Axe
* 
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.
Sniper
* Viper Strike breaks Sniper's passives.
* 
Corrosive Skin allows Viper to deal more damage to Sniper than Sniper deals to him when laning, especially by briefly stepping into Shrapnel.
* 
Nethertoxin together with Poison Attack can slow Sniper and tears through his low health and mobility.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Being mostly a physical damage dealer, Sniper's effectiveness is greatly reduced by Omniknight's 
Guardian Angel.
* Omniknight's 
Degen Aura allows him to slow sniper and catch him. Sniper has to then use some escape item.
* Omniknight can also protect an ally from being finished off by Assassinate by using 
Purification and 
Repel which grants a massive strength boost.
Axe
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: 
Bristleback, 
Crystal Maiden, 
Batrider, 
Arc Warden, 
Winter Wyvern, 
Clockwerk
Sniper
* Clockwerk is also the least optimal target for Sniper to attack in a teamfight, although more experienced players will rarely make this mistake.
* With no mobility or disable skills, getting trapped in Power Cogs is a death sentence for Sniper.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Sniper's low mobility and lack of defensive abilities make him an easy gank target for the entire game, especially if Blink Dagger is picked up.
Axe
* 
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.
Sniper
* Early game gankers can make life very difficult for a Sniper if he keeps being caught: 
Ursa, 
Pudge, 
Earth Spirit.
Axe
* 
Disruption will save Shadow Demon's teammates from being killed by Counter Helix or Culling Blade.
* 
Demonic Purge slows Axe to a crawl, making him nearly useless after initiating. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, it will also break Counter Helix.
* 
Demonic Cleanse clears Battle Hunger and Aghanim's Shard Counter Helix Damage Reduction, both allowing targets to escape and reducing your own survivability.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Axe alone, Disruption can be used to save your allies from Axe's initiate 
Berserker's Call, or, if timed correctly, from his Culling Blade.
* Illusions spawned from Axe has the Counter Helix passive, which with deal some nasty damage if an enemy focuses them
* Your upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Axe's primary damage output: Counter Helix, This can be used on him during Berserker's Call to seriously hinder him.
* Demonic Cleanse will clear Battle Hunger, which is Axe's method of catching heroes, and Shard upgraded Counter Helix's Damage Reduction, which is one of Axe's primary survivability abilities.
Sniper
* 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.
Axe
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger, Sniper, 
Lion.
Sniper
* Sniper lacks any protection against Lion's disables early in the game.
* Lion's 
Earth Spike and 
Finger of Death may roughly hit Sniper at the latter increased attack range, making it possible to gank and to disable him from afar in clashes.
* Finger of Death is incredibly dangerous for Sniper as it may shred him away from fights, or in the worst scenario, cause his death.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Primal Beast is one of Sniper's greatest counters, as he has no real means of escape and is very squishy, especially in the early game. Sniper's potshots and 
Shrapnel can contribute to Primal Beast's Uproar and further make him tankier than he already is. Onslaught allows him to close the gap on Sniper at his own volition, and Trample can deal serious damage to his meager health pool.
Axe
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback, Crystal Maiden, Batrider, Arc Warden, Winter Wyvern, Clockwerk
Sniper
* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, 
Disruptor, Pudge, 
Vengeful Spirit.
Axe
* 
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.
Sniper
* Sniper relies on distance. Bounty Hunter can use Shadow Walk to get close, and Jinada can do massive damage and slow down Sniper in the early game.
* Track gives additional speed to Bounty Hunter and makes 
Shadow Blade useless, which can allow Bounty Hunter to easily kill him with a few attacks.
Sniper
* Lina defeats Sniper on the mid, because she has the same attack range as him, and her 
Dragon Slave ability deals much more damage to creeps, as well as to Sniper himself, than Shrapnel, which creates uncomfortable conditions for Sniper to farm on the line, which is why Lina either punches Sniper harder than he either pushes a pack of creeps up to the tower and finishes off his creeps under it, preventing Sniper from earning gold and a level.
Additional:
* Lina defeats Sniper on the mid, because she has the same attack range as him, and her Dragon Slave ability deals much more damage to creeps, as well as to Sniper himself, than Shrapnel, which creates uncomfortable conditions for Sniper to farm on the line, which is why Lina either punches Sniper harder than he either pushes a pack of creeps up to the tower and finishes off his creeps under it, preventing Sniper from earning gold and a level.
