*
Soulbind pierces spell immunity and prevents Faceless Void from escaping with Time Walk.
* Grimstroke can catch Io and his
Tethered ally easily with
Soulbind as Io has a tendency to
Tether himself with an ally frequently, which also makes them easier targets for
Soulbind.
* Io is highly vulnerable to disables. Hence, Grimstroke's
Phantom's Embrace is a great ability to hinder Io's potential.
Additional:
* Soulbind can target both Io and its
Tethered ally, allowing Grimstroke and his team to target both with single target spells. Should Io try to
Relocate, Phantom's Embrace can stop its channel to prevent escape.
*
Ensnare prevents using any kind of movement abiilties, Making Naga Siren good against heroes who rely on gap-closing abilities to escape:
Phantom Assassin,
Magnus,
Slark,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Storm Spirit.
*
Ensnare and
Song of the Siren can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate and to close the distance on Io.
*
Rip Tide combined with illusions from
Mirror Image often finish off Io before he can save himself.
* Spirit's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Naga Siren's illusions from
Mirror Image.
* Once Naga Siren buys
Aghanim's Scepter, she can gain access to
Reel In, which not only allows her to cancel both, Tether and Relocate, but also to pull Io to herself and her team while he is affected with
Ensnare, similarly to Batrider's
Flaming Lasso.
*
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Song of the Siren can also heal the hero Io and his tethered targed try to gank.
Additional:
*
Ensnare and
Song of the Siren can be used to cancel both,
Tether and
Relocate and to close the distance on Io.
*
Rip Tide combined with illusions from
Mirror Image often finish off Io before he can save himself with
Tether or
Relocate.
*
Spirits's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Naga Siren's illusions from
Mirror Image.
* Once Naga Siren buys
Aghanim's Scepter, she can gain access to
Reel In, which not only allows her to cancel both,
Tether and
Relocate, but also to pull Io to herself and her team while he is affected with
Ensnare, similarly to Batrider's
Flaming Lasso.
*
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Song of the Siren can also heal the hero Io and his
Tethered targed try to gank.
* Any hero that can nullify effects of Chronosphere: (
Keeper of the Light with
Aghanim's Scepter during daytime,
Winter Wyvern), banishing him or Faceless Void (
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Earth Spirit with
Aghanim's Scepter) or protecting him in other ways (
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Abaddon) can greatly limit Chronosphere's potential.
*
Cold Embrace can render the extra attack speed from
Overcharge meaningless.
*
Splinter Blast and
Winter's Curse are very affective against Io, as it has to stay close to his
Tethered target.
*
Rolling Boulder and
Geomagnetic Grip disable Faceless Void so he cannot escape with Time Walk.
*
Rolling Boulder will allow Earth Spirit to get on top of Faceless Void at all stages of the game.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io:
Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Lifestealer.
* If Bane is outside
Chronosphere, he can use Nightmare or Fiend's Grip to cripple Faceless Void inside.
* Nightmare and Fiend's Grip are long duration disables and can render
Time Walk's mobility very unreliable.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Faceless Void's lack of strong area-of-effect spells makes it difficult for him to fight against Chaos Knight and his
Phantasms.
* From a safe distance and if not caught, Chaos Knight can use
Reality Rift to pull Faceless Void out of the
Chronosphere which combined with
Chaos Bolt can expose him to being bursted down by Chaos Knight's team before Void even succeeds to escape with
Time Walk.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* If Tinker can stay outside of
Chronosphere, Laser can cause Faceless Void to miss all his attacks.
* Faceless Void has low health and strongly relies on
Time Walk's healing factor to remain alive. Getting caught by Tinker with
Scythe of Vyse will almost always spell a quick end for Void.
* Rearm ignores
Time Dilation completely.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Heroes that can stop Faceless Void from leaping around the fight and controlling its outcome are very strong against him. Heroes such as:
Axe,
Centaur Warrunner,
Doom...
Additional:
* Faceless Void relies on
Time Walk for mobility and survivability but he can be prevented from utilizing it through
Doom.
