* 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.
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Timbersaw's Reactive Armor.
* Astral Imprisonment, if timed correctly, can interrupt Timber Chain, preventing him from escaping.
Additional:
* Arcane Orb deals constant pure damage, which bypasses Timbersaw's Reactive Armor.
* Sanity's Eclipse can hit targets inside Astral Imprisonment, which helps Outworld Destroyer finish off Timbersaw before he escapes with Timber Chain. It can also drain his mana, limiting his ability to escape should he survive.
* 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.
* Brain Sap's pure damage ignores stacks of Reactive Armor.
* Nightmare prevents Timbersaw from using Timber Chain, setting him up for chain stuns and burst damage.
* Enfeeble highly reduces regeneration granted by reactive armor.
* Fiend's Grip immobilizes Timbersaw and drains his low mana pool, preventing escape afterwards. It also pierces Black King Bar.
* Bane's multiple disables often force Timbersaw or his teammates to spend gold on a Linken's Sphere.
* Refraction protects against Anti-Mage's low burst damage, and allows her to win most fights against Anti-Mage during the early game.
* Meld's burst damage and armor reduction is often enough to finish off Anti-Mage before he Blinks away.
* 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.
* 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.
* Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high HP targets such as Timbersaw.
* Timbersaw is extremely reliant on his abilities to be effective during a team fight - both for mobility, damage and crowd control. Timbersaw offers very little, impactful right-click damage, and thus Doom is particularly crippling against him.
* Additionally, when Doom chooses the {ValueColor:1|Doom applies Break|25tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent, Doom disables Reactive Armor, which effectively removes the durability which Timbersaw is commonly known for.
Additional:
* Doom shuts down Timbersaw completely, negating his mobility and preventing him from doing any damage. It also breaks Reactive Armor's passive bonuses from Aghanim's Scepter.
* Infernal Blade can stun Timbersaw several times in a fight, potentially interrupting Timber Chain. Also it's useful since Timbersaw has high HP due to the damage scales based on max HP.
* 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.
* Timbersaw is heavily reliant on his abilities for damage and escape, allowing Silencer to effectively disable him and make him useless in both team fights and 1v1 scenarios.
Additional:
* Arcane Curse deals repeated stacks of damage to Timbersaw because he relies on constantly using his abilities.
* Glaives of Wisdom deals pure damage and when cast manually, nearby creeps will not attack silencer, making it an effective harassment tool. The intelligence steal is also especially potent against Timbersaw since he often uses up all of his mana throughout the entire game.
* Although Last Word takes a while to trigger, it will break Timbersaw's ability combo and can be used to silence him.
* Global Silence will silence Timbersaw no matter where he is on the map. This can be used to help allies get a kill on him, or prevent Timbersaw from killing someone.
* 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.
* Heroes who are melee but cannot fight back against Eclipse will really struggle with Luna: Monkey King, Alchemist, Timbersaw.
* 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.
* Time Dilation is similar to a long duration silence, making Timbersaw useless in team fights, or forcing him to adapt his build.
* Time Walk negates Timbersaw's burst damage.
* Time Lock provides magical damage and lock down, and is effective against both Reactive Armor and Timber Chain.
* In conjunction with Time Lock's magical damage, Chronosphere can destroy Timbersaw before he has time to react, and creates a large obstacle that obstruct's Timber Chain's mobility.
* 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.
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Lycan, Bloodseeker, Anti-Mage, Timbersaw.
* 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.
* Viper Strike prevents Timbersaw from gaining stacks on Reactive Armor.
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion, Anti-Mage
* 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.
* Timbersaw relies heavily on his abilities so Phantom's Embrace's silence makes it more difficult for him.
* Timbersaw cannot use Return Chakram or attack the phantom during Phantom's Embrace, forcing him to take full damage and refreshes Phantom's Embrace's cooldown.
Additional:
* Timbersaw is completely powerless against Phantom's Embrace if Chakram is out.
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain, Morphling, Storm Spirit
* A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility: Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Dark Seer.
* In general, Timbersaw struggles against highly mobile heroes that can avoid his abilities: Puck, Weaver, Ember Spirit and others.
