* Luna's Lucent Beams and Eclipse will prevent Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initiate against Earthshaker after he uses Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem.
* Skilled Luna can buy either {I|Gleipnir
Additional:
* Luna's Lucent Beams and Eclipse will prevent Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initiate against Earthshaker after he uses Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem.
* Skilled Luna can buy either {I|Gleipnir
* If Luna chooses to use Eclipse in anticipation right before Spirit Breaker gets to her with Charge of Darkness, she will be able to kill Spirit Breaker before he will be able to kill her as Spirit Breaker's attack speed is rather low.
* Meanwhile, when Spirit Breaker is focusing on any of Luna's allies with Charge of Darkness, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initate against Spirit Breaker.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives allows Luna to reduce damage from Greater Bash and Nether Strike inflicts on her, and damage Spirit Breaker whenever he is close to her, even while he is invisible.
* Lucent Beam can be used to cancel Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness under the condition that Luna is able to cast it on time. Lucent Beam can also be used to cancel Nether Strike. But bear in mind, however, that Spirit Breaker can counter this with Planar Pocket from Aghanim's Shard which can be used to reflect Lucent Beam back at Luna.
* If Luna buys Linken's Sphere, it will become nearly impossible for Spirit Breaker to reach Luna unless some of Spirit Breaker's allies can pop it and put it on a cooldown.
* Even though Spirit Breaker can evade all of Luna's abilities with Shadow Blade, smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Spirit Breaker to her and her team. Luna can also buy Gleipnir to counter Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness and Shadow Blade combo.
Additional:
* If Luna chooses to use Eclipse in anticipation right before Spirit Breaker gets to her with Charge of Darkness, she will be able to kill Spirit Breaker before he will be able to kill her as Spirit Breaker's attack speed is rather low.
* Meanwhile, when Spirit Breaker is focusing on any of Luna's allies with Charge of Darkness, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initate against Spirit Breaker.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives allows Luna to reduce damage from Greater Bash and Nether Strike inflicts on her, and damage Spirit Breaker whenever he is close to her, even while he is invisible.
* Lucent Beam can be used to cancel Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness under the condition that Luna is able to cast it on time. Lucent Beam can also be used to cancel Nether Strike. But bear in mind, however, that Spirit Breaker can counter this with Planar Pocket from Aghanim's Shard which can be used to reflect Lucent Beam back at Luna.
* If Luna buys Linken's Sphere, it will become nearly impossible for Spirit Breaker to reach Luna unless some of Spirit Breaker's allies can pop it and put it on a cooldown.
* Even though Spirit Breaker can evade all of Luna's abilities with Shadow Blade, smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Spirit Breaker to her and her team. Luna can also buy Gleipnir to counter Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness and Shadow Blade combo.
* Outworld Destroyer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Earthshaker.
* Astral Imprisonment catches Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Earthshaker has mana troubles, and Outworld Destroyer's abilities can press this by stealing intelligence comes from Arcane Orb, therefore depleting his mana pool and mana regeneration.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Earthshaker, due to his low intelligence and mana pool.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to protect allies by imprisoning either them or Spirit Breaker.
* Arcane Orb will heavily drain Spirit Breaker's maximum mana, rendering him almost useless and unable to cast spells. And considering how Spirit Breaker's intelligence is very low, Sanity's Eclipse will deal a lot of damage to him.
* Even if Spirit Breaker survives Sanity's Eclipse, mana allergy applied by the Sanity's Eclipse will discourage Spirit Breaker from using his abilities as it will cause him to lose health and heal Outworld Destroyer.
* Supernova allows Phoenix to save himself (or an ally, with Aghanim's Scepter) through Echo Slam. Earthshaker will also have a difficult time destroying the supernova, due to his low base attack time and poor agility.
* Icarus Dive can pass through Earthshaker's Fissure.
* Most of Phoenix's abilities disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a good period of time due to the damage-over-time nature of its spells.
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Supernova is problematic for Spirit Breaker to take down, and even more so with Fire Spirits debuff applied.
* Static Link drains the damage bonus from Enchant Totem, until he purchase Aghanim's Scepter or Force Staff to break it.
* Storm Surge with Razor's high mobility items can easily avoid all of Earthshaker abilities.
* Plasma Field & Eye of the Storm prevents Earthshaker escaping from Blink Dagger.
