* 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.
* Even though Visage's Familiars from
Summon Familiars are fragile and can be killed quickly with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage, they can deal many instances of damage quickly, minimizing the effectiveness of Spiked Carapace.
*
Gravekeeper's Cloak and tanky item builds make Visage hard for Nyx to kill with his burst damage.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Gravekeeper's Cloak also allows Visage to use
Stone Form to both recover himself and stun Nyx Assassin if he is close enough to Visage.
* Visage's long range on
Soul Assumption and
Grave Chill make him hard to escape from, and
Soul Assumption's low cooldown outmatches Spiked Carapace.
*
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.
* A well-timed
Berserker's Call can expose Nyx Assassin while he is invisible with Vendetta, and prevent him from using Spiked Carapace.
* Axe can use
Battle Hunger's damage over time to minimialize effects of Spiked Carapace.
* Axe's high health also allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off. Especially since Axe is a common
Heart of Tarrasque wielder, which can completely eliminate any chance for Nyx Assassin to kill Axe alone.
*
Culling Blade can often kill Nyx Assassin as he is very fragile and vulnerable to damage while Spiked Carapace is on cooldown.
Additional:
* A well-timed
Berserker's Call can expose Nyx Assassin while he is invisible with
Vendetta, and prevent him from using
Spiked Carapace.
* Axe can use
Battle Hunger's damage over time to minimialize effects of
Spiked Carapace.
* Axe's high health also allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off. Especially since Axe is a common
Heart of Tarrasque wielder, which can completely eliminate any chance for Nyx Assassin to kill Axe alone.
*
Culling Blade can often kill Nyx Assassin as he is very fragile and vulnerable to damage while Spiked Carapace is on cooldown.
*
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.
* Nyx Assassin wants to start ganking as soon as he gets his
Vendetta. Keeping him Tracked prevents him from ganking, and thus from doing his job in the game.
* Nyx Assassin has a lot of armor and health regen, making the nuke damage from Shuriken Toss very good against him.
Additional:
*
Track hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking and escaping attempts with
Vendetta, making him an easy kill for gold as well.
* Bounty Hunter can also use
Track on Nyx Assassin while he has
Spiked Carapace active without getting stunned as
Track deals no damage at all before using
Shuriken Toss.
* 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 repetitively 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.
* Even though Nyx Assassin can easily kill Luna with his high burst damage, Luna can also do the same to him if he is not careful.
*
Lucent Beam can deal a fair amount of damage to Nyx Assassin if he has no
Spiked Carapace available to use. Although Luna should be patient using
Lucent Beam on Nyx Assassin when he uses
Spiked Carapace.
* As Luna commonly buys
Black King Bar, she can use it to freely attack Nyx Assassin whenever he tries to defend himself with
Spiked Carapace during teamfights. Luna can also buy
Eye of Skadi and
Manta Style to survive Nyx Assassin's burst damage and distract him.
* Though
Vendetta can deal serious damage to Luna and avoid
Eclipse, smart Luna will always buy
Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Nyx Assassin to her and her team.
Additional:
* Even though Nyx Assassin can easily kill Luna with his high burst damage, Luna can also do the same to him if he is not careful.
*
Lucent Beam can deal a fair amount of damage to Nyx Assassin if he has no
Spiked Carapace available to use. Although Luna should be patient using
Lucent Beam on Nyx Assassin when he uses
Spiked Carapace.
* As Luna commonly buys
Black King Bar, she can use it to freely attack Nyx Assassin whenever he tries to defend himself with
Spiked Carapace during teamfights. Luna can also buy
Eye of Skadi and
Manta Style to survive Nyx Assassin's burst damage and distract him.
* Though
Vendetta can deal serious damage to Luna and avoid
Eclipse, smart Luna will always buy
Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Nyx Assassin to her and her team.
* A couple of nukers and disablers on the same lane can finish a squishy Luna efficiently despite a teammate's assistance:
Sven +
Shadow Shaman.
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities:
Crystal Maiden,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Pudge,
Shadow Fiend,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage:
Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
* 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.
* With
Aghanim's Scepter, Broodmother will gain access to
Spinner's Snare, which will allow her to create invisible lines on her webs from
Spin Web that will root, deal damage over time, and reveal enemy heroes if they unwittingly step on them. This allows Broodmother to keep her allies alerted on heroes who rely on invisibility-themed and movement-themed abilities and items to surprise enemy heroes and disrupt ganking attempts of enemy heroes:
Phantom Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Mirana,
Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Spirit Breaker,
Anti-Mage,
Tusk,
Ursa,
Nature's Prophet,
Enigma,
Void Spirit,
Magnus etc.
