counter for hero - DOTA

Preface

DotA is a game with many layers of strategy, and like any well balanced game it features a rock-paper-scissors system. This guide has evolved significantly since it's first incarnation, but has remained focused on the first choice made in every game of DotA: hero selection. This decision is often far more important than people give it credit, and can frequently make or break your team's effectiveness over the course of the game. Taking the liberty to modify Sun Tzu's proverb from the Art of War: "If you know both your heroes and your enemy heroes, you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories."

The first of the two major components of this time honored concept, is knowing your teams heroes. A team should be balanced, and if you and your allies choose a team of heroes that heavily leans to one end of the spectrum you are likely hindering your effectiveness. As an example, if I see an ally select Stealth Assassin and another select Bounty Hunter, it would be unwise for me to choose Nerubian Weaver or Clinkz. This is due to the fact that the opposing team will likely get a Gem or Sentry Wards to counter my allies, and I will be at a significant disadvantage from the start. The same principle applies to a majority of spell dependent heroes. If your team selects all spell casters against a competent team, you will see Linken's Sphere and BKB which again, lowers your team effectiveness. In summary, know your ally heroes strengths and weaknesses and try to compensate for them in your own.

The second part of Sun Tzu's concept is to know your enemy. Generally speaking, DotA is balanced by having a counter-hero or item for every hero or skill/spell. Please understand that the largest factor in deciding the outcome of a DotA game is not the fact that one hero has an advantage against another, its player skill and team work. Even with a hero that is best equipped as the “counter-hero” for your enemy, you may still lose to your opponent if they have a higher skill level than yourself. By choosing your hero wisely, you are successfully approaching the first layer of strategy, but that alone will not warrant you a victory.

That said, there are cases where (all skill levels considered equal) one hero or item will have a significant advantage against a specific enemy hero. A classic example of this is Medusa against Omniknight. Her Purge ability instantly removes all of Purist's buffs, rendering his Repel and Guardian Angel useless when she is around. Can a team with a skilled Omniknight player excel against a mediocre Medusa player? Of course, but there was always a slight advantage in base effectiveness for Medusa when teamed up against an Omniknight player.



Hero Selection

The initial minute of every game is critical for this kind of strategy. Ideally, you will want to wait to select your hero until around the 60 second mark, or until the other team has selected most of their heroes. This will leave you with at least 30 seconds to buy your starting items and get to a lane, which is more than enough for the average player. For -random games, consider a repick if you find yourself facing 2 or more of your “counter” heroes, or your team is too skewed in one direction or another. This guide is to help you know which hero to select, and what item build to begin working toward by that 60 second mark.

I understand that some people hate the idea of "counter-picking" but the fact of the matter is, it is a part of DotA and if you choose to ignore it you will often find yourself at a disadvantage. To limit the impact of this kind of strategy being used against you, you can simply play -ar or -rd games, or wait even longer to select your hero.

Without further ado, here is my current alphabetical list of heroes and their significant counters. While there are thousands of possible counter combinations of heroes and items, they all vary in effectiveness and I will attempt to capture only the best. Please feel free to add your own suggestions after you’ve read the note at the bottom of the guide.



Heroes & Their Counters
Anti-Mage

Heroes:
{Tiny} Tiny as one of the smallest natural mana pools in the game, which lowers the effectiveness of Magina’s Mana Break & Mana Void. Grow greatly enhances Tiny's physical damage output, which the low health Magina is very susceptible to. Additionally, should the Anti-Mage stay and fight, Craggy Exterior causes his fast attacks to work against him as he will be stunned and damaged frequently. As usual against an Anti-Mage player, it's usually best to unleash all of your spells early in the fight before you've lost the necessary mana.
{Rhasta} Like most fragile blink heroes, Magina suffers greatly from chain disables. Between Shackle (4.75 seconds), Voodoo (4 seconds) and a Guinsoo (3 seconds), you can near permanently ground him. Additionally, his Wards deal physical (piercing to be exact) damage, so his Spell Shield won't benefit him from any of this. Especially with a teammate nearby, there's little chance he'll survive. -Contributed by Guyoverthere07
{Bane} Nightmare can set Magina up for a team kill, or allow for an easy escape from him should he attempt an ambush. Fiend's Grip gives you (and your team) 5 seconds of free shots at him, and if you went with Necronomicon then your summons can potentially drain his mana below Void or Blink levels. Lastly, Brain Sap is an exact exchange of life and is not reduced by his Spell Shield.


Axe


Heroes:
{Ursa Warrior} Ursa is most deadly when he is allowed to land multiple consecutive hits thanks to Fury Swipes. Axe’s primary mode of operation is to force enemies to attack him, which means Ursa’s damage will surpass any Helix damage by a significant margin. Culling Blade also loses effectiveness against high health enemies, and any proficient Ursa player will mass strength/health items in mid-late game. Lastly, Helix deals physical damage and Ursa is an AGI based hero so his relatively high armor will even further reduce Axe’s damage output.
Items:
{2x Bracer} If you've only got 600 health, a Level 1 Culling Blade will kill you when you reach 50% health. However if you have 600 base health and 2x Bracers (~ 830 health) Axe needs to drop you to about 35% health to kill you. On some heroes, a Vitality/Soul Booster or HoT may be a better choice, but the idea here is that health boosting items render Culling Blade less effective.