Sniper
* 
Shadow Step and 
Haunt from 
Aghanim's Scepter instantly allows Spectre to get up and close with Sniper, and 
Spectral Dagger makes it difficult for Sniper to escape from her.
Additional:
* Spectre can reach him easily in the backlines with Spectral Dagger or teleport to him with Haunt.
* He is usually a fair distance away from his allies, so 
Desolate will quickly tear Sniper down.
* 
Dispersion reflect or reduce his damage, making her hard to take down even at late game.
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.
* Axe's slow attack speed makes it difficult for him to destroy 
Supernova on his own.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* 
Headshot and Shrapnel slow is ineffective against a team with haste (which Stampede gives).
* Commonly picked up mobility items and hasted movement during his Stampede (as well as his high health pool) make him extremely hard to kill from a distance, damaging Sniper with Retaliate and Blade Mail if he has one.
* A low health pool and no escape mechanism makes him an easy target for Centaur Warrunner's burst damage and initiation (even making his team possible initiators with Stampede).
Sniper
* Tinker is one of the few heroes who is able to defeat a Sniper on the center line thanks to his long-ranged abilities.
* 
Laser allow Tinker to deal damage to Sniper and blind him, causing him to miss attacks more often.
* 
Heat-Seeking Missile can deal heavy damage to Sniper on lane.
* 
Defense Matrix allow Tinker to save himself or allies from 
Assassinate.
* 
Warp Flare from 
Aghanim's Shard allows Tinker to teleport Sniper away from himself, while also reducing both his attack range and cast range. If Sniper is teleported near Tinker's allies with Warp Flare, he will be bursted down in no time.
Additional:
* Tinker is one of the few characters in Dota 2 who is able to defeat a Sniper on the center line – Tinker. On the center line, he gains an advantage over his opponent, and later acquires additional control. It is these abilities that the enemy should have in the game against the Sniper.
Sniper
* Invoker's arsenal of magical spells are troublesome for Sniper who has low HP and high armor, which does not benefit him much against Invoker.
* Besides magical damage, he can be disarmed and repeatedly mini-stunned with 
Cold Snap, preventing him from reacting.
* Leveling 
Quas can allow Invoker to lane effectively against Sniper despite right-click harassment.
Sniper
* Storm Spirit can close the distance towards Sniper very easily with his ultimate 
Ball Lightning.
Additional:
* Sniper is very squishy and cannot deal with heroes that jump onto him and lock him down. Storm Spirit closes the gap in a fight against Sniper, and Sniper has no way to escape except for some items.
* Storm Spirit can dodge Assassinate with a correctly timed Ball Lightning.
Sniper
* Slardar can use 
Guardian Sprint with Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade to get close, and 
Slithereen Crush will stun Sniper and slow him, making him vulnerable to Slardar's teammates.
* 
Corrosive Haze lowers Sniper's armor and makes Sniper's Shadow Blade useless, easily killing him with a few attacks.
Sniper
* Sniper has a low health pool and strength gain, making him vulnerable to Pudge's magical and pure damage.
* Sniper usually likes to deal damage away from the fight, and Meat Hook is capable of bringing him to the front lines.
* Assassinate won't do much damage against Pudge because of his high strength gain and the strength bonuses from Flesh Heap.
* Shrapnel will be mostly blocked by Flesh Heap's active.
Additional:
* Pudge's 
Meat Hook allows him to bring Sniper in the middle of any fight, and the pure damage does well against his high armor and low health.
* 
Dismember can lock Sniper down, which makes him highly vulnerable and gives enough time for Pudge to kill him alone. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Dismember will also allow Pudge to save an ally from Assassinate.
Sniper
* Ember Spirit can close the distance between Sniper easily with his 
Activate Fire Remnant and further keep Sniper in place with 
Searing Chains.
* With the help of Aghanim's Scepter, Sniper cannot outrun Ember Spirit or chase him, even if Sniper builds mobility items.
Sniper
* In the mid to late game, the physical attack from Sniper can be painful to go through as 
Rubick. However with the help of Rubick's teammates, the abilities of Sniper can turn against his team.
* Shrapnel is a great wave-clear ability, and helps with scouting the area.
