* Slardar deals entirely physical damage. He does not have to worry about Counterspell.
*
Slithereen Crush and
Bash of the Deep prevent Anti-Mage from using Blink, the latter even if Anti-Mage activates
Black King Bar.
*
Corrosive Haze allows allies to take down Anti-Mage before he has a chance to Blink, and maintains vision over him even if he does Blink away.
Additional:
* Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep deals physical damage, bypassing the magic resistance bonus from
Counterspell
* Corrosize Haze significantly increases the damage dealt against Anti-Mage, and makes it harder for him to flee with
Blink, although Anti-mage can block its casting with with Counterspell
* Heroes who can provide True Sight are always credible threats:
Slardar,
Bounty Hunter, especially
Zeus since his
Lightning Bolt provides True Sight without the need to detect her beforehand to apply the debuff. So even a late-coming Zeus can easily scout a large area to reveal her, and she cannot purge herself from his sight with the dispel talent.
* Multiple
Earthbinds allows Meepo to lock down Anti-Mage almost indefinitely.
* Meepo's clones can only use their mana for
Poof, keeping their mana pool nearly full and thus making them a bad target for a Mana Void.
Additional:
* Earthbind can prevent Anti-Mage from using
Blink, allowing Meepo to kill him with attacks and Ransack.
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Anti-Mage usually relies on
Blink to escape, but with vision from Charge of Darkness it is easier to catch him.
* Spirit Breaker could single-handedly lock Anti-Mage down for 4 seconds (or even more with lucky bashes), allowing his teammates to follow up.
* As Anti-Mage is an elusive hero who likes to farm alone, Spirit Breaker could choose to charge whenever Anti-Mage is in sight.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a
Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
*
Doom shuts down Anti-Mage's escape capabilities with Blink. The ability also deals pure damage, which ignores the protection from Counterspell.
* However, a well-timed Counterspell can reflect it back.
* If Doom has
Aghanim's Scepter,
Doom can break Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
* Doom's low mana pool causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
Additional:
*
Doom prevents Anti-Mage from maneuvering around a fight or escaping from an initiation using
Blink. Additionally, Doom deals pure damage, which is not affected by
Counterspell. This can quickly whittle away Anti-Mage's naturally poor health pool.
* However, Doom must be careful when using
Doom as a well-timed
Counterspell can block and reflect it back against Doom himself.
* The Level 25 talent {ValueColor:1|Doom applies Break|25tal} {Symbol:Talent} will also disable
Mana Break and
Counterspell's passive component, which makes Anti-Mage significantly less effective in fights and more susceptible to the high magical damage of Doom's abilities and his allies.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time:
Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Viper's skill set makes him an effective early game ganker against Anti-Mage before he is sufficiently farmed.
* Viper's
Corrosive Skin and low mana pool causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
*
Nethertoxin disables Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
* The damage over time from Viper's
Poison Attack and
Viper Strike rapidly wear down Refraction charges, allowing Templar Assassin to be damaged. Additionally,
Corrosive Skin causes her attacks to apply damage overtime on her as well.
*
Nethertoxin is a big threat to Templar Assassin. Her initially low range making it very hard to deal against Nethertoxin in the laning phase. At any stage of the game, a Nethertoxin can always force her to undo her Meld.
Additional:
* All of Viper's abilities quickly burn through
Refraction charges.
* Templar Assassin's short range, aside from
Psi Blades' spill damage, makes her vulnerable to
Poison Attack harassment.
* Templar Assassin usually buys health and armor items for damage. Outside of
Black King Bar, Viper will almost always be able to kill her when
Refraction is down.
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike:
Lion,
Anti-Mage
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away:
Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can use neither
Blink nor
Manta Style to escape from Smoke Cloud.
* Even if he activates a
Black King Bar, his
Manta Style illusions will still be blinded by Smoke Cloud.
* Riki has a very small mana pool and generally doesn't buy many items that increase it, making
Mana Void ineffective.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a
Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
* With
Aghanim's Scepter, Broodmother will gain access to
Spinner's Snare, which will allow her to create invisible lines on her webs from
Spin Web that will root, deal damage over time, and reveal enemy heroes if they unwittingly step on them. This allows Broodmother to keep her allies alerted on heroes who rely on invisibility-themed and movement-themed abilities and items to surprise enemy heroes and disrupt ganking attempts of enemy heroes:
Phantom Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Mirana,
Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Spirit Breaker,
Anti-Mage,
Tusk,
Ursa,
Nature's Prophet,
Enigma,
Void Spirit,
Magnus etc.
* With
Aghanim's Scepter, Broodmother will gain access to
Spinner's Snare, which will allow her to create invisible lines on her webs from
Spin Web that will root, deal damage over time, and reveal enemy heroes if they unwittingly step on them. This allows Broodmother to keep her allies alerted on heroes who rely on invisibility-themed and movement-themed abilities and items to surprise enemy heroes and disrupt ganking attempts of enemy heroes:
Phantom Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Mirana,
Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Spirit Breaker,
Anti-Mage,
Tusk,
Ursa,
Nature's Prophet,
Enigma,
Void Spirit,
Magnus etc.
* Anti-Mage relies on blinking and attacking. Overgrowth prevents both.
* Be wary that he will eventually farm up a
Manta Style that fully dispels Overgrowth. Good players will wait for your ultimate to use their manta. Perhaps an ally has a silence or similar that would force him to use his manta before your ultimate.
* Attacks from Boars and the attack speed boost from Inner Beast will quickly wear down
Refraction.
*
Pounce prevents Anti-Mage from using Blink, and lets him disengage from Anti-Mage if needed.
*
Essence Shift allows Slark to permanently steal agility from Anti-Mage.
*
Shadow Dance stops Anti-Mage from being able to fight back in a slippery situation.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time:
Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
Additional:
* Dark Pact rips through
Refraction charges and still steals attributes during Refraction.
* Pounce and Dark Pact will still hit Templar Assassin while she is
Melded. Since she cannot move, both abilities will be easy for Slark to land.
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void:
Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
*
Duel renders Anti-Mage's escape capabilities with Blink and Counterspell useless.
Blade Mail and
Moment of Courage work well against Anti-Mage's relatively low health.
* A good initiation from Legion Commander and her team is enough to effortlessly kill Anti-Mage.
Additional:
*
Counterspell offer no protection against Duel at all.
* Duel locks down Anti-Mage for a long duration, preventing him from escaping with
Blink. One successful Duel initiation is usually enough for Legion Commander's team to kill Anti-Mage.
*
Disruption sets up Anti-Mage for a chain disable. The illusions will deal extra damage due to Mana Break.
*
Shadow Poison hits Anti-Mage even after he's Blinked away.
* If Shadow Demon has
Aghanim's Scepter,
Demonic Purge can break Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Anti-Mage alone, Disruption's considerable cast range can become a perfect setup for any hard-disable to follow up. If he is pinned down, Anti-Mage will quickly face his demise when the illusions deplete his already low mana pool.
Manta Style will easily allow him to escape, however.
* The illusions can be controlled to quickly sap mana from any other target, making Anti-Mage one of the most valuable targets to disrupt.
*
Terrorblade's
Reflection turns Mana Break against Anti-Mage draining his mana making it useful during team fights.
Additional:
* Reflection's illusion carries
Mana Break as well, making it useful to use against him.
* Anti-Mage cannot manfight Terrorblade at any stage of the game.
* Terrorblade's high armor makes him exceptionally tanky against physical attacks, and Templar Assassin's main damage source is mostly physical damage, it would be difficult for her to take down Terrorblade quickly even with Meld and Refraction.
* Terrorblade's illusions combo with
Manta Style and
Reflection can make a short work to burn Refraction instances, and combined with
Eye of Skadi, Terrorblade can chase down Templar Assassin easily.