* Timbersaw's physical survivability revolves around Reactive Armor, which is largely ignored by Fury Swipes due to the extreme amounts of damage it does in a very few number of attacks.
* Timbersaw's burst damage will not do much against Enrage, although he could easily use Timber Chain to escape, wasting the duration of it.
* 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 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.
* Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* The stun and damage over time from Shackles mitigates Reactive Armor's HP and armor regen.
* As a caster, Anti-Mage's Mana Break and Mana Void are highly effective against him.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Magical burst damage is Timbersaw's weakness, and Ancient Seal not only amplifies it but also prevents him from using Timber Chain to escape for up to 6 seconds.
* He generally doesn't build early items to deal with silences.
* Reactive Armor does not trigger on magic damage or spells, meaning that even a Pipe of Insight won't give him the massive sustain he normally gets from attacks.
Additional:
* Skywrath Mage's long range and low cooldown magic damage spells can easily harass Timbersaw out of lane.
* Ancient Seal is not only a long lasting silence, (one of Timbersaw's biggest weaknesses) but it also makes him even more vulnerable to magical burst damage.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Because Timbersaw relies heavily on his spells to deal damage, Silence can easily disable him in a team fight.
* Exorcism's spirits do not count as regular attacks, and will not add stacks of Reactive Armor.
* 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 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* In addition, Lion can follow up with his Earth Spike and Mana Drain combo, preventing Timbersaw to escape with Timber Chain. And he can finish Timbersaw off with Finger of Death if the latter's HP is low enough.
* A well-timed Counterspell reflects all targeted abilities back at Lion, potentially stunning or hexing him or even making himself burst down.
* 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.
* Reactive Armor's armor increase does not affects Muerta's Pierce the Veil despite Muerta often building high attack speed.
* Muerta's Dead Shot destroys trees preventing Timbersaw from escaping with his Timber Chain.
* 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.
* 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.
* Special mention to Timbersaw as he has a way to deal with Axe in the laning stage, but still needs to be careful about Berserker's Call stun, the pure damage from Counter Helix and Culling Blade finishing him off before he can escape or heal from his passive.
Additional:
* Whirling Death reduces Axe's strength by 15%, which makes him less durable, especially from early game. It's also stackable.
* Blade Mail are not effective against attribute changes, and Timber Chain can wait out Blade Mail's duration to wear off.
* Reactive Armor makes it harder for Axe to finish off Timbersaw with Culling Blade.
* Chakram disarms Timbersaw, which makes Axe's Counter Helix useless against him.
* All Timbersaw skills deal pure damage, which bypass Axe's high armor or bonus armor from Berserker's Call.
* Searing Chains prevents usage of Timber Chain.
* Timbersaw is vulnerable to magical burst damage, which Ember Spirit provides with Fire Remnant and Flame Guard.
* Timbersaw's abilities deal pure damage, thus they cannot remove Flame Guard.
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Faceless Void, Magnus, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Riki, Sand King, Spirit Breaker, Timbersaw, Tusk.
* 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
* Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance: Lina, Jakiro, Underlord, Leshrac, Dark Seer, Earthshaker, Timbersaw, Crystal Maiden.
Additional:
* Timbersaw can use Chakram as a scouting tool to find Slark if he tries to Pounce into the trees.
* None of Timbersaw's abilities require a target to be cast, allowing him to hit Slark inside Shadow Dance.
* Reactive Armor can be effective protection against a Slark who attacks quickly, since the strong armor and health regen cannot be stolen by Essence Shift.
* Timber Chain makes Timbersaw very mobile, meaning he is among the very few heroes who can actually give chase to a fleeing Slark.
* 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.
* Rolling Thunder's stuns make it harder for Timbersaw to escape with Timber Chain.
* 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.
* 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.
* Whirling Death deals damage while also reducing {Show:A|Timbersaw|Whirling Death|value4} of Bristleback's strength, making him less tanky.
* Reactive Armor can sustain through multiple Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray stacks.
* Timber Chain makes it hard for Bristleback to slow down Timbersaw even with Viscous Nasal Goo.
* 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.
