Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Sand King
* Both 
Arcane Curse and 
Last Word punishes casters with spammable spells such as Sand King.
* As a strength caster, 
Intelligence Steal reduces Sand King's mana pool even more.
* 
Global Silence silences Sand King, effectively reducing Sand King's initiation and counter-initiation potential. It can also interrupt channeling of Epicenter.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Dawnbreaker
* 
Gust can shut down most of Dawnbreaker's abilities, rendering her useless.
* 
Frost Arrows followed by a high attack speed, makes it hard for Dawnbreaker to escape.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Sand King
* Sand King has nothing to deal with 
Supernova, as none of his spells are effective.
* The damage-over-time abilities of Phoenix disable Sand King's 
Blink Dagger very often.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* 
Boulder Smash will push Sand King out of Sand Storm to reveal his position or an activated Epicenter off of Earth Spirit's allies, potentially wasting his combo
* 
Rolling Boulder and 
Geomagnetic Grip allow Earth Spirit to easily stun and silence Sand King and interrupt the channeling of Epicenter, completely ruining his initiation.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Sand King
* 
Zeus usually stays at the back in teamfights and it is hard for Sand King to find Zeus and knock him down before Zeus deals his damage.
* All of Zeus' abilities, especially 
Thundergod's Wrath, disables Sand King's Blink Dagger, effectively reducing Sand King's initiation and counter-initiation potential.
* 
Lightning Bolt deals damage to Sand King in Sand Storm and reveals him. It also interrupts channeling of Epicenter.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Dawnbreaker
* 
Nethertoxin disables Dawnbreaker's Luminosity|Dawnbreaker. Since she's a melee hero, she needs to close gap to attack and Nethertoxin will be bad for her since she cannot heal.
* 
Viper Strike and 
Poison Attack will severely slow her down and combined with Nethertoxin, it will be her death sentence (unless her Celestial Hammer or Solar Guardian are off cooldown). Besides that, chasing her down will be easy due to the slow.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Sand King
* 
Lifestealer's Rage negates Sand King's spells which do magical damage.
Dawnbreaker
* Being a strength hero with a high strength gain means 
Feast can give her a hard time,especially later in the game.
* However,
Starbreaker's physical damage can control him in the laning phase.
Sand King
* Heroes that rely on slows to get kills: Lifestealer, 
Night Stalker, 
Ursa,...
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Sand King
* 
Ravage, being an AoE disable, cancels Epicenter's channeling from a long range, limiting his potential to counter-initiate.
* This can be remedied, however, by first using a 
Black King Bar, then channel Epicenter, then finally initiate with Blink Dagger.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Dawnbreaker
* 
Kinetic Field prevents Dawnbreaker from escaping with Celestial Hammer.
* Kinetic Field and 
Static Storm can pin down Dawnbreaker after she jumps in with Solar Guardian.
* 
Glimpse can force Dawnbreaker out of a fight right after she uses Solar Guardian.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from 
Epicenter, especially if he initiates during the battle.
* 
Sand King can't dodge X Marks the Spot - Torrent combo by his abilities. Torrent drags him out of his 
Sand Storm
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 25%)Sand King
* Burrowstrike is one of the best and easiest steals for Rubick and Sand King should be careful when playing against him - it's much better to give away Sand Storm.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Sand King
* Quill Spray will hit Sand King inside Sand Storm, damaging him and putting Sand King's Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from escaping.
* Epicenter's numerous damage ticks will trigger Bristleback's passive repeatedly during teamfights.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Dawnbreaker
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker. ( 
Lion, 
Crystal Maiden ,
Venomancer etc.)
Luna
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Dawnbreaker
* 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.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Dawnbreaker
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker. ( Lion, Crystal Maiden ,Venomancer etc.)
Lion
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Dawnbreaker
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker. ( Lion, Crystal Maiden ,Venomancer etc.)
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Sand King
* Sand King's 
Caustic Finale combined with Sand Storm will kill Treants easily.
* Sand King can interrupt Teleportation with 
Burrowstrike, even through Sprout.
Additional:
* With Caustic Finale, Sand King can easily kill the treants from 
Nature's Call.
* Burrowstrike allows Sand King to prevent Nature's Prophet from using 
Teleportation inside of his 
Sprout.
