Spectre
* Storm Spirit can exploit every one of Spectre's weaknesses, and thus is one of the best counters against her.
* Spectre has to be in melee range to deal damage, making her likely to trigger 
Static Remnants and susceptible to being kited by 
Overload procs.
* 
Electric Vortex can lock Spectre down as she doesn't like to build 
Black King Bar.
* 
Ball Lightning gives Storm Spirit multiple advantages:
* Spectre cannot evade Storm Spirit, as Ball Lightning is superior to 
Spectral Dagger in terms of mobility.
* Storm Spirit can kite her and her 
Haunt illusions when it's later in the game due to her having no form of pseudo-blinks (Reality is far inferior to Ball Lightning).
* It is very difficult for Spectre to deal any substantial damage against Storm Spirit with 
Desolate. Ball Lightning grants invulnerability and can mitigate damage done from 
Dispersion and 
Radiance.
* To mitigate this, Spectre needs a team with hard disable to take Storm Spirit out.
Additional:
* Ball Lightning is the ultimate counter to Spectre's entire toolkit. With this ability, he can score easy kills on Spectre without her having any means of escape early game, kite her and her Haunt illusions when it's later in the game due to her having no form of pseudo-blinks.
* Furthermore, it is very difficult for Spectre to deal any substantial damage against Storm Spirit with Desolate, and without both 
Manta Style and 
Diffusal Blade he will always remain on the move.
* Also, Ball Lightning grants invulnerability, and as Storm Spirit likes to spam that ability, he can mitigate the damage done from Dispersion and Radiance.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon will have a hard time catching Storm Spirit, as he can get away with Ball Lightning.
* Static Remnant will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* With very high mobility and usually being paired with 
Orchid Malevolence, he can catch Shadow Demon with ease both in ganks and in teamfights if Shadow Demon has no survivability items.
Spectre
* 
Hex and 
Mana Drain can be used to immediately destroy Spectre's illusion when she Haunts. A fast fingered Lion can protect himself and a teammate.
* Hex and 
Earth Spike are good lockdown spells to control and kill Spectre, especially if she doesn't buy defensive items like 
Linken's Sphere and Black King Bar.
* 
Finger of Death can be used to burst down Spectre when she is low on life as she has very poor magic resistance.
Shadow Demon
* All of Lion's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from 
Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Hex and Mana Drain can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating, especially when he acquires his Talents at level 20 and 25.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Earth Spike or Finger of Death with Aghanim's Scepter for the enemy.
Spectre
* 
Spectre's Haunt with Radiance may be useful for countering Meepo but if Meepo finds the real one, Spectral Dagger is useless. Non-Black King Bar heroes like her will suffer from all of Meepo's abilities. Meepo is also a very large counter as Spectre takes a long time to come online, normally farming in the jungle or in lane, which makes her an easy target for Meepo ganks.
Additional:
* 
Poof combined with 
Earthbind can be used to easily lockdown and burst Spectre down.
* As Meepo's playstyle is often to come online early to mid game and take over the whole game, Meepo will often be much further ahead of Spectre in farming.
* Meepo's global map presence allows him to effectively hunt for Spectre and disrupt her farm.
* Spectre has no strong AOE abilities or way to control or lock down Meepo.
Shadow Demon
* Poof will destroy Shadow Demon's illusions created by 
Disruption and quickly escapes from 
Shadow Poison & 
Demonic Purge.
Spectre
* The movement speed granted from 
Shapeshift means that Spectre has no way to punish Lycan if he wants to splitpush or pick off supports. Furthermore, he will kite Haunt and cannot be slowed by Spectral Dagger.
* Lycan is often part of an early game push strategy which is often the best counter to Spectre because she needs a lot of time and space to come online as a late game carry.
Shadow Demon
* 
Lycan and 
Weaver has abilities that allow them to move at maximum movement speed, and those abilities can't be dispelled, potentially wasting the slow from Demonic Purge.
Spectre
* Heroes with good escapes can usually outmaneuver and escape from Spectre: 
Slark, 
Clinkz, Weaver
Shadow Demon
* You can potentially kill a fragile Weaver by using Disruption during 
Shukuchi with a well-placed 
Sentry Ward, wasting the Shukuchi. But odds are he'll wait to get low health, 
Time Lapse the damage away and Shukuchi away once more.
Spectre
* Familiars will be able to chase Spectre through the trees when she uses Spectral Dagger, while Visage can keep blasting her with Soul Assumption.
* Desolate will almost never proc because Visage will always have nearby Familiars.
Spectre
* 
Arctic Burn makes it nearly impossible for Spectre to juke into the trees.
* 
Cold Embrace negates all of Spectre's physical damage. Furthermore, Cold Embrace will generally outheal Desolate.
