Shadow Fiend
* 
Shadow Fiend's 
Requiem of Souls allows Rubick to output enormous crowd damage and control to the enemy team.
* Requiem of Souls has an effective range of 1000. 
Rubick can steal the spell out of the fear range with any level of 
Arcane Supremacy learned.
* Requiem of Souls has a significant cast animation which allows Rubick to predict the steal timing, since Shadow Fiend usually positions at the center of battlefield.
* 
Telekinesis can lift a unit right on top of Rubick with no collision size, forcing the victim to absorb all damaging lines of Requiem of Souls from Rubick, possibly resulting in a one-shot kill.
* Note that Requiem of Souls from Rubick still uses the original 1.67 second channeling time.
* It is advised to build 
Blink Dagger to jump in and cast Requiem of Souls given the opportunity.
* The three 
Shadowraze (Far) abilities are decent for farming and extra damage output.
* Note that 
Shadowraze (Near), 
Shadowraze (Medium) and Shadowraze (Far) are considered three separated abilities, only one is stolen per spell steal cast.
* It could be troublesome to cast Shadowraze (Far) immediately for damage output immediately after stolen since it is hard to react and recognize which of the three is stolen.
* Shadow Fiend's right click damage together with his ability damage may hurt Rubick bad. Consider items like 
Ghost Scepter and 
Glimmer Cape, together with wards to avoid being picked up.
Kunkka
* Rubick can steal abilities from Kunkka (except Tidebringer) with 
Spell Steal. Since build Aghanim's Scepter, Rubick's make two steal abilities from Kunkka when the spot is right.
Additional:
* 
Kunkka is a strong teamfighter with his powerful control spells, which Rubick could exploit to his advantage.
* 
Torrent provides another source of damage and crowd control.
* 
Ghostship is a powerful teamfight spell, providing huge magical damage to enemies and buffing allies with damage negation.
* Both skills works the best when comboed with other source of control from allies, such as 
Duel or 
Beserker's Call.
* Telekinesis can reposition an enemy onto a Torrent or Ghostship.
* 
Torrent Storm works as a disruptive spell for Rubick to create chaos around him.
* 
Tidal Wave offers another source of control and repositioning.
* As long as Kunkka gains these spells with 
Aghanim's Shard and 
Aghanim's Scepter, Rubick does not need extra items to steal these spells.
* 
X Marks the Spot serves as a utility spell for escaping, chasing and other useful functions.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Shrapnel can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Blink Dagger from a huge range.
* 
Take Aim and 
Headshot allow Sniper to harass Shadow Fiend in lane without getting into the range of his Shadowrazes.
Additional:
* Shrapnel can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Blink Dagger from a huge range.
* Take Aim and Headshot allow Sniper to harass Shadow Fiend in lane without getting into the range of his 
Shadowraze.
* Assassinate when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls.
Kunkka
* With his Take Aim, Sniper can simply sit out of your ability range and deal massive damage if not killed first.
* 
Assassinate can target allies who are still alive with low health because of Ghostship's buff.
* Headshot makes it harder for Kunkka to position/escape and makes it hard for Kunkka to hit with Tidebringer.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Nethertoxin both Necromastery and Presence of the Dark Lord, reducing his damage massively.
* 
Corrosive Skin gives Viper bonus Magic Resistance against Shadowraze and Requiem of Souls.
* Viper can easily take advantage of Shadow Fiend's lack of escape and mobility spells with 
Viper Strike breaks and 
Poison Attack. Poison Attack also serves as a great way to harass Shadow Fiend.
Kunkka
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: 
Treant Protector, Kunkka, 
Alchemist, 
Troll Warlord, 
Wraith King, 
Tiny, 
Sven.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or 
Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Kunkka
* 
Supernova negates Kunkka's combo entirely, as it can't be affected by spells while using Supernova.
* 
Icarus Dive also allows Phoenix to dodge Ghostship and Torrent.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: 
Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
Kunkka
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include 
Outworld Destroyer and his 
Astral Imprisonment, and 
Shadow Demon and his 
Disruption.