Bloodseeker


Heroes:
{Bristleback} Rigwarl’s Bristleback ability passively reduces all damage that is taken from behind (including Rupture if it’s cast from behind). This fact, coupled with his run speed and slow spell makes him tough to kill… even when being chased by Strygwyr. Offensively, constant goo-spam will bring Bloodseeker to a crawl and allow you and your team to catch a fleeing BS, even with Thirst activated.
{Furion} At higher level play, Furion can be used to make Bloodseeker's life hell. If you've been Ruptured, you can simply sprout him and attack while you wait it out, or just teleport away. His only way of stopping your teleport is to cast Bloodrage on you, which significantly boosts your already high base damage while denying him the boost he needs. So cast your Sprout/Teleport early if he tries to take you on, and if he cancels with Bloodrage you should use the damage increase to your benefit and proceed to kill him. If you're lucky enough to lane against him, Sprout-harass makes it quite easy to keep him from leveling quickly. -Contributed by M. E. Winstead
{Enchantress} Few heroes work as well as Enchantress as a defensive counter to Bloodseeker. If Ruptured, Wisps greatly aids in her survivability while she stands there waiting out the duration of the spell. Bloodseeker's attacks are few and far between against her thanks to Untouchable, and her Enchant spell can save her or her ally's life when being chased with Thirst. Lastly, Impetus is an amazing early game harassment tool against him to keep his levels down.


Bounty Hunter


Heroes:
{Doombringer} Doom's ultimate not only prevents Wind Walk and Shuriken, it actually nullifies Jinada throughout the duration of the spell. This means no crits, no dodge, no stealth-escape, and without those traits Bounty Hunter will fall quickly to your LVL? and Doom.



Butcher


Heroes:
{Doombringer} If Doom is cast on Pudge while he has Rot on, it will prevent him from turning it off for the full duration of the spell. This can easily total over 2,000 damage without a Scepter, though you may not get the kill if the last damage dealt is from his Rot. Additionally, Luci’s large strength gain means he will have more than enough health to survive the Hook->Rot->Dismember combo mid-late game.
{Spectre} Dispersion is the bane of all channeling heroes, but Pudge takes the cake. With Rot and Dismember both acting as damage over time spells, Dispersion has a high chance of activating and canceling Pudge's only disable. Dagger allows her to escape through the woods if she needs to, and allows her to chase Pudge through his Rot slow.


Doombringer


Heroes:
{Lord of Avernus} Abbadon's ultimate will remove Doom (even with Aghanim’s Scepter) when he reaches 400 health, which severely limits Doom to when he can cast his ultimate effectively. Abaddon's Frostmourne helps to counter Scorched Earth when chasing, and his shield provides excellent lane harassment against a melee hero like Luci.
{Tide Hunter} Kraken Shell periodically removes negative buffs, including Doom, and it is a passive ability to boot. Currently, a level 4 Kraken Shell removes negative buffs every 8 seconds, which means on average you will only take 4 seconds worth of damage. Doom's speed buff from Scorched Earth is also countered by his Gush spell which has a decent slow. -Contributed by GeraX


Enigma


Heroes:
{Priestess of the Moon} PotM's Leap has an instant cast time, which allows her to leap right out of Black Hole. Enigma must remain still when channeling this spell, which provides an easy target to hit with Elune's Arrow. This can save your team from a severe loss when used in large battles. Lastly, Eidolons are nothing but free gold against Starfall. -Contributed by Memnarch406


Earthshaker


Heroes:
{Silencer} Earthshaker is one of the few non-INT based heroes that rely on the power of multiple spells being fired off in quick succession. Putting a 4 second delay in between his spells royally screws him in both 1v1 and team battles. A well timed Global Silence can prevent his ultimate from wrecking your team as soon as you see him charge in. As a bonus, a kill with Glaives of Wisdom will steal one of his already few INT points... and your ranged advantage makes laning against him easy. I'd suggest at least one point in Curse for early game harassment as keeping his mana low will prevent Fissure spam/blockage. -Contributed by nukeme!


Enchantress

Heroes:
{Tinker} Enchantress fairs well against heroes that deal steady physical damage, thanks to her heal over time and her physical attack speed reduction. On the other side of the coin, her low health and lack of an instant-heal make her weak to heavy spell casters. Tinker is famous for his potentially endless onslaught of high damage nukes... especially when coupled with a Dagon. Some harassment and a launch of his Laser and Missiles in quick succession can end her before she can even click her Nature's Attendants. -Contributed by Guyoverthere07
{Nerubian Assassin} NA breaks the mold as Enchantress usually does well against melee heroes, but his primary source of damage is his three active abilities. As with Tinker, near instant burst damage makes NA an amazing counter, and the damage output from Vendetta->Mana Burn->Impale will be more than she can handle early-mid game. What sets NA apart from other nukers is that his Mana Burn wrecks Enchantress as her spells are relatively costly (Nature's Attendant's is 170 mana at level 4). The key is to keep Mana Burn at level 1 and spam it whenever you see her get close to 40-55 mana to prevent Impetus harassment when laning against her.


Geomancer

Heroes:
{Axe} Meepo and his three low-health clones simply give Axe 4 times the number of Helixes and a good selection of Culling Blade targets. You are almost guaranteed 3 helixes during your 3 second Berserker's Call, coupled with a few normal attacks and you'll have easily done 700+ damage to one of his clones. Culling Blade and watch the other 3 Meepos fall to the ground.
{Doombringer} We know Doom serves as a counter to many heroes, but it's so easy to kill a Meepo clone it's almost silly. With Aghanim's Scepter, a LvL ? and Doom will kill a clone guaranteed, even if Meepo's running around with a Mek. Killing him before you've gotten a Scepter is still so easy it's almost not any fun... almost. -Contributed by Tfiws dna eliga
Items:
{Dagon} This certainly doesn't go for every hero in the game, but many heroes can make good use of a Dagon against Meepo. While usually considered a sub-par item, focus firing your spells on a single clone and finishing with a Dagon can be an effective way of killing Geomancer.


