* Phantom Lancer's Doppelganger has a low cooldown and applies a basic dispel on PL, making it hard to keep Corrosive Haze on him.
* Phantom Lancer usually purchases Manta Style which provides another basic dispel to remove Corrosive Haze with.
* Besides Slithereen Crush, Slardar does not have another way to deal with illusions and has a low mana pool, which allows Phantom Lancer with Diffusal Blade to quickly build up illusions while draining Slardar's mana.
* Phantom Rush outruns Guardian Sprint, forcing Slardar to Blink away or use Slithereen Crush defensively to avoid being killed.
* 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.
* Outworld Destroyer's pure damage will mop up Primal Split's units very quickly.
* Ancient Seal's instant cast time will often silence Brewmaster before he can do anything.
* Brewmaster also has no defense against Skywrath Mage's massive magical damage.
* Fire Spirits greatly reduces Slardar's already low starting attack speed (which Bash of the Deep relies on), making the laning phase very hard for him and discouraging Slardar from aggressively threatening lane kills.
* Supernova, ignoring Phoenix's lack of armor and Slardar's high damage single hits, is extremely hard for Slardar to take down on his own, especially after being hit by Fire Spirits.
* Icarus Dive is one of the longest distance escape spells in the game, and can help a good Phoenix escape from Slardar before he gets a
Blink Dagger. However, the high cooldown means Phoenix is vulnerable to backstabs from any roamers after said spell is used.
* Slardar can interrupt an Icarus Dive from completing the flight with both of his stuns, however, likely leading to death if Supernova is on cooldown.
* A lot of the items a Phoenix builds throughout the game naturally counter Slardar. Shiva's Guard,
Heaven's Halberd and
Eul's Scepter of Divinity all stall Slardar's normal attacks in some way, while
Spirit Vessel's percentage-based damage is good against his innate durability.
* After Brewmaster has committed Thunder Clap and Cinder Brew to gank, Bane can use Nightmare on Brewmaster to wait out the debuffs, and might even turn the tables by buying time for allied reinforcements.
* Bane can also prevent Brewmaster from using Primal Split with his long disables.
* Slardar has high priority on building moblity items such as Blink Dagger rather than tank items. Zeus can easily deal large amount of damage to him if not caught out of position first.
* 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 Lion has used all his crowd control before entering a fight. His direct magic burst also makes Brewmaster's Drunken Brawler worthless versus Lion.
* Exorcism kills Primal Split's units very quickly.
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture forces Slardar to stay still during fights, preventing Slardar from using Guardian sprint to move in and out of fights. This takes away the ability to initiate and re-initiate with Slithereen Crush's low cooldown. Due to the increased move speed from Guardian Sprint, Slardar can lose health at about 160% the rate of normal heroes while under
Rupture. Bloodseeker's
Thirst also gives him enough move speed so that he's one of the few heroes who can outrun or catch up to a Slardar during Guardian Sprint.
* Illusion heroes like the aforementioned Phantom Lancer or
Naga Siren, or heroes that tend to buy
Manta Style, like
Luna or
Juggernaut, will give Slardar a hard time, as his damage is single-targeted.
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter,
Brewmaster,
Death Prophet, etc.
* Tidehunter's
Kraken Shell dispels Corrosive Haze and Bash of the Deep's stun if enough damage is taken.
Anchor Smash and Kraken Shell's damage block also reduces Slardar's damage.
* Illusion heroes like the aforementioned Phantom Lancer or
Naga Siren, or heroes that tend to buy
Manta Style, like
Luna or
Juggernaut, will give Slardar a hard time, as his damage is single-targeted.
* Illusion heroes like the aforementioned Phantom Lancer or
Naga Siren, or heroes that tend to buy
Manta Style, like
Luna or
Juggernaut, will give Slardar a hard time, as his damage is single-targeted.
* Blinking heroes like Anti-Mage or
Queen of Pain can often chase down an injured Brewmaster after his ultimate expires.
* Terrorblade starts out with and gains a lot of armor from his agility growth. His illusions also make it difficult for Slardar to focus down the real Terrorblade.
* Slardar does not do well against multiple targets, as his only way to damage multiple targets is Slithereen Crush.
* Meepo's Earthbind will root Slardar, making him unable to chase/escape for the time being. Also,
Poof's low cooldown and high damage can burst Slardar down rather quickly.
* Heroes who can stun multiple units at once: Dark Willow,
Spirit Breaker,
Slardar,
Invoker, and
Tidehunter.
* Corrosive Haze and
Bash of the Deep will make short work of Huskar's low armor, even if Slardar is alone.
* Brewmaster can use Cyclone to disable Huskar's healer for much longer than most other heroes can, to make Huskar vulnerable.