*
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.
* Heroes who build
Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all:
Axe,
Broodmother,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Huskar,
Jakiro,
Legion Commander,
Lina,
Luna,
Lycan,
Slardar,
Slark,
Troll Warlord,
Witch Doctor.
* Stunt from
Fireblast can combinated
Multicast after Ogre Magi level 6 canceled from Shadow Shaman's channeling.
* 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 himself in this scenario and buy
Sentry Wards if you have the money.
* 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.
*
Blade Fury makes Juggernaut immune to all Nyx's abilities, except
Vendetta.
*
Omnislash. and
Swiftslash can burst Nyx down, ignoring
Spiked Carapace. However,
Vendetta can be used to escape, canceling
Omnislash/
Swiftslash.
Additional:
* Juggernaut's entire skillset greatly counters Nyx Assassin's
Spiked Carapace, his most important ability.
*
Blade Fury allows Juggernaut to freely attack Nyx Assassin, and deal heavy damage to Nyx Assassin. Nyx Assassin cannot counter
Blade Fury with Spiked Carapace because
Blade Fury gives Juggernaut spell immunity. And besides
Vendetta, Nyx Assassin has no other way of dealing damage to Juggernaut while he is spell immune.
*
Healing Ward allows Juggernaut to recover himself and his allies from Nyx Assassin's damage output.
*
Omnislash and
Swiftslash from
Aghanim's Scepter can quickly finish off Nyx Assassin. And just like
Blade Fury, Nyx Assassin cannot counter neither
Omnislash and
Swiftslash from
Aghanim's Scepter with
Spiked Carapace because both abilities render Juggernaut invulnerable. And if Nyx Assassin has no Vendetta available to use for escaping, both abilities will kill him very quickly before he can do anything.
* Overall, any attempt for Nyx Assassin to gank and kill Juggernaut will hurt Nyx Assassin more than Juggernaut.
* Lycan's high health allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
* As Lycan commonly buys
Black King Bar, he can use it to freely attack Nyx Assassin and chase after him with
Shapeshift.
* Lycan can also use his wolves from
Summon Wolves to attack Nyx Assassin while he has
Spiked Carapace active without getting stunned himself.
* All abilities from Shadow Shaman can very vulnearble steal from
Spell Steal.
* Rubick can interrupt Shackles by casting
Telekinesis.
Additional:
*
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.
*
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.
*
Rage allows Lifestealer to freely attack Nyx Assassin and hunt him down if Vendetta is on cooldown. Nyx Assassin cannot counter
Rage with Spiked Carapace because
Rage gives Lifestealer spell immunity. And besides Vendetta, Nyx Assassin has no other way of dealing damage to Lifestealer while he is spell immune.
*
Open Wounds from
Aghanim's Shard allows Lifestealer to severely slow down Nyx Assassin while also allowing his team to recover themselves while attacking Nyx Assassin.
Open Wounds can also fester and spread if Nyx Assassin takes enough damage that will trigger the spread while he is affected with
Open Wounds.
*
Infest combined with an ancient creep makes Nyx Assassin an easy target to surprise with
Dust of Appearance or a
Gem of True Sight.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Infest can also allow Lifestealer to infest, disarm and freely attack Nyx Assassin from within. and Nyx Assassin cannot counter this with Spiked Carapace because Lifestealer is invulnerable while attacking the infested enemy hero from within.
* Overall, any attempt for Nyx Assassin to gank and kill Lifestealer will hurt Nyx Assassin more than Lifestealer.
Additional:
* Like with Juggernaut's
Blade Fury,
Rage allows Lifestealer to freely attack Nyx Assassin and hunt him down if
Vendetta is on cooldown. Nyx Assassin cannot counter
Rage with
Spiked Carapace because
Rage gives Lifestealer spell immunity. And besides
Vendetta, Nyx Assassin has no other way of dealing damage to Lifestealer while he is spell immune.
*
Open Wounds from
Aghanim's Shard allows Lifestealer to severely slow down Nyx Assassin while also allowing his team to recover themselves while attacking Nyx Assassin.
Open Wounds can also fester and spread if Nyx Assassin takes enough damage that will trigger the spread while he is affected with
Open Wounds.
