Lion
* 
Mana Drain can be easily canceled with Ice Path. However, Lion can counter this by buying his 
Aghanim's Shard though, that is no longer possible, but Jakiro can counter this too with 
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Macropyre will deal pure damage through the debuff immunity forcing Lion to cancel it or die.
* Lion has very strong single target capabilities, but usually struggles against multiple heroes, while Jakiro has good multi-target capabilities, His abilities also have a much shorter cast range then Jakiro's, allowing Jakiro to cast his abilities before he can get off his 
Hex or 
Earth Spike.
* Jakiro can also save an ally who Lion is attempting to 
Finger of Death by casting 
Ice Path on Lion.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion lacks mobility or escape mechanisms, making him an easy target for abilities like 
Mirana's 
Sacred Arrow or 
Leshrac's 
Split Earth, or combos like 
Kunkka's 
X Marks the Spot into 
Torrent.
Io
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Lion
* Luna can easily cancel channeling spells with 
Lucent Beam and 0.25s Eclipse Lucent Ministun talent for 
Eclipse, she can also buy 
Abyssal Blade in case they decide to buy 
Black King Bar: 
Enigma's 
Black Hole, 
Witch Doctor's 
Death Ward, 
Shadow Shaman's 
Shackles, 
Lion's Mana Drain, 
Bane's 
Fiend's Grip, 
Pudge's 
Dismember, 
Crystal Maiden's 
Freezing Field, 
Pugna's 
Life Drain, 
Dawnbreaker's 
Solar Guardian, and 
Naga Siren's 
Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter.
Io
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Lion
* Batrider often hides in the trees to initiate on a target. As such, he has a slight edge against heroes that have no scouting tools and cannot see him coming, such as Lion or 
Sven.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion has an incredibly fragile health pool, making him weak against nukers like 
Tinker or 
Oracle.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes that deal few, powerful instances of damage, like Oracle, Lion, or Sven, have a hard time breaking through Gravekeeper's Cloak.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes who have most or all their abilities (damage or disable) unable to pierce spell immunity: 
Keeper of the Light, Lina, Lion, 
Zeus.
Additional:
* 
Rage makes Lifestealer debuff immune and gives him magic resistance which can drastically reduce magical damage from Lion's abilities while also preventing Lion to do anything to him.
* Lion's lack of inner escape and defensive mechanisms increases 
Ghoul Frenzy effectiveness, since it applies slows upon attacking.
* Lifestealer's physical damage output is strong against Lion's low health and base armor
* 
Infest can be used to surprise unsuspecting Lion if he tries to take down alone enemy hero. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can be used to disarm Lion and attack him from inside, even if Lion is debuff immune with the Aghanim's Shard upgraded Mana Drain.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* While heroes with strong mobility are able to get close or flee from Upheaval, heroes with no escaping abilities or that lack long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the Warlock Golem lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Notable examples: 
Huskar, 
Drow Ranger, Lion, 
Elder Titan, etc.
Io
* 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
* 
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.
Io
* 
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.
Io
* 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.
Io
* 
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.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* 
Tidehunter is a core builder of 
Pipe of Insight. Along with natural high health pool, it's tough to burst the Leviathan down.
* 
Kraken Shell thwarts long disables attempts if Tidehunter receives enough damage.
* 
Gush and 
Ravage long cast and reach ranges will effortlessly hit Lion, either bursting him down or making him extremely vulnerable and worn in matter of seconds.
Lion
* Lion's lack of escapes gives Slark easier time to catch him through 
Pounce.
* 
Shadow Dance gives Slark the advantage of being untargetable, nullifying single target abilities (such as non-upgraded Hex, Mana Drain and Finger of Death).
* 
Dark Pact applies multiple instances of strong dispel on Slark, which is strong against any of Lion's disables.
* Lion's low health pool and low armor make him extremely vulnerable to Slark's damage output.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slark's poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early: Lina, Lion, Zeus
Lion
* All of Lion's abilities are dangerous even to Lion himself, and 
Rubick may steal them with 
Spell Steal.
* 
Arcane Supremacy powers up abilities cast range and damage, making Rubick better at using Lion's abilities than Lion himself.
