* Clinkz has no stun and likes to keep his distance from targets, making Marksmanship very deadly.
* Clinkz also has low health, making him a perfect hero to initiate onto with Gust.
* Gust can also prevent Clinkz from using Burning Barrage.
* A well-timed Gust will prevent Rubick from casting abilities from Spell Steal, and his lack of capabilities and low health pool usually dies very quickly.
* Drow Ranger can dispel Fade Bolt's reduction debuff with Manta Style.
* Searing Arrows and Clinkz physical damage items are almost suicidal when used on Legion Commander, as it invites an instant Duel and Legion Commander herself is a natural Blade Mail carrier.
* Duel locks down Clinkz for a long duration, preventing him from escaping with Skeleton Walk.
* Heroes with low health will die easily during Duels, and can be farmed for damage in the early game: Crystal Maiden, Lich, Techies, Rubick
* Heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like Phantom Assassin, Riki and Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
Additional:
* Smoke Cloud prevents the use of Death Pact, Searing Arrows and Skeleton Walk, so Clinkz can neither defend himself against Riki nor fight back effectively.
* It's hard to gank Riki as Clinkz has to find him first.
* Riki has high damage and invisibility, meaning he can easily gank Rubick and kill him before Rubick has the chance to react.
* Cloak and Dagger renders Riki invisible, which makes his spells hard to steal if not being initiated.
* Similar to Clinkz, Rubick has to buy a large amount of Sentry Wards to keep track of Riki due to Cloak and Dagger, preventing Rubick from getting better items.
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as Bounty Hunter, Clinkz, Mirana, Nyx Assassin and Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
* Time Dilation, while Spell Steal with Aghanim's Scepter is on cooldown will make it unusable for a long time, reducing Rubick's potential.
* Rubick's own Chronosphere stolen with Spell Steal cannot stun Faceless Void.
* Fade Bolt is not enough to burst Ursa, and even more so with Enrage active.
* The damage reduction from Fade Bolt is not effective due to Fury Swipes.
* Enrage lessens the lockdown duration from Telekinesis due to its status resistance.
* Ursa can easily melt Rubick down with Fury Swipes and Overpower if he gets close enough.
* Few of Ursa's spells grants utility for Rubick, as Rubick cannot steal the Fury Swipes passive.
* Enrage provides Rubick with some sort of survivability, yet Rubick generally wastes the duration in the front line as he does not have a constant damage source.
* Cold Embrace can heal herself or an ally, as well as protecting them from Clinkz's physical attacks and wasting his mana if Searing Arrows is on autocast.
* Winter's Curse allows Winter Wyvern to turn Clinkz's high damage and high attack speed against his allies, or take advantage of Clinkz's fragility if he can't use Skeleton Walk.
* Skeleton Walk is not enough to outrun Bloodseeker, and is detected by Thirst.
* Because of his low health and high damage output, Clinkz will get obliterated by Blade Mail
Additional:
* Thirst reveals Clinkz if he tries to escape with Skeleton Walk with low health. It also allows Bloodseeker to match or exceed Clinkz's speed.
* Rupture negates the mobility provided by Skeleton Walk in any attempt to escape or reposition in fights.
* Bloodseeker can easily build items to counter Clinkz, including Talisman of Evasion upgrades, Blade Mail, and armor items.
* Heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like Phantom Assassin, Riki and Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
* Fade Bolt is not enough to burst Phantom Assassin down without the help of other stolen spells.
* Rubick has little armor and can be Phantom Assassin's primary target.
* Telekinesis is the only way for Rubick to retaliate if being jumped on, but the lockdown duration is generally not enough for Rubick to escape.
* Few of Phantom Assassin's spells grants utility for Rubick.
* Phantom Assassin's spells strengthes her assault power combined with her physical damage output, yet Rubick is not considered a physical damage dealer.
* With that said, Blur could be of use for Rubick to hide on back in teamfights waiting for the key spell without fearing of being initiated.
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as Windranger, Phantom Assassin, Troll Warlord and Keeper of the Light.
* Slardar can reveal Clinkz with Corrosive Haze and make him easy to kill, and his Bash of the Deep also hits hard against Clinkz's naturally low health pool.
* Slardar's Guardian Sprint can catch up with Clinkz's Skeleton Walk.
* The stun and slow from Slardar's Slithereen Crush can hold Clinkz in place.
Additional:
* Clinkz survivability depends entirely on Skeleton Walk. Corrosive Haze not only makes its invisibility useless, but also makes Clinkz even more vulnerable to physical damage.
* Zeus can reveal Clinkz with Lightning Bolt.
* He is vulnerable to Zeus's magical nukes, due to his low health pool.
* Bristleback's abilities are nearly useless for Rubick to Spell Steal, as he does not gain the bonuses from Warpath.
Additional:
* Rubick deals little damage on his own, and Bristleback can simply shrug off all his spells and chase Rubick down with his Quill Spray and the damage bonus from Warpath.
* Rubick does not tend to charge forward in teamfights, stay in the front lines under most circumstances, yet effective casts of Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo requires the opposite as they require multiple casts and close range to add up stacks.
* Rubick does not benefit from Warpath through casting the stolen spell.
* Song of the Siren is very difficult for Rubick to Spell Steal when he is affected by sleep.
* Ensnare and Rip Tide together with some attacks can take Rubick down quickly, due to his low health pool and armor.
* Naga Siren usually buys Diffusal Blade, which may prevent Rubick from using his abilities.
* Mirror Image allows Naga Siren to dodge the incoming stun from Telekinesis (when she is not a target), and it can also dispel Fade Bolt's damage reduction debuff.
* Untouchable prevents Clinkz from harassing Enchantress in lane by lowering his attack speed.
* Nature's Attendants helps Enchantress to sustain through Clinkz's harassment in lane.
* Scorched Earth deals damage to Clinkz during Skeleton Walk.
* Doom shuts down Clinkz entirely, as it prevents him from casting any of his spells and contributing a large amount of damage in teamfights.
* Spectre can instantly escape Burning Army or hunt Clinkz with Haunt.
* Spectre can catch up to him with Spectral Dagger, even if he uses Skeleton Walk.
* Desolate allows Spectre to hit Clinkz through Skeleton Walk.
* Dispersion makes Spectre tanky and also reflects some damage back to Clinkz.
Additional:
* Spectre can catch Clinkz with Spectral Dagger, even if he uses Skeleton Walk.
* Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Clinkz with Haunt.
* Desolate's damage will melt him quickly, as he's alone most of the time.
* None of Spectre's spells are very good for Rubick to Spell Steal.
