* 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.
* Silencer's low mobility and lack of any stuns or roots makes him an easy target.
* Silence will not protect Silencer from Jingu Mastery's extra damage and lifesteal.
* Monkey King often buys Black King Bar, which can be used to negate silence debuff effects.
* Fortune's End dispels Ion Shell and Surge, making any gank attempt on Dark Seer in the laning phase likely to succeed.
* Fate's Edict prevents all magical damage that comes from Dark Seer's abilities.
* Fortune's End dispels Ion Shell on creeps, which Dark Seer relies on to farm and zone.
Additional:
* Fortune's End can dispel Ion Shell, a skill that helps Dark Seer immensely in the laning phase, as well as
Surge, a move-speed buff, effectively allowing Oracle to control Dark Seer, especially in the laning phase.
* Fortune's End can nullify Arcane Curse,
Last Word, and
Global Silence, if cast at the right time with the right targets.
* Fate's Edict can prevent Silencer from attacking, which he relies on with Glaives of Wisdom, for a lot of his damage.
* Oracle's reliance on spamming his spells can be easily hindered by Silencer's Arcane Curse.
* Last Word and Global Silence negates Oracle's attempt to save his allies with his spells.
* Fate's Edict is useless against Glaives of Wisdom's pure damage.
* Silencer's disables are useless on Lone Druid since he is more reliant on physical attacks rather than spells.
* Silencer has poor mobility so Lone Druid can run him down.
* Lone Druid's Shard will remove most of Silencer's spells once used.
* Silencer relies on preventing enemies from using abilities in teamfights with Arcane Curse, Last Word, and Global Silence. However, they are ineffective against Ursa since he relies more on items and attacks than abilities.
* Against a carry Silencer, Enrage can help Ursa reduce all damage he takes, even Glaives of Wisdom's pure damage will just tickle Ursa while his
Enrage is active.
* Shapeshift is useful for killing or escaping Silencer.
* Summon Wolves, can be used to hunt and harass silencer - even when Lycan himself can't fight.
* If Silencer can't prevent Dragon Knight from using Elder Dragon Form, Silencer's spells aren't going to be that effective against him, as Dragon Knight relies on right-clicks and not spells.
* Dragon Blood's armor bonus and health regeneration allows Dragon Knight to stay in the lane against Glaives of Wisdom.
* Dragon Knight often builds Black King Bar, allowing him to remove Global Silence before engaging.
* Even though carry Silencer can easily take down a support Jakiro with his Glaives of Wisdom, Jakiro can also do the same to Silencer if he is not careful and if Jakiro is not played as support. As Silencer is rather squishy and lacks escape mechanisms without items, and Jakiro's damage over time abilities can take advantage of this.
* Ice Path can be used to prevent Silencer from escaping. And if Jakiro uses
Ice Path along with
Macropyre and
Dual Breath in anticipation right before Silencer uses his abilities to disable Jakiro, Jakiro will be able to kill Silencer before he even gets a chance to do anything to Jakiro.
* Dual Breath,
Liquid Fire and
Liquid Frost from
Aghanim's Shard can greatly reduce Silencer's attack speed.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Macropyre can deal huge pure damage to Silencer even if Silencer is spell immune.
* Bear in mind, however, that Jakiro should approach Silencer carefully as Silencer's Arcane Curse,
Last Word and
Global Silence prevents Jakiro from casting any spell. Jakiro, however, can counter this by going for
Guardian Greaves, a common item on support Jakiro, and with
Black King Bar and
Manta Style, a situational items on Jakiro.
Additional:
* Even though carry Silencer can easily take down a support Jakiro with his Glaives of Wisdom, Jakiro can also do the same to Silencer if he is not careful and if Jakiro is not played as support. As Silencer is rather squishy and lacks escape mechanisms without items, and Jakiro's damage over time abilities can take advantage of this.
