Oracle
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Silencer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Like any hero with a channeled spell, Last Word is a counter to it.
* Global Silence goes through spell immunity and prevents Witch Doctor from casting his spells.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Witch Doctor
* Every ability Witch Doctor has is useful when Rubick manages to steal any of them:
* Paralyzing Cask provides an additional disable apart from Telekinesis and also helps Rubick to farm.
* Voodoo Restoration provides utility by healing Rubick and his team, since he has no heal of his own.
* Maledict is a solid damage-over-time nuke, which can be devastating to the enemy team.
* And most importantly, Death Ward is one of the best teamfight spells in the game. It also requires channeling, which makes it easy for Rubick to steal. And when combined with
Aghanim's Scepter, this can prove deadly to the enemy team.
* However, a skilled Witch Doctor will always toggle Voodoo Restoration while channeling
Death Ward to prevent that.
Additional:
* Rubick can steal Death Ward easily as it is a channeled ability and then use it to turn teamfight to his advantage.
* However, a skilled Witch Doctor will toggle Voodoo Restoration immediately after placing his Death Ward to prevent that.
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.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Beware of placing the Death Ward if Chronosphere is off cooldown, as it will cancel the effect and leave Witch Doctor vulnerable if he does not react in time.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Heroes like Slark,
Witch Doctor and others also tend to suffer in Ice Blast's heal denial.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 1%)Necrophos
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Witch Doctor
* Guardian Angel protects allies from Death Ward's physical damage.
* Purification and
Heavenly Grace will most likely save teammates from dying to Maledict.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
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.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Heroes who have channeled abilities can be stunned by Light Strike Array, like Witch Doctor with
Death Ward and
Bane's
Fiend's Grip.
Additional:
* Light Strike Array cancels out Death Ward from a long distance.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 18%)Witch Doctor
* 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.
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.
Necrophos
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
Luna
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* Lucent Beam interrupts Death Ward from a decent range.
* Eclipse kills Witch Doctor during Death Ward, even through
Glimmer Cape.
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.
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.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Heroes that wish to disrupt fights with spell combos or big ultimates are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 14%)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.
* Using Ghost Shroud also sets Necrophos up for a Mana Burn or
Impale.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Witch Doctor
* Sacred Arrow can be used to interrupt Death Ward from a safe distance, forcing him to cancel it to dodge or get hit.
* Paralyzing Cask is a slow-moving stun, and Mirana can Leap away from her allies to keep it from bouncing.
* Witch Doctor has low health and can easily be killed with an Aghanim's Scepter combo or just when hit with an arrow.
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.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Witch Doctor
* Without Dust of Appearance or Sentry Wards, Riki is able to silence Witch Doctor with Smoke Screen, and is likely to build a Diffusal Blade, leaving Witch Doctor without mana to cast Voodoo Restoration, as well as Skull Basher to interrupt Death Ward.
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!
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (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
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.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* Vengeful Spirit has two abilities to interrupt Death Ward, even through Black King Bar.
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.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Low mobility heroes: Heroes with no/little means of traveling fast have difficulty getting to/away from Bounty Hunter due to his slowing Jinada and hastening Track. Few examples of such heroes are: Crystal Maiden,
Sniper,
Ursa,
Witch Doctor, etc.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Arc Warden's
Magnetic Field dodges all damage from Death Ward. Should he choose to buy a
Necronomicon, they are quite effective to absorb some shots from your cask, and attack you during Death 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.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 18%)Witch Doctor
* Low health spellcasters: Lina,
Witch Doctor,
Tinker,
Keeper of the Light, all rely heavily on their spells and are fragile heroes. They all also have avoidable spells, allowing Puck to get to them and quickly burst them down.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)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.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 1%)Witch Doctor
* Stone Form can easily interrupt heroes with long channeling spells, like Crystal Maiden,
Bane,
Witch Doctor, or
Enigma.
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.
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.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (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.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Witch Doctor
* Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore Windranger and
Phantom Assassin are poor choices to use it on.
* However, once the first hit landed, the bounces can no longer miss. Don't forget to manually aim for a target with no evasion !
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes who rely on channeling abilities can be interrupted in teamfights by Rolling Thunder: Crystal Maiden,
Pugna,
Witch Doctor
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%)Witch Doctor
* Death Ward does little damage against Dragon Knight's armor, and Dragon Knight's high health regeneration minimizes damage from
Maledict.
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%)Witch Doctor
* 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.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with plenty of summons, such as Broodmother or
Nature's Prophet can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with long channeling abilities like Witch Doctor are easy targets for Kunkka to interrupt in team fights.
Additional:
* Torrent can cancel Death Ward from a far distance.
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.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 13%)Witch Doctor
* Morphling can Attribute Shift to strength after being hit by Maledict. Since Maledict deals its damage based on the difference between HP on cast and HP after two seconds, odds are Morphling will have more HP than when Maledict was cast, thus resulting in no damage.