* Doom has a high cooldown duration for every ability except Infernal Blade, so he is not significantly affected by
Time Dilation.
* Heroes with the ability to heal allies will not be able to heal heroes affected by
Doom:
Chen,
Dazzle,
Io,
Oracle,
Omniknight,
Witch Doctor,
Winter Wyvern,
Abaddon, etc.
* Heroes that can stop Faceless Void from leaping around the fight and controlling its outcome are very strong against him. Heroes such as:
Axe,
Centaur Warrunner,
Doom...
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Heroes that can easily kill Faceless Void from outside his Cronosphere;
Sniper,
Skywrath Mage, etc.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Berserker's Call:
Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void,
Slark,
Chaos Knight,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
*
Ghostship can stun Faceless Void and give damage reduction to allies that are trapped during Chronosphere.
*
Torrent can stun Faceless Void from outside Chronosphere.
*
X Marks the Spot can bring back Faceless Void if he escapes using Time Walk.
* If the timing is right and there are allies to attack, a combination of
X Marks the Spot,
Ghostship,
Torrent and
Tidebringer can kill Faceless Void instantly.
* Batrider's
Flaming Lasso can be used to cancel Io's attempts to escape with
Relocate and drag him away from his
Tethered target. And since Io doesn't like buying
Linken's Sphere, he will be always vulnerable to Batrider's initiations.
* Io's tendency to stick close to it's
Tethered target can make Io and it's target vulnerable to Batrider's harrasing.
*
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to catch and drag two heroes at once, not just one. Which can potentially turn Io's
Tether against him.
Additional:
* Batrider's
Flaming Lasso can be used to cancel Io's attempts to escape with
Relocate and drag him away from his
Tethered target. And since Io doesn't like buying
Linken's Sphere, he will be always vulnerable to Batrider's initiations.
* Io's tendency to stick close to it's
Tethered target can make Io and it's target vulnerable to Batrider's harrasing.
*
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to catch and drag two heroes at once, not just one. Which can potentially turn Io's
Tether against him.
* Disruptor can always Glimpse back Io or his target after he
Relocated nearby.
* Even better, thanks to the indicator on the ground, you can even preemptively drop Static Storm and Kinetic Field on the spot they will relocate to.
* Thunder Strike and Glimpse are also good tools to bring back an Io that
Tethered away in the fog of war.
Additional:
*
Glimpse directly negates Relocate.
*
Kinetic Field prevents Io from escaping with
Tether.
*
Static Storm can silence and damage both, Io and it's tethered target. And it can also mute both, Io and it's tethered target when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
*
Global Silence has faster-cast animation than Chronosphere, making Silencer can silence Faceless Void before he can cast Chronosphere.
* Ice Blast prevents Io from healing an ally with
Tether and prevents healing from
Overcharge
* Io is a common
Mekansm builder which is useless if he is affected by Ice Blast.
Additional:
*
Ice Blast prevents Io from healing the target.
* Ancient Apparition can easily harass Io on lane with
Chilling Touch due to it's high range and damage. This can get even worse if Ancient Apparition buys
Aghanim's Scepter and combines it with items that can give him bonus attack damage and attack speed.
*
Chilling Touch combined with
Ice Vortex makes it nearly impossible for Io to escape from
Cold Feet.
Ice Vortex can also make Io and it's tethered target more vulnerable to Ancient Apparition and his allies's magical damage.
*
Mist Coil and
Aphotic Shield enable Abaddon to keep an ally alive during Chronosphere.
*
Borrowed Time prevents Faceless Void from killing Abaddon during his Chronosphere.
*
Disruption can banish Faceless Void or an ally in Chronosphere, making it a less effective ability.
* Faceless Void's illusions created by
Disruption will not get stunned by Chronosphere, allowing Shadow Demon to attack Faceless Void in his Chronosphere.
* Casting
Disruption after releasing
Shadow Poison charges will make Time Walk unable to backtrack the damage.
*
Shadow Poison is a good way to deal damage as the initial damage and the release damage can't both be Time Walked at the same time.