* 
Winter's Curse can taunt illusions, not only wasting the entire duration of Haunt but also turning its illusions against Spectre's own team.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption is not reliable enough to catch an Ember Spirit with a backup 
Fire Remnant.
* 
Sleight of Fist will also make quick work of the spawned illusions.
* The best you can do against an Ember Spirit is to dispel his 
Flame Guard with your Demonic Purge.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter cannot break 
Reincarnation, which could put him in a disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* 
Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, Wraith King is a single-target hero, so he cannot deal with Disruption illusions.
Spectre
* Spectre must chase for kills and relies on movement speed for mobility in fights, and has no way to counter the 
Tombstone zombies.
* The potency of 
Soul Rip can be increased from nearby illusions from Haunt.
* 
Decay will shut down Spectre during the laning phase by effectively cutting down her initial health pool.
Additional:
* Spectre must chase for kills and relies on movement speed for mobility in fights, and has no way to counter the Tombstone zombies.
* The potency of Soul Rip can be increased from nearby illusions, so Undying can use Haunt against Spectre.
* Early game Decay will make Spectre easy to shut down in lane.
Spectre
* 
Nethertoxin disable passives, negating Spectre's damage and survivability by removing both Dispersion and Desolate.
* Due to Haunt and Radiance's burn, Spectre is heavily susceptible to being persistently slowed and damaged by 
Corrosive Skin without even directly attacking Viper.
* 
Poison Attack and 
Viper Strike further slow Spectre's movement speed to a crawl, while his improved magic resistance means he can easily shrug off Radiance's burn.
Additional:
* Viper Strike can disable Desolate and Dispersion, leaving Spectre with far less damage output and damage mitigation in engagements.
* Spectre is one of the weakest heroes at early levels. Viper can stifle her farm with early fights before Spectre purchases any major items.
Shadow Demon
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova will tear apart any illusions spawned from Disruption
* Split Earth can punish improper usage of Disruption.
* Leshrac does not have any buffs that can be removed by Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* 
Pulse Nova makes quick work of any illusions with amplified damage, and deals damage even if Leshrac is in Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Split Earth for the enemy.
* Disruption does not stop 
Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova once they start pulsing, and even worse it provides a safe shelter for Leshrac to keep pumping up his powerful AoE damage onto the battlefield.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Leshrac out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Leshrac.
Shadow Demon
* 
Death Ward with Aghanim's Scepter makes quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption until Witch Doctor buys Linken's Sphere or Black King Bar.
* All of Witch Doctor's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* 
Voodoo Restoration can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Maledict or 
Paralyzing Cask for the enemy.
Shadow Demon
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption.
Spectre
* Spectre has no innate disables or silence to stop any of Dawnbreaker's abilities
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to quickly stand next to one of her allies, denying Spectre any of Desolate's bonus.
* Luminosity outheals the damage dealt by Dispersion.
Additional:
* Spectre has no innate disables or silence to stop any of Dawnbreaker's abilities
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to quickly stand next to one of her allies, denying Spectre any of Desolate's bonus
* Luminosity outheals the damage dealt by Dispersion
Shadow Demon
* 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.
Shadow Demon
* All of Queen of Pain's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* However, Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Queen of Pain.
* 
Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Shadow Demon's abilities if he doesn't have disables.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Sonic Wave for the enemy.
Spectre
* Pudge's Dismember stops Spectre from escaping with Haunt.
* He can easily tank the damage reflected by Dispersion due to his high strength and the healing from Dismember.
* Should Spectre try to get away through the trees or over a cliff with Spectral Dagger, Pudge can hook her back.
* Spectre takes a long time to become powerful, and Pudge can ruin her early game with ganks.
Shadow Demon
* All of Puck's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Shadow Demon will find a hard time catching a Puck, as he can get away with 
Illusory Orb or even 
Waning Rift;
* Puck can dodge Shadow Poison waves and potentially avoid the damage from Demonic Purge with 
Phase Shift. Furthermore, after Disruption ended, Puck can use Phase Shift to avoid any further danger and can blink away with 
Blink Dagger.
* Waning Rift can be used to initiate Shadow Demon, prevent him from using any spells.
Spectre
* Infernal Blade's damage is calculated by percentage of maximum health. Since Spectre is usually tanky, it will hurt her more than most normal attacks.
* 
Doom can take out Spectre out of a teamfight completely. When combined with the level 25 talent {ValueColor:1|Doom applies Break|25tal} {Symbol:Talent}, it will disable both Desolate and Dispersion, taking away her extra damage and durability.