* Ice Path can be used to prevent Silencer from escaping. And if Jakiro uses
Ice Path along with
Macropyre and
Dual Breath in anticipation right before Silencer uses his abilities to disable Jakiro, Jakiro will be able to kill SIlencer before he even gets a chance to do anything to Jakiro.
* Dual Breath,
Liquid Fire and
Liquid Frost from
Aghanim's Shard can greatly reduce Silencer's attack speed.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Macropyre can deal huge pure damage to Silencer even if Silencer is spell immune.
* Bear in mind, however, that Jakiro should approach Silencer carefully as Silencer's Arcane Curse,
Last Word and
Global Silence prevents Jakiro from casting any spell. Jakiro, however, can counter this by going for
Guardian Greaves, a common item on support Jakiro, and with
Black King Bar and
Manta Style, a situational items on Jakiro.
* 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.
* Shadow Fiend is mostly played as right-click carry and natural Black King Bar carrier, making Silencer's spells very ineffective against him.
* Heroes with fast movement abilities will suffer huge damage when afflicted by Rupture: Spirit Breaker,
Earth Spirit,
Dark Seer.
Additional:
* Rupture can deal a lot of damage to either a surged Dark Seer or his allies and prevent the target from getting into position.
* Heroes that can disable or silence Silencer for a long time, such as Bane and
Legion Commander, can lock down Silencer while their allies put him down.
* Ranged heroes will have a hard time hitting enemies inside Magnetic Field: Silencer,
Viper.
* Heroes that can disable or silence Silencer for a long time, such as Bane and
Legion Commander, can lock down Silencer while their allies put him down.
* Heroes who rely on passive abilities and attacks, such as Drow Ranger,
Wraith King, and
Lone Druid, can render Silencer useless. But remember that a smart Silencer will most likely buy
Silver Edge to counter this if he is played as carry.
* Heroes with damage-increasing passive abilities, such as Viper and
Riki, will usually kill Silencer in a short time before he even has time to set up his abilities.
* Abilities that deal low damage with high amounts of instances are irrelevant against Pudge during Flesh Heap's active: Gyrocopter's
Rocket Barrage and
Dark Seer's
Ion Shell are just a couple examples.
* Any hero with low mobility and max healthsuch as Silencer,
Crystal Maiden etc.
* Strong laners are usually at a disadvantage because of how well Sven can jungle. Heroes such as Dark Seer.
Underlord and
Legion Commander may find that later Sven takes care of them very quickly after some jungle farming.
* Rage can protect Lifestealer from most of the Silencer's abilities with the exception of Global Silence, as it will still silence if cast while the target is magic immune. However, it will not work if Lifestealer is infesting a unit.
* Silencer is vulnerable to Open Wounds due to his lack of an innate escape.
* Against a carry Silencer, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Infest can disarm him and allow Lifestealer to attack Silencer from within, even if Silencer is spell immune.
Additional:
* Rage can protect Lifestealer from most of the Silencer's abilities with the exception of
Global Silence.
* If Lifestealer can Infest himself on any unit, he can literally avoid being affected by
Global Silence.
* Against a carry Silencer, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Infest can disarm him and allow Lifestealer to attack Silencer from within, even if Silencer is spell immune.
* Open Wounds from
Aghanim's Shard can severely slow down Silencer, and allow Lifestealer and his team to heal themselves by attacking Silencer.
* Heroes with escape abilities: Anti-Mage
Dark Seer
Slark
Storm Spirit
Windranger
Weaver can kite Lifestealer due to him having no lockdown.
* Last Word is extremely easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for large amounts damage, due to triggering when Nyx Assassin casts a spell, but can still silence Nyx Assassin. It also has the added bonus of dealing more damage the more Intelligence Silencer has.
* Glaives of Wisdom quickly builds Silencer's Intelligence, making him a particularly prime target for Mana Burn.
* Silencer rarely builds survivability items, nor is he able to steal much Intelligence while surrounded by his team, and so is an excellent target for Vendetta.
* Silencer has no reliable way of dealing with a burrowed Nyx, and also lacks the ability to prevent Nyx from escaping with Vendetta,
Additional:
* Silencer is rather squishy and has poor mobility without items, making him an easy target for Nyx.