*
Infest combined with an ancient creep makes Nyx Assassin an easy target to surprise with
Dust of Appearance or a
Gem of True Sight. And similarly to Juggernaut's
Omnislash and
Swiftslash from
Aghanim's Scepter,
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Infest can also allow Lifestealer to infest, disarm and freely attack Nyx Assassin from within. And Nyx Assassin cannot counter this with
Spiked Carapace because Lifestealer is invulnerable while attacking the infested enemy hero from within.
* Like with Juggernaut, any attempt for Nyx Assassin to gank and kill Lifestealer will hurt Nyx Assassin more than Lifestealer.
*
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.
* A well-timed
Doom prevents Nyx Assassin escaping with Vendetta and fighting back with
Spiked Carapace.
* Doom's high health also allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
* Centaur's low Intelligence makes
Mind Flare do low damage.
* With some creative skill builds, Centaur's Hoof Stomp stun duration should always last longer than
Spiked Carapace stun, so escaping unscathed is hard for Nyx.
* With
Blink Dagger and detection, Centaur can devastate Nyx in the open.
* However, bear in mind that Nyx can also easily initiate on Centaur Warrunner as well if he uses
Spiked Carapace in anticipation, and with
Vendetta. The damage from Retaliate will be reflected back to Centaur Warrunner, stunning him with no chance to react after he's revealed himself, and should guarantee a successful
Impale.
*
Omniknight can dispel Hex or Shackles with
Heavenly Grace. He can also heal teammates who you disabled. The same goes for
Abaddon's
Aphotic Shield.
*
Impale and
Spiked Carapace stun can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Abaddon can use Borrowed Time and easily heal for the duration of Borrowed Time by Nyx's burst damage.
*
Nyx Assassin might not kill Abaddon with his nuke, but a support Abaddon will struggle to protect an ally from him.
* 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.
* Nyx Assassin's skillset is mostly single-targeted, therefore he will have difficulties against heroes with illusions and summons:
Naga Siren,
Broodmother,
Lycan,
Visage,
Phantom Lancer. And to make things worse, Nyx Asassin is not a common
Battle Fury,
Maelstrom,
Mjollnir,
Gleipnir or
Radiance wielder to counter this problem.
* Heroes who build
Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all:
Axe,
Broodmother,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Huskar,
Jakiro,
Legion Commander,
Lina,
Luna,
Lycan,
Slardar,
Slark,
Troll Warlord,
Witch Doctor.
* Some abilities deals damage from an independent source and not from the hero itself, so Nyx cannot counter them with Spiked Carapace: illusions or summoning units,
Homing Missile,
Nimbus,
Mass Serpent Ward,
Death Ward and especially
Techies's mines.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage:
Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active:
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
* Nyx Assassin's skillset is mostly single-targeted, therefore he will have difficulties against heroes with illusions and summons:
Naga Siren,
Broodmother,
Lycan,
Visage,
Phantom Lancer. And to make things worse, Nyx Asassin is not a common
Battle Fury,
Maelstrom,
Mjollnir,
Gleipnir or
Radiance wielder to counter this problem.
*
Nyx Assassin's
Vendetta can be revealed easily by Corrosive Haze
Additional:
*
Corrosive Haze hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with
Vendetta, as well as reducing his armor and make him very vulnerable due to his low health pool.
*
Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to catch up with Nyx Asssassin and finish him off if he has vision over him.
* As a caster,
Anti-Mage's
Mana Break and
Mana Void are highly effective against him.
* 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
* 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.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage:
Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
*
Arc Warden with his Magnetic Field will protect allies from Mass Serpent Ward.
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage:
Spectre,
Nyx Assassin,
Clockwerk,
Spirit Breaker,
Omniknight,
Pudge.
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as
Silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
* 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.
* Heroes who rely on invisibility, such as
Bounty Hunter,
Clinkz,
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin and
Riki, as they will be revealed if caught by Chronosphere.
* Heroes with invisibility will be detected by Thirst when they have low enough health:
Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Weaver,
Treant Protector,
Nyx Assassin.
Additional:
* While Burrowing, Nyx is an easy target for a
Blood Rite, and his only way to counter it is a well-timed
Spiked Carapace.
*
Thirst is always a threat to Nyx Assassin, hindering his attempt of escape using
Vendetta and rendering him unable to surprise Bloodseeker's allies.