Additional:
* 
Infernal Blade's damage is calculated by percentage of maximum health, meaning that it will hurt Spectre more than most normal attacks, negating some of her tankiness.
* Doom can pick up several different abilities from neutral creeps using 
Devour, some of which can be annoying to Spectre.
* Mud Golem, Dark Troll Summoner, Harpy Stormcrafter, Satyr Mindstealer or Satyr Tormenter are good examples.
* Doom makes Spectre less disruptive. Combined with Aghanim's Scepter, it will disable Spectre passive skills, reducing her potential in teamfights.
Spectre
* Dispersion will not do anything against throughout the game due to his high lifesteal with Jingu Mastery.
* Monkey King often buys Manta Style, which will deny Desolate benefits in 1v1 situations.
* Haunt will do nothing to stop people trapped within Monkey Kings ultimate.
* In all, Spectre is very easily pressured by Monkey King early into the game and is a very easy gank target to coordinate with your team.
Spectre
* Phantom Lancer has higher mobility and the ability to reset any fights with 
Doppelganger can be a nuisance for spectre to fight against.
* Phantom Lancer is a natural carrier of Diffusal Blade and Manta Style, which is outright nullify Desolate. In fact, Phantom Lancer will always have illusions with him at anytime, thus further exacerbated the problem.
* Although Spectre is largely AoE oriented, unfortunately, they are damage-over-time (DoT) rather than burst AoE damage. Without any effective ways to quickly destroy illusion and reveal the real hero, Spectre has little availability to manfight Phantom Lancer at any points in the game.
* Spectre often relies on Spectral Dagger as a pseudo-mobility skill. With her low mana pool and complete dependence on it to catch enemy team, she will soon find herself unable to do anything significant once her mana pool is completely drained.
* Doppelganger can be used to dispel the slow from Spectral Dagger, thus completely render it useless.
Shadow Demon
* Although 
Phantom Lancer will generate strong illusions, and you can also break his 
Juxtapose with an Aghanim's Demonic Purge, you have a small chance of guessing which is the real Phantom Lancer after he uses Doppelganger.
Shadow Demon
* 
Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* 
Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* 
Bloodseeker's 
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* 
Ancient Apparition's 
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* 
Grimstroke's 
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* 
Monkey King's 
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's strength is the sheer amount of illusions he can conjure, Dissimulate can be cast on an ally that he is focusing to quickly thin out his ranks
* Landing a upgraded Demonic Purge on the real Phantom Lancer prevents him from making very many illusions (His only source being Doppelganger), You can reapply as needed if you have the Shard
* Disrupting Phantom Lancer allows you to create multiple extra illusions with Juxtapose, As he is a common carrier of Diffusal Blade, you can also drain the mana of any nearby heros
Shadow Demon
* 
Chaos Knight, 
Lone Druid, 
Meepo and 
Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
Spectre
* Void Spirit is strong against heroes who cannot deal with his rotations due to his mobility. Such heroes include Spectre, 
Gyrocopter, 
Morphling, and 
Chen.
Spectre
* 
Disruptor can control where she goes with 
Kinetic Field and 
Glimpse. 
Static Storm shuts her down in teamfights.
Spectre
* Jakiro's early pushing ability from Liquid Fire makes Jakiro very strong against heroes, that take a long time to get online: Morphling, 
Naga Siren, Spectre.
Spectre
* 
Slardar's 
Slithereen Crush allows him to stun Spectre and illusions, and 
Corrosive Haze prevents her from juking with Spectral Dagger.
Shadow Demon
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
Spectre
* Durable heroes relied a lot on their main passive effects and items' effects such as 
Bristleback, 
Underlord, Spectre and 
Dragon Knight can be disabled easily with 
Sharpshooter's break, reducing their potential in teamfights.
Spectre
* Global 
Guardian Angel will protect his allies from Spectre's Haunt, both when they are alone and in teamfights.
* 
Purification is a major problem for melee enemies, Spectre included, since they must be next to an enemy in order to attack. The AoE damage also allows Spectre to be singled out from her illusions.
* 
Degen Aura will prevent Spectre from chasing Omniknight, further exacerbated by her terrible mobility outside Haunt.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that can purge buffs can dispel Guardian Angel: 
Invoker, Shadow Demon, 
Oracle.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge can dispel Guardian Angel on the key target during combat, allow your allies to finish them.
Spectre
* 
Hex can be used immediately to destroy Spectre's illusion when she Haunts.
* Shadow Shaman can use 
Shackles to lock down Spectre for his team.
* Shadow Shaman's 
Mass Serpent Ward and 
Ether Shock help him push lanes and end the game early before Spectre can come online and take over the late game.
Spectre
* Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned 
Drow Ranger and 
Sniper) and supports (like 
Dazzle and 
Shadow Shaman).