* Silencer's intelligence steal ability is a complete disadvantage against Nyx Assassin as Mind Flare will deal increasing damage for each point of intelligence Silencer has stolen, turning Silencer's intelligence steal against him.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage: Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
* Phantom Assassin doesn't care about Silencer's spells as she relies on right-clicks more than spells.
* Phantom Assassin often builds Black King Bar, which allows her to remove Global Silence before engaging.
* With Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter, Dark Seer can gain an advantage against heroes who rely on evasion as
Normal Punch has true strike:
Phantom Assassin,
Windranger,
Hoodwink.
* Dark Seer's strength lies in his high-mana cost skills. So Mana Break can be a great nuisance for him, since it can reduce his mana and prevent him from casting his spells.
* Mana Void can deal a lot of damage if Dark Seer spent a lot of mana on his abilities.
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
* Dark Seer relies on Surge for most of his mobility, so he's not very vulnerable to slows, but much more to root effects and walls or pseudo-walls such as Disruptor's
Kinetic Field or
Slark's
Pounce.
* Slark's Dark Pact allows him to dispel Silencer's debuffs.
* Against a carry Silencer, Essence Shift will lower damage from both Glaives of Wisdom and his basic attack.
* Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance: Lina,
Jakiro,
Underlord,
Leshrac,
Dark Seer,
Earthshaker,
Timbersaw,
Crystal Maiden.
* Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape: Silencer,
Death Prophet,
Puck,
Doom.
* Due to Phantom Rush and
Juxtapose being passives and not affected by silence, a Phantom Lancer with a
Diffusal Blade can easily kill Silencer.
* Heroes that rely on illusions typically spawn very strong illusions inside Dark Seer Wall of Replica that he can use against them or their team: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Terrorblade.
Additional:
* Ion Shell helps taking down illusions quickly, making it easy to identify the real Phantom Lancer.
* Surge allows Dark Seer and his teammates to run away from Phantom Lancer, who relies on his
Phantom Rush to chase enemies.
* Dark Seer's Vacuum and
Ion Shell allows him to clear a wave of Terrorblade's illusions.
* Because Terrorblade often builds items that require Ultimate Orb like
Manta Style and
Eye of Skadi, Dark Seer can create a very strong illusion of Terrorblade with
Wall of Replica and
Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter.
* If Dark Seer can use Vacuum to help teammates land their AoE abilities, Terrorblade will be quickly killed before he even gets a chance to use Sunder.
Additional:
* Dark Seer's Vacuum and
Ion Shell allows him to clear a wave of Terrorblade's illusions.
* Because Terrorblade often builds items that require Ultimate Orb like
Manta Style and
Eye of Skadi, Dark Seer can create a very strong illusion of Terrorblade with
Wall of Replica and
Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter.
* If Dark Seer can use Vacuum to help teammates land their AoE abilities, Terrorblade will be quickly killed before he even gets a chance to use Sunder.
* Terrorblade is a double-edged sword type of matchup against Silencer. Although Terrorblade is more reliant on direct attacks to be effective, he relies on Sunder to save himself and stay alive and
Last Word and
Global Silence prevent him from doing that.
* Arcane Curse and
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Last Word help Silencer deal with Terrorblade's illusions from
Conjure Image and
Manta Style.
* With Last Word Mutes talent, Silencer can not only disable Terrorblade from turning tables with
Sunder, but can also prevent him from using
Manta Style and
Black King Bar, items Terrorblade needs to be effective in teamfights.
* Glaives of Wisdom deals pure damage against the real Terrorblade, bypassing his high base armor.
* Global Silence can silence Terrorblade even if he has
Black King Bar active, though bear in mind that Terrorblade can dispel
Global Silence with
Manta Style and
Black King Bar if the
Global Silence was activated first.