*
Demonic Purge is a great slow, useful to force out a Time Walk early and can break Time Lock with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Decrepify prevents Faceless Void from attacking trapped allies inside
Chronosphere, wasting a large portion of its duration if Faceless Void can't dispel it.
*
Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
*
Coup de Grace can make a short work of Io's low health and armor.
* Jakiro's area-of-effect ability arsenal allows him to affect multiple heroes at once, giving Io difficulties in saving them as he can only heal one hero at a time with Tether.
*
Ice Path can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
* Jakiro commonly buys
Rod of Atos that can be used to cancel Relocate, prevent Io in escaping with Tether and make Io easy target for
Ice Path and
Macropyre.
Additional:
* Jakiro's area-of-effect ability arsenal allows him to affect multiple heroes at once, giving Io difficulties in saving them as he can only heal one hero at a time with Tether.
*
Ice Path can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
* Jakiro commonly buys
Rod of Atos that can be used to cancel Relocate, prevent Io in escaping with Tether and make Io easy target for
Ice Path and
Macropyre.
*
Guardian Angel can negate all the physical damage output during Chronosphere.
* When Faceless Void Time Walk's on top of an enemy it becomes a perfect target for
Purification
Additional:
* Guardian Angel can negate all the physical damage output from Faceless Void during
Chronosphere.
* If Faceless Void
Time Walks on top of an ally Purification + Heavenly Grace can turn the fight around.
* Terrorize forces Faceless Void out of
Chronosphere.
* Fireblast is a good tool to interrupt Io during its escapes through
Tether.
* Ignite can be one of the few spells with enough total damage to out-trade the sustained healing Io provides for its fellow laner.
* However, picking other supports that focus less on the laning phase is generally a better choice against Io.
* Lightning Storm will usually hit both Io and his
Tethered target since both will be close enough for the lightning to jump. It can then be followed up by Split Earth.
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova hit all units near Leshrac, meaning he can do colossal damage to Io and his
Tethered target.
Additional:
* Io is a hero who needs to be close to it's tethered target to make it effective, and that's where Leshrac gets the advantage thanks to many of his area-of-effect abilities.
*
Lightning Storm will usually hit both Io and its tethered target since both will be close enough for the lightning to jump.
*
Diabolic Edict and
Pulse Nova hit all units near Leshrac, meaning he can do colossal damage to both, Io and its tethered target.
* Lich's
Chain Frost forces Io to either give up providing buff to his ally with
Tether or suffer devastating damage with his
Tethered ally.
* Lich can easily use
Sinister Gaze to disable Io from getting away with
Tether or
Relocate.
*
Crippling Fear can silence Faceless Void for a long time, preventing him from using his Time Walk and Chronosphere.
* With her Nether Swap, a well positioned Vengeful Spirit can save the life of a more important ally who gets caught in
Chronosphere.
Additional:
*
Nether Swap can save an ally from the Chronosphere.
* Luna's
Eclipse can be used for counter-attacks and interception against gap-closing heroes who use their blinking abilities without protection or who recklessly jump on her, provided that Luna is able to cast it in time. Examples include:
Queen of Pain,
Riki,
Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void and pretty much any hero who relies on
Blink Dagger to close the gap.
*
Lucent Beam and 0.25s Eclipse Lucent Ministun talent for
Eclipse can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
* Luna's
Moon Glaives and
Eclipse abilities can make short work of Io and its tethered ally, particularly when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
*
Lucent Beam can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
* Like with Leshrac's
Diabolic Edict,
Lightning Storm and
Pulse Nova abilities. Luna's
Moon Glaives and
Eclipse abilities can make short work of Io and its tethered ally, particularly when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Frail heroes who lack mobility can also be an easy target to lock down with Chronosphere, such as
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Terrorblade.
* Monkey King’s clones from Wukong’s Command and Aghanim’s Scepter are immune to Chronosphere, so it is a very bad idea to Chronosphere Monkey King with his clones around.
