* Shadow Fiend is mostly played as right-click carry and natural Black King Bar carrier, making Silencer's spells very ineffective against him.
* Shadowraze deals magic damage and ignores Bulwark.
* Requiem of Souls deals magic damage and can fear Mars away, forcing him to turn around and therefore become vulnerable.
* Silencer relies on preventing enemies from using abilities in teamfights with Arcane Curse, Last Word, and Global Silence. However, they are ineffective against Ursa since he relies more on items and attacks than abilities.
* Against a carry Silencer, Enrage can help Ursa reduce all damage he takes, even Glaives of Wisdom's pure damage will just tickle Ursa while his Enrage is active.
* Ursa is a special mention because despite Bulwark diminishing most of the damage Ursa does, he is quite durable, especially with Enrage, discouraging the aggressive all-in playstyle of Mars; Ursa can simply not target Mars.
* Heroes with damage-increasing passive abilities, such as Viper and Riki, will usually kill Silencer in a short time before he even has time to set up his abilities.
* Nethertoxin breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
* Poison Attack and Viper Strike's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.
Additional:
* Viper Strike can disable Bulwark entirely, making Mars far less tanky. Using Nethertoxin inside Arena of Blood may discourage enemies from following up with Mars's initiation.
* Rod of Atos is currently common on Viper and keeps Mars in position long enough to be killed.
* However, Viper is not very tanky earlier in the game, so positioning against Mars is important for Viper since a well-timed Spear of Mars can be the end of Viper.
* Silencer's disables are useless on Lone Druid since he is more reliant on physical attacks rather than spells.
* Silencer has poor mobility so Lone Druid can run him down.
* Lone Druid's Shard will remove most of Silencer's spells once used.
* Nukers who have set amounts of damage will really struggle against Lone Druid especially in True Form: Puck, Void Spirit, Mars.
* Heroes that can disable or silence Silencer for a long time, such as Bane and Legion Commander, can lock down Silencer while their allies put him down.
* 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.
* 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,
Additional:
* 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.
* It is difficult for Mars to trade blows with Ogre Magi in the early game thanks to his high base health, resistance and Ignite.
* Bloodlust can assist Ogre Magi or an ally in repositioning against Mars for its move speed bonus.
* Fireblast can interrupt and mitigate Mars from performing his skill combos, especially in combination with Multicast.
* Rebound allows her to jump in or out of the Arena Of Blood. She can save her allies from the Arena with Dispose as well.
* Solar Guardian can save allies caught inside Arena of Blood.
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.
* Vulnerable spellcasters with no escape mechanisms are easy targets for Huskar: Lich, Crystal Maiden, Silencer, Keeper of the Light, Venomancer, etc.
* Burning Spear's magical damage is very troublesome for Mars in the laning stage.
* Life Break's percentage-based magical damage bypasses Bulwark, and can also be used to jump in or out of Arena Of Blood.
* Heroes with pure damage can kill Huskar when he inevitably gets low on health: Outworld Destroyer, Silencer.
* Shapeshift is useful for killing or escaping Silencer.
* Summon Wolves, can be used to hunt and harass silencer - even when Lycan himself can't fight.
* Heroes with damage-increasing passive abilities, such as Viper and Riki, will usually kill Silencer in a short time before he even has time to set up his abilities.
* Blink Strike gives bonus backstab damage and can bypass Bulwark. Defensively, it could be used to teleport away from Mars, especially while inside Arena of Blood.
* Smoke Screen can interrupt Mars' skill combos, especially when cast inside Arena of Blood.
* Tricks of the Trade can be used to evade Mars' skills, which have a slight delay to them. It could also be used to buy himself time while trapped inside of Arena of Blood.
Additional:
* Bulwark is generally irrelevant against Riki as he primarily deals bonus damage from behind.
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki, Bounty Hunter.
* Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
* Plague Ward can attack through Arena Of Blood.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison attacks are all magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective against Mars' low mobility.
* Plague Wards can attack through Arena of Blood.
* Even though carry Silencer can easily take down a support Jakiro with his Glaives of Wisdom, Jakiro can also do the same to Silencer if he is not careful and if Jakiro is not played as support. As Silencer is rather squishy and lacks escape mechanisms without items, and Jakiro's damage over time abilities can take advantage of this.
