel can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's
Blink Dagger from a huge range.
* Take Aim and
Headshot allow Sniper to harass Shadow Fiend in lane without getting into the range of his Shadowrazes.
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with channeling spells because Shadow Fiend has nothing to cancel channeling: Bane,
Enigma,
Pudge,
Shadow Shaman.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -2.4 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 5%)Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Shadow Shaman
* Mass Serpent Ward can kill lots of treants if played defensively.
* Mass Serpent Ward, Hex and Shackles can catch and kill a Nature's Prophet trying to use Teleportation.
Additional:
* Shadow Shaman's Mass Serpent Ward together with
Ether Shock can easily kill lots of Treant if played defensively.
* Mass Serpent Ward,
Hex and
Shackles can disrupt Nature's Prophet's escape attempt with Teleportation, though he can Sprout himself.
* Nature's Prophet also has no way to cancel Shackles.
Spirit Breaker
* Spirit Breaker can chase Nature's Prophet from anywhere on the map with Charge of Darkness, making it hard for Nature's Prophet to split-push.
* Charge of Darkness and
Nether Strike gives vision of Nature's Prophet when he tries to Sprout himself and teleport away.
Additional:
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to catch Nature's Prophet out when he tries to split push.
* Nature's Prophet can't hide in his Sprout against Spirit Breaker, as his Charge of Darkness provides vision on its target.
* Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Nature's Prophet's Teleportation.
Earthshaker
* Treants increase Echo Slam's damage.
* Earthshaker's AoE stuns can hit Nature's Prophet through Sprout, without having direct line of sight, in order to interrupt
Teleportation.
Additional:
* Echo Slam can do a lot of damage if Nature's Prophet stands close to his treants.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -2.4 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 8%)Spirit Breaker
* Enigma can be a perfect counter-initiator with his ultimate. A perfectly timed Black Hole will turn the tide of any initiation, especially from heros like; Spirit Breaker,
Legion Commander,
Axe,
Puck, and
Slardar
Additional:
* Malefice prevents Spirit Breaker from using his spells for the duration.
* Demonic Conversion's eidolons have high magic resistance, receiving little damage from Charge of Darkness.
Wraith King
* Like Abbadon's Borrowed Time, Reincarnation can bring Wraith King back to life, giving him a second chance to counter initiate or escape after a Black Hole combo.
* Enigma's Eidolons adds to Wraith King's Mortal Strike, increasing his Skeleton charges.
Sniper
* Sniper has a very long range, so it is rare that Enigma can catch him in a Black Hole.
* Assassinate can easily cancel Black Hole if he is not caught, especially with the level 20 talent.
* Enigma's Eidolons from Demonic Conversion are useless to push against a Sniper as he will easily kill them, especially with
Maelstrom/
Mjollnir.
Additional:
* Take Aim extends Sniper's attack range, allowing him to position himself safely behind his team, making it difficult to catch him in Enigma's relatively small Black Hole AoE. When left unattended, he can quickly kill a channeling Enigma (often from the high ground) to rout an otherwise strong initiation, assuming Enigma does not have Aeon Disk.
Earthshaker
* Fissure does a great job at interrupting Black Hole immediately, especially with
Blink Dagger and
Aether Lens.
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to the eidolons created by Demonic Conversion.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -2.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
Wraith King
* Wraithfire Blast cancels Death Ward in decent range.
* Death Ward is meaningless while Reincarnation is off cooldown.
* Vampiric Aura can out-heal the {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Maledict.
Sniper
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Shadow Shaman,
Pugna
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 4%)Sniper
* Squishy core heroes (Shadow Fiend,
Sniper, etc)
Wraith King
* Even if Wraith King dies after Magnus disables him, Magnus' entire team will be slowed and vulnerable for counter-initiation.
Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Sniper
* Shrapnel can sometimes scout out Magnus and also place his Blink Dagger on cooldown. Aside from that, Sniper likes to stay far back behind enemy lines, so it's difficult to catch him with Reverse Polarity unless you already have vision on him and can Skewer him to the rest of his team.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Wraith King
* Reincarnation helps Wraith King outlast Sven in fights, and wastes the duration of God's Strength.
