* Decrepify can be used on allies to prevent them from attacking Axe and triggering Counter Helix during Berserker's Call. He can also cast it on Axe to prevent anyone from attacking him.
* Life Drain can be used to heal himself or allies caught in Berserker's Call, preventing them from dropping low enough for Axe to kill them with Culling Blade.
* All of Pugna's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Nether Ward punishes Shadow Demon's constant mana usage from spamming spells, especially Shadow Poison.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Nether Blast for the enemy.
* Life Drain can be used to heal Pugna or an ally to save them from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption unless Pugna buys defensive items.
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
* All of Lion's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Hex and
Mana Drain can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating, especially when he acquires his Talents at level 20 and 25.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Earth Spike or
Finger of Death with
Aghanim's Scepter for the enemy.
* Shadow Demon's main source of damage is his low cooldown, high damage spells - meaning Last Word and Global Silence will pretty much take him out of the game for the duration.
* Shadow Demon likes to spam his abilities, which makes him vulnerable to Arcane Curse.
* If Shadow Demon dies near Silencer, he will lose intelligence, reducing his mana pool, mana regen, and attack damage. Furthermore, if the game is long and Shadow Demon dies often, the intelligence losses will also reduce his spell damage.
* Dragon Slave will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Light Strike Array for the enemy.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Lina out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Lina.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike slows Axe significantly, and puts his
Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from initiating.
Viper Strike can also break from Counter Helix.
Additional:
* Viper Strike prevents
Counter Helix from triggering, which significantly lowers Axe's damage output in the early to mid game.
* Viper's various slows and damage over time prevents Axe from initiating as well as putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Shadow Demon will have a hard time catching Storm Spirit, as he can get away with Ball Lightning.
* Static Remnant will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* With very high mobility and usually being paired with Orchid Malevolence, he can catch Shadow Demon with ease both in ganks and in teamfights if Shadow Demon has no survivability items.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter cannot break
Reincarnation, which could put him in a disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, Wraith King is a single-target hero, so he cannot deal with Disruption illusions.
* Disruption is not reliable enough to catch an Ember Spirit with a backup Fire Remnant.
* Sleight of Fist will also make quick work of the spawned illusions.
* The best you can do against an Ember Spirit is to dispel his Flame Guard with your Demonic Purge.
* Death Ward with
Aghanim's Scepter makes quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption until Witch Doctor buys Linken's Sphere or
Black King Bar.
* All of Witch Doctor's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Voodoo Restoration can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Maledict or
Paralyzing Cask for the enemy.
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova will tear apart any illusions spawned from Disruption
* Split Earth can punish improper usage of Disruption.
* Leshrac does not have any buffs that can be removed by Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Pulse Nova makes quick work of any illusions with amplified damage, and deals damage even if Leshrac is in Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Split Earth for the enemy.
* Disruption does not stop Diabolic Edict and
Pulse Nova once they start pulsing, and even worse it provides a safe shelter for Leshrac to keep pumping up his powerful AoE damage onto the battlefield.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Leshrac out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Leshrac.
* Ice Path is a great stun for Berserker's Call and with a
Eul's Scepter of Divinity can really catch Axe off guard.
* Dual Breath and
Liquid Fire can be a devastating combination for Axe (especially if he takes Battle Hunger at level 1) before he has any natural regeneration sustain from items.
Additional:
* Ice Path neutralizes initiation attempts with Berserker's Call, and its long area of effect discourages follow-ups from Axe's teammates until Axe buys
Black King Bar.
* Ice Path serves as a large obstacle to stop Axe from chasing down fleeing stragglers to kill with Culling Blade until Axe buys
Black King Bar.
* Jakiro's many damage-per-second skills prevent Axe from initiating with his Blink Dagger. Forcing Axe to buy Black King Bar prematurely to protect himself against Jakiro's abilities and counter-initiaions.
* Infernal Blade's damage is calculated by a percentage of maximum health, meaning that it will hurt Axe more than most normal attacks, negating some of his durability.
* Doom can pick up several different abilities from neutral creeps using Devour, some of which can be annoying to Axe.
* Mud Golem, Dark Troll Summoner, Harpy Stormcrafter, Satyr Mindstealer or Satyr Tormenter are good examples.
* Doom's naturally low attack speed makes Counter Helix less likely to proc, and his high base health allows him to take a few Helixes with no danger.
* Doom makes Axe less disruptive, preventing him from using his skills or items. At level 25, there is a branch of the talent tree that makes
Doom apply Break, allowing Doom to disable Counter Helix, making Axe effectively useless for a lengthy duration.
Additional:
* Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high HP targets such as Axe.
* Doom has low attack speed because of his high Base-Attack-Time, poor agility gain and limited attack-speed granting items which are commonly built. This means Doom will trigger Counter Helix less often and thus is an unideal target for initiation.
* Doom has naturally high HP so it takes longer for Doom to be brought down to the killing threshold of Culling Blade.