Additional:
* Static Link drains Earthshaker's bonus damage from Enchant Totem until he purchases an Aghanim's Scepter or Force Staff to break it.
* Eye of the Storm and Plasma Field can disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Nether Strike can't remove Static Link and reduces Spirit Breaker's physical damage output.
* Eye of the Storm melts Spirit Breaker's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
Additional:
* Plasma Field can slow Spirit Breaker and reduce damage from Greater Bash.
* Static Link drains damage bonus from Greater Bash, and it cannot be removed by Nether Strike.
* Storm Surge will proc on Spirit Breaker every time he attacks Razor or if he uses Charge of Darkness on Razor, damaging him and alerting Razor to Spirit Breaker's incoming ganks, no matter how far Spirit Breaker is from Razor.
* Eye of the Storm can rapidly reduce Spirit Breaker's armor, making him much less durable, especially in teamfights.
* Ignite can prevent Earthshaker from escaping and/or initiating with Blink Dagger.
* Fireblast and Unrefined Fireblast may help prevent Earthshaker follow through with his combo after landing an Echo Slam.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time works well against Earthshaker's which completes lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards are useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown if Venomancer has vision over Earthshaker.
Additional:
* Earthshaker can be kited by Venomancer's slows, which is lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is very useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Poison Attack and Viper Strike allowing to kite and slow Earthshaker significally, putting Blink Dagger on cooldown and preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Nethertoxin breaks Aftershock. The silence from Level 25 talent also prevents Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
Additional:
* Being a melee hero, Earthshaker's movement is liable to suppression by Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
* Earthshaker's kit, with the exception of Enchant Totem, deals magic damage. Corrosive Skin effectively blunts his killing potential with a standard Blink combo among other things.
* Viper Strike can disable Aftershock, which removes the stun and bonus damage from Enchant Totem and Echo Slam.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Thunder Strike can be used to cancel Earthshaker's Blink Dagger.
* Glimpse brings Earthshaker back after he jumps on Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem.
* Static Storm if used on a fight can prevent Earthshaker from executing his combo after blinking in with Blink Dagger.
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light, Kunkka, Disruptor.
* Invoker's E.M.P. is extremely effective against Earthshaker due to his low natural mana.
* Ice Wall can slow down Charge of Darkness in its tracks at max level, allowing counterplays such as Cold Snap to end the charge, bursting down with Tornado, Meteor, and right clicks, or even teleporting back to spawn to drag Spirit Breaker into the fountain.
* Cold Snap (if timed right) and Invoker's other disables like Tornado can interrupt Charge of Darkness, especially since Charge is telegraphed by the symbol appearing over head.
Additional:
* Cold Snap allows Invoker to interrupt Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
* Tornado's long range can be used to cancel Charge of Darkness.
* Deafening Blast prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and thus proccing his Greater Bash.
* Death Prophet's Crypt Swarm and Spirit Siphon can repetively damage Earthshaker, preventing him from using Blink Dagger.
* Silence can be used to silence Earthshaker after he blinks in with Blink Dagger, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Spirits from Exorcism are completely invulnerable and cannot interact with anything at all, which will greatly weaken damage from Echo Slam. This can put Earthshaker in a serious disadvantage against Death Prophet.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* Both Ice Path and Macropyre are the good setup against Earthshaker after he jumps in with Blink Dagger, and stay out of Echo Slam initiation radius.
* Jakiro's damage over time abilities can potentially disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Earthshaker must be careful not to use Blink Dagger or Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem to blink into Riki's Smoke Screen or Night Stalker's Crippling Fear, as these field effects will instantly silence Earthshaker and prevent him from initiating.
Additional:
* Fissure has a short stun and creates an impassable ridge. However, Night Stalker can fly over it during Dark Ascension.
* Night Stalker can find Earthshaker, disable his Blink Dagger with Void, and then take him out with Crippling Fear.
* Earthshaker may fail his blink combo against Night Stalker's team if he is not careful, as he can blink into the silence.
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage: Spectre, Nyx Assassin, Clockwerk, Spirit Breaker, Omniknight, Pudge.
* 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 that usually build Linken's Sphere as either a core or situational item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Luna, Naga Siren.
* In the early game, Omniknight can look like an easy target for Spirit Breaker, but with Purification and Hammer of Purity, what could be an opportunity could quickly turn into disaster.
* Repel can be used to counter Charge of Darkness by minimizing the damage and lowering the stun duration with status resistance.
