Pudge
* Bristleback is one of the hardest heroes to gank with a 
Meat Hook and 
Dismember combo, and attempts to do so sometimes backfire on Pudge.
Additional:
* Pudge is particularly susceptible to Bristleback's 
Viscous Nasal Goo and 
Quill Spray due to his naturally low armor and poor agility gain.
* Bristleback, in combination with his strength gain, high health, common itemization for magic resistance and damage reduction from 
Bristleback makes him a poor target for Pudge.
Riki
* Quill Spray will hit Riki even when he is invisible.
* 
Cloak and Dagger's bonus backstab damage is rendered irrelevant against Bristleback.
* 
Smoke Screen does not stop Bristleback's passive from activating.
* Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal 
Gem of True Sight carrier, directly countering Riki's invisibility.
Additional:
* The bonus Backstab damage from Cloak and Dagger is rendered irrelevant with Bristleback and hurts Riki more than him because of the passive Quill Spray.
* Riki can still get damaged by Bristleback's Quill Spray while invisible, and it can be hard to deal with in lane.
* Bristleback is not too bothered by Smoke Screen. Though he cannot use Quill Spray manually inside it, it still procs passively when he takes damage from the back. The movement speed from 
Warpath allows him to get out of the area easily.
* Due to Bristleback's natural tankiness, he is an ideal Gem of True Sight carrier.
* Riki rarely buys 
Silver Edge to break Bristleback's passive because the invisibility aspect of it is redundant.
Pudge
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage: 
Spectre, 
Nyx Assassin, 
Clockwerk, 
Spirit Breaker, 
Omniknight, 
Pudge.
Additional:
* 
Void's mini-stun and silence from 
Crippling Fear will stop Pudge from using Dismember or turning off his Rot.
* Night Stalker has naturally high health, strength gain and common itemization for survivability through magic resistance, making Night Stalker a poor target for Pudge.
Riki
* With Dark Ascension and Gem of True Sight, Night Stalker can easily find and kill Riki. Riki will also find it harder to kill the tanky Night Stalker than he would many other heroes.
Pudge
* Bounty Hunter can easily keep vision on Pudge with Track, making it difficult for Pudge to hook Bounty Hunter or his team mates.
* It's difficult for Pudge to keep up with Bounty Hunter to apply 
Rot on him due to Shadow Walk.
* Shuriken Toss cancels out Dismember from a good range if Bounty Hunter is not the target.
Additional:
* 
Track can easily keep vision on Pudge, making it very hard for him to hook Bounty Hunter or his teammates from the fog of war.
* 
Shuriken Toss cancels Dismember from great range.
Riki
* Invisibility reliant heroes: Heroes with invisibility abilities or those that have invested into invisibility items are hindered by Bounty Hunter's Track. Few examples of such heroes are:
Clinkz, 
Riki, 
Treant Protector, etc.
Additional:
* Track reveals Riki while invisible and gives him a hard time, as it prevents much of his ganking capabilities. This can force Riki to buy 
Manta Style to dispel it.
Pudge
* 
Kraken Shell can dispel Dismember after reaching a certain threshold of damage.
* Tidehunter's naturally high health, strength gain, and common itemization for survivability through magic resistance makes Tidehunter a poor target.
Riki
* Riki doesn't deal burst damage.Durable heroes (
Axe, 
Tidehunter etc.) will usually survive a jump from him,move out of Smoke Screen and potentially retaliate.
Pudge
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities: 
Crystal Maiden, 
Dawnbreaker, 
Enigma, Pudge, 
Shadow Fiend, 
Shadow Shaman, 
Warlock.
Riki
* Riki can easily be caught in an Ice Path and Macropyre combo as he finishes 
Tricks of the Trade, Jakiro just has to be careful about Riki's Smoke Screen when dealing with Riki.
Pudge
* Anti-Tank heroes like: 
Razor, 
Necrophos, 
Undying.
Riki
* 
Static Link drains away Riki's damage while keeping his location revealed for its duration, allowing his team to accurately land detection or area-of-effect skills.
* 
Storm Surge procs on invisible heroes, making him aware of Riki's presence near him.
Pudge
* 
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).
Riki
* 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.
Pudge
* Legion Commander can use 
Press the Attack on an ally to dispel Dismember. The bonus health regeneration also partially counters the damage of Rot
* 
Duel can be used on Pudge whilst Rot is active, disabling toggling which may result in a lethal health drain that leaves Legion Commander with a successful duel.
Riki
* Another great threat to Riki since her Duel forces him to fight from the front and expose him for the entire duration, almost always guaranteeing an easy win (unless Riki has allies helping him).
* 
Moment of Courage can become hard to deal with as it doesn't cease with silence.
Riki
* Heroes with abilities that blind or cause Legion Commander to miss will prevent her from winning Duels: 
Arc Warden, 
Keeper of the Light, Riki, 
Tinker
Riki
* Riki takes a lot of damage from 
Purification while ganking Omniknight's allies or himself.
* 
Heavenly Grace instantly purges the slow from 
Diffusal Blade, while also providing a large amount of survivability for his victim.
* 
Degen Aura can hinder Riki's positioning tactics and put a heavy toll on Riki's already poor movement speed.
* Omniknight can easily save his allies by using 
Guardian Angel in combat.
Pudge
* Pudge has a very hard time killing Familiars due to his melee range and low attack speed.
* Stone Form can quickly interrupt Dismember.
Riki
* 
Pit of Malice prevents Riki from casting 
Blink Strike. or Tricks of the Trade.
* 
Atrophy Aura reduces Riki's damage.
