* Rage provides debuff immunity and increased magic resistance, thus drastically reducing magical damage and preventing most of disables (in Lion's case, all are fully blocked) making it nearly impossible to defend against or to punish a raging Lifestealer.
* Lack of inner escape and defensive mechanisms increases Ghoul Frenzy effectiveness, since it applies slows upon auto attacking.
* Lifestealer damage output is too powerful against Lion's low health and base armor

* Lifestealer can close the distance to Sniper by using Infest on a fast or durable creep to tank Sniper's damage.
* Open Wounds and Ghoul Frenzy will reduce Sniper's mobility heavily, and Rage's movement speed bonus helps in closing the gap to Sniper. It also protects him from Assassinate and Shrapnel.
* Infest can dodge an incoming Assassinate.

* 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.

* In the mid to late game, the physical attack from Sniper can be painful to go through as Rubick. However with the help of Rubick's teammates, the abilities of Sniper can turn against his team.
* Shrapnel is a great wave-clear ability, and helps with scouting the area.
* Shrapnel already has a long cast range, and together with Arcane Supremacy Rubick can put constant damage on Sniper while he stays at back.
* Assassinate, if stolen, can be cast to assist a gank while Rubick stays at a range that can merely be found in the area, damaging heroes in the backline including Sniper.
* Arcane Supremacy (combined with Level 25 talent +40% Spell Amp For Stolen Spells, as of 7.31c) increases its damage before reduction to 406.2/611.1/819(531.2/805.1/1079) without considering any further amplification source.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Assassinate becomes an ability with a reliable 1.5 second stun, massive damage, short cooldown and over 3000 cast range which should not be made light of.
* Shrapnel is used frequently and can be easily stolen; Assassinate has a long cast animation for Rubick to forsee the chance to steal.

* Lion has an incredibly fragile health pool, making him weak against nukers like Tinker or Oracle.

* Tinker is one of the few characters in Dota 2 who is able to defeat a Sniper on the center line – Tinker. On the center line, he gains an advantage over his opponent, and later acquires additional control. It is these abilities that the enemy should have in the game against the Sniper.
Additional:
* Tinker is one of the few characters in Dota 2 who is able to defeat a Sniper on the center line – Tinker. On the center line, he gains an advantage over his opponent, and later acquires additional control. It is these abilities that the enemy should have in the game against the Sniper.

* 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, great against any of Lion's disables.
* Lion's low health pool and low armor make him extremely vulnerable to Slark's high damage output.

* Sniper hugely lacks mobility and escape abilities so that he is an easy target for ganks from Slark.

* 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.

* Sniper has no spells to disable Puck. He lacks a silence to prevent spell casting and a stun to disable, allowing Puck to act instantly against Sniper.
* Sniper's main strategy is to attack his enemies from safe distance. Illusory Orb, combined with Blink Dagger makes it easy for Puck to get to Sniper. Due to his low health, he is also easily nuked down by Puck.
* The status debuff placed by Assassinate on its target makes it very easy to avoid it. Puck has 2 (3 when having Blink Dagger, 4 when having Eul's Scepter of Divinity, 5 when having Linken's Sphere) methods to disjoint or dodge the projectile, making it a bad spell for finishing off Puck.

* 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.

* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, Disruptor, Pudge, Vengeful Spirit.

* Slardar can use Guardian Sprint with Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade to get close, and Slithereen Crush will stun Sniper and slow him, making him vulnerable to Slardar's teammates.
* Corrosive Haze lowers Sniper's armor and makes Sniper's Shadow Blade useless, easily killing him with a few attacks.

* Magnetic Field's evasion completely negates Sniper's attacks unless he has True Strike.
* Sniper always positions himself far away from battles, which makes him especially vulnerable for Flux and Spark Wraith.

* 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.

* Sniper is completely helpless against Broodmother's abilities, and can be seriously damaged by Spiderlings in lane, especially when Shrapnel is on cooldown.

* Sniper is very fragile, along with his low movement speed, make an exceptionally easy target for Chaos Knight to initiate on.
* Sniper has no innate ability to deal with Phantasm or escape a Reality Rift and Chaos Bolt combo.
* In most cases, Sniper likes to stay far in the backline to deal damage, thus he is vulnerable if Chaos Knight manages to jump in the back line, which will usually spell a quick end for Sniper.