Additional:
* Monkey King’s clones from Wukong’s Command and Aghanim’s Scepter are immune to Chronosphere, so it is a very bad idea to Chronosphere Monkey King with his clones around.
* If Monkey King's himself is not caught inside Chronosphere, he can cast Wukong Command's next to it to force Faceless Void to scatter
*
Thunder Clap and
Drunken Brawler prevent Faceless Void from maximising his damage potential in fights.
*
Cyclone disables Faceless Void during Chronosphere or in general.
*
Living Armor and
Leech Seed can be used to save a hero from a
Relocate gank.
*
Overgrowth can be used to cancel escape attempts with
Relocate.
* Once Treant Protector buys
Aghanim's Scepter, he will gain access to
Eyes in the Forest, that will allow him to enchant a tree which will grant him unobstructed vision in that location, allowing him to keep his allies alerted on Io and his
Tethered's attempts to gank them, and which can also allow
Overgrowth to damage them and root them if they are within a 800 radius of an tree affected by
Eyes in the Forest.
*
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.
*
Mortimer Kisses can deal a large amount of damage to Void during
Chronosphere, either outright killing him or forcing him out before he can kill any allies caught in his ultimate.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
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.
*
Thirst allows Bloodseeker to see where Io relocated to, should either Io or the tethered hero have low health.
*
Rupture forces Io to stay in place, preventing it from using the Tether bonus movement speed to escape.
*
Time Walk negates Rupture's damage.
*
Chronosphere prevents Bloodseeker from running down and picking off weak enemies during teamfights.
Additional:
* Time Walk will not make
Rupture deal damage for the distance jumped and can be used to quickly escape from
Blood Rite.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
*
Solar Guardian can heal allies that trapped inside Chronosphere.
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once:
Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker,
Muerta,
Dazzle.
*
Time Walk can easily avoid Dawnbreaker's abilities or to escape her gank attempts and backtrack any damage she deals.
*
Time Dilation can prevent Dawnbreaker from using her abilities after initiating, and slowing her down severely.
*
Time Lock combined with his high attack speed can lock Dawnbreaker in place, preventing her escape with Celestial Hammer.
*
Chronosphere locks down Dawnbreaker in place right after she uses Solar Guardian.
* On the other hand, if Solar Guardian is cast beforehand from afar, it may discourage Faceless Void from casting Chronosphere in its location
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Heroes that have an escape that doesn't disjoint projectiles:
Mirana,
Faceless Void,
Magnus
* Any hero that can nullify effects of Chronosphere: (
Keeper of the Light with
Aghanim's Scepter during daytime,
Winter Wyvern), banishing him or Faceless Void (
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Earth Spirit with
Aghanim's Scepter) or protecting him in other ways (
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Abaddon) can greatly limit Chronosphere's potential.
* Long range disables are really effective against dangerous area controllers and channeling Heroes, like
Enigma,
Faceless Void or
Crystal Maiden, as it may cancel them or prevent enemies from doing further damage while keeping
Lion in a relatively safe distance in the warzone.
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once:
Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker,
Muerta,
Dazzle.
* Any hero that can nullify effects of Chronosphere: (
Keeper of the Light with
Aghanim's Scepter during daytime,
Winter Wyvern), banishing him or Faceless Void (
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Earth Spirit with
Aghanim's Scepter) or protecting him in other ways (
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Abaddon) can greatly limit Chronosphere's potential.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io:
Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Lifestealer.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
*
Strafe,
Tar Bomb and
Burning Barrage from
Aghanim's Shard allow Clinkz to quickly kill Io due to its low armor.
* Clinkz iz a hero that very often goes for
Orchid Malevolence, and its upgrade
Bloodthorn. Alternatively, Clinkz also loves to buy
Gleipnir. And if Clinkz has both of them, he will be able to root and silence Io and prevent him from escaping with either
Tether or
Relocate.
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as
Bounty Hunter,
Clinkz,
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin and
Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
* Terrorblade can easily take advantage of Io's weak durability with
Reflection and
Metamorphosis.
