* 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.
* Death Ward can be easily canceled by Jakiro, or even turned against him with Macropyre, due to it's attack range being smaller then Jakiro's cast range. And Crystal Maiden, his Scepter does not allow him to move while using it. Voodoo Switcheroo is even easier to land Jakiro's Macropyro/Ice Path combo. And unlike Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Death Ward does not allow him to move while using it.
* While Maledict can be quite effective on Jakiro, along with repetitive stuns from Paralyzing Cask, it is very difficult to get a strong Maledict on him. Although Witch Doctor's Paralizying Cask, Maledict and Death Ward combo will still quickly eliminate Jakiro.
* On the other hand. Voodoo Restoration will partly protect his allies from Jakiro spells, as it heals based on their Max Health once he gets his Talent (Level 25). Before then though, it won't make a dent in the damage Jakiro deals.
* 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.
* Witch Doctor's iconic Death Ward is a perfect spell for Rubick to output high damage.
* Death Ward requires channeling which makes Witch Doctor a clear tagret for stealing. Rubick can steal the spell outside of Death Ward's attack range most of the times.
* Note that an skilled Witch Doctor player can cast Voodoo Restoration to disrupt their last spell for Rubick to steal.
* Telekinesis can interrupt a channeling Death Ward. With Death Ward's high burst damage, combining Death Ward and Telekinesis to hold enemy in place can result in a solo kill in the early game.
* Paralyzing Cask provides an additional disable. The ability also helps moderately with farming.
* Voodoo Restoration provides some utility by healing Rubick and his team.
* Maledict is a damage-over-time nuke that amplifies the damage enemy taken.
* Telekinesis can reposition the enemy within the range of Maledict.
Additional:
* Rubick can steal Death Ward easily as it is a channeled ability and then use it to turn teamfight to his advantage.
* However, a skilled Witch Doctor will toggle Voodoo Restoration immediately after placing his Death Ward to prevent that.
* 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.
* Like any hero with a channeled spell, Last Word is a counter to it.
* Global Silence goes through spell immunity and prevents Witch Doctor from casting his spells.
* Heroes that deal few, powerful instances of damage, like Oracle, Lion, or Sven, have a hard time breaking through Gravekeeper's Cloak.
* Stone Form can easily interrupt heroes with long channeling spells, like Crystal Maiden, Bane, Witch Doctor, or Enigma.
* 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.
* Channeling heroes will not go well against Warlock, especially those who build Black King Bar as Warlock's ultimate ability stun goes through spell immunity. E.g.: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Enigma, etc.
* 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.
* Heroes with long channeling abilities like Witch Doctor are easy targets for Kunkka to interrupt in team fights.
Additional:
* Torrent can cancel Death Ward from a far distance.
* 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.
* 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.
Additional:
* Lucent Beam interrupts Death Ward from a decent range.
* With Dust of Appearance, Eclipse kills Witch Doctor during Death Ward, even through Glimmer Cape.
* 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.
* It is especially easy for Oracle to negate the damage from Maledict, and even heal through it with Fate's Edict and Purifying Flames.
* If by some miracle an enemy is still about to die because of Maledict, he can still save him with False Promise.
* Heroes with long disables, like Lion, Night Stalker, or Legion Commander, can prevent Oracle from using spells or items.
* Vengeful Spirit has two abilities to interrupt Death Ward, even through Black King Bar.
* 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.
* Without Dust of Appearance or Sentry Wards, Riki is able to silence Witch Doctor with Smoke Screen, and is likely to build a Diffusal Blade, leaving Witch Doctor without mana to cast Voodoo Restoration, as well as Skull Basher to interrupt Death Ward.
* 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.
* Low health spellcasters: Lina, Witch Doctor, Tinker, Keeper of the Light, all rely heavily on their spells and are fragile heroes. They all also have avoidable spells, allowing Puck to get to them and quickly burst them down.
* Backline supports (Lion,Crystal Maiden) can keep Puck pinned long enough for a kill.
* Death Ward does little damage against Dragon Knight's armor, and Dragon Knight's high health regeneration minimizes damage from Maledict.
* 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.
* 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.
* Sacred Arrow can be used to interrupt Death Ward from a safe distance, forcing him to cancel it to dodge or get hit.
* Paralyzing Cask is a slow-moving stun, and Mirana can Leap away from her allies to keep it from bouncing.
* Witch Doctor has low health and can easily be killed with an Aghanim's Scepter combo or just when hit with an arrow.
* Heroes with silences and hard stuns such as Doom, Silencer, and Lion can keep Mirana from Leaping away.
* Lion has an incredibly fragile health pool, making him weak against nukers like Tinker or Oracle.
* 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.
* Arc Warden's Magnetic Field dodges all damage from Death Ward.
* Heroes with low health: Lich, Crystal Maiden, 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.
* Heroes with plenty of summons, such as Broodmother or Nature's Prophet can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
* Generally, any fragile heroes will have a hard time dealing with Undying's tankiness, and even more so if Decay is used on them. Some examples are Crystal Maiden and Witch Doctor.
