Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Huskar
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Keeper of the Light
* Vulnerable spellcasters with no escape mechanisms are easy targets for Huskar: Lich,
Crystal Maiden,
Silencer,
Keeper of the Light,
Venomancer, etc.
Mars
* Burning Spear's magical damage is very troublesome for Mars in the laning stage.
* Life Break's percentage-based magical damage bypasses Bulwark, and can also be used to jump in or out of Arena Of Blood.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with teleports to escape Solar Blind and Will-O-Wisp: Phantom Assassin,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Mars
* Ball Lightning makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating for you.
* Overload is not reduced by Bulwark and the magical damage spam can wear down Mars quickly.
Additional:
* Storm Spirit's abilities all do magical damage, which can bypass Bulwark.
* Ball Lightning can escape through
Arena of Blood and it is easy to dodge
Spear of Mars.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with dispels: Legion Commander,
Oracle,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer
Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with silences: Puck,
Doom,
Riki.
Mars
* Blink Strike gives bonus backstab damage and can bypass Bulwark. Defensively, it could be used to teleport away from Mars, especially while inside Arena of Blood.
* Smoke Screen can interrupt Mars' skill combos, especially when cast inside Arena of Blood.
* Tricks of the Trade can be used to evade Mars' skills, which have a slight delay to them. It could also be used to buy himself time while trapped inside of Arena of Blood.
Additional:
* Bulwark is generally irrelevant against Riki as he primarily deals bonus damage from behind.
Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Undying
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Decay,
Soul Rip and
Flesh Golem all deal magical damage which ignores Bulwark.
* Decay reduces Mars' natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in lane.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Keeper of the Light
* Being a cast-oriented hero, Ezalor will suffer from all of Silencer's abilities.
* Global Silence is a guaranteed lengthy silence which will render Ezalor useless in a teamfight.
* Arcane Curse and
Last Word are good against any caster, since they are extremely potent.
* However, it should be worth mentioning that a smart Ezalor will buy Eul's Scepter of Divinity to dispel Silencer's abilities. Combined with the level 20 talent (Chakra Magic applies a basic dispel), Ezalor can purge Silencer's abilities off allies and himself alike.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Firestorm and
Pit of Malice are very disruptive in team fights, completely matching Mars especially since it can all be cast inside Arena Of Blood and also does percentage-based magical damage, negating Bulwark.
* Dark Rift can save any allies of Underlord trapped in Arena Of Blood.
* Atrophy Aura allows Underlord to lane against Mars quite well since he does not have the best base damage during the early game.
* Underlord is a common carrier of both Pipe of Insight and
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves, allowing his team to combat Mars in the mid to late game.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence pool.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
* Plague Ward can attack through Arena Of Blood.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison attacks are all magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective against Mars' low mobility.
* Plague Wards can attack through Arena of Blood.
Dawnbreaker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Mars
* Solar Guardian can save allies caught inside Arena of Blood
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* Dragon Slave deals reliable magic damage during the laning phase against Mars.
* Lina's Eul's Scepter of Divinity and
Light Strike Array combo can interrupt Mars from being disruptive for a decent amount of time and leave him vulnerable for follow up stuns.
* Laguna Blade deals massive magical damage, and pure damage with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Keeper of the Light
* Spiked Carapace can be used to reflect Illuminate damage and stun Keeper of the Light.
* Vendetta allows Nyx Assassin to follow Keeper of the Light around if he tries to split-push.
* Keeper of the Light is very squishy and will very quickly die to Vendetta and it's followup abilities.
* However, Mana Burn's Mana Burn can be more or less mitigated with Chakra Magic.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Mars
* Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars' stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy
Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a
Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
* Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as it deals significant damage and slow, making Bulwark slightly ineffective.
* It is worth noting that Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Mars
* Mars' own father is a formidable foe because Zeus deals massive amounts of magical damage. The high damage, low cooldown nukes of Arc Lightning and
Lightning Bolt combined with the percent health magic damage of
Static Field will shred Mars' health because it bypasses Bulwark completely.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* It is difficult for Mars to trade blows with Ogre Magi in the early game thanks to his high base health, resistance and Ignite.