* Wraithfire Blast's low cooldown allows Wraith King to stun Sven several times in a team fight.
Sniper
* Heroes who Sniper can kite: Sven,
Wraith King,
Kunkka,
Doom,
Tidehunter,
Underlord,
Troll Warlord, and etc.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Wraith King
* Heroes that lack burst damage will have a difficult time taking down Monkey King, and fare badly against Jingu Mastery: Legion Commander,
Lifestealer,
Weaver,
Wraith King
Additional:
* Wraith King has no ability to destroy trees from Tree Dance.
* Monkey King tends to get Diffusal Blade, leaving Wraith King no mana to reincarnate unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard.
* A reincarnated Wraith King is an ideal target for Wukong's Command.
Sniper
* Heroes that can maintain vision on Monkey King can see when he uses Tree Dance: Bloodseeker,
Treant Protector with Eyes In The Forest,
Sniper,
Weaver
Earthshaker
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos,
Phoenix,
Alchemist,
Earthshaker,
Razor,
Tinker,
Leshrac,
Queen of Pain
Spirit Breaker
* Charge of Darkness keeps vision of Monkey King, even when he is in the trees.
* Nether Strike locks onto Monkey King and focuses damage on him during Wukong's Command.
Io
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Sniper
* Take Aim and
Assassinate allow Sniper to reach Io even if it stays in the backline.
Spirit Breaker
* Charge of Darkness can be used to escape or counter-initiate against a Relocate gank.
* Greater Bash and
Nether Strike is devastating due to Io's low armor, and can even knock it away from tethered target.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Wraith King
* Due to Tiny's non-existent agility gain, high physical damage heroes are more effective against him (Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Templar Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King etc).
Sniper
* Long ranged heroes like Sniper or
Drow Ranger can kite Tiny effectively if he doesn't get the jump on them first.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes with mobility/escape mechanisms to dodge Ancient Apparition abilites, or to easily jump on him: Riki,
Queen of Pain,
Phantom Assassin,
Windranger,
Bounty Hunter,
Spirit Breaker,
Night Stalker,
Storm Spirit,
Juggernaut, etc.
Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* With his Take Aim, Sniper can simply sit out of your ability range and deal massive damage if not killed first.
* Assassinate can target allies who are still alive with low health because of Ghostship's buff.
* Headshot makes it harder for Kunkka to position/escape and makes it hard for Kunkka to hit with Tidebringer.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 2%)Earthshaker
* Silencer's
Global Silence and
Doom's
Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
Sniper
* Heroes who Sniper can kite: Sven,
Wraith King,
Kunkka,
Doom,
Tidehunter,
Underlord,
Troll Warlord, and etc.
Additional:
* Due to the nature of the hero, Sniper is typically situated in the back of the fight, potentially making him a difficult target to initiate on and fight.
* Sniper is largely a right-click hero, and as such isn't as an effective of a Doom target as other heroes.
* Thanks to Shrapnel and
Headshot, Sniper is able to effectively 'kite' Doom, preventing him from closing the distance between the two.
Wraith King
* Even if he is Doomed, Wraith King can tear down Doom with physical attacks, and can still reincarnate as long as it is off-cooldown.
Additional:
* Wraith King has three passive abilities and only a single active ability, so Doom does not hinder him significantly.
* Doom expires upon death, so it is effectively removed after Reincarnation activates.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Sniper
* Sniper's position in the far back line makes him unlikely to be hit by any of Grimstroke's abilities during teamfights.
* Sniper is relatively unaffected by the silence from Phantom's Embrace.
* Sniper's long range and fast projectile speed allows him quickly to destroy any Phantoms attacking his allies.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 4%)Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Spirit Breaker
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin,
Spirit Breaker, and
Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
Sniper
* Take Aim allows Sniper to outrange Drow Ranger and deal damage at her without much fear of retaliation
* Sniper can slow down Drow Ranger with Shrapnel, and both Shrapnel and
Assassinate makes it easier for Sniper's team to track and take her down
Additional:
* Somewhat like Medusa, Drow Ranger is a fairly immobile hero that hopes to be able to attack without dying. Sniper should outrange her.