* Spirit Breaker's Greater Bash from all sources (Charge of Darkness or normal attacks) will deal no damage at all if Omniknight and his allies are protected with presence.
* Due to this, Spirit Breaker's damage will always be lower when targeting Omniknight.
* Rage prevents Earthshaker from damaging and stunning Lifestealer.
* Feast is very effective against Earthshaker, because of him being a strength hero, allowing Lifestealer to heavily harass and kill him.
* Open Wounds prevents Earthshaker from escaping after he initiated.
* Infest gives Lifestealer an easy way to escape should he get caught out by Earthshaker. And against carry Earthshaker, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can be used to disarm Earthshaker and attack him from within, rendering him unable to attack with Enchant Totem.
* If Medusa activates Stone Gaze before Spirit Breaker reaches her with Charge of Darkness, the charge will inevitably fail.
* Medusa has three ways to counter Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness: Stone Gaze can disable Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness if he faces Medusa directly. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Mystic Snake can disable Spirit Breaker and cancel his Charge of Darkness if it hits him. And Cold Blooded provided by Aghanim's Shard that can cast a single-targeted Mystic Snake at Spirit Breaker if he uses Charge of Darkness on her.
* Mana Shield and overall tankiness allows Medusa to easily survive Spirit Breaker's initiation. And to make things worse, Spirit Breaker is not a common Diffusal Blade nor Disperser wielder to counter this problem at all.
* Overall, any attempt for Spirit Breaker to gank and kill Medusa will hurt him more than the other way around.
* 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 Aghanim's Shard upgraded Nature's Guise before he manages to escape.
* 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.
* Solar Guardian can save an ally getting targeted and focused by Spirit Breaker.
* Geomagnetic Grip can be used to silence Earthshaker after he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Magnetize does damage over time and thus disables Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a long time.
* Bramble Maze stops Charge of Darkness in its tracks. Its very long duration means it can be used as an obstacle to block off an incoming Spirit Break during teamfights.
* Shadow Realm and Bedlam can be activated when Dark Willow sees Charge of Darkness coming, preventing Spirit Breaker from using Nether Strike after the initial stun.
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and Mekansm/Guardian Greaves or Pipe of Insight makes it difficult for Earthshaker to execute his combo with Echo Slam.
* Necrophos usually buys Radiance to improve their burning aura damage from Heartstopper Aura will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Reaper's Scythe allows to kill Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo (although Earthshaker is rarely a primary target).
* Earthshaker's stuns will rarely save him once Huskar has initiated on him with Life Break.
* A full initiation combo will not kill Huskar, only lower his health and increase his attack speed.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Spirit Breaker's stuns pierce spell immunity, making him a good choice against heroes that heavily rely on Black King Bar; Huskar
* Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past Fissure.
* Haunt will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* On the other hand, Haunt will amplify damage done from Echo Slam. Use this to your advantage.
Additional:
* Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Earthshaker's initiation attempts.
* Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past Fissure.
* Earthshaker often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.
* Beware that the Haunt illusions amplify the damage done from Echo Slam, which can prove fatal for Spectre's own team.
* Arcane Bolt allows Skywrath Mage to harass Earthshaker out of lane.
* Ancient Seal is an instant silence that can be pre-cast onto Earthshaker to disrupt his combo, before he uses Blink Dagger to initiate.
* Mystic Flare will nuke Earthshaker down while he stands in place during his long cast animations.
* Searing Chains can stop Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
* Activate Fire Remnant can be used to escape an approaching Spirit Breaker, or lead Spirit Breaker into a bad situation.
* Fire Remnant and Sleight of Fist allows Ember Spirit to dodge Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
* Spirit Breaker's slow attack speed and moderate damage do very little to harm Dragon Knight, even if ganked with Charge of Darkness.
* 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.
* Morph allows Morphling to copy abilities of Spirit Breaker and combine them with Waveform to turn things around. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Morph also allows Morphling to create a strong illusion of Spirit Breaker that can cast all of his basic abilities. This allows Morphling to give Spirit Breaker a taste of his own medicine.
* Spirit Breaker's low attack speed and lack of burst damage makes it unlikely for him to win against Morphling when he has Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) toggled on.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities who attempt to use them for escaping Bloodseeker will suffer serious damage from Rupture: Phantom Assassin, Anti-Mage, Faceless Void, Riki, Slark, Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light, Kunkka, Disruptor.