Goblin Techies

Heroes:
{Image Heroes} If you've played as Techies before, you know how frustrating it can be to burn 5 Remote Mines on an image. Heroes like PL, Silithice and Terrorblade can make it difficult for Techies to decide when and where to detonate their mines. Regular mines can be cleared by simply sending the image into their vicinity, and this applies to Statis Traps as well. -Contributed by peter_tobbermon
Items:
{Gem} Techies is nothing without his invisible mines and traps. While it helps to avoid damage on Melee heroes, they really can't do anything to get rid of the hazards. Thus, ranged heroes make better use of the item as they can destroy the mines and traps without consequence.
{Sentry Wards} Especially early game, these wards will make it much easier to lane against him. Through last-hitting and denying, try to keep the combat location of the creeps in range of your ward so that one ward at a time will suffice.
{Necronomicon} An item that grants vision of mines, extra health to survive them, and mana burn? Sounds like a custom tailored-item against Techies. Not all, but many heroes can use this much more effectively than a Gem or Wards so consider it an option. -Contributed by Dky


Gorgon

Heroes:
{Anti-Mage} Magina's Mana Break passive drops Medusa’s mana shield and health faster than any other melee attack. Magina’s Mana Void ultimate can then be used to the fullest potential. When slowed by Purge, Magina has Blink to escape or catch up in a chase.
{Nerubian Assassin} NA's mana burn may only do 100 damage to her with her mana shield on, but it will burn almost 325 mana every time it’s cast. With a such a fast cooldown, her mana pool can be depleted very quickly. She has relatively low health so once her mana’s gone, just perform the usual Vendetta->Impale combo for the kill.


Holy Knight


Heroes:
{Drow} Marksmanship allows Drow to instantly slay a creep up to 20% of the time. It takes Chen 4-5 minutes at times to find a good pet to add to his army, and it takes her about 3 seconds to kill it. It also renders the "pet heal" portion of his ultimate useless because he can't time a heal to save a pet from a Marksmanship kill. -Contributed by wakerofwinds
{Enchantress} The Enchant ability can be used to instantly convert one of Chen's creeps to fight for her, essentially making Chen do the hard work of creeping for stompers for her. Additionally, Enchantress provides similar healing abilities to her team (especially when coupled with Mekansm) which will offset the effectiveness of his healing spells for his team. -Contributed by usgroup1
Items:
{Hand of Midas} This almost needs no explanation, but Midas allows you to instantly kill one of Chen's creeps... which are usually high gold value creeps to begin with. -Contributed by PieMonger.he is the best


Juggernaut


Heroes:
{Omniknight} Purist has Guardian Angel to not only counter Omnislash for himself, but for his whole team. Juggernaut's melee attacks require he be in range for Purify damage, and Degen Aura helps prevent Bladefury chasing. Bladefury is also magic damage, so one point in Repel is enough to last the full duration, allowing you to whack on him without his AoE DPS chewing on your health bar.
{Blink Heroes} Juggernaut has no way of dealing with Blink heroes. Both his Omnislash and his Bladefury require the enemy to stay within range of his attacks, and he has no means of disable on them. -Contributed by PieMonger


Lich


Heroes:
{Nerubian Assassin} Few heroes can go toe-to-toe with Lich in an early game lane, and the real downside to Mana Burn is that often times it will drain all of the opponent's mana... ceasing to do damage. Lich however has an endless supply with his Dark Ritual, and Mana Burn's low mana cost and cooldown allow you to spam it indefinitely. As soon as you see Dark Ritual cast, follow up with an immediate Mana Burn and you'll keep Lich in check. Mid-Late game, should you be caught in a bad situation with Lich's ultimate creeping toward you, simply Vendetta to dodge it and finish the low hp hero off. -Contributed by disrup3


Life Stealer

Heroes:
{Medusa} Mana Shield prevents N’aix from leeching health. Early game use of Chain Lightning and ranged harass can keep him at a level deficit. If timed right, Purge can be used before he uses his ultimate to slow him down for team kills.
{Nerubian Assassin} Assuming N’aix skills his ultimate at levels 6, 11 and 16, he will not have enough base mana to Rage after a single cast of Mana Burn until he’s level 18+. Even then, he would have to have 100% mana. The trick is to always land your Mana Burn before he can hit his ultimate, and should things go wrong you can always Vendetta away to safety. Lastly, NA’s melee damage return should help counter his life leech should he attack you.
{Silencer} N’aix only has one castable spell and that is his ultimate. Curse of the Silent means N’aix will be forced to use his ultimate whenever the it is cast on him, or else suffer the full duration of the spell. Glaives of Wisdom also bypass N'aix's high base armor count.
{Silithice's} Net goes through Rage, and his life leech does not work on her images. Splitting into her images removes his slow poison and with her superior DPS she should have no problem taking him down at any point in the game, especially in 1v1 situations. -Contributed by Chameleon12
Items:
{Scroll of Town Portal} N'aix has no inherent method of stopping a channeling spell. If you're found in a situation where you can't run from his poison, a simple Scroll can teleport you to safety if you can survive a few seconds of his attacks. If you see him get a Basher or MKB then this concept will no longer work. -Contributed by PieMonger
{Dagger of Escape} I'm a strong advocate of this item on almost every hero, but I've always got one when facing N'aix. It doesn't matter what item build he's got, if you're caught alone with a full health, Avatar'd N'aix, a Dagger will give you an easy way to escape his 40% slow.