* Heroes with good escapes can usually outmaneuver and escape from Spectre: Slark, Clinkz, Weaver
* Rubick usually positions in the back of a team. Heroes who can sneak up and assault Rubick (e.g. Slark) or damage Rubick from great distance (e.g. Spectre, Sniper) should be treated cautiously, as otherwise the matchup usually ends up badly for Rubick.
* Heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like Phantom Assassin, Riki and Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
* Support heroes with low mobility can be slowed further by Incapacitating Bite, and swarmed by Spiderlings for an easy kill: Shadow Shaman, Visage, Dazzle, Rubick, Lich.
* Even though Linken's Sphere will block your silence, you can cast Arcane Bolt to break it or wait until someone on your team breaks it. In addition, Linken's Sphere builders are usually squishy targets vulnerable to silences: Weaver, Queen of Pain, Morphling, Clinkz, etc. Don't forget that Ancient Seal also increases the magical damage these enemies take, along with silencing them.
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw, Slark, Shadow Fiend, Clinkz, Bristleback Nyx Assassin, Magnus
* Mana Break quickly eats away at Rubick's low mana pool, preventing Spell Steal abilities from triggering.
* Rubick's complete lack of mobility makes him very easy for Anti-Mage to chase down with Blink.
* Anti-Mage can dispel Fade Bolt damage reduction debuff with Manta Style or reduce it by Counterspell.
* Anti-Mage also has no useful abilities for Rubick to steal with Spell Steal.
Additional:
* Fade Bolt does little damage to Anti-Mage due to Counterspell's magic resistance.
* Most of Rubick's spells are single targets and can be reflected by Counterspell.
* The only spell that provides some utility for Rubick is Blink.
* Blink does little on its own to counter Anti-Mage when coming from behind except allowing Rubick to escape.
* Rubick can easily run out of mana to cast the spell due to Mana Break, if not dying to Anti-Mage's physical damage already.
* Anti-Mage's Counterspell provides no protection against Clinkz's physical damage output.
* Clinkz can easily rush an Orchid Malevolence to prevent Blinking, although Anti-Mage can easily dispel it via Manta Style.
* Clinkz does heavy damage to towers, and can take map control away from Anti-Mage to limit the space he has to farm early game. If Clinkz is ahead he is capable of ending the game before Anti-Mage becomes a threat. He can also match Anti-Mage's ability to split push.
* Heroes that excel at grouping up with their team very early will be able to take advantage of a Clinkz that tries to pick off heroes that are alone: Brewmaster, Dazzle, Tidehunter.
* Heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like Phantom Assassin, Riki and Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
Additional:
* The extra damage from Searing Arrows is largely blocked by Dragon Knight's armor.
* Clinkz has too low health to survive a gank.Getting stunned keeps him down long enough for a reaction.
* Breathe Fire reduces his damage, as he almost exclusively deals physical damage.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Clinkz
* In general, heroes who are melee with no way to fight back can be very easily poked by Monkey King to gain his Jingu Mastery stacks: Dark Seer, Riki, Rubick.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage output to be effective will fare badly against Muerta's Pierce the Veil: Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Drow Ranger, Lifestealer, Anti-Mage, Alchemist, Lycan, Clinkz, Sniper.
* Oracle's high magic damage output can easily take down Rubick's low health pool.
* Because Oracle can combo spells in rapid succession (due to low cooldowns), it may be difficult for Rubick to Spell Steal False Promise. This scenario can even be avoided by shift queueing Fortune's End and casting it immediately, as it has no cast point, or by staying in the back line of fights if out of mana.
* As a position based hero, Rubick will have a very hard time against Fortune's End due to its absurd range and very long root duration.
* Heroes who can take advantage of Oracle's low mobility or catch him out of position, such as Clinkz and Anti-Mage, can easily pick him off.
* Pounce and Dark Pact together with some attacks can take Rubick down quickly.
* Rubick's spells are ineffective due to the strong dispel effect of Dark Pact.
* Even though Shadow Dance is a great spell to steal, Slark's untargetable nature and his low cooldown spells prevents Rubick from stealing. Also Slark can freely use other abilities for the duration of Shadow Dance.
* Rubick usually positions in the back of a team. Heroes who can sneak up and assault Rubick (e.g. Slark) or damage Rubick from great distance (e.g. Spectre, Sniper) should be treated cautiously, as otherwise the matchup usually ends up badly for Rubick.
* Clinkz's Skeleton Walk allows him to easily sneak on Chen and bypass his creeps. It also allows him to escape from them.
* Clinkz can easily kill Chen's creeps with Death Pact and gain gold, health, damage and abilities from them when upgraded with Death Pact Steal creep abilities talent.
* Clinkz naturally loves buying Gleipnir, which allows him to easily root Chen and his creeps and to kill them more easily with Burning Barrage from Aghanim's Shard.
* Clinkz can kill Chen or any of his allies with his physical damage burst from Strafe, Tar Bomb and Burning Barrage from Aghanim's Shard before he can use Hand of God. Especially when Clinkz has Gleipnir and Daedalus. Clinkz can also buy Bloodthorn to prevent Chen from even trying to use Hand of God.
* If Rubick can use Spell Steal to steal Holy Persuasion, he will be able to turn Chen's creeps against him, reducing much of Chen's efficiency.
* Rubick can also steal Hand of God and use it to save his teammates during teamfights and Penitence to slow down Chen and make Rubick and his allies attack him faster.
* Telekinesis can be used to coordinate gank on Chen and prevent him from escaping.
* Fade Bolt can deal high damage to both, Chen and his creeps and weaken their damage output.
* Clinkz does not have any passive abilities at all, making Nethertoxin nearly useless.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin provides no protection against Clinkz's physical damage output.
* If Rubick can use Spell Steal to take Nethertoxin, he will be able to disable Corrosive Skin, reducing much of Viper's durability.
* He can also steal Viper Strike, which can be used to hinder a hero on your team (or multiple heroes, if Rubick has Aghanim's Scepter).
* Clinkz's high damage output and insane attack speed late-game can take Kunkka out of the fight before it begins.
* Burning Barrage and Searing Arrows together can kill allies easily even under Ghostship's buff.
* Skeleton Walk can allow Clinkz to make a quick escape after Kunkka's combo, or even avoid it all together.
* Rubick can steal abilities from Kunkka (except Tidebringer) with Spell Steal. Since build Aghanim's Scepter, Rubick's make two steal abilities from Kunkka when the spot is right.
Additional:
* Kunkka is a strong teamfighter with his powerful control spells, which Rubick could exploit to his advantage.
