Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 4%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with silences can negate the majority of Outworld Destroyer's damage output: Death Prophet,
Night Stalker,
Drow Ranger,
Doom .
Slark
* With Dark Ascension he can keep vision on Slark, disabling his Shadow Dance regeneration.
* Night Stalker is very fast so without the Pounce in lane, he can simply out distance him during the night.
* Slark is matched in night vision by only a few heroes, Night Stalker happens to be one of them.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with high intelligence, such as Invoker and
Pugna.
Slark
* Nether Blast will still hit Slark in Shadow Dance.
* Pugna can rarely target Slark directly with Decrepify, but he can use it defensively on an ally to prevent Slark from getting stacks.
* Despite being somewhat easy to break with Pounce, Pugna can damage Slark and provide vision over him with Life Drain.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 11%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with silences can negate the majority of Outworld Destroyer's damage output: Death Prophet,
Night Stalker,
Drow Ranger,
Doom .
Slark
* Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape: Silencer,
Death Prophet,
Puck,
Doom.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Slark
* Natural Order aura prevents Slark from gaining armor from the agility stolen with Essence Shift.
* Echo Stomp and Earth Splitter can hit Slark through his Shadow Dance ultimate.
* Slark's stats gain is relatively low compared to most agility carries making him quite squishy without his agility-based armor.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer's high intelligence gain and fragility makes him an easy target for a massive Mana Burn, as well as killing him outwards with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
* Astral Imprisonment can be easily exploited by Nyx Assassin with his abilities. As long as Astral Imprisonment was not cast on Nyx Assassin, it will make an opportunity for an easy stun, either by Spiked Carapace (if Outworld Destroyer hid his allies or your allies) or Impale (if he hid himself). If Astral Imprisonment was cast on Nyx Assassin, using Spiked Carapace while banished will proc the stun after the disable, since Spike Carapace has a 0 second cast time and Astral Imprisonment deals damage right after the disable ends.
* An ill-timed Sanity's Eclipse and/or well timed Spiked Carapace can deal a lot of damage to Outworld Destroyer and stun him, unless Outworld Destroyer used
Black King Bar beforehand.
Additional:
* Outworld Destroyer's high mana pool and high intelligence makes him a prime target for Mana Burn.
* If timed correctly, Spiked Carapace will return the full damage from Sanity's Eclipse back to Outworld Destroyer. Even a reflected Arcane Orb can deal significant damage and make him vulnerable to a follow-up from Nyx Assassin.
* Spiked Carapace is also the perfect tool against Astral Imprisonment: if used on Nyx, he can reflect the damage back as he comes out of the prison by casting the ability while imprisoned.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Slark
* Though Slark's large damage output is most certainly a concern for the squishy Crystal Maiden, she does perform fairly well against him when coupled with aid from her team.
* Slark has no innate way to cancel Freezing Field, but the common purchase of Skull Basher does make Slark a substantially greater threat to Crystal Maiden as the game progresses.
* Freezing Field can still hit Slark while he is under the effect of Shadow Dance, and for the early and mid game, the damage output of Crystal Maiden's ultimate outscales Slark's passive regeneration, making a quick use of Freezing Field as soon as Slark uses
Shadow Dance a great way to combat him.
* Crystal Maiden's Frostbite and Crystal Nova are helpful in disabling and slowing the slippery Slark so he can be killed by her teammates.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Bloodseeker is one of the hardest counters to Slark.Thirst prevents Slark from healing in lane with Shadow Dance and may set him up for a kill while in the jungle,or retreating.
* Rupture will deal damage during Pounce.
* Dark Pact cannot dispel Rupture, preventing Slark from escaping ganks.
Additional:
* Thirst stops Shadow Dance's passive health regeneration if Slark's current health is below the Thirst's visibility threshold.
* Rupture effectively relaxes Slark's mobility in battle, leaving him susceptible to AoE stuns or forcing to teleport out of the fight.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Slark
* Thunder Strike provides vision on him while Slark is invisible.
* Glimpse's range at lvl 3-4 is more than enough to pull him back to a favorable position for your team to group up and kill him.
* Even though he is capable of picking you off and deal enough damage to kill you, Slark will be literally sticking his neck out, since jumping on Disruptor means being on his battleground.
* AoE silence and the ability to mute Black King Bar is deadly to Slark at all stages of the game.
Additional:
* Static Storm and
Kinetic Field locks down Slark, as he cannot use Dark Pact to dispel any disables, or Pounce out while silenced.
* Glimpse puts an end to any attempts at ganking Disruptor or his allies, and also negates Slark's mobility by bringing him back into the fight if he tries to escape with Pounce.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Slark
* Toss and
Avalanche deals heavy damage to Slark in the early game, making Tiny a very dangerous target to gank.
* Tiny has 0 agility, which means Slark's Essence Shift permanent agility steal does not do much against him.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 18%)Slark
* Shadow Dance does not protect Slark from Shadow Fiend's AoE spells.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Outworld Destroyer
* Shadow Demon's Disruption will allow his allies to maneuver around you. It can also be used to protect an ally from your abilities, or Astral Imprisonment -
Meteor Hammer combo.
* Disseminate turns your high damage Arcane Orb and Sanitiy's Eclipse against you and your teammates.
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge will break your Essence Flux passive for 7 seconds, preventing you from regaining mana, and severely hindering your damage output.
Slark
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback,
Spectre,
Phantom Assassin,
Enchantress,
Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Slark
* Heroes who can dispel will be able to remove remove Soul Catcher's debuff to instantly bring the health of affected heroes back to a considerable amount: Abaddon,
Slark,
Legion Commander,
Oracle.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Slark
* Phantom's Embrace can't be dispelled by Slark's
Dark Pact.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Slark
* Slark's Dark Pact and Pounce can deny only one Earthbind and Poof can penetrate Shadow Dance if he doesn't build Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Earthbind and
Poof will still hit Slark in Shadow Dance.