* Sniper has no natural escape and relies on his range and slows to keep himself safe, which Riki can bypass with Blink Strike and quickly deplete his miniature HP pool.

* Assassinate is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for massive damage.
* Shrapnel's area damage can set up an easy stun with Spiked Carapace, especially when combined with Vendetta.
* In the early game, Sniper's low health pool and high intelligence makes him easy prey for Nyx Assassin.

* Invoker's arsenal of magical spells are troublesome for Sniper who has low HP and high armor, which does not benefit him much against Invoker.
* Besides magical damage, he can be disarmed and repeatedly mini-stunned with Cold Snap, preventing him from reacting.
* Leveling Quas can allow Invoker to lane effectively against Sniper despite right-click harassment.

* Sniper's lack of mobility and escape mechanisms makes him one of the easier heroes for Bloodseeker to gank.

* Lina defeats Sniper on the mid, because she has the same attack range as him, and her Dragon Slave ability deals much more damage to creeps, as well as to Sniper himself, than Shrapnel, which creates uncomfortable conditions for Sniper to farm on the line, which is why Lina either punches Sniper harder than he either pushes a pack of creeps up to the tower and finishes off his creeps under it, preventing Sniper from earning gold and a level.
Additional:
* Lina defeats Sniper on the mid, because she has the same attack range as him, and her Dragon Slave ability deals much more damage to creeps, as well as to Sniper himself, than Shrapnel, which creates uncomfortable conditions for Sniper to farm on the line, which is why Lina either punches Sniper harder than he either pushes a pack of creeps up to the tower and finishes off his creeps under it, preventing Sniper from earning gold and a level.

* Sniper's Take Aim can be wasted with either Muerta's Pierce the Veil or a well aimed Dead Shot.
* Dead Shot can displace Sniper from safe spots into the offensive range of Muerta's team, leading to potential kills on Sniper.
* Sniper relies heavily on his basic attacks, which is useless against Pierce the Veil.

* 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.

* Sniper has a low health pool and strength gain, making him vulnerable to Pudge's magical and pure damage.
* Sniper usually likes to deal damage away from the fight, and Meat Hook is capable of bringing him to the front lines.
* Assassinate won't do much damage against Pudge because of his high strength gain and the strength bonuses from Flesh Heap.
* Shrapnel will be mostly blocked by Flesh Heap's active.
Additional:
* Pudge's Meat Hook allows him to bring Sniper in the middle of any fight, and the pure damage does well against his high armor and low health.
* Dismember can lock Sniper down, which makes him highly vulnerable and gives enough time for Pudge to kill him alone.

* Snowball allows Tusk to move himself and allies towards Sniper whilst invulnerable and hidden.
* His Ice Shards may also block pathing for Sniper as he has no means of moving through obstacles. In addition, Tag Team can hinder Sniper's escape.
Additional:
* Tusk alone or with his teammates can close Sniper's long range easily with Snowball, even wasting Shrapnel, ending with a very vulnerable Sniper.
* Walrus PUNCH! damage can easily kill Sniper instantly due to his low health.

* 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.

* Clinkz, Sniper, Lone Druid, Troll Warlord, Legion Commander and Wraith King are some of the Heroes that base themselves on attacks with little or no spell power, so they suffer in the grassy hands of Overgrowth.

* 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.

* Fortune's End can catch out or impair position-based heroes with low mobility, such as Sniper or Razor.

* You can easily kill a squishy Sniper, due to your high movement speed and his lack of escape.

* Heroes with low health: Lich, Crystal Maiden, Lion.

* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, Clinkz, Sniper, Enchantress.

* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Faceless Void, Gyrocopter, Juggernaut, Meepo, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Phantom Assassin, Phantom Lancer, Riki, Shadow Fiend, Slark, Sniper, Terrorblade, Troll Warlord, Weaver.

* Heroes who have high health are a problem for Sniper because he likes to attack the closest target and sit at the back, much like a Terrorblade so when that hero doesn't die; he's forced to show his position for a very long time: Centaur Warrunner, Legion Commander, Primal Beast.

