* Rubick's ability to steal Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) makes him extremely annoying to deal with because Rubick's shifted attributes will remain even if he steals a new spell.
* If Rubick moves enough points to strength and then steals Adaptive Strike, he will have a powerful 3-second ranged stun in his arsenal as well.
* Waveform provides a reliable nuke/escape to Rubick.
* Rubick can steal most abilities Morphling uses while Morphed, allowing Rubick to steal his own allies' abilities if the Morphling is not careful.
Additional:
* Morphling's abilities can grant unrivaled utility for Rubick.
* Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) is a great spell that has a longlasting effect, since the attribute change is permanent even after losing the ability. By casting the spell, Rubick becomes significantly tanky after pumping all his agility into strength.
* As the cost of the shift, Rubick's attack speed as well as his armor is hindered. Since the right click damage of Rubick is relatively trival in teamfights, armor items such as Medallion of Courage or Buckler could greatly increase Rubick's effective health to physical damage.
* Rubick must be careful not to confuse Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) with Attribute Shift (Agility Gain).
* Adaptive Strike (Strength) is a long-ranged stun.
* If Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) has been stolen and cast, the spell can stun the enemy for 3 seconds. The stun counters mobile heroes such as Morphling.
* Waveform is a damaging pseudo-blink, giving Rubick much needed mobility and farming potential.
* Warlock's signature Chaotic Offering can be devastating if stolen and dropped on multiple heroes.
* Telekinesis interrupts Upheaval when used on Warlock. Alternatively, Rubick can also cast this on a naerby creep or hero and drop them near Warlock to interrupt its channeling. When upgraded with Aghanim's Shard, Rubick can also use it to save an ally (or himself) from its area slow and damage.
* Fatal Bonds provides Rubick with a decent farming and harassing tool in the early game.
* Shadow Word provides some utility by healing Rubick and his team, and also as a harassment tool when used on enemies in the laning stage.
* Upheaval slows and damages enemies in an area, and it works exactly the same when casted by Rubick. Furthermore, he can extend its range and debuff amplification with Arcane Supremacy.
* A stolen Chaotic Offering can also be used to interrupt Upheaval while Telekinesis is on cooldown.
* It is advised to build items around Chaotic Offering as Rubick. Aghanim's Scepter, Octarine Core and Refresher Orb are all legitimate item choices.
Additional:
* All of Warlock's abilities are worthy choices for Rubick to Spell Steal, primarily Chaotic Offering. Furthermore, stolen abilities are also affected by the increased cast range and spell amplification from Arcane Supremacy.
* Telekinesis interrupts Upheaval when casted on Warlock, or to save allies (or himself) from its area slow and damage with Aghanim's Shard.
* Bear in mind that Warlock likes to cast his abilities in quick succession, so the time window left for Rubick to steal Warlock's ultimate can be short.
* Counterspell's bonus magic resistance causes the Waveform and Adaptive Strike combo to deal significantly less damage.
* Counterspell's active component can reflect the Adaptive Strike back into Morphling, dealing significant damage or even killing him.
* Mana Break combined with Manta Style can quickly burn away Morphling's mana, leaving him unable to use his spells. Black King Bar can no longer be reliably used against Anti mage due to its 50 mana cost.
* Mana Break prevents Warlock from casting his spells, particularly in the laning phase.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Upheaval.
* Counterspell reduces damage from Shadow Word and Warlock's Golem's Permanent Immolation passive. Additionally, it can reflect Shadow Word and Fatal Bonds.
* Mana Void deals heavy damage after Anti-Mage has drained Warlock's large mana pool.
* Heroes with silencing abilities that are not blocked by Linken's Sphere, like Puck's Waning Rift, Death Prophet's Silence or Silencer's Global Silence.
* Because Warlock's abilities are all active abilities, Silencer can make his impact minimal.
* Arcane Curse prevents Warlock from using his abilities without increasing it's duration, which since all of Warlock's abilities are actives it is very effective against him.
* Last Word can prevent Warlock from casting his Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval combo.
