* Time Lapse with Aghanim's Scepter dispels Flaming Lasso when used on allied hero.
* Linken's Sphere is core item for a Weaver making him a hard target for Lasso during entire game.
* You can potentially kill a fragile Weaver by using Disruption during Shukuchi with a well-placed Sentry Ward, wasting the Shukuchi. But odds are he'll wait to get low health, Time Lapse the damage away and Shukuchi away once more.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter cannot break Reincarnation, which could put him in a disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, Wraith King is a single-target hero, so he cannot deal with Disruption illusions.
* Nether Swap breaks Flaming Lasso when used on ally and can break if used on Batrider.
* Vengeful Spirit can disable Batrider's Blink Dagger before a fight with Wave of Terror.
Additional:
* With her Nether Swap, Vengeful Spirit can save the life of an ally who gets caught with Flaming Lasso. Nether Swap also makes it highly dangerous for Batrider to attempt a lasso, as it can lead to his own demise far behind enemy lines.
* Wave of Terror's flying vision allows Vengeful Spirit to spot Batrider trying to close in on his target with Firefly.
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova will tear apart any illusions spawned from Disruption
* Split Earth can punish improper usage of Disruption.
* Leshrac does not have any buffs that can be removed by Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Pulse Nova makes quick work of any illusions with amplified damage, and deals damage even if Leshrac is in Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Split Earth for the enemy.
* Disruption does not stop Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova once they start pulsing, and even worse it provides a safe shelter for Leshrac to keep pumping up his powerful AoE damage onto the battlefield.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Leshrac out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Leshrac.
* Death Ward with Aghanim's Scepter makes quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption until Witch Doctor buys Linken's Sphere or Black King Bar.
* All of Witch Doctor's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Voodoo Restoration can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Maledict or Paralyzing Cask for the enemy.
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption.
* Kraken Shell can dispel Flaming Lasso.
* If Batrider drags Tidehunter back towards his team, it can be setup for a well placed Ravage.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell is very useful against Sticky Napalm and Flamebreak, easily dispelling them regularly.
* Tidehunter is probably the worst hero to target with Flaming Lasso, as Kraken Shell will remove it and Tidehunter often survives long enough to cast Ravage in the middle of Batrider's team. At the same time, if Batrider initiates on his teammate, Tidehunter will have the perfect opportunity to counter-initiate.
* Nyx can walk into Firefly with Spiked Carapace and stun Batrider if he has no Spell Immunity, even if Batrider is focusing on other enemy hero.
* Batrider has poor survivablilty, relying on his mobility from Firefly to survive. Stunning him with Ice Path of Liquid Frost can easily spell his doom.
* Batrider tends to cast Flaming Lasso on the squishest or the tankiest hero. Which Jakiro is not squishy, nor his generally the tank of the team, Due to this, Jakiro can usually save allies with Ice Path and Liquid Frost, while also potentially removing an entire hero from play for a short period of time.
* Even if Batrider does cast Flaming Lasso on Jakiro, Batrider will generally drag Jakiro into a great setup for Ice Path and Macropyre.
* Shadow Demon's main source of damage is his low cooldown, high damage spells - meaning Last Word and Global Silence will pretty much take him out of the game for the duration.
* Shadow Demon likes to spam his abilities, which makes him vulnerable to Arcane Curse.
* If Shadow Demon dies near Silencer, he will lose intelligence, reducing his mana pool, mana regen, and attack damage. Furthermore, if the game is long and Shadow Demon dies often, the intelligence losses will also reduce his spell damage.
* All of Pugna's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Nether Ward punishes Shadow Demon's constant mana usage from spamming spells, especially Shadow Poison.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Nether Blast for the enemy.
* Life Drain can be used to heal Pugna or an ally to save them from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption unless Pugna buys defensive items.
* Shadow Demon will have a hard time catching Storm Spirit, as he can get away with Ball Lightning.
* Static Remnant will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* With very high mobility and usually being paired with Orchid Malevolence, he can catch Shadow Demon with ease both in ganks and in teamfights if Shadow Demon has no survivability items.
* All of Puck's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Shadow Demon will find a hard time catching a Puck, as he can get away with Illusory Orb or even Waning Rift;
* Puck can dodge Shadow Poison waves and potentially avoid the damage from Demonic Purge with Phase Shift. Furthermore, after Disruption ended, Puck can use Phase Shift to avoid any further danger and can blink away with Blink Dagger.
