* 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.
* Ice Blast nullifies
Borrowed Time's and
Mist Coil's healing.
Additional:
*
Ice Blast's nullifies Abaddon healing from Borrowed Time and Mist Coil and it is not dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Culling Blade ignores
Borrowed Time should Abaddon's health falls under the threshold.
*
Aphotic Shield does nothing against Berserkers Call and has to be used constantly to remove the very small mana cost of Battle Hunger in lane.
Additional:
*
Culling Blade's instant kill is not prevented by Borrowed Time should Abaddon's health falls below the threshold.
* 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.
* Reflection will cause Abaddon to be afflicted by his own
Curse of Avernus, silencing and slowing him. The reflection is also hard to avoid, as it cannot be killed, only dispelled.
* Heroes who can negate effects of Sunder:
Faceless Void's
Time Walk,
Weaver's
Time Lapse,
Broodmother's
Insatiable Hunger,
Abaddon's
Borrowed Time and
Troll Warlord's
Battle Trance can nullify Sunder.
* 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 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.
Additional:
*
Doom will make Abaddon unable to use Mist Coil, Aphotic Shield, and the active component of Borrowed Time, also upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter can break Curse of Avernus and the passive component of Borrowed Time ,which means his allies could be easily disabled or killed.
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game:
Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
*
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.
* Dispel Magic can remove Abaddon's
Aphotic Shield or
Curse of Avernus on an allied hero.
* Cyclone's lengthy duration wastes much of
Borrowed Time's duration.
Additional:
* {U:Storm} can use
Cyclone on Abaddon when he activates Borrowed Time, wasting its duration.
*
Drunken Brawler and
Thunder Clap hinder Abaddon from applying Curse of Avernus' silence on him.
*
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.
* Mana Break drains Abaddon's mana, preventing him from using
Aphotic Shield to zone out enemies in lane.
* Counterspell decreases the amount of damage received from
Aphotic Shield and
Mist Coil.
*
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.
* Shadow Demon with an
Aghanim's Scepter will use
Demonic Purge to disable Curse of Avernus and the passive component of Borrowed Time. If this is combined with a silence, Borrowed Time will not trigger at all.
* Even without
Aghanim's Scepter, he can still waste Borrowed Time with
Disruption. Curse of Avernus fully works on illusions, turning the passive ability against him.
*
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.
*
Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
*
Coup de Grace can make a short work of Io's low health and armor.
*
Poison Touch allows Dazzle to harass both, Io and it's tethered target on lane.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can also hex both, Io and it's tethered target, preventing them from escaping with Relocate, and also disarming them, silencing them, muting them and rendering them helpless against Dazzle and his allies.
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Dazzle will have plenty of time to save an ally with
Shallow Grave from gank by Io and it's tethered target.
*
Shadow Wave will always hit both, Io and it's tethered target if they are near the ally Dazzle uses
Shadow Wave on, while healing Dazzle's allies near them.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Shadow Wave can bounce on both, Io and it's tethered target, causing them both to take damage and to be attacked by Dazzle. And unlike Io who doesn't get healed while using Tether, Shadow Wave will always heal Dazzle no matter on which of his allies he uses it on.
*
Bad Juju will cause both, Io and it's tethered target to lose armor every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
Additional:
*
Poison Touch allows Dazzle to harass both, Io and it's
Tethered target on lane.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Poison Touch can also hex both, Io and it's
Tethered target, preventing them from escaping with Relocate, and also disarming them, silencing them, muting them and rendering them helpless against Dazzle and his allies.
* Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Dazzle will have plenty of time to save an ally with
Shallow Grave from gank by Io and it's
Tethered target.
*
Shadow Wave will always hit both, Io and it's
Tethered target if they are near the ally Dazzle uses
Shadow Wave on, while healing Dazzle's allies near them.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Shadow Wave 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.
*
Astral Imprisonment wastes Borrowed Time's duration.