* Global Silence can nullify Warlock's impact in fights by preventing him from casting Fatal Bonds and Chaotic Offering, or by interrupting his Upheaval.
* Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Faceless Void, Magnus, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Riki, Sand King, Spirit Breaker, Timbersaw, Tusk.
* Upheaval does not interrupt Slark too much, as he can just Pounce out of the area.
* Fatal Bonds and Shadow Word can be dispelled by Dark Pact.
* Jakiro's early pushing ability from Liquid Fire makes Jakiro very strong against heroes, that take a long time to get online: Morphling, Naga Siren, Spectre.
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities: Crystal Maiden, Dawnbreaker, Enigma, Pudge, Shadow Fiend, Shadow Shaman, Warlock.
* Necrophos's Reaper's Scythe can finish off a low-health Morphling.
* 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.
* Heroes with silencing abilities that are not blocked by Linken's Sphere, like Puck's Waning Rift, Death Prophet's Silence or Silencer's Global Silence.
* Because all of Warlock's abilities are active abilities, silences can make his impact in fights minimal. Be cautious of heroes that carry silences like Death Prophet, Puck, and the aforementioned Silencer.
* Jumping on Axe with Waveform will make Morphling an easy target for a counter-initiation with Berserker's Call.
* Morphling is often played at low health to maximize the bonuses from Attribute Shift (Agility Gain), and also because his abilities cost health to use. This makes him especially vulnerable to Culling Blade.
* However, Morphling is a common Linken's Sphere carrier to block Culling Blade, which may force Axe to use Battle Hunger to pop the Spell Block first.
* Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) gives Morphling no protection against the pure damage of Culling Blade. Its attack speed bonus also means that Counter Helix will proc more often.
* A pre-placed Fire Remnant allows Ember Spirit to escape Upheaval.
* Flame Guard blocks Shadow Word's damage.
* Sleight of Fist allows Ember Spirit to attack from outside of Upheaval's range, and Searing Chains lets him interrupt it.
* Arcane Orb deals pure damage, effectively bypassing Morphling's high armor from Attribute Shift (Agility Gain).
* Sanity's Eclipse is more effective against a low health and mana pool Morphling, enabling Outworld Destroyer to burst Morphling down before he can shift to Strength.
Additional:
* Arcane Orb deals high damage regardless of Morphling's high armor from Attribute Shift (Agility Gain).
* Because of Morphling's very low intelligence gain and base intelligence, Sanity's Eclipse will almost always be effective against Morphling.
* Light Strike Array catches Morphling while he jumps in from Waveform and also prevents Morphling from using his abilities.
* Laguna Blade can kill Morphling quickly before he shifts into Attribute Shift (Strength Gain).
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from Chaotic Offering and hit summons hard.
* Tidebringer clears summons later in the game.
* Most of your spells can interrupt Upheaval.
* Geomagnetic Grip is not blocked by Linken's Sphere and can silence Morphling, preventing Morphling from using Waveform or Attribute Shift to escape from ganks.
* In addition, Boulder Smash and Rolling Boulder provide a solid lockdown if used together.
* Arcane Bolt's low cooldown allows him to deal consistent damage to Morphling, and is a viable way to disable Linken's Sphere.
* Ancient Seal prevents Morphling from using any of his skills, giving Skywrath Mage and his team ample time to burst Morphling down.
* Mystic Flare coupled with a stun/root can easily burst Morphling down, especially if he has more stats shifted to Agility.
* Alternatively, Morphling can use Morph to use Skywrath Mage's own silence and nukes against him.
* Void Spirit can greatly pressure Morphling's farm, which is very bad for a hero who needs a large amount of space.
* Waveform does not provide better mobility than Astral Step.
* If Morphling shifted all of his strength to agility, he can be bursted down by Void Spirit before he can react.
* Doing an Ethereal Blade combo on Void Spirit is incredibly difficult, as Dissimilate and Astral Step can allow him to escape or dodge the projectile.