* Shrapnel and Assassinate provides vision over her, and slows her down, making it easier for you team to focus on taking her down
* Be careful however that if she starts attacking you, she packs a bigger punch than you thanks to Marksmanship.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 8%)Shadow Shaman
* Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* The stun and damage over time from Shackles mitigates Reactive Armor's HP and armor regen.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 12%)Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Sniper
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Templar Assassin,
Arc Warden
Spirit Breaker
* Charge of Darkness can be used to chase down Pangolier if he escapes with Swashbuckle or Rolling Thunder.
* Nether Strike ignores Rolling Thunder's spell immunity, and will still hit Pangolier if he rolls or dashes away.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 1%)Earthshaker
* All of his spells can stun Elder Titan and interrupt Echo Stomp's channeling thanks to Aftershock.
* Fissure is particularly good for that purpose thanks to its long range.
* Elder Titan relies heavily on his spells and a chain-stun combo will usually be followed by certain death.
Undying
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Spirit Breaker
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Tombstone is problematic for Spirit Breaker.
* The zombies summoned from Tombstone apply a stacking movement speed slow, which can significantly reduce Greater Bash's damage.
* Soul Rip and
Decay allows Undying and his allies to survive from incoming ganks of Spirit Breaker.
Earthshaker
* Zombies summoned from Tombstone will amplify the damage of Echo Slam due to them increasing the echo damage.
Sniper
* Sniper can easily destroy Tombstone from long range.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* A Sniper who is somewhat competent at positioning is hardly going to be affected by any of Dark Seer's spells thanks to Take Aim.
* However, an illusion of Sniper made with Wall of Replica is extremely powerful, and hard to deal with.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 11%)Sniper
* Sniper's low mobility and lack of defensive abilities makes him an easy gank target for the entire game, especially if Blink Dagger is picked up.
Shadow Shaman
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for you, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt your channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
Wraith King
* Wraith King's
Reincarnation allows him to severely punish Legion Commander after he revives, as her abilities are on cooldown. Legion Commander is still awarded a Duel win if Wraith King reincarnates.
Additional:
* Wraith King makes a poor Duel target, as he can be already quite hard to bring down once, and then you have to worry about his second life.
* However, even if Legion Commander does win the duel when Reincarnation is off cooldown, she still receives the permanent victory damage bonus because taking down Wraith King's first life still counts as a "kill".
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman,
Lion
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's AoE stuns can save ally against Duel, forcing Legion Commander to spend
Aghanim's Scepter or
Black King Bar.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes with mobility spells like Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage,
Riki,
Puck, and
Spirit Breaker that are cancelled by Frostbite can suffer greatly from the presence of Crystal Maiden. It is absolutely critical, however, to have followup from teammates, as all of the above heroes can make quick work of the squishy Crystal Maiden after they are released from her grip.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
Sniper
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Shadow Shaman,
Pugna
Void Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 13%)Wraith King
* Side lanes with disables will greatly reduce the likeliness Void Spirit will be willing to rotate: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Ogre Magi.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 13%)Sniper
* 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.
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam is good against Snowball since it bunches everyone up. This can set up some prime opportunities for Blink Echo Slams.
Wraith King
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 12%)Sniper
* Heroes who Sniper can kite: Sven,
Wraith King,
Kunkka,
Doom,
Tidehunter,
Underlord,
Troll Warlord, and etc.
Additional:
* Shrapnel and
Headshot allows Sniper to kite Troll Warlord effectively.
* Take Aim together with certain items such as
Hurricane Pike allow Sniper to sit and fire at Troll Warlord from a safe distance.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 3%)Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's stuns will rarely save him once Huskar has initiated on him with Life Break.
* A full initiation combo will not kill Huskar, only lower his health and increase his attack speed.
Spirit Breaker
* Spirit Breaker's stuns pierce spell immunity, making him a good choice against heroes that heavily rely on Black King Bar;
Huskar
Shadow Shaman
* Mass Serpent Ward rips apart Huskar quickly due to his poor armor.
