* 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.
* Malefice prevents Spirit Breaker from using his spells for the duration.
* Eidolons from Demonic Summoning have high magic resistance, receiving little damage from Charge of Darkness and Greater Bash.
* Midnight Pulse can deal big damage to Spirit Breaker, as it deals damage based on enemy hero's max health.
* Black Hole makes it very dangerous for Spirit Breaker to reach Enigma with Charge of Darkness unless if he has Nether Strike available to use.
Additional:
* Malefice prevents Spirit Breaker from using his spells for the duration.
* Eidolons from Demonic Summoning have high magic resistance, receiving little damage from Charge of Darkness and Greater Bash.
* Midnight Pulse can deal big damage to Spirit Breaker, as it deals damage based on enemy hero's max health.
* Black Hole makes it very dangerous for Spirit Breaker to reach Enigma with Charge of Darkness unless if he has Nether Strike available to use.
* 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.
* If Luna chooses to use Eclipse in anticipation right before Spirit Breaker gets to her with Charge of Darkness, she will be able to kill Spirit Breaker before he will be able to kill her as Spirit Breaker's attack speed is rather low.
* Meanwhile, when Spirit Breaker is focusing on any of Luna's allies with Charge of Darkness, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initate against Spirit Breaker.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives allows Luna to reduce damage from Greater Bash and Nether Strike inflicts on her, and damage Spirit Breaker whenever he is close to her, even while he is invisible.
* Lucent Beam can be used to cancel Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness under the condition that Luna is able to cast it on time. Lucent Beam can also be used to cancel Nether Strike. But bear in mind, however, that Spirit Breaker can counter this with Planar Pocket from Aghanim's Shard which can be used to reflect Lucent Beam back at Luna.
* If Luna buys Linken's Sphere, it will become nearly impossible for Spirit Breaker to reach Luna unless some of Spirit Breaker's allies can pop it and put it on a cooldown.
* Even though Spirit Breaker can evade all of Luna's abilities with Shadow Blade, smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Spirit Breaker to her and her team. Luna can also buy Gleipnir to counter Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness and Shadow Blade combo.
Additional:
* If Luna chooses to use Eclipse in anticipation right before Spirit Breaker gets to her with Charge of Darkness, she will be able to kill Spirit Breaker before he will be able to kill her as Spirit Breaker's attack speed is rather low.
* Meanwhile, when Spirit Breaker is focusing on any of Luna's allies with Charge of Darkness, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse can be used to counter-initate against Spirit Breaker.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives allows Luna to reduce damage from Greater Bash and Nether Strike inflicts on her, and damage Spirit Breaker whenever he is close to her, even while he is invisible.
* Lucent Beam can be used to cancel Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness under the condition that Luna is able to cast it on time. Lucent Beam can also be used to cancel Nether Strike. But bear in mind, however, that Spirit Breaker can counter this with Planar Pocket from Aghanim's Shard which can be used to reflect Lucent Beam back at Luna.
* If Luna buys Linken's Sphere, it will become nearly impossible for Spirit Breaker to reach Luna unless some of Spirit Breaker's allies can pop it and put it on a cooldown.
* Even though Spirit Breaker can evade all of Luna's abilities with Shadow Blade, smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Spirit Breaker to her and her team. Luna can also buy Gleipnir to counter Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness and Shadow Blade combo.
* 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.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities who attempt to use them for escaping Bloodseeker will suffer serious damage from Rupture: Phantom Assassin, Anti-Mage, Faceless Void, Riki, Slark, Spirit Breaker.
* 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.
* Durable heroes: Axe, Dawnbreaker, Bristleback, Mars, Omniknight, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Primal Beast, Underlord.
* 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.
* In the early game, Omniknight can look like an easy target for Spirit Breaker, but with Purification and Hammer of Purity, what could be an opportunity could quickly turn into disaster.
* Repel can be used to counter Charge of Darkness by minimizing the damage and lowering the stun duration with status resistance.
* Spirit Breaker's Greater Bash from all sources (Charge of Darkness or normal attacks) will deal no damage at all if Omniknight and his allies are protected with presence.
* Due to this, Spirit Breaker's damage will always be lower when targeting Omniknight.
* 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.
* 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.
* If Medusa activates Stone Gaze before Spirit Breaker reaches her with Charge of Darkness, the charge will inevitably fail.