* Heroes with hide abilities can often dodge a Ghostship just before it hits.
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
* A 
Eul's Scepter of Divinity can also do the trick, but, unlike the previously mentioned abilities, you can only use it on yourself and not your allies.
Shadow Fiend
* Bounty Hunter can absolutely destroy a Shadow Fiend's game by ganking his midlane with Shadow Walk, Jinada and Shuriken Toss.
* If his lane goes bad, a Shadow Fiend usually goes to the jungle. Follow him with Shadow Walk and take half of his experience.
* Due to its ministun, Shuriken Toss is a good way to interrupt Shadow Fiend's long cast animation on Requiem of Souls.
Additional:
* 
Shuriken Toss can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls.
* 
Shadow Walk and 
Jinada allow Bounty Hunter to gank Shadow Fiend early on
* 
Track prevents Shadow Fiend from escaping with 
Shadow Blade.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Void can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls.
* 
Crippling Fear prevents Shadow Fiend from using Shadowraze or Requiem of Souls.
* With 
Dark Ascension and 
Gem of True Sight, Night Stalker can find and kill Shadow Fiend easily. He is also a tanky hero that can fight Shadow Fiend at any stage of the game.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Kraken Shell dispels both Shadowraze's damage amplification stacks and Requiem of Soul's damage reduction (provided Tidehunter has taken enough damage).
* 
Ravage cancels Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend isn't protected by 
Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell dispels the damage amplification stacks of Shadowraze as well as the damage reduction from Requiem of Souls (provided he has taken enough damage).
* Anchor Smash reduces Shadow Fiend's large attack damage, Kraken Shell makes Tidehunter the last target Shadow Fiend wants to attack.
* Ravage can easily cancel Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend isn't protected by Black King Bar.
Shadow Fiend
* Lina can outlanes Shadow Fiend on the central line, due to the fact that Lina's attack range exceeds the attack range of Shadow Fiend, which makes it difficult for him to fend off her attacks and approach creeps, thus Lina has more level and gold.
* Lina can defeat Shadow Fiend with the combination of her abilities on lane and during teamfights: 
Light Strike Array, 
Dragon Slave, 
Laguna Blade, Shadow Fiend does not have a large pool of health before buying items for extra strength and health like 
Satanic, which is why Lina's strong magic damage is enough to kill him quickly.
Additional:
* Outlanes Shadow Fiend on the central line, due to the fact that Lina's attack range exceeds the range of Shadow Fiend, which makes it difficult for him to fend off her attacks and approach creeps, thus Lina has more level and gold
* Defeats Shadow Fiend` from Burst with a combination of skills: Light Strike Array, Dragon Slave, Laguna Blade, Shadow Fiend does not have a large pool of health before buying an item: Satanic , which is why Lina's strong magic damage is enough to kill him quickly
Shadow Fiend
* 
Enfeeble can be used to decrease Shadow Fiend's already abysmal level one damage even further, preventing him from getting farm and 
Necromastery stacks.
* 
Brain Sap allows Bane to heavily harass Shadow Fiend, even through debuff immunity from Black King Bar.
* 
Nightmare allows Bane to set up some early ganks onto Shadow Fiend.
* 
Fiend's Grip enables Bane to completely take Shadow Fiend out of a fight and potentially even kill him, even through Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Enfeeble can be used to decrease Shadow Fiend's already abysmal level one damage even further, preventing him from getting farm and Necromastery stacks.
* Brain Sap allows Bane to heavily harass Shadow Fiend.
* Nightmare allows Bane to set up some early ganks onto Shadow Fiend.
* Fiend's Grip enables Bane to completely take Shadow Fiend out of a fight and potentially even kill him, even through Black King Bar.
Kunkka
* Astral Imprisonment can allow Outworld Destroyer to save himself or allies from Kunkka's full kit.
* 
Sanity's Eclipse deal a large amount of damage, as Kunkka's mana pool is much smaller than Outworld Destroyer's.