* Torrent provides another source of damage and crowd control.
* Ghostship is a powerful teamfight spell, providing huge magical damage to enemies and buffing allies with damage negation.
* Both skills works the best when comboed with other source of control from allies, such as Duel or Beserker's Call.
* Telekinesis can reposition an enemy onto a Torrent or Ghostship.
* Torrent Storm works as a disruptive spell for Rubick to create chaos around him.
* Tidal Wave offers another source of control and repositioning.
* As long as Kunkka gains these spells with Aghanim's Shard and Aghanim's Scepter, Rubick does not need extra items to steal these spells.
* X Marks the Spot serves as a utility spell for escaping, chasing and other useful functions.
* Despite Clinkz's fragility, his harassment in the early game can be devastating; as he can kite Enigma and his Eidolons and claim their bounty with Burning Barrage and Tar Bomb.
* Clinkz often goes for a disabling item like Bloodthorn or Gleipnir, which allows him to cancel Enigma's Black Hole until Enigma gets Black King Bar. Gleipnir can also root Enigma, preventing him from using Blink Dagger to escape from Clinkz.
* Even with Black King Bar, Clinkz can still easily kill Enigma as all of his abilities ingore spell immunity, and Enigma is a very easy target for Burning Barrage, which means Clinkz can solo Enigma at any stage of the game unless Clinkz is caught in Black Hole.
* Telekinesis has a longer range than the AoE of Black Hole for the purposes of cancelling it.
* All of Enigma's spells are useful to Spell Steal.
* Malefice is useful for interrupting channeling spells or long cast animations. Its stun duration is also amplified thanks to Spell Steal's debuff amplification.
* Demonic Conversion can be used to push or counter-push a lane.
* Midnight Pulse is useful to block an area or for team fights.
* Black Hole is very easy to steal, as it is a channeled ability. It's also one of the best ultimate abilities for team fights, and it can easily turn the fight around for the enemy team. It also does more damage and has a larger cast range thanks to Arcane Supremacy. A stolen Black Hole can also cancel Enigma's Black Hole.
Additional:
* Enigma's signature Black Hole can be devastating if being stolen and dropped on multiple heroes.
* Black Hole requires channeling. Since Enigma has no other ability to replace his last casted spell during channeling, Rubick can steal Black Hole relatively easily if he stays back.
* Rubick can interrupt Black Hole from Enigma, even with an activated Black King Bar, by casting the spell with Enigma in range with regards to the extra cast range granted by Arcane Supremacy.
* Black Hole can be interrupted by Telekinesis in the early game, giving enough time window to steal the spell.
* Bear in mind that an experienced Enigma will purchase Black King Bar and Linken's Sphere at the same time to prevent Rubick from stealing the spell, yet the extra Linken's Sphere will delay Enigma's power spike, so use it to Rubick's advantage.
* It is advised to build items around Black Hole as Rubick. Aghanim's Shard, Black King Bar , Aghanim's Scepter and even Refresher Orb are all legitimate item choices.
* Malefice is a decent source of damage and stun that helps with ganking. If stolen, it can be used to interrupt Black Hole as well.
* Demonic Conversion helpes with pushing and farming for Rubick.
* Fade Bolt effectively negates damage from Eidolons and helps with counter-pushing.
* Midnight Pulse is a solid skill for farming and teamfight damage, which is further amplified by Arcane Supremacy and talents.
* Unexpected enemy may take the effect of Midnight Pulse as that of Enigma's and soak up damage while unrealized.
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden, Chen, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Lina, Mirana, Nature's Prophet, Pugna and Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes that outrange Plague Ward after obtaining talents that increase attack range.
* Venomous Gale is a great ganking and farming skill.
* Plague Ward serves as a flexible ability for pushing, ganking, farming and scouting. The innate Poison Sting also works on the stolen Plague Ward with half the damage.
* Poison Nova, if stolen and cast, puts a huge damage-over-time debuff on the enemy team, even greater than Venomancer himself with the help of Arcane Supremacy.
* Spell Steal has a greater cast distance than the effect area of Poison Nova, allowing Rubick to steal the spell while staying at the back.
* Venomancer suffers from mana pool problems, while Rubick has relatively high intelligence gain and can cast the same set of spells at ease.
Additional:
* All of Venomancer's abilities are decent choices for Rubick's Spell Steal. Stealing Plague Wards makes them apply Poison Sting as well.
* Invisible heroes all have the element of surprise. Provided they deal enough damage, Sniper should be vanquished very quickly: Clinkz, Riki, Bounty Hunter.
* 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.
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: Ember Spirit, Riki, Clinkz, Queen of Pain.
* Meat Hook can prove annoying for Pudge if Rubick Spell Steals it, allowing Rubick to easily hook and save his allies being Dismembered.
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut, Clinkz, Troll Warlord, Beastmaster, Lina.
* As a hero with uncommon traits, Phoenix's abilities require more health than mana. It is advised for Rubick to purchase health regeneration items such as Tranquil Boots, Urn of Shadows or Hood of Defiance to keep up with the HP loss.
* Phoenix's signature Supernova, if casted successfully, can turn a teamfight around if being stolen.
* The initial lift and the following crowd control from the drop of Telekinesis can protect the egg from being attacked if casted right before Supernova with quick fingers.
* A successfully reborn Supernova refreshes the cooldown of Telekinesis as well as Fade Bolt, so don't hesitate to spam both of them before Supernova with the reasons mentioned above.
* Supernova has a stun range of 1200, which requires Rubick to have Level 3 Arcane Supremacy at least to exceed its range. Consider buying Aether Lens or Blink Dagger to help with positioning.
* It is not possible to cast Supernova (as of 7.31c) with Aghanim's Shard's extra Sun Ray even with both spell stolen, since Sun Ray takes up two stolen ability slots.
* Icarus Dive is a useful repositioning ability for scouting, initiation or escaping.
* Fire Spirits aids with Rubick farming given enough HP regeneration. In early skirmishes, the stolen ability can slow the attack speed of the enemy team to a crawl.
* Combined with Fade Bolt, both the attack damage and attack speed of the enemy team are reduced if they have no source of dispel, effectively nullifying their physical attack damage.
* Sun Ray thrives in and after a teamfight by damaging enemy heroes and healing allies at the same time.
* Rubick can interrupt both Icarus Dive and Sun Ray by casting Telekinesis.
* Heroes who can harass Omniknight out of lane will keep him weak in the mid game: Viper, Venomancer, Clinkz.
* All of Omniknight's abilities are valuable for Rubick to Spell Steal, and Omniknight has no throwaway ability to cover his last used spell.