* Waning Rift can be used to initiate Shadow Demon, prevent him from using any spells.
* QW-Invoker perfectly resists Batrider in his attacks, since Batrider has a small mana reserve and depends very much on him - E.M.P. perfectly allows Invoker to deprive her, and he also has the abilities of Tornado and Cold Snap, which can help him fend off his attack, and possibly even kill along with his team
Additional:
* QW-Invoker perfectly resists Batrider in his attacks, since Batrider has a small mana reserve and depends very much on him - E.M.P. perfectly allows Invoker to deprive her, and he also has the abilities of Tornado and Cold Snap, which can help him fend off his attack, and possibly even kill along with his team
* Doppelganger dispels Sticky Napalm and Flamebreak.
* There are usually way too many illusions for Batrider to lasso the real Phantom Lancer, since the illusions' hitboxes also body block the real Phantom Lancer.
* Although Phantom Lancer will generate strong illusions, and you can also break his Juxtapose with an Aghanim's Demonic Purge, you have a small chance of guessing which is the real Phantom Lancer after he uses Doppelganger.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's strength is the sheer amount of illusions he can conjure, Dissimulate can be cast on an ally that he is focusing to quickly thin out his ranks
* Landing a upgraded Demonic Purge on the real Phantom Lancer prevents him from making very many illusions (His only source being Doppelganger), You can reapply as needed if you have the Shard
* Disrupting Phantom Lancer allows you to create multiple extra illusions with Juxtapose, As he is a common carrier of Diffusal Blade, you can also drain the mana of any nearby heros
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* Death Prophet is a terrible Flaming Lasso target if Exorcism has already been used, since it can still damage Batrider and his teammates, but if Batrider manages to Lasso her before that, it can lead to Death Prophet being quickly burst down.
* Lycan and Weaver has abilities that allow them to move at maximum movement speed, and those abilities can't be dispelled, potentially wasting the slow from Demonic Purge.
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* Zeus is good against heroes that juke in trees or up cliffs, like Batrider, Monkey King, Spectre, and Tinker, by providing vision in any area with Lightning Bolt, or guaranteeing vision on enemies with Thundergod's Wrath.
* Enrage with Aghanim's Scepter can dispel Flaming Lasso.
* Melee carries such as Sven, Ursa or Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge renders Ursa useless even through Black King Bar as it slows him, continually purges his Overpower charges and can not be dispelled by Ursa's Enrage.
* Disruption is a good way to save teammates against Ursa. Disrupting Ursa is also a good way to kite him, as it can not be dispelled by Enrage.
* Press the Attack dispels Flaming Lasso.
* Batrider is unlikely to win a Duel in any stage of the game.
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Disruption can save allies and mess up an initiation from an enemy Legion Commander. Using Disruption on your ally that is affected by Duel will leave her totally exposed without the benefit of the life steal from Moment of Courage. A precise decision to Disrupt Legion Commander or her victim is crucial to waste Duel's potential.
* Demonic Purge cannot be dispelled by a hard dispel from Press the Attack, which in turn can be dispelled by your ultimate.
* Dragon Slave will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Light Strike Array for the enemy.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Lina out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Lina.
* Heroes with abilities that can pull Lina out of position can easily bring her to their team mates, like Batrider with Flaming Lasso, Pudge with Meat Hook and Vengeful Spirit with Nether Swap.
* X Marks the Spot breaks Flaming Lasso when used on ally and can break if used on Batrider.
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
* Heroes with hide abilities can often dodge a Ghostship just before it hits.
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
* A Eul's Scepter of Divinity can also do the trick, but, unlike the previously mentioned abilities, you can only use it on yourself and not your allies.
* Dark Pact can dispel Flaming Lasso if is used in anticipation, but a Blink initiation from fog can catch the Slark off guard.
* Slark can also take off any Sticky Napalm stacks with Dark Pact in lane.
Additional:
* Shadow Dance's passive can inform Slark when he's under enemy vision, meaning it'll be very hard to catch Slark off-guard with Flaming Lasso.
* Flaming Lasso is dispelled by Dark Pact. Its casting can be prevented with Shadow Dance or Depth Shroud (it requires Aghanim's Shard).
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* All of Lion's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Hex and Mana Drain can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating, especially when he acquires his Talents at level 20 and 25.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Earth Spike or Finger of Death with Aghanim's Scepter for the enemy.