* Dark Pact can only remove one Earthbind.
* Ransack will still affect Slark, even if he has a
Black King Bar.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Outworld Destroyer
* Silencer's Intelligence Steal will heavily reduce Outworld Destroyer's damage output, particularly from Sanity's Eclipse.
* Last Word and
Global Silence will take Outworld Destroyer out of the fight unless he has built Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Silencer's intelligence steal will heavily reduce Outworld Destroyer's damage output, especially if Destroyer dies a lot near Silencer and loses intelligence permanently.
* Global Silence and Last Word will render Outworld Destroyer helpless unless he has an item/ally to dispel silence.
Slark
* Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape: Silencer,
Death Prophet,
Puck,
Doom.
Slark
* Slark's Dark Pact allows him to dispel Silencer's debuffs.
* Against a carry Silencer, Essence Shift will lower damage from both Glaives of Wisdom and his basic attack.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Slark
* Slardar's level 25 talent makes
Corrosive Haze undispellable, thus providing his allies vision of Slark.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Slark
* Heroes like Slark,
Witch Doctor and others also tend to suffer in Ice Blast's heal denial.
Additional:
* Ice Blast stops Shadow Dance's passive health regeneration, even when Slark is not in vision.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Slark
* Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance: Lina,
Jakiro,
Underlord,
Leshrac,
Dark Seer,
Earthshaker,
Timbersaw,
Crystal Maiden.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Slark
* Heroes with Break abilities will prevent Slark from regenerating and gaining Essence Shift stacks: Viper,
Shadow Demon, etc.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin negates
Essence Shift and the regeneration aspect of
Shadow Dance.
* Dark Pact doesn't mean a lot against Viper's ubiquitous slows.
* Viper becomes a relevant presence in team fights before Slark can procure his standard items (e.g. Shadow Blade).
Void Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Outworld Destroyer
* Heroes who take a long time to become strong are in for a rough mid game, such as Outworld Destroyer,
Magnus,
Medusa, and
Anti-Mage.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 25%)Outworld Destroyer
* Rubick can use Spell Steal to steal Astral Imprisonment, and if Rubick gets
Aghanim's Scepter he gets 2 charges of it. This can overpower Outworld Destroyer in team fights.
* Rubick can also steal Sanity's Eclipse against Outworld Destroyer's teammates.
Slark
* Rubick usually positions in the back of a team. Heroes who can sneak up and assault Rubick (e.g. Slark) or damage Rubick from great distance (e.g.
Spectre,
Sniper) should be treated cautiously, as otherwise the matchup usually ends up badly for Rubick.
Slark
* Pounce and
Dark Pact together with some attacks can take Rubick down quickly.
* Rubick's spells are ineffective due to the strong dispel effect of Dark Pact.
* Even though Shadow Dance is a great spell to steal, Slark's untargetable nature and his low cooldown spells prevents Rubick from stealing. Also Slark can freely use other abilities for the duration of
Shadow Dance.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with silences can negate the majority of Outworld Destroyer's damage output: Death Prophet,
Night Stalker,
Drow Ranger,
Doom .
Slark
* Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape: Silencer,
Death Prophet,
Puck,
Doom.
Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with low mana pools will die quickly or even instantly to Sanity's Eclipse: Doom,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Slark
* He has a hard time killing Sand King because of the survivability he gets from Burrowstrike and Sand Storm.
* Shadow Dance, which usually allows Slark to survive fights, is ineffective against Sand King's AoE damage.
Slark
* 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.
Primal Beast
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Slark
* Dark Pact,
Shadow Dance and
Depth Shroud will do nothing against Onslaught and Trample, as they are both ground area-of-effect spells.
* Primal Beast has a gigantic hitbox, which could be difficult for Slark to escape with Pounce should Primal Beast choose to block him. Pounce also does not completely prevent Primal Beast from trampling offensively, as he still has some room to move.
* Primal Beast has a huge health pool; shedding it with Essence Shift can take time and may allow Primal Beast to build Uproar against him. Should he survive Slark's slew of skills, Primal Beast can simply Pulverize him to finish him off.
Outworld Destroyer
* Primal Beast is mostly played in the offlane role, so picking a carry who can escape from him is essential. Heroes such as Troll Warlord,
Lone Druid and
Outworld Destroyer, or generally any carry with a stun, slow or ability to fight back will stop him from having the good start he needs.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Slark
* Illusory Orb and
Phase Shift allows Puck to avoid most ganking attempts.
* Waning Rift and
Dream Coil makes it very hard for Slark to escape bad situations.
* Puck's abilities used together also deals significant magical nuke damage, none of which are targeted and thus cannot be avoided by Shadow Dance.
Slark
* 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.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Dark Pact is minimally effective against Phantasm illusions, and Slark lacks area damage otherwise.
* Pounce can be counteracted by Reality Rift.
* Slark is naturally frail and dies quickly to Chaos Knight's burst damage before he can build Essence Shift stacks.
* Be aware, however, that Shadow Dance can make Slark hard to kill as he can't be targeted during its duration.
Additional:
* Phantasms have enough health to survive Dark Pact, and Slark has no other source of AoE damage to deal with them.
Outworld Destroyer
* Most Illusion based heroes (like Chaos Knight and
Terrorblade) can't use their illusion beneficially against Sanity's Eclipse's high AoE burst damage.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Slark
* Both Scream of Pain and Sonic Wave should hit him during his Shadow Dance.
Slark
* 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.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Outworld Destroyer
* Sanity's Eclipse only triggers Bristleback's passive once, and deals high damage against Bristleback's low intelligence.