* As Io relies on boosting his and his
Tethered target's attack speed with
Overcharge, Terrorblade can take advantage of this with
Reflection, which can damage and slow both, Io and his
Tethered target.
*
Spirits's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Terrorblade's illusions from
Conjure Image and
Manta Style.
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Terrorblade will have plenty of time to save himself with
Sunder.
* However, Terrorblade has no way of stopping Io to escape with
Tether or to stop both, Io and his
Tethered target to escape with
Relocate besides
Terror Wave from
Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Terrorblade can easily take advantage of Io's weak durability with
Reflection and
Metamorphosis.
* As Io relies on boosting his and his
Tethered target's attack speed with
Overcharge, Terrorblade can take advantage of this with
Reflection, which can damage and slow both, Io and his
Tethered target.
*
Spirits's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Terrorblade's illusions from
Conjure Image and
Manta Style.
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Terrorblade will have plenty of time to save himself with
Sunder.
* However, Terrorblade has no way of stopping Io to escape with
Tether or to stop both, Io and it's
Tethered target to escape with
Relocate besides
Terror Wave from
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Frail heroes who lack mobility can also be an easy target to lock down with Chronosphere, such as
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Terrorblade.
* Heroes that can easily kill Faceless Void from outside his Cronosphere;
Sniper,
Skywrath Mage, etc.
*
Take Aim and
Assassinate allow Sniper to reach Io even if it stays in the backline.
* Frail heroes who lack mobility can also be an easy target to lock down with Chronosphere, such as
Drow Ranger,
Luna,
Sniper,
Terrorblade.
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper:
Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
* 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.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io:
Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Lifestealer.
* Time Dilation while
Dark Pact and
Pounce are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, reducing his escape potential. However, Time Dilation is dispellable with
Dark Pact so it needs to be timed well.
* Chronosphere will not reveal Slark during
Shadow Dance but covers the whole duration of Shadow Dance making him unable to use it to attack or escape. Slark still receives the regeneration benefit from Shadow Dance.
*
Time Walk can be used to close the distance within Drow Ranger, hindering her Marksmanship bonus.
* Faceless Void can also lock down Drow Ranger with
Chronosphere before she has the chance to retaliate due to her low health pool.
* Drow Ranger's lack of escape abilities makes her an easy target for Relocate ganks.
*
Blade Fury will not protect Juggernaut against Chronosphere or Time Lock.
* Faceless Void can Time Walk out of the range of
Omnislash at all points of the game and with ease.
* 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.
* Time Dilation affects Morphling's low cooldown spells, making them unusable for a long time, rendering Morphling nearly useless.
* Morphling cannot use
Attribute Shift while he is inside Chronosphere which makes it easy to kill him.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
*
Time Walk can get out to Sprout.
*
Chronosphere will interupt his Teleportation and Faceless Void's can attack kill him within
Chronosphere.
*
Io can use
Relocate with an ally to gank Nature's Prophet whenever he tries to push.
Additional:
* Nature's Prophet is extremely easy to gank with Relocate while he's split pushing.
* Tether on a friendly unit can destroy Nature Prophet's trees should he surround himself with
Sprout as a defense.
*
Time Dilation affects Windranger's low cooldown abilities, making them unusable for a long time, reducing Windranger's escape potential.
* The high mobility provided by
Time Walk makes it hard for Windranger to find a good position to land Shackleshot or a full duration of Focus Fire.
*
Chronosphere provides excellent lockdown against Windranger, allowing for reliable kills in all stages of the game.
* Faceless Void tends to go for items that require
Javelin, such as
Maelstrom,
Mjollnir and
Monkey King Bar, allowing him to bypass the evasion from Windrun.
Additional:
* Time Dilation while renders
Windrun movement speed useless slow.
* Time Walk fast cooldown can escaping avoided to Focus Fire. Additionally, Time Walk can dodge to
Powershot
* Chronosphere trap can attacking Windranger can not escaping with
Windrun.
* Io can escape from Pit of Malice with Tether or Relocate.
* Relocate can counter Dark Rift's split pushing.
