* Laguna Blade can kill Dazzle quickly before he casts Shallow Grave.
* Light Strike Array and Dragon Slave allows Lina to destroy trees, countering Nature's Guise and
Eyes in the Forest.
* Lina has many tools to remove Living Armor's protection.
* 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.
* Spiderlings melt away Living Armor almost instantly.
* The vision from Eyes In The Forest may prove dangerous for Broodmother, however.
* Corrosive Haze will reveal Treant Protector even when he is under the effects of Nature's Guise.
* With Dual Breath, Liquid Fire and Macropyre Jakiro can quickly remove all Living Armor from a target.
* Ice Path allows Jakiro to prevent Treant Protector from using Overgrowth while staying at a safe distance.
* Astral Imprisonment is a versatile nuisance:
* If it is cast on a low-enough-health unit at least 1 second into Shallow Grave's duration, the Shallow Grave will end during the imprisonment, and the target will take lethal damage when released.
* It can be used remove Dazzle from the fight at a time he could have saved someone.
* It lets himself or an ally dodge all of Poison Touch's effects, for long enough to recover their Blink Dagger.
* Ice Blast negates healing from Shadow Wave, and lasts longer than Shallow Grave.
Additional:
* Shallow Grave prevents Ice Blast's shatter for up to 5 seconds, but can mostly only delay it as Ice Blast's debuff lasts 10 seconds and prevents
Shadow Wave from healing them.
* Pugna can turn out to be an effective hero against Dazzle due to the fact that he does not allow him to extend his Poison Touch with his
Decrepify, which is why Dazzle cannot keep the enemy under prolonged deceleration.
* Pugna has a very strong ability against casters with a small health reserve - Nether Ward, which is why heroes like Dazzle will not be able to constantly throw their
Poison Touch
Bad Juju and
Shadow Wave at enemies under the action of
Nether Ward or will be forced to take a lot of damage
Additional:
* Pugna can turn out to be an effective hero against Dazzle due to the fact that he does not allow him to extend his Poison Touch with his
Decrepify, which is why Dazzle cannot keep the enemy under prolonged deceleration.
* Pugna has a very strong ability against casters with a small health reserve - Nether Ward, which is why heroes like Dazzle will not be able to constantly throw their
Poison Touch
Bad Juju and
Shadow Wave at enemies under the action of
Nether Ward or will be forced to take a lot of damage
* 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.
* Nature's Prophet's Nature's Call can destroy trees that Treant Protecter is hiding in, revealing him.
* Living Armor can be destroyed quickly with Ion Shell.
* Culling Blade ignores the protection from Shallow Grave and will kill any target whose health is low enough. This makes Axe one of the hardest counters to Dazzle, and he neutralizes one of Dazzle's most important abilities.
Additional:
* Culling Blade kills any target under the health threshold, even through Shallow Grave.
* All of Treant Protector's abilities are worth stealing, and Rubick is able to cast them with no animation time.
* Not only are all of Timbersaw's active abilities capable of cutting down trees, but Whirling Death and
Timber Chain also require it to be effective, counteracting both Treant Protector's Nature's Guise and Eyes in the Forest abilities.
Additional:
* Timbersaw can use his plethora of tree cutting abilities to level entire sections of the forest, making hiding in the trees more difficult for Treant Protector and his team.
* Timbersaw can easily cut down Treant Protector's Eyes In The Forest once his team has detection. He may even do it unknowingly due to the sheer destructive and chaotic nature of his abilities.
* Firefly will cut trees with ease, cleaning-up an area that's been enchanted with Eyes In The Forest, and potentially revealing a Treant under the effects of
Nature's Guise.
* Batrider's DoT spells are also good versus Living Armor.
* Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned Drow Ranger and
Sniper) and supports (like
Dazzle and
Shadow Shaman).
* Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus,
Invoker or
Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* 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.
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: Treant Protector,
Kunkka,
Alchemist,
Troll Warlord,
Wraith King,
Tiny,
Sven.
* Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus,
Invoker or
Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
* Heroes with the capability of removing or destroying trees greatly hinders the effectiveness of Treant Protector's abilities: Batrider,
Nature's Prophet,
Lina,
Enigma,
Mars
* Heroes with high burst damage through their physical attacks or spells can kill Dazzle or his allies before he has a chance to use Shallow Grave. (Lina,
Lion, etc.)
* Monkey King is one of the few other heroes who can easily traverse through trees, counteracting Treant Protector's ability to hide in trees.
* Heroes that can maintain vision on Monkey King can see when he uses Tree Dance: Bloodseeker,
Treant Protector with Eyes In The Forest,
Sniper,
Weaver
* Doom can completely shut down Dazzle through Doom, as it prevents him from casting his abilities and, by extension, gaining Bad Juju stacks.
* Heroes with the ability to heal allies, or those with good defensive abilities: Chen,
Dazzle,
Io,
Oracle,
Omniknight,
Witch Doctor,
Winter Wyvern,
Abaddon, etc.
* Bloodseeker's
Thirst,
Rupture, and huge AoE silence
Blood Rite can fare well against Dazzle.
* Heroes with invisibility will be detected by Thirst when they have low enough health: Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Weaver,
Treant Protector,
Nyx Assassin.
* Shallow Grave prevents Bloodseeker from replenishing his health by finishing off enemies.
* Poison Touch allows Dazzle to harass both, Io and it's tethered target on lane.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can also hex both, Io and it's tethered target, preventing them from escaping with Relocate, and also disarming them, silencing them, muting them and rendering them helpless against Dazzle and his allies.
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Dazzle will have plenty of time to save an ally with Shallow Grave from gank by Io and it's tethered target.
* Shadow Wave will always hit both, Io and it's tethered target if they are near the ally Dazzle uses
Shadow Wave on, while healing Dazzle's allies near them.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Shadow Wave can bounce on both, Io and it's tethered target, causing them both to take damage and to be attacked by Dazzle. And unlike Io who doesn't get healed while using Tether, Shadow Wave will always heal Dazzle no matter on which of his allies he uses it on.
* Bad Juju will cause both, Io and it's tethered target to lose armor every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
Additional:
* Poison Touch allows Dazzle to harass both, Io and it's tethered target on lane.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can also hex both, Io and it's tethered target, preventing them from escaping with Relocate, and also disarming them, silencing them, muting them and rendering them helpless against Dazzle and his allies.
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Dazzle will have plenty of time to save an ally with Shallow Grave from gank by Io and it's tethered target.
* Shadow Wave will always hit both, Io and it's tethered target if they are near the ally Dazzle uses
Shadow Wave on, while healing Dazzle's allies near them.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Shadow Wave can bounce on both, Io and it's tethered target, causing them both to take damage and to be attacked by Dazzle. And unlike Io who doesn't get healed while using Tether, Shadow Wave will always heal Dazzle no matter on which of his allies he uses it on.
* Bad Juju will cause both, Io and it's tethered target to lose armor every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
* Living Armor can be used to save a hero from a Relocate gank.
* Shallow Grave prevents Legion Commander from killing her opponents in Duels.
* Shadow Wave will heal an ally caught in a Duel, as well as dealing damage to Legion Commander.
* Clinkz,
Sniper,
Lone Druid,
Troll Warlord,
Legion Commander and
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc Warden,
Lion.
* Nature's Grasp severely slows down Spirit Breaker, reducing effects of Charge of Darkness and Greater Bash.
* Living Armor can mitigate a large portion of Spirit Breaker's damage since his attacks are slow.
* Treant Protector can also counter-initiate against Spirit Breaker with Leech Seed,
Overgrowth and with his root from {I|Aghanim's Shard
* Aghanim's Scepter gives Treant Protector access to
Eyes In The Forest ability, which allows him to turn trees into wards that provide vision, allowing him to keep his allies warned about Spirit Breaker's attempts to gank them.
