Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 11%)Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Shadow Shaman
* Riki is known for being a successful support killer, something Shadow Shaman is very vulnerable to.
* Smoke Screen is particularly devastating to Shadow Shaman. With neither his various disables nor a solid health pool Shadow Shaman is usually dead. This forces Shadow Shaman to buy a
Force Staff if he finds himurself in this scenario and buy
Sentry Wards if you have the money.
Invoker
* Heroes with silence: Death Prophet,
Riki,
Drow Ranger.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Shadow Shaman
* Support heroes with low mobility can be slowed further by Incapacitating Bite, and swarmed by Spiderlings for an easy kill: Shadow Shaman,
Visage,
Dazzle,
Rubick,
Lich.
Invoker
* Broodmother can kill Invoker easily in the early game with her Spawn Spiderlings and her spiderlings.
* Broodmother is both an Orchid Malevolence and a
Nullifier carrier. As she can farm it early, she can kill Invoker easily.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as Silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Invoker
* Invoker is heavily dependent on his spells, making him useless during Global Silence, as well as interrupting Invoker during his combo.
* Arcane Curse is particularly deadly, because Invoker will continuously lose health if he keeps invoking and casting new spells.
* Last Word will silence Invoker when he casts Invoke, interrupting his combo.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Shadow Shaman
* Nyx Assassin,
Bounty Hunter and
Slark can all sneak up and kill Shadow Shaman, Nyx being particularly deadly. Shadow Shaman must watch out for Slark carefully, as he can break either (but not both unless he makes a mistake) of Shadow Shaman's disables, with
Dark Pact and leap out of a serpent ward ring. These heroes, however, rely heavily on escape and are themselves not very durable and none of them can survive a full lockdown with Mass Serpent Ward. Having Sentry Wards can turn Shadow Shaman from prey to predator.
Invoker
* Nyx Assassin takes advantage of Invoker's massive intelligence gain and mana pool to do tons of damage using Mana Burn, as the spell does more damage based on the target's intelligence.
* Nyx Assassin can simply activate Spiked Carapace while under many Invoker's abilities to stun him.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Shadow Shaman
* Nyx Assassin,
Bounty Hunter and
Slark can all sneak up and kill Shadow Shaman, Nyx being particularly deadly. Shadow Shaman must watch out for Slark carefully, as he can break either (but not both unless he makes a mistake) of Shadow Shaman's disables, with
Dark Pact and leap out of a serpent ward ring. These heroes, however, rely heavily on escape and are themselves not very durable and none of them can survive a full lockdown with Mass Serpent Ward. Having Sentry Wards can turn Shadow Shaman from prey to predator.
Invoker
* Bounty Hunter and
Slardar both have ultimates (
Corrosive Haze and
Track) that reveal Invoker through Ghost Walk.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as Silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Invoker
* Heroes with silence: Death Prophet,
Riki,
Drow Ranger.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 2%)Shadow Shaman
* Due to their high attack speed, Summon Familiars will destroy Mass Serpent Wards quickly, granting Visage a massive amount of gold.
* Visage can use Stone Form of the Familiars to cancel Shackles.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Stone Form also allows Visage to use
Stone Form himself to cancel Shackles while restoring his health.
* Grave Chill can make Shadow Shaman's bad movement speed and attack speed even worse.
* Visage is also a natural Bloodthorn wielder, which allows him to silence Shadow Shaman and make him more vulnerable to damage.
Additional:
* Due to their high attack speed, Visage's Summon Familiars will destroy Mass Serpent Ward quickly, granting Visage massive amount of gold.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 15%)Shadow Shaman
* Mirana can disturb Shadow Shaman's channeling even if he is under the effect of invisibility thanks to Sacred Arrow.
* Mirana armed with an Aghanim's Scepter is known to be able to quickly burst down heroes - especially supports. Together with
Ethereal Blade the bullying towards Shadow Shaman can continue for the whole match.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 11%)Shadow Shaman
* As a caster, Anti-Mage's
Mana Break and
Mana Void are highly effective against him.
Invoker
* Anti-Mage's mobility and magic resistance make him nearly impossible to kill alone.
* Invoker's spells cost a lot of mana, and Invoker himself has a lot of mana. This means Invoker and his team are vulnerable to Mana Void's heavy damage.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Invoker's combo if he doesn't have disables.
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Crippling Fear is a good way to shut down and gank Invoker in the early game..
* Void deals good damage to Invoker and makes escaping harder.