* Time Dilation while
Shukuchi and
Geminate Attack are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, reducing Weaver's escape potential.
* Chronosphere will reveal Weaver during
Shukuchi.
Additional:
* The wide range of
Chronosphere makes it difficult for Weaver to avoid it with Shukuchi and, once caught, his low survivability makes him an easy kill.
* With no significant source of burst damage, it is easy for Void to survive combat with Weaver using
Time Walk.
*
Time Dilation will prevent Weaver from using Shukuchi or force him to use Time Lapse to dispel the debuff and re-engage.
*
Time Dilation is similar to a long duration silence, making Timbersaw useless in team fights, or forcing him to adapt his build.
*
Time Walk negates Timbersaw's burst damage.
*
Time Lock provides magical damage and lock down, and is effective against both Reactive Armor and Timber Chain.
* In conjunction with
Time Lock's magical damage,
Chronosphere can destroy Timbersaw before he has time to react, and creates a large obstacle that obstruct's Timber Chain's mobility.
* Time Dilation, while
Spell Steal with
Aghanim's Scepter is on cooldown will make it unusable for a long time, reducing Rubick's potential.
* Rubick's own Chronosphere stolen with
Spell Steal cannot stun Faceless Void.
*
Time Walk and
Backtrack allows Faceless Void to easily negate Queen of Pain's burst damage.
*
Chronosphere prevents Queen of Pain from escaping with Blink, and her low survivability makes her an easy kill.
*
Time Dilation will prevent Queen of Pain from using her low-cooldown spells or force her to buy
Black King Bar or a
Eul's Scepter of Divinity to dispel the debuff and re-engage.
Additional:
* Time Dilation affects Queen of Pain's low cooldown abilities, making them unusable for a long time, rendering Queen of Pain nearly useless.
* Chronosphere provides excellent lockdown against Queen of Pain, allowing for reliable kills in all stages of the game.
* Hard lockdowns such as
Chronosphere can be used to quickly take down Puck. Whenever Puck is disabled for longer than 3 seconds, he will usually end up dead.
* As the type of hero that spams spells,
Time Dilation counters Puck very effectively. Phase Shift is Puck's main ability for survivability, and Time Dilation effectively triples its cooldown.
* If not silenced, Faceless Void can use
Time Walk can easily undo the damage dealt by Illusory Orb, Dream Coil and Dagon.
Additional:
* Puck cannot use spells if affected by Time Dilation, especially
Phase Shift for main survivability as it effectively triples its cooldown.
* Chronosphere can end Puck's life quickly, as stun, more than 3 seconds will be a death sentence to Puck.
* If not silenced, Faceless Void can just Time Walk to undo Puck's Burst damage.
*
Time Dilation can limit Zeus to casting his abilities only once in a fight, effectively serving as a 6/8/10/12 second silence.
*
Time Walk negates Zeus's burst damage.
*
Chronosphere makes Zeus the best target for Void because of his low mobility.
*
Chronosphere's large obstacle denies Pangolier the room to roll around during teamfights, as well as wasting his ultimate's duration.
* Beware of placing the Death Ward if
Chronosphere is off cooldown, as it will cancel the effect and leave Witch Doctor vulnerable if he does not react in time.
* Time Dilation while
Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Necrophos nearly useless.
* Necrophos cannot use
Ghost Shroud while he is inside Chronosphere which makes it easy to kill him.
* Tether helps Io escape from Earthbind even if Meepo has Blink Dagger.
* Io's Spirits can pressure Meepo while laning and will usually hit at least one of his clones.
* Clockwerk lacks burst damage, and that makes him vulnerable to heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage after Clockwerk finishes his initiation. Additionally, Clockwerk hates buying
Dagon and
Ethereal Blade, which are the only itmes that can help him deal with heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage:
Faceless Void,
Terrorblade,
Ursa,
Weaver,
Broodmother,
Slark,
Abaddon,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer.
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him:
Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
* In general, heroes with AoE or long range disables (such as
Faceless Void with
Chronosphere,
Pudge with
Meat Hook and
Elder Titan with
Echo Stomp) hinder Crystal Maiden, preventing her from using Freezing Field to help her team in a fight.