* Outworld Destroyer's high burst damage is not negated by Bristleback's passive, So even if Bristleback turns his back on Outworld, Outworld Destroyer can decimate Bristleback quickly,
* If Bristleback attempts to flee, or tries to close the gap, Outworld can banish him with Astral Imprisonment, both reducing Bristlebacks much needed mana, and allowing Outworld to move in front of him, forcing him to take the full damage from his spells, This will also allow Outworld to land a devasting Sanity's Eclipse, without it being reduced by Bristleback's passive,
Slark
* Essence Shift allows Slark to hit bristleback freely whether on the front or back, stealing attributes and make bristleback much less tanky.
* Pounce can be used to disengage and recover loss HP with his ultimate passive, and can return to fight in a short period while bristleback is already injured and got some of his attributes stolen.
* Dark Pact makes it near impossible to keep
Viscous Nasal Goo debuff on slark.
* Although Dark Pact cannot dispel
Quill Spray, means Slark will still receive quill stack damage even if he uses
Shadow Dance before.
* Slark builds Silver Edge in almost every game, an item that greatly counter birstleback.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment protects an ally for much of Rolling Thunder's duration, especially at the lower levels. As Rolling Thunder has a considerable cast animation, an Outworld Destroyer with
Blink Dagger can initiate on him and destroy his timing.
Slark
* Dark Pact easily purges away both slow and disarm effect from Lucky Shot.
* With Pounce now applying leash to the target, Pangolier is helpless against Slark since both his Swashbuckle and Rolling Thunder will be disabled. Pounce also help Slark to easily escape from Rolling Thunder.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer's pure damage from Arcane Orb can go through Cold Embrace.
* Outworld Destroyer can negate the healing from Cold Embrace using Astral Imprisonment, and steal mana while doing so.
* Outworld Destroyer's damage during Winter's Curse is reduced due to Arcane Orb being unable to target allies.
Additional:
* Winter Wyvern must never put her allies in Cold Embrace against Outworld Destroyer as Arcane Orb will continue to deal damage to the defenseless hero.
* Arcane Orb does not hit his allies when he is taunted by Winter's Curse, making it weak against allies, but strong versus enemies.
* Astral Imprisonment can protect a target inflicted with Winter's Curse.
Slark
* Arctic Burn and Splinter Blast debuffs are dispellable with Dark Pact. Arctic Burn is also no escape against
Pounce.
* Cold Embrace gives Slark free Essence Shift stacks.
* However, Essence Shift works against allies, and Slark's low health pool means that if he's the target for Winter's Curse, he will go down very quickly.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Outworld Destroyer
* Sanity's Eclipse does massive damage to Wraith King who naturally has a low mana pool and typically doesn't build items to increase it.
* Wraithfire Blast's slow projectile speed makes it easy to avoid using Astral Imprisonment.
Slark
* Dark Pact, if timed correctly, can dispel Wraithfire Blast's stun and slow.
* Since Wraith King has a lot of health and multiple lives, Slark can keep gaining Essence Shift stacks, increasing armor, damage, and attack speed and can beat down Wraith King twice.
* Slark sometimes carries Diffusal Blade to burn mana as an attempt to shut down Reincarnation.
* Because Wraith King has no AoE abilities, Shadow Dance is particularly useful against Wraith King.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Outworld Destroyer
* Kraken Shell's dispel does not restore mana lost through Astral Imprisonment, and the stolen mana can really hurt Tidehunter's ability to initiate
* Arcane Orb high pure damage ignores Tidehunter's Armor, and is barely affected by his Kraken Shell's damage block
* It is also completely unaffected by Anchor Smash, due to it relying on Outworlds Mana pool
* Sanity's Eclipse is effective on Tidehunter's poor mana pool, While it is reduced by Kraken Shell, the damage reduction is negligible.
Slark
* Dark Pact dispels debuffs from Gush, Anchor Smash and even Ravage if timed correctly.
* Kraken Shell cannot restore attributes stolen by Essence Shift or dispel the leash if he gets
Pounced.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 29%)Outworld Destroyer
* Sanity's Eclipse deals more damage the less max mana the heroes hit by it have, making Pudge an ideal target.
* Outworld Destroyer can save allies or himself caught by Dismember or Meat Hook with Astral Imprisonment.
Slark
* Dark Pact dispels Dismember if timed correctly.
* Pounce allows Slark to escape Pudge's Rot once Dismember is over, and allows him to dodge hooks.
* Shadow Dance hides Slark and grants him a high degree of mobility, which can make him a difficult target to hook and also protects him from Pudge's Dismember (including allies with an
Aghanim's Shard).
Razor
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer doesn't care if Razor steals his damage because he does most of his damage through Arcane Orb.
* Astral Imprisonment can prevent Razor from using the stolen damage from Static Link or chasing with Eye of the Storm.
* Sanity's Eclipse will do a ton of damage to Razor due to his low mana pool.
Slark
* Pounce can easily break Static Link, making it less powerful against him.
* Slark is one of the few heroes who can man fight a Razor, because of Essence Shift.
* Shadow Dance can prevent Razor from killing him and may provide an opportunity to kill Razor due to it preventing Razor from attacking Slark.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 8%)Outworld Destroyer
* 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.
Slark
* 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.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Outworld Destroyer
* Shadow Demon,
Outworld Destroyer and
Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
Slark
* Dark Pact can dispel Flaming Lasso if is used in anticipation, but a Blink initiation from fog can catch the Slark off guard.
* Slark can also take off any Sticky Napalm stacks with Dark Pact in lane.
Additional:
* Shadow Dance's passive can inform Slark when he's under enemy vision, meaning it'll be very hard to catch Slark off-guard with Flaming Lasso.
* Flaming Lasso is dispelled by Dark Pact. Its casting can be prevented with
Shadow Dance or
Depth Shroud (it requires
Aghanim's Shard).
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to protect allies by imprisoning either them or Spirit Breaker.
* Arcane Orb will heavily drain Spirit Breaker's intelligence, rendering him almost useless and unable to cast spells. Spirit Breaker's low intelligence also means
Sanity's Eclipse will deal a lot of damage to him.