Additional:
* Headshot and Shrapnel slow is ineffective against a team with haste (which Stampede gives).
* Commonly picked up mobility items and hasted movement during his Stampede (as well as his high health pool) make him extremely hard to kill from a distance, damaging Sniper with Retaliate and Blade Mail if he has one.
* A low health pool and no escape mechanism makes him an easy target for Centaur Warrunner's burst damage and initiation (even making his team possible initiators with Stampede).

* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.

* 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.

* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, Disruptor, Pudge, Vengeful Spirit.

* 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 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.

* Heroes who have high health are a problem for Sniper because he likes to attack the closest target and sit at the back, much like a Terrorblade so when that hero doesn't die; he's forced to show his position for a very long time: Centaur Warrunner, Legion Commander, Primal Beast.

Additional:
* Sniper's low mobility and lack of defensive abilities make him an easy gank target for the entire game, especially if Blink Dagger is picked up.

* 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.

* Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, Disruptor, Pudge, Vengeful Spirit.

* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.

* As you can see from above, heroes who can close the gap are the biggest nightmare for the Sniper who wants to keep his distance: Spirit Breaker, Clockwerk and Tusk being the most classic examples because they don't require any item to do it.

Additional:
* Clockwerk is also the least optimal target for Sniper to attack in a teamfight, although more experienced players will rarely make this mistake.
* With no mobility or disable skills, getting trapped in Power Cogs is a death sentence for Sniper.

* 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.

* Anti-Mage can close the gap with Blink. Sniper will struggle to escape once he is jumped on due to the lack of mobility.
* Counterspell reduces sniper's magic damage from Shrapnel and Assassinate. The active component can also reflect the projectile back to sniper if he dares to target Anti-Mage.
* Counterspell active is even more dangerous if Anti-Mage purchased Aghanim's Scepter. Aghanims scepter allows antimage to bait out snipers range tools like pike or flashbang. Otherwise the illusion will drain his mana
* Sniper often relies on mana to use items for escaping, and his abilities cost a lot of mana. Mana break drains Sniper's mana and takes away Sniper's mean to disengage.
* Anti-Mage has faster farming speed. He can outfarm and get ahead of sniper easily.

* Ensnare with her attacks allows Naga Siren to gank Sniper easily.
* Rip Tide removes Sniper's very little armor.

* Being mostly a physical damage dealer, Sniper's effectiveness is greatly reduced by Omniknight's Guardian Angel.
* Omniknight's Degen Aura allows him to slow sniper and catch him. Sniper has to then use some escape item.
* Omniknight can also protect an ally from being finished off by Assassinate by using Purification, then using Heavenly Grace which grants a massive strength boost.

* Spirit Breaker can charge towards Sniper from anywhere on the map with Charge of Darkness.
* Greater Bash deals magical damage, which can prove dangerous to Sniper and his low health.
* Both previous abilities combined with Nether Strike ensures that Spirit Breaker can easily solo kill Sniper.

* Nethertoxin breaks Sniper's passives.
* Corrosive Skin allows Viper to deal more damage to Sniper than Sniper deals to him when laning, especially by briefly stepping into Shrapnel.
* Viper Strike together with Poison Attack can slow Sniper and tears through his low health and mobility.

* 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.

* Sniper is very squishy and cannot deal with heroes that jump onto him and lock him down. Storm Spirit closes the gap in a fight against Sniper, and Sniper has no way to escape except for some items.
* Storm Spirit can dodge Assassinate with a correctly timed Ball Lightning.
Additional:
* Storm Spirit can close the distance towards Sniper very easily with his ultimate Ball Lightning.

* Ember Spirit can close the distance between Sniper easily with his Activate Fire Remnant and further keep Sniper in place with Searing Chains.
* With the help of Aghanim's Scepter, Sniper cannot outrun Ember Spirit or chase him, even if Sniper builds mobility items.

* Squishy heroes, usually supports, like Lion, Ancient Apparition, Keeper of the Light etc can die quickly to Tiny's magic burst.

* Heroes who have high health are a problem for Sniper because he likes to attack the closest target and sit at the back, much like a Terrorblade so when that hero doesn't die; he's forced to show his position for a very long time: Centaur Warrunner, Legion Commander, Primal Beast.

Additional:
* Sunder can save himself or his allies from Assassinate.
* Sniper relies on right-clicks to deal damage in the late game, and Terrorblade's high armor can reduce his damage significantly.
* Terrorblade is a far harder carry than Sniper is, so a well-farmed Terrorblade can easily defeat a Sniper.