* Heroes that can reliably kite out Dispose, Unleash and dodge Rebound, like
Ember Spirit,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Anti-Mage,
Faceless Void,
Puck or always build items like
Blink Dagger and
Force Staff.
* 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.
Additional:
* Chronosphere provides excellent lockdown against Anti-Mage, allowing for reliable kills in all stages of the game.
* Time Dilation while
Blink and
Counterspell are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, shutting down his mobility and defensiveness.
* Faceless Void's low mana pool makes him a poor target for
Mana Void, although he is very vulnerable should Anti-Mage burn all of his mana.
* Enigma lacks burst damage, and that makes him vulnerable to heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage after Enigma finishes his initiation:
Faceless Void,
Terrorblade,
Ursa,
Weaver,
Broodmother,
Slark,
Abaddon,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer.
* Carries that can out damage Huskar will do well against him:
Legion Commander,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Phantom Assassin.
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as
Bounty Hunter,
Clinkz,
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin and
Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
* Heroes who recklessly jump on Pudge with their gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember Combo:
Phantom Assassin,
Faceless Void,
Queen of Pain etc.
Additional:
*
Meat Hook can pull an ally out of Chronosphere.
*
Rot will keep damaging Void if he toggled it before Chronosphere, but you can lower your hp for Faceless Void.
*
Flesh Heap will help Pudge survive through the Chronosphere with enough stacks, and follow with
Dismember.
* Tether and Overcharge makes it much harder for Pudge to kill a target with
Meat Hook, and Relocate can save the Io's ally while
Dismember is being channeled.
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once:
Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker,
Muerta,
Dazzle.
* Time Walk can easily avoid Invoker's combo damage if doesn't have disables.
* Chronosphere will reveal Invoker during
Ghost Walk.
* All of Invoker's hidden cooldowns are affected by Time Dilation, so Faceless Void can easily slow him down a lot.
Additional:
*
Time Dilation prevents Invoker from further invoking for the entire duration of the debuff, as well as massively slowing Invoker based on the large amount of spells he has.
*
Time Walk will completely negate Invoker's combo damage.
* If Invoker is caught in
Chronosphere, he will most likely be the primary target due to the large teamfight contribution he can provide.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
*
Time Walk will easily backtrack Lina's burst damage (especially Laguna Blade) if not timed correctly.
* During
Chronosphere, squishy heroes like Lina will be main target of Faceless Void in his ultimate.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io:
Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Lifestealer.
* Chronosphere provides excellent lockdown against
Rage.
* Faceless Void's Time Lock stops Lifestealer from getting health regeneration from auto-attacks
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Time Dilation while
Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Mars nearly useless.
* Mars cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the back, bypassing
Bulwark completely.
Additional:
*
Time Walk allows Faceless Void to escape or enter Arena Of Blood, and helps him recover from Mars' burst damage.
*
Time Lock's magical damage ignores Bulwark.
*
Chronosphere allows Faceless Void to reposition behind Mars, ignoring his Bulwark while he is helplessly frozen in time.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io:
Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Lifestealer.
* Time Dilation while
Static Remnant and
Electric Vortex are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, reducing Storm Spirit's potential.
* Faceless Void can catch Storm Spirit during
Ball Lightning with a well-timed Chronosphere or Time Walk.
* Heroes who can proc their respective passives while inside Chronosphere can still be a problem for Darkterror:
Axe,
Abaddon,
Razor...
* Time Walk can break
Static Link very quickly, preventing Razor from building up to attack damage.
* Any hero that can nullify effects of Chronosphere: (
Keeper of the Light with
Aghanim's Scepter during daytime,
Winter Wyvern), banishing him or Faceless Void (
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Earth Spirit with
Aghanim's Scepter) or protecting him in other ways (
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Abaddon) can greatly limit Chronosphere's potential.
*
Time Walk and
Backtrack allow Faceless Void to easily negate Oracle's burst damage.
