* 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.
*
Mana Break is very effective against Tusk, as he has a very low mana pool.
*
Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from an incoming Snowball.
*
Counterspell can reflect the Snowball back onto Tusk.
*
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.
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1:
Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
* 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.
*
Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge an incoming snowball.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys a
Diffusal Blade, which is very effective against Tusk's low mana pool.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys
Manta Style which can also dodge an incoming snowball, much like
Doppelganger.
*
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).
* 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.
* Anti-Tank heroes like:
Razor,
Necrophos,
Undying.
*
Static Link drains Tusk's base damage, and it also reduces the critical damage output from
Walrus PUNCH!.
*
Plasma Field and
Eye of the Storm allow Razor to chase Tusk after he uses Snowball.
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure:
Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
*
Echo Slam is good against Snowball since it bunches everyone up. This can set up some prime opportunities for Blink Echo Slams.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
*
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.
Additional:
* 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.
*
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.
Additional:
* While Slardar has Guardian Sprint activated,
Rot cannot slow him and
Meat Hook is easier to avoid.
* Slithereen Crush allows Slardar to interrupt
Dismember at close range (when Slardar is not a target).
* Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it very difficult for him to land hooks from the fog.
* After using Snowball, Tusk can't control where he's going, allowing Techies to make him roll onto mines.
*
Meat Hooking a Clockwerk can backfire for Pudge, as Battery Assault and
Blade Mail will hurt Pudge more than he hurts Clockwerk.
* 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.
* Meat Hook can prove annoying for Pudge if Rubick
Spell Steals it, allowing Rubick to easily hook and save his allies being Dismembered.
* 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.
*
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.
Additional:
*
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.
*
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.
Additional:
* 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.
* 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 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.
Additional:
* 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.
*
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.
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook:
Ember Spirit,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Queen of Pain.
* Queen Of Pain can similliar abilities from Anti-Mage
Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from an incoming Snowball and Ice Shards.
* 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.
* 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.
*
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.
* Pudge has a very hard time killing Familiars due to his melee range and low attack speed.
* Stone Form can quickly interrupt
Dismember.
*
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.
* 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.
*
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.
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook:
Ember Spirit,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Queen of Pain.
* 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.
* 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.
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1:
Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook:
Ember Spirit,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Queen of Pain.
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1:
Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1:
Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
* Heroes with a high degree of mobility and invisibility are hard to catch with Meat Hook:
Ember Spirit,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Queen of Pain.
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace:
Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities:
Crystal Maiden,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Pudge,
Shadow Fiend,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock.
* Durable heroes can stand against Tusk during 1v1:
Axe,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Wraith King and more.
* 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.
* Heroes with many summons or illusions are much harder to catch with Meat Hook:
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Chen.
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray:
Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
* Anti-Tank heroes like:
Razor,
Necrophos,
Undying.
* 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.
* 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.
*
Glimpse can return Tusk to where he was after using Snowball.
*
Static Storm prevents Tusk from escaping with
Snowball and when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter, it will also prevent him from using items.
*
Tusk with
Snowball
* 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
*
Sticky Napalm makes it difficult for Tusk to hold his own on lane.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned
Snowball will give Batrider a free counter-initiation with
Flaming Lasso if Batrider is far enough to avoid the stun from the
Snowball.
Additional:
*
Sticky Napalm makes it difficult for Tusk to hold his own on lane.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned
Snowball will give Batrider a free counter-initiation with
Flaming Lasso if Batrider is far enough to avoid the stun from the
Snowball.
*
Shadow Demon,
Outworld Destroyer and
Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
*
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.
*
Snowball and
Ice Shards keep Drow Ranger down and preventing her from running away.
*
Snowball also lets Tusk get to Drow Ranger and stop her Marksmanship bonus. It can also be to save allies affected by Gust.
*
Tag Team allows Tusk to slow her down and land a killing blow on her.
*
Walrus PUNCH! slows Drow Ranger and deals a huge amount of damage to her, due to her low health (and low armor without Marksmanship, since Tusk can quickly close the gap to Drow Ranger).
* 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.
*
Snowball allows Tusk to move himself and allies towards Sniper whilst invulnerable and hidden.
* His
Ice Shards may also block pathing for Sniper as he has no means of moving through obstacles. In addition,
Tag Team can hinder Sniper's escape.
Additional:
* Tusk alone or with his teammates can close Sniper's long range easily with Snowball, even wasting Shrapnel, ending with a very vulnerable Sniper.
* Walrus PUNCH!'s very high physical damage output can easily kill Sniper instantly due to his low health and armor.
* 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.
*
Snowball allows Tusk to easily cancel Freezing Field from a safe distance without putting himself in any danger.
*
Walrus PUNCH! is most certainly a high enough damage nuke to easily kill off Crystal Maiden.
*
Ice Shards can prevent the already immobile Crystal Maiden from escaping, making her an easy kill for either Tusk or a teammate.
Additional:
* Crystal Maiden's low health and armor make her an easy target for Walrus PUNCH!
* Tusk's Snowball can protect allies and cancel
Freezing Field.