*
Sunder is not blocked by Refraction's damage block.
* Heroes whose attacks allow them to deal either magical or pure damage that can bypass Terrorblade's high armor:
Faceless Void,
Silencer,
Spirit Breaker,
Spectre,
Templar Assassin,
Outworld Destroyer.
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away:
Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy
Refraction
* As a caster,
Anti-Mage's
Mana Break and
Mana Void are highly effective against him.
*
Berserker's Call prevents Anti-Mage from escaping with Blink, and works well with
Blade Mail against Anti-Mage's relatively low health.
*
Counter Helix often triggers even if Axe's depleted of mana, which will make Anti-Mage take more damage than he's dealing and deals pure damage, ignoring the protection from Counterspell.
* Axe's low mana pool makes him a bad target for using Mana Void.
* Axe's high base health regeneration allows him to dominate the lane against Anti-Mage, especially with a support.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call is one of the most reliable ways to lock down Anti-Mage, preventing him from
Blinking away.
* Anti-Mage's high attack speed, along with illusions from
Manta Style, triggers Counter Helix continuously.
* Axe's low mana pool and high health pool make
Mana Void deal very little damage to Axe.
*
Glimpse brings Anti-Mage back after he Blinks away.
*
Static Storm stops Anti-Mage from Blinking.
Additional:
* Similar to Queen of Pain, Glimpse can disable
Blink, negating his mobility.
* However,
Counterspell can negate a majority of Disruptor's damage, which may require him to have a partner to successfully kill Anti-Mage.
* Luna's
Moon Glaives bounce and deal significant physical damage, which can be hard for Anti-Mage to withstand before he has defensive items
* If Anti-Mage misuses his Blink, Luna can use her Eclipse ultimate to finish him off before he acquires key items like Manta Style or Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Although Anti-Mage can survive Luna's magical damage output with
Counterspell, Luna's physical damage from
Moon Glaives and
Lunar Blessing can be fair enough to deal with him.
* Reckless use of
Blink will allow Luna
Eclipse can finish off Anti-Mage from early-to-mid stages of the game until Anti-Mage gets
Manta Style,
Aghanim's Scepter that will give him access to
Blink Fragment and
Aghanim's Shard which will allow
Counterspell to weaken enemy spell damage.
* However, Luna needs to finish the match as quickly as possible, because Anti-Mage is a hero who has a big advantage in longer matches once he farms items he needs for teamfights.
* Sand King can quickly remove her
Refraction with his Sand Storm.
* Once
Refraction is down, she is very vulnerable to Epicenter's high magic damage.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy
Refraction charges very quickly.
*
Diffusal Blade, his core item, drains Templar Assassin's small mana pool, rendering her unable to save herself with
Meld.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
*
Diffusal Blade, his core item, drains Templar Assassin's small mana pool, rendering her unable to save herself with Meld.
* Troll Warlord's passive root, high attack speed, and blind from
Whirling Axes makes him an exceedingly difficult opponent for Anti-Mage to take down in a one-on-one fight.
* Troll Warlord's low mana causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
Additional:
* Whirling Axes (Melee) provides a 60% miss chance, preventing Anti-Mage from burning Troll Warlord's small mana pool.
* Troll Warlord's passive root allows him to very effectively fight an Anti-Mage by preventing Anti-Mage from
Blinking away. This is even more effective when combined with a
Skull Basher or
Abyssal Blade.
*
Counterspell will do nothing to prevent Troll Warlord's high physical damage.
* Due to Troll Warlord's abysmal base intelligence and intelligence gain, he is one of the worst targets to use
Mana Void on.
*
Fiend's Grip prevents Anti-Mage from Blinking away or using Manta Style. It also pierces spell immunity.
*
Nightmare sets Bane's team up for chain disables on Anti-Mage.
*
Enfeeble lowers Anti-Mage's status resistance and magic resistance, making him more vulnerable to disables and magic damage.
* Batrider's abilities are designed to deal damage over time, burning through Templar Assassin's layers extremely quickly.
Flamebreak applies 7 instances of damage, burning through the entirety of Refraction, and
Firefly applies damage on the place, forcing her to either get out of Meld and be attacked or stay in place or be incinerated.
*
Flaming Lasso pierces Black King Bar and rendering Templar Assassin helpless unless there are allies helping her.
Additional:
* Batrider's DoT damage quickly removes Templar Assassin's
Refraction and can damage her during
Meld.
*
Bushwhack can tear through
Refraction as it does multiple intervals of damage.
*
Huskar does not need any mana to fight Anti-Mage as most of his skills cost HP instead. He is a good counter to take away Anti-mage's farm in early to mid-game. He, however, struggles to kill Anti-Mage in the late game.
Additional:
* Huskar is not very reliant on mana to cast his spells, therefore,
Mana Break is not very effective against him.
* Huskar also has low mana pool, he will take less damage once his mana pool is completely depleted.
Mana Void is also ineffective against him.
* Huskar comes online earlier than Anti-Mage, and can take over the game before Anti-Mage can farm up.
* Huskar's burn damage from
Burning Spear is incredibly strong against Templar Assassin as it completely cancels out her Refraction from the burning over time which results in making her very vulnerable to ganks and harassments, and in turn forcing her out of the lane.
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar:
Phantom Lancer,
Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Chaos Knight.
*
Crippling Fear makes Night Stalker one of the best early game gankers to shut down Anti-Mage.
* Night Stalker's low mana pool causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game:
Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
*
Kunkka can bring Anti-Mage back with
X Marks the Spot, effectively negating Blink or forcing him to wait out the debuff before Blinking.
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away:
Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* 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
* A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility:
Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Dark Seer.
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a
Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
Additional:
* Templar Assassin is dependant on
Refraction in teamfights. Because Magnetize deals damage per second and Earth Spirit is even able to refresh the duration of his ultimate he is suitable for wasting Refraction and allowing his team to take her down.
*
Waning Rift silences Anti-Mage, preventing him from blinking away.
* However,
Waning Rift can be dispelled by Manta Style.
*
Dream Coil stops Anti-Mage from blinking, with
Aghanim's Scepter also locks down Anti-Mage for long duration.
* Heroes that have disposable area-targeted spells can force her to undo her Meld:
Leshrac,
Puck,
Tiny,
Jakiro,. An experienced Templar Assassin could try to use Refraction before Meld so she can tank through those damage without getting her Blink disabled.
* None of Puck's abilities have any damage-over-time components, meaning that
Refraction is a valuable form of defense against Puck's lane harassment.
*
Psi Blades deals pure damage and spills over instantly. Puck cannot reliably dodge the damage with Phase Shift.
Additional:
* Puck high magical burst is almost completely useless against Refraction. Templar Assassin often buys
Orchid Malevolence to render Puck useless in teamfights.
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like
Lifestealer,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Phantom Assassin,
Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
* Heroes who just want to farm and avoid Lone Druid early will find it very hard to do so when he starts knocking on towers:
Templar Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Ember Spirit,
Morphling.
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away:
Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
Additional:
* Chronosphere provides excellent lockdown against Anti-Mage, allowing for reliable kills in all stages of the game.
* Time Dilation while
Blink and
Counterspell are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, shutting down his mobility and defensiveness.
* Faceless Void's low mana pool makes him a poor target for
Mana Void, although he is very vulnerable should Anti-Mage burn all of his mana.
*
Blade Fury's damage over time dispels
Refraction almost instantly.
* Juggernaut's high armor allows him to survive for long enough to remove
Refraction and threaten her with
Omnislash as long as he or his team carries detection.
* Templar Assassin's short attack range makes it difficult for her to target a well-placed
Healing Ward. She cannot splash onto it with
Psi Blades.