* As soon as Huskar jumps in, he will be vulnerable to Shadow Shaman's disables if he does not have Black King Bar.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Wraith King
* Heroes who are reliant on physical damage will be nullified by Decrepify: Riki,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
Sniper
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Shadow Shaman,
Pugna
Additional:
* Sniper's huge range makes him an unviable target to use Life Drain on, forcing Pugna to risk playing out of position to use it on Sniper.
* Sniper's Shrapnel can be used to provide vision on Nether Ward, and his range allows him to easily take it out.
* A clumsy Pugna may accidentally boost Sniper's Shrapnel and
Assassinate damages if he recklessly uses Decrepify on himself or his allies.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 3%)Sniper
* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider,
Disruptor,
Pudge,
Vengeful Spirit
Spirit Breaker
* Magic Missile has a considerably long cast time, making it difficult to stop Charge of Darkness with it.
* Other than Magic Missile, Vengeful Spirit has no way of canceling Nether Strike.
Techies
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 8%)Earthshaker
* 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.
Wraith King
* Due to Reincarnation and his general tankiness he can live through at least one major Remote Mines stack or Blast Off!.
* Special mention for a bug with his Aghanim's Scepter. If enemies get killed from your mines under the effect of "Wraith Delay", they get denied instead of crediting the kill to you.
Additional:
* Wraith King is not afraid to walk into mines, whenever he goes with his Reincarnation ready.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Earthshaker
* Silencer's
Global Silence and
Doom's
Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
Wraith King
* Heroes who rely on passive abilities and attacks, such as Drow Ranger,
Wraith King, and
Lone Druid, can render Silencer useless. In addition, he doesn't like going for neither break nor disarm items.
Sniper
* Sniper is a pure right click carry with a very long range, making it hard for Silencer to cast any of his skills on him in lane. During team-fights, Global Silence has little impact on Sniper.
Additional:
* Due to Sniper having a such a long range, he will rarely get hit by any of Silencer's spells.
* Global Silence will not hinder Sniper much as other heroes since most of his damage output comes from his attacks.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Wraith King
* Heroes with area dispel can kill multiple skeletons at once: Brewmaster,
Oracle.
Shadow Shaman
* Hex's instant cast time will force Brewmaster into the awkward situation of needing some form of spell immunity or block to prevent being immediately hex upon blinking in, or wait until Shaman has used all his crowd control before entering a fight.
* Brewmaster also has no defense against Shadow Shaman lockdowns.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna,
Razor,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Leshrac,
Earthshaker
* Luna's
Lucent Beams and
Eclipse will prevent Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
Shadow Shaman
* A couple of nukers and disablers on the same lane can finish a squishy Luna efficiently despite a teammate's assistance: Sven +
Shadow Shaman.
Sniper
* Sniper usually sits at the back and it's hard for Luna to get close to him to attack.
* Due to Sniper's Shrapnel and his long range, Luna has a hard time taking high ground despite her Moon Glaives being fantastic for taking Barracks and buildings.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Earthshaker
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: Clinkz,
Slark,
Storm Spirit
Spirit Breaker
* Possibly Clinkz's worst enemy. He has many tools to utterly destroy Clinkz.
* Charge of Darkness can be used on Clinkz if Spirit Breaker's team spots him anywhere. This charge will track his location through Skeleton Walk's invisibility and movement speed bonuses.
* When Spirit Breaker charges onto Clinkz, he can easily use Dust of Appearance to guarantee a reveal on him while stunned.
* All three of Spirit Breaker's spells help him and his team quickly close the gap to Clinkz even at the edge of his attack range or when running away with Skeleton Walk.
* Spirit Breaker's high strength and above average armor makes him able to endure Clinkz's onslaught, meanwhile Clinkz will be heavily threatened if Spirit Breaker procs a Greater Bash.
Additional:
* Once caught with dust, Clinkz could be locked down for a long time by Spirit Breaker and has nowhere to escape.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, showing Clinkz even when he is in Skeleton Walk.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Spirit Breaker
* If Medusa activates Stone Gaze, the charge will inevitably fail.
* Mana Shield and overall tankiness allows Medusa to easily survive Spirit Breaker's initiation.
Sniper
* Medusa is a fairly immobile hero that deals damage around her with Split Shot. Sniper should outrange her and should stay out of harm's way from Split Shot.