*
Time Dilation is effective against Oracle's low-cooldown spells. Although dispellable with Fortune's End, it can still catch Oracle off guard if Fortune's End is on cooldown.
* However, False Promise is one of the best abilities in the game to delay or even potentially save any ally caught in
Chronosphere. Combined with Fate's Edict, a well-positioned Oracle denies Faceless Void and his team from attempts at solo-Chronosphering key targets to open up a teamfight.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Faceless Void is one of the best heroes against Ember Spirit, providing a lot of ways of dealing with him. Ember Spirit becomes a lot weaker if affected by
Time Dilation, as he can no longer spam Sleight of Fist.
*
Chronosphere is also a reliable lockdown for Ember Spirit, although it can be evaded sometimes by Activate Fire Remnant. Additionally, Void can easily negate Sleight of Fist damage with
Time Walk.
* And finally, Void is a great
Diffusal Blade carrier. Not only
Manabreak's physical damage not negated by Flame Guard, but it also burns Ember Spirit's mana. That, in turn, prevents him from escaping if he survived
Chronosphere.
*
Homing Missile can be used to cancel escape attempts with
Relocate.
*
Flak Cannon allows Gyrocopter to attack both, Io and his
Tethered target, especially when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
*
Rocket Barrage and
Call Down allow Gyrocopter to deal serious damage to both Io and his
Tethered target.
Additional:
*
Homing Missile can be used to cancel escape attempts with
Relocate.
*
Flak Cannon allows Gyrocopter to attack both, Io and his
Tethered target, especially when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
*
Rocket Barrage and
Call Down allow Gyrocopter to deal serious damage to both Io and his
Tethered target.
*
Time Walk makes it hard for Gyrocopter to pin down Faceless Void. With
Backtrack it also negates most of his attacks.
*
Time Dilation will prevent Gyrocopter from using his cooldown spells.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io:
Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Lifestealer.
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as
Bounty Hunter,
Clinkz,
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin and
Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
* Heroes with low armor and little mobility, like
Huskar,
Io, etc. will also have an unfortunate fate.
*
Faceless Void can lock Lycan down with his
Chronosphere pinning him down as long as his ultimate is up.
* Fragile heroes: Bounty Hunter has decent nuking capabilities with Shiruken Toss and Jinada thus making fragile heroes easy picks for ganking. Few examples of such heroes are:
Crystal Maiden,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Io,
Witch Doctor, etc.
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as
Bounty Hunter,
Clinkz,
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin and
Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
*
Fire Spirits does damage over time, preventing Faceless Void from backtracking the full damage with Time Walk.
*
Fire Spirits applies a big attack speed slow, stopping Faceless Void from doing many attacks while in Chronosphere.
*
Sun Ray can heal allies and damage Faceless Void from outside Chronosphere.
*
Supernova can be cast outside of Chronosphere, forcing Faceless Void to step away from it, lest he'll take a lot of damage
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
*
Duel is very effective against Io due to its low health and armor.
*
Tethered heroes are much harder for Legion Commander to kill in Duels.
*
Relocate can cancel Duels and save allies.
*
Quill Spray is very effective against Io, as it has very low armor and has to stay close to the fight to not break its Tether.
* Time Dilation while
Quill Spray and
Viscous Nasal Goo are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Bristleback nearly useless.
* Bristleback cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the front, completely bypassing his passive damage reduction.
Additional:
*
Time Dilation prevents Bristleback from spamming his low-cooldown abilities, greatly reducing his damage and effectiveness.
*
Chronosphere allows allies to reposition and hit Bristleback from the front, bypassing his defensive bonus from behind.
* Bristleback has no way to prevent Void from using
Time Walk.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as
Bounty Hunter,
Clinkz,
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin and
Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
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
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Faceless Void
*
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.
*
Io
*
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.
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.
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.
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 allows Dazzle
Shadow Wave directly on Io and it's
Tethered target which can also 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.
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Dazzle will have plenty of time to save an ally with
*
*
Additional:
*
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Dazzle will have plenty of time to save an ally with
*
*