* Heroes with escaping and disjointing abilities can be good against Juggernaut:
Anti-Mage
Riki,
Queen of Pain,
Puck,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Slark etc.
*
Arcane Orb's pure damage, making Counterspell ineffective.
*
Sanity's Eclipse will hit Anti-Mage while he is disabled from
Astral Imprisonment, and forces him to take heavy damage due to his low intelligence.
*
Essence Flux keeps Outworld Destroyer at high mana, thus greatly reducing the damage from Mana Void.
Additional:
*
Counterspell doesn't work versus Arcane Orb because it does pure damage.
* Anti-Mage cannot burn all of Outworld Destroyer's mana without disables due to Essence Flux.
* Anti-Mage's
Manta Style illusions are quickly destroyed by Arcane Orb.
* However, if the enemy has multiple means of removing mana,
Mana Void becomes a threat to Outworld Destroyer, Anti-Mage has better mobility than Outworld Destroyer with
Blink, and
Counterspell blocks a large portion of the damage from Sanity's Eclipse.
* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat:
Lich,
Lina,
Sniper,
Outworld Destroyer
Zeus
Additional:
*
Refraction blocks most of the damage dealt with Arcane Orb and Sanity's Eclipse if used correctly, and is difficult for Outworld Destroyer to deal with.
* If Astral Imprisonment is on cooldown, then an Outworld Destroyer slowed by
Psionic Trap is an easy kill for Templar Assassin, especially during the laning stage.
* Anti-Mage's low health pool making vulnerable to Phantom Assassin's burst damage and
Coup De Grace critical strike, while Blink is on cooldown.
*
Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal Mana Break to her.
* Phantom Assassin has low intelligence and low mana pool, making Mana Void do minimal damage.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical bursts due to
Counterspell, but he is still somewhat vulnerable to physical damage. Phantom Assassin's burst physical damage can destroy Anti-Mage while
Blink is on cooldown or while he is stunned or hexed.
* Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal significant damage to her without buying
Monkey King Bar, which means he cannot buy items to benefit his
Mana Break.
* Phantom Assassin has an abysmal mana pool and intelligence gain, making
Mana Break and
Mana Void deal minimal damage.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction:
Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
* The three Primal Split brewlings all attacking Templar Assassin at once will remove her
Refraction quickly, especially with Fire's Permanent Immolation.
* Templar Assassin has no way to stop Brewmaster from using Primal Split by herself, and may get unlucky and miss her
Meld if trying to burst him during her ally's disable.
* Blinking heroes like
Anti-Mage or
Queen of Pain can often chase down an injured Brewmaster after his ultimate expires.
* Heroes with mobility spells like
Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Puck, and
Spirit Breaker that are cancelled by Frostbite can suffer greatly from the presence of Crystal Maiden. It is absolutely critical, however, to have followup from teammates, as all of the above heroes can make quick work of the squishy Crystal Maiden after they are released from her grip.
* As with other heroes mentioned in this section, Templar Assassin is not a hero that is fully "countered" by Crystal Maiden (the way she is against
Viper and
Jakiro), however, the proper combination and execution Crystal Maiden's spells, stacked with her team, can most certainly spell the end for Templar Assassin. Though as the later the game goes, and fighting her without team is not the best choice.
* Frostbite can quickly eat away
Refraction charges, leaving Templar Assassin vulnerable for the rest of her team to kill.
* Freezing Field will still apply damage to Templar Assassin when she is under the effect of
Meld, making it an even less viable form of escape until a
Blink Dagger is purchased.
*
Blink Dagger is also cancelled by all of Crystal Maiden's spells, and the fairly short cooldowns on Frostbite and Crystal Nova make her a great asset to a chase against Templar Assassin.
* This is not to say that Templar Assassin has any difficulty killing off the low armor, low HP pool Crystal Maiden, so fighting her alone is never advised.
* Heroes with large health pools (
Pudge) or good innate magic resistance (
Anti-Mage) can be very problematic for Crystal Maiden, since even if they are under the effect of her ultimate for the entire duration, the damage output is simply not enough to kill or force them to retreat.
* 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
* None of Anti-Mage's skills are that effective against Drow Ranger. Gust prevents him from
Blinking in or out,
Counterspell is totally useless against Drow's physical damage, and as she usually doesn't have a high mana pool,
Mana Break and
Mana Void don't do much either.
* Be careful however that Anti-Mage may eventually farm enough to Blink on top of you and kill you straight away, considering you have no natural tools to escape from him.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time:
Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Clinkz
* Firestorm will destroy
Refraction charges very quickly.
* Firestorm will hit Templar Assassin while under the effects of
Meld Meld.
* Templar Assassin has a hard time maneuvering around Pit of Malice.
*
Atrophy Aura weakens Templar Assassin's damage output, as she relies on direct attacks to be effective.
* However, Templar Assassin's
Psionic Traps can be used to intercept Underlord and his team, and to keep her team alerted on Underlord if he chooses to use
Fiend's Gate to get to a designated point of the map.
* Heroes that provide vision will see Fiend's Gate coming:
Techies,
Templar Assassin,
Treant Protector.
*
Flame Guard burns quickly through
Refraction charges, which is why it can interrupt Templar Assassin, giving his team the opportunity to kill her.
* Ember Spirit can dodge a blow from
Meld with
Sleight of fist, providing him an advantage in a 1v1 situation.
*
Searing Chains give true sight into invisibility, why Templar Assassin can't hide from it in
Meld and get out of the fight using
Blink Dagger.
Additional:
* Searing Chains and Flame Guard quickly burn through
Refraction instances exposing her low health pool.
* Templar Assassin has no inherent way to prevent Ember Spirit from escaping, a good Ember player also will be able to dodge her meld attack
* Ember Spirit`s
Searing chains give true sight into invisibility, why Templar Assassin can't hide from it in
Meld and get out of the fight using
Blink Dagger
*
Anti-mage is potentially good against Ember Spirit since he can burn Ember Spirit's mana, prevent him from escaping or using his skill. Anti-Mage has high magic resistance, which will reduce most of the damage from Ember Spirit's skill set. However, Anti-Mage lacks any form of stuns or lockdowns, and may struggle to kill Ember Spirit if he still has some mana left.
*
Pulse Nova can easily burn Templar Assassin's
Refraction charges quickly, and can also hit her while she is invisible in
Meld.
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers:
Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Additional:
*
Counterspell severely reduces Leshrac's magical damage.
Counterspell also impacted reflect Lightning Storm and send back to Leshrac's also affected from movement speed.
* Leshrac already burns through his own mana with Pulse Nova,
Mana Break will burn through even more.
* Leshrac's high mana pool will increase the amount of damage
Mana Void does to him when his mana is low.
* Counterspell does not protect Anti-Mage from
Sacred Arrow.
*
Moonlight Shadow can help her allies avoid Mana Break and Mana Void.
* Blink's cooldown isn't short enough to escape from
Leap, especially when she has the extra charge from
Aghanim's Shard.
Additional:
* Combo items for Mirana
Rod of Atos can upgrade to
Gleipnir and Sacred Arrow before and during Anti-Mage build item
Manta Style cooldown can easy penetrates Counterspell broken.
* Charge for Leap can Mirana easily faster escaping.
* Moonlight Shadow it can disappear anytime and Anti-Mage can not fight.
* Heroes that have superior mobility that can easily catch up with Mirana even after she used Leap to escape:
Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Riki.
* Thanks to
Counterspell's magic resistance, Anti-Mage has a good chance of surviving a Blast Off combo.
* Anti-Mage is a natural
Manta Style carrier, meaning he can dispel the silence from Blast Off and blink away when Techies initiates on him.