* Batrider often hides in the trees to initiate on a target. As such, he has a slight edge against heroes that have no scouting tools and cannot see him coming, such as Lion or Sven.
* As long as Batrider is under the effect of Firefly, he can safely fly over Proximity Mines (He does not receive vision over the mines).
* Shadow Demon's spammable illusions can be used to scout Techies' Proximity Mines.
* Firefly and combinated with Blink Dagger can easy avoided from Focus Fire.
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless for 7 seconds.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge. can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
* Sticky Napalm slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to face frontwards, where Spear of Mars and Bulwark are effective. In combination with Firefly, which deals magic damage, Batrider can make quick work of Mars.
* Flaming Lasso disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with Aghanim's Scepter), Viper.
* Phantom Assassin does not deal with early aggression very easily (especially when magical damage). A competent Batrider can make life very difficult with Sticky Napalm followed by any other spell.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers. Doom and Shadow Demon with Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility: Doom, Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with Aghanim's Shard
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback, Crystal Maiden, Batrider, Arc Warden, Winter Wyvern, Clockwerk
* 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.
* Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer and Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
* Batrider prevents sharp and brazen attacks of the opponent. First he catches him in a Flaming Lasso, and then causes huge damage, in some cases even incompatible with life.
Additional:
* Batrider prevents sharp and brazen attacks of the opponent. First he catches him in a Flaming Lasso, and then causes huge damage, in some cases even incompatible with life.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption will allow his allies to maneuver around you. It can also be used to protect an ally from your abilities, or Astral Imprisonment - Meteor Hammer combo.
* Disseminate turns your high damage Arcane Orb and Sanitiy's Eclipse against you and your teammates.
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge will break your Essence Flux passive for 7 seconds, preventing you from regaining mana, and severely hindering your damage output.
* Heroes with abilities that can lock down Terrorblade and prevent him from using Sunder: Bane, Batrider, Earthshaker, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Invoker, Legion Commander, Mars, Primal Beast, Riki, Shadow Shaman, Silencer, Vengeful Spirit, Void Spirit.
* Heroes who can summon illusions and summons because Terrorblade has no abilities to deal with multiple enemies at once outside Reflection: Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Lycan, Enigma, Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Demon, Dark Seer, Nature's Prophet, Invoker, Morphling, Visage, Grimstroke with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Batrider's turn rate slow from Sticky Napalm makes it harder for Bristleback to keep his back towards the enemy.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passives.
* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, Disruptor, Pudge, Vengeful Spirit.
* 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.
* Batrider often hides in the trees to initiate on a target. As such, he has a slight edge against heroes that have no scouting tools and cannot see him coming, such as Lion or Sven.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* Heroes with stronger lane presence that can threaten to kill him: Batrider, Juggernaut, Ursa, Monkey King, Razor.
* Heroes that can punish aggressive heroes, such as: Leshrac, Shadow Demon, Pugna, Death Prophet.
* Heroes that can gain vision over trees to catch Tinker: Invoker, Shadow Demon, Batrider.
* Heroes that can gain vision over trees to catch Tinker: Invoker, Shadow Demon, Batrider.
* Sticky Napalm slows Chen and his creeps and Flamebreak and Firefly can deal heavy damage to them.
* Flaming Lasso can pull Chen away from his creeps toward Batrider's team, often to certain death.
Additional:
* Sticky Napalm slows Chen and amplifies Batrider's damage.
* Flamebreak and Firefly can deal heavy damage to Chen and his creeps.
* Flaming Lasso pulls Chen away from his creeps, often to certain death.
* Firefly destroys trees and can turn Tree Dance into a free four second stun.
Additional:
* Firefly allows Batrider to gain vision of Monkey King while he is on an tree, as well as destroying any nearby trees, denying Monkey King spots to jump to, or causing him to fall.
* Sticky Napalm's turn rate slow makes it significantly more difficult for Monkey King to jump from tree to tree and gain Jingu Mastery stacks. It also reveals Monkey King while he is on a tree.
* Flamebreak and Flaming Lasso enable Batrider to remove Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
* Batrider's DoT damage quickly removes Templar Assassin's Refraction and can damage her during Meld.