* While Morphling can burst her down with Adaptive Strike (Agility), Death Prophet does have tools to disrupt him. A Morphling affected by Silence makes it unable to use Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) to increase its health pool or use Waveform to escape.
* Because all of Warlock's abilities are active abilities, silences can make his impact in fights minimal. Be cautious of heroes that carry silences like Death Prophet, Puck, and the aforementioned Silencer.
* 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.
* Weaver's Shukuchi allows him to escape from Warlock's Upheaval with high move speed.
* Time Lapse allows Weaver to ignore damage from Warlock's Golem and escape.
* Impale and Spiked Carapace interrupts Upheaval with ease.
* Warlock's low health pool, mobility, and high intelligence gain makes him a prime target for Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
* Time Dilation affects Morphling's low cooldown spells, making them unusable for a long time, rendering Morphling nearly useless.
* Morphling cannot use Attribute Shift while he is inside Chronosphere which makes it easy to kill him.
* Shapeshift allows Lycan to escape from Upheaval with maximum movement speed.
* Warlock doesn't have a good solution to deal with Lycan's wolves from Summon Wolves.
* Sacred Arrow's long stun duration can prevent Morphling from casting his Waveform or Morph Replicate, making him unable to escape and easier to gank.
* Moonlight Shadow also allows Mirana's team to surprise Morphling while he tries to push towers.
* Mirana usually buys Linken's Sphere to protect herself from single-target abilities, making Morphling's Adaptive Strike and Ethereal Blade harder to use on her.
* However, Mirana also provides a chance to become a good Morph target, allowing Morph to use Leap to run away, if necessary.
* Morphling usually has low max health due to shifting strength into agility, which combined with Blast Off's silence will prevent him from using Waveform and Adaptive Strike (Strength), leaving him defenseless and making him an easy target to burst down.
* Phantom Lancer can effortlessly overwhelm Morphling with a large number of illusions. It becomes even more effective with {Item ID:Diffusal Blade}, which takes away his mana in the process.
* Doppelganger can be used to dodge Adaptive Strike combo and create confusion with two additional illusions.
* Eye of Skadi can be bought to slow and negate the health regeneration from Attribute Shift, and a common item for Phantom Lancer.
* Ursa can shred Warlock's Golems in a few seconds with Fury Swipes and Overpower.
* Underlord's Atrophy Aura reduces Morphling's high base damage gained through agility shift.
* Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse turns Morphling's high attack damage and attack speed against his targeted teammate.
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan, Arc Warden, Warlock, Chen
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Beastmaster, Broodmother, Enigma, Nature's Prophet, Visage, Warlock, Wraith King.
Additional:
* Surge allows for Dark Seer and his allies to escape from Upheaval due to it ignoring any slow.
* Heroes that rely on right-clicks will find that their attacks will miss a lot, due to Whirling Axes (Melee)'s miss chance. Such heroes include Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, and Morphling.
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
* Arc Warden can counter Morphling's strong pushing capabilities by using Magnetic Field to protect buildings.
* Arc Warden also often builds an Orchid Malevolence or Bloodthorn, which can prove dangerous for Morphling.
* Arc Warden can easily break Linken's Sphere with Flux and then slow him with Spark Wraith, making Arc Warden's Tempest Double a legitimate threat as well.
* Heroes with good escape mechanisms are a nuisance to deal with in the early phase of the game: Slark, Lifestealer, Morphling
* Morphling's high armor is primarily from morphing agility, which is reduced by Natural Order therefore making the hero very vulnerable when it has morphed a lot into agility.
* Morphling usually will Morph into high agility and low strength. This can be taken advantage of with a good stun or silence or by bursting him down before he has the time to Morph back to strength.
* Morphling is very vulnerable to Blade Mail under Natural Order and can easily burst himself down with his own auto-attacks or his magical damage combo.
Additional:
* Most of Morphling's armor comes from his high agility and it is reduced by Natural Order.
* However, the aura has only 350 range and Elder Titan can be bursted down by Morphling's nuke combo if he isn't careful.