* Bloodlust can assist Ogre Magi or an ally in repositioning against Mars for its move speed bonus.
* Fireblast can interrupt and mitigate Mars from performing his skill combos, especially in combination with
Multicast.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Sticky Napalm slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to face frontwards, where Spear of Mars and Bulwark are effective. In combination with
Firefly, which deals magic damage, Batrider can make quick work of Mars.
* Flaming Lasso disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 18%)Mars
* Shadowraze deals magic damage and ignores Bulwark.
* Requiem of Souls deals magic damage and can fear Mars away, forcing him to turn around and therefore become vulnerable.
Marci
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Rebound allows her to jump in or out of the Arena Of Blood. She can save her allies from the Arena with Dispose as well.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Nether Blast,
Decrepify and
Life Drain deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
* Nether Ward reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
* Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Nukers who have set amounts of damage will really struggle against Lone Druid especially in True Form: Puck,
Void Spirit,
Mars.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Mars
* Ursa is a special mention because despite Bulwark diminishing most of the damage Ursa does, he is quite durable, especially with
Enrage, discouraging the aggressive all-in playstyle of Mars; Ursa can simply not target Mars.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 2%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with hastes: Dark Seer,
Lycan
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 12%)Keeper of the Light
* Jakiro's reliance on his abilities can cause struggles for heroes who rely on evasion or blinds to get upper hand: Phantom Assassin,
Windranger,
Riki,
Troll Warlord,
Keeper of the Light.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Primal Beast
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Keeper of the Light
* Any hero who lanes very poorly will struggle with Primal Beast's potential snowball in the very early levels, like Keeper of the Light,
Luna,
Templar Assassin...
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with channeling abilities: Enigma,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with silences: Puck,
Doom,
Riki.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Keeper of the Light
* Squishy heroes, usually supports, like Lion,
Ancient Apparition,
Keeper of the Light etc can die quickly to Tiny's magic burst.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with channeling abilities: Enigma,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes that can jump and kill him: Meepo,
Clinkz,
Templar Assassin
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Kunkka's
Ghostship and
Torrent disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with teleports to escape Solar Blind and Will-O-Wisp: Phantom Assassin,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Keeper of the Light
* Mana Drain is very effective against heroes that have mana burn abilities such as Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin and
Keeper of the Light.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 4%)Keeper of the Light
* Crippling Fear prevents Keeper of the Light from using his spells to keep his team alive during team-fights.
* Dark Ascension is very strong against Keeper of the Light, as it allows Night Stalker to jump the backline and quickly kill the squishy Ezalor, especially when combined with the slow from
Void.
Additional:
* Keeper of the Light's Aghanim's Scepter upgrade loses much of its power, due to Night Stalker being able to reduce the duration of daytime by a lot.
Mars
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Dragon Knight,
Mars,
Centaur Warrunner.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Nethertoxin breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin disables
Bulwark entirely, making Mars far less tanky. Using
Nethertoxin inside
Arena of Blood may discourage enemies from following up with Mars' initiation.
* Rod of Atos is currently common on Viper and keeps Mars in position long enough to be killed.
* Beware that Viper is not very tanky earlier in the game, so positioning against Mars is important since a well-timed Spear of Mars can be the end of Viper.
Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with extremely slow movement speed will cripple against Solar Bind: Medusa,
Viper
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Swashbuckle is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Shield Crash upgraded with Aghanim is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Rolling Thunder makes him immune to magic, making Pangolier able to roll in and out of Mars' Arena Of Blood.
Keeper of the Light
* Certain heroes can mess up with Pangolier's positioning and timing (especially if he intends to use Rolling Thunder during combat): Vengeful Spirit,
Keeper of the Light,
Huskar,
Dark Seer
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)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.
Keeper of the Light
* 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.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with channeling abilities: Enigma,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden.
Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Keeper of the Light
* Illuminate can wipe the pushing Eidolons in a lane with ease, diminishing Enigma's laning presence by a lot.