* Huskar has no way to stop Brewmaster from using Primal Split by himself, but can cut a good amount of his high health away if Huskar's team wants to burst Brewmaster down during a different disable.
* Heroes who can provide True Sight are always credible threats: Slardar,
Bounty Hunter, especially
Zeus since his
Lightning Bolt provides True Sight without the need to detect her beforehand to apply the debuff. So even a late-coming Zeus can easily scout a large area to reveal her, and she cannot purge herself from his sight with the dispel talent.
* The three Primal Split brewlings all attacking Templar Assassin at once will remove her Refraction quickly, especially with Fire's Permanent Immolation.
* Templar Assassin has no way to stop Brewmaster from using Primal Split by herself, and may get unlucky and miss her Meld if trying to burst him during her ally's disable.
* 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.
* Cyclone from Storm in
Primal Split can waste Nyx's Spiked Carapace, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's.
* Clinkz survivability depends entirely on Skeleton Walk. Corrosive Haze not only makes its invisibility useless, but also makes Clinkz even more vulnerable to physical damage.
Additional:
* Slardar can reveal Clinkz with Corrosive Haze and make him easy to kill, and his
Bash of the Deep also hits hard against Clinkz's naturally low health pool.
* Slardar's Guardian Sprint can catch up with Clinkz's Skeleton Walk.
* The stun and slow from Slardar's Slithereen Crush can hold Clinkz in place.
* Heroes that excel at grouping up with their team very early will be able to take advantage of a Clinkz that tries to pick off heroes that are alone: Brewmaster,
Dazzle,
Tidehunter.
* Slardar is one of the few meele heroes who can lane against Ursa in the early game, out harassing him with Bash of the Deep, and running away from a bad engagement with Guardian Sprint
* Corrosize Haze can force Ursa to cast Enrage defensively instead of offensively
* With Corrosize Haze, Slardar's team can quickly dispatch of Roshan, denying one of Ursa's greatest advantages
* Heroes with evasions: Phantom Assassin,
Brewmaster,
Hoodwink,
Windranger.
Additional:
* If Ursa uses Enrage Brewmaster can use Cyclone to render him harmless during his ultimate.
* Brewmaster has two spells to slow down Ursa, allowing his team to kite around him easily.
* Heroes who can provide True Sight or semi-reveal enemy heroes as Nature's Prophet is prone to buying Shadow Blade:
Bounty Hunter,
Slardar,
Spectre,
Zeus,
Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes who produce many summons will have a hard time against Storm's Dispel Magic during teamfight: Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet.
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to outrun Bristleback, even when slowed by Viscous Nasal Goo.
* Corrosive Haze's armor reduction makes Bristleback much less tanky.
* Slardar can use Guardian Sprint with
Blink Dagger or
Shadow Blade to get close, and
Slithereen Crush will stun Sniper and slow him, making him vulnerable to Slardar's teammates.
* Corrosive Haze lowers Sniper's armor and makes Sniper's
Shadow Blade useless, easily killing him with a few attacks.
* Cinder Brew and
Drunken Brawler makes it hard for Monkey King to stack Jingu Mastery.
* Cyclone can remove Monkey king for 6 seconds if his allies lack dispels.
* Dispel Magic can dispel Jingu Mastery's bonuses.
* Corrosive Haze makes Riki completely vulnerable to Slardar and his allies, as Riki has no easy way of dispelling it.
* Slardar's physical damage with Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep amplified by Corrosive Haze can easily kill Riki.
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze works much like
Track, giving the enemy team vision over Riki. While it doesn't give a movement speed or gold bonus, it instead can melt Riki's armor and Slardar can use
Guardian Sprint to catch up to him.
* Slardar's Aghanim's Shard, causes
Slithereen Crush to apply Corrosive Haze even if Slardar does not have vision over him.
* Brewmaster can waste a large portion of Lycan's ultimate by putting him in Cyclone.
* Lycan has no way to stop Brewmaster from using Primal Split by himself.
* Lycan's team often tries to push towers as a group, and Brewmaster excels at winning teamfights while trying to defend a tower.
* Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it hard for him to use Meat Hook from the fog of war on Slardar's teammates or Slardar himself.
* Slithereen Crush interrupts Pudge while he is using Dismember.
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to avoid Meat Hook.
Additional:
* While Slardar has Guardian Sprint activated, Rot cannot slow him and
Meat Hook is easier to avoid.
* Slithereen Crush allows Slardar to interrupt Dismember at close range (when Slardar is not a target).
* Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it very difficult for him to land hooks from the fog.
* Storm's Dispel Magic combined with Thunder Clap deals high damage against Chaos Knight's illusions even in the late game.
* Chaos Knight's reliance on physical damage is easily hindered by Drunken Brawler.