* With Hunter in the Night and
Void, Invoker can't get away from Night Stalker and won't be able to catch him with Sun Strike during the night.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)Invoker
* Blade Fury, similar to Rage, grants immunity to Invoker's spells and can dispel some debuffs as well.
* Omnislash renders Juggernaut invulnerable to Invoker's spells and can easily take Invoker down.
Additional:
* Juggernaut's instant spell immunity from Blade Fury. helps him dodge Invoker's combos. He can dispel the disables from
Cold Snap and
Deafening Blast and dodge the damage from
Chaos Meteor, as well as walk through
Ice Wall.
* Juggernaut's high DPS allows him to kill split pushing Forge Spirit(s) effortlessly, and his high armor prevents them from being a threat to him.
* However, Invoker can hit Juggernaut with Sun Strike through
Blade Fury, making the
Tornado and
Sun Strike combo a threat if he does not dodge
Tornado.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Earth Spirit is a dangerous foe to encounter for Invoker in the early stages of the game. Since Invoker needs to gain levels as fast as possible and is not very strong in the early game, Earth Spirit can use his incredible early game power to gank Invoker and ruin his game plan.
* Earth Spirit combines stuns and silences with his spells and can apply them from a great distance. This is bad for Invoker as he is dependent on a smart usage of his spells with Invoke and Earth Spirit can disrupt his combos easily.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Invoker
* Rage grants immunity from Invoker's spells and can dispel most of the disables such as the armor loss from Forge Spirit and the constant stuns of Cold Snap.
Additional:
* Rage protects Lifestealer from all of Invoker's spells (except for Sun Strike).
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Time Walk can easily avoid Invoker's combo damage if doesn't have disables.
* Chronosphere will reveal Invoker during Ghost Walk.
* All of Invoker's hidden cooldowns are affected by Time Dilation, so Faceless Void can easily slow him down a lot.
Additional:
* Time Dilation prevents Invoker from further invoking for the entire duration of the debuff, as well as massively slowing Invoker based on the large amount of spells he has.
* Time Walk will completely negate Invoker's combo damage.
* If Invoker is caught in Chronosphere, he will most likely be the primary target due to the large teamfight contribution he can provide.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Nether Ward on its own can greatly hinder Invoker from casting many of his abilities, at least until he gets a significant amount of HP or is under the protection of spell immunity from
Black King Bar
* Life Drain provides True sight, revealing Invoker through Ghost Walk, and forcing him or his allies to use an ability or item to interrupt its channeling
* Outside of Nether Ward's range, Invoker shall have the advantage, as Invoker has Tornado to purge Pugna's Decrepify when it is used defensively, Tornado or Cold Snap to prevent Pugna from channeling
Life Drain
* A poorly used Decrepify on Pugna's allies means Invoker's abilities can be used to deal more damage to them.
Additional:
* Because Invoker relies on casting a large amount of spells to contribute to fights, Nether Ward can force him to not cast anything at all or take a large amount of damage to cast spells.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Tidebringer pressures Invoker easily in lane due to Invoker's low health and armor in the early game.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 25%)Shadow Shaman
* Ether Shock is a great farming ability as a handy short-cooldown nuke.
* Hex and
Shackles gives Rubick extra lockdown potential in ganks and teamfights.
* Mass Serpent Ward, should Rubick steal, serves as a powerful source for teamfighting, pushing, and acquring Roshan.
* Arcane Supremacy allows Rubick to cast
Hex and
Shackles at a further distance, which keeps Rubick at a safer position compared to
Shadow Shaman.
* Rubick can interrupt Shackles by casting
Telekinesis.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Doom completely takes Invoker out of a team fight, a hero who relies heavily on using abilities and items to contribute in team fights.
Additional:
* Doom is a good way to shut down Invoker, preventing from casting spells and using items for a lengthy time, thus forcing him to invest on
Linken's Sphere.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* Dragon Knight can simply tank and destroy all Shadow Shaman's Serpent Wards.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 8%)Shadow Shaman
* Waveform allows Morphling to escape from Mass Serpent Ward
* Morphling can interrupt Shadow Shaman while he is shackling an ally with Adaptive Strike (Strength).