*
Refraction can be very useful in safely neutralizing Proximity Mine fields, or absorbing Techies' Blast Off combo.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to get on top of Lina and deal damage with his
Mana Break.
*
Counterspell makes Anti-Mage tanky against Lina's heavy magic damage. It can also be used block and reflect Laguna Blade.
*
Mana Void is very hazardous for Lina, who has a high mana pool and quickly depletes it during fights.
* Templar Assassin can outmatch Lina on the center line thanks to her own
Psi Blades, which is why the advantage of Lina's long-range attacks become turned against her.
*
Refraction is good defense against Lina's burst damage. But remember that Lina can partially counter this with
Dragon Slave's damage over time.
Additional:
* Outlanes Lina on the center line thanks to her own
Psi Blades, which is why the advantage of Lina's long-range attacks become turned against her
* Closes from Lina's magic attacks with her own
Refraction, which is why Lina can't make her combination:
Light Strike Array,
Dragon Slave,
Laguna Blade and kill Templar Assassin quickly
* Anti-Mage's mobility and magic resistance make him nearly impossible to kill alone.
* Invoker's spells cost a lot of mana, and Invoker himself has a lot of mana. This means Invoker and his team are vulnerable to
Mana Void's heavy damage.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Invoker's combo if he doesn't have disables.
* Templar Assassin can easily counter Invoker's last hitting process in the early game with
Refraction.
Refraction also negates the stun from Cold Snap, since it will need to deal damage in order to apply its stun.
* Additionally, Refraction completely blocks damage from Sun Strike should Invoker try to finish her off, provided she activate Refraction beforehand.
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Wraith King's small mana pool, preventing
Reincarnation from triggering.
* Wraith King has no innate mobility. Even with
Blink Dagger, Wraith King is easily kited by Blink.
* Anti-Mage can farm much more quickly than Wraith King, allowing Anti-Mage to overpower Wraith King once a significant farm advantage is established.
Additional:
*
Mana Break can prevent Wraith King from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard that removes the mana cost from Reincarnation.
* With
Manta Style, his mana burning will triple because illusions can also use
Mana Break.
* Wraithfire Blast is quite predictable, and if Anti-Mage can react fast enough, he will be able to disjoint it with
Blink or reflect it back with
Counterspell.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction:
Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void:
Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
* Templar Assassin
Meld`s ability will break Timbersaw's armor, which makes it very easy to break through and not feel his
Reactive Armor, which will allow the team to kill Timbersaw quickly, or drive him out of the fight.
* Templar Assassin's
Refraction ability gives her the ability to avoid damage from
Whirling Death, which will give her the ability to deal Timbersaw more damage than he will deal.
Additional:
* Templar Assassin
Meld`s ability will break Timbersaw's armor, which makes it very easy to break through and not feel his
Reactive Armor, which will allow the team to kill Timbersaw quickly, or drive him out of the fight.
* Templar Assassin's
Refraction ability gives her the ability to avoid damage from
Whirling Death, which will give her the ability to deal Timbersaw more damage than he will deal. However, he may easily burn through
Refraction with
Chakram.
* Anti-Mage easily Blinks out of
Cold Feet's freeze radius.
* Ancient Apparition lacks mobility, thus making him fall easily to Mana Void.
* Counterspell reduces all Ancient Apparition's spell damage.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can
Blink away from Cold Feet or build a
Manta Style to dispel it.
*
Counterspell minimizes the damage Anti-Mage takes from all of Ancient Apparition's abilities.
*
Mana Break and
Mana Void deal a lot of damage to Ancient Apparition due to his high mana pool.
* 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
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void:
Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
* Shadow Fiend's fragility and lack of a natural escape mechanism makes him a great target for Templar Assassin's Meld.
* Shadow Fiend's burst damage, such as
Shadowraze and
Requiem of Souls, is easily nullified by her Refraction.
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away:
Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
*
Mana Break drains Skywrath Mage of his mana, slowing him and dealing bonus damage while rendering him unable to cast his spells.
*
Blink makes it incredibly easy for Anti-Mage to close the gap between himself Skywrath Mage to right-click him down. He can also use Blink to get away and escape into fog of war.
* Anti-Mage passively reduces enemy spell damage with
Counterspell, and can activate the ability to block and send back Skywrath's Ancient Seal or Arcane Bolt, causing him to silence himself or deal massive damage to himself.
* Skywrath Mage's large mana-costs makes him an easy target for
Mana Void.
* Anti-Mage often builds
Black King Bar and
Manta Style which can dispel Ancient Seal and Concussive Shot.
* Templar Assassin easily withstands all the damage from Skyrwrath Mage, thanks to its first ability
Refraction. In addition, Templar Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage with a single hit from under the second ability
Meld.
Additional:
* Templar Assassin easily withstands all the damage from Skyrwrath Mage, thanks to its first ability
Refraction. In addition, Templar Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage with a single hit from under the second ability
Meld.
* Heroes that avoid damage by coming in and out of invisibility in teamfights such as
Weaver,
Templar Assassin, and
Riki will be easy for Zeus to reveal with Lightning Bolt and Thundergod's Wrath, but these heroes usually have other ways to avoid his damage or kill him, so he is not a perfect counter alone.
* Zeus almost exclusively relies on magical damage, which is heavily reduced by Counterspell.
* Zeus' complete lack of mobility makes him very easy for Anti-Mage to chase down with Blink.
* Zeus likes to stand in the back during team fights, but Anti-Mage can easily Blink to close the distance.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can burn mana, which is a big problem for a spellcaster like Zeus that heavily relies on it.
*
Counterspell decreases magical damage taken from Zeus.
* Zeus' high intelligence and mana pool makes him a perfect target for
Mana Void.
*
Refraction blocks all of Zeus' damage and Zeus has no innate way of removing the instances quickly.
*
Meld helps burst down Zeus' small health pool while he's still working through the Refraction instances.
*
Psi Blades allow her to harass and zone Zeus in lane.
* Templar Assassin usually buys
Blink Dagger, enabling her to quickly close the gap to Zeus' defensive positioning.
Additional:
* Although
Lightning Bolt and
Thundergod's Wrath can reveal Templar Assassin during Meld, Zeus nonetheless has no way to deal with Refraction.
* Zeus is a rather squishy hero, falling easily to Templar Assassin's high burst damage.
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers:
Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Additional:
* Although he can be effective against Anti-Mage in an aggro offlane, Lich has a hard time nuking down Anti-Mage in the midgame due to his Counterspell.
* All of Lich's abilities are also targeted, which makes it much harder to disable Anti-Mage.
* In the lategame, Anti-Mage can easily pick off Lich with
Blink, and the high mana cost of Chain Frost along with Lich's large mana pool makes him vulnerable to
Mana Void.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape Chain Frost.
* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat:
Lich,
Lina,
Sniper,
Outworld Destroyer
Zeus
* Heroes with escape abilities:
Anti-Mage
Dark Seer
Slark
Storm Spirit
Windranger
Weaver can kite Lifestealer due to him having no lockdown.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction:
Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers:
Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
Additional:
* Oracle has minimal damage potential against Anti-Mage due to
Counterspell, and may even have some ability damage reflected at himself.
* Anti-Mage can easily overwhelm Oracle with
Mana Break and
Mana Void.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to easily chase and take advantage of Oracle's low mobility.
* Because Oracle uses few, powerful instances of damage to kill enemies,
Templar Assassin's
Refraction and
Visage's
Gravekeeper's Cloak can absorb his burst damage.
* Anti-Mage can Blink into or out of
Power Cogs, negating Clockwerk's initiation and bypassing his defenses.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can easily
Blink out of Power Cogs, escaping any ganking or initiation attempts.
