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.
Shadow Demon
* All of Pugna's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from 
Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Nether Ward punishes Shadow Demon's constant mana usage from spamming spells, especially Shadow Poison.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Nether Blast for the enemy.
* 
Life Drain can be used to heal Pugna or an ally to save them from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption unless Pugna buys defensive items.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as 
Shadow Fiend or 
Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Shadow Demon
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially 
Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by 
Disruption.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with high burst damage: 
Lina, 
Lion, 
Luna, 
Nyx Assassin, 
Queen of Pain.
Shadow Demon
* All of Queen of Pain's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* However, Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Queen of Pain.
* 
Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Shadow Demon's abilities if he doesn't have disables.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Sonic Wave for the enemy.
Shadow Fiend
* Squishy heroes or heroes without hard disables or silences: 
Shadow Demon, Shadow Fiend, 
Venomancer, 
Ancient Apparition etc.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon will have a hard time catching Storm Spirit, as he can get away with 
Ball Lightning.
* 
Static Remnant will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* With very high mobility and usually being paired with 
Orchid Malevolence, he can catch Shadow Demon with ease both in ganks and in teamfights if Shadow Demon has no survivability items.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with high burst damage: Lina, Lion, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Queen of Pain.
Shadow Demon
* All of Lion's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* 
Hex and 
Mana Drain can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating, especially when he acquires his Talents at level 20 and 25.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Earth Spike or 
Finger of Death with Aghanim's Scepter for the enemy.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that are hard to kill without lockdown: 
Puck, 
Weaver.
Shadow Demon
* All of Puck's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Shadow Demon will find a hard time catching a Puck, as he can get away with 
Illusory Orb or even 
Waning Rift;
* Puck can dodge Shadow Poison waves and potentially avoid the damage from Demonic Purge with 
Phase Shift. Furthermore, after Disruption ended, Puck can use Phase Shift to avoid any further danger and can blink away with 
Blink Dagger.
* Waning Rift can be used to initiate Shadow Demon, prevent him from using any spells.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that are hard to kill without lockdown: Puck, Weaver.
Shadow Demon
* You can potentially kill a fragile Weaver by using Disruption during 
Shukuchi with a well-placed 
Sentry Ward, wasting the Shukuchi. But odds are he'll wait to get low health, 
Time Lapse the damage away and Shukuchi away once more.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter cannot break 
Reincarnation, which could put him in a disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* 
Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, Wraith King is a single-target hero, so he cannot deal with Disruption illusions.
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
* 
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.
Shadow Demon
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova will tear apart any illusions spawned from Disruption
* Split Earth can punish improper usage of Disruption.
* Leshrac does not have any buffs that can be removed by Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* 
Pulse Nova makes quick work of any illusions with amplified damage, and deals damage even if Leshrac is in Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Split Earth for the enemy.
* Disruption does not stop 
Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova once they start pulsing, and even worse it provides a safe shelter for Leshrac to keep pumping up his powerful AoE damage onto the battlefield.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Leshrac out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Leshrac.
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.
Shadow Demon
* 
Death Ward with Aghanim's Scepter makes quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption until Witch Doctor buys 
Linken's Sphere or 
Black King Bar.
* All of Witch Doctor's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* 
Voodoo Restoration can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Maledict or 
Paralyzing Cask for the enemy.
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
* 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.
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'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.
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
* 
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.
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.
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 Demon
* 
Chaos Knight, 
Lone Druid, 
Meepo and 
Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
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.
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.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes that can gank Shadow Fiend in the early game: 
Earth Spirit, Nyx Assassin, 
Riki, 
Spirit Breaker.
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 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 that can gank Shadow Fiend in the early game: Earth Spirit, Nyx Assassin, Riki, Spirit Breaker.
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
* 
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 Demon
* Illusions and summons are double-edge sword type of matchup for Luna. On one hand, they can tank damage from Eclipse, but on the other hand, she can easily clear them before Eclipse with Moon Glaives. Examples include 
Spectre, Shadow Demon, 
Phantom Lancer, 
Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, 
Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as 
Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, 
Chen, 
Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden).