* 
Telekinesis can easily catch and disable Lion while also manipulating his position to favor Rubick and allies, rendering him helpless.
Additional:
* Earth Spike is a great crowd control ability for Rubick to use, extending his lockdown potential.
* Rubick can caught enemy at greater distance due to Arcane Supremacy.
* The spell also helps with Rubick's farming, however the affected area of Earth Spike is limited to a straight line, making it harder to clear the creep wave.
* Hex is one of the strongest single-target lockdowns in the game, and works exactly the same when casted by Rubick.
* Though Mana Drain does not directly provide damage or lockdown, it does solve Rubick's mana regen issue in the early to mid game.
* Finger of Death is one of the best magical nukes in the game, increases Rubick's ganking potential greatly.
* Note that the stack of Finger of Death is lost when Rubick lost the spell.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Rubick can clear creep waves and flash farm with the boosted Finger of Death if stolen, assuming Rubick has enough mana pool to hold.
Lion
* Hex and Earth Spike do not cancel 
Sharpshooter, making those two abilities ineffective against her.
* Although Hoodwink should be wary of his Finger of death, as it can possibly kill her.
Io
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
Lion
* Both Lion's Finger of Death and Lina's 
Laguna Blade have a 0.25 second delay before the damage is dealt.
Additional:
* 
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.
Lion
* Heroes with low health: 
Lich, Crystal Maiden, Lion.
Io
* 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
* 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
* Heroes that are hard to gank: 
Axe, 
Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, 
Centaur Warrunner, 
Bristleback, 
Medusa, 
Mars.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion lacks mobility or escape mechanisms, making him an easy target for abilities like Mirana's Sacred Arrow or Leshrac's Split Earth, or combos like Kunkka's X Marks the Spot into Torrent.
Io
* Squishy heroes (
Io, Crystal Maiden, Lina...), as Earth Spirit can deal tons of damage with Magnetize.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like 
Silencer's 
Last Word, magic resistance like Oracle's 
Fate's Edict, and dispels like 
Legion Commander's 
Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Nether Ward will be problematic for heavy nukers and spammers like Skywrath Mage, Lina, Lion and 
Invoker, but Pugna must not use Decrepify defensively against them as he will be helping them out more than anything.
Io
* 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
* 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
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, 
Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker, 
Muerta, 
Dazzle.
Io
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
Io
* 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.
Io
* 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.
Io
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker, Muerta, Dazzle.
Io
* 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
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities: Invoker, Silencer, Nyx Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Shadow Shaman, Lion and etc.
Io
* 
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.
Lion
* Mana Drain has an fair long range and low cooldown. It can easily deplete most heroes of their entire mana pools, especially those with smaller mana pools such as 
Tiny or Spirit Breaker.
Lion
* A well-timed 
Counterspell reflects all targeted abilities back at Lion, potentially stunning or hexing him or even making himself burst down.
Lion
* 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.
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.
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes with high burst damage through their physical attacks or spells can kill Dazzle or his allies before he has a chance to use Shallow Grave. (Lina, Lion, etc.)
Lion
* 
Waning Rift silences and damages enemies affected by the ability, diminishing Lion's punishing powers.
* High burst damage potential plus mobility and disable through 
Illusory Orb, Waning Rift, and 
Dream Coil allows Puck to effortlessly chase, lock and/or kill Lion, as the Demon Witch lacks proper ways to avoid so.
* 
Phase Shift allows Puck to dodge Earth Spike, Finger of Death and breaks Mana Drain's link.
Lion
* Backline supports (Lion,Crystal Maiden) can keep Puck pinned long enough for a kill.
Io
* 
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.
Lion
* Heroes with high magical burst damage will kill Gyrocopter before he gets to do much: Lina, Lion, Zeus
Io
* 
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.
Lion
* Lion's Mana Drain is a headache for Bristleback to deal with during the laning stage, as it denies him the ability to get last hits with Quill Spray.
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 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.
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.
* 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.
Lion
* Lion may upgrade Mana Drain, Hex and Finger of Death through Talent Tree and Aghanim's itens to make them affect secondary targets or turn them into AoE abilities. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren and Terrorblade, who rely on illusion armies.