* Axe is highly reliant on his abilities and items to be effective during a fight. Without the usage of Berserker's Call and
Blink Dagger due to
Doom, Axe offers very little in the way of damage, effectively removing him from a fight.
* Chaos Knight,
Lone Druid,
Meepo and
Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
* Because Exorcism's damage is not reduce by damage block abilities or items, Death Prophet can be very good against heroes who rely on armor to survive: Axe,
Terrorblade,
Morphling,
Dragon Knight
* Heroes that relies on armor or other type of physical damage negation are easy for Gyrocopter to take down during the early game with his magical damage: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Sven.
* 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.
* Long lockdown is a great way to deal with Axe to prevent Berserker's Call from being used, heroes such as Legion Commander,
Beastmaster and
Primal Beast are good examples of this.
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
* For the same reason, he has to be slightly more cunning when playing against heroes that can scout the treeline, such as Ancient Apparition and his
Ice Vortex and
Shadow Demon and his
Shadow Poison.
* Shadow Demon,
Outworld Destroyer and
Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
* Feast makes it impossible to for Lifestealer to be culled with Culling Blade and also deals high damage to Axe due to his naturally high health.
* However, Berserker's Call and
Counter Helix can pierce through the
Rage, and if Axe has allies with him against Lifestealer, Lifestealer may go down very quickly.
* Melee carries such as Sven,
Ursa or
Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
* Crippling Fear makes it so Axe might use
Blink Dagger right into an AoE silence in the middle of everyone.
* Void cripples Axe's already bad movement speed and attack speed.
* Hunter in the Night makes it impossible for Axe to catch up to fleeing or escape from Night Stalker during the night.
* Lastly, Dark Ascension gives full vision over Axe before he initiates, making the opponents all recognize his location immediately and allowing Night Stalker to prevent it or vocally tell his team if needed.
* Night Stalker has very high strength gain, even in the lane, so a successful Culling Blade is very unlikely.
* Axe's Blade Mail will likely do nothing to Night Stalker because of his high health and certain requirements for him to do the most damage to be true.
* Heroes that can punish aggressive heroes, such as: Leshrac,
Shadow Demon,
Pugna,
Death Prophet.
* Poof will destroy Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption and quickly escapes from
Shadow Poison &
Demonic Purge.
* Melee heroes who rely on summons, illusions, or clones will trigger Counter Helix more often, thus taking more damage: Meepo,
Lycan,
Phantom Lancer
Additional:
* The combination of Counter Helix and
Berserker's Call can disable multiple Meepos and deal heavy area damage.
* Axe's natural high survivability makes it difficult to burst him down with Poof or chip away at his health with Ransack.
* Omniknight's healing prevents allies from dropping low enough for Culling Blade
* Heavenly Grace dispels
Battle Hunger.
* Axe also tends to get close to allied heroes in order to damage them with his Counter Helix, which can easily be punished by Purification.
* Heroes that can purge buffs can dispel Guardian Angel: Invoker,
Shadow Demon,
Oracle.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge can dispel Guardian Angel on the key target during combat, allow your allies to finish them.
* Enrage reduces the damage from
Blade Mail and Counter Helix to a minimum, forcing Axe to play around Ursa's ultimate ability.
* Overpower and
Fury Swipes stacks damage overwhelming for Axe, despite his high health.
* Melee carries such as Sven,
Ursa or
Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge renders Ursa useless even through
Black King Bar as it slows him, continually purges his Overpower charges and can not be dispelled by Ursa's Enrage.
* Disruption is a good way to save teammates against Ursa. Disrupting Ursa is also a good way to kite him, as it can not be dispelled by Enrage.
* All of Puck's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Shadow Demon will find a hard time catching a Puck, as he can get away with Illusory Orb or even
Waning Rift;
* Puck can dodge Shadow Poison waves and potentially avoid the damage from Demonic Purge with Phase Shift. Furthermore, after Disruption ended, Puck can use Phase Shift to avoid any further danger and can blink away with
Blink Dagger.
* Waning Rift can be used to initiate Shadow Demon, prevent him from using any spells.
* Axe,
Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar,
Wraith King,
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* All of Queen of Pain's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* However, Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Queen of Pain.
* Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Shadow Demon's abilities if he doesn't have disables.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Sonic Wave for the enemy.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call: Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void,
Slark,
Chaos Knight,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain
Additional:
* Berserker's Call prevents Queen of Pain from escaping with Blink and also pierces her
Black King Bar.
* Due to her fast attack speed from Mjollnir, it will quickly trigger
Counter Helix.
* Culling Blade finishes off Queen of Pain's low health pool before she gets a chance to escape, preventing her from playing the hit-and-run style often associated with Queen of Pain.
* Windrun does not provide protection against
Counter Helix and
Berserker's Call. Her fast attack speed with Focus Fire will also quickly trigger
Counter Helix multiple times.
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless for 7 seconds.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge. can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
* 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.
* 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.
* Axe can force Alchemist to attack him with Berserker's Call. High attack speed from
Chemical Rage will cause
Counter Helix to proc multiple times.