Shadow Demon
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive. And Luna's commonly items Manta Style and Black King Bar does not work dispell to Demonic Purge
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Sceptre it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive.
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon is a very good ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Shadow Demon
* 
Lycan and Weaver has abilities that allow them to move at maximum movement speed, and those abilities can't be dispelled, potentially wasting the slow from Demonic Purge.
Shadow Demon
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
Shadow Fiend
* Squishy core heroes (Shadow Fiend, 
Sniper, etc)
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: 
Earthshaker, 
Monkey King, Shadow Fiend Lina
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.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that can gain vision over trees to catch Tinker: Invoker, Shadow Demon, 
Batrider.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Melee carries such as 
Sven, 
Ursa or 
Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge renders Ursa useless even through Black King Bar as it slows him, continually purges his Overpower charges and can not be dispelled by Ursa's Enrage.
* Disruption is a good way to save teammates against Ursa. Disrupting Ursa is also a good way to kite him, as it can not be dispelled by Enrage.
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 Demon
* Heroes that can punish aggressive heroes, such as: 
Leshrac, Shadow Demon, Pugna, 
Death Prophet.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: 
Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, 
Tusk, 
Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.
Shadow Demon
* Poof will destroy Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption and quickly escapes from 
Shadow Poison & Demonic Purge.
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.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer, 
Omniknight, Dawnbreaker.
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.
Shadow Demon
* 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.
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 Demon
* Heroes who can summon illusions and summons because Terrorblade has no abilities to deal with multiple enemies at once outside Reflection: Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, 
Broodmother, Lycan, Enigma, Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Demon, 
Dark Seer, Nature's Prophet, Invoker, 
Morphling, 
Visage, 
Grimstroke with Aghanim's Scepter.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with Aghanim's Scepter), 
Viper.
Shadow Fiend
* 
Shadow Dance does not protect Slark from Shadow Fiend's AoE spells.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: 
Phantom Assassin, Sven, 
Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: 
Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, 
Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback, 
Clinkz, Luna,Shadow Fiend, 
Slardar, Terrorblade
Shadow Demon
* Melee carries such as Sven, Ursa or Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's spammable illusions can be used to scout Techies' 
Proximity Mines.
Shadow Demon
* In the laning stage, making illusions of Venomancer will turn his 
Poison Sting back at him, making for an easy gank at level one, and for later when your mid comes for ganks.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption instantly removes Phantom Embrace, and can potentially save allies affected by Soulbind.
* Demonic Purge dispels Ink Swell.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Her illusions with 
Desolate are very valuable, especially when they are usually paired with Radiance. Unlike blink or force movement, 
Spectral Dagger's escaping mechanic requires manual movement, and therefore Demonic Purge can hold her back really hard and allow your allies to finish her off.
* If she tries to kill you or any key ally with 
Haunt at any point of the game, remember to not panic and always use Disruption on the illusion, whether it is fake or the real Spectre herself. When the situation calls, Demonic Purge can save a second victim from a haunting Spectre.
* When upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can remove Spectre from a fight by disabling Desolate and 
Dispersion, negating her damage and tankiness respectively.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Shadow Poison can quickly stack to the point where Huskars generally low health is easily finished off.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption can turn Huskar's high attack speed and regeneration against him, It also makes him an easy target for Shadow Poison,
* Shadow Demon commonly builds a 
Meteor Hammer, allowing him to land a heavy stun on Huskar
* Shadow Demon's upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Huskar, It also pierces Spell Immunity, Without his passive for 7 seconds Huskar quickly falls in battle
* However note that Shadow Demon is a squishy target and you can often overwhelm him if he is alone, But he can still Disrupt you to escape
Additional:
* Shadow Poison can quickly stack up on Huskar, And with his naturally low health you don't need as many stacks to be effective.