* Ice Path can be used to prevent Silencer from escaping. And if Jakiro uses Ice Path along with Macropyre and Dual Breath in anticipation right before Silencer uses his abilities to disable Jakiro, Jakiro will be able to kill Silencer before he even gets a chance to do anything to Jakiro.
* Dual Breath, Liquid Fire and Liquid Frost from Aghanim's Shard can greatly reduce Silencer's attack speed.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Macropyre can deal huge pure damage to Silencer even if Silencer is spell immune.
* Bear in mind, however, that Jakiro should approach Silencer carefully as Silencer's Arcane Curse, Last Word and Global Silence prevents Jakiro from casting any spell. Jakiro, however, can counter this by going for Guardian Greaves, a common item on support Jakiro, and with Black King Bar and Manta Style, a situational items on Jakiro.
Additional:
* Even though carry Silencer can easily take down a support Jakiro with his Glaives of Wisdom, Jakiro can also do the same to Silencer if he is not careful and if Jakiro is not played as support. As Silencer is rather squishy and lacks escape mechanisms without items, and Jakiro's damage over time abilities can take advantage of this.
* Ice Path can be used to prevent Silencer from escaping. And if Jakiro uses Ice Path along with Macropyre and Dual Breath in anticipation right before Silencer uses his abilities to disable Jakiro, Jakiro will be able to kill SIlencer before he even gets a chance to do anything to Jakiro.
* Dual Breath, Liquid Fire and Liquid Frost from Aghanim's Shard can greatly reduce Silencer's attack speed.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Macropyre can deal huge pure damage to Silencer even if Silencer is spell immune.
* Bear in mind, however, that Jakiro should approach Silencer carefully as Silencer's Arcane Curse, Last Word and Global Silence prevents Jakiro from casting any spell. Jakiro, however, can counter this by going for Guardian Greaves, a common item on support Jakiro, and with Black King Bar and Manta Style, a situational items on Jakiro.
* If Silencer can't prevent Dragon Knight from using Elder Dragon Form, Silencer's spells aren't going to be that effective against him, as Dragon Knight relies on right-clicks and not spells.
* Dragon Blood's armor bonus and health regeneration allows Dragon Knight to stay in the lane against Glaives of Wisdom.
* Dragon Knight often builds Black King Bar, allowing him to remove Global Silence before engaging.
* Swashbuckle is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Shield Crash upgraded with Aghanim is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Rolling Thunder makes him immune to magic, making Pangolier able to roll in and out of Mars' Arena Of Blood.
* Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars' stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
* Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as it deals significant damage and slow, making Bulwark slightly ineffective.
* It is worth noting that Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.
* Sticky Napalm slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to face frontwards, where Spear of Mars and Bulwark are effective. In combination with Firefly, which deals magic damage, Batrider can make quick work of Mars.
* Flaming Lasso disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.
* Fortune's End can nullify Arcane Curse, Last Word, and Global Silence, if cast at the right time with the right targets.
* Fate's Edict can prevent Silencer from attacking, which he relies on with Glaives of Wisdom, for a lot of his damage.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* Oracle's reliance on spamming his spells can be easily hindered by Silencer's Arcane Curse.
* Last Word and Global Silence negates Oracle's attempt to save his allies with his spells.
* Fate's Edict is useless against Glaives of Wisdom's pure damage.
* Ranged heroes will have a hard time hitting enemies inside Magnetic Field: Silencer, Viper.
* Heroes who rely on passive abilities and attacks, such as Drow Ranger, Wraith King, and Lone Druid, can render Silencer useless. But remember that a smart Silencer will most likely buy Silver Edge to counter this if he is played as carry.
* Any hero with low mobility and max healthsuch as Silencer, Crystal Maiden etc.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer, Crystal Maiden, Warlock, Ancient Apparition, Grimstroke, Witch Doctor
* Broodmother relies less on abilities and more on right-clicks.
* Spiderlings can overwhelm Silencer, who has mediocre armor and no escape tool.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
* Firestorm and Pit of Malice are very disruptive in team fights, completely matching Mars especially since it can all be cast inside Arena Of Blood and also does percentage-based magical damage, negating Bulwark.
* Dark Rift can save any allies of Underlord trapped in Arena Of Blood.
* Atrophy Aura allows Underlord to lane against Mars quite well since he does not have the best base damage during the early game.
* Underlord is a common carrier of both Pipe of Insight and Mekansm/Guardian Greaves, allowing his team to combat Mars in the mid to late game.