Spectre
* 
Feast deals damage and heals lifestealer based on the target max health. Because Spectre often emphasises on building stat items to increase her HP pool, lifestealer can deal a lot of damage to her and heal himself at the same time.
* 
Ghoul Frenzy slows target, which is bad for Spectre if she does not have Spectral Dagger ready.
* Spectre cannot response to infest if lifestealer choose to stay inside his high mobility allies to approach the backline. 
Rage's bonus movement speed and spell immunity make it even more frustrating.
Shadow Demon
* Melee carries such as 
Sven, 
Ursa or 
Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
Spectre
* Spectre can't escape with Spectral Dagger under X Marks the Spot.
* Kunkka can dominate Spectre's lane using Tidebringer and gain an advantage.
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from Haunt.
Shadow Demon
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include 
Outworld Destroyer and his 
Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
* Heroes with hide abilities can often dodge a Ghostship just before it hits.
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
* A 
Eul's Scepter of Divinity can also do the trick, but, unlike the previously mentioned abilities, you can only use it on yourself and not your allies.
Spectre
* Juggernaut's 
Healing Ward can help save allied supports when Spectre attempts a Haunt kill.
* Juggernaut has a stronger push potential than Spectre, enabling him to end the game early before Spectre can come online.
* Spectre is often paired with two supports that are often weak against Juggernaut.
* Juggernaut also tends to build a Manta Style, which can prevent Desolate from taking effect.
* Juggernaut is invulnerable against Dispersion while using 
Omnislash.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon, Dazzle, Oracle, 
Bane, 
Pugna, 
Tusk, 
Winter Wyvern, 
Io, Underlord, 
Treant Protector and 
Keeper of the Light.
Additional:
* Be ready to save an ally from Omnislash with your Disruption.
* Spawning 
Juggernaut's illusions is a great deal, as his base attack time is low and he has a critical strike. Illusions will benefit from both.
* Demonic Purge will prevent Juggernaut's desperate attempt to flee using 
Blade Fury. However, it cannot stop him if he is using 
Town Portal Scroll.
Spectre
* Generally speaking, Spectre is a strong teamfighter but a weak manfighter. She has no tool to deal with troll warlord once he has his sight locked on her.
* Troll often buys 
Silver Edge and 
Monkey King Bar, which greatly countered Spectre's passive and item build (Silver Edge can disable passive while providing some damage, Monkey King Bar provides accuracy to counter Radiance and 
Butterfly miss chance).
* Black King Bar allows troll to bypass the damage return from 
Blade mail should Spectre attempts to fight back Troll. However, Black King Bar is generally not very effective against Spectre as her skills can pierce the spell immunity. Still, it offers protection against Blade mail, a common item for Spectre in the mid game.
* Troll has high lifesteal from 
Battle Trance and 
Satanic, which help him survive the damage from Desolate should the break duration is over.
* Battle Trance and 
Fervor mean Spectre will have a hard time fighting troll and cannot take him down, even with equal farm.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, 
Shadow Fiend, 
Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
Spectre
* Essence Shift deals 20 extra damage by draining one strength per hit, which cannot be reduced or spread by Dispersion.
* Pounce prevents Spectre from escaping with Spectral Dagger.
* Haunt illusions usually don't deal a lot of damage to Slark as he tends to buy a 
Shadow Blade, preventing Desolate's and Diffusal Blade's damage and activating Shadow Dance's regeneration to make up for any damage caused by Radiance.
* Slark is a natural carrier of Silver Edge, which helps break both Desolate and Dispersion.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: 
Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, 
Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Spectre
* Dispersion reduces damage based on a percentage, which is very minimal against large amounts of small instances of damage such as Trample. It reduces each tick by about 14 at the maximum level, which is very small.
* Desolate is never a threat to Primal Beast due to his large health pool and Uproar is still out-damaging the ability.
* Onslaught can allow Primal Beast to chase Spectre fleeing with Spectral Dagger, as both skills phase through trees and terrain.
* Primal Beast can also dispel Spectral Dagger's slow with his left level 15 talent, making it completely useless against him.
* Primal Beast excels at early aggression, pushing weak carries out of lane and farming areas he wants to control. Overall just not a pleasant matchup for Spectre.
* Should Primal Beast buy an Aghanim's Scepter he can also break both passive abilities.
Shadow Demon
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane: this includes Dazzle, Shadow Demon and 
Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
Spectre
* 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.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with Aghanim's Scepter), 
Viper.
Spectre
* Spectre can catch up to her with Spectral Dagger, even if she uses 
Windrun.
* Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Windranger with Haunt.
* Dispersion can reflect some of her damage, especially from her 
Focus Fire.
