Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 14%)Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Arcane Curse punishes Necrophos if tries to spam Death Pulse, increasing the duration of the slow and damage taken over time.
* Last Word heavily damages Necrophos and also silence him for a lenghty duration.
* Glaives of Wisdom will reduce temporarily Necrophos intelligence on each hit dealing hindering his ability to spam Death Pulse, also reducing his attack damage and mana pool; dealing increasing amounts of phisical and pure damage each time. Silencer will permanently steal Necrophos intelligence if killed by him or dies nears him.
* Global Silence turns Necrophos almost useless for a long time, allowing your team to easily dispatch him, since he heavily relies on his spells to survive.
Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 18%)Necrophos
* 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.
Shadow Shaman
* Reincarnation allows Wraith King to survive Shadow Shaman's initial chain of disables and Serpent Ward attacks.
* Short cooldown of Wraithfire Blast is ideal for interrupting Shackles.
Necrophos
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)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 .
Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Additional:
* If he isn't silenced, Abaddon can use Borrowed Time to escape Reaper's Scythe during the delay.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 1%)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 .
Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% 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.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (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.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Necrophos
* Mana Drain depletes Nercophos' mana pool, preventing him from using his abilities.
* Finger of Death deals high magical damage, which becomes amplified by Ghost Shroud.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Fortune's End can dispel Ghost Shroud, rending Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage. Also it's worth noting that Necrophos takes additional magic damage when in Ethereal state, which makes Purifying Flames a powerful nuke against him.
* Fate's Edict fully negates the damage from Reaper's Scythe, which its own delayed animation makes it relatively easy to predict and nullify.
Additional:
* During the laning stage, Oracle's Purifying Flames nullifies any damage that Heartstopper Aura might inflict.
* Fate's Edict and
False Promise can protect an ally from Reaper's Scythe.
* Oracle can dispel Ghost Shroud with Fortune's End.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)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.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Diffusal Blade is a core item on Phantom Lancer. Should it be purchased, combined with his numerous illusions, it allows him to rapidly deplete Necrophos' mana, rendering Necrophos incapable of casting anything.
* It can be difficult to single out the true Phantom Lancer among his army, giving Necrophos a hard time with aiming his ultimate.
* Even if his illusions are defeated, Phantom Lancer is capable of creating more at his disposal with almost no issues.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Necrophos
* Dazzle's Shadow Wave is a spammable healing ability that spreads around his entire team, slowing the death of his teammates as effectively as Necrophos spreads damage to them.
* If not immediately, Shallow Grave delays his ally from gradually dying to Necrophos' abilities, especially Reaper's Scythe.
Additional:
* Reaper's Scythe is very predictable and gives you plenty of time to react with Shallow Grave: just keep a close eye on allies below 50% health.
* However, be sure to use Shadow Wave on that ally immediately after, or they will die from Heartstopper Aura when the Shallow Grave ends!
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Necrophos' Ghost Shroud increases the magic damage taken by Necrophos.
* If Zeus builds both an Ethereal Blade and
Veil of Discord, it almost always guarantees a kill.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Necrophos
* Ghost Shroud amplifies damage taken from all of Grimstroke's abilities. Necrophos is particularly vulnerable to Ink Swell and Phantom's Embrace while in Ghost Shroud.
* Death Pulse works against Necrophos in lane by keeping his creeps alive and add damage to Stroke of Fate.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Necrophos
* If Rubick steals Reaper's Scythe, he can turn the powerful ultimate back against Necrophos' team. Even his other spells are useful in Rubick's hands, giving him a sustain or a weak initiation/protection tool.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Necrophos
* Necrophos struggles at clearing away durable illusions or summons. Meepo can overwhelm Necrophos with his many duplicates, especially in the later stages of the game, and his Earthbind will prevent Necrophos from getting away, even if he casts Ghost Shroud.
* Meepo's high burst damage from {Ability ID:Poof|Meepo} and {Item ID:Ethereal Blade} can make it difficult for to Necrophos to stay alive, and as Necrophos excels in extended fights, he will not be able to do as much damage as he intends to.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Mana Shield tanks most of the damage from Reaper's Scythe; with sufficient mana, the kill threshold drops to 15%/17%/19% health (before reductions).
* Heartstopper Aura does not chip away at Medusa's mana, this makes it not a threat as it deals damage based on current health.