Additional:
* Silencer is a double-edged sword type of matchup against Terrorblade. Although Terrorblade is more reliant on direct attacks to be effective, he relies on Sunder to save himself and stay alive and
Last Word and
Global Silence prevent him from doing that.
* Arcane Curse,
Glaives of Wisdom upgraded with 2
Glaives of Wisdom Bounces talent and
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Last Word help Silencer deal with Terrorblade's illusions from
Conjure Image and
Manta Style.
* With Last Word Mutes talent, Silencer can not only disable Terrorblade from turning tables with
Sunder, but can also prevent him from using
Manta Style and
Black King Bar, items Terrorblade needs to be effective in teamfights.
* Glaives of Wisdom deals magical damage against the real Terrorblade, bypassing his high base armor. Later it can be upgraded with 2
Glaives of Wisdom Bounces talent to deal against Terrorblade's illusions. Alternatively, Silencer is a natural
Revenant's Brooch wielder, which gives him another way to damaging Terrorblade through his high base armor.
* Global Silence can silence Terrorblade even if he has
Black King Bar active, though bear in mind that Terrorblade can dispel
Global Silence with
Manta Style and
Black King Bar if the
Global Silence was activated first.
* With Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter, Dark Seer can gain an advantage against heroes who rely on evasion as
Normal Punch has true strike:
Phantom Assassin,
Windranger,
Hoodwink.
* Silencer's abilities hamper Windranger's effectiveness in battle, preventing her from comboing abilities and escaping using Windrun.
Additional:
* Glaives of Wisdom's intelligence steal can prove detrimental to Windranger, as she heavily relies on her abilities to be able to make an impact.
* Silencer's abilities hamper Windranger's effectiveness in battle, preventing her from comboing abilities and escaping using Windrun.
* Heroes with hastes: Dark Seer,
Lycan
* Being a cast-oriented hero, Ezalor will suffer from all of Silencer's abilities.
* Global Silence is a guaranteed lengthy silence which will render Ezalor useless in a teamfight.
* Arcane Curse and
Last Word are good against any caster, since they are extremely potent.
* However, it should be worth mentioning that a smart Ezalor will buy Eul's Scepter of Divinity to dispel Silencer's abilities. Combined with the level 20 talent (Chakra Magic applies a basic dispel), Ezalor can purge Silencer's abilities off allies and himself alike.
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
Additional:
* Surge allows for Dark Seer and his allies to escape from Upheaval due to it ignoring any slow.
* Because Warlock's abilities are all active abilities, Silencer can make his impact minimal.
* Arcane Curse prevents Warlock from using his abilities without increasing it's duration, which since all of Warlock's abilities are actives it is very effective against him.
* Last Word can prevent Warlock from casting his Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval combo.
* Global Silence can nullify Warlock's impact in fights by preventing him from casting Fatal Bonds and Chaotic Offering, or by interrupting his Upheaval.
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Arcane Curse can be cast from a long range to put Enigma's
Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Global Silence can interrupt Enigma's Black Hole channeling through
Black King Bar and
Linken's Sphere, making Silencer one of Enigma's hard counters. But bear in mind that
Global Silence can be dispelled with
Black King Bar if activated first.
Additional:
* Silencer can easily ruin Enigma's initiation, as Global Silence cancels Black Hole, even through
Black King Bar and
Linken's Sphere.
* The haste provided by Dark Seer's
Surge or a {Rune:Haste} renders Lich's slows ineffective.
* Lich is heavily reliant on his abilities to contribute to team fights, so be wary of enemies that can Silence: Bloodseeker,
Death Prophet,
Silencer,
Drow Ranger,
Skywrath Mage.
* Global Silence has faster-cast animation than Chronosphere, making Silencer can silence Faceless Void before he can cast Chronosphere.
* Global Silence stops Snapfire's
Mortimer Kisses.
* Last Word can prevent Snapfire from casting additional spells.
* Silencer can reduce Muerta's damage output with his Glaives of Wisdom, and since he commonly buys
Revenant's Brooch, he will be able to attack her even through
Pierce the Veil.