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damaging and/or disabling abilities will be able to intercept Underlord and his team when they exit from Fiend's Gate: Luna's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, Axe's Berserker's Call, Mars's Arena of Blood, Jakiro's Macropyre, Dual Breath and Ice Path, Naga Siren's Song of the Siren, Razor's Eye of the Storm and Plasma Field, Lina's Light Strike Array, Broodmother's Spinner's Snare from Aghanim's Scepter, Elder Titan's Earth Splitter and Echo Stomp, Alchemist's Unstable Concoction and Acid Spray, Queen of Pain's Sonic Wave, Dark Seer's Wall of Replica and Vacuum, Venomancer's Noxious Plague and Poison Nova from Aghanim's Scepter, Oracle's Fortune's End and Rain of Destiny from Aghanim's Shard, Bloodseeker's Blood Rite, Enigma's Black Hole and Midnight Pulse, Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls, Batrider's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso, Firefly, Flamebreak and Sticky Napalm, Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast, Sand King's Epicenter, Sand Storm and Burrowstrike, Gyrocopter's Call Down, Ember Spirit's Sleight of Fist, Death Prophet's Exorcism and Silence, Monkey King's Wukong's Command, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Muerta's The Calling, Medusa's Stone Gaze, Zeus's Nimbus from Aghanim's Scepter. Dark Willow's Bramble Maze, Pangolier's Swashbuckle, Grimstroke's Soulbind, Ink Swell and Stroke of Fate, Earthshaker's Echo Slam and Fissure, Puck's Dream Coil and Waning Rift, Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse, Magnus's Reverse Polarity.
* Ball Lightning makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating for you.
* Overload is not reduced by Bulwark and the magical damage spam can wear down Mars quickly.
Additional:
* Storm Spirit's abilities all do magical damage, which can bypass Bulwark.
* Ball Lightning can escape through Arena of Blood and it is easy to dodge Spear of Mars.
* Basically, Heroes that heavily rely on abilities for damage or escape, such as Queen of Pain and Storm Spirit.
Additional:
* Silencer's Intelligence Steal can reduce Storm Spirit's damage output if he gets some kills on laning phase.
* Last Word and Global Silence will make Storm Spirit an easy target.
* Global Silence can be used to prevent Storm Spirit from connecting abilities after a Ball Lightning on his targets.
* Due to Phantom Rush and Juxtapose being passives and not affected by silence, a Phantom Lancer with a Diffusal Blade can easily kill Silencer.
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet, Lich.
* Heroes that can disable or silence Silencer for a long time, such as Bane and Legion Commander, can lock down Silencer while their allies put him down.
* Legion Commander is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with Press the Attack and is a good Silver Edge carrier. However, Mars is not an ideal Duel target, as Bulwark will force her to 1: Buy Silver Edge, and 2: Hit Mars with it before the Duel, allowing a skilled Mars to react, especially with Eul's Scepter of Divinity. In teamfights, Mars will happily draw attention after using his abilities, and tank the Duel with all spells on cooldown.
* Because Duel requires both combatants to face each other, Bulwark's effectiveness will be increased by a huge margin, which makes it much more difficult for Legion Commander to win any duels against him.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke pushes Legion Commander away during Duels against allies.
Additional:
* Bulwark immensely mitigates Duel, even with bonus physical damage, as Bulwark scales by percentage. Mars can also buy time for a dueled ally by pushing Legion Commander away with Spear of Mars.
* Terrorblade is a double-edged sword type of matchup against Silencer. Although Terrorblade is more reliant on direct attacks to be effective, he relies on Sunder to save himself and stay alive and Last Word and Global Silence prevent him from doing that.
* Arcane Curse and Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Last Word help Silencer deal with Terrorblade's illusions from Conjure Image and Manta Style.
* With Last Word Mutes talent, Silencer can not only disable Terrorblade from turning tables with Sunder, but can also prevent him from using Manta Style and Black King Bar, items Terrorblade needs to be effective in teamfights.
* Glaives of Wisdom deals pure damage against the real Terrorblade, bypassing his high base armor.
* Global Silence can silence Terrorblade even if he has Black King Bar active, though bear in mind that Terrorblade can dispel Global Silence with Manta Style and Black King Bar if the Global Silence was activated first.
Additional:
* Silencer is a double-edged sword type of matchup against Terrorblade. Although Terrorblade is more reliant on direct attacks to be effective, he relies on Sunder to save himself and stay alive and Last Word and Global Silence prevent him from doing that.