* 
Firestorm can be used to harrass Riki in lane.
Riki
* Axe can disable Cloak and Dagger's invisibility with 
Berserker's Call, which forces Riki to attack him at a very bad angle.
* Axe has a very high HP pool, making it hard for you to kill him before you get big items - that is if you survive engaging him. 
Counter Helix ignores Riki's armor and goes straight for his tiny HP pool, totally ignoring Smoke Screen.
* Axe is a natural buyer of Blade Mail and Riki generally does not buy lifesteal items, causing Riki to kill himself when attacking due to your tiny HP pool.
Riki
* Thirst detects Riki whenever his health is low.
* Rupture does large damage when Riki uses Blink Strike.
Pudge
* 
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.
Pudge
* Meat Hooking a Clockwerk can backfire for Pudge, as Battery Assault and 
Blade Mail will hurt Pudge more than he hurts Clockwerk.
Pudge
* Earth Spirit can easily disrupt Dismember because he can disable from a long distance with a Stone Remnant and Rolling Boulder. With talent he can even pull his teammates out of Dismember and also silence Pudge with Geomagnetic Grip.
Riki
* Viper's 
Nethertoxin disables Cloak and Dagger, negating Riki's invisibility and much of his damage. It also makes him more vulnerable to magic damage, which does not go well with Riki's low health pool. With the talent applied, he can't even blink to safety or hide with Tricks of the Trade.
* 
Corrosive Skin makes it hard for Riki to chase Viper and attack him due to the attack speed slow.
* 
Viper Strike stays on Riki even after he goes invisible.
* 
Poison Attack makes it risky for Riki to get last hits and can make the laning phase difficult for him.
Pudge
* Generally heroes who don't rely on magical damage, such as 
Sven, Phantom Assassin, and 
Outworld Destroyer, as they can practically ignore Flesh Heap's damage block.
Riki
* Blink Strike does not grant Riki a mobility advantage over Phantom Assassin, as her Phantom Strike serves the same purpose, but with a higher range.
* A Carry Riki usually has a hard time dealing with Blur, as a 
Monkey King Bar or 
Bloodthorn are unfavourable item picks for him (or, even more unlikely, a Silver Edge).
* A 
Black King Bar is a very common pick for Phantom Assassin, fully countering Smoke Screen and Diffusal Blade while activated.
Pudge
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe, Enigma, 
Vengeful Spirit, 
Doom, 
Bane, 
Beastmaster, Pudge, 
Medusa, Warlock.
Additional:
* If Phantom Assassin jumps on Pudge first with 
Phantom Strike, she will be a very easy target for Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember combo.
* Even though it can deal damage based on Pudge's max health, 
Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard cannot disable Pudge's 
Flesh Heap as Flesh Heap is one of the few passive abilities that cannot be disabled by break.
* Both Meat Hook and Dismember ignore spell immunity which allows Pudge to disable Phantom Assassin even while she has Black King Bar active.
* Pudge occassionally buys armor items like Blade Mail, which in combination with many stacks from Flesh Heap can make Phantom Assassin have little effect against Pudge.
Pudge
* Pudge relies on his hook to initiate his combo. As long as she's able to avoid the hook with Windrun and shackle him, Windranger can take him down easily. Pudge's low armor means that he won't be able to endure Focus Fire for long.
Pudge
* 
Impale and 
Spiked Carapace can be used to cancel Dismember easily, and can even do so when Pudge uses it on Nyx Assassin, if timed correctly.
Pudge
* The percentage-based primary-attribute reduction effect of 
Whirling Death can be devastating for Pudge due to his high strength gain through Flesh Heap.
* 
Reactive Armor's health regeneration and common itemization for magic resistance and durability makes Timbersaw a poor target for Pudge.
* 
Timber Chain's high mobility makes it difficult for Pudge to hook or deal much Rot damage to Timbersaw.
Pudge
* No matter how high Pudge builds up strength with his Flesh Heap, all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe. Considering his constant self-damage with Rot, being around Heartstopper Aura will prove risky for an overconfident Pudge.
Additional:
* 
Heartstopper Aura is effective against high health heroes, and Pudge is no exception. Coupled with his self-damage from Rot, being around Heartstopper Aura could prove risky for Pudge.
* Regardless of how much health Pudge gains through Flesh Heap, 
Reaper's Scythe will often kill Pudge should his health fall below 40%, making Necrophos an ideal counter versus Pudge.
Pudge
* Phantasm's illusions make it difficult to land Meat Hook and Dismember.
* Chaos Bolt is a comparatively low cooldown tool to interrupt Dismember.
* Chaos Strike's lifesteal offsets Rot's damage.
Additional:
* Unlike any other illusion heroes, Chaos Knight is the worst target for Pudge to hook as it will definitely backfire him.
* 
Phantasm are significantly tankier than most illusion and deal full damage, which will quickly kill Pudge due to his low armor.
* it becomes worse if pudge is affected with 
Reality Rift, which reduces his already abysmal base armor even lower.
* Low movement speed and low mobility means Pudge will struggle to escape or outrun Chaos Knight in most cases.
Riki
* Riki does little damage to Dragon Knight, as he relies only on physical damage with modest attack speed and lack of burst.
Pudge
* 
Tag Team easily overwhelms Pudge, as he has low armor, which when combined with heroes with strong physical damage and Pudge's slow speed, it becomes for Pudge difficult to escape.
* 
Snowball can save a Dismembered ally and stop Pudge's Dismember.
* 
Walrus PUNCH! will removes a big chunk of Pudge's health and stun him.
* Pudge usually can't stand toe to toe against Tusk and his allies in the early game.