* Shrapnel already has a long cast range, and together with 
Arcane Supremacy Rubick can put constant damage on Sniper while he stays at back.
* Assassinate, if stolen, can be cast to assist a gank while Rubick stays at a range that can merely be found in the area, damaging heroes in the backline including Sniper.
* Arcane Supremacy (combined with Level 25 talent +40% Spell Amp For Stolen Spells, as of 7.31c) increases its damage before reduction to 406.2/611.1/819(531.2/805.1/1079) without considering any further amplification source.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Assassinate becomes an ability with a reliable 1.5 second stun, massive damage, short cooldown and over 3000 cast range which should not be made light of.
* Shrapnel is used frequently and can be easily stolen; Assassinate has a long cast animation for Rubick to forsee the chance to steal.
Axe
* 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
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback, Crystal Maiden, Batrider, Arc Warden, Winter Wyvern, Clockwerk
Sniper
* Magnetic Field's evasion completely negates Sniper's attacks unless he has True Strike.
* Sniper always positions himself far away from battles, which makes him especially vulnerable for Flux and Spark Wraith.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, Disruptor, Pudge, Vengeful Spirit.
Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: 
Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, 
Io, 
Nature's Prophet, 
Pangolier, 
Puck, 
Queen of Pain and most notably 
Riki.
Sniper
* Invisible heroes all have the element of surprise. Provided they deal enough damage, Sniper should be vanquished very quickly: 
Clinkz, Riki, 
Bounty Hunter.
Sniper
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, 
Faceless Void, 
Gyrocopter, 
Juggernaut, 
Meepo, 
Mirana, 
Monkey King, 
Morphling, 
Phantom Assassin, 
Phantom Lancer, Riki, Shadow Fiend, 
Slark, Sniper, 
Terrorblade, Troll Warlord, 
Weaver.
Axe
* 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
Sniper
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, Clinkz, Sniper, 
Enchantress.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* 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.
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.
Sniper
* Clinkz, Sniper, 
Lone Druid, Troll Warlord, Legion Commander and 
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
Sniper
* Range-reliant heroes: Sniper, Drow Ranger
Sniper
* Sniper's lack of mobility and escape mechanisms makes him one of the easier heroes for Bloodseeker to gank.
Axe
* Heroes with high armor and durability can be exceptionally hard for Bloodseeker to bring down: Dragon Knight, Axe
Sniper
* Spirit Breaker can charge towards Sniper from anywhere on the map with 
Charge of Darkness.
* 
Greater Bash deals magical damage, which can prove dangerous to Sniper and his low health.
* Both previous abilities combined with 
Nether Strike ensures that Spirit Breaker can easily solo kill Sniper.
Axe
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: 
Luna, 
Razor, Axe, Bristleback, 
Leshrac, 
Death Prophet, 
Jakiro.
Sniper
* Sniper has no spells to disable Puck. He lacks a silence to prevent spell casting and a stun to disable, allowing Puck to act instantly against Sniper.
* Sniper's main strategy is to attack his enemies from a safe distance. Illusory Orb, combined with Blink Dagger makes it easy for Puck to get close to Sniper. Due to his low health, he is also easily nuked down by Puck.
* The status debuff placed by Assassinate on its target makes it very easy to avoid it. Puck has 2 (3 when having Blink Dagger, 4 when having 
Eul's Scepter of Divinity, 5 when having 
Linken's Sphere) methods to disjoint or dodge the projectile, making it a bad spell for finishing off Puck.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Sniper is very fragile and has low movement speed, making an exceptionally easy target for Chaos Knight to initiate on.
* Sniper has no innate ability to deal with 
Phantasm or escape a 
Reality Rift and 
Chaos Bolt combo.
* In most cases, Sniper likes to stay far in the backline to deal damage, thus he is vulnerable if Chaos Knight manages to jump on him in the back line, which will usually spell a quick end for Sniper.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* 
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.
Sniper
* Heroes with good counter-push abilities to clear creep waves can hinder Jakiro's early pushing ability: Death Prophet, Sniper, 
Tinker, 
Windranger.
Sniper
* 
Snowball allows Tusk to move himself and allies towards Sniper whilst invulnerable and hidden.
* His 
Ice Shards may also block pathing for Sniper as he has no means of moving through obstacles. In addition, 
Tag Team can hinder Sniper's escape.