* This can get worse if axe has Blade Mail, which then returns all damage to Alchemist himself.
* Axe's abilities can pierce through Black King Bar, which is a common item for Alchemist.
* Berserker's Call grants Axe a huge bonus armor, which greatly counters Alchemist's physical damage for the most part.
* Alchemist is a well-known Radiance carrier among other auras your illusions will benefit from. They also get the extra move speed and reduced base attack time from his
Chemical Rage, and it's even better if you can catch him as his own rage is about to expire.
* Disruption will buy enough time for all allies to retreat when Alchemist starts to activate Unstable Concoction.
* Huskar is often played at low health to maximize the bonuses from Berserker's Blood, and also because his abilities cost health to use. This makes him especially vulnerable to Culling Blade.
* Berserker's Blood gives Huskar no protection against the pure damage of Culling Blade. Its attack speed bonus also means that Counter Helix will proc more often.
* Axe's tankiness and base health regeneration makes it hard for Huskar to take him down with Burning Spears.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail can be used immediately after Huskar jumps on Axe with Life Break.
* Huskar's high attack speed procs Counter Helix repeatedly.
* Huskar's health loss from using his abilities make him a frequent target for Culling Blade.
* Shadow Demon's Shadow Poison can quickly stack to the point where Huskars generally low health is easily finished off.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption can turn Huskar's high attack speed and regeneration against him, It also makes him an easy target for Shadow Poison,
* Shadow Demon commonly builds a Meteor Hammer, allowing him to land a heavy stun on Huskar
* Shadow Demon's upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Huskar, It also pierces Spell Immunity, Without his passive for 7 seconds Huskar quickly falls in battle
* However note that Shadow Demon is a squishy target and you can often overwhelm him if he is alone, But he can still Disrupt you to escape
Additional:
* Shadow Poison can quickly stack up on Huskar, And with his naturally low health you don't need as many stacks to be effective.
* Disruption turns Huskars high attack speed against him, They also have the highest survivability as illusions due to his passive Berserker's Blood, It also allows you to put Shadow Poison stacks on him,
* Dissimulate turns Huskar's burning damage against his team, You can cast it on an ally who is taking a bunch of Burning Spear stacks and cause Huskar to take high amounts of damage as well
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge is your most effective weapon against him, It's 7 second Break causes him to quickly die in battle
* False Promise will not save an ally from Culling Blade if their health is low enough.
* Fate's Edict, offensively or defensively, does little to protect Oracle's allies from the majority of Axe's damage.
* Disruption can protect Shadow Demon's allies from Fortune's End, preserving healing or buffs. It can also catch Oracle's allies, allowing
Shadow Poison to be used without being dispelled.
* Demonic Purge prevents over-time healing during False Promise, such as Purifying Flames and
Urn of Shadows. If he has
Aghanim's Scepter, this issue can persist for longer or on multiple allies.
* It will not, however, prevent healing from instant abilities, items, or auras, making Mekansm a good choice against him.
* Culling Blade's instant kill is not prevented by Borrowed Time should Abaddon's health falls below the threshold.
Additional:
* Culling Blade ignores Borrowed Time should Abaddon's health falls under the threshold.
* Aphotic Shield does nothing against Berserkers Call and has to be used constantly to remove the very small mana cost of Battle Hunger in lane.
* Shadow Demon with an Aghanim's Scepter will use
Demonic Purge to disable Curse of Avernus and the passive component of Borrowed Time. If this is combined with a silence, Borrowed Time will not trigger at all.
* Even without Aghanim's Scepter, he can still waste Borrowed Time with
Disruption. Curse of Avernus fully works on illusions, turning the passive ability against him.
* Berserker's Call prevents Sven from bursting his targets before Axe can interfere. The worst kind of opponent for Sven is one who can stop him from attacking who he wants to, which is exactly what Axe does.
* Culling Blade may finish off Sven before he has the chance to lifesteal or run with Warcry.
* Axe is a very common Blade Mail carrier which will make very short work of a Sven with God's Strength activated.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback,
Spectre,
Phantom Assassin,
Enchantress,
Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call: Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void,
Slark,
Chaos Knight,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain
* Disruption can banish Faceless Void or an ally in Chronosphere, making it a less effective ability.
* Faceless Void's illusions created by Disruption will not get stunned by Chronosphere, allowing Shadow Demon to attack Faceless Void in his Chronosphere.
* Casting Disruption after releasing
Shadow Poison charges will make Time Walk unable to backtrack the damage.
* Shadow Poison is a good way to deal damage as the initial damage and the release damage can't both be Time Walked at the same time.
* Demonic Purge is a great slow, useful to force out a Time Walk early and can break Time Lock with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Berserker's Call and
Counter Helix allow Axe to kill Shadow Fiend if he stands too close to a creep wave.
* Battle Hunger is can be strong against Shadow Fiend in the early game because Shadow Fiend's low attack damage makes it hard for him to get last hits if he has no mana. However, Shadowraze also makes it very easy for him to get last hits, so use with caution.