* Outworld Destroyer's
Sanity's Eclipse can kill Abaddon before Borrowed Time triggers due to the lack of intelligence for Abaddon.
* 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.
* Lina is a common
Eul's Scepter of Divinity carrier which can waste some duration of Borrowed Time and following up with
Laguna Blade if timed correctly.
* Both
Lion's
Finger of Death and
Lina's
Laguna Blade have a 0.25 second delay before the damage is dealt.
*
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.
* 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.
* 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.
*
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.
* Abaddon can be killed without triggering his ultimate
Borrowed Time due to the break applied by
Sharpshooter.
* 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.
* Because
Poison Attack has almost no cooldown,
Aphotic Shield is ineffective as a hard dispel.
*
Viper Strike can prevent
Borrowed Time from activating passively and block
Curse of Avernus.
Additional:
* Because
Poison Attack has almost no cooldown, Aphotic Shield is ineffective as a hard dispel.
*
Viper Strike can prevent
Borrowed Time from activating passively and block
Curse of Avernus.
* 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 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.
* 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 whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once:
Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker,
Muerta,
Dazzle.
* 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 low armor and little mobility, like
Huskar,
Io, etc. will also have an unfortunate fate.
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
* Heroes that have long silences, such as
Night Stalker and
Silencer, will prevent Abaddon from saving his allies effectively and disable the active component of Borrowed Time.
* 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 that have long silences, such as
Night Stalker and
Silencer, will prevent Abaddon from saving his allies effectively and disable the active component of Borrowed Time.
* 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 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 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.
* 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.
* In general, heroes that deal burst in multiple instances will trigger Borrowed Time and heal Abaddon for a large amount, such as
Skywrath Mage,
Techies,
Juggernaut,
Shadow Shaman, or
Ogre Magi.
*
Take Aim and
Assassinate allow Sniper to reach Io even if it stays in the backline.
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper:
Anti-Mage,
Earth Spirit,
Io,
Nature's Prophet,
Pangolier,
Puck,
Queen of Pain and most notably
Riki.
*
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.
* Every hero that can withstand or prevent Eclipse at level 7:
Juggernaut,
Riki,
Clockwerk,
Drow Ranger,
Abaddon,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Outworld Destroyer.
* 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.
*
Nyx Assassin might not kill Abaddon with his nuke, but a support Abaddon will struggle to protect an ally from him.
*
Impale and
Spiked Carapace stun can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Abaddon can use Borrowed Time and easily heal for the duration of Borrowed Time by Nyx's burst damage.
* 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.
* Abaddon can activate
Borrowed Time to dispel Dismember; breaking the disable and potentially allowing Abaddon to escape.
*
Aphotic Shield can be cast on an ally to dispel the stun of Dismember, which can make kills difficult to secure, given that Dismember is Pudge's only reliable disable.
* Pudge lacks a mobility without a
Blink Dagger, causing him to be easily chased with
Curse of Avernus. The silence also prevents him from toggling off his Rot.
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
* Heroes that deal damage over time will also fail to bring down Abaddon and his allies, such as
Huskar,
Venomancer, or
Phoenix.
* 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.
* In general, heroes that deal burst in multiple instances will trigger Borrowed Time and heal Abaddon for a large amount, such as
Skywrath Mage,
Techies,
Juggernaut,
Shadow Shaman, or
Ogre Magi.
* Drow Ranger's lack of escape abilities makes her an easy target for Relocate ganks.
*
Aphotic Shield applies strong dispel on targeted allies, while
Borrowed Time does the same on
Abaddon himself upon both casts (manually or automatically), removing disables, such as
Earth Spike and
Hex.
*
Abaddon may offer survivability to
Lion's nuke power by shielding and healing allies and himself.
* Lack of inner escape and defensive mechanisms increases
Curse of Avernus effectiveness, since it slows per stack (applied upon auto attacking), and silences when it reaches the maximum stack.
*
Borrowed Time can give Abaddon a second chance after a Black Hole combo.