* 
Arcane Orb deals pure damage, shredding through Kunkka and his team even with Ghostship's buff.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Berserker's Call and 
Counter Helix allow Axe to kill Shadow Fiend if he stands too close to a creep wave.
* 
Battle Hunger is can be strong against Shadow Fiend in the early game because Shadow Fiend's low attack damage makes it hard for him to get last hits if he has no mana. However, Shadowraze also makes it very easy for him to get last hits, so use with caution.
* 
Axe's naturally high strength and health regeneration will be enough to tank a lot of Shadow Fiend's damage in the early game.
Kunkka
* 
Guardian Angel makes allies immune to all physical damage, effectively causing Tidebringer to do no damage.
* 
Purification is a powerful, pure damaging heal that can save Omniknight's allies after Kunkka's large damage.
Kunkka
* 
Blade Fury negates Kunkka's X Marks the Spot.
* Kunkka has no way to dodge 
Omnislash.
* Kunkka has no way to hit 
Healing Ward directly in battle, and it mitigates Ghostship and Tidebringer's damage.
Shadow Fiend
* Decrepify prevents Shadow Fiend from attacking for its duration, potentially preventing him from getting a kill.
* Nether Ward can do heavy damage to Shadow Fiend if he tries to cast his Requiem of Souls and his Shadowraze.
Additional:
* 
Decrepify prevents Shadow Fiend from attacking for its duration, potentially preventing him from getting a kill.
* 
Nether Ward can do heavy damage to Shadow Fiend if he tries to cast his Requiem of Souls or spam Shadowraze.
Kunkka
* Clinkz's high damage output and insane attack speed late-game can take Kunkka out of the fight before it begins.
* 
Burning Barrage and 
Searing Arrows together can kill allies easily even under Ghostship's buff.
* 
Skeleton Walk can allow Clinkz to make a quick escape after Kunkka's combo, or even avoid it all together.
Kunkka
* Since Tidebringer has a 4 second cooldown, Kunkka has little availability to manfight Huskar.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Static Link can steal Shadow Fiend's high physical damage output from Necromastery, lowering his damage output, and Static Link cannot be prevented by Black King Bar.
* 
Plasma Field and 
Eye of the Storm can melt down Shadow Fiend easily, due to his low health.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend, a normal Shadow Blade builder often relies on its invisibility to escape fights. Corrosive Haze reveals Shadow Fiend and also weakens his already low armor.
Shadow Fiend
* Despite Jakiro's fragileness, he can easily harass Shadow Fiend with 
Dual Breath and 
Liquid Fire than Shadow Fiend can harass Jakiro with Shadowraze.
* Jakiro can easily cancel Requiem of Souls with 
Ice Path as Shadow Fiend is a very easy target while channeling it.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Macropyre can deal pure damage-over-time and pierce spell immunity, which can discourage Shadow Fiend from even trying to initiate with Requiem of Souls.
Additional:
* Despite Jakiro's fragileness, he can easily harass Shadow Fiend with Dual Breath and Liquid Fire than Shadow Fiend can harass Jakiro with Shadowraze.
* Jakiro can easily cancel Requiem of Souls with Ice Path as Shadow Fiend is a very easy target while channeling it.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Macropyre can deal pure damage-over-time and pierce spell immunity, which can discourage Shadow Fiend from even trying to initiate with Requiem of Souls.
Kunkka
* Timbersaw Defeats Kunkka on the center line, due to the fact that he has a huge resistance to physical damage by 
Reactive Armor, which is why 
Tidebringer almost does not break through Timbersaw, and due to 
Whirling Death Timbersaw can very much break through Kunkka and force him to leave the line, or spend money on 
Tango.
Additional:
* Timbersaw easily beats Kunkka on the midlane, due to the fact that he has huge physical damage resistance from Reactive Armor, which is why Tidebringer almost does not break through Timbersaw, and due to Whirling Death and Kunkka being a strength hero, Timbersaw can very much break through Kunkka and force him to leave the lane, or spend money on Tango.