* Silencer has reliable, long-range silences in Last Word and
Global Silence, preventing Muerta from using her spells as effectively.
* As Muerta tends to use her spells, particularly Dead Shot;
Arcane Curse is very effective against her as that can punish her for doing so.
* Dark Seer's Vacuum and
Ion Shell can clear a wave of Chen's Creeps effectively.
* Surge applies haste movement and negates the slow from
Penitence, allowing Dark Seer to easily escape from Chen and his creeps.
* Dark Seer's full combo from Dark Seer's Vacuum,
Wall of Replica and
Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter can often kill Chen or any of his allies before he can save them with
Hand of God.
Additional:
* Dark Seer's Vacuum and
Ion Shell can clear a wave of Chen's Creeps effectively.
* Surge applies haste movement and negates the slow from
Penitence, allowing Dark Seer to easily escape from Chen and his creeps.
* Dark Seer's full combo from Dark Seer's Vacuum,
Wall of Replica and
Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter can often kill Chen or any of his allies before he can save them with
Hand of God.
* Timbersaw is heavily reliant on his abilities for damage and escape, allowing Silencer to effectively disable him and make him useless in both team fights and 1v1 scenarios.
Additional:
* Arcane Curse deals repeated stacks of damage to Timbersaw because he relies on constantly using his abilities.
* Glaives of Wisdom deals pure damage and when cast manually, nearby creeps will not attack silencer, making it an effective harassment tool. The intelligence steal is also especially potent against Timbersaw since he often uses up all of his mana throughout the entire game.
* Although Last Word takes a while to trigger, it will break Timbersaw's ability combo and can be used to silence him.
* Global Silence will silence Timbersaw no matter where he is on the map. This can be used to help allies get a kill on him, or prevent Timbersaw from killing someone.
* Venomancer is a low health hero and low range hero who is easy to harass with Ion Shell on a creep in the early game.
* Venomancer depends entirely on all his slows to keep distance or chase, but since Surge ignores slows, it is nearly impossible for Venomancer to hunt or run away from Dark Seer or his surged teammates.
* Living Armor can be destroyed quickly with Ion Shell.
* Crystal Maiden is squishy, is heavily spell reliant, has low base Intelligence, and is naturally slow, making her an ideal target for Silencer.
* Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field has a similar cooldown to Global Silence, therefore, Freezing Field can almost always be canceled to ruin aggressive Crystal Maiden initiations.
* A well-timed Global Silence prevents Dazzle from saving allies with Shallow Grave or Shadow Wave. Items that could dispel the silence are expensive, and difficult for Dazzle to farm from a support role.
* Arcane Curse and
Last Word cause long damage over time, which may outlast Shallow Grave.
* Arcane Curse stacks every time Bristleback uses an ability, forcing him to stop spamming his abilities, or take heavy health degeneration.
* Glaives of Wisdom steals intelligence both permanently and temporarily, causing mana issues for Bristleback.
* Last Word and
Global Silence stops Bristleback from using his abilities altogether.
Additional:
* Bristleback will not be able to cast Viscous Nasal Goo or
Quill Spray while silenced, effectively blocking a major part of the hero's damage and preventing
Warpath charges from stacking.
* Arcane Curse slows Bristleback down and lasts longer the more abilities he uses. On the other hand, if he doesn't use any abilities, he will begin to lose Warpath charges.
* Both Arcane Curse and
Last Word punishes casters with spammable spells such as Sand King.
* As a strength caster, Intelligence Steal reduces Sand King's mana pool even more.
* Global Silence silences Sand King, effectively reducing Sand King's initiation and counter-initiation potential. It can also interrupt channeling of Epicenter.
* Like any hero with a channeled spell, Last Word is a counter to it.
* Global Silence goes through spell immunity and prevents Witch Doctor from casting his spells.
* Last Word and
Arcane Curse have the range to hit Dark Willow beyond Bramble Maze.
* Global Silence renders Dark Willow useless in teamfights.