* With Ethereal Blade Morphling can quickly burst him down before he even has a chance to react.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Shadow Shaman
* Lone Druid's early game is good against slow, squishy supports since his bear is very strong early game and an Entangling Claws proc almost always guarantees a kill: Ancient Apparition,
Crystal Maiden,
Shadow Shaman, etc.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Shadow Shaman
* Nyx Assassin,
Bounty Hunter and
Slark can all sneak up and kill Shadow Shaman, Nyx being particularly deadly. Shadow Shaman must watch out for Slark carefully, as he can break either (but not both unless he makes a mistake) of Shadow Shaman's disables, with
Dark Pact and leap out of a serpent ward ring. These heroes, however, rely heavily on escape and are themselves not very durable and none of them can survive a full lockdown with Mass Serpent Ward. Having Sentry Wards can turn Shadow Shaman from prey to predator.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 12%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities: Crystal Maiden,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Pudge,
Shadow Fiend,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Shadow Shaman
* By simply using Aphotic Shield, Abaddon can easily save his allies from heroes that apply long disables, such as Lion or
Shadow Shaman.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Bounty Hunter and
Slardar both have ultimates (
Corrosive Haze and
Track) that reveal Invoker through Ghost Walk.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Shadow Shaman
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for Shadow Shaman, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt Shadow Shaman's channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 29%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman,
Witch Doctor,
Enigma,
Bane.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Heroes with abilities which have a built-in spell immunity: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Pangolier.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Shadow Shaman
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active: Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Shadow Shaman
* With all 5 Meepos available, all of Shaman's wards will be disposed of very quickly.
* All of Shaman's disables are based around single target control, and he can at most only disable two Meepos, allowing the rest to easily lay waste to him, be it during the channel duration of Shackles or by using
Earthbind.
Invoker
* 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.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Invoker
* Astral Imprisonment allows Outworld Destroyer to save himself or ally from Invoker's combo, or remove Invoker from a fight temporarily.
* Arcane Orb's pure damage will deal a lot of damage against Invoker's mediocre strength gain.
* EMP is useless against Outworld Destroyer by activating Equilibrium.
* However, be aware that Sanity's Eclipse will most likely not deal any damage at all, due to Invoker's high intelligence gain compared to Outworld Destroyer's.
Invoker
* Any heroes with high intelligence, such as Invoker and
Pugna.
Luna
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Shadow Shaman
* Luna's high magical damage burst from Lucent Beam and
Eclipse can take advantage of Shadow Shaman's low health and strength gain.
* Without Black King Bar, Luna's
Lucent Beam and 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun talent for
Eclipse can be used to disable Shadow Shaman while he is channeling
Shackles.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Eclipse combined with 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun can repetively stun Shadow Shaman, and can even discourage him from even trying to use
Shackles.
* Luna is a natural Black King Bar wielder, and almost none of Shadow Shaman's spells can bypass spell immunity, except for
Mass Serpent Ward.
* Bear in mind, however, that if Shadow Shaman gets a jump on Luna first, he will be able to use Hex to disable Luna and burst her down before she can use
Black King Bar,
Lucent Beam or
Eclipse. In addition,
Moon Glaives cannot bounce on
Mass Serpent Wards at all.
Additional:
* Luna's high magical damage burst from Lucent Beam and
Eclipse can take advantage of Shadow Shaman's low health and strength gain.
* Without Black King Bar, Luna's
Lucent Beam and 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun talent for
Eclipse can be used to disable Shadow Shaman while he is channeling
Shackles.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Eclipse combined with 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun can repetively stun Shadow Shaman, and can even discourage him from even trying to use
Shackles.
* Luna is a natural Black King Bar wielder, and almost none of Shadow Shaman's spells can bypass spell immunity, except for
Mass Serpent Ward.
* Bear in mind, however, that if Shadow Shaman gets a jump on Luna first, he will be able to use Hex to disable Luna and burst her down before she can use
Black King Bar,
Lucent Beam or
Eclipse. In addition,
Moon Glaives cannot bounce on
Mass Serpent Wards at all.
Shadow Shaman
* A couple of nukers and disablers on the same lane can finish a squishy Luna efficiently despite a teammate's assistance: Sven +
Shadow Shaman.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* The stun and damage over time from Shackles mitigates Reactive Armor's HP and armor regen.
Invoker
* Cold Snap can prevent Timbersaw from using both Timber Chain and Chakram due to the frequent stuns interrupting the lengthy cast animations, as well as stopping him mid-chain. This can negate Timbersaw's attempts to escape or dole out extra ability damage.
* Later in the game, Invoker's heavy magical and pure damage can be difficult to avoid, meaning Timbersaw's armor is less useful.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Shadow Shaman
* Mass Serpent Ward rips apart Huskar quickly due to his poor armor.