* Timbersaw is often too mobile and durable for Gyrocopter to bring down with his area attacks.
* 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.
* Timbersaw's pure damage will kill Dragon Knight surprisingly fast, especially if he gets caught in a bad position while laning.
* 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.
* Strong area damage, particularly from Whirling Death and Chakram, lets Timbersaw clear out illusions quickly.
* Whirling Death directly reduces Strength from both Chaos Knight and his Phantasm illusions, reducing both the damage output and raw health that the hero relies on.
* Reactive Armor quickly builds stacks against Phantasm illusions, making Timbersaw harder to kill.
Additional:
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw to endure the damage from Chaos Bolt and Reality Rift combo.
* Timbersaw's large amount of pure damage AoE nukes clears Chaos Knight's illusions quickly, drastically reducing his damage.
* 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.
* The percentage-based primary-attribute reduction effect of Whirling Death can be devastating for Pudge due to his high strength gain through Flesh Heap.
* Reactive Armor's health regeneration and common itemization for magic resistance and durability makes Timbersaw a poor target for Pudge.
* Timber Chain's high mobility makes it difficult for Pudge to hook or deal much Rot damage to Timbersaw.
* 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.
* All three of Timbersaw’s abilities give him an easy way out of Sprout, and can also destroy nearby trees so Nature's Prophet can’t spawn Treants.
* If Prophet tries to escape with a self Sprout/Teleport, Timbersaw can easily cut down all its trees to get to him and deal increased Whirling Death damage as well.
* Chakram heavily discourages teleports.
* Timbersaw is quite well suited to clearing massive waves of Treants almost instantly with all of his area of effect pure damage abilities, preventing Nature's Prophet from pushing.
* Treants can give Reactive Armor many charges quite quickly.
Additional:
* Timbersaw can easily cut down trees from Sprout, making it very difficult for Nature's Prophet to teleport away or trap enemies.
* Timbersaw's abilities quickly clear out treants.
* Reactive Armor negates most of the damage of Nature's Prophet's treants, and Timbersaw can often allow himself to be attacked in order to heal himself.
* Blink can easily break Static Link and Counterspell reflects Static Link on Razor.
* Heroes who rely on abilities to deal damage (e.g. Timbersaw, Tinker) can fight a Razor even after Static Link.
Additional:
* Razor deals mostly physical damage towards the later game, and Timbersaw is also very mobile, making him a difficult kill to earn.
* Timbersaw rarely resorts to attacks, thus does not suffer when his damage is stolen with Static Link.
* Tombstone's zombies rarely inhibit Anti-Mage, as he can either Blink away or onto the Tombstone and destroy it.
* Reactive Armor makes Timbersaw very effective against heroes that control a lot of units, such as Broodmother, Lycan and Undying.
* 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.
* Heroes who are not easily crippled by Fate's Edict or Fortune's End, such as Timbersaw, or those who can dispel them, such as Phantom Lancer, can kill Oracle unhindered.
* Reactive Armor is very effective against Beastmaster's summons during laning stage and entire game.
* Timbersaw can quickly clear Beastmaster's summons with his nukes.
* Lotus Orb item for Timbersaw can releases roar from the target position, stunning and damaging Beastmaster and knocking away, damaging and slowing allies that stand on the way.
* 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.
* All Timbersaw's abilities deal AoE pure damage and can easily deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Reactive Armor highly negates Phantom Lancer's physical damage, making him having a hard time killing Timbersaw.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's lack of burst damage and constant attacks will increase Reactive Armor to max level immediately.
* Coupled with Timber Chain, it makes an easy escape and almost impossible for Timbersaw to be killed by Phantom Lancer.
* Whirling Death and Chakram can instantly destroy large groups of illusions, negating Phantom Lancer's advantage, although Phantom Lancer usually builds Diffusal Blade. It can be a problem in late game.
* With Timber Chain, Timbersaw can slow, catch up with, or escape from Chen and his creeps.
* Chakram and Flamethrower from Aghanim's Shard can clear Chen's creeps and slow him.
* Attacks from multiple creeps will quickly build Reactive Armor stacks, making attacks of Chen and his creeps only tickle Timbersaw.