* Generally strong against lots of spellcaster-themed heroes, Puck fully relies on its skill set and cannot do almost anything when silenced.
* Arcane Curse disables Blink Dagger for quite some time, and is also effective against Puck as it tends to use its spells a lot.
* Glaives of Wisdom can do a lot of damage against Puck due to Puck's low agility gain and armor.
* Last Word can prevent Puck from getting a full combo off, limiting its effectiveness in team fights or ganks.
* Global Silence can take Puck out of fights entirely because of its long-duration silence.
* Invoker is heavily dependent on his spells, making him useless during Global Silence, as well as interrupting Invoker during his combo.
* Arcane Curse is particularly deadly, because Invoker will continuously lose health if he keeps invoking and casting new spells.
* Last Word will silence Invoker when he casts Invoke, interrupting his combo.
* Silencer can stop Rearm, preventing Tinker from spamming his abilities/items or escaping.
* Tinker heavily relies on his mana pool and has mana issues throughout the entire game and Silencer's intelligence steal does not help with that.
Additional:
* As Tinker relies heavily on his spells to be effective, Last Word and
Global Silence will render him largely useless.
* Arcane Curse effectively prevents Tinker from casting spells during its duration, as he will otherwise suffer heavy damage.
* Glaives of Wisdom deal pure damage, which make quick work of fragile heroes like Tinker.
* Silencer's intelligence steal permanently weakens Tinker since he's a hero who requires lots of mana to be effective.
* Arcane Curse punishes Necrophos if tries to spam Death Pulse, increasing the duration of the slow and damage taken over time.
* Last Word heavily damages Necrophos and also silence him for a lenghty duration.
* Glaives of Wisdom will reduce temporarily Necrophos intelligence on each hit dealing hindering his ability to spam Death Pulse, also reducing his attack damage and mana pool; dealing increasing amounts of phisical and pure damage each time. Silencer will permanently steal Necrophos intelligence if Necrophos is killed by him or if he dies nears him.
* Global Silence turns Necrophos almost useless for a long time, allowing Silencer and his team to easily dispatch him, since Necrohpos heavily relies on his spells to survive.
* Pugna is very reliant on his abilities for damage which Silencer can take advantage off. But he has to be careful around the Nether Ward as Silencer's abilities cost a lot of mana to use.
* Silencer will most likely disrupt an initiation with his ultimate, Global Silence, prevent escape with his
Last Word, and if Phoenix happens to die to him (or near him) enough times, he would sap enough of Phoenix's much needed Intelligence to make him a stronger foe and Phoenix with less mana than it already had.
* Silencer burns easily through her effective HP from Mana Shield, by taking away her intelligence.
* Arcane Curse punishes her repeatedly casting
Mystic Snake to keep her mana pool high. He can force her to use
Manta Style before he has cast
Global Silence and
Medusa usually does not want to build
Black King Bar.
* Global Silence takes Omniknight out of the fight completely.
* Glaives of Wisdom are a great harass vs Omniknight during the laning stages of the game, since it doesn't aggro creeps & ignores his high base armor. It deals pure damage, which means it can also go through Guardian Angel.
* Silencer's intelligence steal can also cause Omniknight to falter in the early phases as it reduces his ability to use his spells.
* Arcane Curse can effectively discourage Undying from casting his spammable abilities in a team fight, as Undying will have to suffer more damage and the slow due to the penalty duration of Arcane Curse.
* Last Word and
Global Silence are able to silence Undying for up to 6 seconds, preventing Undying from gaining strength and healing his ally or himself.
* Silencer's Intelligence Steal will heavily reduce Outworld Destroyer's damage output, particularly from Sanity's Eclipse.
* Last Word and
Global Silence will take Outworld Destroyer out of the fight unless he has built Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Silencer's intelligence steal will heavily reduce Outworld Destroyer's damage output, especially if Destroyer dies a lot near Silencer and loses intelligence permanently.
* Global Silence and Last Word will render Outworld Destroyer helpless unless he has an item/ally to dispel silence.