* 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.
* With God's Strength, Warlock's Golem from Chaotic Offering will go down in a matter of seconds. The two weaker golems granted by Aghanim's Scepter will fare worse due to Great Cleave hitting both.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Storm Hammer Aghanim's Scepter can dispel Shadow Word.
Additional:
* God's Strength combined with Great Cleave destroys Chaotic Offering golems within seconds.
* Warcry gives Sven and his allies armor to help against Warlock's Golem's heavy physical damage and movement speed to help escape Upheaval.
* Storm Hammer disrupts Upheaval.
* Heroes who can take advantage of God's Strength being on cooldown are also not great matchups, such as Templar Assassin, Morphling and Huskar.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Morphling's naturally high armor thanks to his high agility makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to take him down with Coup de Grace.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Viper has no disable, which means he has no way of preventing Morphling from escaping from any of his abilities or keep him inside Nethertoxin.
* Viper is almost exclusively damage over time, which is weak against Morphling due to Attribute Shift (Strength Gain). Additionally, Morphling has no passive abilities, reducing Nethertoxin's effectiveness against him even further.
* Morphling can turn into Viper himself, allowing him to use any of Viper's abilities against him (excluding Viper Strike). This is particularly bad due to the fact that Viper is already a very slow hero, making Poison Attack and Corrosive Skin's slows especially difficult to deal with.
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane, Enigma, Shadow Shaman, Warlock
* Lifestealer is a great target for Morphling to use Morph, as he can use Rage to gain spell immunity and a movement speed boost.
* Morphling's high armor also makes Lifestealer's attacks do less damage.
* Heroes with summons: Lycan, Broodmother, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Warlock.
* Enchant can not control golem Chaotic Offering from Warlock.
* Waveform clear Mirror Image illusions from Naga Siren. And though Ensnare can prevent Morphling from using Waveform to escape, he can easily dispel it with Manta Style, a common item on Morphling.
* Morph allows Morphling to copy Naga Siren's abilities and combine them with Manta Style, a commong item for Morphling, to destroy Naga Siren's illusions. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Morph also allows Morphling to create a strong illusion of Naga Siren that can do the same and which can also allow Morphling to close the gap on Naga Siren.
* Morphling's high mobility allows him to easily get close to Sniper, who likes to keep his distance from enemies.
* Warlock Golems do plenty of physical and pure damage to bring down Huskar when he is at low health. Warlock is always a hazard for Huskar to initiate by using Life Break, because Chaotic Offering can stun him instantly, even when Black King Bar is activated, and allows Warlock's team to gather their wit and retaliate.
* After using Life Break to jump in, Huskar will not have any means to escape Upheaval. Which since he is an attack-dependent hero, this will nullify his impact in fights.
* Morphling can break Static Link with Waveform. Alternatively, Morphling can Morph into Razor and use the same ability against him.
* Morphling's high armor makes Eye Of The Storm mostly ineffective, enabling Morphling to fight Razor for longer.
* Razor has no disables, enabling Morphling to avoid his abilities as needed.
Additional:
* Static Link is almost completely useless against Morphling, as he is able to quickly break it off with Waveform or turn into Razor himself with Morph and recover all of his stolen damage, or simply steal Razor's own.
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
* Morph allows Morphling to copy abilities of Spirit Breaker and combine them with Waveform to turn things around. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Morph also allows Morphling to create a strong illusion of Spirit Breaker that can cast all of his basic abilities. This allows Morphling to give Spirit Breaker a taste of his own medicine.
* Spirit Breaker's low attack speed and lack of burst damage makes it unlikely for him to win against Morphling when he has Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) toggled on.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* All abilities for Morphling can easily escape fear Focus Fire.
* Windranger weakness for agility can easily Morphling destroy against her.
Additional:
* Waveform can be used to escape from the reach of Focus Fire and to dodge Powershot.
* Adaptive Strike (Strength) can be used to stun Windranger even while Windrun is active.