* More importantly, Sniper should have enough attack range to fire at Medusa during her Stone Gaze without turning to stone, so the ultimate is mostly wasted against him.
Additional:
* Sniper can outrange both Medusa's arrows and Stone Gaze, allowing him to focus her down during a teamfight.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Wraith King
* Meepo has a better advantage in farm with
Divided We Stand, as well as having a higher attack speed due to his tendency to build items that give attributes. In addition, Wraithfire Blast stuns only one target, and choosing to engage one Meepo will most certainly mean engaging them all.
Spirit Breaker
* Earthbind's root prevents/interrupts Charge of Darkness.
* As a single target focused hero without much damage output, Spirit Breaker is ineffective in general against Meepo. Consider upgrading Nether Strike with Aghanim's Scepter to spam AoE stuns against Meepo clones.
Additional:
* Spirit Breaker heavily relies on disabling one enemy at a time therefore rendering him useless against five Meepos at once.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes who can stun multiple units at once: Dark Willow,
Spirit Breaker,
Slardar,
Invoker, and
Tidehunter.
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to Meepo's clones.
* Eathshaker's AoE stuns can interrupt Meepo's Poof cast animation.
Additional:
* Echo Slam deals catastrophic damage against a cluster of Meepos and anyone nearby.
* He can potentially stunlock any number of Meepos for a fairly long duration, often enough to finish one off.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 8%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna,
Razor,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Leshrac,
Spirit Breaker
* Spirit Breaker's
Nether Strike with
Aghanim's Shard disables Bristleback's passives.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 16%)Earthshaker
* Fissure has a shorter cast time in Rubick's hands, making it a nice ability to either initiate or interrupt enemy ganks from a long distance.
* Though Echo Slam isn't as powerful for the lack of
Aftershock on Rubick, the damage can still be massive on enemies.
Wraith King
* Wraith King's abilities are mostly passive (with regards to Spell Steal), so Rubick cannot steal most of them.
* Wraithfire Blast together with some attacks can gank Rubick down quickly.
Additional:
* Wraith King abilities are mostly passive making Spell Steal meaningless.
* This can also mean that Rubick's Spell Steal used on Wraith King guarantees him a stun spell.
* Rubick's lack of mobility & low health pool is easily tear down by Wraith King physical attacks.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that usually builds Linken's Sphere as a core item:
Weaver,
Medusa,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain,
Phantom Assassin
Shadow Shaman
* In general, squishy heroes that rely on escape often struggles against the amount of disables Shadow Shaman can bring. Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage and
Storm Spirit are among these.
Additional:
* Shadow Shaman has many disables to lock down Queen of Pain, preventing her from Blinking away, even through Linken's Sphere or her spell block talent.
* Mass Serpent Ward can tear through Queen of Pain's low health pool once she's locked down by
Hex &
Shackles.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Earthshaker
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time works well against Earthshaker's which completes lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown if Venomancer has vision over Earthshaker.
Additional:
* Earthshaker can be kited by Venomancer's slows, which is lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is very useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden
Sniper
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden,
Chen,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Lina,
Mirana,
Nature's Prophet,
Pugna and
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes has attack range talent can also outrange Plague Ward.
Wraith King
* While Reincarnation is off cooldown, Venomancer abilities can't kill Wraith King easier.
* Vampiric Aura can out-heal the slow {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Poison Sting.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Earthshaker
* Arcane Bolt allows Skywrath Mage to harass Earthshaker out of lane.
* Ancient Seal is an instant silence that can be pre-cast onto Earthshaker to disrupt his combo, before he uses
Blink Dagger to initiate.
* Mystic Flare will nuke Earthshaker down while he stands in place during his long cast animations.
Wraith King
* In the early-mid game, Skywrath consistently needs to use his entire mana pool to kill a hero, but Wraith King's Reincarnation allows him to finish off Skywrath after the first death, as Skywrath Mage will have likely expended all his mana.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Earthshaker
* Warlock often stays back and counter-initiates by dropping his
Chaotic Offering on Earthshaker and his allies.