* Zeus' 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.
* Zeus likes to spam his abilities, which makes him vulnerable to Arcane Curse.
* If Zeus dies near Silencer, he will begin to lose intelligence, reducing his mana pool, mana regen, and attack damage. Furthermore, if the game is long and Zeus dies often, the intelligence losses will also reduce his spell damage.
Additional:
* Silencer's Global Silence will render Zeus useless for 6 seconds in a team fight.
* Arcane Curse will punish Zeus for casting spells, which can cause continuous damage to him should he continue to cast spells.
* Last Word can silence Zeus and prevent him from spamming his spells.
* Silencer often builds Orchid Malevolence (or
Bloodthorn) which can be used on spell casters like Zeus, forcing him to invest in a
Linken's Sphere.
* Arcane Curse makes it too difficult Lina from using her abilities, preventing her from building up Fiery Soul stacks without causing harm to herself.
* Last Word and
Global Silence are great against Lina for the same reason, as well as interrupting her combos and preventing her from casting spells.
* Dark Seer can take great advantage of Divided We Stand by putting an Ion Shell on a clone in order to harass them effectively.
* Vacuum can take a single Meepo and disable him for Dark Seer and his teammates to take out.
* Heroes with haste can negate Enchant's slow: Weaver,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Centaur Warrunner.
* Heroes with silences and hard stuns such as Doom,
Silencer, and
Lion can keep Mirana from Leaping away.
* Heroes that rely on illusions typically spawn very strong illusions inside Dark Seer Wall of Replica that he can use against them or their team: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Terrorblade.
* With Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter, Dark Seer can gain an advantage against heroes who rely on evasion as
Normal Punch has true strike:
Phantom Assassin,
Windranger,
Hoodwink.
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Certain heroes can mess up with Pangolier's positioning and timing (especially if he intends to use Rolling Thunder during combat): Vengeful Spirit,
Keeper of the Light,
Huskar,
Dark Seer
* Heroes with low mana pools (eg.Doom and
Tidehunter) will feel the effects of Silencer's Intelligence Steal far more than others.
* Heroes that rely on illusions typically spawn very strong illusions inside Dark Seer Wall of Replica that he can use against them or their team: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Terrorblade.
* Heroes with silencing abilities that are not blocked by Linken's Sphere, like Puck's
Waning Rift,
Death Prophet's
Silence or
Silencer's
Global Silence.
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's
Last Word, magic resistance like
Oracle's
Fate's Edict, and dispels like
Legion Commander's
Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
* Heroes with silence such as Riki,
Silencer, or
Night Stalker prevents Skywrath Mage from using his spells.
* Dark Seer can increase the movement speed of allies with
Surge, breaking Static Link.
* Silencer's
Global Silence and
Doom's
Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
* Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities: Invoker,
Silencer,
Nyx Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Shadow Shaman,
Lion and etc.
* Basically, Heroes that heavily rely on abilities for damage or escape, such as Queen of Pain and
Storm Spirit.
Additional:
* Silencer's Intelligence Steal can reduce Storm Spirit's damage output if he gets some kills on laning phase.
* Last Word and
Global Silence will make Storm Spirit an easy target.
* Global Silence can be used to prevent Storm Spirit from connecting abilities after a Ball Lightning on his targets.
* Dark Seer can pull together Spectre's illusions with
Vacuum, and
Wall of Replica creates an illusion of Spectre that deals massive damage.
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as Silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
* Heroes with low mana pools (eg.Doom and
Tidehunter) will feel the effects of Silencer's Intelligence Steal far more than others.
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes that have long silences, such as Night Stalker and
Silencer, will prevent Abaddon from saving his allies effectively and disable the active component of Borrowed Time.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
* Ion Shell destroys Refraction's protection stacks in short time.
* Surge ignores the massive slow from Psionic Trap.
* Dark Seer's only disable is Vacuum. Though he starts off with high armor and health, he'll eventually have a hard time dealing with high mobility heroes such as Weaver or
Queen of Pain.