Additional:
* Spectre can instantly escape Focus Fire or hunt a Windranger with Haunt.
* Spectre can catch up to her with Spectral Dagger, even if she uses Windrun.
* Desolate allows Spectre to hit Windranger through Windrun.
* Dispersion combined with Blade Mail and/or 
Vanguard (and its upgrade 
Abyssal Blade) makes Spectre tanky and/or reflects some damage back to Windranger.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless for 7 seconds.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by 
Shackleshot.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge. can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
Spectre
* Oracle's burst damage is ineffective against Dispersion.
* Disarm provided by Fate's Edict is not as significant debilitation for Spectre as it might be for other carries since She can do damage even without landing attacks.
Additional:
* Oracle's burst damage is not enough to take down Spectre due to Dispersion.
* Disarm from 
Fate's Edict does not hinder Spectre that much, since she can deal damage even without landing a single attack.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption can protect Shadow Demon's allies from Fortune's End, preserving healing or buffs. It can also catch Oracle's allies, allowing Shadow Poison to be used without being dispelled.
* Demonic Purge prevents over-time healing during False Promise, such as Purifying Flames and 
Urn of Shadows. If he has Aghanim's Scepter, this issue can persist for longer or on multiple allies.
* It will not, however, prevent healing from instant abilities, items, or auras, making 
Mekansm a good choice against him.
Spectre
* 
Shadow Step and Haunt from Aghanim's Scepter instantly allows Spectre to get up and close with Sniper, and Spectral Dagger makes it difficult for Sniper to escape from her.
Additional:
* Spectre can reach him easily in the backlines with Spectral Dagger or teleport to him with Haunt.
* He is usually a fair distance away from his allies, so Desolate will quickly tear Sniper down.
* Dispersion reflect or reduce his damage, making her hard to take down even at late game.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
Spectre
* Spectre can easily close the distance on Drow Ranger with Haunt and stick on her with Spectral Dagger, effectively disables her 
Marksmanship.
* Spectre does not care if silenced by 
Gust, since Spectre will catch her up regardless.
* Dispersion can reflect some damage back to Drow Ranger should she chooses to attack.
* Be careful once she got her Silver Edge as an attempt to shut you down.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
Spectre
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Black King Bar is useless for Phantom Assassin against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
* Spectre only needs to be careful against 
Fan Of Knives from 
Aghanim's Shard, as it can disable Desolate and Dispersion, though this issue can be solved by buying Blade Mail, which is a common item on Spectre.
Additional:
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Black King Bar is useless against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
Shadow Demon
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers. Doom and Shadow Demon with Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility: Doom, Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with Aghanim's Shard
Spectre
* His global teleportation with 
Boots of Travel and 
Rearm is easily countered with Haunt, and Spectre can reach him anywhere on the map.
* He is squishy, and if alone Desolate will kill him very fast.
* Dispersion can reflect and reduce his burst damage.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that can gain vision over trees to catch Tinker: Invoker, Shadow Demon, 
Batrider.
Spectre
* Spectral Dagger can severely slow down Chen and allow Spectre to chase him down.
* Spectre often buys Radiance, which allows her to clear waves of Chen's creeps and if Chen has no creeps beside himself, he will suffer serious damage from Desolate.
* Dispersion will make attacks from Chen's creeps only tickle Spectre while also killing themselves in process.
* Haunt can find Chen anywhere on the map, no matter where he is.
Spectre
* Dispersion can negate Muerta's high attack damage while also dealing lots of return damage back to Muerta, which she is fragile against as she has a small health pool.
* Spectre can use Shadow Step and Haunt from Aghanim's Scepter to quickly engage Muerta and escape her if she uses 
Pierce the Veil. And since Spectre commonly buys Radiance, this allows her to fight against Muerta even if she has Pierce the Veil active.
* In general, Spectre can out carry Muerta towards the late game with her better survivability, sustained damage, and global presence.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's spammable illusions can be used to scout Techies' 
Proximity Mines.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption instantly removes Phantom Embrace, and can potentially save allies affected by Soulbind.
* Demonic Purge dispels Ink Swell.
Spectre
* Spectre disables Magnus' Blink Dagger using her ultimate, and later into the game can usually outlive Reverse Polarity's duration.
Additional:
* Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Magnus's initiation attempts.
* Spectral Dagger can severely slow down Magnus after he uses 
Skewer.
* Magnus often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.
* In late game, Spectre can survive 
Reverse Polarity initiation thanks to Dispersion.
Spectre
* Shadow Step's low cooldown allows Spectre to teleport to him whenever he decides to push.
* Spectral Dagger allows Spectre to go through Sprout's trees and stun Nature's Prophet if she has a 
Skull Basher or Abyssal Blade.