Slark
* 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.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment can save allies from a Black Hole combo. When upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter and
Aghanim's Shard, it becomes exceedingly difficult for Enigma to land a good
Black Hole against Outworld Destroyer and his team.
* Astral Imprisonment can also cancel
Black Hole while Enigma does not have
Black King Bar.
* Arcane Orb and
Sanity's Eclipse can often make a short work out of Enigma and his Eidolons.
Slark
* Enigma lacks burst damage, and that makes him vulnerable to heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage after Enigma finishes his initiation: Faceless Void,
Terrorblade,
Ursa,
Weaver,
Broodmother,
Slark,
Abaddon,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Outworld Destroyer
* Ursa struggles against heroes with strong (and especially undispellable) disables (Disruptor,
Puck,
Shadow Demon,
Outworld Destroyer and etc).
Slark
* Slark can detect early Roshan attempts due to Shadow Dance if he frequently checks the Pit.
* Enrage cannot restore attributes stolen by Essence Shift and will reduce his physical damage output.
* Even if Ursa initiates with Earthshock, Slark can Pounce away or use
Dark Pact after Ursa's initiation to avoid Fury Swipes' damage until Earthshock's slow is gone.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 15%)Outworld Destroyer
* Heroes that can protect or dispel stunned allies such as Legion Commander,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon and
Oracle can reduce the effectiveness of Sacred Arrow.
Slark
* If Slark sees the Sacred Arrow before it hits him, he can use Dark Pact to remove it a moment later.
* Pounce prevents Mirana from escaping with Leap.
* Slark can survive Mirana's Aghanim's Scepter​ combo with
Shadow Dance.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 11%)Slark
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: Timbersaw,
Slark,
Shadow Fiend,
Clinkz,
Bristleback
Nyx Assassin,
Magnus
Outworld Destroyer
* Arcane Orb's pure damage, making Counterspell ineffective.
* Sanity's Eclipse will hit Anti-Mage while he is disabled from
Astral Imprisonment, and forces him to take heavy damage due to his low intelligence.
* Essence Flux keeps Outworld Destroyer at high mana, thus greatly reducing the damage from Mana Void.
Additional:
* Counterspell doesn't work versus Arcane Orb because it does pure damage.
* Anti-Mage cannot burn all of Outworld Destroyer's mana without disables due to Essence Flux.
* Anti-Mage's Manta Style illusions are quickly destroyed by Arcane Orb.
* However, if the enemy has multiple means of removing mana, Mana Void becomes a threat to Outworld Destroyer, Anti-Mage has better mobility than Outworld Destroyer with
Blink, and
Counterspell blocks a large portion of the damage from Sanity's Eclipse.
Slark
* Pounce prevents Anti-Mage from using Blink, and lets him disengage from Anti-Mage if needed.
* Essence Shift allows Slark to permanently steal agility from Anti-Mage.
* Shadow Dance stops Anti-Mage from being able to fight back in a slippery situation.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with low mana pools will die quickly or even instantly to Sanity's Eclipse: Doom,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord.
Slark
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe,
Viper,
Meepo,
Pugna,
Slark etc.
Additional:
* Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with
Phantom Strike.
* As a hero who typically builds Silver Edge, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's
Blur and
Coup de Grace, thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Slark will have plenty of time to escape with Pounce,
Shadow Dance and
Silver Edge (provided that he purchased it already).
* Essence Shift can be very harmful for Phantom Assassin as losing the agility means that her physical damage will be also reduced, which can also weaken
Coup de Grace if Slark manages to steal lots of agility from her.
* Overall, any attempt for Phantom Assassin to take down Slark will hurt her more than Slark.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Outworld Destroyer
* Arcane Orb's constant pure damage output is devastating to Dragon Knight.
* Dragon Knight's relatively low mana pool leads to heavy damage from Sanity's Eclipse, which also bypasses his armor.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Slark
* Medusa is especially vulnerable to Essence Shift, as both strength and intelligence contribute to her effective HP, while agility contributes to her damage.
* Dark Pact when timed right can be used to dispel Stone Gaze right after it petrifies Slark, allowing him to keep attacking Medusa throughout the duration.
Additional:
* Medusa cannot chase Slark in any way and has no disable beyond her ultimate, making her unable to stop him getting away and regenerating before coming back to finish her off.
* Essence Shift particularly removes 1 intelligence point per hit, thus lowering Medusa's mana pool's cap and leaving her much more vulnerable in prolonged fights.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Slark
* Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance: Lina,
Jakiro,
Underlord,
Leshrac,
Dark Seer,
Earthshaker,
Timbersaw,
Crystal Maiden.
Additional:
* Timbersaw can use Chakram as a scouting tool to find Slark if he tries to
Pounce into the trees.
* None of Timbersaw's abilities require a target to be cast, allowing him to hit Slark inside Shadow Dance.
* Reactive Armor can be effective protection against a Slark who attacks quickly, since the strong armor and health regen cannot be stolen by
Essence Shift.
* Timber Chain makes Timbersaw very mobile, meaning he is among the very few heroes who can actually give chase to a fleeing Slark.
Outworld Destroyer
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Timbersaw's Reactive Armor.
* Astral Imprisonment, if timed correctly, can interrupt Timber Chain, preventing him from escaping.
Additional:
* Arcane Orb deals constant pure damage, which bypasses Timbersaw's Reactive Armor.
* Sanity's Eclipse can hit targets inside
Astral Imprisonment, which helps Outworld Destroyer finish off Timbersaw before he escapes with Timber Chain. It can also drain his mana, limiting his ability to escape should he survive.
Slark
* 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.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment can allow Outworld Destroyer to save himself or allies from Kunkka's full kit.
* Sanity's Eclipse deal a large amount of damage, as Kunkka's mana pool is much smaller than Outworld Destroyer's.