* Necrophos has a movement speed equal to Medusa, and is easy to chase down with a slowing item in Medusa's inventory.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Necrophos
* Laguna Blade deals amplified magical damage (pure from Aghanim's Scepter) to Necrophos when he is under the effects of
Ghost Shroud.
Additional:
* Laguna Blade's damage will be greatly amplified during Ghost Shroud.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 41% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Time Dilation while Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Necrophos nearly useless.
* Necrophos cannot use Ghost Shroud while he is inside Chronosphere which makes it easy to kill him.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 9%)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.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* Arc Warden with his Magnetic Field will protect allies from Mass Serpent Ward.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 17%)Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Necrophos
* Illusions make it difficult for Necrophos to target his Reaper's Scythe correctly, thus giving illusion heroes like Chaos Knight or
Naga Siren an edge against Necrophos.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Illusions make it difficult for Necrophos to target his Reaper's Scythe correctly, thus giving illusion heroes like Chaos Knight or
Naga Siren an edge against Necrophos.
Shadow Shaman
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active: Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
Necrophos
* Heroes that have high health but little to no magic resistance are easy prey for Necrophos, as no matter how high they build their health up, Reaper's Scythe will kill them outright as long as they fall under a certain threshold, and Heartstopper Aura will deal the same amount of damage regardless, decaying their health the longer they stay within range. As such, Strength heroes like Chaos Knight,
Centaur Warrunner or
Magnus are good targets for his ultimate.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (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.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden,
Enchantress,
Gyrocopter,
Lion,
Riki,
Techies,
Terrorblade,
Necrophos,
Invoker.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Shadow Shaman
* Dragon Knight can simply tank and destroy all Shadow Shaman's Serpent Wards.
Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura and
Reaper's Scythe go right through Dragon Knight's armor.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Shadow Shaman,
Pugna
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 14%)Necrophos
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Shadow Shaman
* As a caster, Anti-Mage's
Mana Break and
Mana Void are highly effective against him.
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
Slark
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)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.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Ice Blast completely nullifies any healing, making Necrophos unable to stay in a teamfight to sustain his teammates (and himself) or deal gradual damage to the enemy, else he be faced with a quick death if focused on.
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.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 18%)Necrophos
* Blade Fury blocks the damage done by Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe. Additionally,
Ghost Shroud decreases Necrophos's magic resistance, making him take more damage from Blade Fury.
Necrophos
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 16%)Necrophos
* Tornado allows Invoker to purge Necrophos's Ghost Shroud, nullifying any benefits he could get out of it
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Necrophos's mana, preventing him to use his abilities constantly
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 5%)Necrophos
* Nethertoxin prevents Heartstopper Aura from dealing damage or healing Necrophos.
* Viper's magic damage is amplified whenever Ghost Shroud is used.
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper tankier against Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe.
Shadow Shaman
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 13%)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.
Necrophos
* Necrophos's
Reaper's Scythe can finish off a low-health Morphling.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)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.
Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe can kill Terrorblade quickly before he has chance to use Sunder.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos against Terrorblade's high attack damage.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Shadow Shaman
* Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* The stun and damage over time from Shackles mitigates Reactive Armor's HP and armor regen.
Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura effectively negates Timbersaw's large HP pool as well as HP regen.
* Death Pulse together with health and mana regeneration from killed creeps helps Necrophos and his teammates survive Timbersaw's burst damage.
* As a tanky hero that stays in the middle of teamfights, Timbersaw is an easy target for Reaper's Scythe.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Because Huskar tends to stay at low health to gain the maximum bonuses from Berserker's Blood, it makes him an exceptionally prime target for Reaper's Scythe.
Additional:
* Huskar is often at low health, making him easy prey for Reaper's Scythe.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Huskar from stacking Burning Spear, and if Heartstopper Aura stacks are active, can regenerate health lost to existing stacks.
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.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have high health but little to no magic resistance are easy prey for Necrophos, as no matter how high they build their health up, Reaper's Scythe will kill them outright as long as they fall under a certain threshold, and Heartstopper Aura will deal the same amount of damage regardless, decaying their health the longer they stay within range. As such, Strength heroes like Chaos Knight,
Centaur Warrunner or
Magnus are good targets for his ultimate.
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.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with channeling spells because Shadow Fiend has nothing to cancel channeling: Bane,
Enigma,
Pudge,
Shadow Shaman.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit or
Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like
Rod of Atos or
Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
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.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 11%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit or
Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like
Rod of Atos or
Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
Shadow Shaman
* Any heroes with stuns or silences: Death Prophet,
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Skywrath Mage
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 6%)Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe will turn Tiny's high health against him.