Pudge
* 
Infernal Blade deals high damage to Pudge due to his scaling health and strength gain from Flesh Heap.
* Using 
Doom with timing against Pudge who had just activated Rot would usually kill him.
Additional:
* Doom disables the toggling of Rot and, if cast at the right time, may leave Pudge with a potentially lethal health drain.
* Doom's naturally high health, strength gain and damage output makes him a poor target for Pudge.
* The damage of Doom's Infernal Blade scales with the target's maximum health, which is particularly effective against Pudge due to his naturally high health and further health granted by stacks of Flesh Heap.
Pudge
* His low armor deters him from a trade,while 
Jingu Mastery allows Monkey King to retaliate.
* Buffed 
Boundless Strike heals Monkey King and can potentially execute Pudge.
* Monkey King can scout Pudge's positioning from the trees, making it easier for him and his allies to dodge Meat Hook.
* With a better-than-average strength gain, he usually survives Pudge's combo.
Riki
* In general, heroes who are melee with no way to fight back can be very easily poked by Monkey King to gain his Jingu Mastery stacks: 
Dark Seer, Riki, 
Rubick.
Riki
* Heroes with blind of some sort can be a bad choice for Monkey King to go on: 
Broodmother, Riki, Keeper of the Light.
Pudge
* Abaddon's constant heals and protection can save himself and his allies from burst-focused heroes, such as 
Legion Commander, Faceless Void, and Pudge.
Additional:
* Abaddon can activate 
Borrowed Time to dispel Dismember; breaking the disable and potentially allowing Abaddon to escape.
* 
Aphotic Shield can be cast on an ally to dispel the stun of Dismember, which can make kills difficult to secure, given that Dismember is Pudge's only reliable disable.
* Pudge lacks a mobility without a 
Blink Dagger, causing him to be easily chased with 
Curse of Avernus. The silence also prevents him from toggling off his Rot.
Pudge
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: 
Ember Spirit, Riki, Clinkz, Queen of Pain.
Riki
* With 
Aghanim's Scepter, Broodmother will gain access to 
Spinner's Snare, which will allow her to create invisible lines on her webs from 
Spin Web that will root, deal damage over time, and reveal enemy heroes if they unwittingly step on them. This allows Broodmother to keep her allies alerted on heroes who rely on invisibility-themed and movement-themed abilities and items to surprise enemy heroes and disrupt ganking attempts of enemy heroes: Phantom Assassin, Nyx Assassin, Mirana, 
Bounty Hunter, 
Templar Assassin, Riki, Spirit Breaker, Anti-Mage, Tusk, 
Ursa, 
Nature's Prophet, Enigma, 
Void Spirit, Magnus etc.
Pudge
* Anti-Tank heroes like: Razor, Necrophos, Undying.
Pudge
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, 
Bristleback, 
Mars.
Pudge
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane, Pudge, 
Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Enigma.
Riki
* 
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.
Riki
* Techies is very good against roaming supports and gankers such as Bounty Hunter, Riki, 
Weaver, 
Earthshaker, Nyx Assassin, etc. that are constantly moving around the map.
Pudge
* Any heroes that naturally buy Diffusal Blade like 
Phantom Lancer or have a mana break talent is a big issue for Pudge because of his low mana pool.
Pudge
* Pudge has low armor and mobility, making him suspectible to her physical attacks (if Lina is the carry).
* Because Dismember is a channeled ability, it can be canceled through Light Strike Array within a distance.
Pudge
* Heroes with abilities that can pull Lina out of position can easily bring her to their team mates, like 
Batrider with 
Flaming Lasso, Pudge with Meat Hook and Vengeful Spirit with 
Nether Swap.
Pudge
* Tether and Overcharge makes it much harder for Pudge to kill a target with Meat Hook, and Relocate can save the Io's ally while Dismember is being channeled.
Riki
* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, 
Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker, 
Lifestealer.
Pudge
* If Meat Hook is used before 
Blink, Anti-Mage may be able to escape Pudge's grasp by blinking to safety.
* 
Counterspell grants Anti-Mage a large degree of magic resistance, a damage type Pudge is highly reliant on to secure kills. This makes Anti-Mage a bad target for Pudge. The active can also block Dismember if timed correctly.
* 
Mana Break can quickly drain Pudge's low supply of mana, which may render Meat Hook and Dismember unusable.
Riki
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: 
Lion, 
Silencer, Shadow Shaman, 
Grimstroke, Witch Doctor, Riki, Faceless Void, 
Skywrath Mage, Puck.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can use neither Blink nor Manta Style to escape from Smoke Cloud.
* Even if he activates a Black King Bar, his Manta Style illusions will still be blinded by Smoke Cloud.
* Riki has a very small mana pool and generally doesn't buy many items that increase it, making 
Mana Void ineffective.
Pudge
* Pudge has low armor and low mobility, making him a prime target for Terrorblade's right-clicks.
* Meat Hook is a lot harder to land on the real Terrorblade if he has illusions around him.
* Because Dismember targets only one hero, Terrorblade's illusions can potentially save the real Terrorblade if he's caught in it.
Riki
* 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.
Pudge
* Heroes who have channeling abilities because Terrorblade has no disables to cancel them at all besides 
Terror Wave from Aghanim's Scepter, and he does not like buying disabling items at all: Enigma's 
Black Hole, Witch Doctor's 
Death Ward, Shadow Shaman's 
Shackles, Lion's 
Mana Drain, Bane's 
Fiend's Grip, Pudge's Dismember, Crystal Maiden's 
Freezing Field, 
Pugna's 
Life Drain, Dawnbreaker's 
Solar Guardian, and 
Naga Siren's 
Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter.