* Axe's naturally high strength and health regeneration will be enough to tank a lot of Shadow Fiend's damage in the early game.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper,
Shadow Fiend,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper.
* Berseker's Call catches Slark in Shadow Dance, wasting its duration and preventing him from escaping to regenerate.
* Unlike most disables, Dark Pact cannot dispel Berserker's Call and the output damage would be returned by
Blade Mail.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call forces Slark to attack him, even during Shadow Dance.
* Counter Helix will hit Slark in Shadow Dance. It will also trigger frequently against Slark's high attack speed provided by Essence Shift stacks.
* Culling Blade finishes off Slark before he gets a chance to slip away and regenerate his health, preventing him from playing his typical hit-and-run style.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback,
Spectre,
Phantom Assassin,
Enchantress,
Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* Terrorblade's low base health and lack of mobility make him an easy target for Axe to initiate on, and kill.
* Counter Helix will trigger from, and destroy many of Terrorblade illusions.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call and
Counter Helix together can be devastating to Terrorblade, especially if Terrorblade has a lot of illusions. Their high attack speed will trigger Counter Helix a lot, and the pure damage will quickly slice through Terrorblade's low health and kill his illusions. More importantly, the
Berserker's Call can pierce through spell immunity from
Black King Bar, Terrorblade's only survival item besides
Manta Style which cannot be used to dispel
Berserker's Call. With enough burst damage by Axe's teammates, Terrorblade can be finished off even before taunt duration runs out and he gets a chance to save himself with
Sunder.
* Culling Blade can finish off Terrorblade before he has the chance to
Sunder due to his low health in the early to mid game. And every time Terrorblade or any of his allies are successfully killed by
Culling Blade, Axe permanently gains armor from it, which in combination with armor items that Axe often purchases like
Blade Mail,
Crimson Guard,
Assault Cuirass and
Shiva's Guard can make Terrorblade's attacks only tickle Axe, even during Metamorphosis.
* Terrorblade's low base health and lack of mobility make him an easy target for Axe to initiate on, and kill.
* Heroes who can summon illusions and summons because Terrorblade has no abilities to deal with multiple enemies at once outside Reflection: Shadow Shaman,
Naga Siren,
Broodmother,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Demon,
Dark Seer,
Nature's Prophet,
Invoker,
Morphling,
Visage,
Grimstroke with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Troll Warlord's high attack speed means Counter Helix will proc extremely frequently even without creeps near him. This, combined with a Blade Mail means Axe can easily solo kill Troll Warlord even in later stages of the game.
* Battle Trance does not save Troll Warlord from a Culling Blade.
Additional:
* Troll Warlord has significant attack speed due to Fervor and Battle Trance, giving Axe a higher chance to proc Counter Helix and seriously injure Troll Warlord due to his relatively low maximum health.
* Axe often purchases Blade Mail, which can help Axe turn Troll Warlord's farm and high physical damage against him. The bonus armor provided by
Berserker's Call means that Troll Warlord will take a lot more damage than Axe.
* Culling Blade is still capable of killing Troll Warlord during Battle Trance if his HP is low enough.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper,
Shadow Fiend,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger
Counter Helix more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin. Jumping on Axe with
Phantom Strike is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously easy target for a counter-initiation with
Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail.
* Most of Axe's abilities pierce Black King Bar, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
* Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe and may cause her to kill herself when used with Blade Mail.
Berserker's Call can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has
Black King Bar active as
Berserker's Call can fully pierce spell immunity, making
Berserker's Call one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
* Culling Blade can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time
Culling Blade successfully kills Phantom Assassin or any of her teammates, Axe gains permanent armor from it, which in combination with armor items that Axe often purchases like
Blade Mail,
Crimson Guard,
Assault Cuirass and
Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Counter Helix can weaken Phantom Assassin's damage output, and if her attack damage is weak,
Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well.
Additional:
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger
Counter Helix more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin in the early game. Jumping on Axe with
Phantom Strike is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously easy target for a counter-initiation with
Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail.
* Most of Axe's abilities pierce Black King Bar, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
* Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe, and may cause her to kill herself when used with Blade Mail.
Berserker's Call can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has
Black King Bar active as
Berserker's Call can fully pierce spell immunity, making
Berserker's Call one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
* Culling Blade can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time
Culling Blade successfully kills Phantom Assassin or any of her teammates, Axe gains permanent armor from it, which in combination with armour items that Axe often purchases like
Blade Mail,
Crimson Guard,
Assault Cuirass and
Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility:
Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter,
Dazzle with
Aghanim's Shard
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna,
Razor,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Leshrac,
Death Prophet,
Jakiro.
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon,
Outworld Destroyer,
Omniknight,
Dawnbreaker.
* Heroes who rely on fast attack speed will also trigger Counter Helix frequently: Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Anti-Mage,
Juggernaut,
Arc Warden,
Morphling
Additional:
* Berserker's Call pierces spell immunity, making a
Blade Fury teleport escape impossible. It's very useful against
Omnislash as well.