Shadow Fiend
* The Reflection of Shadow Fiend cause 
Presence of the Dark Lord to affect Shadow Fiend, reducing his armor and making it easier for Terrorblade to kill him. Shadow Fiend also doesn't have lots of survivability or control abilities in order to escape.
* If Shadow Fiend chooses to go for a physical damage item build, he'll have a hard time against Terrorblade's high armor.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend's lack of mobility and low base health make him an easy target for early ganks.
Shadow Fiend
* Doom has several disable abilities to choose from jungle creeps (e.g. 
War Stomp, 
Ensnare) to deal with Shadow Fiend who lacks escape abilities.
* When Doom combines creep abilities with 
Scorched Earth, 
Infernal Blade, and 
Doom, Shadow Fiend most likely will die as he cannot use Shadowraze and Requiem of Souls to protect himself, and also cannot even flee by using Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger.
* Although Shadow Fiend has a high physical damage output, Doom has a large health pool to survive it, meaning Doom's combo with high magical damage output will shutdown Shadow Fiend first.
* Doom usually buys 
Radiance to improve his damage, making his nuke combo more deadly to Shadow Fiend. The blind also prevents Shadow Fiend from landing his attacks often.
Shadow Fiend
* Requiem of Souls is easily interrupted by Boundless Strike, due to its long cast time.
* Shadow Fiend's lack of mobility and escape makes him an easy target to ambush with Primal Spring, especially during laning stage.
* Being close means he cannot use all three razes on you before you get your Jingu Mastery stacks.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend's fragility and lack of a natural escape mechanism makes him a great target for Templar Assassin's Meld.
* Shadow Fiend's burst damage, such as Shadowraze and Requiem of Souls, is easily nullified by her Refraction.
Kunkka
* 
Leap allows Mirana to easily escape Torrent and Ghostship.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Lucent Beam and 
Eclipse with ministun talent can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend does not have Black King Bar. Likewise, since Shadow Fiend is prone to buying Blink Dagger, an ill-timed Blink Dagger can give Luna a free chance to counter-initiate with Eclipse.
* 
Moon Glaives and 
Lunar Blessing allow Luna to outfarm Shadow Fiend in lane and the high physical damage output they provide her can also help her deal with Shadow Fiend even when he buys Black King Bar in late game.
* A well timed Eclipse will burst and kill Shadow Fiend before he even either initiates or gets a chance to retaliate, especially when equipped with Aghanim's Scepter and 
Ethereal Blade, this could become even worse for Shadow Fiend if he does not have Black King Bar. But bear in mind however, that smart and skilled Shadow Fiend can buy 
Wind Waker to counter this issue.
* Even though Shadow Fiend can evade all of Luna's abilities with Shadow Blade, smart Luna will always buy 
Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Shadow Fiend to her and her team.
Additional:
* Lucent Beam and Eclipse with ministun talent can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend does not have Black King Bar. Likewise, since Shadow Fiend is prone to buying Blink Dagger, an ill-timed Blink Dagger can give Luna a free chance to counter-initiate with Eclipse.
* Moon Glaives and Lunar Blessing allow Luna to outfarm Shadow Fiend in lane and the high physical damage output they provide her can also help her deal with Shadow Fiend even when he buys Black King Bar in late game.
* A well timed Eclipse will burst and kill Shadow Fiend before he even either initiates or gets a chance to retaliate, especially when equipped with Aghanim's Scepter and Ethereal Blade, this could become even worse for Shadow Fiend if he does not have Black King Bar. But bear in mind however, that smart and skilled Shadow Fiend can buy Wind Waker to counter this issue.
* Even though Shadow Fiend can evade all of Luna's abilities with Shadow Blade, a smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Shadow Fiend to her and her team.
Shadow Fiend
* 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
* 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
* 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
* Large area-of-effect with delay or require channeling: Enigma, Crystal Maiden, 
Invoker, Shadow Fiend, 
Pugna, 
Keeper of the Light, Dawnbreaker.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden, 
Witch Doctor, Warlock or Shadow Fiend.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that can gank Shadow Fiend in the early game: 
Earth Spirit, 
Nyx Assassin, 
Riki, 
Spirit Breaker.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that are hard to kill without lockdown: 
Puck, 
Weaver.