* Frail heroes who lack mobility can also be an easy target to lock down with Chronosphere, such as Drow Ranger, Luna, Sniper, Terrorblade.

* Range-reliant heroes: Sniper, Drow Ranger

* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.

* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat: Lich, Lina, Sniper, Outworld Destroyer Zeus

* Early game gankers can make life very difficult for a Sniper if he keeps being caught: Ursa, Pudge, Earth Spirit.

* Squishy core heroes (Shadow Fiend, Sniper, etc)

* 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.

* Invisible heroes all have the element of surprise. Provided they deal enough damage, Sniper should be vanquished very quickly: Clinkz, Riki, Bounty Hunter.

* 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 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.

* Past the early game, Sniper is an easy target for Sven to jump on with Aghanim's Scepter or Blink Dagger.
* Sven's high armour and health pool makes it difficult for Sniper to focus, as his main source of damage is his right click.
* Sniper is very squishy, and will not stand a chance against Sven head on.

* Axe can easily close the distance to Sniper with Blink Dagger.
* With Berserker's Call in combination with Counter Helix and Battle Hunger, Axe can make short work of Sniper, finishing him off easily with Culling Blade due to his low HP & high attack speed in the late game.

* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.

Additional:
* Pangolier can easily get close to Sniper with Swashbuckle and Rolling Thunder, negating Sniper's range advantage.
* Lucky Shot disarms Sniper and leaves him unable to effectively fight back.

* Stifling Dagger and Phantom Strike allow Phantom Assassin to close the gap with Sniper and prevent his escape.
* Blur allows Phantom Assassin to approach Sniper while invisible and dodge much of Sniper's damage. It can also disjoint Assassinate.
* Coup de Grace quickly cuts through Sniper's low health; one or two procs will usually kill him.
Additional:
* Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.

* Morphling's high mobility allows him to easily get close to Sniper, who likes to keep his distance from enemies.

* 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.

* Other heroes that rely on physical attacks to deal damage and not their abilities: Troll Warlord, Sniper, Monkey King, Sven.

* Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.

* Heroes who have high health are a problem for Sniper because he likes to attack the closest target and sit at the back, much like a Terrorblade so when that hero doesn't die; he's forced to show his position for a very long time: Centaur Warrunner, Legion Commander, Primal Beast.

Additional:
* Primal Beast is one of Sniper's greatest counters, as he has no real means of escape and is very squishy, especially in the early game. Sniper's potshots and Shrapnel can contribute to Primal Beast's Uproar and further make him tankier than he already is. Onslaught allows him to close the gap on Sniper at his own volition, and Trample can deal serious damage to his meager health pool.

* Shukuchi allows Weaver to close the gap between himself and Sniper with high speed, and to maneuver through teamfights to get on top of him.
* A combination of The Swarm and Desolator tears through Sniper's low armor.

* Invisible heroes all have the element of surprise. Provided they deal enough damage, Sniper should be vanquished very quickly: Clinkz, Riki, Bounty Hunter.

Additional:
* Sniper relies on distance. Bounty Hunter can use Shadow Walk to get close, and Jinada can do massive damage and slow down Sniper in the early game.
* Track gives additional speed to Bounty Hunter and makes Shadow Blade useless, which can allow Bounty Hunter to easily kill him with a few attacks.

* Marci can be effective against vulnerable squishy heroes that cannot deal with heroes that jump onto them - Sniper, Drow Ranger, Lina, Rubick, etc.

* 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.

* 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.

* Carry heroes who can close the gap reliably are very problematic: Phantom Lancer, Ember Spirit, Phantom Assassin.

* Haunt instantly allows her to get up and close with Sniper, and Spectral Dagger makes it difficult to escape from her.
Additional:
* Spectre can reach him easily in the backlines with Spectral Dagger or teleport to him with Haunt.
* He is usually a fair distance away from his allies, so Desolate will quickly tear Sniper down.
* Dispersion reflect or reduce his damage, making her hard to take down even at late game.

* Heroes that deal few, powerful instances of damage, like Oracle, Lion, or Sven, have a hard time breaking through Gravekeeper's Cloak.