* Juggernaut's low base health and high attack speed causes him to take a lot of damage from Counter Helix.
* Axe is a common Blade Mail and
Blink Dagger carrier making him a very big potential threat before Juggernaut get his items.
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon,
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Bane,
Pugna,
Tusk,
Winter Wyvern,
Io,
Underlord,
Treant Protector and
Keeper of the Light.
Additional:
* Be ready to save an ally from Omnislash with your Disruption.
* Spawning Juggernaut's illusions is a great deal, as his base attack time is low and he has a critical strike. Illusions will benefit from both.
* Demonic Purge will prevent Juggernaut's desperate attempt to flee using Blade Fury. However, it cannot stop him if he is using
Town Portal Scroll.
* Shadow Demon's spammable illusions can be used to scout Techies' Proximity Mines.
* Axe will destroy her illusions by proccing Counter Helix more often due to him being hit by more attacks.
* Although Phantom Lancer will generate strong illusions, and you can also break his
Juxtapose with an Aghanim's Demonic Purge, you have a small chance of guessing which is the real Phantom Lancer after he uses
Doppelganger.
* Berserker's Call catches Phantom Lancer when he is hidden among his illusions.
* Counter Helix quickly destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army. The more illusions there are, the more often Counter Helix is triggered.
* Phantom Lancer's low early game health makes him an easy target for Culling Blade.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call helps locking down Phantom Lancer in a group of illusions.
* Counter Helix combined with
Blade Mail clears Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly.
* Phantom Lancer's low health in the early game makes him a frequent target for Culling Blade.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's
Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's strength is the sheer amount of illusions he can conjure, Dissimulate can be cast on an ally that he is focusing to quickly thin out his ranks
* Landing a upgraded Demonic Purge on the real Phantom Lancer prevents him from making very many illusions (His only source being Doppelganger), You can reapply as needed if you have the Shard
* Disrupting Phantom Lancer allows you to create multiple extra illusions with Juxtapose, As he is a common carrier of
Diffusal Blade, you can also drain the mana of any nearby heros
* Berserker's Call and Counter Helix will still hit targets inside of a defensive Sprout.
* Counter Helix clears treants in no time.
* Nature's Prophet's low damage is unlikely to hurt Axe until the very late game.
* Nature's Prophet's low mobility makes him very easy for Axe to chase down or initiate, especially when affected by Battle Hunger.
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
* Axe can easily close the distance to Sniper with Blink Dagger.
* With Berserker's Call in combination with
Counter Helix and
Battle Hunger, Axe can make short work of Sniper, finishing him off easily with
Culling Blade due to his low HP & high attack speed in the late game.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper,
Shadow Fiend,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Most of the Axe's abilities can affect Muerta during Pierce the Veil, except for Battle Hunger which deals physical damage.
* While Muerta can do much damage to highly armored units, Axe has a larger health pool compared to Muerta and can activate Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail to turn Muerta's attack damage against her.
* Counter Helix takes advantage of Muerta's high attack speed from both stats and items.
* Axe can take advantage of Chen jungling and gank him more often with Blink Dagger and
Berserker's Call combination.
* Counter Helix can clear waves of Chen's creeps if they are too close to Axe.
* Berserker's Call combined with
Blade Mail and
Culling Blade can often kill Chen before he can save himself with
Hand of God.
* However, Hand of God and
Divine Favor can make it hard for
Axe to finish off Chen's allies with
Culling Blade when Chen is not target for Axe.
* Culling Blade ignores the protection from Shallow Grave and will kill any target whose health is low enough. This makes Axe one of the hardest counters to Dazzle, and he neutralizes one of Dazzle's most important abilities.
Additional:
* Culling Blade kills any target under the health threshold, even through Shallow Grave.
* The constant dispel from Demonic Purge will make any attempt to save the victim or himself by Surge become futile. For what it's worth, Demonic Purge will also dispel
Ion Shell.
* Jumping on Axe with Waveform will make Morphling an easy target for a counter-initiation with Berserker's Call.
* Morphling is often played at low health to maximize the bonuses from Attribute Shift (Agility Gain), and also because his abilities cost health to use. This makes him especially vulnerable to Culling Blade.
* However, Morphling is a common Linken's Sphere carrier to block Culling Blade, which may force Axe to use Battle Hunger to pop the Spell Block first.
* Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) gives Morphling no protection against the pure damage of Culling Blade. Its attack speed bonus also means that Counter Helix will proc more often.
* Disruption instantly removes Phantom Embrace, and can potentially save allies affected by Soulbind.
* Demonic Purge dispels Ink Swell.
* Berserker's Call forces Dark Willow to attack, cancelling Shadow Realm.
* Axe can disable Cloak and Dagger's invisibility with
Berserker's Call, which forces Riki to attack him at a very bad angle.