Kunkka
* Treant Protector's 
Living Armor will also negate Tidebringer's damage.
Shadow Fiend
* 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
* Late game heroes are Sven's favourite kind of opponent, such as 
Anti-Mage, 
Spectre and Shadow Fiend.
Kunkka
* 
Rage negates Kunkka's X Marks the Spot.
* As a strength hero with high strength gain and very little armor, as well as low agility gain, Kunkka is vulnerable to Lifestealer's 
Feast and 
Open Wounds.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: 
Bristleback, 
Clinkz, 
Luna,Shadow Fiend, 
Slardar, 
Terrorblade
Shadow Fiend
* 
Arc Lightning allows Zeus to get farm in lane against Shadow Fiend without coming into the range of his Shadowrazes.
* 
Lightning Bolt can be used to heavily harass Shadow Fiend when he tries to get a last hit.
* 
Thundergod's Wrath and Lightning Bolt can be used to detect Shadow Fiend if he tries to escape with Shadow Blade.
Kunkka
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as 
Clockwerk, Kunkka, Puck, 
Skywrath Mage, Spirit Breaker, 
Tusk and others.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Glimpse and 
Kinetic Field allows Disruptor to set up some early kills onto Shadow Fiend.
* 
Static Storm can be used to cancel the cast of Requiem of Souls.
Kunkka
* X Marks the Spot is a counter to 
Disruptor's Glimpse, but you need quick reactions to pull it off.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to gank Shadow Fiend in the early game, preventing him from getting Necromastery stacks.
* 
Nether Strike and Charge of Darkness can be used to prevent Shadow Fiend from casting Requiem of Souls.
Kunkka
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: 
Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light, Kunkka, Disruptor.
Shadow Fiend
* The blind from 
Laser prevents Shadow Fiend from attacking for its duration, potentially preventing him from getting a kill.
* 
Scythe of Vyse can be used to prevent Shadow Fiend from casting Requiem of Souls.
* A combination of Tinker's abilities and his items (like the 
Dagon 5 and Ethereal Blade combo) can kill Shadow Fiend quickly.
Additional:
* During the laning stage Laser will reduce Shadow Fiend's last hits, preventing him from getting Necromastery souls.
* Shadow Fiend has low health and is vulnerable to Tinker's high magic burst.
Kunkka
* Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as 
Tinker and 
Nature's Prophet.
* In general, highly mobile heroes like Earth Spirit or 
Storm Spirit are at a disadvantage against X Marks the Spot.
* Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as Tinker and Nature's Prophet.
Additional:
* X Marks the Spot can be used to prevent Tinker from escape with Blink Dagger or 
Keen Conveyance, discourage him from snapping farm and snapping gank. However, in later game, it'll be much more difficult because Tinker can buy Black King Bar or 
Linken's Sphere to prevent Kunkka from placing X on him, or Eul's Scepter of Divinity to prevent the recall.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Dragon Tail can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls.
* 
Breathe Fire reduces Shadow Fiend's damage even further.
* 
Dragon Knight's high strength and 
Dragon Blood means that he'll be able to tank Shadow Fiend's right clicks.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend's Presence of the Dark Lord reduces Dragon Knight's armor considerably, and his strong base attacks are augmented by his Necromastery.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend can still dish out heavy damage with Requiem of Souls and Shadowraze even while caught in 
Pit of Malice. Requiem of Souls is also great ability for intercepting Underlord and his team when they teleport using 
Fiend's Gate.
* Necromastery provides Shadow Fiend with bonus attack damage for each killed enemy unit, which combined with Presence of the Dark Lord's armor reduction allows him to 
Atrophy Aura's attack damage reduction in most stages of the game.
Kunkka
* X Marks the Spot will return Underlord or his teammate if they escape with Fiend's Gate.