Eyes In The Forest will also trigger
Overgrowth if Spirit Breaker is in range of the tree affected by it.
Additional:
* Spirit Breaker's slow attacks cannot harm a hero shielded by Living Armor.
* 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.
* 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.
* Dazzle easily breaks the position of Lone Druid and his Summon Spirit Bear with his
Poison Touch, As it always hits from afar and prolongs the slowdown on the
Summon Spirit Bear, which is why he cannot catch up with Dazzle and treat his master with
Spirit Link
* Dazzle helps his team survive the physical attacks of the Summon Spirit Bear thanks to the treatment from
Shadow Wave and armor from
Bad Juju, which can enable his team to kill Lone Druid
* The Lone Druid Summon Spirit Bear has a small amount of armor at the start of the game, because of Mid Dazzle, it can very much break through it and prevent Lone Druid from gaining an advantage at the very beginning of the game, giving his team the opportunity to overtake Lone Druid on items for killing him, by type:
Spirit Vessel
Additional:
* Dazzle easily breaks the position of Lone Druid and his Summon Spirit Bear with his
Poison Touch, As it always hits from afar and prolongs the slowdown on the
Summon Spirit Bear, which is why he cannot catch up with Dazzle and treat his master with
Spirit Link
* Dazzle helps his team survive the physical attacks of the Summon Spirit Bear thanks to the treatment from
Shadow Wave and armor from
Bad Juju, which can enable his team to kill Lone Druid
* The Lone Druid Summon Spirit Bear has a small amount of armor at the start of the game, because of Mid Dazzle, it can very much break through it and prevent Lone Druid from gaining an advantage at the very beginning of the game, giving his team the opportunity to overtake Lone Druid on items for killing him, by type:
Spirit Vessel
* Clinkz,
Sniper,
Lone Druid,
Troll Warlord,
Legion Commander and
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon,
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Bane,
Pugna,
Tusk,
Winter Wyvern,
Io,
Underlord,
Treant Protector and
Keeper of the Light.
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon,
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Bane,
Pugna,
Tusk,
Winter Wyvern,
Io,
Underlord,
Treant Protector and
Keeper of the Light.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can be used to easily kill many of Terrorblade's illusions from both
Conjure Image and
Manta Style, it can also hex the real Terrorblade, silencing him, disarming him, slowing him, muting him and rendering him unable to do anything at all.
* Shallow Grave can be used to save an ally whom Terrorblade has used
Sunder on under the condition Dazzle is quick enough to do it. And since Terrorblade has no "real" burst damage potential outside from
Sunder, Dazzle will usually have plenty of time to save an allied hero on which
Sunder was used.
* Shadow Wave will always damage Terrorblade and his illusions whenever Terrorblade has no
Metamorphosis available to use, while healing Dazzle's allies.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Shadow Wave can also be used directly on Terrorblade, and bounce on both Terrorblade and his illusions alike, causing them to take damage and to be attacked by Dazzle.
Shadow Wave can also pierce throught debuff immunity by
Black King Bar, one of the items Terrorblade relies on to survive in teamfights.
* Bad Juju can weaken Terrorblade's armor every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
Additional:
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can be used to easily kill many of Terrorblade's illusions from both
Conjure Image and
Manta Style, it can also hex the real Terrorblade, silencing him, disarming him, slowing him, muting him and rendering him unable to do anything at all.
* Shallow Grave can be used to save an ally whom Terrorblade has used
Sunder on under the condition Dazzle is quick enough to do it. And since Terrorblade has no "real" burst damage potential outside from
Sunder, Dazzle will usually have plenty of time to save an allied hero on which
Sunder was used.
* Shadow Wave will always damage Terrorblade and his illusions whenever Terrorblade has no
Metamorphosis available to use, while healing Dazzle's allies.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Shadow Wave can also be used directly on Terrorblade, and bounce on both Terrorblade and his illusions alike, causing them to take damage and to be attacked by Dazzle.