* Chaos Knight's lack of area effect and mobility makes him easily overwhelmed by Primal Split.
Additional:
* Dispel Magic from {U:Storm} can instantly kill Phantasms early on, and can still deal a lot of damage to them late game, revealing the real Chaos Knight.
* The brutal physical damage of Slithereen Crush and
Bash of the Deep can quickly remove Void Spirit's shield and stun him for a while.
* Corrosive Haze provides vision of Void Spirit while he is running away and
Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to quickly close the gap
* Dispel Magic from {U:Storm} instantly removes Heavenly Grace and Guardian Angel from Omniknight's allies in its radius of effect.
* Thunder Clap and
Drunken Brawler prevent Faceless Void from maximising his damage potential in fights.
* Cyclone disables Faceless Void during Chronosphere or in general.
* Primal Split makes Brewmaster invulnerable for the duration, rendering effects of Cold Feet and Ice Blast useless.
* Dispel Magic can dispel Cold Feet from allies.
* Brewmaster can easily run Ancient Apparition down with the slow from Thunder Clap and
Cinder Brew.
* Corrosive Haze followed by
Slithereen Crush takes advantage of Alchemist's main weakness, being physical damage before he has the change to improve his surviability with items.
* Bash of the Deep will deal lots of damage during the laning phase.
* With armor items like Solar Crest or
Assault Cuirass combined with Bash of the Deep, Slardar can easily tank the
Duel, If not dueled himself, he can drop
Legion Commander's armor during duel and/or buff his teammate and save them, leaving her only the choice of dueling supports which can also be saved with fast Blink into Slithereen Crush.
* Shadow Fiend, a normal Shadow Blade builder often relies on its invisibility to escape fights. Corrosive Haze reveals Shadow Fiend and also weakens his already low armor.
* Bounty Hunter's Shadow Walk is rendered useless with Corrosive Haze and makes Bounty Hunter an easy target for Slardar and his team.
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze provides True Sight on its target, exposing Bounty Hunter's position regardless of Shadow Walk.
* Guardian Sprint gives a very high movement speed bonus, allowing him to chase Bounty Hunter even if Slardar is tracked.
* {U:Earth} has passive Spell Immunity, allowing him to walk into the Echo Stomp radius to stun Elder Titan with his
Hurl Boulder.
* {U:Storm}'s Cyclone can cancel the channeling of Echo Stomp and take Elder Titan out of the fight for {show:A|Storm|Cyclone|value2} seconds.
* Corrosive Haze will reveal Treant Protector even when he is under the effects of Nature's Guise.
* Brewmaster can make the Spirit Bear a much smaller threat with Cinder Brew.
* Cyclone removes the bear from a fight so that his team can easily focus on the hero.
* While most heroes would be worn down by a Spirit Bear Radiance in the time it takes to kill Lone Druid, Brewmaster is protected in Primal Split.
* Heroes with spells that negate invisibility such as Bounty Hunter,
Zeus and
Slardar prevent her from saving her allies with Moonlight Shadow.
* Slardar's
Slithereen Crush allows him to stun Spectre and illusions, and
Corrosive Haze prevents her from juking with
Spectral Dagger.
* Invoker's
Ghost Walk can be countered, however,
Invoker could also use abilities like
Tornado or
Ice Wall to escape by other means.
* Slardar's level 25 talent makes
Corrosive Haze undispellable, thus providing his allies vision of Slark.
* Crystal Maiden's already low armor and easily interruptible ultimate,
Freezing Field can make Slardar her worst nightmare.
Crystal Maiden also often builds
Glimmer Cape which is revealed by Corrosive Haze.
* Slardar can chase Dragon Knight down with
Guardian Sprint and stun him with both
Slithereen Crush and his passive
Bash of the Deep. He can also use
Corrosive Haze to whittle Dragon Knight's armor.
* In general, Brewmaster's Cinder Brew and Thunder Clap makes him good against physical damage carries: Ursa,
Clinkz,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Templar Assassin,
Phantom Assassin.
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain
Bash of the Deep charges, and
Templar Assassin can spill
Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
* Brewmaster with
Primal Split
* Heroes that can dodge Glimpse:
* Puck with
Phase Shift
* Riki with
Tricks of the Trade
* Phantom Lancer with
Doppelganger
* Ember Spirit with
Sleight of Fist and
Activate Fire Remnant
* Chaos Knight with
Phantasm
* Naga Siren with
Mirror Image
* Tusk with
Snowball
* Juggernaut with
Omnislash
* Brewmaster with
Primal Split
* Lifestealer with
Infest
* Phoenix with
Supernova
* Heroes with area dispel can kill multiple skeletons at once: Brewmaster,
Oracle.
* Heroes who produce many summons will have a hard time against Storm's Dispel Magic during teamfight: Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet.