* Torrent, Ghostship, Torrent Storm from Aghanim's Scepter and Tidal Wave from Aghanim's Shard are all excellent abilities for intercepting Underlord and his team if Underlord chooses to travel to the designated point of the map with Fiend's Gate.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadowraze can easily remove the protection from Flame Guard and kill Ember Spirit due to his low health.
* Ember Spirit is very vulnerable to physical damage from Necromastery.
Kunkka
* Using X Marks the spot Kunkka can prevent Ember Spirit from escaping with Activate Fire Remnant, until he purchase Eul's Scepter of Divinity or Linken's Sphere.
Shadow Fiend
* Spiderlings are a good source of farm for Necromastery and can be quickly killed with Shadowraze.
* Shadow Fiend is a natural Black King Bar carrier, protecting him from any of Broodmother's abilities.
* Requiem of Souls combined with Eul's Scepter of Divinity can potentially kill Broodmother before she gets a Black King Bar.
Kunkka
* X Marks the Spot prevents Broodmother from escaping.
* Tidebringer can clear Broodmother's spiders if they get in range.
Additional:
* Kunkka's entire kit is great for taking out multiple units at once.
* Tidebringer's cleave will split through a wave of spiderlings.
* X Marks the Spot is great for dragging Broodmother back out of her web for Kunkka's team to set up on her.
* Torrent and Ghostship will demolish any spiderlings within the radius.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadowraze deals magic damage and ignores Bulwark.
* Requiem of Souls deals magic damage and can fear Mars away, forcing him to turn around and therefore become vulnerable.
Kunkka
* Kunkka's Ghostship and Torrent disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend can easily farm his treants and get easy Necromastery Stacks.
* If Shadow Fiend buys 
Boots of Travel and Shadow Blade, he can counteract Nature's Prophet's split-push.
Kunkka
* Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as Tinker and Nature's Prophet.
* In general, highly mobile heroes like Earth Spirit or Storm Spirit are at a disadvantage against X Marks the Spot.
* Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as Tinker and Nature's Prophet.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadowraze can clear waves of Chen's creeps while giving Shadow Fiend gold and damage for Necromastery.
* Requiem of Souls's very high magical damage can often kill Chen and his creeps or his allies before he can save them with 
Hand of God.
Kunkka
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damage can make quick work of Chen's converted creeps and at same time gain farm: 
Magnus, 
Jakiro, Shadow Fiend, Kunkka, Luna, Dragon Knight, 
Medusa, Alchemist.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls not only slow all Meepos, but it can also kill the weakest Meepo instantly if the ultimate is released at the right position and time.
Additional:
* Shadow Fiend can easily focus down and kill one of the Meepos.
* The amount of damage from Shadow Fiend's AoE spells makes Meepo vulnerable in every aspect.
Kunkka
* X Marks the Spot is good to prevent a single meepo from escaping from a deadly situation.
* Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Meepo's clones.
Additional:
* Tidebringer's cleave damage can wear down Meepo's clones quickly. It can also give Meepo problems in the lane, due to his melee range and initially low health pool.
* Ghostship and Torrent can effectively disable Meepo while dealing heavy damage.
* X Marks the Spot prevents attempts to escape using Poof.
Kunkka
* Windranger can't escape 
Windrun X Marks the Spot with combo Torrent or Ghostship trap.
Kunkka
* X Marks the Spot breaks Flaming Lasso when used on ally and can break if used on Batrider.
Kunkka
* Ghostship can stun Faceless Void and give damage reduction to allies that are trapped during Chronosphere.
* Torrent can stun Faceless Void from outside Chronosphere.
* X Marks the Spot can bring back Faceless Void if he escapes using Time Walk.
* If the timing is right and there are allies to attack, a combination of X Marks the Spot, Ghostship, Torrent and Tidebringer can kill Faceless Void instantly.
Kunkka
* Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army.
* 
Phantom Lancer can't escape with 
Doppelganger under your X Marks the Spot, but can use it to dodge it.