* Arcane Orb deals pure damage, shredding through Kunkka and his team even with Ghostship's buff.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Shadow Dance allows Slark to not be targeted by Unstable Concoction, making Alchemist stun himself and making himself vulnerable to the enemy.
* Dark Pact also allows him to just purge off the stun if timed correctly.
* Essence Shift will steal stats over long durations at a time should Alchemist lack the damage to kill Slark.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Slark
* Slark's Pounce can be used to dodge Hoodwink's abilities or lock her down.
* Shadow Dance makes Slark unhittable from
Acorn Shot.
* Dark Pact removes all slows from Hoodwink's abilities.
* Hoodwink's already low health output is a great target for Slark's Essence Shift.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Slark
* Dark Pact dispels Ignite's slow and Fireblast's stun.
* Shadow Dance allows Slark to regenerate HP, even when he is affected by Ignite and Fireblast.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 11%)Outworld Destroyer
* The pure damage provided by Arcane Orb is a great addition for killing Ember Spirit.
* Astral Imprisonment fully negates all magic damage of Flame Guard and Searing Chains and will temporarily save himself from Sleight of Fist's physical damage, and Ember Spirit is not a hero that can counter these skills.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Slark
* Heroes that rely on their high mobility such as Queen of Pain,
Slark and
Weaver can be constantly engaged against due to your excellent ability to chase over any terrain. Make sure you carry true sight items (such as
Dust of Appearance or
Gem of True Sight) for invisible heroes that could potentially escape your clutches.
Outworld Destroyer
* Heroes with mana burn: Nyx Assassin,
Invoker,
Outworld Destroyer,
Pugna,
Lion
Slark
* Pounce's leash prevents Storm Spirit from using Ball Lightning, making it hard for Storm Spirit to escape a gank from Slark.
* Dark Pact can dispel Orchid Malevolence's Soul Burn.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Pounce's root prevents Earth Spirit from using Rolling Boulder to escape, making it easier for Slark to shut him down especially in the laning phase.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Slark
* With Dust of Appearance, Luna will be able to use
Eclipse on invisible heroes. Be mindful that
Slark is exception because he'll be able to remove the debuff with
Dark Pact.
Outworld Destroyer
* Every hero that can withstand or prevent Eclipse at level 7: Juggernaut,
Riki,
Clockwerk,
Drow Ranger,
Abaddon,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Outworld Destroyer.
Slark
* Shadow Dance prevents Luna from damaging Slark, and together with
Silver Edge he can easily chase her or escape from her.
* Luna has no way to escape from Pounce's leash.
* For the same reasons, Slark makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Additional:
* Luna's lack of mobility and escape abilities makes her easily to gank for Slark.
* Shadow Dance helps avoid all the damage from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Slark makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer can steal more mana with Astral Imprisonment from
Skywrath Mage with
Shield of the Scion (granted by
Aghanim's Shard). Shield of the Scion grants Skywrath Mage bonus intelligence every time he deals magic damage to an enemy hero with his abilities. The higher his intelligence, the larger his mana pool. Since Astral Imprisonment steals based on the target's max mana, Outworld Destroyer can steal much more mana from Skywrath Mage.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)Outworld Destroyer
* Heroes with built-in spell immunity can become immune to all of Outworld Destroyer's spells: Lifestealer's
Rage and
Juggernaut's
Blade Fury.
Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment allows Outworld Destroyer to save himself or his teamates during
Omnislash.
* Juggernaut's low mana from his low intelligence gain means that he'll take a lot of damage from Sanity's Eclipse.
Slark
* Heroes with escaping and disjointing abilities can be good against Juggernaut:Anti-Mage
Riki,
Queen of Pain,
Puck,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Slark etc.
Additional:
* Blade Fury does not offer any protections against
Essence Shift, as it can go through spell immunity and reduces attribute.
* Slark can pounce away from Juggernaut and he cannot prevent or chase slark.
* Shadow Dance prevent Juggernaut from using
Omnislash altogether, while regen himself at a higher rate. Slark can freely hit juggernaut without any fears of retaliation.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer is not exceptionally dangerous to Necrohpos because of his Ghost Shroud, but his Astral Imprisonment can save his allies from Necrophos's Reaper's Scythe, though only if he uses it at the right time, If an Outworld Destroyer is nearby, Necrophos should not use Reaper's Scythe unless he has banished himself, or has banished two heroes within 15 seconds
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Slark
* Dark Pact can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting.
* Shadow Dance allows Slark heightened regeneration when out of vision making DoTs effects less threatening.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Slark
* 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.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Slark
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like Slark in his
Shadow Dance and
Weaver in his
Shukuchi.
Additional:
* Earthshaker's many AoE stuns help lock down Slark and will often waste the duration of Shadow Dance.
* As a frequent Force Staff buyer,he can later on escape or save teammates from Pounce.
Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Earthshaker.
* Astral Imprisonment catches Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Earthshaker has mana troubles, and Outworld Destroyer's abilities can press this by stealing intelligence comes from Arcane Orb, therefore depleting his mana pool and mana regeneration.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Earthshaker, due to his low intelligence and mana pool.
Slark
* Heroes with invisibility and high mobility can jump on and focus down Earthshaker before he has a chance to initiate: Clinkz,
Slark,
Storm Spirit
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment prevents Legion Commander from killing her opponents in Duels.
Additional:
* Outworld Destroyer can save an ally hero caught by Duel with Astral Imprisonment, and he can inflict heavy damage on Legion Commander with Arcane Orb to aid his ally. However, if he gets caught, he is unlikely to survive the duel, due to his lack of durability.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Slark
* Essence Shift deals 20 extra damage by draining one strength per hit, which cannot be reduced or spread by Dispersion.
* Pounce prevents Spectre from escaping with Spectral Dagger.
* Haunt illusions usually don't deal a lot of damage to Slark as he tends to buy a
Shadow Blade, preventing
Desolate's and
Diffusal Blade's damage and activating Shadow Dance's regeneration to make up for any damage caused by
Radiance.