* Medusa has three ways to counter Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness: Stone Gaze can disable Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness if he faces Medusa directly. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Mystic Snake can disable Spirit Breaker and cancel his Charge of Darkness if it hits him. And Cold Blooded provided by Aghanim's Shard that can cast a single-targeted Mystic Snake at Spirit Breaker if he uses Charge of Darkness on her.
* Mana Shield and overall tankiness allows Medusa to easily survive Spirit Breaker's initiation. And to make things worse, Spirit Breaker is not a common Diffusal Blade nor Disperser wielder to counter this problem at all.
* Overall, any attempt for Spirit Breaker to gank and kill Medusa will hurt him more than the other way around.
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: Tidehunter, Bristleback, Slardar.
* Pit of Malice can be cast in the path of Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness to cancel it.
* Spirit Breaker's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for him in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects Greater Bash, hindering Spirit Breaker's main source of damage.
* Fiend's Gate provides a way to escape from a gank for Underlord and his teammates. Likewise, Fiend's Gate can be used to ambush Spirit Breaker who has little to no ways of intercepting Underlord and his teammates when they use it to move around the map.
Additional:
* Pit of Malice can be cast in the path of Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness to cancel it.
* Spirit Breaker's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for him in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects Greater Bash, hindering Spirit Breaker's main source of damage.
* Fiend's Gate provides a way to escape from a gank for Underlord and his teammates. Likewise, Fiend's Gate can be used to ambush Spirit Breaker who has little to no ways of intercepting Underlord and his teammates when they use it to move around the map.
* Searing Chains can stop Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
* Activate Fire Remnant can be used to escape an approaching Spirit Breaker, or lead Spirit Breaker into a bad situation.
* Fire Remnant and Sleight of Fist allows Ember Spirit to dodge Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to protect allies by imprisoning either them or Spirit Breaker.
* Arcane Orb will heavily drain Spirit Breaker's maximum mana, rendering him almost useless and unable to cast spells. And considering how Spirit Breaker's intelligence is very low, Sanity's Eclipse will deal a lot of damage to him.
* Even if Spirit Breaker survives Sanity's Eclipse, mana allergy applied by the Sanity's Eclipse will discourage Spirit Breaker from using his abilities as it will cause him to lose health and heal Outworld Destroyer.
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Tombstone is problematic for Spirit Breaker as the zombies summoned from Tombstone apply a stacking movement speed slow, which can significantly reduce Greater Bash's damage.
* Soul Rip and Decay allows Undying and his allies to survive and recover from any incoming ganks by Spirit Breaker.
* Clockwerk can use Power Cogs to repel Spirit Breaker when he charges in with Charge of Darkness.
* Spirit Breaker's slow 0.6 second attack animation attacks do little damage against Clockwerk. It can also constantly be interrupted by Battery Assault.
* Nether Strike's 1.2 second charge time gives Clockwerk plenty of time to activate Blade Mail and for Battery Assault to cancel it.
Additional:
* Battery Assault will continuously prevent Spirit Breaker from using Nether Strike, Charge of Darkness and even right clicking because of his slow base attack speed.
* Fissure interrupts Spirit Breaker during Charge of Darkness.
* Bramble Maze stops Charge of Darkness in its tracks. Its very long duration means it can be used as an obstacle to block off an incoming Spirit Break during teamfights.
* Shadow Realm and Bedlam can be activated when Dark Willow sees Charge of Darkness coming, preventing Spirit Breaker from using Nether Strike after the initial stun.
* Nether Strike can't remove Static Link and reduces Spirit Breaker's physical damage output.
* Eye of the Storm melts Spirit Breaker's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
Additional:
* Plasma Field can slow Spirit Breaker and reduce damage from Greater Bash.
* Static Link drains damage bonus from Greater Bash, and it cannot be removed by Nether Strike.
* Storm Surge will proc on Spirit Breaker every time he attacks Razor or if he uses Charge of Darkness on Razor, damaging him and alerting Razor to Spirit Breaker's incoming ganks, no matter how far Spirit Breaker is from Razor.
* Eye of the Storm can rapidly reduce Spirit Breaker's armor, making him much less durable, especially in teamfights.
* Solar Guardian can save an ally getting targeted and focused by Spirit Breaker.