Additional:
* Batrider's abilities are designed to deal damage over time, burning through Templar Assassin's layers extremely quickly. Flamebreak applies 7 instances of damage, burning through the entirety of Refraction, and Firefly applies damage on the place, forcing her to either get out of Meld and be attacked or stay in place or be incinerated.
* Flaming Lasso pierces Black King Bar and rendering Templar Assassin helpless unless there are allies helping her.
* Many stacks of Sticky Napalm, combined with Flamebreak and Firefly, allows Batrider to destroy illusions from Mirror Image.
* If Batrider can manage to destroy all illusions from Naga Siren, he will be able to use Flaming Lasso on the real one, and will be able to drag her toward his team, potentially preventing Naga Siren from escaping with Song of the Siren.
Additional:
* Many stacks of Sticky Napalm, combined with Flamebreak and Firefly, allows Batrider to destroy illusions from Mirror Image.
* If Batrider can manage to destroy all illusions from Naga Siren, he will be able to use Flaming Lasso on the real one, and will be able to drag her toward his team, potentially preventing Naga Siren from escaping with Song of the Siren.
* Disruption instantly removes Phantom Embrace, and can potentially save allies affected by Soulbind.
* Demonic Purge dispels Ink Swell.
* Firefly can be used to clear Nature's Prophet's Treants and allows Batrider destroy Sprout's trees.
* Flaming Lasso prevents Nature's Prophet from escaping using Teleportation.
* Her illusions with Desolate are very valuable, especially when they are usually paired with Radiance. Unlike blink or force movement, Spectral Dagger's escaping mechanic requires manual movement, and therefore Demonic Purge can hold her back really hard and allow your allies to finish her off.
* If she tries to kill you or any key ally with Haunt at any point of the game, remember to not panic and always use Disruption on the illusion, whether it is fake or the real Spectre herself. When the situation calls, Demonic Purge can save a second victim from a haunting Spectre.
* When upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can remove Spectre from a fight by disabling Desolate and Dispersion, negating her damage and tankiness respectively.
* Shadow Demon's Shadow Poison can quickly stack to the point where Huskars generally low health is easily finished off.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption can turn Huskar's high attack speed and regeneration against him, It also makes him an easy target for Shadow Poison,
* Shadow Demon commonly builds a Meteor Hammer, allowing him to land a heavy stun on Huskar
* Shadow Demon's upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Huskar, It also pierces Spell Immunity, Without his passive for 7 seconds Huskar quickly falls in battle
* However note that Shadow Demon is a squishy target and you can often overwhelm him if he is alone, But he can still Disrupt you to escape
Additional:
* Shadow Poison can quickly stack up on Huskar, And with his naturally low health you don't need as many stacks to be effective.
* Disruption turns Huskars high attack speed against him, They also have the highest survivability as illusions due to his passive Berserker's Blood, It also allows you to put Shadow Poison stacks on him,
* Dissimulate turns Huskar's burning damage against his team, You can cast it on an ally who is taking a bunch of Burning Spear stacks and cause Huskar to take high amounts of damage as well
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge is your most effective weapon against him, It's 7 second Break causes him to quickly die in battle
* Disruption sets up Anti-Mage for a chain disable. The illusions will deal extra damage due to Mana Break.
* Shadow Poison hits Anti-Mage even after he's Blinked away.
* If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can break Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Anti-Mage alone, Disruption's considerable cast range can become a perfect setup for any hard-disable to follow up. If he is pinned down, Anti-Mage will quickly face his demise when the illusions deplete his already low mana pool. Manta Style will easily allow him to escape, however.
* The illusions can be controlled to quickly sap mana from any other target, making Anti-Mage one of the most valuable targets to disrupt.
* Disruption can banish Faceless Void or an ally in Chronosphere, making it a less effective ability.
* Faceless Void's illusions created by Disruption will not get stunned by Chronosphere, allowing Shadow Demon to attack Faceless Void in his Chronosphere.
* Casting Disruption after releasing Shadow Poison charges will make Time Walk unable to backtrack the damage.
* Shadow Poison is a good way to deal damage as the initial damage and the release damage can't both be Time Walked at the same time.
* Demonic Purge is a great slow, useful to force out a Time Walk early and can break Time Lock with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
* Batrider's Flaming Lasso can be used to cancel Io's attempts to escape with Relocate and drag him away from his Tethered target. And since Io doesn't like buying Linken's Sphere, he will be always vulnerable to Batrider's initiations.