Dawnbreaker
* Starbreaker and Celestial Hammer does high AoE damage which easily clears {U:Treant}, shutting down most of Nature's Prophets damage and pushing power.
* Dawnbreaker can teleport to deal with split-pushing Nature's Prophet and rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it.
* Since Starbreaker clears trees in its path followed by a stun at the end Nature's Prophet will be unable to escape the dangerous situation by using Sprout on himself and teleporting away with either Teleportation or 
Town Portal Scroll.
Additional:
* Starbreaker and Celestial Hammer does high AoE damage which easily clears {U:Treant}, shutting down most of Nature's Prophets damage and pushing power.
* Dawnbreaker can teleport to deal with split-pushing Nature's Prophet and rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it.
* Since Starbreaker clears trees in its path followed by a stun at the end Nature's Prophet will be unable to escape the dangerous situation by using Sprout on himself and teleporting away with either Teleportation or Town Portal Scroll.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Sand King
* All of Sand King's abilities deal AoE damage.
* However, Epicenter is usually a non-issue against Doppelganger.
Dawnbreaker
* Heroes with summoned units don't fare well against Dawnbreaker. (
Phantom Lancer ,
Beastmaster ,
Lycan)
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 0%)Sand King
* Burrowstrike and Sand Storm will deal a large amount of damage to Chen's creeps.
* Caustic Finale will quickly clear Chen's creeps at low health.
Dawnbreaker
* 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.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Sand King
* Because of his massive AoE damage, Sand King is very effective against illusion heroes: 
Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, 
Terrorblade,...
Dawnbreaker
* Heroes who have channeling abilities because Terrorblade has no disables to cancel them at all and 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.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Sand King
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: 
Sven, 
Omniknight, Enigma, 
Luna, Naga Siren, 
Mars, 
Jakiro, Venomancer, 
Elder Titan, 
Faceless Void, 
Rubick, 
Keeper of the Light, Pugna, 
Invoker, 
Spectre, 
Alchemist, 
Treant Protector, 
Lina, 
Oracle, Zeus, Shadow Shaman, 
Phoenix, 
Razor, 
Huskar, 
Batrider, 
Kunkka, 
Tidehunter, 
Wraith King, Sand King, 
Medusa, Dawnbreaker.
Dawnbreaker
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven, Omniknight, Enigma, Luna, Naga Siren, Mars, Jakiro, Venomancer, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Rubick, Keeper of the Light, Pugna, Invoker, Spectre, Alchemist, Treant Protector, Lina, Oracle, Zeus, Shadow Shaman, Phoenix, Razor, Huskar, Batrider, Kunkka, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Sand King, Medusa, Dawnbreaker.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Dawnbreaker
* Solar Guardian can save allies caught inside 
Arena of Blood
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Sand King
* Phantom Assassin relies on her 
Blur to stay alive, but is very vulnerable to Sand King's heavy magic damage.
* With Burrowstrike, Sand King can often catch Phantom Assassin before she can use her Black King Bar.
* Sand King can dodge 
Stifling Dagger with Sandstorm.
* Phantom Assassin has a hard time killing Sand King because of his high mobility.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Sand King's massive area damage output, particularly Epicenter, allows him to quickly take down Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* Sand King can also apply Caustic Finale to illusions with attacks for extra damage when they die.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Sand King
* Sand King can quickly remove her 
Refraction with his Sand Storm.
* Once Refraction is down, she is very vulnerable to Epicenter's high magic damage.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Dawnbreaker
* Solar Guardian can save an ally getting targeted and focused by Spirit Breaker
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Dawnbreaker
* Solar Guardian can save allies who are being dueled and will interrupt her 
Duel initiation.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Dawnbreaker
* Spectre has no innate disables or silence to stop any of Dawnbreaker's abilities
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to quickly stand next to one of her allies, denying Spectre any of 
Desolate's bonus
* Luminosity outheals the damage dealt by 
Dispersion
Additional:
* Spectre has no innate disables or silence to stop any of Dawnbreaker's abilities
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to quickly stand next to one of her allies, denying Spectre any of Desolate's bonus
* Luminosity outheals the damage dealt by Dispersion
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Burrowstrike can be used as an escape or initiation against Broodmother.
* Sand Storm quickly kills any spiderlings caught inside if Sand King can manage to stun them.
Additional:
* Caustic Finale allows Sand King to easily kill Broodmother's Spiderlings throughout the game.