* Slark is a natural carrier of Silver Edge, which helps break both
Desolate and
Dispersion.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 1%)Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer's pure damage will mop up Primal Split's units very quickly.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Outworld Destroyer
* Arcane Orb deals heavy damage to both Lone Druid and the Spirit Bear.
* Astral Imprisonment can prevent the Spirit Bear from attacking, which is Lone Druid's main damage output.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals heavy damage to Lone Druid.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Outworld Destroyer
* Most Illusion based heroes (like Chaos Knight and
Terrorblade) can't use their illusion beneficially against Sanity's Eclipse's high AoE burst damage.
Additional:
* Arcane Orb deals pure damage against the real Terrorblade, which allows it to bypass his high base armor.
* Arcane Orb and
Sanity's Eclipse will make very short work of Terrorblade and his illusions.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 2%)Slark
* Heroes that can jump on her: Slark,
Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Slark
* Pounce also stops Nature's Prophet's
Teleportation.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Slark
* 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.
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Slark
* Nyx Assassin,
Bounty Hunter and
Slark can all sneak up and kill Shadow Shaman, Nyx being particularly deadly. Shadow Shaman must watch out for Slark carefully, as he can break either (but not both unless he makes a mistake) of Shadow Shaman's disables, with
Dark Pact and leap out of a serpent ward ring. These heroes, however, rely heavily on escape and are themselves not very durable and none of them can survive a full lockdown with Mass Serpent Ward. Having Sentry Wards can turn Shadow Shaman from prey to predator.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Slark
* 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.
Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Slark
* Clockwerk lacks burst damage, and that makes him vulnerable to heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage after Clockwerk finishes his initiation. Additionally, Clockwerk hates buying Dagon and
Ethereal Blade, which are the only itmes that can help him deal with heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage:
Faceless Void,
Terrorblade,
Ursa,
Weaver,
Broodmother,
Slark,
Abaddon,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Slark
* Heroes who have a high mobility (Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Slark, etc.).
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with low mana pools will die quickly or even instantly to Sanity's Eclipse: Doom,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord.
Additional:
* Outworld Destroyer's pure damage from Arcane Orb is very effective at killing Troll Warlord quickly.
* Astral Imprisonment removes Troll Warlord from a fight for four seconds, minimizing his contribution to a teamfight, and potentially wasting over half of Battle Trance's duration.
* Troll Warlord gains a measly 1 intelligence point per level, meaning Sanity's Eclipse is especially effective, often instantly killing him.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Slark
* 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.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Slark
* 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.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Slark
* Heroes with strong dispels can remove Primal Roar's stun: Abaddon,
Slark,
Oracle.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Slark
* Slark with
Dark Pact
* Heroes that can remove the Track debuff with their skills:
* Abaddon with
Aphotic Shield and
Borrowed Time
* Huskar with
Life Break
* Juggernaut with
Blade Fury
* Legion Commander with
Press the Attack
* Lifestealer with
Rage and
Infest
* Naga Siren with
Mirror Image
* Omniknight with
Heavenly Grace
* Oracle with
Fortune's End and
False Promise
* Phantom Lancer with
Doppelganger
* Slark with
Dark Pact
* Ursa with
Enrage
* Weaver with
Time Lapse
* Tidehunter with
Kraken Shell when damage received reaches the threshold.
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Slark
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Outworld Destroyer
* Heroes with pure damage can kill Huskar when he inevitably gets low on health: Outworld Destroyer,
Silencer.
Additional:
* Outworld Destroyer can dodge Life Break with Astral Imprisonment, leaving him unharmed while Huskar loses HP.
* Sanity's Eclipse can deal massive damage to Huskar before he builds up his Berserker's Blood stacks due to Huskar's low mana pool.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Slark
* Melee carries who usually buy an early Black King Bar, and have gap closing abilities can be good against the Arc Warden, such as
Slark,
Riki,
Earthshaker with
Aghanim's Scepter,
Sven with
Aghanim's Scepter etc.
Additional:
* Flux is dispelled by Dark Pact.
* Pounce allows Slark to avoid Spark Wraiths.
* Tempest Double allows Slark to build up Essence Shift stacks, especially when it is being used for split pushing.
Riki
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Slark
* 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.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Lycan cannot escape from a Pounce even if he uses
Shapeshift, and has no disabling abilities to stop Slark.
Lion
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Slark
* Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slark's poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early: Lina,
Lion,
Zeus
Slark
* Pounce allows Slark to close in on Lion and prevent him from escaping.
* Lion's fragile health pool makes him easy prey for Slark's high burst damage through Pounce,
Dark Pact and right-clicks.
* Shadow Dance prevents Lion from casting Hex, Mana Drain, or Finger of Death on Slark.
* Dark Pact allows Slark to dispel any of Lion's disables.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with high intelligence, such as Invoker and
Pugna.
Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment allows Outworld Destroyer to save himself or ally from Invoker's combo, or remove Invoker from a fight temporarily.
* Arcane Orb's pure damage will deal a lot of damage against Invoker's mediocre strength gain.
* EMP is useless against Outworld Destroyer by activating Equilibrium.
* However, be aware that Sanity's Eclipse will most likely not deal any damage at all, due to Invoker's high intelligence gain compared to Outworld Destroyer's.
Bane
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Outworld Destroyer
* 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.
Slark
* Low-health, normally mobile carries with a lot of damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Luna,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
Outworld Destroyer
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Slark
* Dark Pact can dispel Enfeeble, as well as Nightmare and Fiend's Grip when timed correctly.
* Shadow Dance can protect Slark from Bane's single-target abilities.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Outworld Destroyer
* Heroes with built-in spell immunity can become immune to all of Outworld Destroyer's spells: Lifestealer's
Rage and
Juggernaut's
Blade Fury.