* Glaives of Wisdom's intelligence steal will heavily punish Queen of Pain, as the loss of intelligence means that her mana pool is also reduced, since she is heavily reliant on her abilities to be able to make an impact.
* In the laning stage, Queen of Pain's reliance on spamming Shadow Strike and Scream of Pain will be significantly hindered by Arcane Curse.
* Last Word and
Global Silence will render Queen of Pain defenseless unless she has an item/ally to dispel the silence.
* Dark Seer's only disable is Vacuum. Though he starts off with high armor and health, he'll eventually have a hard time dealing with high mobility heroes such as Weaver or
Queen of Pain.
* Silences and other types of lockdown that prevent Weaver from using his spells: Silencer,
Riki,
Lion,
Legion Commander,
Shadow Shaman,
Bane.
* X Marks the Spot prevents Dark Seer or his allies from escaping with Surge.
* Kunkka relies on his powerful AOE spells to turn the tides of teamfights. He cannot use them while silenced.
* Last Word can mess up Kunkka's ability synergy, silencing him in the middle of his strong combo.
* Global Silence can disable Kunkka's spell casting from anywhere on the map, even if Kunkka is spell immune at the time.
* Heroes without blink mechanisms or spell immunity will have a hard time positioning against Pit of Malice:
Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Dragon Knight,
Meepo,
Doom,
Bounty Hunter,
Dark Seer,
Undying,
Alchemist,
Legion Commander.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Flame Guard makes Dark Seer not deal any damage with his skills to Ember Spirit.
* Global Silence and
Last Word can prevent Ember Spirit from casting Activate Fire Remnant to escape.
* Glaives of Wisdom also provide high pure damage that is not negated by Flame Guard.
* Arcane Curse is also a potent harassing tool in the laneing stage as its cooldown is lower than Flame Guard's.
* Heroes who rely on passive abilities and attacks, such as Drow Ranger,
Wraith King, and
Lone Druid, can render Silencer useless. But remember that a smart Silencer will most likely buy
Silver Edge to counter this if he is played as carry.
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Vulnerable spellcasters with no escape mechanisms are easy targets for Huskar: Lich,
Crystal Maiden,
Silencer,
Keeper of the Light,
Venomancer, etc.
* Heroes with pure damage can kill Huskar when he inevitably gets low on health: Outworld Destroyer,
Silencer.
* Dark Seer relies on Surge for most of his mobility, so he's not very vulnerable to slows, but much more to root effects and walls or pseudo-walls such as Disruptor's
Kinetic Field or
Slark's
Pounce.
* Heroes with silences : Bloodseeker,
Riki,
Silencer.
* Heroes with damage-increasing passive abilities, such as Viper and
Riki, will usually kill Silencer in a short time before he even has time to set up his abilities.
* Heroes who do not have nor rely on passive abilities make Nethertoxin much less effective: Clinkz,
Pugna,
Nature's Prophet,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Tusk
* Broodmother relies less on abilities and more on right-clicks.
* Spiderlings can overwhelm Silencer, who has mediocre armor and no escape tool.
* Ion Shell zones out Broodmother in the laning phase, and can kill her spiderlings if used on one Spiderling in a group.
* Vacuum can pull Broodmother out of the treeline.
Additional:
* Ion Shell is a very powerful weapon against Broodmother's Spiderlings and makes her laning much harder.
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:
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Dark Seer
* A Sniper who is somewhat competent at positioning is hardly going to be affected by any of Dark Seer's spells thanks to
Take Aim.
* However, an illusion of Sniper made with Wall of Replica is extremely powerful, and hard to deal with.
Silencer
* Due to Sniper having a such a long range, he will rarely get hit by any of Silencer's spells.
Global Silence has little impact on Sniper.
* Global Silence will not hinder Sniper much as other heroes since most of his damage output comes from his attacks.
Additional:
* Sniper is a pure right click carry with a very long range, making it hard for Silencer to cast any of his skills on him in lane. During team-fights,