* Io's tendency to stick close to it's Tethered target can make Io and it's target vulnerable to Batrider's harrasing.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to catch and drag two heroes at once, not just one. Which can potentially turn Io's Tether against him.
Additional:
* Batrider's Flaming Lasso can be used to cancel Io's attempts to escape with Relocate and drag him away from his Tethered target. And since Io doesn't like buying Linken's Sphere, he will be always vulnerable to Batrider's initiations.
* Io's tendency to stick close to it's Tethered target can make Io and it's target vulnerable to Batrider's harrasing.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to catch and drag two heroes at once, not just one. Which can potentially turn Io's Tether against him.
* Alchemist is a well-known Radiance carrier among other auras your illusions will benefit from. They also get the extra move speed and reduced base attack time from his Chemical Rage, and it's even better if you can catch him as his own rage is about to expire.
* Disruption will buy enough time for all allies to retreat when Alchemist starts to activate Unstable Concoction.
* The constant dispel from Demonic Purge will make any attempt to save the victim or himself by Surge become futile. For what it's worth, Demonic Purge will also dispel Ion Shell.
* Firefly will cut trees with ease, cleaning-up an area that's been enchanted with Eyes In The Forest, and potentially revealing a Treant under the effects of Nature's Guise.
* Batrider's DoT spells are also good versus Living Armor.
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* Batrider can harass Arc Warden more easily with Sticky Napalm thanks to it's low cooldown and mana cost and because of Arc Warden's lower durability and mobility.
* Batrider can use Flamebreak to push Arc Warden and Tempest Double out of the Magnetic Field.
* With Firefly combined with Blink Dagger, Batrider can move faster while dealing damage to both Arc Warden and Tempest Double.
* Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to separate Arc Warden from both Magnetic Field and Tempest Double and pull him towards Batrider's team. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso also allows Batrider to disable both, real Arc Warden and his Tempest Double and pull them towards Batrider's team. And since Arc Warden is not used to buy Linken's Sphere, this can be a great problem to him.
* Since Arc Warden is not used to buy Black King Bar very ofthen In most of the stages of the game, he will be vulnerable to Batrider's magical damage-over-time output in most of the stages of the game.
* However, Batrider needs to approach Arc Warden carefully as Arc Warden can scout Batrider's location with Spark Wraith. Also, Arc Warden tends to buy Gleipnir which combined with Flux's damage over time can be used to prevent Batrider from even using Blink Dagger.
Additional:
* Batrider can harass Arc Warden more easily with Sticky Napalm thanks to it's low cooldown and mana cost and because of Arc Warden's lower durability and mobility.
* Batrider can use Flamebreak to push Arc Warden and Tempest Double out of the Magnetic Field.
* With Firefly combined with Blink Dagger, Batrider can move faster while dealing damage to both Arc Warden and Tempest Double.
* Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to separate Arc Warden from both Magnetic Field and Tempest Double and pull him towards Batrider's team. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso also allows Batrider to disable both, real Arc Warden and his Tempest Double and pull them towards Batrider's team. And since Arc Warden is not used to buy Linken's Sphere, this can be a great problem to him.
* Since Arc Warden is not used to buy Black King Bar very ofthen In most of the stages of the game, he will be vulnerable to Batrider's magical damage-over-time output in most of the stages of the game.
* However, Batrider needs to approach Arc Warden carefully as Arc Warden can scout Batrider's location with Spark Wraith. Also, Arc Warden tends to buy Gleipnir which combined with Flux's damage over time can be used to prevent Batrider from even using Blink Dagger.
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
* Any long duration disables that can pierce through both, Pierce The Veil and Black King Bar are devastating against Muerta: Enigma's Black Hole, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, Axe's Berserker's Call, Naga Siren's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Ensnare and Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter, Jakiro's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Macropyre, Bane's Fiend's Grip, Pudge's Dismember, Batrider's Flaming Lasso, Beastmaster's Primal Roar, Grimstroke's Soulbind, Medusa's Stone Gaze, Magnus's Reverse Polarity.
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while: Doom and Shadow Demon (via Aghanim's Scepter), Viper, Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
* Heroes with 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
* Heroes with summons or illusions makes Sacred Arrow harder to land: Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet.