* Warlock often stays back and counter-initiates by dropping his Chaotic Offering on Earthshaker and his allies.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer, Omniknight, Dawnbreaker.
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, Earthshaker.
* Silencer's Global Silence and Doom's Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light, Kunkka, Disruptor.
* Durable heroes: Axe, Dawnbreaker, Bristleback, Mars, Omniknight, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Primal Beast, Underlord.
* Mana Drain has an fair long range and low cooldown. It can easily deplete most heroes of their entire mana pools, especially those with smaller mana pools such as Tiny or Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* Heroes who rely on burst damage with magical damage will struggle to kill Primal Beast: Spirit Breaker, Gyrocopter, Leshrac
* 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 with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Faceless Void, Magnus, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Riki, Sand King, Spirit Breaker, Timbersaw, Tusk.
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like Slark in his Shadow Dance and Weaver in his Shukuchi.
Additional:
* Earthshaker's many AoE stuns help lock down Slark and will often waste the duration of Shadow Dance.
* As a frequent Force Staff buyer, he can later on escape or save teammates from Pounce.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Durable heroes: Axe, Dawnbreaker, Bristleback, Mars, Omniknight, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Primal Beast, Underlord.
* Heroes who rely on armor or evasion to survive can easily be bursted down, like Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Underlord, Spirit Breaker.
* Techies is very good against roaming supports and gankers such as Bounty Hunter, Riki, Weaver, Earthshaker, Nyx Assassin, etc. that are constantly moving around the map.
* Silencer's Global Silence and Doom's Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
* Can easily interrupt and disable Spirit Breaker with hex if being charged.
* Heroes that are squishy by nature are an easy target for Spirit Breaker: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Shadow Shaman
* Pit of Malice can be cast in the path of Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness to cancel it.
* Spirit Breaker's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for him in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects Greater Bash, hindering Spirit Breaker's main source of damage.
* Fiend's Gate provides a way to escape from a gank for Underlord and his teammates. Likewise, Fiend's Gate can be used to ambush Spirit Breaker who has little to no ways of intercepting Underlord and his teammates when they use it to move around the map.
Additional:
* Pit of Malice can be cast in the path of Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness to cancel it.
* Spirit Breaker's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for him in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects Greater Bash, hindering Spirit Breaker's main source of damage.
* Fiend's Gate provides a way to escape from a gank for Underlord and his teammates. Likewise, Fiend's Gate can be used to ambush Spirit Breaker who has little to no ways of intercepting Underlord and his teammates when they use it to move around the map.
* 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.
* Thundergod's Wrath will often disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger before a fight starts.
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as Clockwerk, Kunkka, Puck, Skywrath Mage, Spirit Breaker, Tusk and others.
* Phase Shift allows Puck to dodge all of Earthshaker's abilites.
* Waning Rift disables Earthshaker's stuns, leaving him and his team vulnerable.
* Dream Coil takes a stun from Earthshaker if he tries to escape from Blink Dagger or Enchant Totem upgraded from Aghanim's Scepter.
* Axe, Bristleback, Centaur Warrunner, Spirit Breaker, Pudge, Huskar, Wraith King, Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Windrun can be used to dodge Earthshaker's abilities if Windranger has a quick reaction time.
* Focus Fire and Windrun allows Windranger to kite Earthshaker.
* A Windranger with fast fingers can prevent Earthshaker from using Fissure with Shackleshot.
* Windranger tends to fare badly against high mobility heroes that can easily dodge Powershot, close the gap on her when she uses Windrun or escape from Focus Fire's reach. Examples of such heroes include Spirit Breaker, Lycan, Storm Spirit, Earth Spirit, Void Spirit, Slark and others.
* Her Psionic Traps will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* Refraction blocks all of Earthshaker's abilities.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game: Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker, Tusk, Bounty Hunter, Riki, Warlock.
* Spirit Breaker won’t do much harm to Enchantress because of Untouchable and Nature's Attendants. Unless Enchantress is low on HP, Spirit Breaker won’t be able to catch her with mere spells.
* Heroes with nukes that can jump her: Clockwerk, Snapfire, Spirit Breaker, Techies
* Echo Slam will deal immense damage due to the amount of creeps Chen will have.