*
Rupture also prevents Nyx Assassin from escaping with
Vendetta, as it forces him to stay still.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage:
Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
*
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.
* Heroes who build
Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all:
Axe,
Broodmother,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Huskar,
Jakiro,
Legion Commander,
Lina,
Luna,
Lycan,
Slardar,
Slark,
Troll Warlord,
Witch Doctor.
Additional:
* Duel's long duration prevents Nyx Assassin escaping from
Vendetta. With Aghanim's Scepter, she can also bypass
Spiked Carapace.
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels:
Shadow Shaman,
Lion
*
Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage from
Impale and
Mind Flare, and anything else Nyx Assassin tries to throw at Viper.
* Nyx Assassin cannot survive several poison damage-over-time output from
Poison Attack,
Nethertoxin,
Corrosive Skin and
Viper Strike, not even while he has
Spiked Carapace active. And to make things worse, Nyx Assassin is not a common
Silver Edge wielder to counter this problem at all.
Additional:
*
Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage from
Impale and
Mind Flare, and anything else Nyx Assassin tries to throw at Viper.
* Nyx Assassin cannot survive several poison damage-over-time output from
Poison Attack,
Nethertoxin,
Corrosive Skin and
Viper Strike, not even while he has
Spiked Carapace active. And to make things worse, Nyx Assassin is not a common
Silver Edge wielder to counter this problem at all.
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities:
Bane,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock
* Heroes with summons and illusions can find themselves easily bested by Lina, like
Broodmother,
Nature's Prophet,
Chen,
Terrorblade,
Naga Siren,
Visage,
Wraith King,
Lycan,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman.
* Heroes who build
Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all:
Axe,
Broodmother,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Huskar,
Jakiro,
Legion Commander,
Lina,
Luna,
Lycan,
Slardar,
Slark,
Troll Warlord,
Witch Doctor.
*
Mind Flare does tons of damage against Lina because of her high intelligence.
*
Vendetta can deal heavy damage to Lina while also burning her mana, preventing Lina from casting her abilities.
*
Spiked Carapace can easily be used to counter Lina's abilities because of their long cast animation, and could probably kill Lina outright if Laguna Blade is reflected. However, Lina can counter this with
Eul's Scepter of Divinity, a common item on Lina.
* 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.
* Nyx Assassin deals large amounts of pure damage with
Vendetta and magical damage with
Impale and
Mind Flare, allowing him to ignore Terrorblade's armor and burst his low health pool down before he can use
Sunder.
* Nyx Assassin commonly buys
Urn of Shadows,
Dagon and
Meteor Hammer which deal magic damage that ignore Terrorblade's armor.
* However, Terrorblade is a natural
Eye of Skadi and
Black King Bar wielder, and once he gets those items, Nyx Assassin's solo kill potential against Terrorblade will be gone.
*
Shackles and
Hex can both be used on Muerta while in
Pierce the Veil, potentially wasting it until she gets
Black King Bar.
*
Ether Shock and
Shackles can deal high damage to Muerta while she is affected by
Pierce the Veil.
* However,
Mass Serpent Ward cannot hurt Muerta while Pierce the Veil is active.
* Nyx Assassin's high burst damage, excellent ganking potential and multiple disables pose a threat to Muerta at all stages of the game.
*
Mind Flare allows Nyx Assassin to take advantage of Muerta's high intelligence and make a short work of her low health.
*
Spiked Carapace and
Vendetta allow Nyx to escape or initiate well against Muerta's low mobility.
* As with most retaliation based abilities,
Spiked Carapace can easily take advantage of
Gunslinger's stray shots.
* However, Muerta is a natural
Black King Bar wielder. And if she succeeds to activate it before Nyx Assassin can ambush her, he will go down very quickly against Muerta as
Spiked Carapace cannot pierce through debuff immunity at all.
* 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.
*
Spiked Carapace allows Nyx to get an easy long-duration stun on Weaver once he uses Shukuchi, and then he can follow up with
Impale.
*
Vendetta works as a great setup for both
Impale and
Spiked Carapace and can deal decent damage to Weaver. Additionally he can neutralize The Swarm beetles due to his invisibility duration.
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while:
Doom and
Shadow Demon (via
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper,
Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
*
Vendetta can deal great damage against her. However, it requires an direct attack, so Nyx Assassin may have difficulties applying Vendetta on her.
* Enchantress's lack of mobility makes her a primary target for ganking with Vendetta.
*
Mind Flare can deal a great damage against her due to being an Intelligence hero.
