* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.

* Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars' stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
* Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as it deals significant damage and slow, making Bulwark slightly ineffective.
* It is worth noting that Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.

* Berserker's Call and Counter Helix allow Axe to kill Shadow Fiend if he stands too close to a creep wave.
* Battle Hunger is very strong against Shadow Fiend in the early game because Shadow Fiend's low attack damage makes it hard for him to get last hits.
* Axe's naturally high strength and health regeneration will be enough to tank a lot of Shadow Fiend's damage in the early game.

* Shadow Fiend's lack of mobility and low base health make him an easy target for early ganks.

* 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

* Ice Shards can easily interfere with Rolling Thunder, making him stuck inside the arc and wasting his ultimate. Do not panic and use Shield Crash to get out of that position.
* Snowball helps Tusk and his allies follow a fleeing Pangolier, keep in mind that the Pangolier can always counter-initiate with his Rolling Thunder.
* Walrus PUNCH! deals heavy damage even during his Rolling Thunder.

* Heroes with high armor and durability can be exceptionally hard for Bloodseeker to bring down: Dragon Knight, Axe

* Snowball negates Rupture and protects Tusk allies when Ruptured.

* Axe usually wants to fight in the middle of creep waves to proc his Counter Helix. Legion Commander wants to do the same thing to proc Moment of Courage, often resulting in Axe getting a huge amount of damage in against Legion Commander.
* Axe's high armor gain thanks to Culling Blade makes him almost impossible to kill during a Duel in the late game.

* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter etc).

Additional:
* Walrus PUNCH! makes Legion Commander lose Duel easily, especially when she doesn't have Blade Mail. Tusk can also snowball dueled allies, preventing them from taking damage for a large portion of the duel's duration.

* 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.

* 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! damage can easily kill Sniper instantly due to his low health.

* 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.

* Snowball and Ice Shards keep Drow Ranger down and preventing her from running away.
* Snowball also lets Tusk get to Drow Ranger and stop her Marksmanship bonus. It can also be to save allies affected by Gust.
* Tag Team allows Tusk to slow her down and land a killing blow on her.
* Walrus PUNCH! slows Drow Ranger and deals a huge amount of damage to her, due to her low health (and low armor without Marksmanship, since Tusk can quickly close the gap to Drow Ranger).

* Heroes that can keep Monkey King stunned for a long time can pose a threat: Axe, Centaur Warrunner.

* Tusk can Walrus Kick Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.

Additional:
* Tusk can Walrus Kick Monkey King from Wukong's Command, making his ultimate useless.

* 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.

* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer

* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.

* 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 maximise 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 common Linken's Sphere carrier to block Culling Blade forces Axe to use Battle Hunger to pop the Spell Block first.
* Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) gives Morphlig no protection against the pure damage of Culling Blade. Its attack speed bonus also means that Counter Helix will proc more often.

* 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.

* Every single one of Axe's abilities can affect Muerta during her Pierce the Veil
* 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 an activated Blade Mail to quickly kill Muerta due to her high right click damage.
* Muerta often builds high attack speed making Counter Helix have a high chance to proc.

* 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.
* Blade Mail is an item that Axe purchases every game, and which can be used to turn Phantom Assassin's critical strikes from Coup De Grace against herself. This can become even worse if she's affected by Berserker's Call, as she has no way to stop attacking.
* 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.
* Axe just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup De Grace, as Fan of Knives can disable Counter Helix, even if Axe is spell immune.

* 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 on, especially when affected by Battle Hunger.

* 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.

* 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 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.

* 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.

* Tusks damage/stun is enough to obliviate Storm Spirit before he can do anything.
* Tusk is a common Blink Dagger carrier, and once he reaches Level 18, Walrus PUNCH! deals roughly half of Storm Spirit's health alone, It also stuns for a long enough time for Tusk to Snowball Storm Spirit, stunning him even more, If that hasn't finished him off, the damage from Ice Shards probably will. Combined with Tag Team, which adds bonus damage to Tusks attacks, Storm Spirit is unlikely to survive Tusk initiating on him
* Walrus PUNCH is even more potent if he uses a Silver Edge instead
* However while Ball Lightning doesn't disjoint Snowball, if used before Tusk hits with Snowball, prevents the stun and damage from being applied

* Tag Team easily overwhelms pudge,as he has low armor.Combined with heavy physical hitters and Pudge's slow speed, it becomes for Pudge difficult to escape.
* Snowball hides a Dismembered ally and stops his ultimate.
* Walrus PUNCH! removes a big chunk of his health and stuns him.
* Pudge usually can't stand toe to toe against Tusk and his allies in the early game.

* 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.

* Walrus PUNCH! can interrupt Black Hole and it can pierce spell immunity and neither Black King Bar nor Linken's Sphere can protect Enigma from Walrus PUNCH! as Walrus PUNCH! is an auto-cast ability.
* In pretty much any phase of the game, Tusk's abilities can easily cancel Black Hole and disrupt Enigma's positioning.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* Berserker's Call forces Dark Willow to attack, cancelling Shadow Realm.

* Axe will destroy her illusions by proccing Counter Helix more often due to him being hit by more attacks.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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 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.

* 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 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.

* 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.

* Heroes with gap closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call: Phantom Assassin, Faceless Void, Slark, Chaos Knight, Morphling, Queen of Pain

* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game: Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker, Tusk, Bounty Hunter, Riki, Warlock.

* 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 that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like Tusk and Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.

* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.

Additional:
* Bane has low mobility and health, making him an easy target for Walrus PUNCH!
* Walrus PUNCH! can be used to cancel Fiend's Grip if he is not the target.

* Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac,

* Heroes with spell immunity or pseudo-blinks which provide invulnerability: Lifestealer, Juggernaut, Omniknight, Huskar , and Tusk have spells which allow them to easily escape Dream Coil.

* 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 with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as Clockwerk, Kunkka, Puck, Skywrath Mage, Spirit Breaker, Tusk and others.

* 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.

* 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.

* Snowball allows Tusk to easily cancel Freezing Field from a safe distance without putting himself in any danger.
* Walrus PUNCH! is most certainly a high enough damage nuke to easily kill off Crystal Maiden.
* Ice Shards can prevent the already immobile Crystal Maiden from escaping, making her an easy kill for either Tusk or a teammate.
Additional:
* Crystal Maiden's low health and armor make her an easy target for Walrus PUNCH!
* Tusk's Snowball can protect allies and cancel Freezing Field.
* Snowball and Walrus PUNCH! can interrupt Freezing Field.

* 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 also triggers 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 the typical hit-and-run style.

* 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.

* Axe forces Bristleback to turn around with Berserker's Call, allowing allies to attack him without fear of his passive.

* Pugna's low health and reliance on channeled abilities make him very vulnerable to Tusk, although Pugna can win in a straight up 1v1 later in the game.

* Viper Strike can be countered through Snowball, wasting Viper's mana through his ultimate.
* Nethertoxin is useless against Tusk as he has no passive abilities at all. And to make things worse, Nethertoxin cannot disable Walrus PUNCH! because it's an auto-cast ability.

* 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.

* Snowball can be used to save allies or himself during Venomous Gale and Poison Nova.
* Venomancer lacks mobility and has low base health, so he can be killed by Walrus PUNCH!

* 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 makes Mana Void deal very little damage to Axe.