* Axe has a very high HP pool, making it hard for you to kill him before you get big items - that is if you survive engaging him. Counter Helix ignores Riki's armor and goes straight for his tiny HP pool, totally ignoring
Smoke Screen.
* Axe is a natural buyer of Blade Mail and Riki generally does not buy lifesteal items, causing Riki to kill himself when attacking due to your tiny HP pool.
* A well-timed Berserker's Call can expose Nyx Assassin while he is invisible with Vendetta, and prevent him from using Spiked Carapace.
* Axe can use Battle Hunger's damage over time to minimialize effects of Spiked Carapace.
* Axe's high health also allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off. Especially since Axe is a common Heart of Tarrasque wielder, which can completely eliminate any chance for Nyx Assassin to kill Axe alone.
* Culling Blade can often kill Nyx Assassin as he is very fragile and vulnerable to damage while Spiked Carapace is on cooldown.
Additional:
* A well-timed Berserker's Call can expose Nyx Assassin while he is invisible with
Vendetta, and prevent him from using
Spiked Carapace.
* Axe can use Battle Hunger's damage over time to minimialize effects of
Spiked Carapace.
* Axe's high health also allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off. Especially since Axe is a common Heart of Tarrasque wielder, which can completely eliminate any chance for Nyx Assassin to kill Axe alone.
* Culling Blade can often kill Nyx Assassin as he is very fragile and vulnerable to damage while Spiked Carapace is on cooldown.
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Lion.
* Berserker's Call forces Drow Ranger to attack Axe up close, disabling her Marksmanship bonus.
* Counter Helix occurs more often with Drow Ranger's high attack speed.
* Culling Blade is a dangerous ability against a low health hero like Drow Ranger.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper,
Shadow Fiend,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Her illusions with Desolate are very valuable, especially when they are usually paired with
Radiance. Unlike blink or force movement,
Spectral Dagger's escaping mechanic requires manual movement, and therefore Demonic Purge can hold her back really hard and allow your allies to finish her off.
* If she tries to kill you or any key ally with Haunt at any point of the game, remember to not panic and always use Disruption on the illusion, whether it is fake or the real Spectre herself. When the situation calls, Demonic Purge can save a second victim from a haunting Spectre.
* When upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can remove Spectre from a fight by disabling Desolate and
Dispersion, negating her damage and tankiness respectively.
* Unleash ensures that Axe's Counter Helix procs many times, even if he is stunned by Dispose.
* Aghanim's Shard allows Counter Helix to reduce the attack damage of anyone it strikes. Combined with Unleash causing to proc frequently, Marci will not be dealing significant damage as she attacks Axe over time.
* Axe doesn't worry about the damage from Unleash if he activates Berserker's Call beforehand. If he had activated
Blade Mail or
Mjollnir (or even both) as Marci attacks him, he will turn Unleash's high attack speed and damage against her.
* Usually, Axe would prefer to jump on his opponent to be more effective. Rebound does Axe a favor, bringing Marci within his most effective range.
* Berserker's Call can catch Broodmother in her web, as well as groups of spiderlings. This is particularly effective when Broodmother attempts to push towers with her spiderlings.
* Counter Helix destroys spiderlings very quickly and earns Axe a good deal of gold.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call forces Broodmother and her spiderlings to attack, allowing for large amounts of pure damage to be done through
Counter Helix.
* Axe can
Berserker's Call into a flock of Familiars, proccing
Counter Helix and killing them off.
* Familiars' very fast attacks will proc Counter Helix, receiving full damage due to their low attack range.
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while: Doom and
Shadow Demon (via
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper,
Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
* Heroes with summons or illusions makes Sacred Arrow harder to land: Shadow Demon,
Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet.
* Heroes that can keep Monkey King stunned for a long time can pose a threat: Axe,
Centaur Warrunner.
* Heroes with other kind of disables that pierce spell immunity can hold Pangolier in place during Rolling Thunder: Axe,
Beastmaster,
Enigma,
Magnus,
Pudge,
Batrider,
Bane,
Winter Wyvern
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback,
Spectre,
Phantom Assassin,
Enchantress,
Dragon Knight.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback,
Spectre,
Phantom Assassin,
Enchantress,
Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his
Astral Imprisonment, and
Shadow Demon and his
Disruption.
* Heroes with hide abilities can often dodge a Ghostship just before it hits.
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his
Astral Imprisonment, and
Shadow Demon and his
Disruption.
* A Eul's Scepter of Divinity can also do the trick, but, unlike the previously mentioned abilities, you can only use it on yourself and not your allies.
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
* Axe forces Bristleback to turn around with
Berserker's Call, allowing allies to attack him without fear of his passive.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge with
Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passives.