Spirit Breaker
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some Heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through your allies and deal with you, preventing you from doing your job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight,
Spirit Breaker,
Riki, and some others.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Spirit Breaker
* Durable heroes: Axe,
Bristleback,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King
Sniper
* Heroes who Sniper can kite: Sven,
Wraith King,
Kunkka,
Doom,
Tidehunter,
Underlord,
Troll Warlord, and etc.
Chen
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 0%)Shadow Shaman
* Shadow Shaman has no effective burst damage, thus Chen has a lot of time to save an ally with his creeps or Hand of God from a gank.
* Chen can use {U:Centaur Conqueror} or {U:Mud Golem} to interrupt Shadow shaman's Shackles channeling
* Mass Serpent Ward can be easily teared down by Chen's creep army
Earthshaker
* Echo Slam will deal immense damage due to the amount of creeps Chen will have.
* Fissure and
Enchant Totem deal large amounts of AOE damage, wearing down non-ancient creeps that Chen converts.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Wraith King
* Necronomicon Warrior's Mana Break can deplete Wraith King's mana and prevent him from using
Reincarnation.
* Wraith King's lack of area of effect spells makes him easily overwhelmed by Beastmaster's summons.
Earthshaker
* Having many summons out will cause Echo Slam to deal extra damage.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 2%)Wraith King
* Heroes with summons and illusions such as Broodmother and
Naga Siren, are ill-suited for Wraith King to fight, as he has no source of waveclear.
Sniper
* Ensnare with her attacks allows Naga Siren to gank Sniper easily.
* Rip Tide removes Sniper's very little armor.
Spirit Breaker
* Heroes with long-lasting, undispellable debuffs will pinpoint the true Naga Siren: Spirit Breaker,
Bloodseeker.
Earthshaker
* Mirror Image's illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Earthshaker's strong AoE abilities can clear Naga Siren's illusions, or at least make it easier to distinguish the real one by the damage they take.
* Echo Slam deals more damage against more enemies, which can be devestating against Naga Siren and her illusions.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 10%)Sniper
* Bounty Hunter can use Shadow Walk to get close, and
Jinada can do massive damage and slow down Sniper on the first attack.
* Track gives additional speed to Bounty Hunter and makes
Shadow Blade useless, allowing Bounty Hunter to easily kill him with a few attacks.
Additional:
* Sniper relies on distance. Bounty Hunter can use Shadow Walk to get close, and Jinada can do massive damage and slow down Sniper in the early game.
* Track gives additional speed to Bounty Hunter and makes Shadow Blade useless, which can allow Bounty Hunter to easily kill him with a few attacks.
Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Wraith King
* Heroes that are naturally hard to gank, ranging from beefy tanks like Abaddon and
Wraith King to heroes with quick escape mechanisms like
Anti-Mage and
Storm Spirit are also undesirable targets for a lone, roaming Bounty Hunter to scout out and initiate on.
Spirit Breaker
* Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness semi-reveals Bounty Hunter, taking away his element of surprise for the duration of the charge. Also, as Charge of Darkness shows Bounty Hunter's position, Spirit Breaker's allies can proceed to gank Bounty Hunter while he is roaming alone.
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.