*
Aphotic Shield can be used to save allies or Abaddon himself from Malefice.
* Abaddon can easily heal himself as well as his allies during a team fight, especially with
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Borrowed Time.
*
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.
*
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.
* If he isn't broken (break), Abaddon can use Borrowed Time to waste Legion Commander's
Duel, As Borrowed Time has a shorter cooldown, Legion Commander can't win duels, effectively reducing her targets by one, Duel also means that Borrowed Time heals Abaddon for the duration of the duel, as Legion can't stop attacking.
Additional:
*
Aphotic Shield and
Mist Coil makes it hard for Legion Commander to kill Abaddon's teammates in Duels.
*
Borrowed Time makes Abaddon nearly impossible to kill in Duels, and often replenishes much of his health because Legion Commander cannot manually stop attacking during Duels.
* Huskar's damage over time gives Abaddon the opportunity to shield and heal his allies.
*
Borrowed Time also makes Abaddon a hard support to gank, thus negating Huskar's early game dominance.
* Aphotic Shield makes it less likely for allies to be killed by mines.
* Because they explode in very short intervals, a stack of
Remote Mines will always trigger Borrowed Time, making them impossible to kill Abaddon unless his resistances are lowered enough or Abaddon is affected by Break.
* Abaddon can easily dispel the long-lasting root of
Stasis Trap on himself and on an ally, while at the same also providing protection against the other mines' damage.
Additional:
*
Borrowed Time's automatic activation will help Abaddon survive a field of Proximity Mines or a Blast Off combo. However, the damage from a single mine can kill him if his HP is low enough.
*
Aphotic Shield's can easily break Techies' Etheral Blade combo.
*
Aphotic Shield prevents damage and dispels the slow from Snapfire's
Mortimer Kisses.
*
Borrowed Time allows Abaddon to gain HP during Snapfire's
Mortimer Kisses.
* 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.
*
Borrowed Time &
Aphotic Shield can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting.
* Aphotic Shield can nullify Chen's combo, while clearing Chen's creeps simultaneously.
* Io can escape from Pit of Malice with Tether or Relocate.
* Relocate can counter Dark Rift's split pushing.
* Abaddon can remove Sacred Arrow's stun from his teammates with
Aphotic Shield, or remove it from himself with
Borrowed Time.
*
Borrowed Time makes Abaddon almost impossible to burst down with Mirana's
Aghanim's Scepter combo.
Additional:
*
Sacred Arrow can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Abaddon can cast
Aphotic Shield on any of his allies to immediately dispel Corrosive Haze and/or the stun and the slow components of Slithereen Crush.
* All of Slardar's debuffs are also removed if Abaddon's
Borrowed Time triggers.
* 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.
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe:
Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
Additional:
* If he isn't silenced, Abaddon can use Borrowed Time to escape
Reaper's Scythe during the delay.
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him:
Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
* Heroes that are hard to gank:
Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Slark,
Centaur Warrunner,
Bristleback,
Medusa,
Mars.
*
Exorcism will continuously heal Abaddon under Borrowed Time, and cannot be turned off.
* {Ability ID:Spirit Siphon|Death Prophet} will continuously heal Abaddon under Borrowed Time, for a percentage of his maximum health.
* 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.
*
Aphotic Shield removes silences, slows and stuns, possibly foiling a full-duration Mystic Flare.
*
Borrowed Time makes it impossible to burst
Abaddon down, even healing him up due to Mystic Flare's damage.
* 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.
*
Aphotic Shield applies a strong dispel on the allied target and can be used to remove both Fiend's Grip & Nightmare.
*
Borrowed Time applies a strong dispel on Abaddon and can instantly remove both Fiend's Grip & Nightmare when activated.
* Bane, when caught by
Curse of Avernus will struggle to escape because of his innately low mobility.
Additional:
*
Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Bane lacks mobility, therefore becoming helpless when silenced by Curse of Avernus.