Lone Druid


Heroes:
{Lich} The Lich is often chosen as a counter for Syllabear for several reasons. First, Nova Spam while laning against him is an excellent harassment, and it can hit both Sylla and his pet. Second, Sylla virtually always has his pet with him, providing two targets to bounce his ultimate between. The bear will usually have more health than Sylla so you should either get the maximum number of bounces, or a dead Syllabear as long as there are no creeps around. Third, Lich's frost armor significantly slows down his pet's attack speed mid-late game, providing for fewer Entangles. -Contributed by disco_john
{Bane} Nightmare lasts longer on Sylla's pet than it does on heroes, making it a good target for the spell. Sleeping the bear allows his Fiend's Grip to last it's full duration without worry. Brain Sap can nullify any early-game bear harassment that Sylla may attempt. Enfeeble is also a great counter to Rabid on his bear.-Contributed by X@!n & PieMonger
{Crystal Maiden} Frostbite's duration is the same at all levels against Sylla's pet, and the damage remains constant so a single point in Frostbite will do ~700 damage to his pet and immobilize it for 10 seconds. Sylla's only form of channel-interrupt is Entangle, and with his bear in Frostbite you can cast your ultimate with nothing to fear. -Contributed by Blaow
Items:
{Eul's} While not quite as effective as it used to be, the duration of Eul's is significantly longer when used on Sylla's pet... removing him from the equation. Sylla is much, much weaker without his bear running around wreaking havoc and Eul's makes that possible. If your hero doesn't need the mana boost, consider giving the staff to someone who needs a Guinsoo when your charges have run out.


Lord of Avernus


Heroes:
{Axe} Culling Blade goes through Borrowed Time, so when you see Abaddon’s ultimate auto-activate use it as signal to hit your ultimate. He will be forced to activate his ultimate early in an attempt to anticipate damage, which puts a limit on it's usefulness. Abaddon is melee, and has a quick attack speed thanks to his Frostmourne ability which increases the number of Helixes in a skirmish. Late-game, Axe may not be able to kill LoA solo but his Berserker's Call gives his team time to do the necessary damage.
{Necrolyte} Reaper Scythe is also one of the few spells that can pierce through Abbadon’s ultimate, assuming he has lost enough health for the spell to kill him. Death Pulse spam gives Necro the much needed survivability when laning against Avernus or running from him. One Pulse will destroy his shield and heal you for half the damage it does. The 5 second cooldown on Pulse (compared to 23 seconds on Shield) and your ranged attacks will ensure that your health is always greater than his. When he's running around with 4k health late-game, just wait until your team gets him to 40% and end him with a single Scythe.
{Lion} As with the above counters, Lion also has the potential to kill Avernus through his Borrowed Time as his Finger of Death spell (starting at lvl 2) will do enough damage to prevent activating it. The catch is to used his Impale+Vodoo when he reaches the 600-700 health range, and then finish him off with Finger before he can activate his Apothic Shield. This requires excellent timing, but his two disables (three with Guinsoo's) serve as a great way to hold him while your team brings him to a suitable level to finish him off. -Contributed by disrup3


Lord of Olympia


Heroes:
{Pugna} A well placed Netherward will completely dominate a spell-spamming Zeus. His mana will not regen and he will damage himself with every spell he casts. Put some thought into your ward placement, as it will make or break your gameplay. The ward should be placed close enough to keep him in the AoE, and yet far enough behind you and/or your creeps to force him to enter into a dangerous position should he attempt to destroy it.
{Keeper of the Light} Mana Leak will cause Zeus to lose 80% of his mana should he cast any spell within that 22 second buff window. While KotL has this advantage against most spell-reliant heroes, Zeus is the definition of “spell spammer” and is absolutely useless without his spells.


Morphling


Heroes:
{Bane} Enfeeble reduces damage based on stats by 80% at level 4, making Bane an amazing counter to Morph's high agility damage output. Also, Bane serves as a poor hero to Replicate so don't have to worry about his ultimate too much. -Contributed by MrBurninat0r


Moon Rider


Heroes:
{Abaddon} Borrowed Time, coupled with Apothic Shield, act as an excellent counter to Eclipse. He should wait until Luna uses her ultimate to cast his (and shield) and will take damage for the first hit, but will heal for the shield damage and remain unscathed for the rest of it. Once her ultimate has been used, Frostmourne and Abaddon's fast movespeed will allow him to keep up with her. -Contributed by AzureDrag0n1
{Clinkz} All Wind Walk heroes have an excellent counter to Luna's ultimate, however Clinkz takes the cake against Luna. Like Bounty Hunter, Clinkz's cooldown on his Wind Walk is lower than it's duration, so he can break stealth to attack and immediately re-stealth once she ultimates. He far excels above BH in lane control with his orb attack for harassment and he will be far enough back not to be hit by Moon Glaive. Luna's movespeed is 320, which is significantly above average. Clinkz however can match and exceed that easily by mid game making him one of the few that can actually chase her. Finally, Searing Arrows and Strafe wreck Luna's low HP from mid game on. -Contributed by MrBurninat0r


Naga Siren


Heroes:
{Magnataur} Naga is relatively weak without her images helping her out, and a decent Mag player can ensure that all of her clones are taken out quick and easy. This is done through the revised (lowered) mana cost on the now spammable Shockwave, and the ease at which Reverse Polarity can grab Naga and all her images after she net-surrounds you. Cleave and Shockwave are enough to kill her images before she's even unstunned from his ultimate.