Most popular searches list
Slark, PudgeDazzle, Pudge
Techies, Spectre
Tusk, Elder Titan
Bounty Hunter, Huskar
Axe, Legion Commander
Ancient Apparition, Abaddon
Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage
Axe, Techies, Spectre
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition
Kunkka, Axe, Grimstroke
Phantom Assassin, Crystal Maiden
Phantom Assassin, Pudge, Pugna
Slark, Pudge, Ancient Apparition
Faceless Void, Drow Ranger, Slark
Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Bane
Abaddon, Alchemist, Ancient Apparition
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage
Pudge, Invoker, Drow Ranger, Weaver
Abaddon, Alchemist, Arc Warden, Bane
Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Axe, Dark Willow
Dazzle, Witch Doctor, Bristleback, Spectre
Riki, Crystal Maiden, Visage, Treant Protector
Anti-Mage, Abaddon, Axe, Bane, Batrider
Riki, Invoker, Bristleback, Sniper, Lion
Crystal Maiden, Magnus, Enigma, Sven, Luna
Weaver, Invoker, Pudge, Lich, Ember Spirit
Sniper, Slark, Troll Warlord, Visage, Ursa
Ogre Magi, Ursa, Troll Warlord, Meepo, Lich
Ogre Magi, Treant Protector, Necrophos, Chaos Knight
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden
Gyrocopter, Riki, Slardar, Bloodseeker, Meepo
Faceless Void, Tinker, Lion, Brewmaster, Pudge
Riki, Legion Commander, Tiny, Invoker, Spectre
Alchemist, Lina, Lycan, Luna, Nature's Prophet
Pudge, Zeus, Lich, Juggernaut, Centaur Warrunner
Clockwerk, Pudge, Invoker, Shadow Shaman, Sniper
Silencer, Zeus, Faceless Void, Sniper, Sand King
Huskar, Pudge, Alchemist, Luna, Phantom Assassin
Centaur Warrunner, Spirit Breaker, Tusk, Axe, Tiny
Drow Ranger, Sniper, Earthshaker, Bristleback, Riki
Tinker, Pudge, Earthshaker, Elder Titan, Gyrocopter
Phantom Assassin, Pudge, Riki, Invoker, Chaos Knight
Dazzle, Ogre Magi, Invoker, Rubick, Phantom Assassin
Spirit Breaker, Outworld Devourer, Axe, Warlock, Ursa
Winter Wyvern, Lich, Ember Spirit, Underlord, Leshrac
Leshrac, Shadow Shaman, Sniper, Necrophos, Terrorblade
Abaddon, Bane, Storm Spirit, Grimstroke, Phantom Lancer
Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Ancient Apparition, Axe
Windranger, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Riki, Alchemist
Brewmaster, Pudge, Storm Spirit, Phantom Lancer, Oracle
Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Axe, Arc Warden
Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Axe, Alchemist
Luna, Vengeful Spirit, Storm Spirit, Undying, Beastmaster
Juggernaut, Zeus, Sven, Ancient Apparition, Spirit Breaker
Axe, Ancient Apparition, Bloodseeker, Clinkz, Chaos Knight
Phantom Assassin, Pudge, Huskar, Queen of Pain, Earthshaker
Axe, Drow Ranger, Vengeful Spirit, Windranger, Winter Wyvern
Juggernaut, Shadow Shaman, Windranger, Meepo, Spirit Breaker
Abaddon, Alchemist, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Ancient Apparition
Abaddon, Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden
Juggernaut, Ember Spirit, Shadow Shaman, Ogre Magi, Brewmaster
Shadow Shaman, Spirit Breaker, Sniper, Wraith King, Earthshaker
Invoker, Grimstroke, Windranger, Bounty Hunter, Phantom Assassin
Treant Protector, Puck, Vengeful Spirit, Shadow Fiend, Anti-Mage
Phantom Assassin, Wraith King, Skywrath Mage, Silencer, Shadow Fiend
Bristleback, Crystal Maiden, Invoker, Phantom Lancer, Vengeful Spirit
Wraith King
*
Dark Pact, if timed correctly, can dispel Wraithfire Blast's stun and slow.
Essence Shift stacks, increasing armor, damage, and attack speed and can beat down Wraith King twice.
Diffusal Blade to burn mana as an attempt to shut down Reincarnation.
Shadow Dance is particularly useful against Wraith King.
* Since Wraith King has a lot of health and multiple lives, Slark can keep gaining
* Slark sometimes carries
* Because Wraith King has no AoE abilities,
Spirit Breaker
* 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.
Shadow Shaman
*
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.
Earthshaker
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate:
Clinkz,
Slark,
Storm Spirit
Sniper
* Slark is a natural
Shadow Blade carrier, and with
Pounce Sniper has no opportunity to escape or react.
Essence Shift and
Shadow Dance, Slark will easily win a fight against Sniper.
* With
Additional:
* Sniper is one of the most gankable heroes in the game, and has no defenses when Pounced on by Slark.
Earthshaker
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like
Slark in his
Shadow Dance and
Weaver in his
Shukuchi.
Additional:
* Earthshaker's many AoE stuns help lock down Slark, and will often waste the duration of Shadow Dance.