* Morph is useful to morph into Windranger to copy her abilities.
* Warlock has strong counter initiation which reduces Marci's effectiveness throughout the game.
* Fatal Bonds cancels Blink Dagger, which means Marci can move in and out of fights less effectively.
* Chaotic Offering paired with Upheaval provides a ministun, a movement slow and paired with Fatal Bonds has the potential to deal a lot of damage to Marci while she jumps on a target. The ministun also means that Marci will have a harder time casting Rebound. If Warlock does build Aghanim's Scepter and Refresher Orb, the physical damage from Golems will overwhelm Marci, especially when played as a support.
* Waveform allows Morphling to easily escape Power Cogs.
* Clockwerk's lack of burst damage makes it nearly impossible for him to kill a Morphling using Attribute Shift (Strength Gain).
Additional:
* Morphling can escape from Power Cogs with Waveform.
* Even if Morphling is trapped in Power Cogs, Morphling can use Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) to survive the duration.
* By using Morph, Morphling can use Burning Barrage and Searing Arrows to counter Clinkz himself.
* Waveform can allow Morphling to easily chase down Clinkz.
* Clinkz's low health pool also makes him vulnerable to Morphling's magical nukes, especially his Ethereal Blade and Adaptive Strike combo.
* Chaotic Offering's spell immunity piercing stun can stop Black Hole's channeling. Due to this ability's large area of effect, it can be cast at a safe distance from the Black Hole. It also goes through Black King Bar and ignores Linken's Sphere.
* Fatal Bonds and Aghanim's Shard upgraded Shadow Word can be used to make Enigma's Eidolons easier to kill, potentially feeding the enemy team. Also,their constant damage will put Blink Dagger on cooldown, potentially forcing Enigma to prematurely activate Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Chaotic Offering pierces spell immunity and is an area of effect ability, therefore it doesn't matter if Enigma buys Black King Bar or Linken's Sphere, Warlock will always be able to cancel the channeling of Black Hole.
* Enemies often get clumped up around Black Hole to hit your allies, giving you a perfect opportunity to cast Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval on multiple enemies.
* Waveform ignores Rupture's damage, letting Morphling escape unharmed.
* Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) makes it very hard for Bloodseeker to kill Morphling or gain his Thirst bonuses, since Morphling can use it to sustain damage while trading attacks when Ruptured.
* Morphling usually builds Linken's Sphere, which blocks Rupture.
Additional:
* Morphling can escape from Rupture using Waveform.
* Morphling is a typical Manta Style carrier, which can be used to dispel the silence from Blood Rite.
* Waveform allows Morphling to escape from Mass Serpent Ward
* Morphling can interrupt Shadow Shaman while he is shackling an ally with Adaptive Strike (Strength).
* With Ethereal Blade Morphling can quickly burst him down before he even has a chance to react.
* Heroes with Linken's Sphere as core item: Weaver, Morphling, Medusa.
* Illusion and heroes with summons are difficult to kill with Chen's single-target offensive spells: Terrorblade, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Broodmother, Naga Siren, Lycan, Visage, Beastmaster, Warlock, Wraith King. And even though Chen can convert enemy summons with Holy Persuasion, their much greater numbers will often overwhelm Chen and his creeps.
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain, Morphling, Storm Spirit
* Heroes with high mobility will be able to avoid Gyrocopter's area attacks: Storm Spirit, Morphling, Ember Spirit
* 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.
* Heroes with channeling spells because Shadow Fiend has nothing to cancel channeling outside of Requiem of Souls: Bane, Enigma, Pudge, Shadow Shaman, Dawnbreaker, Warlock, Crystal Maiden.
Additional:
* Because Shadow Fiend lacks escaping mechanisms, and is dependent on fair positioning for channeling Requiem of Souls, it's easier for Warlock with his long range crowd control abilities to lock Shadow Fiend down for his team.
* Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) may not be quick enough to fend off an attacking Drow Ranger.