* Arcane Curse, Glaives of Wisdom upgraded with 2 Glaives of Wisdom Bounces talent and Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Last Word help Silencer deal with Terrorblade's illusions from Conjure Image and Manta Style.
* With Last Word Mutes talent, Silencer can not only disable Terrorblade from turning tables with Sunder, but can also prevent him from using Manta Style and Black King Bar, items Terrorblade needs to be effective in teamfights.
* Glaives of Wisdom deals magical damage against the real Terrorblade, bypassing his high base armor. Later it can be upgraded with 2 Glaives of Wisdom Bounces talent to deal against Terrorblade's illusions. Alternatively, Silencer is a natural Revenant's Brooch wielder, which gives him another way to damaging Terrorblade through his high base armor.
* Global Silence can silence Terrorblade even if he has Black King Bar active, though bear in mind that Terrorblade can dispel Global Silence with Manta Style and Black King Bar if the Global Silence was activated first.
* Bulwark negates most of the physical damage from Terrorblade and his illusions.
* God's Rebuke and Spear of Mars can decimate Terrorblade's illusions quickly.
* Silences and other types of lockdown that prevent Weaver from using his spells: Silencer, Riki, Lion, Legion Commander, Shadow Shaman, Bane.
* Shukuchi cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, and can most likely die if detected through invisibility.
* If pinned to the arena's walls, Time Lapse tends to not be enough to save Weaver, as God's Rebuke can keep him burst down thanks to its damage scaling.
* The Swarm and Geminate Attack are not enough to pierce through Bulwark.
* Medusa's Stone Gaze forces Mars to choose between getting petrified, or turning his vulnerable back on Medusa.
* Silencer burns easily through her effective HP from Mana Shield, by taking away her intelligence.
* Arcane Curse punishes her repeatedly casting Mystic Snake to keep her mana pool high. He can force her to use Manta Style before he has cast Global Silence and Medusa usually does not want to build Black King Bar.
* Bulwark can make each of Medusa's attacks target him instead, reducing Medusa's contribution on team fights.
* Spear of Mars stuns Medusa and also pushes her away from teamfights, taking advantage of Medusa's low mobility.
* Arena Of Blood blocks Medusa's attacks from outside the arena.
* Heroes with low mana pools (eg.Doom andTidehunter) will feel the effects of Silencer's Intelligence Steal far more than others.
* Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom, 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 cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
* Lich is heavily reliant on his abilities to contribute to team fights, so be wary of enemies that can Silence: Bloodseeker, Death Prophet, Silencer, Drow Ranger, Skywrath Mage.
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet, Lich.
* Heroes that have long silences, such as Night Stalker and Silencer, will prevent Abaddon from saving his allies effectively and disable the active component of Borrowed Time.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
* Silencer can reduce Muerta's damage output with his Glaives of Wisdom, and since he commonly buys Revenant's Brooch, he will be able to attack her even through Pierce the Veil.
* Silencer has reliable, long-range silences in Last Word and Global Silence, preventing Muerta from using her spells as effectively.
* As Muerta tends to use her spells, particularly Dead Shot; Arcane Curse is very effective against her as that can punish her for doing so.
* Arcane Curse stacks every time Bristleback uses an ability, forcing him to stop spamming his abilities, or take heavy health degeneration.
* Glaives of Wisdom steals intelligence both permanently and temporarily, causing mana issues for Bristleback.
* Last Word and Global Silence stops Bristleback from using his abilities altogether.
Additional:
* Bristleback will not be able to cast Viscous Nasal Goo or Quill Spray while silenced, effectively blocking a major part of the hero's damage and preventing Warpath charges from stacking.
* Arcane Curse slows Bristleback down and lasts longer the more abilities he uses. On the other hand, if he doesn't use any abilities, he will begin to lose Warpath charges.
* Global Silence stops Snapfire's Mortimer Kisses.
* Last Word can prevent Snapfire from casting additional spells.
* Global Silence and Last Word can prevent Ember Spirit from casting Activate Fire Remnant to escape.
* Glaives of Wisdom also provide high pure damage that is not negated by Flame Guard.
* Arcane Curse is also a potent harassing tool in the laneing stage as its cooldown is lower than Flame Guard's.
* Crystal Maiden is squishy, is heavily spell reliant, has low base Intelligence, and is naturally slow, making her an ideal target for Silencer.
* Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field has a similar cooldown to Global Silence, therefore, Freezing Field can almost always be canceled to ruin aggressive Crystal Maiden initiations.
* Generally strong against lots of spellcaster-themed heroes, Puck fully relies on its skill set and cannot do almost anything when silenced.
* Arcane Curse disables Blink Dagger for quite some time, and is also effective against Puck as it tends to use its spells a lot.
* Glaives of Wisdom can do a lot of damage against Puck due to Puck's low agility gain and armor.
* Last Word can prevent Puck from getting a full combo off, limiting its effectiveness in team fights or ganks.
* Global Silence can take Puck out of fights entirely because of its long-duration silence.
* Like any hero with a channeled spell, Last Word is a counter to it.
* Global Silence goes through spell immunity and prevents Witch Doctor from casting his spells.
* Being a cast-oriented hero, Ezalor will suffer from all of Silencer's abilities.
* Global Silence is a guaranteed lengthy silence which will render Ezalor useless in a teamfight.
* Arcane Curse and Last Word are good against any caster, since they are extremely potent.
* However, it should be worth mentioning that a smart Ezalor will buy Eul's Scepter of Divinity to dispel Silencer's abilities. Combined with the level 20 talent (Chakra Magic applies a basic dispel), Ezalor can purge Silencer's abilities off allies and himself alike.
* Spectre cannot have a good game if she is pressured heavily in lane, which is something Mars can do. He may even force her to cast Haunt as an escape, putting it on a long cooldown.
* Should Spectre get to the late game, Mars can block a large amount of her damage with Bulwark and can mitigate some of the chaos caused by her Haunt illusions with God's Rebuke.
* Glaives of Wisdom's intelligence steal will heavily punish Queen of Pain, as the loss of intelligence means that her mana pool is also reduced, since she is heavily reliant on her abilities to be able to make an impact.
* In the laning stage, Queen of Pain's reliance on spamming Shadow Strike and Scream of Pain will be significantly hindered by Arcane Curse.
* Last Word and Global Silence will render Queen of Pain defenseless unless she has an item/ally to dispel the silence.
* Silencer's abilities hamper Windranger's effectiveness in battle, preventing her from comboing abilities and escaping using Windrun.
Additional:
* Glaives of Wisdom's intelligence steal can prove detrimental to Windranger, as she heavily relies on her abilities to be able to make an impact.
* Silencer's abilities hamper Windranger's effectiveness in battle, preventing her from comboing abilities and escaping using Windrun.
* Bulwark blocks the attack from Meepo and his clones.
* Spear of Mars & God's Rebuke prevents Meepo and his clones from initiation or escaping.
* Because Warlock's abilities are all active abilities, Silencer can make his impact minimal.
* Arcane Curse prevents Warlock from using his abilities without increasing it's duration, which since all of Warlock's abilities are actives it is very effective against him.
* Last Word can prevent Warlock from casting his Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval combo.
* Global Silence can nullify Warlock's impact in fights by preventing him from casting Fatal Bonds and Chaotic Offering, or by interrupting his Upheaval.
* Bulwark mitigates Omnislash which deals physical damage, severely reducing its damage.
* Omnislash switch to opposite direction with each slash, so Mars can easily reduce most of its damage.
* However because {Ability ID:Blade Fury|Juggernaut} gives spell immunity Juggernaut can easily escape from {Ability ID:Arena Of Blood|Mars}.
Additional:
* Juggernaut deals mostly physical damage, which is easily mitigated with Bulwark.
* Juggernaut's Omnislash switches to opposite directions which each slash, so Mars can mitigate most of its damage since he only takes full damage from one direction: his back.
* Arena Of Blood prevents Bloodseeker from attacking a Ruptured target.
* Bulwark helps Mars survive Rupture ganks simply by turning towards Bloodseeker without moving.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can push Bloodseeker from Ruptured targets.
* Both Arcane Curse and Last Word punishes casters with spammable spells such as Sand King.
* As a strength caster, Intelligence Steal reduces Sand King's mana pool even more.
* Global Silence silences Sand King, effectively reducing Sand King's initiation and counter-initiation potential. It can also interrupt channeling of Epicenter.
* Heroes with silences and hard stuns such as Doom, Silencer, and Lion can keep Mirana from Leaping away.
* Heroes that can negate Hoodwink's mobility: Kunkka, Disruptor, Mars.
* Heroes with silencing abilities that are not blocked by Linken's Sphere, like Puck's Waning Rift, Death Prophet's Silence or Silencer's Global Silence.