* Stroke of Fate provides Rubick with a short cooldown nuke.
* Note that Rubick uses a fixed 0.15 second cast time for the skill, much shorter than the 0.6 second cast time for Grimstroke.
* Phantom's Embrace is an unique ability with extra silence and damage.
* Ink Swell is a great initiation/counter-initiation ability for frontliners.
* With Telekinesis, Rubick can grant extra duration for Phantom's Embrace's phantom latch, or throw an enemy within the area covered by Ink Swell.
* Soulbind, as a powerful ultimate, gives Rubick extra crowd control and sows chaos among enemies.
* Both Telekinesis and Fade Bolt are single-target abilities, and can be applied twice on the enemy. The damage of Fade Bolt is effectively doubled as the bounce is very likely to happen as the bound heroes must walk together.
* Clinkz's item build often counters Hoodwink, including Black King Bar, Monkey King Bar, Heaven's Halberd, and Scythe of Vyse.
* Skeleton Walk can quickly escape Hoodwink abilities.
* All of Magnus's spells are perfect for Rubick to steal, especially Reverse Polarity for a counter-initiation.
* Telekinesis is one of the best instant-disables in the game, completely ruining Magnus's initiation.
Additional:
* Reverse Polarity, if stolen, can counter-initiate Magnus's team and put them at a huge disadvantage.
* Magnus himself is positioned at the center of teamfight after casting Reverse Polarity, and will be stunned by Rubick's stolen one most of the times.
* Bear in mind that Magnus will usually cass Skewer or Shockwave after he casts the ultimate, so the time windows left for steal can be short.
* Shockwave allows Rubick to farm fast, and also deals decent AoE damage in teamfights.
* Empower can be casted on the carry (especially affective if melee) on Rubick's team to accelerate their farm or amplify their damage in fights.
* Skewer could be used to displace enemy or escape from danger.
* Telekinesis can relocate the enemy in front of Rubick for Skewer.
* With Quick Cast enabled, Rubick can stop the enemy Magnus with careful prediction using Telekinesis to interrupt Horn Toss - Skewer combo.
* Nature's Prophet is often by himself. Clinkz can use invisibility to hunt him down and kill him, although a Quelling Blade may be needed to cut through his Sprout. Orchid Malevolence may also be needed if 3-4 seconds are not enough time to kill him, as he can teleport away.
* Clinkz can match Nature's Prophet's ability to split push.
* All of Puck's abilities are good for Rubick to Spell Steal:
* Illusory Orb and Waning Rift are all great wave-clear abilities.
* If Rubick manages to steal Waning Rift, he can silence Puck, disabling all its abilities including Phase Shift, Puck's main survivability tool.
* Dream Coil is a powerful teamfight ultimate that leashes enemies and disables their movement.
* As an elusive hero who requires constant repositioning, Puck is greatly countered by its own ultimate as it disables all its mobile abilities and items (especially Blink Dagger), forcing it to either stay in the danger zone or latches and stuns for a long time.
* Although Phase Shift does not provide extra damage or lockdown on its own, it does grant Rubick invulnerability, and enables him to use Blink Dagger with full duration similar to Puck's escaping combos.
* Rubick can initiate on Puck relatively fast as Telekinesis only has a 0.15 second cast animation.
Additional:
* Illusory Orb and Waning Rift are all great wave-clear abilities.
* Waning Rift can silence Puck, disabling all her abilities including Phase Shift.
* Dream Coil is a powerful teamfight ultimate that leashes enemies and disables their movement.
* As an elusive hero who requires constant repositioning, Puck is greatly countered by her own ultimate as it disables all her mobile abilities and items (especially Blink Dagger), forcing Puck to either stay in the danger zone or latches and stuns for a long time.
* Although Phase Shift does not provide extra damage or lockdown on its own, it does grant Rubick invulnerability, and enables him to use Blink Dagger with full duration similar to Puck's escaping combos.
* Rubick can initiate on Puck relatively fast as Telekinesis only has a 0.15 second cast animation.
* Frostbite will reveal invisible heroes for its duration, making it a good tool against any such hero (Riki, Bounty Hunter, Weaver, or Clinkz for example), or as a soft counter to Shadow Blade, if it is used first. This can be an amazing tool to ensure that Dust of Appearance is used on the unit in question, and not wasted in not catching anything.
* Heroes who can easily harass Crystal Maiden out of lane in the early game (Clinkz, Viper) can prevent Crystal Maiden from being able to level effectively, and can ultimately slow down her level 6, 12, and 18 to a point where enemy carries already have items to address her ultimate.
* Crystal Nova helps on farming while applies an area slow.
* Frostbite extends Rubick's lockdown duration while providing extra damage, also serves as a farming ability.
* Freezing Field deals much greater damage thanks to Arcane Supremacy in teamfights.
* Freezing Field is a channeling ability and therefore can be stolen easily.
* Crystal Maiden has no innate ability to interrupt Freezing Field, though it may not be the case for her teammates; Yet a well-times Telekinesis lift or drop can interrupt Freezing Field.
* Consider build items that strengthens Freezing Field, such as Aghanim's Shard, Black King Bar and Aghanim's Scepter to reach its full potential.
* Huskar's Berserker's Blood provides no protection against Clinkz's physical damage output.
* Huskar has no way to disrupt Clinkz's attacks and no way to kill Clinkz alone, as Clinkz can easily go invisible, teleport away, or even fight back.
* Clinkz will often build the items that counter Huskar and the items he usually builds. These include Black King Bar or Monkey King Bar for Heaven's Halberd, or a disable item like Scythe of Vyse or Bloodthorn to prevent him from using Inner Fire to disarm.
* If Rubick steals Reaper's Scythe, he can turn the powerful ultimate back against Necrophos's team. Even his other spells are useful in Rubick's hands, giving him a sustain or a weak initiation/protection tool.
* Telekinesis allows Rubick and his team to coordinate a gank on Luna early on. And just like Aghanim's Shard upgraded Dismember, Aghanim's Shard upgraded Telekinesis can also allow Rubick to save an allied hero from being killed by Eclipse.
* Fade Bolt allows Rubick to harass Luna on lane and weaken her attack damage early on.
* Both, Lucent Beam and Eclipse are very useful for Rubick to steal with Spell Steal, Luna's only way to counter this is with Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives. Rubick can also use them from further distances than Luna thanks to Arcane Supremacy that increases his cast range and when he gets Aghanim's Scepter.