* Heroes who have channeled abilities can be stunned by Light Strike Array, like Witch Doctor with Death Ward and Bane's Fiend's Grip.
Additional:
* Light Strike Array cancels out Death Ward from a long distance.
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
* 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.
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman, Witch Doctor, Enigma, Bane.
Additional:
* Meat Hook interrupts Death Ward from a decent range, even through Black King Bar & Glimmer Cape.
* Pudge can survive the damage from Maledict because of his Flesh Heap stacks.
* However the damage-over-time from Rot is counteracted by Voodoo Restoration.
* 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.
* Heroes with plenty of summons, such as Broodmother or Nature's Prophet can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane, Pudge, Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Enigma.
* Heroes who rely on channeling abilities can be interrupted in teamfights by Rolling Thunder: Crystal Maiden, Pugna, Witch Doctor
* 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.
* 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.
* Guardian Angel protects allies from Death Ward's physical damage.
* Purification and Heavenly Grace will most likely save teammates from dying to Maledict.
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities: Lion, Anti-Mage, Nyx Assassin.
* 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.
* Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slark's poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early: Lina, Lion, Zeus
* Beware of placing the Death Ward if Chronosphere is off cooldown, as it will cancel the effect and leave Witch Doctor vulnerable if he does not react in time.
* 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.
* 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.
* Death Ward with Aghanim's Scepter makes quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption until Witch Doctor buys Linken's Sphere or Black King Bar.
* All of Witch Doctor's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Voodoo Restoration can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Maledict or Paralyzing Cask for the enemy.
* 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.
* Paralyzing Cask will repetively bounce between Chen and his converted creeps every single time. This can get even worse if Witch Doctor buys Aghanim's Scepter that will allow his Death Ward to bounce between Chen and his converted creeps.
* Paralyzing Cask, Maledict and Death Ward combination will often kill Chen's allies before he can save them with Hand of God. And to make things worse, Chen has no way to cancel Death Ward on his own, and must rely on outside from {U:Centaur Conqueror} or {U:Mud Golem} under his control.
* Voodoo Switcheroo from Aghanim's Shard cannot be interrupted by Chen's creeps at all because Witch Doctor is hidden for it's duration.
Additional:
* Paralyzing Cask will repetively bounce between Chen and his converted creeps every single time. This can get even better if Witch Doctor buys Aghanim's Scepter that will allow his Death Ward to bounce between Chen and his converted creeps.
* Paralyzing Cask, Maledict and Death Ward combination will often kill Chen's allies before he can save them with Hand of God. And to make things better, Chen has no way to cancel Fiend's Grip on his own, and must rely on outside from {U:Centaur Conqueror} or {U:Mud Golem} under his control.
* Voodoo Switcheroo from Aghanim's Shard cannot be interrupted by Chen's creeps at all because Witch Doctor is hidden for it's duration.
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion, Anti-Mage
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Viper abilities.
* Viper has no way to cancel Death Ward, even through Rod of Atos.
* 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).
* Heroes with long-lasting, undispellable debuffs will pinpoint the true Naga Siren: Spirit Breaker, Bloodseeker, Witch Doctor.
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets, especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light, Ancient Apparition or Bounty Hunter.
* Heroes with channeling abilities: Enigma, Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden.
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Poison Nova and Poison Sting.
* 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.
* Maledict cannot be dispelled by Phantasm, and can be used to tag the real Chaos Knight hiding within his illusions.
* If Witch Doctor has an Aghanim's Scepter, Death Ward will bounce between Chaos Knight's illusions, destroying them quickly.
* However, Death Ward is easily interrupted by Chaos Bolt until Witch Doctor buys Glimmer Cape or Black King Bar.
* Paralyzing cask bounces between him and his wolves, keeping him stunned for long amounts of time.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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'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.
* If Meepo ganks Lion with Poof and Earthbind, he will be an easy target for Earth Spike & AoE Hex from his level 25 talent.
* 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.
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter Bloodseeker's Thirst.
* Rupture is generally useless against Witch Doctor while he is staying on Death Ward.
* Although Witch Doctor needs to be careful as Blood Rite can interrupt Death Ward.
* 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 with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman, Lion
* Paralyzing Cask can save ally from Legion Commander Duel's until she purchases Aghanim's Scepter.
* Voodoo Restoration can heal Witch Doctor allies from Duel's.
* Death Ward can help Witch Doctor allies from winning Duel's, if, he is not a target.
* 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.
* Paralyzing Cask is likely to bounce between him and his bear every single time.
* Lone Druid's lack of mobility makes him vulnerable to Death Ward and Maledict.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Heroes with high magical burst damage will kill Gyrocopter before he gets to do much: Lina, Lion, Zeus
* 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.)
* Long range disables are really effective against dangerous area controllers and channeling Heroes, like Enigma, Faceless Void or Crystal Maiden, as it may cancel them or prevent enemies from doing further damage while keeping Lion in a relatively safe distance in the warzone.