* Disruption turns Huskars high attack speed against him, They also have the highest survivability as illusions due to his passive 
Berserker's Blood, It also allows you to put Shadow Poison stacks on him,
* Dissimulate turns Huskar's burning damage against his team, You can cast it on an ally who is taking a bunch of 
Burning Spear stacks and cause Huskar to take high amounts of damage as well
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge is your most effective weapon against him, It's 7 second Break causes him to quickly die in battle
Shadow Demon
* Disruption can banish Faceless Void or an ally in Chronosphere, making it a less effective ability.
* Faceless Void's illusions created by Disruption will not get stunned by Chronosphere, allowing Shadow Demon to attack Faceless Void in his Chronosphere.
* Casting Disruption after releasing Shadow Poison charges will make Time Walk unable to backtrack the damage.
* Shadow Poison is a good way to deal damage as the initial damage and the release damage can't both be Time Walked at the same time.
* Demonic Purge is a great slow, useful to force out a Time Walk early and can break Time Lock with Aghanim's Scepter.
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.
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 Demon
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of 
Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless for 7 seconds.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by 
Shackleshot.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge. can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
Shadow Demon
* Alchemist is a well-known Radiance carrier among other auras your illusions will benefit from. They also get the extra move speed and reduced base attack time from his 
Chemical Rage, and it's even better if you can catch him as his own rage is about to expire.
* Disruption will buy enough time for all allies to retreat when Alchemist starts to activate 
Unstable Concoction.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Disruption will allow his allies to maneuver around you. It can also be used to protect an ally from your abilities, or Astral Imprisonment - Meteor Hammer combo.
* 
Disseminate turns your high damage Arcane Orb and Sanitiy's Eclipse against you and your teammates.
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge will break your Essence Flux passive for 7 seconds, preventing you from regaining mana, and severely hindering your damage output.
Shadow Demon
* The constant dispel from Demonic Purge will make any attempt to save the victim or himself by 
Surge become futile. For what it's worth, Demonic Purge will also dispel 
Ion Shell.
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.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption can protect Shadow Demon's allies from Fortune's End, preserving healing or buffs. It can also catch Oracle's allies, allowing Shadow Poison to be used without being dispelled.
* Demonic Purge prevents over-time healing during False Promise, such as Purifying Flames and 
Urn of Shadows. If he has Aghanim's Scepter, this issue can persist for longer or on multiple allies.
* It will not, however, prevent healing from instant abilities, items, or auras, making 
Mekansm a good choice against him.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon with an Aghanim's Scepter will use Demonic Purge to disable Curse of Avernus and the passive component of Borrowed Time. If this is combined with a silence, Borrowed Time will not trigger at all.
* Even without Aghanim's Scepter, he can still waste Borrowed Time with Disruption. Curse of Avernus fully works on illusions, turning the passive ability against him.
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 Demon
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while: 
Doom and Shadow Demon (via Aghanim's Scepter), Viper, Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with summons or illusions makes Sacred Arrow harder to land: Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passives.
Shadow Demon
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane: this includes 
Dazzle, Shadow Demon and 
Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
Shadow Demon
* 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.
Shadow Demon
* 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.
Shadow Demon
* 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.
Additional:
* Be ready to save an ally from 
Omnislash with your Disruption.
* Spawning 
Juggernaut's illusions is a great deal, as his base attack time is low and he has a critical strike. Illusions will benefit from both.
* Demonic Purge will prevent Juggernaut's desperate attempt to flee using 
Blade Fury. However, it cannot stop him if he is using 
Town Portal Scroll.
Shadow Demon
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers. Doom and Shadow Demon with Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility: Doom, 
Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with 
Aghanim's Shard
Shadow Fiend
* Heroes with a low health pool (Crystal Maiden, 
Skywrath Mage etc)
Shadow Demon
* 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 Demon
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Disruption can save allies and mess up an initiation from an enemy Legion Commander. Using Disruption on your ally that is affected by 
Duel will leave her totally exposed without the benefit of the life steal from 
Moment of Courage. A precise decision to Disrupt Legion Commander or her victim is crucial to waste Duel's potential.