Shadow Wave can also pierce throught debuff immunity by
Black King Bar, one of the items Terrorblade relies on to survive in teamfights.
* Bad Juju can weaken Terrorblade's armor every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
* If Storm Spirit is caught in an Overgrowth, he is shut down.
* With the exception of Electric Vortex, he won't be able to cast any relevant skill.
* Treant Protector can usually scout out Magnus in the trees with Eyes in the Forest and disrupt his initiation attempts. He can also counter Magnus' initiation with
Overgrowth.
* Another hero heavily based on attacks and no mobility, being an easy prey for Treant strong disarms and motion reduction skills.
* Treant can give chase should Hoodwink attempt to Scurry away, and
Nature's Grasp can slow her down so Treant Protector's teammates can pin Hoodwink down.
* Shallow Grave can prevent the death of an ally that is trapped inside the Chronosphere.
* Shadow Wave lets Dazzle heal allies and damage enemies from outside Chronosphere.
* Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities are easier to heal through with numerous Shadow Waves than other types of damage, and it's simple to time a Shallow Grave until the last possible second to save a teammate from them.
* Dazzle's Shadow Wave is a spammable healing ability that spreads around his entire team, slowing the death of his teammates as effectively as Necrophos spreads damage to them.
* If not immediately, Shallow Grave delays his ally from gradually dying to Necrophos's abilities, especially Reaper's Scythe.
* However, bear in mind that Dazzle's Poison Touch,
Shadow Wave and
Bad Juju all deal physical damage, and Dazzle has no abilities to help him deal magical damage at all, which can cause problems for Dazzle to kill Necrophos if he uses Ghost Shroud to protect himself.
Additional:
* Reaper's Scythe is very predictable and gives Dazzle plenty of time to react with Shallow Grave: Dazzle just has to keep a close eye on his allies below 50% health.
* However, Dazzle must be sure to use Shadow Wave on that ally immediately after, or they will die from Heartstopper Aura when the Shallow Grave ends!
* Shadow Wave provides good sustain against Tinker's spammable abilities.
* Shallow Grave can stop Tinker from bursting down a target.
* Poison Touch severely slows down Chen, deals damage over time and weakens his armor every time he gets attacked by Dazzle or any of his allies.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can hex Chen and prevent him from saving his allies with
Hand of God.
* Neither Chen nor his converted creeps have burst damage at all, so Dazzle will always have plenty of time to save his allies with Shallow Grave.
* Dazzle can use Shadow Wave can heal his allies, kill Chen's creeps and damage Chen himself.
* Bad Juju can weaken Chen's armor, and the armor of his creeps every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
* Heroes with powerful rooting abilities will disable most of Pangolier's skills, a bonus point if it pierces spell immunity since it will also be able to stop Pangolier during his Rolling Thunder: Treant Protector,
Meepo,
Crystal Maiden,
Dark Willow,
Underlord,
Naga Siren
* Dazzle's lack of a true disable makes him a relatively vulnerable target for Phantom Assassin.
* Coup de Grace will often kill Dazzle's teammates before he has a chance to use Shallow Grave.
* Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter,
Dazzle with
Aghanim's Shard, and hex abilities all prevent item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using
Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility.
* Overgrowth prevents Phantom Assassin from using Blink Strike even through her spell immunity.
* Living Armor reduces Phantom Assassin's physical damage whenever she attempts to gank an allied hero.
* In general, heroes that provide vision will see Fiend's Gate coming: Techies,
Templar Assassin,
Treant Protector
* Clinkz,
Sniper,
Lone Druid,
Troll Warlord,
Legion Commander and
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
* Overgrowth has a great duration, which prevents the units caught from attacking, moving and Blinking. Heroes like Storm Spirit,
Mirana,
Anti-Mage and others won't be able to do much if they're caught.