Riki
* Heroes with abilities that can lock down Terrorblade and prevent him from using Sunder: Bane, Batrider, Earthshaker, 
Elder Titan, Faceless Void, 
Invoker, Legion Commander, Mars, 
Primal Beast, Riki, Shadow Shaman, Silencer, Vengeful Spirit, Void Spirit.
Pudge
* Sniper has a low health pool and strength gain, making him vulnerable to Pudge's magical and pure damage.
* Sniper usually likes to deal damage away from the fight, and Meat Hook is capable of bringing him to the front lines.
* 
Assassinate won't do much damage against Pudge because of his high strength gain and the strength bonuses from Flesh Heap.
* 
Shrapnel will be mostly blocked by Flesh Heap's active.
Additional:
* Pudge's Meat Hook allows him to bring Sniper in the middle of any fight, and the pure damage does well against his high armor and low health.
* Dismember can lock Sniper down, which makes him highly vulnerable and gives enough time for Pudge to kill him alone. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Dismember will also allow Pudge to save an ally from Assassinate.
Riki
* Sniper has no natural escape and relies on his range and slows to keep himself safe, which Riki can bypass with Blink Strike and quickly deplete his miniature HP pool.
Pudge
* Meat Hook brings Drow Ranger to Pudge, disabling Marksmanship and dealing a huge amount of damage when combined with Rot and Dismember.
* Rot keeps Pudge close to Drow Ranger, continuously disabling Marksmanship.
Additional:
* Meat Hook can pull Drow Ranger to Pudge, disabling her 
Marksmanship.
* Following up with Dismember will prevent Drow Ranger from using 
Gust or 
Shadow Blade.
Riki
* Blink Strike gets Riki close to Drow Ranger and disable Marksmanship.
* Cloak and Dagger allow Riki stay close to Drow Ranger without her noticing him, which allows him to disable Marksmanship.
Additional:
* With Blink Strike, Riki can get close to Drow Ranger and disable her Marksmanship, and Smoke Screen will prevent her from using Gust.
Pudge
* Rot and Meat Hook hits Dark Willow even when she uses Shadow Realm.
* Flesh Heap reduces Dark Willow's magic burst damage.
Riki
* Smoke Screen prevents Dark Willow from using her abilities, rendering her defenseless and unable to deal any serious damage.
* Blink Strike lets Riki jump past Bramble Maze.
Pudge
* Even with Black King Bar, Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember can still disable Engima while he is channeling Black Hole as Enigma is a very easy target while channeling Black Hole.
* Pudge's Aghanim's Shard upgraded Dismember and Meat Hook are great ways to save allies from Black Hole.
* Enigma is prone to ganks in the jungle or in the off-lane without proper vision. Pudge can take advantage of Enigma's lack of mobility, and gank him often.
Riki
* Riki can potentially catch an Enigma out of position and prevent him from properly blinking and initiating, thanks to Cloak and Dagger.
* Before Enigma gets his Black King Bar, Smoke Screen can be used to cancel Black Hole. After Enigma gets Black King Bar, Riki can also cancel Black Hole with Abyssal Blade, which is a common item built on him.
* Tricks of the Trade renders Riki hidden and invulnerable, which in combination with Abyssal Blade allows Riki to cancel Black Hole with little to no worries of getting caught in it.
* Enigma's fragility during all stages of the game makes him extremely prone to Riki's ganking.
Pudge
* His Rot can force Templar Assassin out of her Meld and destroy all of her Refraction charges quickly, and her small health pool and meager defense make her very vulnerable to his Meat Hook without Refraction.
Riki
* 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.
Pudge
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman, Witch Doctor, Enigma, Bane.
Additional:
* Meat Hook interrupts Death Ward from a decent range, even through Black King Bar & 
Glimmer Cape.
* Pudge can survive the damage from Maledict because of his Flesh Heap stacks.
* However the damage-over-time from Rot is counteracted by Voodoo Restoration.
Riki
* Without Dust of Appearance or Sentry Wards, Riki is able to silence Witch Doctor with Smoke Screen, and is likely to build a Diffusal Blade, leaving Witch Doctor without mana to cast Voodoo Restoration, as well as Skull Basher to interrupt Death Ward.
Pudge
* Meat Hook can hit and displace Juggernaut during his 
Blade Fury.
* Dismember pierces Juggernaut's spell immunity from Blade Fury.
Riki
* Heroes with escaping and disjointing abilities can be good against Juggernaut:Anti-Mage Riki, Queen of Pain, Puck, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Slark etc.
Pudge
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman, Witch Doctor, Enigma, Bane.
Riki
* Riki is known for being a successful support killer, something Shadow Shaman is very vulnerable to.
* Smoke Screen is particularly devastating to Shadow Shaman. With neither his various disables nor a solid health pool Shadow Shaman is usually dead. This forces Shadow Shaman to buy a 
Force Staff if he finds himself in this scenario and buy 
Sentry Wards if you have the money.
Riki
* Frostbite will reveal invisible heroes for its duration, making it a good tool against any such hero (Riki, Bounty Hunter, Weaver, or Clinkz for example), or as a soft counter to Shadow Blade, if it is used first. This can be an amazing tool to ensure that Dust of Appearance is used on the unit in question, and not wasted in not catching anything.
Pudge
* Even with Black King Bar or 
Linken's Sphere, Pudge's Meat Hook can still cancel Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field as she is a very easy target while channeling it.
* Pudge's Rot can make Crystal Maiden's already bad movement speed even worse.