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback,
Clinkz,
Luna,
Shadow Fiend,
Slardar,
Terrorblade
* In general, Brewmaster's Cinder Brew and Thunder Clap makes him good against physical damage carries: Ursa,
Clinkz,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Templar Assassin,
Phantom Assassin.
* Slardar with
Corrosive Haze.
* Heroes with True Sight can be a problem for Windranger once she has upgraded Windrun with Aghanim's Scepter, but do take note that the invisibility it provides is not broken upon moving, casting abilities or using items, so it is vital to cast these abilities beforehand to be able to provide vision on Windranger:
* Bounty Hunter with
Track.
* Bloodseeker with
Thirst.
* Slardar with
Corrosive Haze.
Additional:
* While Slardar has Guardian's Sprint activated, Powershot cannot slow him and is easier to avoid.
* Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep help Slardar put Windranger in place, even when she uses Windrun to escape.
* Corrosive Haze from Slardar is very effective against Windranger's already low armor. This becomes even worse if she has Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded
Windrun, because it also reveals her position and allowing his allies to use their abilities on Windranger.
* Note that the invisibility provided by Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded
Windrun is not broken upon attacking, casting abilities or using items, so it's vital to cast Corrosive Haze beforehand.
* Heroes with armor reducing abilities greatly hinder Visage's defense like Slardar and
Dazzle.
* Blinking heroes like Anti-Mage or
Queen of Pain can often chase down an injured Brewmaster after his ultimate expires.
* Slardar deals entirely physical damage. He does not have to worry about Counterspell.
* Slithereen Crush and
Bash of the Deep prevent Anti-Mage from using Blink, the latter even if Anti-Mage activates
Black King Bar.
* Corrosive Haze allows allies to take down Anti-Mage before he has a chance to Blink, and maintains vision over him even if he does Blink away.
Additional:
* Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep deals physical damage, bypassing the magic resistance bonus from Counterspell
* Corrosize Haze significantly increases the damage dealt against Anti-Mage, and makes it harder for him to flee with Blink, although Anti-mage can block its casting with with Counterspell
* Medusa cares less than other heroes about armor reduction, since
Mana Shield blocks 70% of all damage without taking armor/magic resistance into consideration. This makes 60% of your Corrosive Haze ineffective until Medusa's mana is drained.
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: Tidehunter,
Bristleback,
Slardar.
* Brewmaster is slow and has low armor, making his laning stage very difficult against Geminate Attack.
* Apart from the slow moving Hurl Boulder, which can be disjointed, he has no control to catch Weaver.
* Weaver relies on Shukuchi to escape and kite enemy heroes. Slardar's Corrosive Haze lowers armor and reveals Weaver, who is already a very frail target.
* Weaver usually builds Linken's Sphere, Corrosive Haze can be used to pop the spell block, additionally the level 25 undispellable talent will prevent Weaver from removing Corrosive Haze with
Time Lapse, allowing allied heroes to use their abilities on Weaver.
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze lowers armor and reveals Weaver during Shukuchi, who is already a frail target. In addition, Weaver usually builds
Linken's Sphere, and
Corrosive Haze can be used to "pop" the spell block. His level 25 talent can also make Corrosive Haze undispellable by Time Lapse, which puts Weaver in an even worse situation.
* Guardian Sprint can dodge Weaver's bugs with the movement speed bonus.
* Enigma can be a perfect counter-initiator with his ultimate. A perfectly timed Black Hole will turn the tide of any initiation, especially from heroes like; Spirit Breaker,
Legion Commander,
Axe,
Puck, and
Slardar.
* Heroes who produce many summons will have a hard time against Storm's Dispel Magic during teamfight: Broodmother,
Enigma,
Nature's Prophet.
* Abaddon can cast Aphotic Shield on any of his allies to immediately dispel Corrosive Haze and/or the stun and the slow components of Slithereen Crush.
* All of Slardar's debuffs are also removed if Abaddon's Borrowed Time triggers.
* Dispel Magic can remove Abaddon's Aphotic Shield or
Curse of Avernus on an allied hero.
* Cyclone's lengthy duration wastes much of Borrowed Time's duration.
Additional:
* {U:Storm} can use Cyclone on Abaddon when he activates Borrowed Time, wasting its duration.
* Drunken Brawler and
Thunder Clap hinder Abaddon from applying Curse of Avernus' silence on him.
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Slardar
*
Fortune's End applies a basic dispel which can be used to dispel Corrosive Haze, or even Slardar's own Guardian Sprint.
False Promise is able to dispel Corrosive Haze and Slithereen Crush stun/slow from any allies Oracle chooses to cast it on.
Fate's Edict can also be cast on Slardar to prevent him from proccing his Bash of the Deep.
*
*