* However, Keeper of the Light does not have any way to cancel Black Hole outside from Will-O-Wisp from Aghanim's Scepter.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Keeper of the Light
* Blinding Light can knock Monkey King outside of his ultimate, Wukong's Command and can blind him.
* Will-O-Wisp will stun Monkey King from Tree Dance by destroying his tree.
Additional:
* Blinding Light can easily push Monkey King out of Wukong's Command, as well as blinding him.
* Monkey King is vulnerable to burst damage, Solar Bind makes him more so
* However, Keeper of the Light can be easily ganked by Monkey King during early-mid game stage.
Mars
* If visible, Mars can knock Monkey King off his Tree Dance with God's Rebuke, as well as Spear of Mars. Arena of Blood also destroys a large swath of trees, which can disrupt Monkey King's positioning and turn him vulnerable should he choose to hide in trees.
* Mars can endure Jingu Mastery attacks simply by facing him with Bulwark.
* Mars can end Wukong's Command early by displacing Monkey King with a well-thrown Spear of Mars. Mars can also endure most of his clones with Bulwark.
Additional:
* Monkey King's natural reliance on trees makes him an exceptionally prime target for Spear of Mars. Should Monkey King use Mischief to disguise himself, it will still hit him, stunning him in the process.
* God's Rebuke easily pushes Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Keeper of the Light
* Keeper of the Light can stall pushes with
Illuminate. This makes him strong against pushing heroes:
Terrorblade
Naga siren
Nature's Prophet and
Anti-Mage
Mars
* Bulwark negates most of the physical damage from Terrorblade and his illusions.
* God's Rebuke and Spear of Mars can decimate Terrorblade's illusions quickly.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Keeper of the Light
* Illuminate wipes out Broodmother's spiders and prevents her from pushing the lane. It also gives vision to reveal where broodmother is hiding in the trees.
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.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Keeper of the Light
* Keeper of the Light can stall pushes with
Illuminate. This makes him strong against pushing heroes:
Terrorblade
Naga siren
Nature's Prophet and
Anti-Mage
Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Keeper of the Light
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven,
Omniknight,
Enigma,
Luna,
Naga Siren,
Mars,
Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Elder Titan,
Faceless Void,
Rubick,
Keeper of the Light,
Pugna,
Invoker,
Spectre,
Alchemist,
Treant Protector,
Lina,
Oracle,
Zeus,
Shadow Shaman,
Phoenix,
Razor,
Huskar,
Batrider,
Kunkka,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King,
Sand King,
Medusa,
Dawnbreaker.
Mars
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven,
Omniknight,
Enigma,
Luna,
Naga Siren,
Mars,
Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Elder Titan,
Faceless Void,
Rubick,
Keeper of the Light,
Pugna,
Invoker,
Spectre,
Alchemist,
Treant Protector,
Lina,
Oracle,
Zeus,
Shadow Shaman,
Phoenix,
Razor,
Huskar,
Batrider,
Kunkka,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King,
Sand King,
Medusa,
Dawnbreaker.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Even if he can slow Mars down with Shrapnel and
Headshot, Mars can tank Sniper's physical damage simply by facing him with Bulwark, allowing him to endure his auto-attacks into the late-game. Should Sniper choose to attack someone else, Mars can redirect his projectiles with Bulwark's active ability.
* Sniper's poor mobility makes him very vulnerable to Arena of Blood, especially in the early game. Mars can also take advantage of this by pushing him closer to the front line with Spear of Mars.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Medusa's
Stone Gaze forces Mars to choose between getting petrified, or turning his vulnerable back on Medusa.
Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with extremely slow movement speed will cripple against Solar Bind: Medusa,
Viper
Additional:
* Will-O-Wisp will keep Medusa busy after she got hit by
Blinding Light.
Mars
* Bulwark can make each of Medusa's attacks target him instead, reducing Medusa's contribution on team fights.
* Spear of Mars stuns Medusa and also pushes her away from teamfights, taking advantage of Medusa's low mobility.