* Heroes with forced movement abilities or non-interrupting forced movement, such as Lion, Drow Ranger, Magnus, Mars, as they can cancel blast-off mid air, removing his ability to initiate or escape.
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet, Lich.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
* Slark's Dark Pact allows him to dispel Silencer's debuffs.
* Against a carry Silencer, Essence Shift will lower damage from both Glaives of Wisdom and his basic attack.
* Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape: Silencer, Death Prophet, Puck, Doom.
* Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during Shadow Dance.
* Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through Shadow Dance and Depth Shroud.
* Should Pounce be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's Last Word, magic resistance like Oracle's Fate's Edict, and dispels like Legion Commander's Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
* Heroes with low mana pools (eg.Doom andTidehunter) will feel the effects of Silencer's Intelligence Steal far more than others.
* Silencer's Global Silence and Doom's Doom makes Earthshaker temporarily useless.
* Durable heroes: Axe, Dawnbreaker, Bristleback, Mars, Omniknight, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Primal Beast, Underlord.
* Heroes with silences : Bloodseeker, Riki, Silencer.
* 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.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
* 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.
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as Silencer, Drow Ranger and Death Prophet.
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
* Heroes with the capability of removing or destroying trees greatly hinders the effectiveness of Treant Protector's abilities: Batrider, Nature's Prophet, Lina, Enigma, Mars
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Dragon Knight, Mars, Centaur Warrunner.
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki, Bounty Hunter.
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle, Omniknight.
* A well-timed Global Silence prevents Dazzle from saving allies with Shallow Grave or Shadow Wave. Items that could dispel the silence are expensive, and difficult for Dazzle to farm from a support role.
* Arcane Curse and Last Word cause long damage over time, which may outlast Shallow Grave.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* Timbersaw is heavily reliant on his abilities for damage and escape, allowing Silencer to effectively disable him and make him useless in both team fights and 1v1 scenarios.
Additional:
* Arcane Curse deals repeated stacks of damage to Timbersaw because he relies on constantly using his abilities.
* Glaives of Wisdom deals pure damage and when cast manually, nearby creeps will not attack silencer, making it an effective harassment tool. The intelligence steal is also especially potent against Timbersaw since he often uses up all of his mana throughout the entire game.
* Although Last Word takes a while to trigger, it will break Timbersaw's ability combo and can be used to silence him.
* Global Silence will silence Timbersaw no matter where he is on the map. This can be used to help allies get a kill on him, or prevent Timbersaw from killing someone.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* 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.
* Heroes who rely on passive abilities and attacks, such as Drow Ranger, Wraith King, and Lone Druid, can render Silencer useless. But remember that a smart Silencer will most likely buy Silver Edge to counter this if he is played as carry.
* As long as Mars is facing her with Bulwark, even if pushed away with Gust, Drow Ranger will do no effectual damage against him. Mars' ability to endure her onslaught usually gives him enough time to cast Arena of Blood, of which she has a very slim chance surviving without Gust.
* With Bulwark's active ability, Mars can protect allies pursued by Drow Ranger by redirecting her projectiles to his shield instead.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* Last Word and Arcane Curse have the range to hit Dark Willow beyond Bramble Maze.
* Global Silence renders Dark Willow useless in teamfights.
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
* Silencer will most likely disrupt an initiation with his ultimate, Global Silence, prevent escape with his Last Word, and if Phoenix happens to die to him (or near him) enough times, he would sap enough of Phoenix's much needed Intelligence to make him a stronger foe and Phoenix with less mana than it already had.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* Arcane Curse can be cast from a long range to put Enigma's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Global Silence can interrupt Enigma's Black Hole channeling through Black King Bar and Linken's Sphere, making Silencer one of Enigma's hard counters. But bear in mind that Global Silence can be dispelled with Black King Bar if activated first.
Additional:
* Silencer can easily ruin Enigma's initiation, as Global Silence cancels Black Hole, even through Black King Bar and Linken's Sphere.
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with Aghanim's Scepter), Viper.
* Shadow Demon's main source of damage is his low cooldown, high damage spells - meaning Last Word and Global Silence will pretty much take him out of the game for the duration.
* Shadow Demon likes to spam his abilities, which makes him vulnerable to Arcane Curse.
* If Shadow Demon dies near Silencer, he will lose intelligence, reducing his mana pool, mana regen, and attack damage. Furthermore, if the game is long and Shadow Demon dies often, the intelligence losses will also reduce his spell damage.