Additional:
* Tusk alone or with his teammates can close Sniper's long range easily with Snowball, even wasting Shrapnel, ending with a very vulnerable Sniper.
* Walrus PUNCH!'s very high physical damage output can easily kill Sniper instantly due to his low health and armor.
Axe
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1: Axe, Dragon Knight, 
Night Stalker, Centaur Warrunner, Wraith King and more.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Shrapnel can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Blink Dagger from a huge range.
* 
Take Aim and Headshot allow Sniper to harass Shadow Fiend in lane without getting into the range of his Shadowrazes.
Additional:
* Shrapnel can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Blink Dagger from a huge range.
* Take Aim and Headshot allow Sniper to harass Shadow Fiend in lane without getting into the range of his 
Shadowraze.
* Assassinate when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's 
Requiem of Souls.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Sniper just doesn't give Huskar a chance, as he always just keeps his opponents at a great distance. However, in such a game you will need to have a 
Concussive Grenade and a 
Hurricane Pike in order to avoid the 
Life Break of Huskar
Additional:
* Sniper just doesn't give Huskar a chance, as he always just keeps his opponents at a great distance. However, in such a game you will need to have a Concussive Grenade and a Hurricane Pike in order to avoid the Life Break of Huskar
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Melee heroes who may struggle to get close to Sniper: Wraith King, 
Kunkka, Doom, 
Tidehunter, 
Underlord, Troll Warlord, and etc.
Additional:
* Shrapnel and Headshot allows Sniper to kite Troll Warlord effectively.
* Take Aim together with certain items such as Hurricane Pike allow Sniper to sit and fire at Troll Warlord from a safe distance.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes that can easily bypass Chen's creeps to get to Chen: Riki, 
Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, 
Void Spirit, 
Storm Spirit, 
Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Juggernaut deals most of his damage in the melee range and has no gap-closer. Sniper can easily harrass Juggernaut from afar with his long-ranged attacks and {Ability ID:Headshot|Sniper|16px} procs.Should Juggernaut decide to advance,Sniper has enough time to react and back off.
* Sniper's long range attack can destroy 
Healing Ward from a safe range, preventing any healing done to Juggernaut and/or his teammates.
* However, if Sniper is badly positioned, Juggernaut can easily terminate him.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Sniper can easily destroy 
Mass Serpent Wards from long range.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes with long ranged attacks or abilities can harass Visage from afar like 
Phoenix and Sniper.
Axe
* Heroes that can keep Monkey King stunned for a long time can pose a threat: Axe, Centaur Warrunner.
Sniper
* Heroes that can maintain vision on Monkey King can see when he uses Tree Dance: 
Bloodseeker, 
Treant Protector with Eyes In The Forest, Sniper, Weaver
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Melee heroes who may struggle to get close to Sniper: Wraith King, Kunkka, Doom, Tidehunter, Underlord, Troll Warlord, and etc.
Additional:
* Sniper's very long range allows him to stay out of 
Firestorm, 
Pit of Malice as well as 
Atrophy Aura's range.
* Escapes with 
Fiend's Gate can be canceled with Assassinate that can mini-stun the target.
* However, Fiend's Gate can be used to quickly close the gap on Sniper, and kill him if Underlord brings his allies with him through Fiend's Gate. And Sniper has nothing to intercept arrivals with Fiend's Gate outside of Shrapnel and Concussive Grenade from Aghanim's Shard.
Sniper
* Heroes who have high health are a problem for Sniper because he likes to attack the closest target and sit at the back, much like a Terrorblade so when that hero doesn't die; he's forced to show his position for a very long time: Centaur Warrunner, Legion Commander, Primal Beast.
Additional:
* Sunder can save himself or his allies from Assassinate.
* Sniper relies on right-clicks to deal damage in the late game, and Terrorblade's high armor can reduce his damage significantly.
* Terrorblade is a far harder carry than Sniper is, so a well-farmed Terrorblade can easily defeat a Sniper.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Unlike with other heroes who can summon illusions of themselves, Terrorblade's illusions from 
Conjure Image have different colors than other illusions which can be seen even by enemy team, which can also make Terrorblade weak even against heroes he naturally counters: 
Bane, 
Lifestealer, 
Spectre, Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Sniper. Terrorblade's only solution to counter this problem is to get Manta Style as quickly as possible.