Slark
* Shadow Dance allows Slark to attack Lifestealer for its duration without any way for Lifestealer to fight back, allowing him to steal his stats with
Essence Shift, which also reduces Lifestealer's strength and, therefore, health pool.
* Slark can easily escape Lifestealer with Pounce, and can avoid Open Wounds with
Dark Pact should Lifestealer be forced to itemize for it.
* Slark commonly buys a Silver Edge, which can break Lifestealer's Feast, severely diminishing his damage output and lifesteal.
Lina
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Slark
* Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slark's poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early: Lina,
Lion,
Zeus
Slark
* Dark Pact can be cast during the cast animation of Light Strike Array and dispel its stun.
* Pounce allows Slark to close the gap to Lina.
* Shadow Dance prevents Lina from killing Slark with her Laguna Blade when his HP gets low.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Slark
* Heroes that can deny Slark early kills will prevent him from snowballing: Dazzle,
Abaddon.
Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment wastes Borrowed Time's duration.
* Outworld Destroyer's Sanity's Eclipse can kill Abaddon before Borrowed Time triggers due to the lack of intelligence for Abaddon.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 12%)Slark
* Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance: Lina,
Jakiro,
Underlord,
Leshrac,
Dark Seer,
Earthshaker,
Timbersaw,
Crystal Maiden.
Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to protect allies from Jakiro's various abilities, It can also be cast on Jakiro to break his combos (Macropyre into Ice path into Dual Breath), while at the same time, stealing his much needed mana.
* Once he gets his Scepter and Shard, not only does he get two charges, he and his allies can move while imprisoned, which allows them to leave the area of your spells
* His Astral Imprisonment/Meteor Hammer combo combined with his high pure damage can quickly decimate Jakiro, And unlike most heroes, Outworld doesn't particularly care who he targets.
* Outworld is also a common Black King's Bar carrier
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Outworld Destroyer
* Any heroes with silences can negate the majority of Outworld Destroyer's damage output: Death Prophet,
Night Stalker,
Drow Ranger,
Doom .
Slark
* A well-timed Dark Pact can dispel Frost Arrows and Gust, letting Slark engage and escape freely.
* Shadow Dance lets Slark quickly close the gap and deal heavy damage without giving Drow Ranger a chance to retaliate.
* Pounce counteracts Frost Arrows' slow, letting Slark easily pin Drow Ranger down or flee.
Additional:
* Pounce and items like Shadow Blade makes it very difficult for Drow Ranger to keep her distance from Slark, thereby losing her
Marksmanship bonus.
* Gust is rarely enough to keep Slark at bay, as Drow Ranger has no movement abilities and will simply be chased down afterwards.
* Drow Ranger's heavy dependence on agility also makes her significantly weaker after being drained by Essence Shift.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Ensnare prevents using any kind of movement abiilties, Making Naga Siren good against heroes who rely on gap-closing abilities to escape:
Phantom Assassin,
Magnus,
Slark,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Storm Spirit.
Outworld Destroyer
* Sanity's Eclipse will likely instantly kill all illusions.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Slark
* Heroes that can deny Slark early kills will prevent him from snowballing: Dazzle,
Abaddon.
Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment is a versatile nuisance:
* If it is cast on a low-enough-health unit at least 1 second into Shallow Grave's duration, the Shallow Grave will end during the imprisonment, and the target will take lethal damage when released.
* It can be used remove Dazzle from the fight at a time he could have saved someone.
* It lets himself or an ally dodge all of Poison Touch's effects, for long enough to recover their Blink Dagger.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 11%)Outworld Destroyer
* Tinker's
Laser is useful against Outworld Destroyer, as the blind prevents him from landing Arcane Orbs.
Slark
* Pounce prevents Tinker from blinking away.
* Slark frequently builds Shadow Blade, which allows him to approach Tinker unnoticed. Since Tinker's farming usually covers a significant amount of area on the map, Sentry Wards may not be cost effective.
* Shadow Dance allows Slark to detect both common and unusual wards. Eliminating common ward causes Tinker trouble farming many lanes if he does not know who may be waiting to jump on him. Slark is also uniquely able to identify some of the less common wards used by Tinker, such as those placed on the cliffs at map edges which Tinker uses to give him vision over the trees he uses to hide in.
* Slark's extremely high move speed from Shadow Dance, potentially stacked with
Shadow Blade, allows him to easily follow Tinker between lanes, especially if Tinker has pushed the lanes out.
* Dark Pact dispels Laser's blind.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Slark
* Time Dilation while Dark Pact and
Pounce are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, reducing his escape potential. However, Time Dilation is dispellable with
Dark Pact so it needs to be timed well.
* Chronosphere will not reveal Slark during Shadow Dance but covers the whole duration of Shadow Dance making him unable to use it to attack or escape. Slark still receives the regeneration benefit from Shadow Dance.
Outworld Destroyer
* Any hero that can nullify effects of Chronosphere: (Keeper of the Light with
Aghanim's Scepter during daytime,
Winter Wyvern), banishing him or Faceless Void (
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Earth Spirit with
Aghanim's Scepter) or protecting him in other ways (
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Abaddon) can greatly limit Chronosphere's potential.
Slark
* 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.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Outworld Destroyer
* As Outworld Destroyer has short cast ranges, a short attack range, and no gap-closing abilities, Sniper can kite and harass Outworld Destroyer in lane with his long range and zone him out in fights. The continuous area damage from Shrapnel also prevents Astral-Blink escapes.
* However, in the late game, Outworld Destroyer's massive damage can overwhelm Sniper once he obtains Blink Dagger,
Force Staff etc. to close the gap.
Slark
* Sniper hugely lacks mobility and escape abilities so that he is an easy target for ganks from Slark.
Muerta
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 13%)Slark
* Slark's low health and reliance on high built armor from Essence Shift makes him susceptible to Muerta's
Pierce the Veil.
* Muerta cannot be attacked by Slark's physical attacks and Essence Shift during
Pierce the Veil.