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damaging and/or disabling abilities will be able to intercept Underlord and his team when they exit from Fiend's Gate: Luna's
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Eclipse,
Dawnbreaker's
Solar Guardian,
Axe's
Berserker's Call,
Mars's
Arena of Blood,
Jakiro's
Macropyre,
Dual Breath and
Ice Path,
Naga Siren's
Song of the Siren,
Razor's
Eye of the Storm and
Plasma Field,
Lina's
Light Strike Array,
Broodmother's
Spinner's Snare from
Aghanim's Scepter,
Elder Titan's
Earth Splitter and
Echo Stomp,
Alchemist's
Unstable Concoction and
Acid Spray,
Queen of Pain's
Sonic Wave,
Dark Seer's
Wall of Replica and
Vacuum,
Venomancer's
Noxious Plague and
Poison Nova from
Aghanim's Scepter,
Oracle's
Fortune's End and
Rain of Destiny from
Aghanim's Shard,
Bloodseeker's
Blood Rite,
Enigma's
Black Hole and
Midnight Pulse,
Shadow Fiend's
Requiem of Souls,
Batrider's
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Flaming Lasso,
Firefly,
Flamebreak and
Sticky Napalm,
Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast,
Sand King's
Epicenter,
Sand Storm and
Burrowstrike,
Gyrocopter's
Call Down,
Ember Spirit's
Sleight of Fist,
Death Prophet's
Exorcism and
Silence,
Monkey King's
Wukong's Command,
Crystal Maiden's
Freezing Field,
Muerta's
The Calling,
Medusa's
Stone Gaze,
Zeus's
Nimbus from
Aghanim's Scepter.
Dark Willow's
Bramble Maze,
Pangolier's
Swashbuckle,
Grimstroke's
Soulbind,
Ink Swell and
Stroke of Fate,
Earthshaker's
Echo Slam and
Fissure,
Puck's
Dream Coil and
Waning Rift,
Winter Wyvern's
Winter's Curse,
Magnus's
Reverse Polarity.
* Heroes that can gain vision over trees to catch Tinker: Invoker,
Shadow Demon,
Batrider.
* Heroes with burst damage of their own won't be afraid to go toe to toe with Void Spirit, like Ursa,
Lifestealer, or
Axe.
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for Shadow Shaman, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt Shadow Shaman's channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Heroes with high armor and durability can be exceptionally hard for Bloodseeker to bring down: Dragon Knight,
Axe
* Illusions and summons are double-edge sword type of matchup for Luna. On one hand, they can tank damage from Eclipse, but on the other hand, she can easily clear them before Eclipse with Moon Glaives. Examples include Spectre,
Shadow Demon,
Phantom Lancer,
Naga Siren,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as
Nature's Prophet,
Lone Druid,
Chen,
Enchantress,
Meepo and
Arc Warden).
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive. And Luna's commonly items Manta Style and Black King Bar does not work dispell to
Demonic Purge
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Sceptre it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive.
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon is a very good ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
* You can potentially kill a fragile Weaver by using Disruption during
Shukuchi with a well-placed
Sentry Ward, wasting the Shukuchi. But odds are he'll wait to get low health,
Time Lapse the damage away and Shukuchi away once more.
* Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use Time Lapse. It can also catch Weaver in
Shukuchi.
* Weaver's high attack speed, along with high attack damage from Geminate Attack, triggers Counter Helix continuously and the output damage would be returned by
Blade Mail.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use Time Lapse. It can also catch Weaver in Shukuchi.
* Due to his fast attack speed from Geminate Attack and items that give attack speed, Counter Helix will activate a lot, and the damage would be returned by
Blade Mail, which hurts Weaver far more than it hurts Axe.
* Culling Blade can finish off Weaver's low health pool before he escapes with Shukuchi and Time Lapse.
* Battle Hunger is a good tool to pop Weaver's
Linken's Sphere due to its low cooldown.
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
* Berserker's Call can interrupt Freezing Field, even through
Black King Bar and/or
Glimmer Cape.
* Battle Hunger makes Crystal Maiden's already bad movement speed even worse.
* Axe frequently builds Blade Mail, which can quickly kill Crystal Maiden if her ultimate is used while he is under its effect.
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback,
Crystal Maiden,
Batrider,
Arc Warden,
Winter Wyvern,
Clockwerk
* Chaos Knight,
Lone Druid,
Meepo and
Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* Magnetic Field doesn't provide a protection against Berserker's Call and
Counter Helix and his high attack speed together with Tempest Double will often trigger
Counter Helix.
* The threat of a blink and Berserker's Call may make the real Arc Warden stay further back, thus effectively halving the team's damage output for a while.
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as Beastmaster ,
Chen, or
Shadow Demon.
* Long lockdown is a great way to deal with Axe to prevent Berserker's Call from being used, heroes such as Legion Commander,
Beastmaster and
Primal Beast are good examples of this.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call will be a stun for Primal Beast and not much else due to Trample making him unable to attack.
* Battle Hunger is neglitable because Primal Beast has a much bigger health than Axe, so he does not need to fear being slowed, or his other abilities including
Counter Helix or even a
Blade Mail.
* Getting Primal Beast low enough to use a successful Culling Blade can be very difficult due to his massive health advantage over most heroes.