* Many stacks of Flesh Heap will make it nearly impossible for Crystal Maiden to kill Pudge.
* Pudge's Dismember can also be used to cancel Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, and alternatively, Pudge can also use it to save allies from getting killed by Crystal Maiden and heal them when upgraded with Aghanim's Shard.
* Crystal Maiden is prone to ganks in the lane or in the off-lane without proper vision. Pudge can take advantage of Crystal Maiden's lack of mobility, and gank her often.
Additional:
* Meat Hook can cancel Freezing Field, even if Crystal Maiden has Glimmer Cape.
* She is also slow and fragile, making her a good target for ganking.
Riki
* Smoke Screen effectively disables Crystal Maiden's channeling spell: Freezing Field.
* Due to her low health and armor throughout the game, Riki can kill her easily.
Pudge
* Axe, Bristleback, 
Centaur Warrunner, Spirit Breaker, Pudge, 
Huskar, 
Wraith King, Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
Riki
* Riki and 
Disruptor: Smoke Screen and 
Static Storm, respectively, can be thrown wherever Puck used Phase Shift, making Puck an easy target if it doesn't have Blink Dagger or is on cooldown. Puck is also very susceptible to Riki's high attack damage when attacking from the back. Glimpse also prevents Puck from escaping altogether.
Pudge
* 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.
Riki
* Heroes that can gank Shadow Fiend in the early game: Earth Spirit, Nyx Assassin, Riki, Spirit Breaker.
Pudge
* Meat Hook can be used immediately after 
Mortimer Kisses since Snapfire is forced to stay in place.
Pudge
* Pudge's high health and damage block from Flesh Heap make him difficult for Muerta to burst.
* Pudges high magical damage from Meat Hook and Dismember can quickly burst down Muerta, especially in 
Pierce The Veil and even through Black King Bar.
* Muerta has no escape abilities and is slow, making her an easy target for Pudge's Meat Hook and Rot.
* Pudge can prevent an ally from being attacked by 
Gunslinger if he has Aghanim's Shard.
Riki
* Riki usually buys Diffusal Blade to initiate, which renders Enchantress' movement speed useless, and is usually followed with Smoke Screen.
* Riki can effectively hit Enchantress by Tricks of the Trade alongside with Diffusal Blade and Smoke Screen's initiation. For a hero like Enchantress, 3 to 4 hits from Riki is a big deal, unless Enchantress built Force Staff earlier.
Riki
* 
Spectral Dagger follows Riki even after he goes invisible and stays on him through Tricks of the Trade, revealing his location.
* 
Desolate grants Spectre the ability to damage Riki with right clicks regardless of Smoke Screen's blind.
* Riki relies on his high damage to kill is opponents, which is countered by 
Dispersion.
* 
Haunt can find Riki globally at any time, negating much of his ganking potential.
Pudge
* Pudge's Dismember stops Spectre from escaping with Haunt.
* He can easily tank the damage reflected by Dispersion due to his high strength and the healing from Dismember.
* Should Spectre try to get away through the trees or over a cliff with Spectral Dagger, Pudge can hook her back.
* Spectre takes a long time to become powerful, and Pudge can ruin her early game with ganks.
Riki
* Riki's Smoke Screen can make it hard for Spectre to escape or burst down Riki with auto attacks.
* Riki can build Aghanim's Scepter and jump inside an allied carry or offlane tank with Tricks of the Trade to do a lot of damage to Spectre while completely avoiding Dispersion.
* Riki is great at destroying supports which are often needed to keep Spectre safe until she comes online. He can take them down quickly in team fights, which will leave Spectre alone against your whole team, a fight that she will most likely not win.
* While on Tricks of the Trade, Riki does not take damage from Dispersion.
Riki
* Smoke Cloud prevents Storm Spirit from using any of his offensive and defensive spells, rendering him unable to effectively react to Riki's attack.
Additional:
* Smoke Screen prevents Storm Spirit from using his abilities once inside the radius. Riki can utilize this ability to allow his team to fight around Smoke Screen so that Storm Spirit cannot spam his spells to proc 
Overload.
Pudge
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: Ember Spirit, Riki, Clinkz, Queen of Pain.
Pudge
* Heroes who recklessly jump on Pudge with their gap-closing abilities will be easy targets for Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember Combo: Phantom Assassin, Faceless Void, Queen of Pain etc.
Riki
* Smoke Cloud prevents Queen of Pain from using any of her offensive and defensive spells, rendering her unable to effectively react to Riki's attack.
* It's easy to dodge 
Sonic Wave by using Blink Strike & Tricks of the Trade.
Riki
* Riki can get on top of Ancient Apparition very easily with Blink Strike. This can also double as a way to dodge Ice Blast, along with Tricks of the Trade.
* Ancient Apparition will frequently resort to casting Ice Blast right before dying. Smoke Screen can be used to prevent this, stopping Ancient Apparition from having any impact.
Riki
* Due to his low health and armor, Riki can easily kill Skywrath Mage.
* Smoke Screen prevents Skywrath from using all of his abilities, as he does not tend to buy Black King Bar.
* However, Skywrath Mage can easily kill Riki if he manages to root Riki with Rod of Atos or Gleipnir, followed by Dust of Appearance, Ancient Seal and Mystic Flare.
Riki
* Riki is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier, and it doesn't help that he's easily capable of sneaking up on Wraith King due to Cloak and Dagger.
* Riki can use Smoke Screen on top of Wraith King as he is reincarnating, making him a sitting duck for his second life. In addition, the blind prevents Wraith King from landing critical hits from Mortal Strike.