Additional:
* Tidebringer and Kunkka's AoE abilities in general are effective in clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Shadow Dance does not protect Slark from Shadow Fiend's AoE spells.
Kunkka
* Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Chaos Knight's 
Phantasm army all through the game.
Shadow Fiend
* 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
* Heroes with a low health pool (Crystal Maiden, Skywrath Mage etc)
Kunkka
* The slow from Torrent makes Crystal Maiden's already bad movement speed even worse.
* Kunkka has many tools to interrupt Freezing Field (most notably Torrent, Ghostship and Torrent Storm from Aghanim's Scepter), as she is an easy target while channeling it.
* It is worth noting that most of Kunkka's abilities do not pierce through spell immunity, so purchasing a Black King Bar might help Crystal Maiden in this regard.
Kunkka
* Tidebringer's cleave will cripple any of his summons.
* Could potentially build Heaven's Halberd to cripple Lycan even more.
Additional:
* Tidebringer can be used to kill Lycan's summons.
* Can also build into 
Heaven's Halberd which will disable Lycan's auto attacks, crippling him even more.
Kunkka
* X Marks the Spot prevents Dark Seer or his allies from escaping with Surge.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadowraze (Near), Shadowraze (Medium), and Shadowraze (Far) can hit hard in the early stages of the game, and due to Shadow Fiend's high attack damage, most of Death Prophet's last hits will be denied in the laning phase. Additionally, Requiem of Souls can deal massive damage or kill Death Prophet at the start of team fights in combination with Eul's Scepter of Divinity or Shadow Blade.
Kunkka
* 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
Kunkka
* Tidebringer will deal lots of damage to Alchemist before he builds physical survivability items.
* Torrent and X Marks the Spot can control Alchemist at all stages of the game before he has Black King Bar.
* Ghostship's rum buff will greatly reduce the Alchemist's damage output in teamfights including his Radiance.
Kunkka
* X Marks the Spot negates Stampede.
Kunkka
* Spectre can't escape with 
Spectral Dagger under X Marks the Spot.
* Kunkka can dominate Spectre's lane using Tidebringer and gain an advantage.
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from 
Haunt.
Shadow Fiend
* Wins on the central line, thanks to its strong nukes Shadowraze, because of which Void Spirit cannot approach the creeps to farm gold and overtake Shadow Fiend by level
Additional:
* Wins on the central line, thanks to its strong nukes Shadowraze, because of which Void Spirit cannot approach the creeps to farm gold and overtake Shadow Fiend by level
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend usually buys a 
Hurricane Pike allowing him to easily escape from 
Power Cogs.
* Shadow Fiend can farm Clockwerk's Power Cogs to gain Necromastery stacks.
Kunkka
* Heroes that can negate Hoodwink's mobility: Kunkka, Disruptor, 
Mars.
Shadow Fiend
* 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.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with a low health pool (Crystal Maiden, Skywrath Mage etc)
Kunkka
* Heroes with long channeling abilities like Witch Doctor are easy targets for Kunkka to interrupt in team fights.
Additional:
* Torrent can cancel Death Ward from a far distance.
Kunkka
* Heroes that can keep Marci for a long time in one place so she can't pursue her targets, like Bane, 
Lion, Shadow Shaman, Invoker, Disruptor and Kunkka.
Kunkka
* Heroes with cleave or multi-target attacks can quickly take on Familiars and reduce Visage's firepower like Gyrocopter, Kunkka, Magnus and Medusa.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina, Lion, Luna, Nyx Assassin, 
Queen of Pain.
Kunkka
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from 
Sonic Wave and 
Scream of Pain.
* Queen of Pain can't escape easily from X Marks the Spot - Torrent combo.
* Outlanes Queen of Pain on the midline, due to the fact that Queen of Pain has a small reserve of health at the beginning of the game, and she suffers very much from Tidebringer, which is why she is forced to either spend money on Tango, or skip creeps and run for bounty runes, and Kunkka at this time will gain an advantage in level and gold.