* Heartstopper Aura does substantial damage to Tiny as a result of his high max health.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)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 ways of canceling Shackles.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Due to Doom's naturally high health, strength gain and common itemization for durability, Heartstopper Aura is particularly effective. The health loss is also large enough that, throughout all stages of the game, the aura effectively neuters the health regeneration granted by Devour.
* Necrophos can help to keep both himself and his allies alive during Doom through his natural regeneration granted by Heartstopper Aura (which is not disabled by Doom), or in the case of an ally, through his
Death Pulse. Additionally, Necrophos is an ideal
Mekansm carrier. Should one be bought, kills against Necrophos' team can be difficult to secure due to the damage-over-time nature of Doom and his abilities.
* Doom typically wants to be a hero that soaks attention from the enemy team and takes the role of an initiator and disabler. As such, Doom is an ideal target for Reaper's Scythe, as it is likely Doom will be at the fore-front of any fight.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)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.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Necrophos
* Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* With high health and rarely buying Linken's Sphere or
Black King Bar, Centaur Warrunner is a good target for
Reaper's Scythe. However, Centaur Warrunner can resolve this problem by buying
Pipe of Insight or
Hood of Defiance to diminish its damage.
* Heartstopper Aura will do well against high health heroes such as Centaur Warrunner.
Undying
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Necrophos
* Necrophos is a dangerous opponent to go against with. Regardless of how many strength Undying has gained from Decay, Necrophos can finish off Undying with Reaper's Scythe once Undying's HP falls below a certain threshold.
* Heartstopper Aura will do more damage to Undying if he gained strength from Decay, as it does damage based on a hero's maximum health.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Necrophos
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves or
Pipe of Insight makes it difficult for Earthshaker to execute his combo with Echo Slam.
* Necrophos usually buys Radiance to improve their burning aura damage from
Heartstopper Aura will usually disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Reaper's Scythe allows to kill Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo (although Earthshaker is rarely a primary target).
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Necrophos becomes a bigger threat the lower one's health gets, and unfortunately for Phoenix, most of its spells have noticeable health costs. Those costs, coupled with his Heartstopper Aura, means that staying in a teamfight for too long under Necrophos' presence will make Phoenix a more valid target for his ultimate, with its stun completely preventing any form of retaliation or protection. Necrophos players are also likely to buy more durability items such as
Hood of Defiance, making him more able to withstand Phoenix's damage despite having no escape mechanisms.
* However, it is also important to remember that a Scepter-upgraded Supernova can help protect an ally from his ultimate.
Additional:
* Phoenix constantly depletes its own health due to the health costs of its abilities. Unlike heroes that have a similar mechanic, Phoenix does not benefit from low health, nor does it really have a countermeasure for it. As such, Phoenix is a very vulnerable target for Necrophos to prey on, especially when caught off guard before it can cast Supernova.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy Refraction
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* No matter how Tidehunter builds tanky items such as (Guardian Greaves,
Crimson Guard or
Pipe of Insight), all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 8%)Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe and
Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Underlord's high health.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 7%)Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe can kill Alchemist before Chemical Rage has the time to heal him.
* Ghost Shroud can prevent Alchemist from attacking Necrophos, as well as make him immune to Acid Spray and Unstable Concoction damage.
* Heartstopper Aura will do damage as long as Necrophos is alive based on health percentage, which is a problem for a strength hero such as Alchemist.
Razor
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Necrophos usually doesn't build much attack damage to steal from.
* He can use Ghost Shroud to prevent Razor from attacking him with the stolen damage from Static Link.
* Razor is somewhat vulnerable to magical damage, and Reaper's Scythe prevents him from escaping with his high movement speed when things get dangerous.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -0.8 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
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).
Necrophos
* Death Pulse can single out Spectre from her illusions, as well as heal his team against her. He also usually stands close to his allies for Death Pulse, effectively disabling Desolate.
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.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Necrophos
* Some heroes, such as Necrophos can be an issue if not initiated onto by Sven first.