* Wraithfire Blast is quite predictable, and if Riki can react fast, he will disjoint it with Tricks of the Trade. There is also a chance he will become invisible again as the projectile travels, disjointing it.
Riki
* With Smoke Screen, Riki will silence and catch Medusa in a surprise with high miss chance flushing her from positions easily in team fights.
* He can deal a huge amount of damage through Cloak and Dagger, even through Mana Shield.
Riki
* Smoke Screen combined with Diffusal Blade leaves Arc Warden effectively useless for a while as he struggles to escape the silence with low mobility.
* With Arc Warden's low mobility, Tricks of the Trade often deal decent damage to him before he moves out of it.
Pudge
* Heroes with other kind of disables that pierce spell immunity can hold Pangolier in place during Rolling Thunder: Axe, Beastmaster, Enigma, Magnus, Pudge, Batrider, Bane, 
Winter Wyvern
Riki
* Heroes with silence: 
Death Prophet, Riki, Drow Ranger.
Pudge
* Abilities that deal low damage with high amounts of instances are irrelevant against Pudge during Flesh Heap's active: 
Gyrocopter's 
Rocket Barrage and Dark Seer's 
Ion Shell are just a couple examples.
Riki
* Heroes with silences: Puck, Doom, Riki.
Riki
* Heroes with damage-increasing passive abilities, such as 
Viper and Riki, will usually kill Silencer in a short time before he even has time to set up his abilities.
Riki
* Riki with Tricks of the Trade
* Heroes that can dodge Glimpse:
* Puck with 
Phase Shift
* Riki with Tricks of the Trade
* Phantom Lancer with 
Doppelganger
* Ember Spirit with 
Sleight of Fist and 
Activate Fire Remnant
* 
Chaos Knight with Phantasm
* Naga Siren with 
Mirror Image
* Tusk with Snowball
* Juggernaut with 
Omnislash
* 
Brewmaster with 
Primal Split
* Lifestealer with 
Infest
* Phoenix with 
Supernova
Riki
* Riki is another good hero to shutdown Death Prophet with Diffusal Blade as his core item. His Smoke Screen stops her from initiating and casting spells.
Riki
* 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.
Pudge
* Abilities that deal low damage with high amounts of instances are irrelevant against Pudge during Flesh Heap's active: Gyrocopter's Rocket Barrage and Dark Seer's Ion Shell are just a couple examples.
Riki
* Frail heroes who lacks mobility: Crystal Maiden, Enigma, 
Dark Willow, Vengeful Spirit.
Riki
* Riki: Smoke Screen can prevent Lone Druid from using True Form and Savage Roar, additionally it cause the spirit bear to miss on attacks which reduce the chances of getting rooted from it, with diffusal Blade, he can keep Lone Druid or the Spirit Bear inside the Smoke.
Riki
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki, Bounty Hunter.
Riki
* Blink Strike gives bonus backstab damage and can bypass Bulwark. Defensively, it could be used to teleport away from Mars, especially while inside Arena of Blood.
* Smoke Screen can interrupt Mars' skill combos, especially when cast inside Arena of Blood.
* Tricks of the Trade can be used to evade Mars' skills, which have a slight delay to them. It could also be used to buy himself time while trapped inside of Arena of Blood.
Additional:
* 
Bulwark is generally irrelevant against Riki as he primarily deals bonus damage from behind.
Riki
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as Bounty Hunter, Clinkz, Mirana, Nyx Assassin and Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
Pudge
* Meat Hook can pull an ally out of Chronosphere.
* Rot will keep damaging Void if he toggled it before Chronosphere, but you can lower your hp for Faceless Void.
* Flesh Heap will help Pudge survive through the Chronosphere with enough stacks, and follow with Dismember.
Riki
* 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.
Pudge
* Even with Black King Bar, Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember can still catch and disable Bane while he is channeling Fiend's Grip, breaking the channel as a result, Meat Hook can also be used to save targets affected by Bane's abilities.
* Dismember can disable Bane while channeling Fiend's Grip if Pudge is not targeted. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Dismember can also be used to save an allied hero that is targeted by Fiend's Grip.
* Pudge's high health and health regeneration allows him to survive through most of Bane's abilities.
Pudge
* Generally heroes who don't rely on magical damage, such as Sven, Phantom Assassin, and Outworld Destroyer, as they can practically ignore Flesh Heap's damage block.
Riki
* Cloak and Dagger makes Sven unable to detect where Riki is until he shows or his team provides detection.
* Smoke Screen will make Sven miss attacks before he has his Black King Bar.
Riki
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden, 
Enchantress, Gyrocopter, Lion, Riki, 
Techies, Terrorblade, Necrophos, Invoker.
Pudge
* Meat Hook can be used to pull Tinker to Pudge while he is hiding in the trees, and a follow up with Dismember and Rot can lead to a valuable kill, as Tinker doesn't buy many survivability items.
* Flesh Heap makes it hard for Tinker to deal serious damage.
Additional:
* Pudge can Meat Hook a Tinker hiding in the trees and follow it up with Dismember and Rot for an easy solo kill, as Tinker doesn't tend to buy survivability items.
* Many stacks of Flesh Heap combined with items that give Pudge high strength and health will make it hard for Tinker to deal serious damage to Pudge.
Pudge
* Rot is not very effective against Chen's creeps.
* Chen can use his creeps to cover him or his allies from any attempts of Meat Hook.
* {U:Centaur Conqueror} or {U:Mud Golem} under Chen's control can interrupt Dismember.