*
Spiked Carapace can reflect Impetus and stun Enchantress.
Additional:
* Spiked Carapace reflects the damage from
Impetus.
* Enchantress is a rather squishy hero, making her fall easily to Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
* In general, squishy heroes that rely on escape often struggle against the amount of disables Shadow Shaman can bring.
Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage and
Storm Spirit are among these.
Additional:
* 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.
* A good Nyx can reflect Queen of Pain's Sonic Wave with his
Spiked Carapace, or even initiate a gank on her in
Vendetta while she farms a creep wave with Scream of Pain.
* Her strength to intelligence ratio is bad enough that he should be able to kill her without even requiring a
Dagon, provided he can get his full combo off.
* Any heroes with stuns or silences:
Death Prophet,
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Skywrath Mage
*
Vendetta is capable of removing most of Storm Spirit's large mana pool, along with dealing heavy damage and quickly depleting his chances of escaping a gank or fight.
Additional:
* Mana Burn removes much-needed mana for
Ball Lightning.
* Spiked Carapace triggers on
Static Remnant for an easy stun.
* Heroes with long lockdowns:
Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
* Nyx Assassin can simply activate
Spiked Carapace while under many Invoker's abilities to stun him.
* Nyx Assassin takes advantage of Invoker's massive intelligence gain to do tons of damage using
Mind Flare, as the spell does more damage based on the target's intelligence.
*
Vendetta burns a large amount of Invoker's essential mana pool.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* Heroes with invisibility: (
Riki,
Clinkz,
Nyx Assassin.
*
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
Shackles on his own, and must rely on {U:Centaur Conqueror} or {U:Mud Golem} creeps under his control to be able to do so.
*
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.
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
Shackles 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 prevent Chen from any attempt to save himself or his allies with
Hand of God.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst can often kill Chen or his allies before he can use Hand of God:
Lina,
Luna,
Techies,
Shadow Fiend,
Pugna,
Nyx Assassin.
* 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.
* Heroes with high burst damage:
Lina,
Lion,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Queen of Pain.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items:
Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Shadow Shaman,
Visage,
Nature's Prophet,
Terrorblade,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes with heavy early and mid-game magical damage are also problematic for Phantom Assassin due to being able to easily kill her before she can gain an item advantage over them:
Lina,
Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter,
Jakiro,
Death Prophet.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect:
Beastmaster,
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Shaman,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst:
Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* 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.
* 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.
* Many of Nyx Assassin's abilities are good against Windranger.
*
Impale is great for stunning Windranger and allowing additional disables to be landed.
*
Mind Flare is useful against Windranger's decent intelligence growth.
*
Spiked Carapace is easy to use against Powershot.
*
Vendetta allows Nyx Assassin to sneak up on and deal massive damage to Windranger without giving Windranger a chance to use Windrun to evade it.
* Nyx Assassin's item build allows him to easily deal with Windranger.
*
Impale and
Spiked Carapace interrupts Upheaval with ease.
* Warlock's low health pool, mobility, and high intelligence gain makes him a prime target for Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
*
Vendetta disables Vengeance Aura and allows him to attack Vengeful Spirit with
Impale and
Mind Flare.
*
Spiked Carapace is easy to use against a Wave of Terror or Magic Missile.
*
Hex greatly reduces Timbersaw's mobility.
* The stun and damage over time from
Shackles mitigates Reactive Armor's HP and armor regen.
* Ravage's travel time allows Nyx Assassin to easily stun Tidehunter with
Spiked Carapace.
*
Vendetta can instantly deplete Tidehunter's low mana pool, especially in the early game, potentially preventing Tidehunter from casting Ravage.
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy
Refraction
*
Spiked Carapace stops Snapfire's
Mortimer Kisses.
* Due to Pugna's incredible intelligence growth and terrible strength growth, Nyx should always be able to take you out with his combo, with or without an added
Dagon.
Mind Flare will deal a large amount of damage in particular, especially in the late game.
*
Spiked Carapace is also a great tool versus Pugna. A good player will wait for you in
Vendetta until you farm a creep wave with Nether Blast and reflect it back at you as their initiation and setup for
Impale.
Additional:
*
Nether Blast's animation makes it easy to time Spiked Carapace for a stun.
* Pugna has the largest intelligence gain in the game, making him a prime target for Mana Burn.
* Pugna needs to channel
Life Drain, making him easy to hit with Impale.