* As soon as Huskar jumps in, he will be vulnerable to Shadow Shaman's disables if he does not have Black King Bar.
Invoker
* Quas Exort Invoker has high physical damage in the form of Cold Snap and Forged Spirits that allows him to trade hits with Huskar.
* Although Huskar can dispel Cold Snap with Life Break.
* Sun Strike deals pure damage and pierces spell immunity, and Huskar tends to drain his HP, making him a susceptible target.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Shadow Shaman
* All of Shadow Shaman's abilities totally ruin Terrorblade: Ether Shock destroys his illusions, Hex prevents him from using Sunder or
Manta Style in bad situations, Shackles not only that prevent him from using
Sunder, but he has no way to cancel it and Mass Serpent Ward can help Shadow Shaman push faster than Terrorblade even in
Metamorphosis.
Additional:
* Ether Shock,
Mass Serpent Wards summoned from both,
Mass Serpent Ward and
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Shackles can do great damage to both, Terrorblade and his illusions.
* Hex prevents Terrorblade from using Sunder or
Manta Style in bad situations.
Hex can also destroy one of his illusions.
* Shackles can damage Terrorblade and prevent him from using his abilities and items, whether to fight, survive, or dispel it in any way while also healing Shadow Shaman in process. In addition, Terrorblade has no solutions to cancel it.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Shackles can also summon four more
Mass Serpent Wards to attack Terrorblade while he is disabled.
Invoker
* 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.
Primal Beast
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Shadow Shaman
* Like above, supports with reliable stuns can be a massive problem and force Black King Bar in fights unideally, such as
Shadow Shaman,
Lion,
Nyx Assassin.
Invoker
* Invoker's numerous area-of-effect abilities can interrupt Primal Beast, especially while he is in the middle of a team fight, where Primal Beast thrives. (Tornado,
Cold Snap, and
Ice Wall all help to disable Primal Beast and control him from a distance.
* EMP disintegrates Primal Beast's low mana pool.
* However, Invoker is quite a slow paced hero and not particularly known for being survivable against a rampaging Primal Beast with Black King Bar.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that are squishy by nature are an easy target for Spirit Breaker: Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Shadow Shaman
Shadow Shaman
* Can easily interrupt and disable Spirit Breaker with hex if being charged.
Invoker
* Cold Snap allows Invoker to interrupt Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
* Tornado's long range can be used to cancel Charge of Darkness.
* Deafening Blast prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and thus proccing his Greater Bash.
Marci
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Additional:
* Shadow Shaman can provide an excellent counter-initiation against her Rebound. His abilities can shut down any of her tower dive attempts in the laning phase.
* Shackles keeps Marci stunned for an extended period of time,w asting her ultimate .A combo with Mass Serpent Ward only makes things worse for her, as her armor is low.
Invoker
* 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.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 18%)Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Sven
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Shadow Shaman
* Sven is very vulnerable to chain stun such as Lion,
Shadow Shaman or
Magnus.
Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Enigma
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Invoker
* 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.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities: Invoker,
Silencer,
Nyx Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Shadow Shaman,
Lion and etc.
Invoker
* Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities: Invoker,
Silencer,
Nyx Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Shadow Shaman,
Lion and etc.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Shadow Shaman
* 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.
Invoker
* 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.
Io
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirit's weak area-of-effect: Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock.
Invoker
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker.
Muerta
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 13%)Shadow Shaman
* Shackles and
Hex can both be used on Muerta while she is using
Pierce the Veil. preventing
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Invoker
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Medusa's mana to weaken Mana Shield.
* Medusa's lack of mobility makes her easy to kite with Invoker's spells.
Additional:
* EMP is a large mana burn nuke which can hit Medusa's Mana shield with enough damage to lose even more mana.
* Deafening Blast disarms Medusa's ability to deal pseudo-AOE damage during teamfights.
* Cold Snap allows the opposing team to repeatedly stun Medusa in short succession, preventing her from successfully casting her ultimate due to its long cast time.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Shadow Shaman
* Shadow Shaman's Mass Serpent Ward together with
Ether Shock can easily kill lots of Treants if played defensively.
* Hex and
Shackles can disrupt Nature's Prophet's escape attempts with Teleportation.
Additional:
* Mass Serpent Ward can kill lots of treants if played defensively.