Oblivion
.

Heroes:
{Morphling} Pugna will have a hard time against an equally skilled Morphling, as Pugna's Life Drain is interrupted by Waveform. On top of that, Morph is not affected by Nether Ward when using his Waveform. Pugna doesn't have much health to begin with, and even if he has a BKB and Scepter, his ultimate is useless on Morphling.


Obsidian Destroyer


Heroes:
{Pugna} Nether Ward works wonders against high mana cost, spammable spells, and Obsidian Destroyer fits that description. His primary orb attack has no cooldown and costs 100 mana per cast (ward deals 150 damage in return). The sweetest part is that his ultimate costs 300/500/700 mana (ward deals 450,750,1050 damage in return), and with Pugna's +4 INT per level compared to his +2.8 INT, Pugna will likely be unaffected by his Sanity's Eclipse. Again, proper ward placement is a must and it would be wise to only use Life Drain after you've seen Astral cast on someone so as not to interrupt your drain. -Contributed by Guyoverthere07


Omniknight


Heroes:
{Gorgon} Omni relies on three abilities to remain effective in battle: Degen Aura, Repel & Guardian Angel. Gorgon's Purge removes both Repel and GA, which renders his usual god-like survivability down to nothing. His Degen Aura is useful in chasing down enemies or running from them, however his 28% speed reduction is NOTHING in comparison to the 80% reduction from Purge. 5 seconds is more than enough time to catch up to (or run away from) an Omni player. -Contributed by neosquad
Items:
{Diffusal Blade} In the same way Gorgon's Purge can make Omni's life hell, Diffusal Blade's purge does the same thing. While not necessarily a good choice on all heroes, many heroes can make use of the mana burn and Manta Style later in the game.-Contributed by nwfxyz


Phantom Assassin


Heroes:
{Doombringer} It seems that most people don't realize that Doom not only prevents Shadow Strike and Blink Strike, it prevents both Coup de Grace and Blur passives throughout the duration of the spell. This means no crits, no dodge, no blink-escapes, and no slow spell. Without those traits, the fragile Mortred fall quickly to your LVL? and Doom. -Contributed by M. E. Winstead
{Nerubian Assassin} Mortred is one of the lowest health heroes in the game, and she is extremely weak against chain nuking. NA brings one of the highest damage nuke combos to the table once he hits level 6. Doesn't he have this advantage against most low hp heroes? Yes, but she is rare in that she has no real disable and no real escape mechanism. Also, the best defense against her critical strikes is a high armor count, and Spiked Carcapace does the trick well for mid-late game. Granted, it doesn't return critical strike damage, but it will help in survivability. -Contributed by physics223


Phantom Lancer


Heroes:
{Axe} We know that Axe performs best with many weaker enemies attacking him, and this is the very nature of the Phantom Lancer. In addition to the surplus of Helixes, Berserker’s Call will force PL out of his Dopplewalk should he get caught in the AoE. Care should be taken when using Culling Blade however, as it sucks to find you wasted it on an image.
{Earthshaker} Echo Slam is amplified by each target it hits, including images. This can add up to a serious death toll if PL is walking around with 6+ images. However, most PL players will go for Manta Style which burns mana, so use your ultimate early to get rid of the images and make good use of your stuns. -Contributed by angryrabbit2
{Bloodseeker} Strygwyr's passive works on images (though only granting 20% of the hero's health) which he can shred through like butter. Killing 2-3 of PL's images should bring him to near full health every time. In addition, once Bloodthirst activates he can chase and auto-attack PL even after he's Wind Walked away, partially nullifying that ability. Radiance is also a common item on BS, which works wonders against his images and clues you in on the real one.-Contributed by Himura_Kenshin
{AoE Heroes} As many have pointed out, PL's images are large in numbers but fall very quickly to AoE spells and attacks. Heroes like Magnataur with Cleave/Shockwave and those like Pugna with Nether Blast can make quick work of his images... which account for 3 of his 4 skills.
Items:
{Radiance} Many heroes that can farm relatively well and lack an AoE ability can use a Radiance to chew through PL's images in no time. Forget trying to attack each image in search of the real hero, Radiance will make it quite obvious by which one is taking the least AoE damage. The evasion doesn't hurt against a melee hero like him either.


Prophet


Heroes:
{Anti-Mage} No way, Anti-Mage is good against an INT hero? Really? Furion is utterly screwed in comparison to other INT heros when facing Magina... especially mid-late game. Magina’s blink (and all other blinkers) renders Furion’s Sprout spell useless, and his ultimate will do reduced damage to Magina thanks to his Spell Shield. Even his teleport can be interrupted by Magina’s Mana Void, making him the ultimate counter to Furion.
{Priestess of the Moon} Like blink, leap nullifies Furion's Sprout, and Elune's Arrow will cancel his teleport. Starfall helps to counter his treant summon pushes as well.-Contributed by MrBurninat0r
{Beastmaster} Wild Axes cut down Furion's Sprout trees and damage him at the same time. This, coupled with the Teleport-interrupting Roar and Call of the Wild slow give Beastmaster a significant edge against Furion. -Contributed by Heavens Knight
Items:
{Tangoes} Sprout plays a huge part of Furion's gameplay, and for a few gold coins you can nullify it with any hero. Be sure to eat a "corner" tree, as the other trees may or may not let you out.
{Dagger of Escape} While not as cheap as Tangoes, this is a viable item on most heroes anyway... but especially against Furion.