* For the same reasons, Rubick makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Additional:
* Lucent Beam is a solid magic nuke with a stun.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Lucent Beam gives Rubick bonus damage whenever he uses it
* Eclipse can output massive damage if casted by Rubick.
* Rubick has a good chance to steal Eclipse since Luna has only two cast abilities.
* Aghanim's Scepter greatly increase the effectiveness of the ability, with more damage as well as extended cast range.
* For the same reasons, Rubick also makes a good ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
* Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls allows Rubick to output enormous crowd damage and control to the enemy team.
* Requiem of Souls has an effective range of 1000. Rubick can steal the spell out of the fear range with any level of Arcane Supremacy learned.
* Requiem of Souls has a significant cast animation which allows Rubick to predict the steal timing, since Shadow Fiend usually positions at the center of battlefield.
* Telekinesis can lift a unit right on top of Rubick with no collision size, forcing the victim to absorb all damaging lines of Requiem of Souls from Rubick, possibly resulting in a one-shot kill.
* Note that Requiem of Souls from Rubick still uses the original 1.67 second channeling time.
* It is advised to build Blink Dagger to jump in and cast Requiem of Souls given the opportunity.
* The three Shadowraze (Far) abilities are decent for farming and extra damage output.
* Note that Shadowraze (Near), Shadowraze (Medium) and Shadowraze (Far) are considered three separated abilities, only one is stolen per spell steal cast.
* It could be troublesome to cast Shadowraze (Far) immediately for damage output immediately after stolen since it is hard to react and recognize which of the three is stolen.
* Shadow Fiend's right click damage together with his ability damage may hurt Rubick bad. Consider items like Ghost Scepter and Glimmer Cape, together with wards to avoid being picked up.
* All of Queen of Pain's abilities are worthy choices for Rubick to Spell Steal. In addition, he can cast her abilities from further distances than her thanks to Arcane Supremacy's increased cast range and spell amplification.
* Fade Bolt can hinder Jakiro's early pushing power by clearing creep waves.
* All of Jakiro's spells are great for Rubick to Spell Steal.
* Ice Path is a great spell for Rubick so steal, since Rubick has no cast time on stolen abilities, making Rubick's version of Ice Path much more reliable than Jakiro's.
* Macropyre is a great way for Rubick to farm.
Additional:
* One of Jakiro's weakness is his long cast animation, which gives enemy team extra time window to react. Rubick uses his fixed 0.15 second cast time for all Jakiro's stolen abilities, making the spells much easier to target.
* Dual Breath is a solid damage-over-time that is good for farming and helps with ganking.
* Ice Path is the go-to spell for Rubick to steal in teamfights - a sudden long range 2.5 second area stun is of no joke, especially if being casted out of vision. The control time is extended combined with Telekinesis.
* Macropyre is a solid damage source (an area to avoid at least) for Rubick's side, and the damage benefits from Arcane Supremacy, even further with Aghanim's Scepter.
* It is not uncommon that the enemy team mistakenly treated the Macropyre ground effect as that of Jakiro's, and has already taken a lot of damage before they noticed their significant HP loss.
* Combined with Rubick's Level 15 talent (-25% Stolen Spells Cooldown, as of 7.31c), Macropyre can be used to clear creep waves and camps with ease, increasing his farming progress if a fight is not imminent.
* Witch Doctor's iconic Death Ward is a perfect spell for Rubick to output high damage.
* Death Ward requires channeling which makes Witch Doctor a clear tagret for stealing. Rubick can steal the spell outside of Death Ward's attack range most of the times.
* Note that an skilled Witch Doctor player can cast Voodoo Restoration to disrupt their last spell for Rubick to steal.
* Telekinesis can interrupt a channeling Death Ward. With Death Ward's high burst damage, combining Death Ward and Telekinesis to hold enemy in place can result in a solo kill in the early game.
* Paralyzing Cask provides an additional disable. The ability also helps moderately with farming.
* Voodoo Restoration provides some utility by healing Rubick and his team.
* Maledict is a damage-over-time nuke that amplifies the damage enemy taken.
* Telekinesis can reposition the enemy within the range of Maledict.
Additional:
* Rubick can steal Death Ward easily as it is a channeled ability and then use it to turn teamfight to his advantage.
* However, a skilled Witch Doctor will toggle Voodoo Restoration immediately after placing his Death Ward to prevent that.
* All abilities from Juggernaut (except Blade Dance) is very vulnearable steal to Rubick's Spell Steal.
Additional:
* Juggernaut looks like a carry that Rubick can hardly manfight, and it is surely the case that Rubick needs the assistance from his team to overwhelm the hero. However, his skills can be of great use for Rubick if used at the right occasions.
* Blade Fury is a great farming ability with low cooldown. What is bizarre about this ability is that it grants Rubick spell immunity and constant damage around him (movement speed buff with Aghanim's Shard). In early to mid game when all heroes has relatively low physical damage, the spell allows Rubick to become a temporary tank that enemy needs to run away from, extending Rubick's early killing potential.
* Telekinesis can throw a victim in range to eat up the damage from Blade Fury.
* Blade Fury can be stolen and used in a pinch to negate the damage from Blade Fury of Juggernaut. Note that with Aghanim's Shard Juggernaut can still deal damage to Rubick.
* Healing Ward, if stolen, serves as a magnificant healing tool within or after a teamfight. The constant area-of-effect healing helps greatly when your teammate is manfighting the enemy or escaping in a bad situation, and can even turn the fight around.
* Juggernaut is melee and cannot target an enemy Healing Ward easily unless he is in the midst of battle. Also, Juggernaut is not directly controllable during Omnislash and cannot attack Healing Ward.
* Omnislash is possibly the least useful spell Rubick can steal from Juggernaut. Although it is a good damage source in the early game, as a hero who seldom bulk up his physical damage, Omnislash falls quickly as the game goes on.
* It is worth mention that Omnislash could be used as an escape ability for Rubick with the help of Blink Dagger.
* Omnislash grants invulnerability at the midst of a fight. With quick reflex and judgement, Rubick can possibly dodge lockdowns and area disables, even steal a new spell when Omnislash is still on the fly.
* Strafe, Tar Bomb and Burning Barrage from Aghanim's Shard allow Clinkz to quickly kill Io due to its low armor.
* Clinkz iz a hero that very often goes for Orchid Malevolence, and its upgrade Bloodthorn. Alternatively, Clinkz also loves to buy Gleipnir. And if Clinkz has both of them, he will be able to root and silence Io and prevent him from escaping with either Tether or Relocate.
* Warlock's signature Chaotic Offering can be devastating if stolen and dropped on multiple heroes.