* Morphling likes to sit on low health with high agility, something Drow Ranger does not particularly care for and will still hit him hard with Marksmanship procs.
* Morph is a similar story, none of Drow Ranger's spells are particularly good against her.
* Morphling can use Waveform to close the gap between him and Drow Ranger, but should be careful of Gust and Frost Arrows.
* Morphling is a natural Manta Style carrier, which dispels the silence from Gust.
* 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.
* Chaotic Offering can stop heroes who like to use spell immunity and teleport scrolls to safely farm during the early to mid game, since it stuns and also goes through spell immunity. Notable examples: Juggernaut, Lifestealer.
* 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.
* Warlock often stays back and counter-initiates by dropping his Chaotic Offering on Earthshaker and his allies.
* 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 commonly buy Linken's Sphere: Luna, Weaver, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Ember Spirit.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded Brain Sap: Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Heroes who just want to farm and avoid Lone Druid early will find it very hard to do so when he starts knocking on towers: Templar Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Ember Spirit, Morphling.
* Morphling can ignore Spirit Bear and shorten the distance to Lone Druid with Waveform.
* Morphling can use his nukes to burst Lone Druid down, provided he is not rooted/disabled by Spirit Bear beforehand.
* Heroes with high base damage (Morphling, Tiny, Drow Ranger), heroes with mana burning abilities (Anti-Mage), and Diffusal Blade users (Juggernaut or Riki) will suffer from Reflection's illusions.
* Heroes who can summon illusions and summons because Terrorblade has no abilities to deal with multiple enemies at once outside Reflection: Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Lycan, Enigma, Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Demon, Dark Seer, Nature's Prophet, Invoker, Morphling, Visage, Grimstroke with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Supports with useful teamfight or contribution spells will be helpless against Doom: Dazzle, Oracle, Warlock.
Additional:
* Doom will not only prevent Warlock from casting his abilities in team fights, but also it reduces the healing from Shadow Word.
* Devour allows Doom to acquire a stun from neutral creeps, allowing him to interrupt Upheaval without having to use Doom.
* Heroes who often build Linken's Sphere: Weaver, Morphling, Medusa.
* 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
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game: Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker, Tusk, Bounty Hunter, Riki, Warlock.
Additional:
* Warlock can cast Upheaval when Templar Assassin uses Meld, preventing her from escaping at the right moment.
* Warlock can also send his Warlock Golem near where she used Meld, preventing escape by Blink Dagger due to the Warlock Golem's Permanent Immolation.
* Warlock's Golem's Permanent Immolation will burn away Refraction with its damage over time.
* Sharpshooter can kill easy when Morphling is going on full agility strategy (Only in early and mid game).
* Scurry can help to catch up Morphling when using Waveform or for escape.
* Chaotic Offering's vast area-effect can destroy trees and stun Hoodwink.
* Upheaval makes retreating with Scurry difficult.
* Earthbind disables Waveform, effectively keeping Morphling in place for an extended period of time, allowing Meepo to deal considerable damage with Poof.
* Fatal Bonds links the Meepos together, which combined with area of effect damage or Cleave will be devastating.
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Morphling
* Ice Blast stops Morphling from gaining additional health with Attribute Shift.
* Using Attribute Shift would even bring Morphling closer to the shatter threshold.
* In the lane, Ice Vortex slows Morphling's already poor movement speed to a crawl; this, coupled with the amplification of magic damage, can set up an early kill on Morphling if Ancient Apparition has a suitable lane partner.
Additional:
* Ice Blast stops Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) from recovering adional health, and using it will even bring Morphling closer to the shatter threshold.
* In lane, Ice Vortex slows Morphling's already poor movement speed to a crawl; this, coupled with the amplification of magic damage, can set up an early kill on Morphling if Ancient Apparition has a suitable lane partner.
Warlock
* Ice Blast cancels Warlock's Golem's and Shadow Word's healing.
* Cold Feet stuns Warlock if he stands in place, forcing him to stop channeling Upheaval immediately or be forced to stop channeling it by it's stun.