*
Mana Break depletes Clockwerk's much-needed mana.
*
Counterspell makes Clockwerk's very low damage output only tickle Anti-Mage.
*
Counterspell negates Dark Willow's high magic burst damage. Its active blocks
Cursed Crown.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to dodge Terrorize during its long cast animation, as well as avoiding the obstacles from Bramble Maze. On the other hand, if Anti-Mage gets caught inside Bramble Maze, he's unable to Blink away.
* Dark Willow's chained magic burst requires a lot of mana, setting her up for damaging
Mana Voids.
* Her
Psionic Traps will usually disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
*
Refraction blocks all of Earthshaker's abilities.
* Past the mid game, an isolated Vengeful Spirit makes for an easy kill for Anti-Mage.
* Magic Missile is the only disable Vengeful Spirit has against Anti-Mage, but he can either
Blink away to disjoint the stun or reflect it back against Vengeful Spirit with
Counterspell.
* Nether Swap isn't very effective against Anti-Mage - if used offensively, Anti-Mage can simply blink away to safety, and if used defensively, Blink's low cooldown allows him to persistently chase as well.
*
Tombstone's zombies rarely inhibit Anti-Mage, as he can either Blink away or onto the Tombstone and destroy it.
*
Echo Stomp and
Earth Splitter's long cast times give Anti-Mage plenty of time to Blink away.
*
Keeper of the Light can stall pushes with
Illuminate. This makes him strong against pushing heroes:
Terrorblade
Naga siren
Nature's Prophet and
Anti-Mage
* Being an intelligence caster hero, Ezalor usually has a high mana pool and low health and armor, making him a prime target for
Mana Void
* Ezalor's Illuminate damage and Solar Bind's magic resistance reduction are greatly reduced thanks to
Counterspell. Counterspell can also block and reflect Solar Bind if timed properly.
* Anti-Mage usually is not hampered by Solar Bind or Will-O-Wisp thanks to
Blink.
* However, despite all of this, if Keeper of the Light is played carefully and tops off his team's mana at all times, Anti Mage will not be able to get off a good Mana Void.
* By the same token once Keeper of the Light gets a
Octarine Core, he can spam Charka Magic to keep his own mana ful
* Heroes that can jump and kill him:
Meepo,
Clinkz,
Templar Assassin
* Both
Gush and
Ravage do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage escape through
Anchor Smash.
* Tidehunter's small mana pool can be eated by Mana Break, preventing to spam his abilities and ignores the protection from
Kraken Shell.
Additional:
*
Mana Break quickly burns Tidehunter's mana pool, preventing him from spamming his abilities, and Kraken Shell does not mitigate the bonus damage component.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to enter combat quickly and safely after Ravage.
* A well-timed
Counterspell can reflect Gush back at Tidehunter.
* Because of the high mana cost of
Ball Lightning, Storm Spirit is often vulnerable to Mana Void.
* Mana Break diminishes Storm Spirit's mobility with
Ball Lightning, and Anti-Mage can catch him with Blink over short distances.
* Almost all of Storm Spirit's damage is magical, which is severely reduced by Counterspell.
* Storm Spirit has a very large mana pool which means Anti-Mage can do large amounts of damage to him with Mana Break and Mana Void.
Additional:
*
Mana Break can quickly burn Storm Spirit's mana, preventing him from escaping.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to catch up to Storm Spirit when he tries to use his
Ball Lightning to escape.
*
Mana Void deals massive damage to Storm Spirit as well as his teammates, as Storm Spirit depletes his mana pool by using
Ball Lightning.
*
Counterspell's passive magic resistance reduces much of Storm Spirit's magical damage dealt to Anti-Mage, and the active aspect may even make Storm Spirit disable himself.
* Spectre cannot chase down Anti-Mage with
Spectral Dagger because of Blink, though it still grants her team vision over him.
* Counterspell reduces much of the damage from
Dispersion and Spectre's
Radiance.
* Anti-Mage usually builds a
Manta Style, preventing Spectre from dealing any
Desolate damage to him once he summons his illusions.
Additional:
* Spectre has no way to prevent
Blink, for escape or initiation. Anti-Mage can easily pick off enemy supports and Spectre cannot do anything about it.
*
Mana Break burns through Spectre's low mana pool.
*
Manta Style's illusions prevent
Desolate's damage.
* Even though Anti-Mage is outcarried by Spectre in the later stages of the game, a competent Anti-Mage with a
Battle Fury can easily outfarm and get ahead of Spectre before she can come online.
*
Mana Break reduces Snapfire's already low mana pool.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to avoid being hit by
Lil' Shredder and
Mortimer Kisses.
*
Counterspell will reflects from Dispose. Counterspell timing well can not throw from Dispose endured position and Dispose will blocked.
* Anti-Mage easily destroys
Mana Shield with Mana Break, especially once he has
Manta Style.
* Anti-Mage effectively avoids
Stone Gaze with Blink, and can reinitiate after its duration is over.
Additional:
*
Mana Break burns Medusa's mana easily, especially when coupled with a
Manta Style.
* Can easily initiate on Medusa with
Blink, burning her mana or forcing her to use Stone Gaze.
*
Mana Void is effective against Medusa's big mana pool and mana usage, presenting a huge hazard to Medusa's allies around her since her Mana Shield still gives her some protection if she has mana.
*
Counterspell's bonus magic resistance causes the Waveform and Adaptive Strike combo to deal significantly less damage.
* Counterspell's active component can reflect the Adaptive Strike back into Morphling, dealing significant damage or even killing him.
*
Mana Break combined with
Manta Style can quickly burn away Morphling's mana, leaving him unable to use his spells.
Black King Bar can no longer be reliably used against Anti mage due to its 50 mana cost.
* Mana Break drains Abaddon's mana, preventing him from using
Aphotic Shield to zone out enemies in lane.
* Counterspell decreases the amount of damage received from
Aphotic Shield and
Mist Coil.
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Rubick's low mana pool, preventing
Spell Steal abilities from triggering.
* Rubick's complete lack of mobility makes him very easy for Anti-Mage to chase down with Blink.
* Anti-Mage can dispel
Fade Bolt damage reduction debuff with
Manta Style or reduce it by Counterspell.
* Anti-Mage also has no useful abilities for Rubick to steal with
Spell Steal.
Additional:
*
Fade Bolt does little damage to Anti-Mage due to
Counterspell's magic resistance.
* Most of Rubick's spells are single targets and can be reflected by
Counterspell.
* The only spell that provides some utility for Rubick is
Blink.
*
Blink does little on its own to counter Anti-Mage when coming from behind except allowing Rubick to escape.
* Rubick can easily run out of mana to cast the spell due to
Mana Break, if not dying to Anti-Mage's physical damage already.
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Bristleback's small mana pool, preventing him from spamming
Viscous Nasal Goo and
Quill Sprays.
* Bristleback has no innate mobility. Bristleback is easily kited by Blink, ignoring the protection from
Bristleback.
Additional:
*
Mana Break removes both a percentage and flat amount of your mana, preventing Bristleback from using abilities in the lane.
*
Blink Anti-Mage has very high mobility with this skill, and can easily escape from Bristleback since he has no way to prevent his blink. He can also use this offensively to get in front of Bristleback during fights.
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities:
Lion,
Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin.
* Anti-Mage's high mobility from Blink and tendency to build
Battle Fury makes him strong against split-pushing heroes:
Nature's Prophet,
Tinker, and
Arc Warden.
Additional:
* Tinker is fragile and vulnerable against carries like Anti-Mage.
*
Mana Break burns away his mana pool and deals bonus physical damage.