* Telekinesis interrupts Upheaval when used on Warlock. Alternatively, Rubick can also cast this on a naerby creep or hero and drop them near Warlock to interrupt its channeling. When upgraded with Aghanim's Shard, Rubick can also use it to save an ally (or himself) from its area slow and damage.
* Fatal Bonds provides Rubick with a decent farming and harassing tool in the early game.
* Shadow Word provides some utility by healing Rubick and his team, and also as a harassment tool when used on enemies in the laning stage.
* Upheaval slows and damages enemies in an area, and it works exactly the same when casted by Rubick. Furthermore, he can extend its range and debuff amplification with Arcane Supremacy.
* A stolen Chaotic Offering can also be used to interrupt Upheaval while Telekinesis is on cooldown.
* It is advised to build items around Chaotic Offering as Rubick. Aghanim's Scepter, Octarine Core and Refresher Orb are all legitimate item choices.
Additional:
* All of Warlock's abilities are worthy choices for Rubick to Spell Steal, primarily Chaotic Offering. Furthermore, stolen abilities are also affected by the increased cast range and spell amplification from Arcane Supremacy.
* Telekinesis interrupts Upheaval when casted on Warlock, or to save allies (or himself) from its area slow and damage with Aghanim's Shard.
* Bear in mind that Warlock likes to cast his abilities in quick succession, so the time window left for Rubick to steal Warlock's ultimate can be short.
* Searing Arrows makes Clinkz one of the hardest heroes for Clockwerk to lane against.
* Tombstone can be stolen to counter-initiate the enemy team in skirmishes.
* Tombstone provides vision over the enemy around, use this to Rubick's advantage for more spells.
* Since Undying is melee and has low attack speed, the tombstone can be hard to taken down by Undying himself.
* Flesh Golem provides Rubick with increased Health pool and a powerful attack modifier.
* Rubick can apply the Flesh Golem debuff much more easily as a ranged hero.
* Decay is a decent damaging ability, making Rubick somewhat tankier in teamfights.
* Soul Rip can be used for extra heal or burst damage.
Additional:
* All abilities from Undying easy to steal to Rubick with Spell Steal.
* Rubick can use Spell Steal to steal Astral Imprisonment, and if Rubick gets Aghanim's Scepter he gets 2 charges of it. This can overpower Outworld Destroyer in team fights.
* Rubick can also steal Sanity's Eclipse against Outworld Destroyer's teammates.
* Spell Steal will easily steal all abilities from Dark Seer.
Additional:
* Spell Steal can perfect from Rubick's steal all abilities from Dark Seer. Rubick's always purchase Aghanim's Scepter can two stolens abilities from Dark Seer's and waiting for seconds for second stolen abilities (example: combinated Vacuum and Wall of Replica) and many different combination.
* A good positoning from Rubick's Spell Steal waiting steal abilities from Dark Seer Wall of Replica and illusion from Wall of Replica Dark Seer's can fighting with effect from outcome steal Wall of Replica from Rubick's.
* Combinated Rubick's steal Surge and Blink Dagger is very important catch from Dark Seer's and enemies.
* Rubick's Telekinesis can lifted up Dark Seer or enemy heroes and throw to Wall of Replica from Rubick's steal.
* Clinkz relies heavily on the physical damage provided by Burning Barrage and Searing Arrows, which completely overrides the capabilities of Rage.
* Lifestealer's lack of disables will struggle to pin Clinkz down while in Skeleton Walk, and can allow Clinkz to kite him.
* Ether Shock is a great farming ability as a handy short-cooldown nuke.
* Hex and Shackles gives Rubick extra lockdown potential in ganks and teamfights.
* Mass Serpent Ward, should Rubick steal, serves as a powerful source for teamfighting, pushing, and acquring Roshan.
* Arcane Supremacy allows Rubick to cast Hex and Shackles at a further distance, which keeps Rubick at a safer position compared to Shadow Shaman.
* Rubick can interrupt Shackles by casting Telekinesis.
Additional:
* All abilities from Shadow Shaman can very vulnearble steal from Spell Steal.
* Rubick can interrupt Shackles by casting Telekinesis.
* Magic Missile is a solid damage source and lockdown that fits nicely with Rubick's kit.
* Rubick also acquires the secondary Magic Missile with Aghanim's Shard.
* Wave of Terror can be used to scout an area to prevent juking or initiate with Telekinesis, as well as reducing the armor of enemy team during a teamfight.
* Nether Swap does what it does - saving an ally from danger, initiating on an enemy, or helping with caughting a fleeing hero.
* With Aghanim's Shard, Rubick can lift himself up and drop quickly to a place of safety after the swap. Note that Rubick can only choose to either disable the enemy or save himself at one time with Telekinesis.
Additional:
* All of Vengeful Spirit abilities are very good for Rubick to Spell Steal:
* Magic Missile provides an additional nuke/disable to pair with Fade Bolt and Telekinesis, respectively.
* Wave of Terror serves as a good scouting/armor reduction skill that Rubick and his team can benefit from.
* Nether Swap complements Rubick's mobility and pairs well with other mobility items he usually builds. He can also use it to save an ally from danger.
* As a frontline tank, the abilities of Underlord is surprisingly spell-cast heavy, and is often great for Rubick to steal.
* Firestorm is a great ability for farming, pushing and serves as a useful teamfight damage source, and even more so when its damage is amplified by Arcane Supremacy and Aghanim's Shard.
* It is worth mention that Firestorm has no visible effect on heroes other than damage, and the enemy team may easily mistaken the ability as casted by Underlord, resulting in unexpectedly soaking up more damage.
* Pit of Malice is a great area control ability in teamfights, capable of trapping multiple heroes in a hazard area.
* Underlord has no immediate reposition ability, and since he usually stays at the front, he can be an easy target for Rubick's Pit of Malice.
* Fiend's Gate, if stolen, grants Rubick's team great versatility around the map. Creating a surprise gank or appear as a group at the enemy backline during skirmish, escaping as a team from bad situations, or even taking Roshan or enemy highground unexpectedly, the possibility are endless with careful communication among Rubick's team.
Additional:
* All of Underlord's abilities are useful for Rubick to Spell Steal.
* Due to Tiny's non-existent agility gain, high physical damage heroes are more effective against him (Clinkz, Templar Assassin, Ursa, Wraith King etc).
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as Windranger, Phantom Assassin, Troll Warlord and Keeper of the Light.
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as Windranger, Phantom Assassin, Troll Warlord and Keeper of the Light.