Additional:
* Outlanes Queen of Pain on the midline, due to the fact that Queen of Pain has a small reserve of health at the beginning of the game, and she suffers very much from Tidebringer, which is why she is forced to either spend money on Tango, or skip creeps and run for bounty runes, and Kunkka at this time will gain an advantage in level and gold.
* Kunkka will catch her in X Marks the Spot and allow his team to kill her for stun from Torrent, because Queen of Pain has no way to avoid the cross X Marks the Spot before buying Black King Bar.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: 
Earthshaker, 
Monkey King, Shadow Fiend Lina
Kunkka
* Tidebringer pressures Invoker easily in lane due to Invoker's low health and armor in the early game.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with channeling spells because Shadow Fiend has nothing to cancel channeling outside of Requiem of Souls: Bane, Enigma, Pudge, Shadow Shaman, Dawnbreaker, Warlock, Crystal Maiden.
Additional:
* Because Shadow Fiend lacks escaping mechanisms, and is dependent on fair positioning for channeling Requiem of Souls, it's easier for Warlock with his long range crowd control abilities to lock Shadow Fiend down for his team.
Kunkka
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from 
Chaotic Offering and hit summons hard.
* Tidebringer clears summons later in the game.
* Most of your spells can interrupt 
Upheaval.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes who build mana boosting items but have low mana regeneration are especially vulnerable against Mana Break and Mana Void: 
Timbersaw, 
Slark, Shadow Fiend, Clinkz, Bristleback Nyx Assassin, Magnus
Kunkka
* Kunkka can bring Anti-Mage back with X Marks the Spot, effectively negating Blink or forcing him to wait out the debuff before Blinking.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina, Lion, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Queen of Pain.
Kunkka
* Lion lacks mobility or escape mechanisms, making him an easy target for abilities like 
Mirana's 
Sacred Arrow or 
Leshrac's 
Split Earth, or combos like Kunkka's X Marks the Spot into Torrent.
Shadow Fiend
* Squishy core heroes (Shadow Fiend, Sniper, etc)
Kunkka
* 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.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that are hard to kill without lockdown: Puck, Weaver.
Kunkka
* Heroes who are strong against mobile heroes: Disruptor, Bloodseeker, Kunkka, Keeper of the Light.
Shadow Fiend
* Squishy heroes or heroes without hard disables or silences: Shadow Demon, Shadow Fiend, Venomancer, 
Ancient Apparition etc.
Kunkka
* In general, highly mobile heroes like Earth Spirit or Storm Spirit are at a disadvantage against X Marks the Spot.
* Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as Tinker and Nature's Prophet.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that can gank Shadow Fiend in the early game: Earth Spirit, Nyx Assassin, Riki, Spirit Breaker.
Kunkka
* In general, highly mobile heroes like Earth Spirit or Storm Spirit are at a disadvantage against X Marks the Spot.
* Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as Tinker and Nature's Prophet.
Kunkka
* Kunkka relies on his powerful AOE spells to turn the tides of teamfights. He cannot use them while silenced.
* 
Last Word can mess up Kunkka's ability synergy, silencing him in the middle of his strong combo.
* 
Global Silence can disable Kunkka's spell casting from anywhere on the map, even if Kunkka is spell immune at the time.
Shadow Fiend
* Shadow Fiend is mostly played as right-click carry and natural Black King Bar carrier, making Silencer's spells very ineffective against him.
Shadow Fiend
*
Earthshock prevents Shadow Fiend from escaping after Ursa used his 
Blink Dagger to get on top of him.
Overpower and 
Fury Swipes allow Ursa to quickly kill Shadow Fiend.
Enrage keeps Ursa alive in a manfight with Shadow Fiend and allows him to stay close, even if Shadow Fiend uses Requiem of Souls.
*
*
Kunkka
* Ursa's massive physical damage can destroy Kunkka quickly.
Enrage can be activated before being hit by Ghostship to prevent most of the damage.
Earthshock slows Kunkka's movement speed. With no escape abilities, Kunkka is easy prey.
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*