* Nyx Assassin can take advantage of every one of Puck's weaknesses. His entire skill set is very effective in countering Puck.
* Because Illusory Orb is such a slow moving projectile, Nyx Assassin can simply walk into the orb and activate
Spiked Carapace, stunning Puck and setting up an easy
Impale. This can be circumvented by using Phase Shift while the orb is traveling, however, that means that Puck cannot use Phase Shift to dodge any other skill nor use it to safely blink away from a fight.
* Puck is an intelligence hero that likes to build intelligence items such as
Eul's Scepter of Divinity,
Scythe of Vyse, and
Dagon. This makes
Mind Flare that much more deadly against Puck.
* An ill-timed Phase Shift can turn into an easy setup for
Impale.
Additional:
*
Illusory Orb is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace, either stunning Puck and setting up an easy Impale or forcing a premature
Phase Shift.
* Puck is an intelligence hero that tends to build intelligence items, making it vulnerable to Mana Burn.
* An ill-timed
Phase Shift can easily set Puck up to be stunned by Impale.
* Puck's low base armor and below average agility gain mean it is always susceptible to Vendetta.
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt
Sun Ray and
Icarus Dive.
* Outworld Destroyer's high intelligence makes him a good target for
Mind Flare.
* If timed correctly,
Spiked Carapace will return the full damage from Sanity's Eclipse back to Outworld Destroyer. Even a reflected Arcane Orb can deal significant damage and make him vulnerable to a follow-up from Nyx Assassin.
*
Spiked Carapace is also the perfect tool against Astral Imprisonment: if used on Nyx, he can reflect the damage back as he comes out of the prison by casting the ability while imprisoned.
Additional:
* Outworld Destroyer's high intelligence gain and fragility makes him an easy target for a massive Mana Burn, as well as killing him outwards with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
*
Astral Imprisonment can be easily exploited by Nyx Assassin with his abilities. As long as Astral Imprisonment was not cast on Nyx Assassin, it will make an opportunity for an easy stun, either by Spiked Carapace (if Outworld Destroyer hid his allies or your allies) or Impale (if he hid himself). If Astral Imprisonment was cast on Nyx Assassin, using Spiked Carapace while banished will proc the stun after the disable, since Spike Carapace has a 0 second cast time and Astral Imprisonment deals damage right after the disable ends.
* An ill-timed
Sanity's Eclipse and/or well timed Spiked Carapace can deal a lot of damage to Outworld Destroyer and stun him, unless Outworld Destroyer used
Black King Bar beforehand.
* The huge physical damage taken from
Vendetta will force Necrophos to use Ghost Shroud, which is good for a followup with
Dagon and
Ethereal Blade, both of which are common items on Nyx Assassin.
* Using Ghost Shroud also sets Necrophos up for a
Mind Flare or
Impale.
* With her passive
Split Shot, Medusa can be easily interrupted by Spiked Carapace during combat, especially during her precious
Stone Gaze.
* Mana Burn quickly destroys
Mana Shield, especially if Medusa only increases her mana pool by bolstering intelligence (which has the added bonus of increasing Mana Burn's damage).
* Uncontrollable damage from
Mystic Snake and
Split Shot can trigger Spiked Carapace.
*
Medusa lacks single target damage, making a Burrowed Nyx Assassin hard to kill.
Additional:
*
Vendetta burns a significant amount of mana on hit, and the damage from the ability drains Medusa's mana pool even further.
* Due to the passive nature of Mystic Snake and Split Shot, it can possibly proc Nyx's
Spiked Carapace if he's within range of Medusa's abilities and isn't invisible.
* Medusa lacks single target damage, making Nyx with
Aghanim's Scepter extremely hard to deal with if Medusa is the team's main damage source.
* 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 time, wasting her ultimate. A combo with Mass Serpent Ward only makes things worse for her, as her armor is low.
* Nyx Assassin's
Spiked Carapace will stun Leshrac when hit by any of his AOE abilities.
*
Mind Flare deals high damage due to Leshrac's high intelligence gain.
*
Vendetta burns a large amount of Leshrac's essential mana pool.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage:
Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
* 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.
*
Nyx Assassin can reflect Life Break with
Spiked Carapace.
* Nyx's
Spiked Carapace can reflect the damage of
Sharpshooter, instantly killing hoodwink. Nyx can also use
Vendetta to position himself in such a way to screen allies from Sharpshooter and catch Hoodwink by surprise.