* On the upside, players prone to panicked reactions may Morph to agility, making Maledict even more efficient than intended.
* Adaptive Strike (Strength) can interrupt Death Ward at a decent range.
Necrophos
* Necrophos's
Reaper's Scythe can finish off a low-health Morphling.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 1%)Witch Doctor
* Paralyzing Cask is likely to bounce between him and his bear every single time.
* Lone Druid's lack of mobility makes him vulnerable to Death Ward and Maledict.
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.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Heroes with the ability to heal allies, or those with good defensive abilities: (Chen,
Dazzle,
Io,
Oracle,
Omniknight,
Witch Doctor,
Winter Wyvern, (
Abaddon, etc.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (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
Witch Doctor
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter Bloodseeker's Thirst.
* Rupture is generally useless against Witch Doctor while he is staying on Death Ward.
* Although Witch Doctor needs to be careful as Blood Rite can interrupt Death Ward.
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.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 0%)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.
Axe
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)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.
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.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)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.
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.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (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.
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.
Witch Doctor
* Maledict cannot be dispelled by Phantasm, and can be used to tag the real Chaos Knight hiding within his illusions.
* If Witch Doctor has an Aghanim's Scepter,
Death Ward will bounce between Chaos Knight's illusions, destroying them quickly.
* However, Death Ward is easily interrupted by Chaos Bolt until Witch Doctor buys
Glimmer Cape or
Black King Bar.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Poison Nova and
Poison Sting.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (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.
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.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* Paralyzing cask bounces between him and his wolves, keeping him stunned for long amounts of time.
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.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (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 Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (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.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (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.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (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.
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.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Witch Doctor
* Paralyzing Cask's short stun rarely prevents Monkey King from ambushing Witch Doctor.
* Death Ward's long channel is easily interrupted by Boundless Strike.
Witch Doctor
* Another hero that should not leave a special circle for his ultimate. The only thing to be afraid is Boundless Strike.
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%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes that have a channeled ability can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman,
Witch Doctor,
Enigma,
Bane.
Additional:
* Meat Hook interrupts Death Ward from a decent range, even through
Black King Bar &
Glimmer Cape.
* Pudge can survive the damage from Maledict because of his Flesh Heap stacks.
* However the damage-over-time from Rot is counteracted by Voodoo Restoration.
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.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (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.
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.
Undying
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Generally, any fragile heroes will have a hard time dealing with Undying's tankiness, and even more so if Decay is used on them. Some examples are Crystal Maiden and
Witch Doctor.
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: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
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: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or
Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
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.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 2%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with plenty of summons, such as Broodmother or
Nature's Prophet can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
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.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 15%)Witch Doctor
* Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore Windranger and
Phantom Assassin are poor choices to use it on.
* However, once the first hit landed, the bounces can no longer miss. Don't forget to manually aim for a target with no evasion !
Necrophos
* Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Viper abilities.
* Viper has no way to cancel Death Ward, even through Rod of Atos.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (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.
Witch Doctor
* Death Ward with
Aghanim's Scepter makes quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption until Witch Doctor buys Linken's Sphere or
Black King Bar.
* All of Witch Doctor's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Voodoo Restoration can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Maledict or
Paralyzing Cask for the enemy.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* Witch Doctor's Maledict burst damage can be prevented by Sunder, if timed correctly.
* Death Ward deals physical damage, and Terrorblade's high armor can help him survive against Death Ward.
* However, be careful that Paralyzing Cask is commonly tricky to dodge as Terrorblade, due to his reliance of illusions, and
Maledict can kill Terrorblade if he has no target to be Sundered with, especially in the early game.
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.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
Witch Doctor
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Pugna
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Kraken Shell dispels the stun from Paralyzing Cask. However, it does not dispel the damage from Maledict.
* Once Witch Doctor first uses his Death Ward in team fights, Tidehunter can simply cancel it with Ravage, turning the tables against him, especially if Witch Doctor does not have a
Black King Bar.
* As a precaution, let Tidehunter use Ravage first before channeling Death Ward to turn a team fight in your favor.
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.
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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Witch Doctor
* It is especially easy for Oracle to negate the damage from Maledict, and even heal through it with
Fate's Edict and
Purifying Flames.
False Promise.
* If by some miracle an enemy is still about to die because of Maledict, he can still save him with
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.
Reaper's Scythe, which its own delayed animation makes it relatively easy to predict and nullify.
Purifying Flames nullifies any damage that Heartstopper Aura might inflict.
Fate's Edict and
False Promise can protect an ally from Reaper's Scythe.
Fortune's End.
* Fate's Edict fully negates the damage from
Additional:
* During the laning stage, Oracle's
*
* Oracle can dispel Ghost Shroud with