* 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.
* Abaddon could punish Chaos Knight for using his Phantasm and Reality Rift combo on him with
Aphotic Shield. Additionally, it provides extra protection against Chaos Knight's potential to take Abaddon down quickly.
* Furthermore, Abaddon's
Borrowed Time makes it utterly impossible to burst Abaddon down, effectively reducing the amount of targets Chaos Knight can threaten by 1 for the entire 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.
*
Aphotic Shield is a strong dispel, meaning it can save allies from Earth Spirit's stun, slow, silence, and Magnetize.
*
Borrowed Time makes it nearly impossible for Earth Spirit to kill Abaddon.
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once:
Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker,
Muerta,
Dazzle.
*
Borrowed Time mitigates the damage by Pierce the Veil for most of its duration.
* Muerta has no control over Gunslinger, making her one of the best heroes for Abaddon to regenerate from via
Borrowed Time.
* 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.
*
Aphotic Shield effectively nullifies Primal Roar's single-target initiation on allies.
* Even being initiated by Primal Roar,
Borrowed Time can make Abaddon extremely difficult to kill.
Additional:
*
Primal Roar can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* The debuffs from
Wild Axes and
Poison from
Call of the Wild: Boar can also be dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* 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 that can deny Slark early kills will prevent him from snowballing:
Dazzle,
Abaddon.
* 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.
*
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.
* 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.
*
Omniknight can dispel Hex or Shackles with
Heavenly Grace. He can also heal teammates who you disabled. The same goes for
Abaddon's
Aphotic Shield.
* 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.
*
Aphotic Shield dispels Thunder Strike.
*
Mist Coil can be used to heal an ally trapped by Static Storm-Kinetic Field combo.
*
Borrowed Time makes Abaddon nearly impossible to gank.
*
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.
*
Borrowed Time makes Abaddon nearly impossible to gank.
*
Aphotic Shield and
Mist Coil prevents Bloodseeker from gaining his Thirst bonuses.
Additional:
* If
Rupture is used on Abaddon, Abaddon can use Borrowed Time and easily heal for the duration of Borrowed Time by simply moving.
* 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.
*
Abaddon with
Aphotic Shield and
Borrowed Time
* Heroes that can remove the Track debuff with their skills:
*
Abaddon with
Aphotic Shield and
Borrowed Time
*
Huskar with
Life Break
*
Juggernaut with
Blade Fury
*
Legion Commander with
Press the Attack
*
Lifestealer with
Rage and
Infest
*
Naga Siren with
Mirror Image
*
Omniknight with
Heavenly Grace
*
Oracle with
Fortune's End and
False Promise
*
Phantom Lancer with
Doppelganger
*
Slark with
Dark Pact
*
Ursa with
Enrage
*
Weaver with
Time Lapse
*
Tidehunter with
Kraken Shell when damage received reaches the threshold.
* 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.
*
Aphotic Shield and
Borrowed Time can both dispel Flaming Lasso.
Additional:
*
Sticky Napalm,
Flaming Lasso, and
Flamebreak can all be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
*
Firefly will continuously heal Abaddon under Borrowed Time.
* 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 purge his slow and disables are very difficult to go on and their team:
Abaddon,
Oracle.
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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Io
*
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.
Mirror Image.
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.
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.
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.
*
* Spirit's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Naga Siren's illusions from
* Once Naga Siren buys
*
Additional:
*
*
*
* Once Naga Siren buys
*
Abaddon
*
Song of the Siren completely wastes Abaddon
Borrowed Time while keeping him in place.
Curse of Avernus with
Mirror Image before getting hit 4 times consecutively.
Aphotic Shield, Naga Siren can resolve that issue easily by purchasing
Heart of Tarrasque to drastically increase her durability. Plus, the said item makes Naga Siren harder to be distinguished from her illusions.
* Naga Siren is able to simply dispel Abaddon's
* Although Naga Siren's illusions can be easily destroyed by