Additional:
* His Heartstopper Aura deals the same gradual damage over time no matter how high Sven builds his strength or health pool up, and should he fall down to a certain percentage, his high health will no longer matter if Necrophos manages to land his Reaper's Scythe, killing him instantly. But it is best if Necrophos can either catch him off guard before he can possibly use his Black King Bar (which is an item Sven players commonly purchase), or bait him out of it.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Sven from hitting Necrophos, and if he doesn't have his Storm Hammer available, it could make him completely immune to Sven and allow Necrophos to easily kite him around.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 15%)Necrophos
* Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 13%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Heroes with area heals prevents Bloodseeker from bringing enemies low, and therefore deny him his Thirst bonuses and health return: Necrophos,
Dazzle
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Necrophos
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos,
Phoenix,
Alchemist,
Earthshaker,
Razor,
Tinker,
Leshrac,
Queen of Pain
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Necrophos
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Warlock or
Shadow Fiend.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Necrophos
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind),
Spectre,
Ursa, and
Dragon Knight.
Necrophos
* Reaper's Scythe and
Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Bristleback's high health.
* Heartstopper Aura's HP removal does not trigger Bristleback's passive.
Additional:
* Heartstopper Aura deals percentage-based damage flagged as HP removal, so it is not reduced by Bristleback, nor does it trigger passive
Quill Sprays.
* Reaper's Scythe is very effective against Bristleback not only due to its percentage-based damage, but rather because it first stuns and then deals its damage, allowing Necrophos to position in front of Bristleback in time.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 19%)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.
Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura is effective against high health heroes, and Pudge is no exception. Coupled with his constant self-damage from Rot, being around Necrophos could prove risky for an overconfident Pudge.
* Regardless of how much health Pudge gains through Flesh Heap, Reaper's Scythe will often kill Pudge should his health fall below 40%, making Necrophos an ideal counter versus Pudge.
Additional:
* No matter how high Pudge builds up strength with his Flesh Heap, all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe. Considering his constant self-damage with
Rot, being around Heartstopper Aura will prove risky for an overconfident Pudge.
Axe
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)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.
Necrophos
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and
Mekansm makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Ghost Shroud's instant cast time allows Necrophos to turn ethereal before being initiated on by Berserker's Call. This prevents him from attacking Axe while taunted, thus lowering the chance to proc Counter Helix.
* Axe's high health is relatively ineffective against Heartstopper Aura's percentage-based health degeneration.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's tankiness, and can kill him quickly after initiation.
Additional:
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's tankiness, and can kill him quickly after initiation.
* Heartstopper Aura is effective due to Axe's high strength gain.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% 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.
Necrophos
* Ghost Shroud can be use both offensively to slow Lone Druid or Defensively to prevent Lone Druid and The Spirit Bear from attacking him.
* Heartstopper aura burns the Spirit bear High HP over time. Additionally, it can deal decent damage to Lone Druid during his True Form.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Necrophos
* Heroes with one single-target abilities such as Wraith King,
Necrophos, or
Doom will struggle against Weaver's Linken Sphere.
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.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that are squishy by nature are an easy target for Spirit Breaker: Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Shadow Shaman
Shadow Shaman
* Can easily interrupt and disable Spirit Breaker with hex if being charged.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 2%)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.
Necrophos
* Death Pulse can easily wipe out Broodmother's spiderlings if they're too close while also offering Necrophos a source of regeneration for Broodmother's harass in lane.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Broodmother or her spiderlings from damaging Necrophos temporarily.
* Heartstopper Aura will regenerate lost health and mana for every spiderling or spiderite Necrophos manages to kill.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Necrophos
* Though Luna has a hard time laning against Necrophos, his
Ghost Shroud won’t protect him in teamfights because it will increase the damage from Lucent Beam and Eclipse.
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.
Necrophos
* A couple of long-range heroes with excellent laning like Mirana,
Lina,
Necrophos,
Death Prophet. The key to success is sticking together and attacking Luna whenever she enters the range, without even giving Luna a chance to retaliate. Multiple long-range heroes is a reason to pick another hero.
Chen
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% 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
Necrophos
* Heartstopper Aura can do a decent damage overtime to Chen's High-Health-Creep Army, and Chen does not have any source of burst damage to Necrophos.
* Necrophos can purchase a Spirit Vessel to provide an AOE debuff that reduce the healing from Divine Favor and Hand of God.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)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.
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman,
Lion
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero winrate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assasin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (dotabuff most played)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal winrate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest winrate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Necrophos
* The huge physical damage taken from
Vendetta will force Necrophos to use Ghost Shroud, which is good for a followup with
Dagon and
Ethereal Blade, both of which are common items on Nyx Assassin.
Mana Burn or
Impale.
* Using Ghost Shroud also sets Necrophos up for a
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.