* Mass Serpent Ward, Hex and Shackles can catch and kill a Nature's Prophet trying to use Teleportation.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Quas-
Exort Invoker can win the mid lane easily against Alchemist because
Quas regeneration will nullify Acid Spray's damage over time and
Exort damage bonus will allow Invoker to out last hit Alchemist.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Cold Embrace is the perfect setup for all his nukes - Chaos Meteor,
EMP and especially global
Sun Strike.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Shadow Shaman
* Shadow Shaman's long disables are effective at kiting and wasting the duration of Battle Trance.
* Mass Serpent Ward are especially effective against Troll Warlord during Battle Trance, as trapping him inside them during the duration is effectively another hard disable, as Troll cannot attack the wards or use Phase Boots to escape.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Invoker
* Tornado allows Invoker to purge Necrophos's Ghost Shroud, nullifying any benefits he could get out of it
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Necrophos's mana, preventing him from using his abilities constantly
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Shadow Shaman
* Shadow Shaman's many disables can lock down Weaver. Even with Linken's Sphere, Weaver might not be able to escape should Shadow Shaman uses Shackles quickly enough following Hex.
* Mass Serpent Wards can make short work of Weaver once he is locked down.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 0%)Shadow Shaman
* Shackles prevents Chen from acting, and damages him while healing Shadow Shaman, also allowing Shadow Shaman's allies to kill him faster.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Shackles can also summon four more
Mass Serpent Wards to attack Chen while he is disabled. And to make things worse, Chen has no way to cancel
Reel In on his own, and must rely on outside from {U:Centaur Conqueror} or {U:Mud Golem} under his control.
* Ether Shock and
Mass Serpent Ward can often not only kill Chen's allies before he can save them with
Hand of God, but they can also be used to destroy Chen's creeps easily thanks to their high damage and area-of-effect.
* Hex will rrevent Chen from any attempt to save himself or his allies with
Hand of God.
Additional:
* Shackles prevents Chen from acting, and damages him while healing Shadow Shaman, also allowing Shadow Shaman's allies to kill him faster.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Shackles can also summon four more
Mass Serpent Wards to attack Chen while he is disabled. And to make things worse, Chen has no way to cancel {A|Shackles|Shadow Shaman
* Ether Shock and
Mass Serpent Ward can often not only kill Chen's allies before he can save them with
Hand of God, but they can also be used to destroy Chen's creeps easily thanks to their high damage and area-of-effect.
* Hex will prevent Chen from any attempt to save himself or his allies with
Hand of God.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 1%)Shadow Shaman
* Hex's instant cast time will force Brewmaster into the awkward situation of needing some form of spell immunity or block to prevent being immediately hex upon blinking in, or wait until Shaman has used all his crowd control before entering a fight.
* Brewmaster also has no defense against Shadow Shaman lockdowns.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Invoker
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 2%)Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while: Doom and
Shadow Demon (via
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper,
Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Viper
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper receive less damage from Invoker's spells
* Viper can harass Invoker with his Poison Attack in the early game.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack can kill Invoker easily if Ghost Walk is on cooldown.
Shadow Shaman
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock
Invoker
* Ice Wall and
Ghost Walk can be used to kite and escape from Viper.
* Chaos Meteor and
Sun Strike deal heavy damage and can quickly bring Viper down.
* Cold Snap,
Tornado, and
Deafening Blast are powerful disables that reduce Viper's effectiveness.
* EMP burns Viper's limited mana pool, reducing his potential poison damage.
* Forge Spirits can melt Viper's armor and reduce his durability.
Lina
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Invoker
* Invoker's
EMP is extremely effective against Earthshaker due to his low natural mana.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus,
Invoker or
Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
Undying
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Invoker
* Invoker's multiple spells can lock down Undying and disable him from doing much.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Shadow Shaman
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for Shadow Shaman, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt Shadow Shaman's channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
Invoker
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman,
Lion
Invoker
* Invoker's spells will disable and destroy Legion Commander while she's locked in a Duel.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Shadow Shaman
* Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned Drow Ranger and
Sniper) and supports (like
Dazzle and
Shadow Shaman).
Shadow Shaman
* Hex can be used immediately to destroy Spectre's illusion when she
Haunts.
* Shadow Shaman can use Shackles to lock down Spectre for his team.
* Shadow Shaman's Mass Serpent Ward and
Ether Shock help him push lanes and end the game early before Spectre can come online and take over the late game.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Shadow Shaman
* Arc Warden with his Magnetic Field will protect allies from Mass Serpent Ward.