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.
Axe
* 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
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: 
Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, 
Shadow Shaman, 
Pugna
Sniper
* Sniper's position in the far back line makes him unlikely to be hit by any of Grimstroke's abilities during teamfights.
* Sniper is relatively unaffected by the silence from Phantom's Embrace.
* Sniper's long range and fast projectile speed allows him quickly to destroy any Phantoms attacking his allies.
Sniper
* With his Take Aim, Sniper can simply sit out of your ability range and deal massive damage if not killed first.
* Assassinate can target allies who are still alive with low health because of Ghostship's buff.
* Headshot makes it harder for Kunkka to position/escape and makes it hard for Kunkka to hit with Tidebringer.
Sniper
* A Sniper who is somewhat competent at positioning is hardly going to be affected by any of Dark Seer's spells thanks to Take Aim.
* However, an illusion of Sniper made with Wall of Replica is extremely powerful, and hard to deal with.
Sniper
* His increased attack range makes it very hard to get close enough for Static Link, Eye of the Storm and Razor's own attacks.
* Headshot procs will slow Razor heavily regardless of Storm Surge, as it will knock him back for a brief duration.
Sniper
* Shrapnel can be used to disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger from long range.
* Take Aim allows Sniper to harass Earthshaker in lane, and stay out of Echo Slam initiation radius.
Additional:
* Sniper is able to kite Earthshaker with his very long range.
* Sniper can dodge Earthshaker's stuns like Fissure and 
Enchant Totem with mobility items such as Blink Dagger, 
Force Staff/Hurricane Pike and Shadow Blade/
Silver Edge.
* Sharpnel can be used to cancel Earthshaker's Blink Dagger and preventing effective use of his Echo Slam in a majority of situations.
Axe
* Berserker's Call forces Dark Willow to attack, cancelling Shadow Realm.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger, Sniper, Lion.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes who outrange Drow Ranger such as Sniper, Tinker.
Axe
* Mana Shield reduces the effectiveness of Counter Helix.
* Stone Gaze makes it very difficult for Axe to initiate on Medusa and her allies.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Sniper can outrange both Medusa's arrows and Stone Gaze, allowing him to focus her down during a teamfight.
Additional:
* Medusa is a fairly immobile hero that deals damage around her with 
Split Shot. Sniper should outrange her and should stay out of harm's way from Split Shot.
* More importantly, Sniper should have enough attack range to fire at Medusa during her Stone Gaze without turning to stone, so the ultimate is mostly wasted against him.
Sniper
* Sniper can easily destroy 
Tombstone from long range.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* 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'sMeat Hook.
Sniper
* Take Aim extends Sniper's attack range, allowing him to position himself safely behind his team, making it difficult to catch him in Enigma's relatively small area-of-effect for Black Hole. When left unattended, he can quickly kill a channeling Enigma (often from the high ground) to rout an otherwise strong initiation.
* In the early game, Sniper can cancel Enigma's Black Hole with Assassinate's ministun. Due to the absolutely ginormous 3000 cast range on Assassinate, Sniper does not need to be too close to Enigma to cancel his Black Hole. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Assassinate can also stun Enigma for a longer duration.
* Both Shrapnel and Assassinate put Enigma's Blink Dagger on cooldown, potentially forcing him to prematurely activate Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Sniper has a very long range, so it is rare that Enigma can catch him in a Black Hole.
* Assassinate can easily cancel Black Hole if he is not caught, especially with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Enigma's Eidolons from 
Demonic Conversion are useless to push against a Sniper as he will easily kill them, especially with 
Mjollnir, a common item on Sniper.
Sniper
* Due to Sniper having a such a long range, he will rarely get hit by any of Silencer's spells.
* Global Silence will not hinder Sniper much as other heroes since most of his damage output comes from his attacks.
Additional:
* Sniper is a pure right click carry with a very long range, making it hard for Silencer to cast any of his skills on him in lane. During team-fights, 
Global Silence has little impact on Sniper.
Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.
Axe
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
Sniper
* Take Aim and Assassinate allow Sniper to reach Io even if it stays in the backline.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes that outrange Luna can be a problem for her: Drow Ranger, Sniper.
Sniper
* Frail heroes who lack mobility can also be an easy target to lock down with Chronosphere, such as Drow Ranger, Luna, Sniper, Terrorblade.