* Sand King can usually catch a split pushing Broodmother with Blink Dagger and Burrowstrike.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Sand King
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: 
Phantom Assassin, 
Clinkz, 
Sniper, 
Enchantress,...
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: 
Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, 
Earthshaker,...
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 2%)Sand King
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, Clinkz, Sniper, Enchantress,...
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 18%)Dawnbreaker
* 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.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Dawnbreaker
* Heroes who can clear the waves of Enigma's Eidolons: Lina, Luna, Dawnbreaker, Jakiro, Shadow Shaman, 
Death Prophet, Keeper of the Light, Invoker, 
Leshrac, 
Puck.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Dawnbreaker
* Heroes with summoned units don't fare well against Dawnbreaker. (Phantom Lancer ,Beastmaster ,Lycan)
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, Earthshaker,...
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Since Naga Siren is not a hero that likes to go for Black King Bar, she is vulnerable to nukers with strong magical damage and big area-of-effect spells in every game more than any other carry heroes: Sand King, Jakiro, Leshrac, Lina, Earthshaker, Zeus.
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Dawnbreaker
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, 
Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 4%)Sand King
* Heroes that rely on slows to get kills: Lifestealer, Night Stalker, Ursa,...
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Sand King
* Sand King is a strong ganker, allowing him to shut down squishy heroes in the early game: Phantom Assassin, Clinkz, Sniper, Enchantress,...
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Sand King
* Heroes that rely on slows to get kills: Lifestealer, Night Stalker, Ursa,...
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Sand King
* Heroes with powerful area-of-effect disables can initiate on Meepo and his clones and shut him down, such as Enigma, Invoker, 
Magnus, Puck, and Sand King.
Additional:
* Burrowstrike can stun multiple Meepos, making them vulnerable targets.
* Epicenter and Sand Storm's AoE damage ensures all Meepo clones get damaged, making it hard for Meepo to choose which one to flee as all are taking damage at the same rate.
* Just be aware when using Sand Storm to escape, as Meepo has good AoE damage and disables, which, as explained in the "Bad Against" section, works well against an invisible Sand King.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 3%)Dawnbreaker
* Heroes with summoned units don't fare well against Dawnbreaker. (Phantom Lancer ,Beastmaster ,Lycan)
Slark
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Sand King
* 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.
Sand King
* 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.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Dawnbreaker
* 
Spiked Carapace can stop Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian which will eliminate her global presence and limits her movement around the map.
Additional:
* Spiked Carapace interrupts Starbreaker before Dawnbreaker has her Aghanim's Shard, as well as Solar Guardian during the initial channel, making her ineffective at joining and dealing damage in teamfights.
* The slow projectile and damage over time effect of 
Celestial Hammer makes it easy to stun Dawnbreaker if she attemps to engage or chase.
Sand King
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage: Venomancer, Huskar, Ember Spirit, 
Dark Seer, Sand King, 
Doom, Dawnbreaker.
Dawnbreaker
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage: Venomancer, Huskar, Ember Spirit, Dark Seer, Sand King, Doom, Dawnbreaker.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Sand King
* Pugna's 
Nether Ward damages Sand King when he channels Epicenter, preventing him from using Blink Dagger afterward.
Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, Earthshaker,...
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Dawnbreaker
* 
Time Walk can easily avoid Dawnbreaker's abilities or to escape her gank attempts and backtrack any damage she deals.
* 
Time Dilation can prevent Dawnbreaker from using her abilities after initiating, and slowing her down severely.
* 
Time Lock combined with his high attack speed can lock Dawnbreaker in place, preventing her escape with Celestial Hammer.
* 
Chronosphere locks down Dawnbreaker in place right after she uses Solar Guardian.
* On the other hand, if Solar Guardian is cast beforehand from afar, it may discourage Faceless Void from casting Chronosphere in its location
Dawnbreaker
* Solar Guardian can heal allies that trapped inside Chronosphere.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 12%)Dawnbreaker
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities: Crystal Maiden, Dawnbreaker, Enigma, Pudge, 
Shadow Fiend, Shadow Shaman, Warlock.
Sand King
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, Earthshaker,...
Dawnbreaker
* Savage Roar interrupts
Starbreaker.
* Dawnbreaker is a slow moving hero. Although tanky, Lone Druid can eventually wear her down with his better movement speed.