Pudge
* Heroes with channeling spells, for Chen has no disables on his own, hates buying disabling items and his creeps are often not fast enough to cancel them: Enigma's Black Hole, Witch Doctor's Death Ward, Shadow Shaman's Shackles, Lion's Mana Drain, Bane's Fiend's Grip, Pudge's Dismember, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Pugna's Life Drain, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, and Naga Siren's Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter.
Riki
* Heroes that can easily bypass Chen's creeps to get to Chen: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.
Additional:
* Chen is basically Riki's natural prey: he has little HP, low armor and relies on his persuaded creeps to fight, which in most situations will not save Chen from Riki. Just be wary of {U:Centaur Conqueror}, who can stun Riki outside of Smoke Screen and ruin his attempt at Chen's life.
Pudge
* Heroes that cannot move in fights such as a Dueling Legion Commander or anyone channeling a spell like Bane, Pudge, or Enigma are easy Sacred Arrow targets.
Additional:
* If Meat Hook is used before 
Leap, Mirana may be able to escape Pudge's grasp by leaping to safety.
* The invisibility from 
Moonlight Shadow gives a degree of mobility, which can make Mirana or her teammates difficult targets to hook.
* 
Sacred Arrow can be used to cancel Dismember from long distances.
Riki
* Heroes that have superior mobility that can easily catch up with Mirana even after she used Leap to escape: Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Riki.
Pudge
* Heroes with many summons or illusions are much harder to catch with Meat Hook: Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, 
Chen.
Riki
* Heroes with invisibility: (Riki, Clinkz, Nyx Assassin.
Riki
* Zeus's 
Lightning Bolt and 
Thundergod's Wrath provides a short duration of True Sight, revealing Riki while possibly dealing a heavy amount of damage.
* Zeus's 
Nimbus can be placed directly on top of Tricks of the Trade, potentially causing him to be damaged, stunned, and revealed the instant he becomes targetable again.
Pudge
* Zeus likes to stay far back in fights, dealing his damage uninterrupted, but once he gets hooked into the fight, he usually dies very quickly.
* Pudge's high strength from Flesh Heap makes it very hard for Zeus to burst him down.
* Zeus' low health pool makes him very vulnerable to the damage from Meat Hook, Rot and Dismember.
Additional:
* Meat Hook's high range allows Pudge's team to drag Zeus in the middle of the fight and abuse his frailty.
* Flesh Heap's health and magic resistance bonus makes Pudge exceptionally resistant to Zeus' nukes. In later stages of the game, Zeus is usually unable to seriously damage Pudge at all. Even Static Field, which deals damage based on a percentage of the enemy's health, won't be doing much.
* Even if Zeus buys a Black King Bar, Meat Hook and Dismember still disable him for a long time, usually causing Zeus' quick death.
* Zeus is vulnerable to early ganks, which Pudge excels at.
Pudge
* Meat Hook can prove annoying for Pudge if Rubick 
Spell Steals it, allowing Rubick to easily hook and save his allies being Dismembered.
Riki
* Riki has high damage and invisibility, meaning he can easily gank Rubick and kill him before Rubick has the chance to react.
* Cloak and Dagger renders Riki invisible, which makes his spells hard to steal if not being initiated.
* Similar to Clinkz, Rubick has to buy a large amount of Sentry Wards to keep track of Riki due to Cloak and Dagger, preventing Rubick from getting better items.
Pudge
* Luna can easily cancel channeling spells with 
Lucent Beam and 0.25s Eclipse Lucent Ministun talent for 
Eclipse, she can also buy 
Abyssal Blade in case they decide to buy Black King Bar: Enigma's Black Hole, Witch Doctor's Death Ward, Shadow Shaman's Shackles, Lion's Mana Drain, Bane's Fiend's Grip, Pudge's Dismember, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Pugna's Life Drain, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, and Naga Siren's Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter.
Riki
* Luna can push very fast with Moon Glaives, which is something Riki cannot deal with well.
* Luna is naturally very fast, making it hard for Riki to trap her in Smoke Cloud.
* Even though Riki can evade Eclipse with his invisibility, smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance, providing vision on Riki to her allies and herself.
Additional:
* Luna can push very fast with Moon Glaives, which is something Riki cannot deal with well.
* Luna is naturally very fast, making it hard for Riki to trap her in Smoke Cloud.
* Even though Riki can evade Eclipse with his invisibility, smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance, providing vision on Riki to her allies and herself.
Pudge
* Even with Black King Bar, Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember can still disable Luna for a fairly long time.
* Many stacks of Flesh Heap will make it difficult for Luna to burst down Pudge with Eclipse. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Dismember can also allow Pudge to save an allied hero from being killed by Eclipse.
* Bear in mind, however, that Luna can cancel Dismember if some of her allies are targets. Which may force Pudge to buy Black King Bar earlier.
* For the same reasons, Pudge makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Riki
* All assassin-type carries in a one against one situation: Meepo, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Ursa. Luna's only chances are that she buys 
Ethereal Blade or Black King Bar to gain a slight edge against them, or both items if necessary.
Riki
* Heroes who are reliant on physical damage will be nullified by Decrepify: Riki, Wraith King, Juggernaut.
Pudge
* Heroes who build a Black King Bar (or have any sources of spell immunity) to channel abilities/items can still get interrupted by Dismember: Enigma, Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, Pugna, Elder Titan.
Riki
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
Pudge
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: 
Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, 
Lina, 
Luna, 
Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, 
Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
Pudge
* 
Shukuchi grants Weaver invisibility and a high degree of mobility for a short time, which can make him a difficult target to hook.
* 
The Swarm beetles are difficult for Pudge to remove, due to his low base attack time and poor agility. Additionally, it can be used to can scout out Pudge's location.