* Kunkka's Ghostship and Torrent disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
* Kunkka relies on his powerful AOE spells to turn the tides of teamfights. He cannot use them while silenced.
* Last Word can mess up Kunkka's ability synergy, silencing him in the middle of his strong combo.
* Global Silence can disable Kunkka's spell casting from anywhere on the map, even if Kunkka is spell immune at the time.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* Silencer can stop Rearm, preventing Tinker from spamming his abilities/items or escaping.
* Tinker heavily relies on his mana pool and has mana issues throughout the entire game and Silencer's intelligence steal does not help with that.
Additional:
* As Tinker relies heavily on his spells to be effective, Last Word and Global Silence will render him largely useless.
* Arcane Curse effectively prevents Tinker from casting spells during its duration, as he will otherwise suffer heavy damage.
* Glaives of Wisdom deal pure damage, which make quick work of fragile heroes like Tinker.
* Silencer's intelligence steal permanently weakens Tinker since he's a hero who requires lots of mana to be effective.
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle, Omniknight.
* Global Silence takes Omniknight out of the fight completely.
* Glaives of Wisdom are a great harass vs Omniknight during the laning stages of the game, since it doesn't aggro creeps & ignores his high base armor. It deals pure damage, which means it can also go through Guardian Angel.
* Silencer's intelligence steal can also cause Omniknight to falter in the early phases as it reduces his ability to use his spells.
* Silencer's low mobility and lack of any stuns or roots makes him an easy target.
* Silence will not protect Silencer from Jingu Mastery's extra damage and lifesteal.
* Monkey King often buys Black King Bar, which can be used to negate silence debuff effects.
* If visible, Mars can knock Monkey King off his Tree Dance with God's Rebuke, as well as Spear of Mars. Arena of Blood also destroys a large swath of trees, which can disrupt Monkey King's positioning and turn him vulnerable should he choose to hide in trees.
* Mars can endure Jingu Mastery attacks simply by facing him with Bulwark.
* Mars can end Wukong's Command early by displacing Monkey King with a well-thrown Spear of Mars. Mars can also endure most of his clones with Bulwark.
Additional:
* Monkey King's natural reliance on trees makes him an exceptionally prime target for Spear of Mars. Should Monkey King use Mischief to disguise himself, it will still hit him, stunning him in the process.
* God's Rebuke easily pushes Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
* Time Dilation while Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Mars nearly useless.
* Mars cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the back, bypassing Bulwark completely.
Additional:
* Time Walk allows Faceless Void to escape or enter Arena Of Blood, and helps him recover from Mars' burst damage.
* Time Lock's magical damage ignores Bulwark.
* Chronosphere allows Faceless Void to reposition behind Mars, ignoring his Bulwark while he is helplessly frozen in time.
* Global Silence has faster-cast animation than Chronosphere, making Silencer can silence Faceless Void before he can cast Chronosphere.
* Dragon Slave deals reliable magic damage during the laning phase against Mars.
* Lina's Eul's Scepter of Divinity and Light Strike Array combo can interrupt Mars from being disruptive for a decent amount of time and leave him vulnerable for follow up stuns.
* Laguna Blade deals massive magical damage, and pure damage with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Arcane Curse makes it too difficult Lina from using her abilities, preventing her from building up Fiery Soul stacks without causing harm to herself.
* Last Word and Global Silence are great against Lina for the same reason, as well as interrupting her combos and preventing her from casting spells.
* Due to Sniper having a such a long range, he will rarely get hit by any of Silencer's spells.
* Global Silence will not hinder Sniper much as other heroes since most of his damage output comes from his attacks.
Additional:
* Sniper is a pure right click carry with a very long range, making it hard for Silencer to cast any of his skills on him in lane. During team-fights, Global Silence has little impact on Sniper.
* Even if he can slow Mars down with Shrapnel and Headshot, Mars can tank Sniper's physical damage simply by facing him with Bulwark, allowing him to endure his auto-attacks into the late-game. Should Sniper choose to attack someone else, Mars can redirect his projectiles with Bulwark's active ability.
* Sniper's poor mobility makes him very vulnerable to Arena of Blood, especially in the early game. Mars can also take advantage of this by pushing him closer to the front line with Spear of Mars.
* Nether Blast, Decrepify and Life Drain deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
* Nether Ward reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
* Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.