Additional:
* Both Hex and Mana Drain destroy Naga Siren's illusions in an instant, making it hard for her to teamfight or push against a team with Lion. If Lion chooses the AoE effect talent for Hex or the shard for multi-target Mana Drain, it can negate her pushing potential entirely.
* Earth Spike is an AoE disable with good damage. If used well, it can help distinguish the true Naga Siren by the damage they take (illusions take more damage).
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion may upgrade Mana Drain, Hex and Finger of Death through Talent Tree and Aghanim's itens to make them affect secondary targets or turn them into AoE abilities. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren and Terrorblade, who rely on illusion armies.
Lion
* Drow Ranger has a very low health pool, allowing Lion to burst her down.
* Lack of any innate escape mechanism makes her an easy target for Lion's disables.
* Early on she can't deal as much damage to be life threatning. Her 
Gust is her best weapon against Lion.
Io
* Drow Ranger's lack of escape abilities makes her an easy target for Relocate ganks.
Lion
* If Meepo ganks Lion with Poof and Earthbind, he will be an easy target for Earth Spike & AoE Hex from his level 25 talent.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Mana Drain rapidly saps Morphling's already low mana pool, making him unable to use Waveform or Adaptive Strike. Additionally, Hex prevents these abilities as well.
* An Earth Spike and Finger of Death combo can burst an unwary Morphling down if he has his strength fully shifted to agility.
Lion
* Hex and Mana Drain can be used to immediately destroy Spectre's illusion when she 
Haunts. A fast fingered Lion can protect himself and a teammate.
* Hex and Earth Spike are good lockdown spells to control and kill Spectre, especially if she doesn't buy defensive items like Linken's Sphere and Black King Bar.
* Finger of Death can be used to burst down Spectre when she is low on life as she has very poor magic resistance.
Lion
* Mana Drain depletes Necrophos's mana pool, preventing him from using his abilities.
* Finger of Death deals high magical damage, which becomes amplified by Ghost Shroud.
Lion
* Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* In addition, Lion can follow up with his Earth Spike and Mana Drain combo, preventing Timbersaw to escape with Timber Chain. And he can finish Timbersaw off with Finger of Death if the latter's HP is low enough.
Io
* 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.
Io
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
Lion
* Hex's instant cast time will force Brewmaster into the awkward situation of needing some form of spell immunity or block to prevent being immediately hex upon blinking in, or wait until Lion has used all his crowd control before entering a fight. His direct magic burst also makes Brewmaster's Drunken Brawler worthless versus Lion.
Lion
* 
Weaver's exceptional ability to elude and survive through clashes and ganks is hard countered by Lion in every aspect.
* Weaver is very mana dependent and has a rather small mana pool in the beginning of the game, of which Mana Drain can deplete and lessen his early game presence.
* Earth Spike followed by Finger of Death in the huge majority of the time is enough to kill Weaver.
* Earth Spike can be point targeted to hit through 
Shukuchi.
* Hex's has a fair long duration, by which Weaver will not be able to deal damage, or even survive a coordinated attack, and it is single target, of which cannot be dodged.
* Mana Drain easily breaks Linken's Sphere. Its low cooldown allows Lion to infinitely break it whenever it recharges.
* Earth Spike and Hex when paired for the longer lengths of disables may diminish 
Time Lapse efficiency, possibly causing Weaver to not undo as much damage as he would.
Lion
* All of Lion's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Hex and Mana Drain can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating, especially when he acquires his Talents at level 20 and 25.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Earth Spike or Finger of Death with Aghanim's Scepter for the enemy.
Lion
* With a lot of disables with good range, he might cancel your Echo Stomp.
* Mana Drain can be used to drain Elder Titan's already low mana pool.
Io
* Io can escape from Pit of Malice with Tether or Relocate.
* Relocate can counter Dark Rift's split pushing.
Lion
* Heroes with channeling spells, for Chen has no disables on his own, hates buying disabling items and his creeps are often not fast enough to cancel them: Enigma's Black Hole, Witch Doctor's Death Ward, Shadow Shaman's Shackles, Lion's Mana Drain, Bane's Fiend's Grip, Pudge's Dismember, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Pugna's Life Drain, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, and Naga Siren's Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter.