* Ancient Apparition has no escape or reliable control and is very fragile, which makes him an easy target for anyone who can get on top of him, like Phantom Assassin or Clinkz.
* Heroes that can pick you off: Clinkz, Nyx Assassin, Puck, Riki.
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter, Brewmaster, Death Prophet, etc.
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as Windranger, Phantom Assassin, Troll Warlord and Keeper of the Light.
* Clinkz can use Burning Army in teamfights which will cause a problem for Alchemist.
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: Clinkz, Slark, Storm Spirit
* Heroes who rely on burst physical damage are affected by Lucky Shot's disarm: Terrorblade, Sven, Clinkz, Windranger, Alchemist, Dragon Knight, Legion Commander
* Shield Crash is a great area-of-effect ability on Rubick primarily for farming.
* Swashbuckle is a great reposition and damage ability on the hands of Rubick.
* Note that Rubick does not have Lucky Shot, so the ability might be less effective as a source of damage.
* Pangolier may build items such as Maelstrom or Diffusal Blade to add up attack multipliers to the ability, and Rubick can choose to build similar items should he choose the route.
* Rolling Thunder is a unique ability that allows Rubick to jump in the center of teamfight while protected by Spell Immunity, creating chaos and possibly chain stun the enemy team.
* Rolling Thunder negates the collision damage and stun from Pangolier's Rolling Thunder.
* Rubick uses the fixed 0.15 second cast time when casting Rolling Thunder, making it faster than Pangolier himself.
* Rubick can still use his abilities during Rolling Thunder - throwing an enemy en route by casting Telekinesis can be a good idea.
* The decision to steal Rolling Thunder should be made quickly as Pangolier cast Shield Crash very often during Rolling Thunder.
* 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.
* Fiend's Grip is a powerful but channeled ability, making it useful and easy to Spell Steal and interrupt with Telekinesis.
* Stolen Fiend's Grip or Nightmare combined with Arcane Supremacy allows Rubick to disable Bane's allies for a longer period of time.
* As a natural Aghanim's Scepter carrier, Rubick can steal an upgraded Fiend's Grip and deal lots of damage to Bane's allies.
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, Clinkz, Sniper, Enchantress.
* Burrowstrike is one of the best and easiest steals for Rubick and Sand King should be careful when playing against him - it's much better to give away Sand Storm.
* Invisibility reliant heroes: Heroes with invisibility abilities or those that have invested into invisibility items are hindered by Bounty Hunter's Track. Few examples of such heroes are:Clinkz, Riki, Treant Protector, etc.
Additional:
* Track reveals Clinkz if he tries to escape with Skeleton Walk, allowing Bounty Hunter to gain lots of gold if he kills Clinkz.
* Jinada with physical damage items can quickly kill Clinkz due to his low health.
* Rubick is a potential counter to Bounty Hunter as he can steal his Track and use it against his invisibility, and also provide his team with more gold if the tracked hero is killed.
* Certain Hero's potential lies on the combo of their abilities. As an example, Ember Spirit can cast Sleight of Fist and Searing Chains together to root and damage enemies from a far distance. Yet for Rubick, casting Searing Chains can only catch enemies at a close distance, and Sleight of Fist does little more than a scratch of right click.
* It is arguably possible to group spells together after getting Aghanim's Scepter, but stealing two separate spells from one single enemy is somewhat luxurious in an intense fight.
* Ember Spirit's Flame Guard provides no protection against Clinkz's physical damage output.
* Ember Spirit's low armor and health make him easy to kill quickly if a teammate can hold him down.
* If Clinkz has farmed an item that can disable, he can sneak up to and hunt down Ember Spirit while he farms or split pushes alone.
* By using Morph, Morphling can use Burning Barrage and Searing Arrows to counter Clinkz himself.
* Waveform can allow Morphling to easily chase down Clinkz.
* Clinkz's low health pool also makes him vulnerable to Morphling's magical nukes, especially his Ethereal Blade and Adaptive Strike combo.
* Rubick's ability to steal Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) makes him extremely annoying to deal with because Rubick's shifted attributes will remain even if he steals a new spell.
* If Rubick moves enough points to strength and then steals Adaptive Strike, he will have a powerful 3-second ranged stun in his arsenal as well.
* Waveform provides a reliable nuke/escape to Rubick.
* Rubick can steal most abilities Morphling uses while Morphed, allowing Rubick to steal his own allies' abilities if the Morphling is not careful.
Additional:
* Morphling's abilities can grant unrivaled utility for Rubick.
* Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) is a great spell that has a longlasting effect, since the attribute change is permanent even after losing the ability. By casting the spell, Rubick becomes significantly tanky after pumping all his agility into strength.
* As the cost of the shift, Rubick's attack speed as well as his armor is hindered. Since the right click damage of Rubick is relatively trival in teamfights, armor items such as Medallion of Courage or Buckler could greatly increase Rubick's effective health to physical damage.
* Rubick must be careful not to confuse Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) with Attribute Shift (Agility Gain).
* Adaptive Strike (Strength) is a long-ranged stun.
* If Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) has been stolen and cast, the spell can stun the enemy for 3 seconds. The stun counters mobile heroes such as Morphling.
* Waveform is a damaging pseudo-blink, giving Rubick much needed mobility and farming potential.
* Hex and Earth Spike can hold Clinkz down, giving him no chance to use Black King Bar or Skeleton Walk.
* Finger of Death quickly kills Clinkz due to his low health.
* All of Lion's abilities are dangerous even to Lion himself, and Rubick may steal them with Spell Steal.
* Arcane Supremacy powers up abilities cast range and damage, making Rubick better at using Lion's abilities than Lion himself.
* Telekinesis can easily catch and disable Lion while also manipulating his position to favor Rubick and allies, rendering him helpless.
Additional:
* Earth Spike is a great crowd control ability for Rubick to use, extending his lockdown potential.
* Rubick can caught enemy at greater distance due to Arcane Supremacy.
* The spell also helps with Rubick's farming, however the affected area of Earth Spike is limited to a straight line, making it harder to clear the creep wave.
* Hex is one of the strongest single-target lockdowns in the game, and works exactly the same when casted by Rubick.
* Though Mana Drain does not directly provide damage or lockdown, it does solve Rubick's mana regen issue in the early to mid game.
* Finger of Death is one of the best magical nukes in the game, increases Rubick's ganking potential greatly.
* Note that the stack of Finger of Death is lost when Rubick lost the spell.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Rubick can clear creep waves and flash farm with the boosted Finger of Death if stolen, assuming Rubick has enough mana pool to hold.