* Muerta's Dead Shot can hit Slark during his
Shadow Dance.
Outworld Destroyer
* Astral Imprisonment can waste over half of
Pierce the Veil, or protect an ally from
Dead Shot's fear.
* He almost always gets two charges later on, allowing him to waste the entire duration of Pierce the Veil
Mars
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Slark
* Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during Shadow Dance.
* Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through Shadow Dance and
Depth Shroud.
* Should Pounce be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.
Outworld Destroyer
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence pool.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Outworld Destroyer
* Refraction blocks most of the damage dealt with Arcane Orb and Sanity's Eclipse if used correctly, and is difficult for Outworld Destroyer to deal with.
* If Astral Imprisonment is on cooldown, then an Outworld Destroyer slowed by Psionic Trap is an easy kill for Templar Assassin, especially during the laning stage.
Slark
* Dark Pact rips through Refraction charges and still steals attributes during Refraction.
* Pounce and Dark Pact will still hit Templar Assassin while she is Melded. Since she cannot move, both abilities will be easy for Slark to land.
Sven
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Slark
* Heroes who cannot prevent Sven from killing supports will always be at a disadvantage in fights such as Lina,
Slark and
Zeus.
Outworld Destroyer
* Tanky melee heroes that can easily be kited, which allows Outworld Destroyer to deal heavy damage with Arcane Orb from a distance: Sven,
Underlord,
Bristleback.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Melee carries during the laning phase: Sven,
Slark
Slark
* Heroes with dispels: Legion Commander,
Oracle,
Slark,
Phantom Lancer
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Slark
* Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slark's poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early: Lina,
Lion,
Zeus
Slark
* Zeus can deal a huge amount of damage, but he lacks defensive abilities, such as good mobility or resistance. Due to that, he doesn't like to be touched by any means. Heroes with higher damage output and good mobility will often get easily near Zeus and trade damage (eventually causing Zeus's downfall). Such Heroes include: Lycan,
Slark,
Storm Spirit,
Spectre and others.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Slark
* Berseker's Call catches Slark in Shadow Dance, wasting its duration and preventing him from escaping to regenerate.
* Unlike most disables, Dark Pact cannot dispel Berserker's Call, and the output damage would be returned by
Blade Mail.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call forces Slark to attack him, even during Shadow Dance.
* Counter Helix will hit Slark in Shadow Dance. It also triggers frequently against Slark's high attack speed provided by Essence Shift stacks.
* Culling Blade finishes off Slark before he gets a chance to slip away and regenerate his health, preventing him from playing the typical hit-and-run style.
Outworld Destroyer
* Outworld Destroyer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Axe.
* Astral Imprisonment is an excellent way to defend against an initiating Axe.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Axe due to his low mana pool.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call bonus armor doesn't block Arcane Orb's pure damage.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to prevent an ally or Outworld Destroyer himself from an Axe initiation.
* Axe's low mana means he's susceptible to a powerful Sanity's Eclipse.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance: Lina,
Jakiro,
Underlord,
Leshrac,
Dark Seer,
Earthshaker,
Timbersaw,
Crystal Maiden.
Outworld Destroyer
* Tanky melee heroes that can easily be kited, which allows Outworld Destroyer to deal heavy damage with Arcane Orb from a distance: Sven,
Underlord,
Bristleback.
Additional:
* Arcane Orb 's pure damage can do great damage to Underlord.
* Sanity's Eclipse can tear down Underlord's health by a large amount, since his mana pool is very low compare to OD's high mana pool.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 2%)Slark
* Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance: Lina,
Jakiro,
Underlord,
Leshrac,
Dark Seer,
Earthshaker,
Timbersaw,
Crystal Maiden.
Slark
* Dark Seer relies on Surge for most of his mobility, so he's not very vulnerable to slows, but much more to root effects and walls or pseudo-walls such as Disruptor's
Kinetic Field or
Slark's
Pounce.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Slark
* Slark's dependence on Pounce and close range makes him very easy to hit with Purification.
* Slark's damage, even with a high count of Essence Shift stacks, is easily negated by Omniknight's heals and Guardian Angel.
Outworld Destroyer
* Arcane Orb's pure damage penetrates Guardian Angel's defense.
* Astral Imprisonment's mana steal is devastating to Omniknight's already low mana pool.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assassin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (lane data is parsed from hero guides dotabuff)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- Improved UX on small screens - when selecting heroes page automatically scrolls so hero select input is displayed at the very top of screen, leaving more space for results.
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal win rate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest win rate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
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Outworld Destroyer
*
Doppelganger and
Juxtapose allow Phantom Lancer to initiate on Outworld Destroyer, and, although Arcane Orb will normally destroy his illusions instantly, Phantom Lancer will spawn too many to deal with without using Sanity's Eclipse.
Aghanim's Scepter is his primary AOE, and it does too little damage to eliminate Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Sanity's Eclipse will erase your illusions and deal massive damage to you. He can then follow up with
Astral Imprisonment and
Meteor Hammer.
* Outworld Destroyer has very little AOE ability; His Astral Imprisonment with
Additional:
* Although Outworld Destroyer will typically destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions in one shot, Phantom Lancer spawns too many of them for Outworld Destroyer to deal with. However, be careful about initating on Outworld, as
Slark
* Slark has no sustained AoE to fight off Phantom Lancer's illusions as they continually spawn.
Shadow Dance.
Phantom Rush helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark if he tries to escape with
Pounce.
Doppelganger lets Phantom Lancer dodge Dark Pact and Pounce and partially wastes the duration of Shadow Dance.
Spirit Lance can give vision of Slark via spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from Shadow Dance.
Phantom Rush helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark when he jumps away with Pounce.
* Spirit Lance can give vision of Slark by spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from
*
Additional:
* Slark has no sustained AoE damage to deal with a lot of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
*
*
*