* Fissure and Enchant Totem deal large amounts of AOE damage, wearing down non-ancient creeps that Chen converts.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Chen's creeps to get to Chen: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Treants increase Echo Slam's damage.
* Earthshaker's AoE stuns can hit Nature's Prophet through Sprout, without having direct line of sight, in order to interrupt Teleportation.
Additional:
* Echo Slam can do a lot of damage to Nature's Prophet and his teammates if they stand close to his Treants.
* Spirit Breaker can chase Nature's Prophet from anywhere on the map with Charge of Darkness, making it hard for Nature's Prophet to split-push.
* Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike gives vision of Nature's Prophet when he tries to Sprout himself and teleport away.
Additional:
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to catch Nature's Prophet out when he tries to split push.
* Nature's Prophet can't hide in his Sprout against Spirit Breaker, as his Charge of Darkness provides vision on its target.
* Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Nature's Prophet's Teleportation.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* A well landed Fissure can potentially take Lycan out of the fight for several seconds, who heavily relies on precious seconds from Black king bar and Shapeshift to fight.
* Aftershock reduces the effectiveness of his summons and can prove quite irritating for Lycan.
* Echo Slam is very powerful with the sheer amount of Lycan's units and will cause him to think twice when pushing towers.
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to catch up to Lycan after he uses Shapeshift.
Additional:
* Vision from Charge of Darkness will easier to catch Lycan Shapeshift and Charge of Darkness out of reach Lycan Summon Wolves and Lycan's other creeps. Until upgrade Aghanim's Scepter faster catching Lycan Shapeshift.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Phantom Lancer's many illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Echo Slam deals tremendous damage when multiplied by Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Earthshaker's AoE abilities can quickly kill Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Enchant Totem with Aghanim's Scepter gives Cleave to help destroy illusions.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
* Earthshaker's Aftershock combos and Fissure can stun Muerta consecutively and minimize Pierce the Veil's effective duration.
* Echo Slam is good against Snowball since it bunches everyone up. This can set up some prime opportunities for Blink Echo Slams.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Mirror Image's illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Earthshaker's strong AoE abilities can clear Naga Siren's illusions, or at least make it easier to distinguish the real one by the damage they take.
* Echo Slam deals more damage against more enemies, which can be devestating against Naga Siren and her illusions.
* Heroes with long-lasting, undispellable debuffs will pinpoint the true Naga Siren: Spirit Breaker, Bloodseeker, Witch Doctor.
* Anti-Mage usually relies on Blink to escape, but with vision from Charge of Darkness it is easier to catch him.
* Spirit Breaker could single-handedly lock Anti-Mage down for 4 seconds (or even more with lucky bashes), allowing his teammates to follow up.
* As Anti-Mage is an elusive hero who likes to farm alone, Spirit Breaker could choose to charge whenever Anti-Mage is in sight.
* Heroes that usually build Linken's Sphere as either a core or situational item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Luna, Naga Siren.
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like Slark in his Shadow Dance and Weaver in his Shukuchi.
* Shukuchi vision can easily target Charge of Darkness before Weaver purchase Linken's Sphere.
Additional:
* Spirit Breaker's strong escape combo abilities from Charge of Darkness and Bulldoze can easily catch Shukuchi from Weaver.
* Time Lapse cannot dispel neither Charge of Darkness nor Nether Strike.
* However, Weaver is a common Linken's Sphere wielder. And if he has it, Spirit Breaker will not be able to catch up with Weaver neiter with Charge of Darkness nor with Nether Strike.
* Having many summons out will cause Echo Slam to deal extra damage.
* Charge of Darkness can be used to chase down Pangolier if he escapes with Swashbuckle or Rolling Thunder.
* Nether Strike ignores Rolling Thunder's spell immunity, and will still hit Pangolier if he rolls or dashes away.
* Charge of Darkness can be used to escape or counter-initiate against a Relocate gank.
* Greater Bash and Nether Strike is devastating due to Io's low armor, and can even knock it away from his Tethered target.
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to gank Shadow Fiend in the early game, preventing him from getting Necromastery stacks.
* Nether Strike and Charge of Darkness can be used to prevent Shadow Fiend from casting Requiem of Souls.
* Magic Missile has a considerably long cast time, making it difficult to stop Charge of Darkness with it.
* Other than Magic Missile, Vengeful Spirit has no way of canceling Nether Strike.
* Earthshaker's AoE stuns can save ally against Duel, forcing Legion Commander to spend Aghanim's Scepter or Black King Bar.