* Not ability related but Primal Beast does not need to fear Axe in lane, as Trample, combined with Uproar and Onslaught will do a ton of damage even if Axe has a Vanguard.
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane: this includes Dazzle,
Shadow Demon and
Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Ward is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Additional:
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* For the same reasons, Venomancer is a good ally for Axe when the situation is reversed.
* In the laning stage, making illusions of Venomancer will turn his Poison Sting back at him, making for an easy gank at level one, and for later when your mid comes for ganks.
* Chaos Knight,
Lone Druid,
Meepo and
Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call: Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void,
Slark,
Chaos Knight,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain
Additional:
* Berserker's Call allows Axe to lock down Chaos Knight and his illusions even through
Black King Bar.
* Counter Helix combined with
Blade Mail clears illusions out in no time.
* Lycan and
Weaver has abilities that allow them to move at maximum movement speed, and those abilities can't be dispelled, potentially wasting the slow from Demonic Purge.
* Melee heroes who rely on summons, illusions, or clones will trigger Counter Helix more often, thus taking more damage: Meepo,
Lycan,
Phantom Lancer
Additional:
* Berserker's Call can keep Lycan in place during his Shapeshift even through
Black King Bar.
* Counter Helix is very effective against Lycan because of his summons.
* Culling Blade will prevent Lycan from running away with Shapeshift when he drops low.
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and
Mekansm makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Ghost Shroud's instant cast time allows Necrophos to turn ethereal before being initiated on by Berserker's Call. This prevents him from attacking Axe while taunted, thus lowering the chance to proc Counter Helix.
* Axe's high health is relatively ineffective against Heartstopper Aura's percentage-based health degeneration.
* Reaper's Scythe stops Axe's game plan of using Berserker's Call multiple times and since he's in the middle of the fight, this spell is very easy to grab kills onto him.
Additional:
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's tankiness, and can kill him quickly after initiation if Axe's health is low enough.
* Heartstopper Aura can be very effective against Axe due to Axe's high strength gain.
* However, bear in mind that Berserker's Call can prevent Necrophos from using his
Ghost Shroud to defend his fragile self from physical damages. And
Heartstopper Aura can unintentionally help Axe to trigger his
Counter Helix more frequently while also hurting Necrophos with
Blade Mail during activation.
* Nonetheless Heartstopper Aura is not considered as a normal attack, thus it will not trigger
Counter Helix, so anyone who wrote the statement above should be awarded with MVP and considered a TI champion purely for the innovation of new mechanics.
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
* Mana Shield reduces the effectiveness of Counter Helix.
* Stone Gaze makes it very difficult for Axe to initiate on Medusa and her allies.
* Axe can take advantage of Medusa's awfully low HP to insta-kill her with Culling Blade, making it extremely difficult for her to farm for items to compensate for the lack of strength during early and mid-game while Axe is continuously harassing around.
* Outworld Destroyer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Axe.
* Astral Imprisonment is an excellent way to defend against an initiating Axe.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Axe due to his low mana pool.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call bonus armor doesn't block Arcane Orb's pure damage.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to prevent an ally or Outworld Destroyer himself from an Axe initiation.
* Axe's low mana means he's susceptible to a powerful Sanity's Eclipse.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption will allow his allies to maneuver around you. It can also be used to protect an ally from your abilities, or Astral Imprisonment -
Meteor Hammer combo.
* Disseminate turns your high damage Arcane Orb and Sanitiy's Eclipse against you and your teammates.
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge will break your Essence Flux passive for 7 seconds, preventing you from regaining mana, and severely hindering your damage output.
* Enigma can be a perfect counter-initiator with his ultimate. A perfectly timed Black Hole will turn the tide of any initiation, especially from heroes like; Spirit Breaker,
Legion Commander,
Axe,
Puck, and
Slardar.
* Long ranged disables, especially those that pierce spell immunity, cancel Black Hole: Beastmaster's
Primal Roar,
Bane's
Fiend's Grip,
Faceless Void's
Chronosphere,
Magnus's
Reverse Polarity,
Axe's
Berserker's Call,
Pudge's
Meat Hook.
* Long lockdown is a great way to deal with Axe to prevent Berserker's Call from being used, heroes such as Legion Commander,
Beastmaster and
Primal Beast are good examples of this.
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Disruption can save allies and mess up an initiation from an enemy Legion Commander. Using Disruption on your ally that is affected by Duel will leave her totally exposed without the benefit of the life steal from
Moment of Courage. A precise decision to Disrupt Legion Commander or her victim is crucial to waste Duel's potential.
* Demonic Purge cannot be dispelled by a hard dispel from Press the Attack, which in turn can be dispelled by your ultimate.
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
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
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Axe
*
Sun Ray allows Phoenix to heal any allies caught in Berserker's Call while burning away Axe's high HP at the same time.
Icarus Dive and
Fire Spirits puts Axe's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Supernova on his own.
*
* Axe's slow attack speed makes it difficult for him to destroy
Shadow Demon
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially
Demonic Purge.
Disruption.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by