Invoker
* Invoker's Forge Spirit can negate
Flux.
* Provided he does a right combo with Chaos Meteor, Invoker can easily burst down Arc Warden (plus his clone if he spawns it.)
* An early Orchid Malevolence can shut down Arc Warden pretty hard, especially when Invoker has a good lane against him if he kills him early on.
* Deafening Blast and
Ice Wall limit's Arc Wardens mobility and damage, crippling him greatly.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 11%)Invoker
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden,
Enchantress,
Gyrocopter,
Lion,
Riki,
Techies,
Terrorblade,
Necrophos,
Invoker.
Invoker
* Tinker is relatively helpless against Invoker, as his Rearm and
Boots of Travel can be easily interrupted by Invoker's long range disables, even if he blinks away.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Invoker
* In the early to mid game, Invoker is defenseless against Storm Spirit's ganking with Ball Lightning and
Orchid Malevolence.
Shadow Shaman
* In general, squishy heroes that rely on escape often struggles against the amount of disables Shadow Shaman can bring. Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage and
Storm Spirit are among these.
Invoker
* Heroes with mana burn: Nyx Assassin,
Invoker,
Outworld Destroyer,
Pugna,
Lion
Sniper
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Shadow Shaman
* Sniper can easily destroy Mass Serpent Ward from long range
Invoker
* Invoker's arsenal of magical spells are troublesome for Sniper who has low HP and high armor, which does not benefit him much against Invoker.
* Besides magical damage, he can be disarmed and repeatedly mini-stunned with Cold Snap, preventing him from reacting.
* Leveling Quas can allow Invoker to lane effectively against Sniper despite right-click harassment.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Invoker
* Queen of Pain usually outlanes Invoker, giving her team a significant early game advantage while Invoker is still farming.
* Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Invoker's combo if he doesn't have disables.
Shadow Shaman
* Shadow Shaman has many disables to lock down Queen of Pain, preventing her from Blinking away, even through Linken's Sphere or her spell block talent.
* Mass Serpent Ward can tear through Queen of Pain's low health pool once she's locked down by
Hex &
Shackles.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Templar Assassin can easily counter Invoker's last hitting process in the early game with Refraction.
Refraction also negates the stun from Cold Snap, since it will need to deal damage in order to apply its stun.
* Additionally, Refraction completely blocks damage from Sun Strike should Invoker try to finish her off, provided she activate Refraction beforehand.
Shadow Shaman
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy Refraction
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Shadow Shaman
* Reincarnation allows Wraith King to survive Shadow Shaman's initial chain of disables and Serpent Ward attacks.
* Short cooldown of Wraithfire Blast is ideal for interrupting Shackles.
Invoker
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Wraith King's mana to prevent Reincarnation from triggering (only until Wraith King gets his Aghanim's Shard).
* Ice Wall and Cold Snap are particularly crippling for Wraith King as they allow to kite him very effectively, preventing him from dealing melee attack damage.
Additional:
* Invoker can drain Wraith King's mana with EMP, preventing him from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard.
* Even if Wraith King survives and reincarnates, Invoker still has an arsenal of spells to lockdown Wraith King, including an easily setup Ice Wall.
* Tornado applies an area dispel to clear skeletons.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Shadow Shaman
* Omniknight can dispel Hex or Shackles with
Heavenly Grace. He can also heal teammates which you disabled. The same goes to
Abaddon's
Aphotic Shield .
Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Additional:
* Tornado dispels Heavenly Grace and Guardian Angel from multiple targets.
* Guardian Angel is generally useless against Invoker as he primarily relies on magical damage.
* EMP depletes Omniknight's already small mana pool.
* Invoker's many disables keep Omniknight's team occupied until Guardian Angel times out.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assassin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (lane data is parsed from hero guides dotabuff)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- Improved UX on small screens - when selecting heroes page automatically scrolls so hero select input is displayed at the very top of screen, leaving more space for results.
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal win rate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest win rate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Shadow Shaman
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as
Silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
Invoker
* Quas-Exort Invoker is also a good matchup due to the fact he has no
Wex to run faster due to the movement impairment on his stealth. The
Forge Spirit and
Cold Snap combo doesn't harm her as well since you can drain Invoker's HP with Spirit Siphon which forces him to retreat.
Invoke or casting his main spells temporarily. There is no way Invoker can block it unless he has
Eul's Scepter of Divinity to cyclone himself or has help from allies.
* Silence also prevents Invoker from using