* Rubick can cancel Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness with Telekinesis under the condition that Rubick is able to cast it on time. And considering Rubick commonly buys Eul's Scepter of Divinity that can also cancel Charge of Darkness, Spirit Breaker will have a hard time charging Rubick or his allies until Spirit Breaker buys Shadow Blade. Telekinesis can also be used to cancel Nether Strike and Aghanim's Shard upgraded Telekinesis also allows Rubick to save his allies from Spirit Breaker.
* Fade Bolt weakens Spirit Breaker's damage output, reducing damage of Greater Bash.
* If Rubick succeeds to steal Charge of Darkness, he will be able to reduce much of Spirit Breaker's global presence. Rubick can also steal Nether Strike to further disable Spirit Breaker once he disables him with stolen Charge of Darkness. But bear in mind, however, that a skilled Spirit Breaker can use Bulldoze to prevent all that.
* 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.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
* Morph allows Morphling to copy abilities of Spirit Breaker and combine them with Waveform to turn things around. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Morph also allows Morphling to create a strong illusion of Spirit Breaker that can cast all of his basic abilities. This allows Morphling to give Spirit Breaker a taste of his own medicine.
* Spirit Breaker's low attack speed and lack of burst damage makes it unlikely for him to win against Morphling when he has Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) toggled on.
* 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.
* Earthbind's root prevents/interrupts Charge of Darkness.
* As a single-target focused hero without much damage output, Spirit Breaker is ineffective in general against Meepo.
* Heroes who can stun multiple units at once: Dark Willow, Spirit Breaker, Slardar, Invoker, and Tidehunter.
* Heroes who can stun multiple units at once: Dark Willow, Spirit Breaker, Slardar, Invoker, and Tidehunter.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage: Spectre, Nyx Assassin, Clockwerk, Spirit Breaker, Omniknight, Pudge.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* Heroes who rely on armor or evasion to survive can easily be bursted down, like Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Underlord, Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer, Omniknight, Dawnbreaker.
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light, Kunkka, Disruptor.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* 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 that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light, Kunkka, Disruptor.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Heroes who rely on burst damage with magical damage will struggle to kill Primal Beast: Spirit Breaker, Gyrocopter, Leshrac
* Heroes that usually build Linken's Sphere as either a core or situational item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Luna, Naga Siren.
* Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light, Kunkka, Disruptor.
* Mana Drain has an fair long range and low cooldown. It can easily deplete most heroes of their entire mana pools, especially those with smaller mana pools such as Tiny or Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Durable heroes: Axe, Dawnbreaker, Bristleback, Mars, Omniknight, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Primal Beast, Underlord.
* 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 summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Heroes with long-lasting, undispellable debuffs will pinpoint the true Naga Siren: Spirit Breaker, Bloodseeker, Witch Doctor.
* 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.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Unlike with other heroes who can summon illusions of themselves, Terrorblade's illusions from Conjure Image have different colors than other illusions which can be seen even by enemy team, which can also make Terrorblade weak even against heroes he naturally counters: Bane, Lifestealer, Spectre, Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Sniper. Terrorblade's only solution to counter this problem is to get Manta Style as quickly as possible.
* Can easily interrupt and disable Spirit Breaker with hex if being charged.
* Heroes that are squishy by nature are an easy target for Spirit Breaker: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Shadow Shaman
* 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.
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as Clockwerk, Kunkka, Puck, Skywrath Mage, Spirit Breaker, Tusk and others.
* Spirit Breaker's slow attack speed and moderate damage do very little to harm Dragon Knight, even if ganked with Charge of Darkness.
* 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.
* Ice Wall can slow down Charge of Darkness in its tracks at max level, allowing counterplays such as Cold Snap to end the charge, bursting down with Tornado, Meteor, and right clicks, or even teleporting back to spawn to drag Spirit Breaker into the fountain.
* Cold Snap (if timed right) and Invoker's other disables like Tornado can interrupt Charge of Darkness, especially since Charge is telegraphed by the symbol appearing over head.
Additional:
* Cold Snap allows Invoker to interrupt Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
* Tornado's long range can be used to cancel Charge of Darkness.
* Deafening Blast prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and thus proccing his Greater Bash.
* Bounty Hunter and Slardar both have ultimates (Corrosive Haze and Track) that reveal Invoker through Ghost Walk.