* Should an ally get snagged by Meat Hook, Weaver can use Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Time Lapse on them to send them back to where they were before hooked, even if Pudge has already started to Dismember them.
Additional:
* While Weaver is in Shukuchi, Rot doesn't slow him and Meat Hook is easy to avoid.
* Even when hooked, Weaver can use Time Lapse, negating both the damage and displacement.
* Pudge has low armor and low attack speed, making him susceptible to The Swarm and physical attacks.
* Dismember is easy to block with Linken's Sphere and it's the only way to break Weaver's Linken Sphere.
* However, the long duration stun of Dismember can be dangerous for Weaver.
Riki
* Smoke Cloud prevents Shukuchi and Time Lapse, leaving Weaver helpless against Riki.
* The Swarm is ineffective against Riki because invisibility instantly removes the beetles.
Pudge
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
Riki
* Earthshaker must be careful not to use Blink Dagger or Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Enchant Totem to blink into Riki's Smoke Screen or 
Night Stalker's Crippling Fear, as these field effects will instantly silence Earthshaker and prevent him from initiating.
Riki
* Heroes with high mobility can be prevented from using it to their advantage with Earthbind, even if they pack a dangerous arsenal: Earth Spirit, Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Anti-Mage, Weaver.
* See items and abilities disabled by roots
Additional:
* Root is a deadly threat to Riki, disabling both Blink Strike and Tricks of the Trade while making him fully revealed, making 
Earthbind a good ability against him.
* Smoke Screen may not be able to silence all the Meepo clones.
* Riki has no true area damage, as Tricks of the Trade's damage is distributed between all Meepo clones, so he cannot effectively fight Meepo or deal with his strong ability to push unless Riki has 
Battle Fury.
Pudge
* Because only one clone needs to be killed in order to kill Meepo, heroes that excel at singling out enemies can also be a detriment to him, such as Batrider, Beastmaster, Pudge and Clockwerk.
Pudge
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook: Ember Spirit, Riki, Clinkz, Queen of Pain.
Riki
* Heroes with high armor like 
Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like Phantom Assassin, Riki and Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
Additional:
* Smoke Cloud prevents the use of 
Death Pact, 
Searing Arrows and 
Skeleton Walk, so Clinkz can neither defend himself against Riki nor fight back effectively.
* It's hard to gank Riki as Clinkz has to find him first.
Pudge
* The lifesteal of 
Feast scales accordingly to the max health of its target, which is effective against Pudge due to his high health and further health granted by stacks of Flesh Heap.
* Lifestealer can activate 
Rage to be spell immune, making Rot deal no damage.
* Pudge's plentiful health makes him an ideal target for Lifestealer's Aghanim's Shard ability, 
Open Wounds.
Riki
* Lifestealer cannot use Rage, Infest or Open Wounds when affected by Smoke Cloud's silence, and Feast cannot heal him effectively because of the blind, leaving him very weak both offensively and defensively.
* Infest ganks are harder when the enemy team has a Riki, as there are often only four heroes on the map that you can initiate on.
Pudge
* Slow heroes that have a hard time escaping the Echo Stomp radius: Crystal Maiden, Pudge, Techies.
Pudge
* Heroes who build a Black King Bar (or have any sources of spell immunity) to channel abilities/items can still get interrupted by Dismember: Enigma, Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, Pugna, Elder Titan.
Pudge
* Low armor and lack of escape makes Pudge vulnerable to Ursa, specially when he gets his Blink Dagger.
* If Pudge lands a Meat Hook on Ursa, Ursa can simply face Pudge head on provided he can burst him down before any follow up disables.
* Enrage's Aghanim's Scepter upgrade allows Ursa to dispel Pudge's Dismember.
Riki
* Riki can detect early Roshan attempts because of Cloak and Dagger if he frequently checks the Pit.
* Ursa cannot 
Enrage when in Smoke Screen (Black King Bar will help though).
* Even if Ursa gets vision over him, Riki can Blink Strike away or use Tricks of the Trade after Ursa's initiation to avoid all 
Fury Swipes damage until 
Earthshock's slow is gone.
Additional:
* Riki can detect early Roshan attempts because of Cloak and Dagger if he frequently checks the Pit.
* Ursa cannot Enrage when caught in Smoke Screen and will miss his attacks (although Black King Bar will help with this issue).
* Even if Ursa gets vision over him and initiates with Earthshock, Riki can Blink Strike away or use Tricks of the Trade after Ursa's initiation to avoid Fury Swipes' damage until Earthshock's slow is gone.
Pudge
*
Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it hard for him to use Meat Hook from the fog of war on Slardar's teammates or Slardar himself.
Slithereen Crush interrupts Pudge while he is using Dismember.
Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to avoid Meat Hook.
Rot cannot slow him and 
Meat Hook is easier to avoid. 
Dismember at close range (when Slardar is not a target).
*
*
Additional:
* While Slardar has Guardian Sprint activated,
* Slithereen Crush allows Slardar to interrupt
* Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it very difficult for him to land hooks from the fog.
Riki
*
Corrosive Haze works much like 
Track, giving the enemy team vision over Riki. While it doesn't give a movement speed or gold bonus, it instead can melt Riki's armor and Slardar can use 
Guardian Sprint to catch up to him.
Aghanim's Shard, causes 
Slithereen Crush to apply Corrosive Haze even if Slardar does not have vision over him.
* Slardar's
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze makes Riki completely vulnerable to Slardar and his allies, as Riki has no easy way of dispelling it.
* Slardar's physical damage with Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep amplified by Corrosive Haze can easily kill Riki.