* Pugna is very reliant on his abilities for damage which Silencer can take advantage off. But he has to be careful around the Nether Ward as Silencer's abilities cost a lot of mana to use.
* Phantom Assassin doesn't care about Silencer's spells as she relies on right-clicks more than spells.
* Phantom Assassin often builds Black King Bar, which allows her to remove Global Silence before engaging.
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
* Heroes with silence such as Riki, Silencer, or Night Stalker prevents Skywrath Mage from using his spells.
* Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
* Arcane Curse punishes Necrophos if tries to spam Death Pulse, increasing the duration of the slow and damage taken over time.
* Last Word heavily damages Necrophos and also silence him for a lenghty duration.
* Glaives of Wisdom will reduce temporarily Necrophos intelligence on each hit dealing hindering his ability to spam Death Pulse, also reducing his attack damage and mana pool; dealing increasing amounts of phisical and pure damage each time. Silencer will permanently steal Necrophos intelligence if Necrophos is killed by him or if he dies nears him.
* Global Silence turns Necrophos almost useless for a long time, allowing Silencer and his team to easily dispatch him, since Necrohpos heavily relies on his spells to survive.
* Mars' own father is a formidable foe because Zeus deals massive amounts of magical damage. The high damage, low cooldown nukes of Arc Lightning and Lightning Bolt combined with the percent health magic damage of Static Field will shred Mars' health because it bypasses Bulwark completely.
* Zeus' main source of damage is his low cooldown, high damage spells - meaning Last Word and Global Silence will pretty much take him out of the game for the duration.
* Zeus likes to spam his abilities, which makes him vulnerable to Arcane Curse.
* If Zeus dies near Silencer, he will begin to lose intelligence, reducing his mana pool, mana regen, and attack damage. Furthermore, if the game is long and Zeus dies often, the intelligence losses will also reduce his spell damage.
Additional:
* Silencer's Global Silence will render Zeus useless for 6 seconds in a team fight.
* Arcane Curse will punish Zeus for casting spells, which can cause continuous damage to him should he continue to cast spells.
* Last Word can silence Zeus and prevent him from spamming his spells.
* Silencer often builds Orchid Malevolence (or Bloodthorn) which can be used on spell casters like Zeus, forcing him to invest in a Linken's Sphere.
* Decay, Soul Rip and Flesh Golem all deal magical damage which ignores Bulwark.
* Decay reduces Mars' natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in lane.
* Arcane Curse can effectively discourage Undying from casting his spammable abilities in a team fight, as Undying will have to suffer more damage and the slow due to the penalty duration of Arcane Curse.
* Last Word and Global Silence are able to silence Undying for up to 6 seconds, preventing Undying from gaining strength and healing his ally or himself.
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence pool.
* Silencer's Intelligence Steal will heavily reduce Outworld Destroyer's damage output, particularly from Sanity's Eclipse.
* Last Word and Global Silence will take Outworld Destroyer out of the fight unless he has built Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Silencer's intelligence steal will heavily reduce Outworld Destroyer's damage output, especially if Destroyer dies a lot near Silencer and loses intelligence permanently.
* Global Silence and Last Word will render Outworld Destroyer helpless unless he has an item/ally to dispel silence.
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.
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.
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
Latest changes first
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.
Silencer
* Rage can protect Lifestealer from most of the Silencer's abilities with the exception of Global Silence, as it will still silence if cast while the target is magic immune. However, it will not work if Lifestealer is infesting a unit.
* Silencer is vulnerable to Open Wounds due to his lack of an innate escape.
* Against a carry Silencer, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can disarm him and allow Lifestealer to attack Silencer from within, even if Silencer is spell immune.
Additional:
* Rage can protect Lifestealer from most of the Silencer's abilities with the exception of Global Silence.
* If Lifestealer can Infest himself on any unit, he can literally avoid being affected by Global Silence.
* Against a carry Silencer, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can disarm him and allow Lifestealer to attack Silencer from within, even if Silencer is spell immune.
* Open Wounds from Aghanim's Shard can severely slow down Silencer, and allow Lifestealer and his team to heal themselves by attacking Silencer.
Mars
* Rage, acting as a pseudo-Black King Bar, completely negates Mars' initiation if used in time.
* Feast does damage and heals based on max health, perfect against high-health strength heroes like Mars.
* Infest allows Lifestealer to potentially save allies from Mars' initiation with a quick burst of extra health.