* Spectre loves buying Radiance, which can kill Nature's Prophet's Treants easily.
Additional:
* Spectre can get to him anywhere on the map with Haunt.
* Spectre can pass through his trees with Spectral Dagger.
* Desolate's damage will melt him quickly, as he's alone most of the time.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Shadow Poison can quickly stack to the point where Huskars generally low health is easily finished off.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption can turn Huskar's high attack speed and regeneration against him, It also makes him an easy target for Shadow Poison,
* Shadow Demon commonly builds a 
Meteor Hammer, allowing him to land a heavy stun on Huskar
* Shadow Demon's upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Huskar, It also pierces Spell Immunity, Without his passive for 7 seconds Huskar quickly falls in battle
* However note that Shadow Demon is a squishy target and you can often overwhelm him if he is alone, But he can still Disrupt you to escape
Additional:
* Shadow Poison can quickly stack up on Huskar, And with his naturally low health you don't need as many stacks to be effective.
* Disruption turns Huskars high attack speed against him, They also have the highest survivability as illusions due to his passive 
Berserker's Blood, It also allows you to put Shadow Poison stacks on him,
* Dissimulate turns Huskar's burning damage against his team, You can cast it on an ally who is taking a bunch of 
Burning Spear stacks and cause Huskar to take high amounts of damage as well
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge is your most effective weapon against him, It's 7 second Break causes him to quickly die in battle
Shadow Demon
* Disruption can banish Faceless Void or an ally in Chronosphere, making it a less effective ability.
* Faceless Void's illusions created by Disruption will not get stunned by Chronosphere, allowing Shadow Demon to attack Faceless Void in his Chronosphere.
* Casting Disruption after releasing Shadow Poison charges will make Time Walk unable to backtrack the damage.
* Shadow Poison is a good way to deal damage as the initial damage and the release damage can't both be Time Walked at the same time.
* Demonic Purge is a great slow, useful to force out a Time Walk early and can break Time Lock with Aghanim's Scepter.
Spectre
* As Ancient Apparition likes to stay far away from the fight to get full effectiveness from Ice Blast, he is a very good target for a Haunt gank.
* Ancient Apparition also has no hard disables and escape spells, making him an easy kill for Spectre.
Shadow Demon
* Alchemist is a well-known Radiance carrier among other auras your illusions will benefit from. They also get the extra move speed and reduced base attack time from his 
Chemical Rage, and it's even better if you can catch him as his own rage is about to expire.
* Disruption will buy enough time for all allies to retreat when Alchemist starts to activate 
Unstable Concoction.
Spectre
* Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past Fissure.
* Haunt will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* On the other hand, Haunt will amplify damage done from Echo Slam. Use this to your advantage.
Additional:
* Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Earthshaker's initiation attempts.
* Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past 
Fissure.
* Earthshaker often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.
* Beware that the Haunt illusions amplify the damage done from 
Echo Slam, which can prove fatal for Spectre's own team.
Spectre
* Haunt can ruin Enigma's initiation with Blink Dagger, no matter where he is on the map.
* Spectre often buys Radiance, which allows her to deal damage over time to Enigma and put Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Dispersion reflects the damage of 
Midnight Pulse and 
Black Hole inflicted back to Enigma. This can get even worse for Enigma if Spectre buys Blade Mail.
* All of Spectre's abilities ignore spell immunity, which means that even with Black King Bar, Enigma has absolutely little to no chance against Spectre at any stage of the game.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Disruption will allow his allies to maneuver around you. It can also be used to protect an ally from your abilities, or Astral Imprisonment - Meteor Hammer combo.
* 
Disseminate turns your high damage Arcane Orb and Sanitiy's Eclipse against you and your teammates.
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge will break your Essence Flux passive for 7 seconds, preventing you from regaining mana, and severely hindering your damage output.
Spectre
* Spectre can instantly reveal Bounty Hunter's position on the activation of her ultimate Haunt. She can also semi-reveal( visible but not target-able) Bounty Hunter by hitting him with Spectral Dagger.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption will save Shadow Demon's teammates from being killed by Counter Helix or Culling Blade.
* Demonic Purge slows Axe to a crawl, making him nearly useless after initiating. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, it will also break Counter Helix.
* 
Demonic Cleanse clears Battle Hunger and Aghanim's Shard Counter Helix Damage Reduction, both allowing targets to escape and reducing your own survivability.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Axe alone, Disruption can be used to save your allies from Axe's initiate 
Berserker's Call, or, if timed correctly, from his 
Culling Blade.