* Tinker relies on his high mobility from Keen Conveyance and Blink Dagger to survive. Those items don't help him if Spirit Breaker manages to cast Charge of Darkness on him.
* Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Rearm and Keen Conveyance.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Broodmother will gain access to Spinner's Snare, which will allow her to create invisible lines on her webs from Spin Web that will root, deal damage over time, and reveal enemy heroes if they unwittingly step on them. This allows Broodmother to keep her allies alerted on heroes who rely on invisibility-themed and movement-themed abilities and items to surprise enemy heroes and disrupt ganking attempts of enemy heroes: Phantom Assassin, Nyx Assassin, Mirana, Bounty Hunter, Templar Assassin, Riki, Spirit Breaker, Anti-Mage, Tusk, Ursa, Nature's Prophet, Enigma, Void Spirit, Magnus etc.
* Aftershock in combination with Enchant Totem prevents Broodmother from continuing to attack Earthshaker without being repeatedly stunned.
* Echo Slam is greatly amplified by Spiderlings, often instantly killing Broodmother, her swarm, and anyone else unfortunate enough to be nearby.
* Earthshaker's vast amount of stuns makes it difficult for Broodmother to continue attacking enemies (to continue lifestealing with Insatiable Hunger) without Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases phenomenally due to Broodmother's hordes of spiderlings and spiderites.
* Long ranged Fissures can hit Broodmother if she runs into the treeline at the edges of the map.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
* Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness semi-reveals Bounty Hunter, taking away his element of surprise for the duration of the charge. Also, as Charge of Darkness shows Bounty Hunter's position, Spirit Breaker's allies can proceed to gank Bounty Hunter while he is roaming alone.
* All of his spells can stun Elder Titan and interrupt Echo Stomp's channeling thanks to Aftershock.
* Fissure is particularly good for that purpose thanks to its long range.
* Elder Titan relies heavily on his spells and a chain-stun combo will usually be followed by certain death.
* Heroes that rely on invisibility can be tracked with Charge of Darkness opening them to team attacks: Bounty Hunter, Mirana, Riki
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos, Phoenix, Alchemist, Earthshaker, Razor, Tinker, Leshrac, Queen of Pain
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Heroes with abilities that can lock down Terrorblade and prevent him from using Sunder: Bane, Batrider, Earthshaker, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Invoker, Legion Commander, Mars, Primal Beast, Riki, Shadow Shaman, Silencer, Vengeful Spirit, Void Spirit.
* Unlike with other heroes who can summon illusions of themselves, Terrorblade's illusions from Conjure Image have different colors than other illusions which can be seen even by enemy team, which can also make Terrorblade weak even against heroes he naturally counters: Bane, Lifestealer, Spectre, Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Sniper. Terrorblade's only solution to counter this problem is to get Manta Style as quickly as possible.
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin, Spirit Breaker, and Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
* Earthbind's root prevents/interrupts Charge of Darkness.
* As a single-target focused hero without much damage output, Spirit Breaker is ineffective in general against Meepo.
* Each of Meepo's clones count as real heroes, meaning that an Echo Slam hitting them will deal catastrophic damage to Meepo and his team.
* Eathshaker's AoE stuns can interrupt Meepo's Poof cast animation.
Additional:
* Echo Slam will deal catastrophic damage against a cluster of Meepos and anyone nearby.
* Aftershock allows Earthshaker's abilities to potentially stun any number of Meepos for a fairly long duration, often enough to finish one off.
* Heroes who can stun multiple units at once: Dark Willow, Spirit Breaker, Slardar, Invoker, and Tidehunter.
* Heroes with mobility/escape mechanisms to dodge Ancient Apparition abilites, or to easily jump on him: Riki, Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin, Windranger, Bounty Hunter, Spirit Breaker, Night Stalker, Storm Spirit, Juggernaut, etc.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Echo Slam will deal a colossal amount of damage to your Phantasms, as will Fissure at lower levels.
* The area stuns from Aftershock will always stun Chaos Knight's illusions, since they can't use Black King Bar.
* However, Earthshaker should not attempt to fight a farmed Chaos Knight, since he will be completely obliterated by Chaos Knight's colossal damage output, even if he managed to land an Echo Slam
Additional:
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions.
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: Clinkz, Slark, Storm Spirit
* 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.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* Spirit Breaker's Nether Strike with Aghanim's Shard disables Bristleback's passives.