* Nyx Assassin's high burst damage can be the bane of Dark Willow, as her low health makes it difficult to survive long enough to escape through Shadow Realm.
*
Spiked Carapace can be triggered by walking deliberately into Bramble Maze, leaving Dark Willow stunned and defenseless.
* Crystal Maiden has a very bad movement speed, so
Impale is easy to land against her. Furthermore, even while trapped by Frostbite, Nyx Assassin can still cast Impale.
* Crystal Maiden has very low armor, so
Vendetta is very effective.
* Nyx Assassin has two ways to stop Freezing Field, provided she doesn't get a
Black King Bar. He can either pop
Spiked Carapace and simply walk into the field, or he can use
Impale to interrupt the field, since Crystal Maiden has to channel it.
Additional:
* Spiked Carapace easily interrupts
Freezing Field.
*
Frostbite's damage over time sets up an easy Spiked Carapace stun.
* Crystal Maiden is extremely fragile and dies quickly to Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
* Nyx can walk into Firefly with
Spiked Carapace and stun Batrider if he has no Spell Immunity, even if Batrider is focusing on other enemy hero.
* Nyx Assassin's whole skillset is good against Tinker:
*
Impale prevents Tinker from blinding Nyx Assassin or fighting back, while giving Nyx' allies time to catch up to Tinker's position.
*
Mind Flare generally deals more damage to intelligence based heroes like Tinker.
*
Spiked Carapace can stun Tinker at a moment of Nyx Assassin's choosing if March of the Machines has been cast. It is also quite easy to time Spiked Carapace against Heat Seeking Missiles.
*
Vendetta allows Nyx to approach Tinker in the trees or wait for him in common hiding spots and deal heavy damage to his low armor.
Additional:
*
Heat-Seeking Missile allow easy Spiked Carapace stuns.
* As a fragile hero that relies on mana and intelligence items, Tinker is vulnerable to Mana Burn.
* Nyx Assassin's stuns can interrupt
Rearm and leave Tinker helpless.
* Large area-of-effect with delay or require channeling:
Enigma,
Crystal Maiden,
Invoker,
Shadow Fiend,
Pugna,
Keeper of the Light,
Dawnbreaker.
Additional:
*
Spiked Carapace can be used to reflect Illuminate damage and stun Keeper of the Light.
*
Vendetta allows Nyx Assassin to follow Keeper of the Light around if he tries to split-push.
* Keeper of the Light is very squishy and will very quickly die to Vendetta and it's followup abilities.
* Hex abilities can cancel the channelling of Fiend's Grip :
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Dazzle from
Aghanim's Shard with upgraded
Poison Touch.
* Heroes who build
Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all:
Axe,
Broodmother,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Huskar,
Jakiro,
Legion Commander,
Lina,
Luna,
Lycan,
Slardar,
Slark,
Troll Warlord,
Witch Doctor.
* 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.
* Enigma is fragile, and lacks escapes, being dependent on
Blink Dagger for mobility. Ganking Heroes or Heroes with burst damage will likely kill him before he can do anything. Such Heroes include:
Lina,
Lion,
Luna,
Puck,
Slark,
Nyx Assassin, etc.
Additional:
* Enigma's uncontrollable damage from
Malefice and
Midnight Pulse make him easy to stun with Spiked Carapace.
*
Black Hole can be easily interrupted by Impale or Spiked Carapace.
* Heroes that can pick you off:
Clinkz,
Nyx Assassin,
Puck,
Riki.
* Sven is very vulnerable to chain stun such as
Lion,
Shadow Shaman or
Magnus.
* 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.
* Slow-moving projectiles:
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Necrophos
Additional:
* Skywrath Mage's low health makes him rather easy prey for Nyx Assassin and his lack of armor generally means he'll take the full brunt of a
Vendetta strike.
*
Mind Flare turns Skywrath Mage's high intelligence growth against him and deals heavy damage.
*
Spiked Carapace gives Nyx some degree of protection against Skywrath's spells.
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as
Silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
* Silencer is rather squishy and has poor mobility without items, making him an easy target for Nyx.
* Silencer's intelligence steal ability is a complete disadvantage against Nyx Assassin as
Mind Flare will deal increasing damage for each point of intelligence Silencer has stolen, turning Silencer's intelligence steal against him.