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven, Omniknight, Enigma, Luna, Naga Siren, Mars, Jakiro, Venomancer, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Rubick, Keeper of the Light, Pugna, Invoker, Spectre, Alchemist, Treant Protector, Lina, Oracle, Zeus, Shadow Shaman, Phoenix, Razor, Huskar, Batrider, Kunkka, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Sand King, Medusa, Dawnbreaker.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* 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.
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane: this includes Dazzle, Shadow Demon and Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
* 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.
* 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.
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer, Omniknight, Dawnbreaker.
* For the same reason, he has to be slightly more cunning when playing against heroes that can scout the treeline, such as Ancient Apparition and his Ice Vortex and Shadow Demon and his Shadow Poison.
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon, Dazzle, Oracle, Bane, Pugna, Tusk, Winter Wyvern, Io, Underlord, Treant Protector and Keeper of the Light.
Additional:
* Be ready to save an ally from Omnislash with your Disruption.
* Spawning Juggernaut's illusions is a great deal, as his base attack time is low and he has a critical strike. Illusions will benefit from both.
* Demonic Purge will prevent Juggernaut's desperate attempt to flee using Blade Fury. However, it cannot stop him if he is using Town Portal Scroll.
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Heroes with disables that go through spell immunity can end Bloodseeker before he has the chance to do anything: Batrider, Beastmaster
* Melee carries such as Sven, Ursa or Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damaging and/or disabling abilities will be able to intercept Underlord and his team when they exit from Fiend's Gate: Luna's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, Axe's Berserker's Call, Mars's Arena of Blood, Jakiro's Macropyre, Dual Breath and Ice Path, Naga Siren's Song of the Siren, Razor's Eye of the Storm and Plasma Field, Lina's Light Strike Array, Broodmother's Spinner's Snare from Aghanim's Scepter, Elder Titan's Earth Splitter and Echo Stomp, Alchemist's Unstable Concoction and Acid Spray, Queen of Pain's Sonic Wave, Dark Seer's Wall of Replica and Vacuum, Venomancer's Noxious Plague and Poison Nova from Aghanim's Scepter, Oracle's Fortune's End and Rain of Destiny from Aghanim's Shard, Bloodseeker's Blood Rite, Enigma's Black Hole and Midnight Pulse, Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls, Batrider's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso, Firefly, Flamebreak and Sticky Napalm, Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast, Sand King's Epicenter, Sand Storm and Burrowstrike, Gyrocopter's Call Down, Ember Spirit's Sleight of Fist, Death Prophet's Exorcism and Silence, Monkey King's Wukong's Command, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Muerta's The Calling, Medusa's Stone Gaze, Zeus's Nimbus from Aghanim's Scepter. Dark Willow's Bramble Maze, Pangolier's Swashbuckle, Grimstroke's Soulbind, Ink Swell and Stroke of Fate, Earthshaker's Echo Slam and Fissure, Puck's Dream Coil and Waning Rift, Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse, Magnus's Reverse Polarity.
* Heroes that can purge buffs can dispel Guardian Angel: Invoker, Shadow Demon, Oracle.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge can dispel Guardian Angel on the key target during combat, allow your allies to finish them.
* Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer and Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
* Sticky Napalm makes it difficult for Tusk to hold his own on lane.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned Snowball will give Batrider a free counter-initiation with Flaming Lasso if Batrider is far enough to avoid the stun from the Snowball.
Additional:
* Sticky Napalm makes it difficult for Tusk to hold his own on lane.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned Snowball will give Batrider a free counter-initiation with Flaming Lasso if Batrider is far enough to avoid the stun from the Snowball.
* Illusions and summons are double-edge sword type of matchup for Luna. On one hand, they can tank damage from Eclipse, but on the other hand, she can easily clear them before Eclipse with Moon Glaives. Examples include Spectre, Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, Chen, Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden).
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive. And Luna's commonly items Manta Style and Black King Bar does not work dispell to Demonic Purge
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Sceptre it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive.
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon is a very good ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
* Plague Wards are very hard for Batrider to play against as they provide a lot of vision as well as disable Blink Dagger for a long duration.
* In the laning stage, making illusions of Venomancer will turn his Poison Sting back at him, making for an easy gank at level one, and for later when your mid comes for ganks.
* Poof will destroy Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption and quickly escapes from Shadow Poison & Demonic Purge.
* Flaming Lasso is the perfect tool to isolate a single Meepo and focus him.
* Disruption is not reliable enough to catch an Ember Spirit with a backup Fire Remnant.