* Arena Of Blood blocks Medusa's attacks from outside the arena.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with teleports to escape Solar Blind and Will-O-Wisp: Phantom Assassin,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Keeper of the Light
* Heroes which rely exclusively on right clicks will struggle somewhat against Blinding Light: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Medusa
Mars
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Shukuchi cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, and can most likely die if detected through invisibility.
* If pinned to the arena's walls, Time Lapse tends to not be enough to save Weaver, as God's Rebuke can keep him burst down thanks to its damage scaling.
* The Swarm and
Geminate Attack are not enough to pierce through Bulwark.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Mars
* As long as Mars is facing her with Bulwark, even if pushed away with Gust, Drow Ranger will do no effectual damage against him. Mars' ability to endure her onslaught usually gives him enough time to cast Arena of Blood, of which she has a very slim chance surviving without Gust.
* With Bulwark's active ability, Mars can protect allies pursued by Drow Ranger by redirecting her projectiles to his shield instead.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Keeper of the Light
* Illuminate clears Beastmaster's summons and is effective against his push.
Slark
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with dispels: Legion Commander,
Oracle,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer
Keeper of the Light
* Melee carries during the laning phase: Sven,
Slark
Mars
* Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during Shadow Dance.
* Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through Shadow Dance and
Depth Shroud.
* Should Pounce be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Spectre cannot have a good game if she is pressured heavily in lane, which is something Mars can do. He may even force her to cast Haunt as an escape, putting it on a long cooldown.
* Should Spectre get to the late game, Mars can block a large amount of her damage with Bulwark and can mitigate some of the chaos caused by her Haunt illusions with God's Rebuke.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Mars
* Heroes that can negate Hoodwink's mobility: Kunkka,
Disruptor,
Mars.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Keeper of the Light
* Melee carries during the laning phase: Sven,
Slark
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker,
Keeper of the Light
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes which rely exclusively on right clicks will struggle somewhat against Blinding Light: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Medusa
Techies
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes with forced movement abilities or non-interrupting forced movement, such as Lion,
Drow Ranger,
Magnus,
Mars, as they can cancel blast-off mid air, removing his ability to initiate or escape.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)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.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)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.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)Keeper of the Light
* Juggernaut's Healing Ward keeps his team healthy even when pushing against Keeper of the Light's
Illuminate.
* Blade Fury can dispel Blinding Light, as well as dodge an incoming
Illuminate. Juggernaut can attack towers during Blade Fury, so he can dodge an Illuminate without having to stop pushing.
* Should Keeper of the Light obtain Will-o-Wisp through purchasing an
Aghanim's Scepter, Juggernaut can make quick work of Ignis Fatuus without being interrupted by its pull.
* Keeper of the Light has low health, low armor, and no natural defense against Blade Fury.
Additional:
* Blade Fury allows him to be immune to all of Ezalor's abilities.
* Healing Ward heals his entire team, mitigating Ezalor's weak magical burst damage.
Keeper of the Light
* Keeper of the Light's
Blinding Light makes Juggernaut miss his attacks. However, it can be dispelled easily with
Blade Fury.
Mars
* Bulwark mitigates
Omnislash which deals physical damage, severely reducing its damage.
* Omnislash switch to opposite direction with each slash, so Mars can easily reduce most of its damage.
* However because {Ability ID:Blade Fury|Juggernaut} gives spell immunity Juggernaut can easily escape from {Ability ID:Arena Of Blood|Mars}.
Additional:
* Juggernaut deals mostly physical damage, which is easily mitigated with Bulwark.
* Juggernaut's Omnislash switches to opposite directions which each slash, so Mars can mitigate most of its damage since he only takes full damage from one direction: his back.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)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.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Keeper of the Light
* Keeper of the Light can stall pushes with
Illuminate. This makes him strong against pushing heroes:
Terrorblade
Naga siren
Nature's Prophet and
Anti-Mage
Chen
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 0%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with summons/illusions/neutral creep armies: Beastmaster,
Chen,
Naga Siren
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* Heroes with the capability of removing or destroying trees greatly hinders the effectiveness of Treant Protector's abilities: Batrider,
Nature's Prophet,
Lina,
Enigma,
Mars
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes that can jump and kill him: Meepo,
Clinkz,
Templar Assassin
Mars
* Bulwark blocks the attack from Meepo and his clones.