Queen of Pain


Heroes:
{Anti-Mage} Magina does well against most INT heroes, but very few heroes can keep up with QoP and her ability to blink. She can't really be played as a physical damage dealer, and all 3 of her offensive abilities are magic damage which is reduced by Spell Shield. Her blink can be countered by a good Magina player, and her short duration slow from Shadow Strike is not very effective against Magina's already high base movespeed. -Contributed by Genosis
{Silencer} As previously stated, QoP has 4 active spells to choose from and the vast majority of her damage stems from their use. Last Word aura will passively prevent her from being able to Blink in and unleash 3 damage spells (and slow) instantly, and blink out. With a 4 second delay between casts, it would take her 12+ seconds to get off all 3 spells and be able to blink out. During that time Nortrom's Glaives will wreck her low HP with little problem. -Contributed by EndJ)Storm(
{Keeper of the Light} While more of a defensive counter, KotL can render QoP useless mid-late game. One should not solo as KotL against her early game, and when paired with a spell-spamming ally Chakra can keep her underleveled quite easily. Mana Leak should be gotten early, and your fingers should always be ready to hotkey it when she blinks in. -Contributed by M. E. Winstead


Rogue Knight


Heroes:
{Gorgon} The spell that makes Sven so powerful is his God’s Strength ability. Medusa’s Purge removes the buff instantly. Sven also lacks a natural escape mechanism, so Purge can set him up for an easy two-man gank. Also, lacking any real damage output without God's Strength means he will have a hell of a time chewing through Mana Shield.
{Omniknight} Like Purge, even one point in Repel will remove God’s Strength from Sven, not to mention Guardian Angel which renders his team immune to Sven’s primary form of damage: physical attacks.
Items:
{Diffusal Blade} Having a Diffusal is like having a mini-Gorgon in your pocket that you can pull out and Purge with. It comes with 10 chances to remove Sven's God's Strength and slow him to a crawl. As with the hero counters, Sven simply sucks without his DPS boost.


Sand King

Heroes:
{Juggernaut} The Blademaster does not take Epicenter damage and is unaffected by Impale when he is in Blade Fury, so it's an easy "out" should he find himself in that situation. His ultimate, Omnislah, also has a "ministun" effect on the first slash so it will stop SK's channeling ult if timed correctly. If your opponent is foolish enough to use Sandstorm, simply stand right on top of him and Bladefury, you will take no damage and he will suffer the full duration of your spell. It's advised to get a gem or carry some wards if you see SK use Sandstorm, because it will interrupt your Omnislash if he goes underground. -Contributed by jacky817 & AzureDrag0n1


Skeleton King


Heroes:
{Anti-Mage} Magina's Mana Break ability can help reduce Leoric's mana below his Reincarnation threshold, rendering his ultimate useless. Just make sure you don't go for the kill until you drop his mana below the 100/150/200 mana count. Leoric is often a high damage output hero late-game, and if you don't go Bashers, it's suggested you have a teammate hold him in place while you burn his mana. Your primary role is to waste his mana, so even if he tosses a Storm Bolt at you and you blink away, you've succeeded in lowering his mana by that much more.-Contributed by The Lobotomist & disrup3
{Nerubian Assassin} Similarly, NA can use his Mana Burn ability to achieve the same effect. However in his case, Spiked Carcapace helps reduce Skeleton King's damage output, as well as returning some of the damage to himself. It's easy to set up a gank with Vendetta, and two Mana Burns should be enough to bring him below the threshold of Reincarnation. -Contributed by The Lobotomist
Items:
{Manta Style} Again, while not the best item for every hero, there are some heroes that can use it well and it works wonders against Skeleton King's low mana pool. Phantom Lancer, Naga, Chaos Knight, etc. are among the many that can burn away his mana in a matter of seconds.


Slayer


Heroes:
{Pugna} If Lina casts her maxed Laguna Blade in the presence of Pugna’s Netherward, she will deal 950 damage (713 reduced) and receive 1020 damage (765 reduced) from the ward. That’s over 100% damage return instantly. If she tags on another spell or two and she will kill herself in a matter of seconds. As with all Pugna suggestions, ward placement is key to the success of this counter. Wards should be far enough away to prevent easy killing of the unit, but close enough to keep your enemies in range.


Spirit Breaker


Heroes:
{Centaur} The Return skill damage is doubled against Spirit Breaker. This is because his bonus damage from Empowering Haste is done through a second (instant) attack. Every time Spirit Breaker swings his lanterns he will take 100 damage in return, instead of the usual 50. A Vanguard will show the results more clearly as it will drastically reduce the damage you take while he will get hurt for the damage you blocked in full. -Contributed by AzureDrag0n1
{Tidehunter} Kraken Shell removes 40 damage per hit against him, and like Centaur's Return it will act twice against SB. Every attack SB makes can be reduced by a whopping 80 damage against Tidehunter, and that doesn't take into account armor reduction. Additionally, Ravage can be used to stop SB's Charge of Darkness and his Nether Strike if cast at the right time. Gush also helps to counter SB's imba movespeed when chasing. -Contributed by disco_john


Stealth Assassin

Heroes:
{Bristleback} Rigwarl’s Bristleback passive ability heavily reduces all damage taken from behind, which is where SA wants to attack from most often. This reduction applies to Backstab damage as well. Quills can be spammed while being chased and Bristleback will also shoot quills which will stack and wear on your chaser. Lastly, Goo can keep SA in your warded area longer and allow you and your team to finish him quick with the stacked armor reduction.