* Heroes that excel at grouping up with their team very early will be able to take advantage of a Clinkz that tries to pick off heroes that are alone: Brewmaster, Dazzle, Tidehunter.
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter, Brewmaster, Death Prophet, etc.
Additional:
* Fade Bolt reduces damage output of Anchor Smash.
* Ravage is an easy target to Spell Steal, so always be sure to use Anchor Smash immediately after Ravage when playing against a Rubick.
* Spells stolen by Rubick are potentially stronger due to the lack of cast animations, his talents, and his passive, Arcane Supremacy.
* Possibly Clinkz's worst enemy. He has many tools to utterly destroy Clinkz.
* Charge of Darkness can be used on Clinkz if Spirit Breaker's team spots him anywhere. This charge will track his location through Skeleton Walk's invisibility and movement speed bonuses.
* When Spirit Breaker charges onto Clinkz, he can easily use Dust of Appearance to guarantee a reveal on him while stunned.
* All three of Spirit Breaker's spells help him and his team quickly close the gap to Clinkz even at the edge of his attack range or when running away with Skeleton Walk.
* Spirit Breaker's high strength and above average armor makes him able to endure Clinkz's onslaught, meanwhile Clinkz will be heavily threatened if Spirit Breaker procs a Greater Bash.
Additional:
* Once caught with dust, Clinkz could be locked down for a long time by Spirit Breaker and has nowhere to escape.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, showing Clinkz even when he is in Skeleton Walk.
* Rubick can cancel Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness with Telekinesis under the condition that Rubick is able to cast it on time. And considering Rubick commonly buys Eul's Scepter of Divinity that can also cancel Charge of Darkness, Spirit Breaker will have a hard time charging Rubick or his allies until Spirit Breaker buys Shadow Blade. Telekinesis can also be used to cancel Nether Strike and Aghanim's Shard upgraded Telekinesis also allows Rubick to save his allies from Spirit Breaker.
* Fade Bolt weakens Spirit Breaker's damage output, reducing damage of Greater Bash.
* If Rubick succeeds to steal Charge of Darkness, he will be able to reduce much of Spirit Breaker's global presence. Rubick can also steal Nether Strike to further disable Spirit Breaker once he disables him with stolen Charge of Darkness. But bear in mind, however, that a skilled Spirit Breaker can use Bulldoze to prevent all that.
* In general, Brewmaster's Cinder Brew and Thunder Clap makes him good against physical damage carries: Ursa, Clinkz, Faceless Void, Troll Warlord, Templar Assassin, Phantom Assassin.
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter, Brewmaster, Death Prophet, etc.
* Marci can be effective against vulnerable squishy heroes that cannot deal with heroes that jump onto them - Sniper, Drow Ranger, Lina, Rubick, etc.
* Heroes that reduce the damage that Marci can deal during her ultimate, like Razor, Rubick, Bane, Dragon Knight and Underlord.
* Lina's damage burst can quickly kill Clinkz before he saves them with Skeleton Walk.
* Fiery Soul attack speed bonus removes Burning Army easily in all stages of the game.
* Dragon Slave is easy to steal, and provides Rubick with a useful nuke.
* Light Strike Array serves as a cheap nuke as well as a crowd control ability.
* Rubick uses the fixed 0.15 second cast time when casting Light Strike Array, much faster than Lina herself.
* Rubick can gurantee a stun by throwing the victim into the area with Telekinesis, extending the overall lockdown duration.
* Laguna Blade is an awesome ultimate that gives huge burst damage.
* Arcane Supremacy (combined with Level 25 talent +40% Spell Amp For Stolen Spells, as of 7.31c) increases its damage before reduction to a whopping 660/882/1134(830/1162/1494) (and even more so with Aghanim's Scepter), without considering spell amplification from items.
* Laguna Blade is an intelligence hero with no regen ability, and casting Laguna Blade back to Lina can result in her unexpected sudden death, or severly hinder her presence in the rest of teamfight. Nevertheless, the skill can also be cast on other squishy heroes or help bursting down enemy carries.
* Light Strike Array and Laguna Blade has a short cast range, and Rubick can extend its range thanks to Arcane Supremacy.
* Wraith King abilities are mostly passive making Spell Steal meaningless.
* This can also mean that Rubick's Spell Steal used on Wraith King guarantees him a stun spell.
* Rubick's lack of mobility & low health pool is easily tear down by Wraith King physical attacks.
* A hero that Rubick cannot reliably kill in most cases, Wraith King is deceptively vulnerable to Rubick in teamfights.
* Rubick can kite Wraith King by casting Telekinesis should Rubick stays alive after first wave of skirmishes.
* {{A:Fade Bolt|Rubick} negates damage from Wraith King's skeletons.
* Wraithfire Blast is a spell very easy to stolen even for new Rubick players if Wraith King is on the other side.
* A 2 second stun with a 8 second cooldown (6 second with Rubick's Level 15 talent -25% Stolen Spells Cooldown, as of 7.31c) is already far enough to lockdown Wraith King to a crawl, as he does not have much mobility on his own and can be easily targeted.
* Reincarnation may sound insurmountable, but the extra 3 second delay already grant about half the cooldown duration for a stolen Wraithfire Blast.
* Rubick has sufficient mana pool to cast Wraithfire Blast multiple times.
* Although not the best option, Vampiric Spirit can be casted after Rubick gained enough last hits to summon skeletons for pushing and farming.
* Clinkz will often roam the map alone, and Treant Protector's Nature's Guise allows him to set up kills with his allies on Clinkz from invisibility.
* Treant Protector's very high damage allowing him to trade hits or contest last hits with Clinkz, while Living Armor can be used to sustain the harass.
* Living Armor protects any of Treant's allies ganked by Clinkz.
* In teamfights, Treant Protector's Overgrowth can disarm Clinkz, preventing him from turning invisible and holding him in place even if he has a Black King Bar.
* Leech Seed slows Clinkz, preventing him from repositioning or fleeing away from danger.
* All of Treant Protector's abilities are worth stealing, and Rubick is able to cast them with no animation time.
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Clinkz
* The long silence at night prevents Clinkz from escaping with invisibility if Night Stalker can sneak up on him. He also has really low base health, so Night Stalker can usually kill him alone during one cast of Crippling Fear at night.
Rubick
* Crippling Fear silences nearby heroes and cannot be dispelled, which hinders Rubick's way to retaliate when being jumped on.
* With Hunter in the Night and Dark Ascension, Night Stalker can find Rubick easily in teamfights. The two spells grants more than enough damage to hunt Rubick down without defensive items.