* Demonic Purge cannot be dispelled by a hard dispel from 
Press the Attack, which in turn can be dispelled by your ultimate.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that can purge buffs can dispel Guardian Angel: Invoker, Shadow Demon, Oracle.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge can dispel 
Guardian Angel on the key target during combat, allow your allies to finish them.
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
Shadow Demon
* Disruption sets up Anti-Mage for a chain disable. The illusions will deal extra damage due to Mana Break.
* Shadow Poison hits Anti-Mage even after he's Blinked away.
* If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can break Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Anti-Mage alone, Disruption's considerable cast range can become a perfect setup for any hard-disable to follow up. If he is pinned down, Anti-Mage will quickly face his demise when the illusions deplete his already low mana pool. 
Manta Style will easily allow him to escape, however.
* The illusions can be controlled to quickly sap mana from any other target, making Anti-Mage one of the most valuable targets to disrupt.
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 Demon
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
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 Demon
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Shadow Demon
* For the same reason, he has to be slightly more cunning when playing against heroes that can scout the treeline, such as Ancient Apparition and his 
Ice Vortex and Shadow Demon and his Shadow Poison.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer and Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
Shadow Demon
* Although Phantom Lancer will generate strong illusions, and you can also break his 
Juxtapose with an Aghanim's Demonic Purge, you have a small chance of guessing which is the real Phantom Lancer after he uses 
Doppelganger.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* 
Bloodseeker's 
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's 
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's 
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's 
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's strength is the sheer amount of illusions he can conjure, Dissimulate can be cast on an ally that he is focusing to quickly thin out his ranks
* Landing a upgraded Demonic Purge on the real Phantom Lancer prevents him from making very many illusions (His only source being Doppelganger), You can reapply as needed if you have the Shard
* Disrupting Phantom Lancer allows you to create multiple extra illusions with Juxtapose, As he is a common carrier of 
Diffusal Blade, you can also drain the mana of any nearby heros
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)
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's main source of damage is his low cooldown, high damage spells - meaning Last Word and Global Silence will pretty much take him out of the game for the duration.
* Shadow Demon likes to spam his abilities, which makes him vulnerable to Arcane Curse.
* If Shadow Demon dies near Silencer, he will lose intelligence, reducing his mana pool, mana regen, and attack damage. Furthermore, if the game is long and Shadow Demon dies often, the intelligence losses will also reduce his spell damage.
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
* Late game heroes are Sven's favourite kind of opponent, such as 
Anti-Mage, Spectre and Shadow Fiend.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption is not reliable enough to catch an Ember Spirit with a backup 
Fire Remnant.
* 
Sleight of Fist will also make quick work of the spawned illusions.
* The best you can do against an Ember Spirit is to dispel his 
Flame Guard with your Demonic Purge.
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.
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.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption will save Shadow Demon's teammates from being killed by Counter Helix or Culling Blade.
* Demonic Purge slows Axe to a crawl, making him nearly useless after initiating. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, it will also break Counter Helix.
* 
Demonic Cleanse clears Battle Hunger and Aghanim's Shard Counter Helix Damage Reduction, both allowing targets to escape and reducing your own survivability.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Axe alone, Disruption can be used to save your allies from Axe's initiate Berserker's Call, or, if timed correctly, from his 
Culling Blade.
* Illusions spawned from Axe has the Counter Helix passive, which with deal some nasty damage if an enemy focuses them
* Your upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Axe's primary damage output: Counter Helix, This can be used on him during Berserker's Call to seriously hinder him.
* Demonic Cleanse will clear Battle Hunger, which is Axe's method of catching heroes, and Shard upgraded Counter Helix's Damage Reduction, which is one of Axe's primary survivability abilities.
Shadow Demon
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as 
Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
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.
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.
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
* Lina can defeat Shadow Fiend with the combination of her abilities on lane and during teamfights:
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:
Shadow Demon
*
Dragon Slave will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
Light Strike Array for the enemy.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Lina out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Lina.