* Shrapnel can be used to disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger from long range.
* Take Aim allows Sniper to harass Earthshaker in lane, and stay out of Echo Slam initiation radius.
Additional:
* Sniper is able to kite Earthshaker with his very long range.
* Sniper can dodge Earthshaker's stuns like Fissure and Enchant Totem with mobility items such as Blink Dagger, Force Staff/Hurricane Pike and Shadow Blade/Silver Edge.
* Sharpnel can be used to cancel Earthshaker's Blink Dagger and preventing effective use of his Echo Slam in a majority of situations.
* Spirit Breaker can charge towards Sniper from anywhere on the map with Charge of Darkness.
* Greater Bash deals magical damage, which can prove dangerous to Sniper and his low health.
* Both previous abilities combined with Nether Strike ensures that Spirit Breaker can easily solo kill Sniper.
* Heroes with mobility spells like Queen of Pain, Anti-Mage, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Puck, and Spirit Breaker that are cancelled by Frostbite can suffer greatly from the presence of Crystal Maiden. It is absolutely critical, however, to have followup from teammates, as all of the above heroes can make quick work of the squishy Crystal Maiden after they are released from her grip.
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
* Heroes that usually build Linken's Sphere as either a core or situational item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Luna, Naga Siren.
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin
* Earthshaker must be careful not to use Blink Dagger or Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enchant Totem to blink into Riki's Smoke Screen or Night Stalker's Crippling Fear, as these field effects will instantly silence Earthshaker and prevent him from initiating.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Tombstone is problematic for Spirit Breaker as the zombies summoned from Tombstone apply a stacking movement speed slow, which can significantly reduce Greater Bash's damage.
* Soul Rip and Decay allows Undying and his allies to survive and recover from any incoming ganks by Spirit Breaker.
* Zombies summoned from Tombstone will amplify the damage of Echo Slam due to them increasing the echo damage.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
* Malefice prevents Spirit Breaker from using his spells for the duration.
* Eidolons from Demonic Summoning have high magic resistance, receiving little damage from Charge of Darkness and Greater Bash.
* Midnight Pulse can deal big damage to Spirit Breaker, as it deals damage based on enemy hero's max health.
* Black Hole makes it very dangerous for Spirit Breaker to reach Enigma with Charge of Darkness unless if he has Nether Strike available to use.
Additional:
* Malefice prevents Spirit Breaker from using his spells for the duration.
* Eidolons from Demonic Summoning have high magic resistance, receiving little damage from Charge of Darkness and Greater Bash.
* Midnight Pulse can deal big damage to Spirit Breaker, as it deals damage based on enemy hero's max health.
* Black Hole makes it very dangerous for Spirit Breaker to reach Enigma with Charge of Darkness unless if he has Nether Strike available to use.
* Fissure does a great job at interrupting Black Hole immediately, especially with Blink Dagger and Aether Lens.
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to the eidolons created by Demonic Conversion.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Melee carries who usually buy an early Black King Bar, and have gap closing abilities can be good against the Arc Warden, such as Slark, Riki, Earthshaker with Aghanim's Scepter, Sven with Aghanim's Scepter etc.
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Earthshaker
* Battery Assault will continuously interrupt Earthshaker's long cast animations.
* Power Cogs can also trap Earthshaker after he initiates.
Additional:
* Battery Assault interrupts Earthshaker's long cast animations, preventing him from using any abilities apart from Echo Slam.
* Power Cogs often separate the battlefield so that both enemies and allies are unlikely to cluster.
* Rocket Flare allows Clockwerk to scout Earthshaker before a fight starts and potentially cancel his Blink Dagger.
* Hookshot enables Clockwerk to catch Earthshaker before he gets a chance to initiate a fight.
Spirit Breaker
* Clockwerk can use Power Cogs to repel Spirit Breaker when he charges in with Charge of Darkness.
* Spirit Breaker's slow 0.6 second attack animation attacks do little damage against Clockwerk. It can also constantly be interrupted by Battery Assault.
* Nether Strike's 1.2 second charge time gives Clockwerk plenty of time to activate Blade Mail and for Battery Assault to cancel it.
Additional:
* Battery Assault will continuously prevent Spirit Breaker from using Nether Strike, Charge of Darkness and even right clicking because of his slow base attack speed.