* Mana Break reduces Snapfire's already low mana pool.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to avoid being hit by Lil' Shredder and Mortimer Kisses.
* 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.
* Timbersaw's low cooldown and low mana cost abilities destroys the trees that Monkey King depends on.
* Timber Chain allows Timbersaw to escape Wukong's Command.
Additional:
* Timbersaw can easily cut down the tree that Monkey King is standing on, stunning him for a lengthy period.
* Timbersaw can use Timber Chain to easily escape Wukong's Command and Primal Spring's slow.
* However, when facing Monkey King mid, Timbersaw might get harassed out of the lane because of Jingu Mastery.
* 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.
* Timbersaw has a difficult time against magical and pure damage: Lina, Leshrac, Enchantress, Queen of Pain
* Heroes that can jump on her: Slark, Queen of Pain, Anti-Mage
* The burst damage from Timbersaw's abilities is more than enough to deal with Enchantress and her creeps.
* Timbersaw doesn't rely on his physical attacks, which makes Untouchable useless against him.
* Timber Chain can close the gap between them and minimize damage from Impetus.
* Bear in mind, however, that Timber Chain can also work against Timbersaw if used to escape and that Impetus can ignore Reactive Armor if Enchantress is not a primary target for Timbersaw or if he is disabled.
* Timbersaw is a common wielder of Lotus Orb, which will allow him to reflect Enchant back at Enchantress and dispel most debuffs as well.
* 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.
* Timbersaw's innate durability provided by Reactive Armor is very hard to deal with as Naga Siren as she mostly relies on sustained damage rather than burst damage unless if she is played as Nuker.
* Timbersaw's high pure damage and low-cooldown area-of-effect nukes which are Whirling Death, Timber Chain, Chakram and Flamethrower from Aghanim's Shard can also destroy Naga Siren's illusions very fast.
* Timbersaw is a common Lotus Orb wielder which allows him to reflect Ensnare back at Naga SIren.
* Timbersaw’s reliance on nearby trees means he’ll usually be close to Hoodwink.
* More significantly, Timbersaw's tree destroying abilities cut off Hoodwink's escape options, passive and easily foil Acorn Shot or Bushwhack combos.
* While channeling Sharpshooter, Timbersaw can simply sit his Chakram on top of her and unleash his full combo, forcing her to cancel and disengage.
* Timber Chain can be used to dodge Sharpshooter.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* All of Timbersaw's spells deal AoE damage, killing Lycan's summons very quickly.
* Reactive Armor will gain stacks quickly because of Lycan's summons.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Counterspell will reflects from Dispose. Counterspell timing well can not throw from Dispose endured position and Dispose will blocked.
* Timbersaw has a difficult time against magical and pure damage: Lina, Leshrac, Enchantress, Queen of Pain
* 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.
* Heroes that can close the gap can easily chase Lina down, such as Timbersaw with Timber Chain and Anti-Mage with Blink.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Timbersaw relies on dealing massive amounts of pure damage, making Cold Embrace a good setup for his nukes.
* If he has Reactive Armor stacks, Timbersaw can tank the damage from his allies if he is targeted by Winter's Curse. If he's not the target, Timbersaw's abysmal attack damage will contribute next to nothing when he is cursed to attack an ally.
* As Timbersaw commonly buys Lotus Orb, he can use it to reflect Winter's Curse back to Winter Wyvern if she uses it impulsively on him or any other hero while affected by it.
* Echo Stomp and Earth Splitter's long cast times give Anti-Mage plenty of time to Blink away.
* Reactive Armor will quickly stack up from Familiar attacks, making Timbersaw hard to kill.
* Visage's low mobility makes it easy for Timbersaw to line up his abilities.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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 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
* 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
* Blinking heroes like Anti-Mage or Queen of Pain can often chase down an injured Brewmaster after his ultimate expires.
* Heroes with escaping and disjointing abilities can be good against Juggernaut:Anti-Mage Riki, Queen of Pain, Puck, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Slark etc.
* 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 escape abilities: Anti-Mage Dark Seer Slark Storm Spirit Windranger Weaver can kite Lifestealer due to him having no lockdown.