* Tinker's massive mana pool makes
Mana Void deal large amount of damage, and can be used to cancel a
Keen Conveyance teleport.
*
Blink gives Anti-Mage many options, like disjointing Heat Seeking Missiles. He can use Blink to wait out of sight for a split pushing Tinker or chase a blinking Tinker into trees.
* Tinker doesn't want any of his spells reflected back at him through
Counterspell.
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void:
Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can survive against Magnus's
Reverse Polarity thanks to the high magic resistance from
Counterspell.
* Should Anti-Mage survive Magnus's
Reverse Polarity and
Skewer, Magnus will have exhausted most of his skills and items, preventing him from defending himself against any counter initiation or a follow-up from a blink escape.
*
Mana Break can deplete Magnus's much needed mana.
* Anti-Mage's
Blink will make him a very hard target or Magnus to use
Reverse Polarity on, having to solo ult him later on in the game or leave him out of the
Reverse Polarity.
* Overall, any attempt for Magnus to gank Anti-Mage will hurt him more than it will hurt Anti-Mage.
* Heroes that can jump on her:
Slark,
Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction:
Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
Additional:
* Templar Assassin usually places
Psionic Traps inside the Roshan Pit (and can teleport herself to the traps with an
Aghanim's Scepter), preventing Ursa from killing Roshan without getting noticed by the enemy team.
* Venomous Gale and Plague Wards allow to quickly melt through
Refraction charges.
* Both Poison Nova and Venomous Gale hit invisible units, so
Meld cannot be used defensively.
Additional:
* Venomancer's entire arsenal deals lingering damage over a long time and therefore burns through her Refraction very quickly. Not only that, his persistent slow from
Poison Sting (it can be re-applied again and again with
Plague Ward) allows his team to catch up to her even with the disruption from her Psionic Trap.
* Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage get away from Venomancer's slows.
Additional:
*
Counterspell provides magic resistance, diminishing the effectiveness of Venomancer's spells.
* Venomancer's lack of hard disable allows Anti-Mage to use
Blink, circumventing the slows Venomancer depends on.
*
Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain
Bash of the Deep charges, and
Templar Assassin can spill
Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void:
Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
* Warlock can cast Upheaval when Templar Assassin uses
Meld, preventing her from escaping at the right moment.
* Warlock can also send his Warlock Golem near where she used
Meld, preventing escape by
Blink Dagger due to the Warlock Golem's
Permanent Immolation.
* Warlock's Golem's
Permanent Immolation will burn away
Refraction with its damage over time.
*
Mana Break prevents Warlock from casting his spells, particularly in the laning phase.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Upheaval.
*
Counterspell reduces damage from Shadow Word and Warlock's Golem's
Permanent Immolation passive. Additionally, it can reflect Shadow Word and Fatal Bonds.
*
Mana Void deals heavy damage after Anti-Mage has drained Warlock's large mana pool.
* 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
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers:
Lich,
Necrophos,
Oracle, and
Leshrac.
* Sniper destroys Templar Assassin
Refraction's only defense with its
Shrapnel ability, which is why it can easily punch it and kick it off the line, getting more level and gold.
* The huge range of Sniper's attack due to the
Take Aim ability allows him to spend the whole game at a distance far from Templar Assassin, constantly punching her with his physical attacks, which is why Templar Assassin remains either to run away or hide in
Meld, however, even there Sniper will not let her escape with the help of
Blink Dagger, since he uses
Shrapnel.
Additional:
* Sniper destroys Templar Assassin
Refraction's only defense with its
Shrapnel ability, which is why it can easily punch it and kick it off the line, getting more level and gold.
* The huge range of Sniper's attack due to the
Take Aim ability allows him to spend the whole game at a distance far from Templar Assassin, constantly punching her with his physical attacks, which is why Templar Assassin remains either to run away or hide in
Meld, however, even there Sniper will not let her escape with the help of
Blink Dagger, since he uses
Shrapnel.
* Anti-Mage can close the gap with
Blink. Sniper will struggle to escape once he is jumped on due to the lack of mobility.
*
Counterspell reduces sniper's magic damage from
Shrapnel and
Assassinate. The active component can also reflect the projectile back to sniper if he dares to target Anti-Mage. This is seriously detrimental for Sniper as he is prone to buying
Khanda to boost effects of the
Assassinate.
* Sniper often relies on mana to use items for escaping, and his abilities cost a lot of mana.
Mana Break drains Sniper's mana and takes away Sniper's means to disengage.
* Anti-Mage has faster farming speed. He can outfarm and get ahead of Sniper easily.
* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat:
Lich,
Lina,
Sniper,
Outworld Destroyer
Zeus
* Anti-Mage's high mobility from Blink and tendency to build
Battle Fury makes him strong against split-pushing heroes:
Nature's Prophet,
Tinker, and
Arc Warden.
* Heroes who take a long time to become strong are in for a rough mid game, such as
Outworld Destroyer,
Magnus,
Medusa, and
Anti-Mage.
*
Refraction negates all of Void Spirit's burst damage.
*
Meld quickly burns through
Resonant Pulse.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a
Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
*
Mana Break is very effective against Tusk, as he has a very low mana pool.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from an incoming Snowball.
*
Counterspell can reflect the Snowball back onto Tusk.
*
Sven's
Great Cleave can clear Anti-Mage's illusions from Manta Style and his high health pool and low mana, making Mana Void very ineffective, although keep in mind that
Storm Hammer is extremely easy to reflect with a well-timed Counterspell.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage is fairly fragile, and cannot stand against Sven in a prolonged fight.
* Sven's
Black King Bar and low base mana can protect Sven from the effects of
Mana Break and
Mana Void.
*
Great Cleave destroys the illusions from Anti-Mage's
Manta Style.
* Although Sven should be careful as a well-timed
Counterspell can block and reflect
Storm Hammer back at Sven.
* Sven has no easy way to burn
Refraction charges and needs help from teammates to kill TA successfully.
*
Templar Assassin's
Refraction will easily be removed by Eye of the Storm, and Static Link reveals Templar Assassin hiding with
Meld and drain the bonus damage from
Refraction.
Additional:
* Razor's
Eye of the Storm damage-over-time easily wear off Refraction charges, allowing Templar Assassin to be damaged.
*
Static Link empties Templar Assassin's damage output even with the bonus from Refraction, and will keep doing that even if the Razor cannot see her during Meld.
*
Plasma Field can easily strike her during Meld.
*
Blink can easily break Static Link and
Counterspell reflects Static Link on Razor.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time:
Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Because Queen of Pain's spells cost a decent amount of mana, Anti-Mage can easily use
Mana Void if she spams her spells recklessly.
* Anti-Mage has similar mobility through
Blink, which can allow him to catch up to or flee from her.
*
Counterspell will reduce the damage done by Shadow Strike and Scream of Pain. Additionally, its active component also reflects Shadow Strike back at her if Anti-Mage times it right.
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away:
Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
* A well-timed
Counterspell reflects all targeted abilities back at Lion, potentially stunning or hexing him or even making himself burst down.
* Heroes that have disposable area-targeted spells can force her to undo her Meld:
Leshrac,
Puck,
Tiny,
Jakiro,. An experienced Templar Assassin could try to use Refraction before Meld so she can tank through those damage without getting her Blink disabled.
Additional:
* All of Jakiro's active skills can be targeted on an area, which is effective at forcing Templar Assassin to move should she
Meld away.
* Many of Jakiro's spells utilize damage-over-time mechanics, which makes it easy to strip away layers of
Refraction.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to both, escape from Jakiro and to hunt down Jakiro, who has no way to escape without items.
*
Counterspell protects Anti-Mage against Jakiro's mostly-magical damage.