* Snowball and Walrus PUNCH! can interrupt Freezing Field.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies:
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Bane has low mobility and health, making him an easy target for Walrus PUNCH!
* Walrus PUNCH! can be used to cancel
Fiend's Grip if he is not the target.
* 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.
* Shadow Fiend's lack of mobility and low base health make him an easy target for early ganks.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
*
Walrus PUNCH! can interrupt
Black Hole and it can pierce spell immunity and neither
Black King Bar nor
Linken's Sphere can protect Enigma from
Walrus PUNCH! as
Walrus PUNCH! is an auto-cast ability.
* In pretty much any phase of the game, Tusk's abilities can easily cancel
Black Hole and disrupt Enigma's positioning.
*
Meat Hook can hit and displace Juggernaut during his
Blade Fury.
*
Dismember pierces Juggernaut's spell immunity from
Blade Fury.
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as
Shadow Demon,
Dazzle,
Oracle,
Bane,
Pugna,
Tusk,
Winter Wyvern,
Io,
Underlord,
Treant Protector and
Keeper of the Light.
* 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.
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as
Clockwerk,
Kunkka,
Puck,
Skywrath Mage,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk and others.
* 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
*
Ice Shards can easily interfere with Rolling Thunder, making him stuck inside the arc and wasting his ultimate. Do not panic and use Shield Crash to get out of that position.
*
Snowball helps Tusk and his allies follow a fleeing Pangolier, keep in mind that the Pangolier can always counter-initiate with his Rolling Thunder.
*
Walrus PUNCH! deals heavy damage even during his Rolling Thunder.
* 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.
* Pugna's low health and reliance on channeled abilities make him very vulnerable to Tusk, although Pugna can win in a straight up 1v1 later in the game.
* Fragile,slow heroes whom Pudge can outlive (
Crystal Maiden,
Muerta,
Sniper)
Additional:
* 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.
* Heroes with high physical and magical damage alike are a huge hazard for Muerta, as they can deal serious damage to her even if she has
Pierce the Veil active:
Luna,
Lina,
Tusk,
Broodmother,
Shadow Fiend,
Ember Spirit,
Gyrocopter,
Vengeful Spirit,
Arc Warden,
Medusa,
Shadow Shaman.
*
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.
* Heroes with spell immunity or pseudo-blinks which provide invulnerability:
Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Omniknight,
Huskar, and
Tusk have spells which allow them to easily escape Dream Coil.
* Snowball can be used to save allies or himself during
Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova.
* Venomancer lacks mobility and has low base health, so he can be killed by Walrus PUNCH!
* 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.
* Tusks damage/stun is enough to obliviate Storm Spirit before he can do anything.
* Tusk is a common
Blink Dagger carrier, and once he reaches Level 18,
Walrus PUNCH! deals roughly half of Storm Spirit's health alone, It also stuns for a long enough time for Tusk to
Snowball Storm Spirit, stunning him even more, If that hasn't finished him off, the damage from
Ice Shards probably will. Combined with
Tag Team, which adds bonus damage to Tusks attacks, Storm Spirit is unlikely to survive Tusk initiating on him
* Walrus PUNCH is even more potent if he uses a
Silver Edge instead
* However while Ball Lightning doesn't disjoint Snowball, if used before Tusk hits with Snowball, prevents the stun and damage from being applied
*
Meat Hook can be used immediately after
Mortimer Kisses since Snapfire is forced to stay in place.
*
Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars' stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy
Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a
Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
*
Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as it deals significant damage and slow, making Bulwark slightly ineffective.
* It is worth noting that
Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.
*
Rot and
Meat Hook hits Dark Willow even when she uses Shadow Realm.
*
Flesh Heap reduces Dark Willow's magic burst damage.
* Snowball negates
Rupture and protects Tusk allies when Ruptured.
* 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.
* Heroes who do not have nor rely on passive abilities make Nethertoxin much less effective:
Clinkz,
Pugna,
Nature's Prophet,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Tusk
Additional:
*
Viper Strike can be countered through Snowball, wasting Viper's mana through his ultimate. It's
Viper Strike's break is also useless because he has no passive abilties at all. And to make things worse,
Viper Strike cannot disable
Walrus PUNCH! because it's an auto-cast ability
* As Tusk is a natural
Silver Edge wielder, he can use it to disable Viper's magic resistance from
Corrosive Skin, and make him vulnreable to his other allies.
* Heroes with many summons or illusions are much harder to catch with Meat Hook:
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Chen.
Additional:
*
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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook:
Shadow Shaman,
Witch Doctor,
Enigma,
Bane.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Heroes that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like
Tusk and
Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
Additional:
*
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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Walrus PUNCH! makes Legion Commander lose
Duel easily, especially when she doesn't have
Blade Mail. Tusk can also snowball dueled allies, preventing them from taking damage for a large portion of the duel's duration.
* Slow heroes that have a hard time escaping the Echo Stomp radius:
Crystal Maiden,
Pudge,
Techies.
* 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.
* 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.
* Tusk can
Walrus Kick Monkey King from
Wukong's Command, making his ultimate useless.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
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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.
Tusk
*
Boulder Smash can return Tusk after his initiation.
Geomagnetic Grip prevents Tusk from using Snowball to escape.
*