* Spirit Breaker won’t do much harm to Enchantress because of Untouchable and Nature's Attendants. Unless Enchantress is low on HP, Spirit Breaker won’t be able to catch her with mere spells.
* Heroes with nukes that can jump her: Clockwerk, Snapfire, Spirit Breaker, Techies
* 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.
* Spirit Breaker can charge towards Sniper from anywhere on the map with Charge of Darkness.
* Greater Bash deals magical damage, which can prove dangerous to Sniper and his low health.
* Both previous abilities combined with Nether Strike ensures that Spirit Breaker can easily solo kill Sniper.
* 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
* Anti-Mage usually relies on Blink to escape, but with vision from Charge of Darkness it is easier to catch him.
* Spirit Breaker could single-handedly lock Anti-Mage down for 4 seconds (or even more with lucky bashes), allowing his teammates to follow up.
* As Anti-Mage is an elusive hero who likes to farm alone, Spirit Breaker could choose to charge whenever Anti-Mage is in sight.
* 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.
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to gank Shadow Fiend in the early game, preventing him from getting Necromastery stacks.
* Nether Strike and Charge of Darkness can be used to prevent Shadow Fiend from casting Requiem of Souls.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* Possibly Clinkz's worst enemy. He has many tools to utterly destroy Clinkz.
* Charge of Darkness can be used on Clinkz if Spirit Breaker's team spots him anywhere. This charge will track his location through Skeleton Walk's invisibility and movement speed bonuses.
* When Spirit Breaker charges onto Clinkz, he can easily use Dust of Appearance to guarantee a reveal on him while stunned.
* All three of Spirit Breaker's spells help him and his team quickly close the gap to Clinkz even at the edge of his attack range or when running away with Skeleton Walk.
* Spirit Breaker's high strength and above average armor makes him able to endure Clinkz's onslaught, meanwhile Clinkz will be heavily threatened if Spirit Breaker procs a Greater Bash.
Additional:
* Once caught with dust, Clinkz could be locked down for a long time by Spirit Breaker and has nowhere to escape.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, showing Clinkz even when he is in Skeleton Walk.
* 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.
Additional:
* Bounty Hunter's Shadow Walk is rendered useless with Corrosive Haze and makes Bounty Hunter an easy target for Slardar and his team.
* Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness semi-reveals Bounty Hunter, taking away his element of surprise for the duration of the charge. Also, as Charge of Darkness shows Bounty Hunter's position, Spirit Breaker's allies can proceed to gank Bounty Hunter while he is roaming alone.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
* 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.
* Windranger tends to fare badly against high mobility heroes that can easily dodge Powershot, close the gap on her when she uses Windrun or escape from Focus Fire's reach. Examples of such heroes include Spirit Breaker, Lycan, Storm Spirit, Earth Spirit, Void Spirit, Slark and others.
* Heroes that usually build Linken's Sphere as either a core or situational item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Luna, Naga Siren.
* 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.
* Shukuchi vision can easily target Charge of Darkness before Weaver purchase Linken's Sphere.
Additional:
* Spirit Breaker's strong escape combo abilities from Charge of Darkness and Bulldoze can easily catch Shukuchi from Weaver.
* Time Lapse cannot dispel neither Charge of Darkness nor Nether Strike.
* However, Weaver is a common Linken's Sphere wielder. And if he has it, Spirit Breaker will not be able to catch up with Weaver neiter with Charge of Darkness nor with Nether Strike.
* Heroes with spells that negate invisibility such as Bounty Hunter, Zeus and Slardar prevent her from saving her allies with Moonlight Shadow.
* Heroes that rely on invisibility can be tracked with Charge of Darkness opening them to team attacks: Bounty Hunter, Mirana, Riki
* 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.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game: Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker, Tusk, Bounty Hunter, Riki, Warlock.
* Charge of Darkness can be used to chase down Pangolier if he escapes with Swashbuckle or Rolling Thunder.
* Nether Strike ignores Rolling Thunder's spell immunity, and will still hit Pangolier if he rolls or dashes away.
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac, Death Prophet, Jakiro.
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to outrun Bristleback, even when slowed by Viscous Nasal Goo.
* Corrosive Haze's armor reduction makes Bristleback much less tanky.