* Illusions spawned from Axe has the Counter Helix passive, which with deal some nasty damage if an enemy focuses them
* Your upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Axe's primary damage output: 
Counter Helix, This can be used on him during Berserker's Call to seriously hinder him.
* Demonic Cleanse will clear 
Battle Hunger, which is Axe's method of catching heroes, and Shard upgraded Counter Helix's Damage Reduction, which is one of Axe's primary survivability abilities.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon with an Aghanim's Scepter will use Demonic Purge to disable Curse of Avernus and the passive component of Borrowed Time. If this is combined with a silence, Borrowed Time will not trigger at all.
* Even without Aghanim's Scepter, he can still waste Borrowed Time with Disruption. Curse of Avernus fully works on illusions, turning the passive ability against him.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while: Doom and Shadow Demon (via Aghanim's Scepter), Viper, Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with summons or illusions makes Sacred Arrow harder to land: Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, 
Nature's Prophet.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passives.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Spectre
* Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned Drow Ranger and Sniper) and supports (like Dazzle and Shadow Shaman).
Spectre
* 
Death Pulse can single out Spectre from her illusions, as well as heal his team against her. He also usually stands close to his allies for Death Pulse, effectively disabling Desolate.
Spectre
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind), Spectre, Ursa, and Dragon Knight.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer, 
Omniknight, 
Dawnbreaker.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, 
Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Disruption can save allies and mess up an initiation from an enemy Legion Commander. Using Disruption on your ally that is affected by 
Duel will leave her totally exposed without the benefit of the life steal from 
Moment of Courage. A precise decision to Disrupt Legion Commander or her victim is crucial to waste Duel's potential.
* Demonic Purge cannot be dispelled by a hard dispel from 
Press the Attack, which in turn can be dispelled by your ultimate.
Spectre
* Heroes that build Diffusal Blade or can fit it well into their item build will also make Medusa much less tanky: 
Riki, Naga Siren, 
Terrorblade, Juggernaut, Spectre, Slark.
Shadow Demon
* Melee carries such as Sven, Ursa or Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge renders Ursa useless even through Black King Bar as it slows him, continually purges his Overpower charges and can not be dispelled by Ursa's Enrage.
* Disruption is a good way to save teammates against Ursa. Disrupting Ursa is also a good way to kite him, as it can not be dispelled by Enrage.
Spectre
* Zeus is good against heroes that juke in trees or up cliffs, like Batrider, Monkey King, Spectre, and 
Tinker, by providing vision in any area with Lightning Bolt, or guaranteeing vision on enemies with Thundergod's Wrath.
Spectre
* Zeus burst damage can be reduced by Dispersion and reflect some of the damage back to Zeus himself.
* Zeus has low mobility and stays in backlines, Spectral Dagger or Haunt can easily catch him as he has no escape mechanism.
* Since Zeus has low HP, Spectral Dagger and Desolate will quickly tear Zeus down when he's alone.
Spectre
* Heroes the make heavy use of illusions, like Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, or Spectre can suffer from Crystal Maiden, as Freezing Field can quickly kill off the entire horde if not stopped.
Spectre
* As Crystal Maiden is squishy with very bad movement speed, Spectre can easily stay on Crystal Maiden with Haunt and Spectral Dagger.
* Late game, with enough farm, Spectre can withstand an entire 
Freezing Field, possibly even causing Crystal Maiden to kill herself from Dispersion.
Spectre
* Rubick usually positions in the back of a team. Heroes who can sneak up and assault Rubick (e.g. Slark) or damage Rubick from great distance (e.g. Spectre, Sniper) should be treated cautiously, as otherwise the matchup usually ends up badly for Rubick.
Spectre
* None of Spectre's spells are very good for Rubick to 
Spell Steal.
Spectre
* Illusions and summons are double-edge sword type of matchup for Luna. On one hand, they can tank damage from Eclipse, but on the other hand, she can easily clear them before Eclipse with Moon Glaives. Examples include Spectre, Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, Chen, Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden).
Shadow Demon
* Illusions and summons are double-edge sword type of matchup for Luna. On one hand, they can tank damage from Eclipse, but on the other hand, she can easily clear them before Eclipse with Moon Glaives. Examples include Spectre, Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, Chen, Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden).
Spectre
* Heroes that create illusions: Spectre, Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, Chen, Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden) can cause Eclipse to strike the illusions/summons unintentionally. However, in many cases Moon Glaives can resolve this issue and eliminate them before activating Eclipse, but that will require lots of farming for right-click items.
Shadow Demon
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive. And Luna's commonly items Manta Style and Black King Bar does not work dispell to Demonic Purge
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their 
Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from 
Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Sceptre it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive.
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon is a very good ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Spectre
* Heroes with good escapes can usually outmaneuver and escape from Spectre: Slark, Clinkz, Weaver
Spectre
* Spectre can instantly escape Burning Army or hunt Clinkz with Haunt.