*See "Stealth Heroes" for more counters.*


Terrorblade


Heroes:
{Lion} Terrorblade hates two things, large burst damage, and stuns/disables. The burst damage found in Lion's Impale and Finger of Death can be used to get TB below his Sunder threshold before he can activate it. The stun from Impale or the disable from Voodoo interrupt him from using his Soul Steal to heal. Lastly, his Conjure Image and Metamorphosis are quite mana intensive, so Mana Drain can work to your advantage.
{Slayer} Lina also has a stun and an arsenal of burst damage. TB must remain still to use his Soul Steal, making him an easy target for a Light Strike Array.


Tormented Soul


Heroes:
{Anti-Mage} Magina excels against most INT heroes, but Leshrac is at the top of his food list. Aside from the fact that all of Leshrac's damage is reduced by Spell Shield, most TS players will stockpile on mana so as to allow longer Pulse Nova durations. Pulse Nova drains heavy amounts of mana while turned on, and it's possible to get Mana Void damage into the 1.5k damage range against him. -Contributed by sp00n
{Keeper of the Light} The Mana Leak ability shines against heroes with massive mana pools, and a reliance on spells for damage output. In this case, TS fits both of those. While Mana Leak works effectively against most INT heroes, few will have a mana pool as large as his. -Contributed by AmericanDeagle


Venomancer


Heroes:
{Silithice} She can simply cast Mirror Image to remove two of Veno's primary skills: Poison Nova and Shadow Strike. Additionally, her net allows her crits and images to make quick work of low health AGI heroes like Venomancer. If her Mirror Image is on cooldown, she can always sleep after a Nova and allow her and her team to get away to safety. -Contributed by M. E. Winstead
{Tidehunter} Venomancer's damage over time spells are periodically (and passively) removed from Tidehunter through his Kraken Shell. Veno also lacks an escape mechanism from Gush or Ravage. -Contributed by harby
{Lord of Avernus} Apothic Shield nullifies Shadow Strike as soon as it's activated, on both Abaddon or his ally. When Veno's ultimate is used, a Shield and Borrowed Time should leave you unharmed, with potentially more health than when it started. These things work better against Veno than most heroes because his damage is dealt over time, which allows more time for you to react and cast your Shield & Time.-Contributed by Macmac1990
{Nerubian Weaver} Venomancer lacks any burst damage, allowing Weaver plenty of time to hit his Time Lapse and remove every DoT Veno has. Nova has a much longer cooldown than Time Lapse, and Shukuchi + Geminate help Weaver establish lane control over Veno, who has the upper hand against most heroes. It should also be noted that a well timed Shukuchi can dodge a Shadow Strike projectile from Veno. -Contributed by n00bermicro
Items:
{Manta Style} In a similar fashion to Silithice listed above, Manta Style works well on many heroes as a quick way to remove all of Veno's powerful damage over time spells.


Warlock


Heroes:
{Obsidian Destroyer} Arcane Orb does a bonus 400 damage to summoned units on top of the normal added damage making OD an excellent counter to Warlock's Infernal. Additionally, Astral Imprisonment will keep Warlock's mana pool at a minimum, preventing him from spamming Shadow Word throughout the early game. -Contributed by pnoize.
Items:
{Diffusal Blade} Heroes that can make use of this item (and Manta Style) can really piss off a Warlock player. 10 insta-kills of his summoned Infernal will also net you a respectable amount of gold in the process... almost making the item pay for itself if you use all the charges.
Note:
-I do NOT consider Gorgon a "strong" counter... Purge only deals 600 damage now which is still considerable against a level 1 Infernal, but when I say "equally skilled" players... I mean one who won't send their less than 600 HP level 1 Infernal at Gorgon. Aside from that, a 12 second cooldown gives the Warlock plenty of time to micro his Infernal out of Gorgon's range, and it's insane HP regen still makes it difficult to kill. At level 2 & 3, Infernal has 1400 and 1900 health respectively. We're talking about 3 purges (36 seconds) to kill, or 2 purges and some attacks (24 seconds) to kill... and this doesn't factor in the summon's HP regen. Consider that the thing only lasts 45 seconds and by the time you kill it, the beast has served most of his purpose. I can see that it's a counter of sorts, but ever since the nerf I see it as a weak counter. Purge is much better used on the actual Warlock to slow him down for the kill, or just get a Diffusal Blade.


Categorical Counters (Special Cases)

INT Heroes

Heroes:
{Anti-Mage} This one may be obvious, but for thoroughness I have included it. Magina is called the “anti-mage” for a reason, every skill he has gives him an advantage over INT heroes. He’s often a good choice when faced with a majority of INT heroes on the opposing team.
{Silencer} Like AM, Silencer is also designed to counter heavy spell casters. If you’re against a majority of INT heroes that rely on firing off spells in quick succession (Lion, Lina, Tinker, Crystal Maiden, etc.), consider Silencer your best team player. His mana pool will be largely unused mid-late game, so consider a Mekansm to further counter the enemies AoE spells against your team.
{Pugna} Netherward is one of the best spells to use against INT based enemies. The AoE is huge, which lets the spell especially shine in team battles when spells are flying left and right. Constant draining of every enemies mana also helps in those prolonged team skirmishes. -Contributed by Harby
Items:
{Black King Bar} As with Anti-Mage, I almost feel this should go without saying... but an item that provides limited spell invulnerability works well against spell casters. If just one noob reads this and learns that's what it's for then it was worth it... right?