Lion
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes with nukes: Bane, Lich, Lion, Skywrath Mage
Additional:
* 
Enchantress is very fragile without any form of magic resistance, allowing Lion to easily burst her down.
* 
Nature's Attendants is a slow heal, making not as much effective against Lion's burst as it could be.
* Her raw movement speed is a fair escape/mobility mechanism, which may allow her to avoid a blindly cast Earth Spike, but does nothing against the rest of Lion's abilities, since they are single target and can't miss.
* Since Lion's damage comes mostly from his skills, 
Untouchable does nothing to mitigate it.
Io
* 
Take Aim and 
Assassinate allow Sniper to reach Io even if it stays in the backline.
Lion
* Sniper lacks any protection against Lion's disables early in the game.
* Lion's Earth Spike and Finger of Death may roughly hit Sniper at the latter increased attack range, making it possible to gank and to disable him from afar in clashes.
* Finger of Death is incredibly dangerous for Sniper as it may shred him away from fights, or in the worst scenario, cause his death.
Io
* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: 
Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, 
Pangolier, Puck, 
Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.
Lion
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes with high magical burst can easily kill Huskar when he is at low health: Lion, Lina, Skywrath Mage
Lion
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets, especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light, 
Ancient Apparition or 
Bounty Hunter.
Lion
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina, Lion, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Queen of Pain.
Lion
* Like above, supports with reliable stuns can be a massive problem and force Black King Bar in fights unideally, such as Shadow Shaman, Lion, Nyx Assassin.
Lion
* High priority targets like Queen of Pain, Drow Ranger, Ember Spirit can't get caught out from Lion's long range disables, making it harder to them fulfill their roles, and making it easy to target them.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Since Windranger is bad against magical damage, heroes with continuous magical damage or magical nukes can blast her: Zeus, Tinker, Leshrac, 
Viper, Skywrath Mage, Lion, Lina, 
Venomancer.
Lion
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion, Anti-Mage
Lion
* Heroes that can keep Marci for a long time in one place so she can't pursue her targets, like Bane, Lion, Shadow Shaman, Invoker, 
Disruptor and Kunkka.
Lion
* Enigma is fragile, and lacks escapes, being dependent on 
Blink Dagger for mobility. Ganking Heroes or Heroes with burst damage will likely kill him before he can do anything. Such Heroes include: Lina, Lion, Luna, Puck, Slark, Nyx Assassin, etc.
Lion
* Sven is very vulnerable to chain stun such as Lion, Shadow Shaman or Magnus.
Lion
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities: Lion, Anti-Mage, Nyx Assassin.
Io
* 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
* 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.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion's instant cast point shuts down his initiation and buys time for his allies to catch up.
* Void Spirit has to be cautious when fighting, as he has no protection against Finger of Death. If caught out in a stun, the high magic damage could end him quickly.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Wraith King has a very low mana pool and is extremely dependant on it to cast his high mana cost abilities, so Mana Drain will make him struggle way too hard, even not being able to active his passive ability 
Reincarnation, forcing the Wraith King to buy Aghanim's Shard as soon as possible.
* Althought Wraith King may not be as fragile to struggle against Lion's damage, it's much easier to disable and harass him, as Wraith King doesn't have any mobility at all, his only gap closer being 
Wraithfire Blast which costs too much mana for his mana pool, and may only affect one target.
Additional:
* While not being able to confront Wraith King by himself, Lion's Mana Drain helps in draining Wraith King's mana, preventing him from reincarnating unless he has his Aghanim's Shard.
* Lion's Earth Spike and Hex provide decent lockdown against Wraith King as well, preventing the latter from benefiting from Vampiric Spirit bonuses.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion possesses two strong disables in Earth Spike and Hex and heavy magic burst with Finger of Death which help lock him down and prevent him from escaping with Activate Fire Remnant. When getting his Blink Dagger Lion can punish Ember Spirit's overextension immediately, or initiate a fight on him with disables.
Io
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
Lion
* Medusa lacks mobility or escape mechanisms. Earth Spike and Hex can neutralize her strong damage potential and allow for Lion's team to focus her down.