* Both
Mana Void and
Mana Burn is very hazardous for Jakiro because of his high mana.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time:
Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
*
Mana Break makes Gyrocopter, who has low mana pool, unable to use his abilities that most of his damage output depends on.
*
Counterspell negates magical damages from Gyrocopter and it can also reflect Homing Missile back to himself.
* Anti-Mage can easily escape from Gyrocopter's attack range and Call Down with
Blink.
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Enigma's Midnight Pulse damage can be substantially mitigated by Anti-Mage's high magic resistance thanks to
Counterspell.
* In the early game, Anti-Mage's
Mana Void can cancel a
Black Hole until Enigma gets
Black King Bar.
* Should Anti-Mage survive a Black Hole combo, Enigma will have exhausted most of his skills and items, preventing him from defending himself against any counter initiation or a follow-up from a blink escape.
* Anti-Mage's
Blink will make him a very hard target to use
Black Hole on, having to solo ult him later on in the game or leave him out of the
Black Hole.
* In early to mid stage, Silence is also a great way to counter escape oriented heroes such as
Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain, and
Phantom Assassin to prevent them from escaping, provided that they don't have any basic dispels.
* Death Prophet has a high mana pool and due to her heavy reliance on her spells, she will be a prime target for
Mana Void.
* Death Prophet has less mobility than Anti-Mage due to
Blink.
* Heroes who rely on magical damage resistance may have a hard time laning against Dazzle as all of Dazzle's abilities deal physical damage instead of magical:
Anti-Mage,
Huskar,
Viper.
* Although
Counterspell's passive component doesn't protect Anti-Mage from the physical damage nukes from Poison Touch and Shadow Wave, a well-timed use of it will reflect Poison Touch back to Dazzle, slowing him in the process.
* This can be even more dangerous if Dazzle has an
Aghanim's Shard, as
Counterspell will reflect the hex back to Dazzle.
*
Mana Break drains mana, which can be a problem for Dazzle, as all of his abilities have a high mana cost. This makes him especially vulnerable to
Mana Void.
*
Anti-Mage's
Mana Void won't do a lot of damage because Centaur has a low mana pool.
Mana Break is also relatively ineffective against him.
* Centaur has nothing to deal with
Refraction that will negate all of his burst damage.
*
Psionic Traps provide good vision, making for him harder to initiate.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage output to be effective will fare badly against Muerta's
Pierce the Veil:
Phantom Assassin,
Terrorblade,
Drow Ranger,
Lifestealer,
Anti-Mage,
Alchemist,
Lycan,
Clinkz,
Sniper.
* Anti-Mage's high magical resistance from
Counterspell makes him difficult for Muerta to take down.
* Anti-Mage can escape Muerta easily with
Blink, as Muerta lacks any inbuilt long disable.
* Due to Muerta's large intelligence pool and no escape abilities,
Mana Break with
Mana Void can kill her easily.
* Anti-Mage's
Counterspell provides no protection against Clinkz's physical damage output.
* Clinkz can easily rush an
Orchid Malevolence to prevent
Blinking, although Anti-Mage can easily dispel it via
Manta Style.
* Clinkz does heavy damage to towers, and can take map control away from Anti-Mage to limit the space he has to farm early game. If Clinkz is ahead he is capable of ending the game before Anti-Mage becomes a threat. He can also match Anti-Mage's ability to split push.
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void:
Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time:
Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Clinkz
* Swashbuckle quickly burns away
Refraction charges.
* Lucky Shot can possibly disrupt Templar Assassin when she is boosted with Refraction.
* Pangolier's abilities which does not need to target and has big area of effect allows him to damage her even during
Meld.
* Pangolier's high mobility easily shrug off the slow from
Psionic Trap.
* Heroes with considerable mobility can easily escape from a rolling Pangolier:
Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit, moreover, if a player is familiar with how Rolling Thunder works, they can adjust their movement to avoid it entirely and of course outplay the Pangolier player.
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar:
Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Templar Assassin,
Arc Warden
* A combination of
Soulbind and
Phantom's Embrace can prevent Anti-Mage from casting spells.
* If Grimstroke has
Aghanim's Scepter,
Dark Portrait can reflect Anti-Mage's Mana Break, making it useful in team fights.
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind:
Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
* 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
* 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.
* 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),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
Additional:
* Ensnare disables Templar Assassin's invisibility and Blink Dagger (a core item on Templar Assassin), and her illusions will break
Refraction easily.
* Heroes whose attacks can affect multiple enemies at once will clear Naga Siren's illusions. Such heroes include
Sven,
Magnus,
Dragon Knight,
Luna,
Medusa,
Templar Assassin,
Gyrocopter,
Muerta.
*
Track provides vision on Templar Assassin during her
Meld, allowing him and his teammates to gank her often until she buys a
Black King Bar or the {ValueColor:1|Meld Dispels|20tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent to dispel it.
Additional:
*
Track provides vision on Templar Assassin during her
Meld, allowing him and his teammates to gank her often until she buys a
Black King Bar or the {ValueColor:1|Meld Dispels|20tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent to dispel it.
* A well-timed
Counterspell can turn Bounty Hunter's mobility against him, and prevents him from escaping with Shadow Walk due to the True Sight it provides.
*
Counterspell also reflects Shuriken Toss, reflecting the stun back to Bounty Hunter.
*
Mana Break can drain mana from Bounty Hunter, making him unable to use Shadow Walk to save himself.
* Anti-Mage often buys
Manta Style, which can dispel Track.
* The damage block instances of
Refraction can be burned down with Ignite.
* Fire Shield effectively reduces the burst damage from a
Meld-charged ambush from Templar Assassin, provided the spell is cast beforehand.
* Ogre Magi only deals magical damage, which Anti-Mage is exceptionally resistant due to Counterspell.
* Anti-Mage dispels
Ignite with
Manta Style.
* Ogre Magi has a very large mana pool which means Anti-Mage can do large amounts of damage to him with Mana Break and Mana Void.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can kite Ogre Magi who has low mobility by
Blink and his intelligence gain and build making
Mana Void deal more damage.
*
Counterspell well timed makes harass Fireblast and Ignite.
* A strong illusion
Phantasm) from Chaos Knight can cleared from her's
Refraction. Additionally, natural items
Manta Style can dispell silence Psionic Trap from Aghanim's Shard.
* Anti-Mage commonly builds
Battle Fury, which can deal with Phantasm illusions easily.
*
Counterspell, if timed right, will turn Chaos Bolt against Chaos Knight, and can set up for a kill if he is not careful.
* Even if Counterspell is on cooldown,
Blink can almost always dodge a Chaos Bolt because of its slow projectile.
*
Mana Break will quickly drain Chaos Knight's low amount mana.
* However, beware Anti-Mage is fairly fragile and cannot withstand heavy incoming physical damage at any points in the game, which Chaos Knight excels at. A good player will bait out
Counterspell, and retaliate once it's over.
*
Focus Fire tears apart Templar Assassin's Refraction very quickly and easily bursts her down due to her low health pool against Windranger's immense attack speed.
* Templar Assassin's Psionic Trap doesn't slow down Windranger due to
Windrun. Additionally, Windranger can survive Templar Assassin's high burst damage thanks to the evasion it provides.
* Counterspell can reflects triggering with Focus Fire. Since Focus Fire target against Anti-Mage, Focus Fire damage can return to Anti-Mage easily destroy to Windranger's.
* Anti-Mage items
Abyssal Blade and
Monkey King Bar can useful for Anti-Mage's and easily complicated escaping Windranger's fighting against Anti-Mage's and also bypasses to Windrun evasion.
Additional:
*
Counterspell can reflect Windranger's targeted spells such as
Shackleshot and
Focus Fire back to her.