* Heroes that can deny Slark early kills will prevent him from snowballing: Dazzle,
Abaddon.
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane: this includes Dazzle,
Shadow Demon and
Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
* Treant Protector grants protection against his attacks with
Living Armor and his ultimate,
Overgrowth is a massive AoE disarm and root that pierces spell immunity, causing trouble to Lycan. You will find yourself in need of an ally's dispel or forced to pop
Black King Bar for its dispel.
Additional:
* Lycan has no kind of teleport, being only able to walk, and heavily relies on his attacks. As Overgrowth roots and disarms the targets, Lycan can't do much in an overgrowth field.
* Clinkz,
Sniper,
Lone Druid,
Troll Warlord,
Legion Commander and
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
* Heroes with abilities that reduce armor will make Huskar very vulnerable: Weaver,
Dazzle,
Bristleback,
Vengeful Spirit.
* Clinkz,
Sniper,
Lone Druid,
Troll Warlord,
Legion Commander and
Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.
* Once he buys Aghanim's Shard, Dazzle's
Poison Touch can hex enemies, and hex can instantly kill illusions, making Dazzle strong against heroes who rely on illusions. Bear in mind that
Chaos Knight is the exception because his
Phantasms are strong illusions that are immune to abilities that can instantly kill illusions.
* Treant Protector's
Living Armor will also negate Tidebringer's damage.
* Heroes with armor reducing abilities greatly hinder Visage's defense like Slardar and
Dazzle.
* Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus,
Invoker or
Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
* Shadow Wave will hit Clockwerk every time when he's fighting with an enemy inside Power Cogs.
* Due to Clockwerk's steady damage output, Dazzle has plenty of time to Shallow Grave anyone Clockwerk initiates on.
Additional:
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can be used to hex Clockwerk, silencing him, disarming him, slowing him, and muting him, and thus rendering him unable to use
Blade Mail to return damage or to do anything at all.
* Shadow Wave will hit Clockwerk every time when he's fighting with an enemy inside Power Cogs.
* Due to Clockwerk's very low damage output, Dazzle will have more than enough time to Shallow Grave any enemy hero Clockwerk initiates on.
* Heroes with the capability of removing or destroying trees greatly hinders the effectiveness of Treant Protector's abilities: Batrider,
Nature's Prophet,
Lina,
Enigma,
Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
* Counterspell is very difficult reflects from Poison Touch although Dazzle have upgraded
Aghanim's Shard, hex from Poison Touch is not work target to Anti-Mage well timed with
Counterspell and affected hex from Poison Touch back to Dazzle.
* Anti-Mage relies on blinking and attacking. Overgrowth prevents both.
* Be wary that he will eventually farm up a Manta Style that fully dispels Overgrowth. Good players will wait for your ultimate to use their manta. Perhaps an ally has a silence or similar that would force him to use his manta before your ultimate.
* Mirror Image's illusions can easily walk straight at Dazzle and attack him, due to Dazzle's lack of reliable AoE nukes or disables.
* Ensnare roots Dazzle or his allies, making it harder to stay in range of Dazzle's saving abilities.
* Song of the Siren can be used to initiate a fight with superior positioning, potentially zoning Dazzle's high-impact spells out of the fight.
* Dazzle can instantly destroy all of Naga Siren's illusions from Mirror Image with
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch used on her or any of her illusions.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
Latest changes first
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
Dazzle
*
Juxtapose and
Doppelganger conjures too many illusions for Dazzle to deal with, given he has no inherent movement- or AoE-abilities.
Phantom Rush and
Spirit Lance allow Phantom Lancer to trivially catch Dazzle even in the back line of a fight.
*
* Phantom Lancer has high base armor which counters Dazzle's physcial damage based spells in lane.
Treant Protector
*
Doppelganger can dispel Leech Seed. It can also destroy large amounts of trees, counteracting Nature's Guise and Eyes in the Forest.