Axe
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call: Phantom Assassin, Faceless Void, Slark, Chaos Knight, Morphling, Queen of Pain
Sniper
* Heroes that can easily kill Faceless Void from outside his Cronosphere; Sniper, 
Skywrath Mage, etc.
Sniper
* Past the early game, Sniper is an easy target for Sven to jump on with Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Storm Hammer, Blink Dagger, Silver Edge or 
Harpoon, common items on Sven.
* Sven's high armor and health pool makes it difficult for Sniper to focus, as his main source of damage is his right click, especially if Sven uses 
Warcry.
* Sniper is very squishy, and will not stand a chance against Sven head on.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Special mention to Sven as he may not be able to get close, but if he does, 
God's Strength will make very short work of Sniper.
Sniper
* Long ranged heroes like Sniper or Drow Ranger can kite Tiny effectively if he doesn't get the jump on them first.
Sniper
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Shadow Shaman, Pugna
Sniper
* Melee heroes who may struggle to get close to Sniper: Wraith King, Kunkka, Doom, Tidehunter, Underlord, Troll Warlord, and etc.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Melee heroes who may struggle to get close to Sniper: Wraith King, Kunkka, Doom, Tidehunter, Underlord, Troll Warlord, and etc.
Axe
* Heroes with burst damage of their own won't be afraid to go toe to toe with Void Spirit, like Ursa, Lifestealer, or Axe.
Sniper
* Other heroes that rely on physical attacks to deal damage and not their abilities: Troll Warlord, Sniper, Monkey King, Sven.
Axe
* 
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.
Sniper
* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat: 
Lich, Lina, Sniper, 
Outworld Destroyer Zeus
Sniper
* Sniper destroys Templar Assassin 
Refraction's only defense with its Shrapnel ability, which is why it can easily punch it and kick it off the line, getting more level and gold.
* The huge range of Sniper's attack due to the Take Aim ability allows him to spend the whole game at a distance far from Templar Assassin, constantly punching her with his physical attacks, which is why Templar Assassin remains either to run away or hide in 
Meld, however, even there Sniper will not let her escape with the help of Blink Dagger, since he uses Shrapnel.
Additional:
* Sniper destroys Templar Assassin Refraction's only defense with its Shrapnel ability, which is why it can easily punch it and kick it off the line, getting more level and gold.
* The huge range of Sniper's attack due to the Take Aim ability allows him to spend the whole game at a distance far from Templar Assassin, constantly punching her with his physical attacks, which is why Templar Assassin remains either to run away or hide in Meld, however, even there Sniper will not let her escape with the help of Blink Dagger, since he uses Shrapnel.
Sniper
* Carry heroes who can close the gap reliably are very problematic: Phantom Lancer, Ember Spirit, Phantom Assassin.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Squishy core heroes (Shadow Fiend, Sniper, etc)
Sniper
* Shrapnel can sometimes scout out Magnus and also place his Blink Dagger on cooldown. Aside from that, Sniper likes to stay far back behind enemy lines, so it's difficult to catch him with Reverse Polarity unless you already have vision on him and can Skewer him to the rest of his team.
Sniper
* Marci can be effective against vulnerable squishy heroes that cannot deal with heroes that jump onto them - Sniper, Drow Ranger, Lina, Rubick, etc.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, Disruptor, Pudge, Vengeful Spirit.
Sniper
* Sniper can kill Disruptor while he is trapped by Kinetic Field from a long range.
* Sniper generally stays in the back, making it hard for Disruptor to cast any of his skills on him in lane.
Sniper
* Fortune's End can catch out or impair position-based heroes with low mobility, such as Sniper or Razor.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Pangolier can easily get close to Sniper with Swashbuckle and Rolling Thunder, negating Sniper's range advantage.
* Lucky Shot disarms Sniper and leaves him unable to effectively fight back.
Axe
* 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
Sniper
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar: Drow Ranger, Sniper, 
Templar Assassin, Arc Warden
Sniper
* 
Ensnare with her attacks allows Naga Siren to gank Sniper easily.
* Rip Tide removes Sniper's very little armor.
Axe
* Axe will destroy her illusions by proccing Counter Helix more often due to him being hit by more attacks.