Additional:
*
Last Word is extremely easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for large amounts damage, due to triggering when Nyx Assassin casts a spell, but can still silence Nyx Assassin. It also has the added bonus of dealing more damage the more Intelligence Silencer has.
*
Glaives of Wisdom quickly builds Silencer's Intelligence, making him a particularly prime target for Mana Burn.
* Silencer rarely builds survivability items, nor is he able to steal much Intelligence while surrounded by his team, and so is an excellent target for Vendetta.
* Silencer has no reliable way of dealing with a burrowed Nyx, and also lacks the ability to prevent Nyx from escaping with Vendetta,
* 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).
*
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.
* Heroes that are squishy by nature are an easy target for Spirit Breaker:
Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Shadow Shaman
* Can easily interrupt and disable Spirit Breaker with hex if being charged.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage:
Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
* Spiked Carapace interrupts
Starbreaker before Dawnbreaker has her Aghanim's Shard, as well as
Solar Guardian during the initial channel, making her ineffective at joining and dealing damage in teamfights.
* The slow projectile and damage over time effect of
Celestial Hammer makes it easy to stun Dawnbreaker if she attemps to engage or chase.
Additional:
*
Spiked Carapace can stop Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian which will eliminate her global presence and limits her movement around the map.
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as
Silencer,
Drow Ranger and
Death Prophet.
* Nyx Assassin has a lot of burst damage from his
Impale,
Mind Flare,
Dagon, and the bonus damage from
Vendetta. All of this damage is enough to kill Drow Ranger.
* Nyx Assassin is usually invisible most of the time thanks to his ability
Vendetta, which allows him to gank Drow Ranger easily.
* However,
Gust is extremely dangerous for Nyx Assassin, as it's silence can render Nyx Assassin unable to lock down Drow Ranger. And if
Gust hits Nyx Assassin while he is invisible with
Vendetta, Drow Ranger will be able to detect him and foil his ganking attempts on her because
Gust reveals invisible units.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage:
Jakiro,
Viper,
Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
* Spiked Carapace can be easily triggered by
Flame Guard or
Battle Fury, setting up a deadly Impale.
Additional:
* With
Vendetta, Nyx Assassin can move closely to Ember Spirit when he's farming with his Flame Guard and use
Spiked Carapace with
Impale to provide a reliable and long disable.
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook:
Shadow Shaman,
Witch Doctor,
Enigma,
Bane.
*
Impale and
Spiked Carapace can be used to cancel Dismember easily, and can even do so when Pudge uses it on Nyx Assassin, if timed correctly.
* Heroes who build
Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all:
Axe,
Broodmother,
Dawnbreaker,
Enigma,
Huskar,
Jakiro,
Legion Commander,
Lina,
Luna,
Lycan,
Slardar,
Slark,
Troll Warlord,
Witch Doctor.
* 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.
*
Cyclone from Storm in
Primal Split can waste Nyx's Spiked Carapace, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's.
*
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.
* Heroes who are entirely reliant on dealing physical damage and/or have very little to no area-of-effect abilities will make Underlord tickle and will have no effect against him thanks to his
Atrophy Aura, and will also be unable to ambush Underlord and his team if Underlord chooses to use
Fiend's Gate to get to a designated point of the map:
Phantom Assassin,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Bounty Hunter,
Alchemist,
Templar Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Bane.
* Heroes with magical or pure damage output will not have any problems against Atrophy Aura at all:
Luna,
Lina,
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Bane,
Snapfire,
Muerta,
Nyx Assassin,
Enigma,
Tinker,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus,
Crystal Maiden.
* Sniper can easily destroy
Mass Serpent Wards from long range.
*
Assassinate is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for massive damage.
*
Shrapnel's area damage can set up an easy stun with Spiked Carapace, especially when combined with Vendetta.
* In the early game, Sniper's low health pool and high intelligence makes him easy prey for Nyx Assassin.
*
Omniknight can dispel Hex or Shackles with
Heavenly Grace. He can also heal teammates who you disabled. The same goes for
Abaddon's
Aphotic Shield.
* Heroes who can drain mana can make Omniknight useless after he uses one or two abilities:
Lion,
Anti-Mage,
Nyx Assassin.
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.
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Shadow Shaman
* Dragon Knight can simply tank and destroy all Shadow Shaman's Serpent Wards.
Nyx Assassin
* Dragon Knight's heavy armor negates
Vendetta's burst physical damage. His large HP pool also gives him a good chance of surviving Nyx Assassin's follow-up nuke damage.