*
Blink can be used to avoid
Shackleshot and
Powershot, assuming an Anti-Mage player can react fast enough.
*
Mana Break and
Mana Void are good against Windranger's high mana pool.
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away:
Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
* 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
* Ion Shell destroys
Refraction's protection stacks in short time.
* Surge ignores the massive slow from
Psionic Trap.
* Dark Seer's strength lies in his high-mana cost skills. So
Mana Break can be a great nuisance for him, since it can reduce his mana and prevent him from casting his spells.
*
Mana Void can deal a lot of damage if Dark Seer spent a lot of mana on his abilities.
* Flux removes
Refraction charges very quickly, and Arc Warden can hit her freely with his better attack animation, speed and range. If she tries to mute in her creep wave, Spark Wraith can quickly kill the ranged creep, forcing her to stay near the melee creeps, again, allowing for easy right clicks.
* With Tempest Double, Arc Warden can easily output 1000 damage (with the stacking of Flux and Spark Wraith and kill Templar Assassin within seconds. She cannot avoid this combo as Spark Wraith will still hit her in
Meld.
* A good Arc Warden can destroy the item timings of a Templar Assassin, and mitigate her impact during the mid-game, when she is the strongest.
* In the late game, if Templar Assassin tries to split push with
Aghanim's Scepter, Arc Warden's double can always threaten to kill her if equipped with a
Bloodthorn and a
Blink Dagger , or a
Hurricane Pike, forcing her to have to use
Black King Bar to survive.
* Quick reactions can also protect Arc Warden and his allies from
Meld strike with Magnetic Field, and if equipped with a
Hurricane Pike, Arc Warden can double force himself away from the attacking Templar Assassin to safety, where after her
Black King Bar ends, she can die to Arc Warden's right clicks.
* Anti-Mage Blinks directly into
Magnetic Field, bypassing its protection.
* Anti-Mage's high mobility allows him to deal with
Tempest Double while it is split-pushing.
Additional:
* Arc Warden's high reliance on casting abilities leads him to be dependent on mana, which Anti-Mage can quickly burn with
Mana Break.
*
Blink mitigates the threat of Flux slow and allows Anti-Mage to close the distance between himself and Arc Warden.
* Anti-Mage's ability to farm quickly allows him keep up with Arc Warden's farm while also de-pushing the lanes Arc Warden shoves in with his Tempest Double.
* Anti-Mage also frequently buys
Manta Style, and can use it so dispel Arc Warden's items that can threaten an Anti-Mage like
Bloodthorn.
*
Counterspell significantly reduces the effectiveness of Arc Warden's magical damage.
* However, do keep in mind that when Arc Warden has a
Black King Bar, jumping on him alone may not be the best idea for Anti mage as it could put him in a bad position, while Arc Warden summons his doubles and rain damage into him.
* The damage over time from Dragon Knight's
Elder Dragon Form rapidly burns down Refraction, allowing him to attack her.
* Also,
Breathe Fire reduces Templar Assassin's damage and
Dragon Tail is a stun with a considerable duration, letting him and his team whittle her health down once her defenses wear off.
* Templar Assassin will struggle to kill Dragon Knight thanks to his high armor and health regen from
Dragon Blood as she deals entirely physical damage.
Additional:
* Despite the armor reduction from
Meld, Templar Assassin's reliance on physical damage and medium attack speed is unlikely to harm Dragon Knight.
* Templar Assassin's Refraction charges also get quickly removed by the damage over time from Dragon Knight's ultimate.
* Counterspell can helpful blocked off to
Dragon Tail.
Additional:
*
Counterspell makes Anti-Mage exceptionally resistant to Breathe Fire, Dragon Tail, Fireball (requires
Aghanim's Shard) and Elder Dragon Form's attacks. Its active component also blocks and reflects Dragon Tail back at Dragon Knight.
*
Mana Break drains Dragon Knight's small mana pool, although it won't affect Dragon Knight much if he is in his Elder Dragon Form.
* His
Rot can force Templar Assassin out of her Meld and destroy all of her Refraction charges quickly, and her small health pool and meager defense make her very vulnerable to his
Meat Hook without Refraction.
* If Meat Hook is used before
Blink, Anti-Mage may be able to escape Pudge's grasp by blinking to safety.
*
Counterspell grants Anti-Mage a large degree of magic resistance, a damage type Pudge is highly reliant on to secure kills. This makes Anti-Mage a bad target for Pudge. The active can also block Dismember if timed correctly.
*
Mana Break can quickly drain Pudge's low supply of mana, which may render Meat Hook and Dismember unusable.
* Pugna's
Decrepify can render Templar Assassin's physical attacks useless.
* Pugna can also cast
Life Drain on Templar Assassin, burning her Refraction instances.
* On the other hand, Pugna generally has low health and armor. Use this to your advantage.
* Pugna only deals magical damage, which Anti-Mage is exceptionally resistant due to Counterspell.
* Anti-Mage can dispel
Decrepify with
Manta Style.
* Pugna has a very large mana pool. This allows Anti-Mage to constantly deal bonus damage to Pugna with Mana Break and devastate Pugna's entire team with Mana Void.
Additional:
* Since Pugna relies on his teammates for protection, it is fairly common for Anti-Mage to get multiple kills with a single use of his
Mana Void on Pugna if he's missing a considerable portion of his mana.
* Pugna's massive mana pool will result in Anti-Mage's
Mana Break almost always dealing the bonus damage from the mana burn.
*
Counterspell negates a large amount of Pugna's damage, as most of Pugna's damage comes from his spells.
*
Blink can be used to get out of a bad situation, and Pugna has no way to prevent him from casting it.
* Phoenix's abilities target and deals damage over time, making them a threat against Meld and Refraction. His abilities' nature makes them pretty hard to correctly land on the target, but that is not a problem against a Templar Assassin that needs to stand still during Meld.
*
Icarus Dive allows Phoenix to shrug off the slow from her trap and make an easy escape from her ambush.
* As Templar Assassin relies on her quality-over-quantity bursting attacks to make quick work on fragile target,
Fire Spirits' attack speed reduction can cripple her ability to deals any damage during combat. With the debuff applied in early-mid game, a Meld-breaking hit from her is significantly slowed to the point that her target can travel a safe distance before she even lands the hit.
*
Sun Ray has a quick damage tick and will burn through her Refraction in no time.
*
Supernova deals damage over time in an incredibly large area, and again with her quality-over-quantity style, she may not be able to attack quickly enough to break through the Phoenix Sun by herself. (not to mention the debuff from Fire Spirits) This can lead to a failed ganking attempt or even a turnaround.
Additional:
* Her
Refraction charges can and will be easily burned away by Phoenix's damage over time abilities, and
Meld can't protect her from Phoenix's AoE abilities, even without detection.
* Anti-Mage dispels Phoenix's slows with
Manta Style.
* Anti-Mage can Blink directly next to
Supernova, giving him more time to destroy the egg.
* Heroes that have disposable area-targeted spells can force her to undo her Meld:
Leshrac,
Puck,
Tiny,
Jakiro,. An experienced Templar Assassin could try to use Refraction before Meld so she can tank through those damage without getting her Blink disabled.
* Due to Tiny's non-existent agility gain, high physical damage heroes are more effective against him (
Clinkz,
Templar Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King etc).
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.
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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 win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
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Anti-Mage
* Blood Rite prevents Anti-Mage from escaping with
Blink.
Blink will trigger the damage from Rupture.
Counterspell.
*
* Both Blood Rite & Rupture are pure damage which can bypass
Templar Assassin
* Heroes with invisibility will be detected by Thirst when they have low enough health:
Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Weaver,
Treant Protector,
Nyx Assassin.