Sniper
* Sniper's Take Aim can be wasted with either Muerta's 
Pierce the Veil or a well aimed 
Dead Shot.
* Dead Shot can displace Sniper from safe spots into the offensive range of Muerta's team, leading to potential kills on Sniper.
* Sniper relies heavily on his basic attacks, which is useless against Pierce the Veil.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Even if he can slow Mars down with Shrapnel and Headshot, Mars can tank Sniper's physical damage simply by facing him with Bulwark, allowing him to endure his auto-attacks into the late-game. Should Sniper choose to attack someone else, Mars can redirect his projectiles with Bulwark's active ability.
* Sniper's poor mobility makes him very vulnerable to Arena of Blood, especially in the early game. Mars can also take advantage of this by pushing him closer to the front line with Spear of Mars.
Axe
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.
Sniper
* Sniper hugely lacks mobility and escape abilities so that he is an easy target for ganks from Slark.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* 
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.
Sniper
* Due to the nature of the hero, Sniper is typically situated in the back of the fight, potentially making him a difficult target to initiate on and fight.
* Sniper is largely a right-click hero, and as such isn't as an effective of a Doom target as other heroes.
* Thanks to Shrapnel and Headshot, Sniper is able to effectively 'kite' Doom, preventing him from closing the distance between the two.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Sniper can easily destroy Plague Ward from long range.
Sniper
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* 
Shukuchi allows Weaver to close the gap between himself and Sniper with high speed, and to maneuver through teamfights to get on top of him.
* A combination of 
The Swarm and 
Desolator tears through Sniper's low armor.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* 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.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* 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
* Axe forces Bristleback to turn around with Berserker's Call, allowing allies to attack him without fear of his passive.
Sniper
* Morphling's high mobility allows him to easily get close to Sniper, who likes to keep his distance from enemies.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* You can easily kill a squishy Sniper, due to your high movement speed and his lack of escape.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* 
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.
Sniper
* Sniper's huge range makes him an unviable target to use Life Drain on, forcing Pugna to risk playing out of position to use it on Sniper.
* Sniper's Shrapnel can be used to provide vision on Nether Ward, and his range allows him to easily take it out.
* A clumsy Pugna may accidentally boost Sniper's Shrapnel and Assassinate damages if he recklessly uses Decrepify on himself or his allies.
Sniper
* Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.
Additional:
* 
Stifling Dagger and 
Phantom Strike allow Phantom Assassin to close the gap with Sniper and prevent his escape.
* 
Blur allows Phantom Assassin to approach Sniper while invisible and dodge much of Sniper's damage. It can also disjoint Assassinate.
* 
Coup De Grace quickly cuts through Sniper's low health; one or two procs will usually kill him.
* 
Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard can deal damage to Sniper's maximum health and disable Headshot and Take Aim.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Sniper has no natural escape and relies on his range and slows to keep himself safe, which Riki can bypass with Blink Strike and quickly deplete his miniature HP pool.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* Assassinate is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for massive damage.
* Shrapnel's area damage can set up an easy stun with Spiked Carapace, especially when combined with Vendetta.
* In the early game, Sniper's low health pool and high intelligence makes him easy prey for Nyx Assassin.
Axe
* 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.
Axe
* 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.
Sniper
* As Outworld Destroyer has short cast ranges, a short attack range, and no gap-closing abilities, Sniper can kite and harass Outworld Destroyer in lane with his long range and zone him out in fights. The continuous area damage from Shrapnel also prevents Astral-Blink escapes.
* However, in the late game, Outworld Destroyer's massive damage can overwhelm Sniper once he obtains Blink Dagger, Force Staff etc. to close the gap.
Sniper
* Sniper is completely helpless against Broodmother's abilities, and can be seriously damaged by Spiderlings in lane, especially when Shrapnel is on cooldown.
Axe
* 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
* 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. 
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.
* However,
Sniper
* Lifestealer can close the distance to Sniper by using
Infest on a fast or durable creep to tank Sniper's damage.
Open Wounds and 
Ghoul Frenzy will reduce Sniper's mobility heavily, and 
Rage's movement speed bonus helps in closing the gap to Sniper. It also protects him from Assassinate and Shrapnel.
Infest can dodge an incoming Assassinate or to surprise Sniper during ganks. 
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Infest can also allow Lifestealer to disarm Sniper and attack him from inside.
*
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