* Spirit Breaker's Nether Strike with Aghanim's Shard disables Bristleback's passives.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* 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.
* Spirit Breaker can chase Nature's Prophet from anywhere on the map with Charge of Darkness, making it hard for Nature's Prophet to split-push.
* Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike gives vision of Nature's Prophet when he tries to Sprout himself and teleport away.
Additional:
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to catch Nature's Prophet out when he tries to split push.
* Nature's Prophet can't hide in his Sprout against Spirit Breaker, as his Charge of Darkness provides vision on its target.
* Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Nature's Prophet's Teleportation.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Corrosive Haze and Bash of the Deep will make short work of Huskar's low armor, even if Slardar is alone.
* Spirit Breaker's stuns pierce spell immunity, making him a good choice against heroes that heavily rely on Black King Bar; Huskar
* 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.
* Charge of Darkness can be used to escape or counter-initiate against a Relocate gank.
* Greater Bash and Nether Strike is devastating due to Io's low armor, and can even knock it away from his Tethered target.
* 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
* 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.
* Magic Missile has a considerably long cast time, making it difficult to stop Charge of Darkness with it.
* Other than Magic Missile, Vengeful Spirit has no way of canceling Nether Strike.
* 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
* Tinker relies on his high mobility from Boots of Travel and Blink Dagger to survive. Those items don't help him if Spirit Breaker manages to cast Charge of Darkness on him.
* Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Rearm and Boots of Travel.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Chen's creeps to get to Chen: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.
* Axe, Bristleback, Centaur Warrunner, Spirit Breaker, Pudge, Huskar, Wraith King, Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Slardar's Slithereen Crush allows him to stun Spectre and illusions, and Corrosive Haze prevents her from juking with Spectral Dagger.
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin, Spirit Breaker, and Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
* Heroes with mobility/escape mechanisms to dodge Ancient Apparition abilites, or to easily jump on him: Riki, Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin, Windranger, Bounty Hunter, Spirit Breaker, Night Stalker, Storm Spirit, Juggernaut, etc.
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback, Clinkz, Luna,Shadow Fiend, Slardar, Terrorblade
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to catch up to Lycan after he uses Shapeshift.
Additional:
* Vision from Charge of Darkness will easier to catch Lycan Shapeshift and Charge of Darkness out of reach Lycan Summon Wolves and Lycan's other creeps. Until upgrade Aghanim's Scepter faster catching Lycan Shapeshift.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* 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.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* 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.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain Bash of the Deep charges, and Templar Assassin can spill Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
* Heroes with mobility spells like Queen of Pain, Anti-Mage, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Puck, and Spirit Breaker that are cancelled by Frostbite can suffer greatly from the presence of Crystal Maiden. It is absolutely critical, however, to have followup from teammates, as all of the above heroes can make quick work of the squishy Crystal Maiden after they are released from her grip.
* 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.
* Heroes that usually build Linken's Sphere as either a core or situational item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Luna, Naga Siren.
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Faceless Void, Magnus, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Riki, Sand King, Spirit Breaker, Timbersaw, Tusk.
* Slardar's level 25 talent makes Corrosive Haze undispellable, thus providing his allies vision of Slark.
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
* 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.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Heroes with armor reducing abilities greatly hinder Visage's defense like Slardar and Dazzle.
* Nature's Grasp severely slows down Spirit Breaker, reducing effects of Charge of Darkness and Greater Bash.
* Living Armor can mitigate a large portion of Spirit Breaker's damage since his attacks are slow.
* Treant Protector can also counter-initiate against Spirit Breaker with Leech Seed, Overgrowth and with his root from Aghanim's Shard upgraded Nature's Guise before he manages to escape.
* Aghanim's Scepter gives Treant Protector access to Eyes In The Forest ability, which allows him to turn trees into wards that provide vision, allowing him to keep his allies warned about Spirit Breaker's attempts to gank them. Eyes In The Forest will also trigger Overgrowth if Spirit Breaker is in range of the tree affected by it.
Additional:
* Spirit Breaker's slow attacks cannot harm a hero shielded by Living Armor.
* Corrosive Haze will reveal Treant Protector even when he is under the effects of Nature's Guise.
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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.
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Slardar
* 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.
Spirit Breaker
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Supernova is problematic for Spirit Breaker to take down, and even more so with Fire Spirits debuff applied.