* Sleight of Fist will also make quick work of the spawned illusions.
* The best you can do against an Ember Spirit is to dispel his Flame Guard with your Demonic Purge.
* Batrider has huge damage from his Sticky Napalm and hand strikes on the target, with this effect. And Ember Spirit not only has a small reserve of health, but also has a melee type of attack. If these two collide on the center line, then Ember Spirit will have to finish off several creeps from afar with a Sleight of Fist, otherwise he will lose a lot of health from long-range Batrider attacks under Sticky Napalm, and possibly even kill, because Ember Spirit does not have the ability to interrupt Batraider with his damage if he decides to attack
* Ember Spirit is a very tasty target for Flaming Lasso, because it has a small reserve of health, and all the power lies in the abilities that Flaming Lasso forbids using, this can help the Batraider team quickly deal with the unpleasant "jumping" Ember Spirit in a fight if he gets into Flaming Lasso
Additional:
* Batrider has huge damage from his Sticky Napalm and hand strikes on the target, with this effect. And Ember Spirit not only has a small reserve of health, but also has a melee type of attack. If these two collide on the center line, then Ember Spirit will have to finish off several creeps from afar with a Sleight of Fist, otherwise he will lose a lot of health from long-range Batrider attacks under Sticky Napalm, and possibly even kill, because Ember Spirit does not have the ability to interrupt Batraider with his damage if he decides to attack
* Ember Spirit is a very tasty target for Flaming Lasso, because it has a small reserve of health, and all the power lies in the abilities that Flaming Lasso forbids using, this can help the Batraider team quickly deal with the unpleasant "jumping" Ember Spirit in a fight if he gets into Flaming Lasso
* False Promise dispels Flaming Lasso.
* Fortune's End can root Batrider after he uses Flaming Lasso. It can also dispel Sticky Napalm and Flamebreak.
* Fate's Edict when used on a Lasso'd target will leave them immune to magical damage, making it difficult to burst them quickly before the Lasso ends.
* Disruption can protect Shadow Demon's allies from Fortune's End, preserving healing or buffs. It can also catch Oracle's allies, allowing Shadow Poison to be used without being dispelled.
* Demonic Purge prevents over-time healing during False Promise, such as Purifying Flames and Urn of Shadows. If he has Aghanim's Scepter, this issue can persist for longer or on multiple allies.
* It will not, however, prevent healing from instant abilities, items, or auras, making Mekansm a good choice against him.
* Sticky Napalm, Flaming Lasso, and Flamebreak can all be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Firefly will continuously heal Abaddon under Borrowed Time.
Additional:
* Aphotic Shield and Borrowed Time can both dispel Flaming Lasso.
* Shadow Demon with an Aghanim's Scepter will use Demonic Purge to disable Curse of Avernus and the passive component of Borrowed Time. If this is combined with a silence, Borrowed Time will not trigger at all.
* Even without Aghanim's Scepter, he can still waste Borrowed Time with Disruption. Curse of Avernus fully works on illusions, turning the passive ability against him.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
Latest changes first
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
Batrider
* Queen of Pain can be an effective tool against Batrider in the game and on the line. She has long-range abilities such as Scream of Pain or Sonic Wave and a long-range type of attack, which is why she can keep Batrider at a distance all the time, and prevent him from attacking with Flaming Lasso or Firefly. Queen of Pain has an effective high-deceleration ability against Batrider - Shadow Strike, which is why he cannot quickly set fire to all enemies under Firefly and fly between all Queen of Pain allies. In addition, Queen of Pain has a wonderful escape in stock - Blink, which can save her at any moment in which batrider decides to attack
Additional:
* Queen of Pain can be an effective tool against Batrider in the game and on the line. She has long-range abilities such as Scream of Pain or Sonic Wave and a long-range type of attack, which is why she can keep Batrider at a distance all the time, and prevent him from attacking with Flaming Lasso or Firefly. Queen of Pain has an effective high-deceleration ability against Batrider - Shadow Strike, which is why he cannot quickly set fire to all enemies under Firefly and fly between all Queen of Pain allies. In addition, Queen of Pain has a wonderful escape in stock - Blink, which can save her at any moment in which batrider decides to attack
Shadow Demon
* All of Queen of Pain's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* However, Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Queen of Pain.
* Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Shadow Demon's abilities if he doesn't have disables.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Sonic Wave for the enemy.