* Heroes with high magical burst can easily kill Huskar when he is at low health: Lion, Lina, Skywrath Mage
* Heroes with mana burn: Nyx Assassin, Invoker, Outworld Destroyer, Pugna, Lion
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina, Lion, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Queen of Pain.
* 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.
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker:Lion, Crystal Maiden ,Venomancer etc.
* Heroes who build Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all: Axe, Broodmother, Dawnbreaker, Enigma, Huskar, Jakiro, Legion Commander, Lina, Luna, Lycan, Slardar, Slark, Troll Warlord, Witch Doctor.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Sven is very vulnerable to chain stun such as Lion, Shadow Shaman or Magnus.
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger, Sniper, Lion.
* Heroes with magical or pure damage output will not have any problems against Atrophy Aura at all: Luna, Lina, Jakiro, Pugna, Bane, Snapfire, Muerta, Nyx Assassin, Enigma, Tinker, Witch Doctor, Zeus, Crystal Maiden.
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Shadow Shaman, Pugna
* 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.
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Warlock or Shadow Fiend.
* 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.
* Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as Lina and Witch Doctor are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
* 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.
* Witch Doctor's Maledict burst damage can be prevented by Sunder if timed correctly. But it can kill Terrorblade if he has no target to be Sundered with, especially in the early game.
* Death Ward deals physical damage, and Terrorblade's high armor can help him survive against Death Ward. However, Terrorblade has no disable in his skillset at all, and he cannot stop Witch Doctor from channeling Death Ward to maximum. And if Witch Doctor owns Aghanim's Scepter, attacks from Death Ward will be able to bounce around and wipe out Terrorblade's illusions and his team.
* Terrorblade must be careful as Paralyzing Cask is commonly tricky to dodge for him due to his reliance on illusions.
* 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.
* Heroes who have channeling abilities because Terrorblade has no disables to cancel them at all besides Terror Wave from Aghanim's Scepter, and he does not like buying disabling items at all: 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.
* A well-timed Counterspell reflects all targeted abilities back at Lion, potentially stunning or hexing him or even making himself burst down.
* 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.
* 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.
* Morphling can Attribute Shift to strength after being hit by Maledict. Since Maledict deals its damage based on the difference between HP on cast and HP after two seconds, odds are Morphling will have more HP than when Maledict was cast, thus resulting in no damage.
* On the upside, players prone to panicked reactions may Morph to agility, making Maledict even more efficient than intended.
* Adaptive Strike (Strength) can interrupt Death Ward at a decent range.
* 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.
* Paralyzing Cask's short stun rarely prevents Monkey King from ambushing Witch Doctor.
* Death Ward's long channel is easily interrupted by Boundless Strike.
* Another hero that should not leave a special circle for his ultimate. The only thing to be afraid is Boundless Strike.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer, Crystal Maiden, Warlock, Ancient Apparition, Grimstroke, Witch Doctor
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo, Witch Doctor, Lycan, Enigma, Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo, Witch Doctor, Lycan, Enigma, Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Naga Siren (bonus for her Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark, Gyrocopter, Queen of Pain, Shadow Shaman (Shackles), Jakiro, Pugna, Doom
* Squishy heroes, usually supports, like Lion, Ancient Apparition, Keeper of the Light etc can die quickly to Tiny's magic burst.
* 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.
* Heroes who cannot escape from Trample early might be easy first blood. Heroes like Witch Doctor and Omniknight should play very cautiously alone...
* 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.
* Heroes like Slark, Witch Doctor and others also tend to suffer in Ice Blast's heal denial.
* 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.
* Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore Windranger and Phantom Assassin are poor choices to use it on.
* 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.
* 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.
* Hex abilities can cancel the channelling of Fiend's Grip : Lion, Shadow Shaman, Dazzle from Aghanim's Shard with upgraded Poison Touch.
* Low mobility heroes: Heroes with no/little means of traveling fast have difficulty getting to/away from Bounty Hunter due to his slowing Jinada and hastening Track. Few examples of such heroes are: Crystal Maiden, Sniper, Ursa, Witch Doctor, etc.
* Finger of Death can instantly shred many targets, especially fragile Heroes like Keeper of the Light, Ancient Apparition or Bounty Hunter.
* Wraithfire Blast cancels Death Ward in decent range.
* Death Ward is meaningless while Reincarnation is off cooldown.
* Vampiric Aura can out-heal the {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Maledict.
* 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.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
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
Latest changes first
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.
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.
Witch Doctor
* Kraken Shell dispels the stun from Paralyzing Cask. However, it does not dispel the damage from Maledict.
* Once Witch Doctor first uses his Death Ward in team fights, Tidehunter can simply cancel it with Ravage, turning the tables against him, especially if Witch Doctor does not have a Black King Bar.
* As a precaution, Witch Doctor should let Tidehunter use Ravage first before channeling Death Ward to turn a team fight in his favor.