* Mana Drain is a perfect ability to weaken Medusa's durability as it can quickly drain her 
Mana Shield, making her far less tanky. Mana Drain can also be used to restore mana of Lion's allies, which can nullify the mana steal from 
Mystic Snake.
* Mana Drain, along with Hex, destroy illusions instantly, which may be extremely helpfull and efficient against core builders of Manta Style, like Medusa herself.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion has two low cast point disables (Hex and Earth Spike) to control Ursa before he buys a Black King Bar.
* Hex is one of the few abilities that cannot be dispelled even with an Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enrage.
* Lion can control Ursa's low mana pool via Mana Drain.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Lion may upgrade Mana Drain, Hex and Finger of Death through Talent Tree and Aghanim's itens to make them affect secondary targets or turn them into AoE abilities. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren and Terrorblade, who rely on illusion armies.
Lion
* Lion lacks mobility or escape mechanisms, making him an easy target for abilities like Mirana's Sacred Arrow or Leshrac's Split Earth, or combos like Kunkka's X Marks the Spot into Torrent.
Lion
* Heroes with silences and hard stuns such as 
Doom, Silencer, and Lion can keep Mirana from Leaping away.
Lion
* Squishy heroes, usually supports, like Lion, Ancient Apparition, Keeper of the Light etc can die quickly to Tiny's magic burst.
Lion
* Mana Drain has an fair long range and low cooldown. It can easily deplete most heroes of their entire mana pools, especially those with smaller mana pools such as Tiny or Spirit Breaker.
Additional:
* Lion can continuously Mana Drain Tiny in the early game, depleting his small mana pool for his abilities.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Heroes with mana burn: Nyx Assassin, Invoker, 
Outworld Destroyer, Pugna, Lion
Io
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker, Muerta, Dazzle.
Lion
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker:Lion, Crystal Maiden ,Venomancer etc.
Io
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
Lion
* Heroes that can kill Death Prophet with nukes can prevent her from using Exorcism to its full duration or using it at all: Lina, Lion, Puck, 
Morphling.
Io
* 
Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
* 
Coup de Grace can make a short work of Io's low health and armor.
Lion
* Despite her high mobility, Hex or Earth Spike can lock Phantom Assassin down, make her vulnerable and mitigate her damage output.
* Lion relies entirely on his abilities to be effective, rendering Phatnom Assassin's high evasion through ineffective against him. And Phantom Assassin's low health pool makes her vulnerable to Lion's magical burst without Black King Bar.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Skywrath's pitiful defences also make him easy meat to heroes with high burst like 
Juggernaut, Lion, or Phantom Assassin, the latter occasionally downing a support Skywrath in a single 
Stifling Dagger.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Hex abilities can cancel the channelling of Fiend's Grip : Lion, Shadow Shaman, Dazzle from Aghanim's Shard with upgraded Poison Touch.
Io
* 
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.
Lion
* Hex and Earth Spike can hold Clinkz down, giving him no chance to use Black King Bar or Skeleton Walk.
* Finger of Death quickly kills Clinkz due to his low health.
Io
* 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.
Lion
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets, especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light, Ancient Apparition or Bounty Hunter.
Lion
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's Last Word, magic resistance like Oracle's Fate's Edict, and dispels like Legion Commander's Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
Io
* 
Duel is very effective against Io due to its low health and armor.
Lion
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman, Lion
Io
* Tethered heroes are much harder for Legion Commander to kill in Duels.
* Relocate can cancel Duels and save allies.
Io
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
Lion
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger, Sniper, Lion.
Lion
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's Last Word, magic resistance like Oracle's Fate's Edict, and dispels like Legion Commander's Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
Lion
* Heroes with long disables, like Lion, 
Night Stalker, or Legion Commander, can prevent Oracle from using spells or items.
Lion
* Just like
Rubick, the 
Disruptor may effortlessly put 
Lion in life threatning danger and render him helpless by manipulating his position with 
Glimpse.
Disruptor's longer cast range and lingering disable makes 
Lion struggle to defend himself, possibly being affected by 
Disruptor's abilities without even seeing the thrall.
*
Io
* Disruptor can always Glimpse back Io or his target after he
Relocated nearby.
Tethered away in the fog of war.
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.
* 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
Additional:
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