* Timbersaw: Lone Druid will have a hard time dealing with Timbersaw due to his tankiness and high Armor from Reactive Armor
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities: Lion, Anti-Mage, Nyx Assassin.
* 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.
* Timbersaw's abilities combos all deal magical and pure damage, completely ignoring Terrorblade's high base armor and clearing his illusions very quickly due to the AoE damage.
* Reactive Armor negates most of Terrorblade's damage against Timbersaw, and its high health regeneration and armor bonuses can help Timbersaw survive after Terrorblade has used Sunder on him.
Additional:
* Timbersaw can take down Terrorblade's illusions with his area damage burst.
* Reactive Armor plus another armor item reduce much of Terrorblade's damage.
* 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
* Timbersaw has a difficult time against magical and pure damage: Lina, Leshrac, Enchantress, Queen of Pain
* 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 that withstand damage like Timbersaw, Bristleback, Dragon Knight and others will have their durability largely reduced when hit by an Ice Blast due to the risk of shattering.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* Kunkka can bring Anti-Mage back with X Marks the Spot, effectively negating Blink or forcing him to wait out the debuff before Blinking.
* Timbersaw Defeats Kunkka on the center line, due to the fact that he has a huge resistance to physical damage by Reactive Armor, which is why Tidebringer almost does not break through Timbersaw, and due to Whirling Death Timbersaw can very much break through Kunkka and force him to leave the line, or spend money on Tango.
Additional:
* Timbersaw easily beats Kunkka on the midlane, due to the fact that he has huge physical damage resistance from Reactive Armor, which is why Tidebringer almost does not break through Timbersaw, and due to Whirling Death and Kunkka being a strength hero, Timbersaw can very much break through Kunkka and force him to leave the lane, or spend money on Tango.
* 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.
* Reactive Armor prevents Broodmother's spiderlings from being able to effectively harass Timbersaw in the lane.
* Timber Chain's high mobility makes Silken Bola's slow irrelevant, unless Broodmother already bought her Orchid.
* Silken Bola's miss chance doesnt affect Rizzrack that much because he does not rely on his autoattacks much.
* Lotus Orb items for Timbersaw make Silken Bola useless.
* Timbersaw's abilities can destroy any trees that Broodmother attempts to hide in and his AoE abilities can quickly clear her Spiderlings.
Additional:
* Spiderlings deal almost no damage against Reactive Armor. They also die quickly from Timbersaw's AoE abilities.
* Broodmother has no mobility ability except the movement speed buff from Spin Web, allowing Timbersaw to easily escape her Silken Bola with Timber Chain.
* Timbersaw's tree-cutting abilities make it difficult for Broodmother to hide, especially near the edges of the map.
* All Tinker's damage is magic/pure and completely ignores Timbersaw's Reactive Armor.
* Timbersaw very rarely builds Black King Bar, making him very vulnerable if Tinker builds Scythe of Vyse.
* 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.
* Timbersaw's ability to destroy trees can be a serious problem for some heroes that use them, as either a way of enhancing their spells like Treant Protector, or heroes that tend to hide inside of them like Tinker and Monkey King.
* 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.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* Cold Snap can prevent Timbersaw from using both Timber Chain and Chakram due to the frequent stuns interrupting the lengthy cast animations, as well as stopping him mid-chain. This can negate Timbersaw's attempts to escape or dole out extra ability damage.
* Later in the game, Invoker's heavy magical and pure damage can be difficult to avoid, meaning Timbersaw's armor is less useful.
* 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.
* Zeus deals enormous amounts of magic damage, being one of the best heroes to burst down Timbersaw early in the game.
* Lightning Bolt's mini-stun can stop Timbersaw's from escaping a fight with Timber Chain.
Additional:
* Reactive Armor will not trigger from Zeus's spells or protect Timbersaw from their damage.
* Early game Timbersaw's strength is average and Zeus can heavily aid in bursting him down.
* Late game, if Timbersaw has built a lot of HP items, Zeus's passive Static Field will be more effective at chipping away Timbersaw's large HP pool.