* Spear of Mars &
God's Rebuke prevents Meepo and his clones from initiation or escaping.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 11%)Keeper of the Light
* Being an intelligence caster hero, Ezalor usually has a high mana pool and low health and armor, making him a prime target for Mana Void
* Ezalor's Illuminate damage and Solar Bind's magic resistance reduction are greatly reduced thanks to Counterspell. Counterspell can also block and reflect Solar Bind if timed properly.
* Anti-Mage usually is not hampered by Solar Bind or Will-O-Wisp thanks to Blink.
* However, despite all of this, if Keeper of the Light is played carefully and tops off his team's mana at all times, Anti Mage will not be able to get off a good Mana Void.
* By the same token once Keeper of the Light gets a Octarine Core, he can spam Charka Magic to keep his own mana full
Keeper of the Light
* Keeper of the Light can stall pushes with
Illuminate. This makes him strong against pushing heroes:
Terrorblade
Naga siren
Nature's Prophet and
Anti-Mage
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.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with silences: Puck,
Doom,
Riki.
Mars
* Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom,
Magnus.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Keeper of the Light
* Blood Rite makes Ezalor chose between getting off Illuminate or getting silenced for a while, as Illuminate is a channeled ability.
* Blood Rite's silence can completely take Ezalor out of a teamfight, as he relies on his abilities to be useful.
* Keeper of the Light's only mobility source, his high movement speed (via his high base movement speed and through spirit form), is entirely countered by Rupture.
Mars
* Arena Of Blood prevents Bloodseeker from attacking a Ruptured target.
* Bulwark helps Mars survive Rupture ganks simply by turning towards Bloodseeker without moving.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can push Bloodseeker from Ruptured targets.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with dispels: Legion Commander,
Oracle,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer
Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Keeper of the Light
* Press the Attack can dispel Blinding Light or Solar Bind from a hero.
* Duel can be used to instantly take Keeper of the Light out of a team-fight.
Mars
* Legion Commander is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with
Press the Attack and is a good
Silver Edge carrier. However, Mars is not an ideal
Duel target, as Bulwark will force her to 1: Buy Silver Edge, and 2: Hit Mars with it before the Duel, allowing a skilled Mars to react, especially with
Eul's Scepter of Divinity. In teamfights, Mars will happily draw attention after using his abilities, and tank the Duel with all spells on cooldown.
Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with abilities that blind or cause Legion Commander to miss will prevent her from winning Duels: Arc Warden,
Keeper of the Light,
Riki,
Tinker
Mars
* Because Duel requires both combatants to face each other, Bulwark's effectiveness will be increased by a huge margin, which makes it much more difficult for Legion Commander to win any duels against him.
* Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke pushes Legion Commander away during Duels against allies.
Additional:
* Bulwark immensely mitigates Duel, even with bonus physical damage, as Bulwark scales by percentage. Mars can also buy time for a dueled ally by pushing Legion Commander away with Spear of Mars.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Keeper of the Light
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as
Windranger,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord and
Keeper of the Light.
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.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 3%)Keeper of the Light
* Heroes with hastes: Dark Seer,
Lycan
Keeper of the Light
* Keeper of the Light has a blind, which causes Lycan to miss his attacks.
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.
About
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.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assassin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (lane data is parsed from hero guides dotabuff)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- Improved UX on small screens - when selecting heroes page automatically scrolls so hero select input is displayed at the very top of screen, leaving more space for results.
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal win rate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest win rate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Keeper of the Light
*
Rage allows him to be immune to all of Ezalor's abilities. Also, the increased movement speed combined with the slow from
Ghoul Frenzy and the squishy nature of Ezalor allows Lifestealer to take him down very quickly.
Mars
*
Rage, acting as a pseudo-
Black King Bar, completely negates Mars' initiation if used in time.
Feast does damage and heals based on max health, perfect against high-health strength heroes like Mars.
Infest allows Lifestealer to potentially save allies from Mars' initiation with a quick burst of extra health.
*
*