STR Heroes


Heroes:
{Necrolyte} Reaper Scythe does damage based on a percentage of health remaining, which means it can actually do more damage to enemies with large health pools. If your team is facing a 4k-HP Centaur player, you only need to do ~2.4k damage for a Scythe kill, instead of the full 4,000 damage.
{Terrorblade} Similarly, the Sunder ability also does damage based on a percentage of health, meaning the more (maximum) health his enemy has, the larger the potential to do damage is. TB's worst enemies are those that can do large bursts of damage (mostly INT heroes) and excells against steady DPS heroes (i.e. most STR heroes).


Melee Heroes


Heroes:
{Nerubian Assassin} For 4 skill points and an easy 3540g, NA can have 80% melee damage return, +30 attack damage, and +18 armor through a few Blade Mails. The armor boost translates into alot of effective health for such a low HP hero. Note that it does not return critical strike damage, but for the most part your opponents will lose health much faster than you in any skirmish.
{Tiny} Craggy Exterior makes it difficult for melee characters to chase or kill Tiny easily. Melee means they have to be in Toss range to attack him, and should any of his opponents attempt a stun lock build, he can act as an effective counter against them.
{Enchantress} Untouchable makes her… well… simply untouchable… when faced with melee characters, as it slows their base attack speed by up to 90%. Additionally, the healing effect of her Nature’s Attendants works best when she takes steady damage (i.e. melee attacks), and not sudden burst damage (i.e. nukes). To top it all off, she is a ranged hero which gives her a large harassment edge when in a lane against melee opponents.
{Axe} One of my personal favorites, Axe is the bane of all melee heroes. This is especially true for low damage and high attack speed heroes, or melee heroes with relatively low strength gain (for easy Culling Blades). Once a Vanguard has been made, Helix will almost always ensure you're doing more damage than they are and Berserker's Call maintains it's utility in team battles through the entire course of the game. -Contributed by mastershan
{Netherdrake} I don't care what hero you choose, you will have a tough time laning against Viper. This is especially true for melee heroes. However, what makes Viper such a pain is the fact that he can orbwalk slow and kite you across the map. The insane attack speed reduction from Corrosive Skin, Poison Attack and Viper Strike does apply to ranged heroes, but at least they can nuke from a distance. Most melee heroes are dead in the water. -Contributed by Guyoverthere07
Items:
{Blade Mail} Assuming you're not facing alot of heroes with critical strike passives, one or two Blade Mails can help bolster your armor and raise your effective DPS.


Stealth Heroes


Heroes:
{Slardar} Every stealth hero is serverely weakened when their ability to ambush and escape easily is taken away. Slardar’s ultimate keeps them from using Wind Walk or Invisibility, at very low mana cost to him and with fast cooldown. On top of this, stealthers are usually chasers, but against Slardar they are often the ones being chased with his Sprint, stun, slow and bash abilities. Amplify Damage also reduces the high-armor count on agility heroes up to 15.
{Bounty Hunter} A stealther to counter stealthers? It's all about Track, which not only allows him to see Rikimaru, Clinkz, Rooftrellan or those Lothar's users, but gives him the movement speed to keep up with them while he chases them down... the bonus gold and armor reduction are just icing on the cake. Jinada crits work wonders on the low HP heroes and the evade grants him considerable effective HP against their high damage output. -Contributed by disrup3
{Bloodseeker} Bloodrage will prevent them from stealthing in the first place, but at the effect of giving them a huge damage increase so make sure it's only cast if you know your team can finish them quickly. Also, if any of the stealthers drop below the 40% health mark, Bloodthirst activates and you will be able to continue to chase/auto-attack them (even though you can't visibly see him on the screen). -Contributed by Genosis and disrup3
{Spiritbreaker} Aside from being able to tank their damage, his Charge of Darkness will give you and your whole team vision of the stealth hero from the second you cast it (even from across the map) until the moment of impact. It's important that your team tries to finish off the stealther as soon as possible because your opponent can re-stealth after you've landed your stun. -Contributed by techplore
Items:
{Gem} Another item that should go without saying... but with the changes to Aegis, it becomes a much more difficult item to hold on to. Your team should put this item on the hardest to kill hero (Abaddon, Morphling, etc.) until one of you recieves an Aegis from Roshan. The hero that has the Aegis should carry it until he loses the charge.
{Sentry Wards} Recently nerfed, they still serve as an excellent counter to stealth heroes. Better used defensively, and placed in gank spots early game, or in locations of high traffic during mid-late game.
{Level 3 Necro Book} Not everyone benefits from the book the same, but many heroes can make good use of it. If your facing stealthers, and you have any form of channeling spells, then this item should be a no brainer as reveals hidden enemies and it boosts your DPS while you channel.



The exception to the rule...
Doombringer is unique in that his ultimate is really the "king of all counters" when you look at things the way we are for the purposes of this guide. Doom silences virtually every spell, skill and item that the target hero has... making it one of the most potent abilities in the game.
edited and posted by kamal