* A Timbersaw who builds Pipe of Insight will be much more difficult to kill, as Zeus has no way to hold Timbersaw down, but Timbersaw will have less armor, mana, and damage than normal if he buys this item early game just to counter Zeus.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar: Phantom Lancer, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Chaos Knight.
* Ball Lightning makes Storm Spirit a target difficult to chase, even for a hero as mobile as Timbersaw.
* The magical damage from Static Remnant and Overload together with Storm Spirit's high mobility allows Storm Spirit to jump on Timbersaw and burst him down, even if he tries to escape.
* 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.
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit or Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like Rod of Atos or Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
Additional:
* Heartstopper Aura effectively negates Timbersaw's large HP pool as well as HP regen.
* Death Pulse together with health and mana regeneration from killed creeps helps Necrophos and his teammates survive Timbersaw's burst damage.
* As a tanky hero that stays in the middle of teamfights, Timbersaw is an easy target for Reaper's Scythe.
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich, Necrophos, Oracle, and Leshrac.
* Nether Ward can punish Timbersaw, as Timbersaw is a spell-caster with low cooldowns. Furthermore, Timbersaw usually appears in the midst of battle, placing himself in range of Nether Ward's Mana Flares.
* Timbersaw has no stuns or silences to stop Life Drain. Since all of Pugna's Spells are magical, the damage can be devastating to Timbersaw.
* Decrepify can further increase all the magical damage done to Timbersaw, bypassing the enhanced physical resistance he can get from Reactive Armor.
Additional:
* Nether Ward can punish Timbersaw, as Timbersaw is a spell-caster with low cooldowns. Furthermore, Timbersaw usually appears in the midst of battle, placing himself in range of Nether Ward's Mana Flares.
* Timbersaw has no stuns or silences to stop Life Drain. Since all of Pugna's Spells are magical, the damage can be devastating to Timbersaw, especially when combined with Decrepify.
* 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.
* 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.
* Timber Chain can kite Troll Warlord extremely effectively.
* Whirling Death and Chakram deals lots of damage to Troll Warlord.
* Reactive Armor makes Timbersaw extremely resilient to Troll's attack damage and extreme attack speed, especially during Battle Trance.
* Bramble Maze prevents Timbersaw from Timber Chaining away without getting rooted.
* Cursed Crown can still catch Timbersaw if he Timber Chains away.
* Reactive Armor offers little protection against Dark Willow's high magical damage.
* 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.
* Timbersaw has a difficult time against magical and pure damage: Lina, Leshrac, Enchantress, Queen of Pain
* 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.
* 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.
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from Stifling Dagger.
* Phantom Assassin has a moderate health pool and usually appears in the front line of battle, making her vulnerable to Timbersaw's pure burst damage output.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
Additional:
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from Stifling Dagger, as well as ganking attempts.
* Phantom Assassin is a hero with moderate HP pool, and usually appears in the front line of battle. Because Blur does nothing against spells, she is vulnerable to Timbersaw's skills.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
* 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.
* Because multiple Meepos tend to clump up, they present an easy target for Timbersaw's many area abilities.
* Although be careful since Timbersaw cannot use Timber Chain to escape if rooted from Earthbind.
* 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.
* Timbersaw can use his plethora of tree cutting abilities to level entire sections of the forest, making hiding in the trees more difficult for Treant Protector and his team.
* Timbersaw can easily cut down Treant Protector's Eyes In The Forest once his team has detection. He may even do it unknowingly due to the sheer destructive and chaotic nature of his abilities.
Additional:
* Not only are all of Timbersaw's active abilities capable of cutting down trees, but Whirling Death and Timber Chain also require it to be effective, counteracting both Treant Protector's Nature's Guise and Eyes in the Forest abilities.
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.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
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Anti-Mage
* Blood Rite prevents Anti-Mage from escaping with Blink.
* Blink will trigger the damage from Rupture.
* Both Blood Rite & Rupture are pure damage which can bypass Counterspell.
Timbersaw
* Rupture and Blood Rite locks down Timbersaw, preventing him from escaping with Timber Chain. However, Timbersaw may reflect a good deal of damage with Blade Mail.