* Spectre can catch up to him with Spectral Dagger, even if he uses Skeleton Walk.
* Desolate allows Spectre to hit Clinkz through Skeleton Walk.
* Dispersion makes Spectre tanky and also reflects some damage back to Clinkz.
Additional:
* Spectre can catch Clinkz with Spectral Dagger, even if he uses 
Skeleton Walk.
* Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Clinkz with Haunt.
* Desolate's damage will melt him quickly, as he's alone most of the time.
Spectre
* 
Dark Seer can pull together Spectre's illusions with 
Vacuum, and 
Wall of Replica creates an illusion of Spectre that deals massive damage.
Shadow Demon
* The constant dispel from Demonic Purge will make any attempt to save the victim or himself by 
Surge become futile. For what it's worth, Demonic Purge will also dispel 
Ion Shell.
Spectre
* If Terrorblade's health gets low enough, Terrorblade's 
Sunder can be used to completely deplete Spectre's health pool without any consequences from Dispersion.
* Terrorblade is one of the few late game heroes that can stand toe to toe and man fight Spectre. Not all is lost if the game goes late when Terrorblade is on your team against Spectre.
Additional:
* If Terrorblade's health is low enough, he can safely use Sunder on Spectre without any consequences from her Dispersion and Spectre has no way to prevent it.
* Although Desolate deals pure damage and can bypass his high armor, Terrorblade usually stays nearby his illusions, effectively disabling Desolate.
* Reflection is effective against her as it does not only slow her down but Desolate can also be used against herself.
* Dispersion damage is reduced thanks to Terrorblade's high natural armor.
* Terrorblade is one of few heroes that can manfight Spectre. Not everything is lost if Spectre managed to reach late game.
Spectre
* 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.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes who can summon illusions and summons because Terrorblade has no abilities to deal with multiple enemies at once outside Reflection: Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, 
Broodmother, Lycan, 
Enigma, Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Demon, Dark Seer, Nature's Prophet, Invoker, Morphling, 
Visage, Grimstroke with Aghanim's Scepter.
Shadow Demon
* For the same reason, he has to be slightly more cunning when playing against heroes that can scout the treeline, such as Ancient Apparition and his 
Ice Vortex and Shadow Demon and his Shadow Poison.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer and Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
Spectre
* Venomancer's poison damage over time is very effective against Spectre, who tends to lack magic resistance during the early to mid game.
* Venomancer's multiple slows greatly reduces Spectre's movement speed and mobility.
* 
Plague Wards can scout out Spectre while she is hiding in trees.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison damage-over-time are very effective against Spectre, which is lack of magic resistance from early to mid game.
* Venomancer's multiple slows greatly reduces Spectre's low mobility, even through Spectral Dagger.
* Plague Wards reveals Spectre while she is hiding on trees.
Shadow Demon
* In the laning stage, making illusions of Venomancer will turn his 
Poison Sting back at him, making for an easy gank at level one, and for later when your mid comes for ganks.
Spectre
* Spectre cannot chase down Anti-Mage with Spectral Dagger because of Blink, though it still grants her team vision over him.
* Counterspell reduces much of the damage from Dispersion and Spectre's Radiance.
* Anti-Mage usually builds a Manta Style, preventing Spectre from dealing any Desolate damage to him once he summons his illusions.
Additional:
* Spectre has no way to prevent 
Blink, for escape or initiation. Anti-Mage can easily pick off enemy supports and Spectre cannot do anything about it.
* 
Mana Break burns through Spectre's low mana pool.
* Manta Style's illusions prevent Desolate's damage.
* Even though Anti-Mage is outcarried by Spectre in the later stages of the game, a competent Anti-Mage with a 
Battle Fury can easily outfarm and get ahead of Spectre before she can come online.
Shadow Demon
* Disruption sets up Anti-Mage for a chain disable. The illusions will deal extra damage due to Mana Break.
* Shadow Poison hits Anti-Mage even after he's Blinked away.
* If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can break Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Anti-Mage alone, Disruption's considerable cast range can become a perfect setup for any hard-disable to follow up. If he is pinned down, Anti-Mage will quickly face his demise when the illusions deplete his already low mana pool. Manta Style will easily allow him to escape, however.
* The illusions can be controlled to quickly sap mana from any other target, making Anti-Mage one of the most valuable targets to disrupt.
Spectre
* Riki's 
Smoke Screen can make it hard for Spectre to escape or burst down Riki with auto attacks.
* Riki can build Aghanim's Scepter and jump inside an allied carry or offlane tank with 
Tricks of the Trade to do a lot of damage to Spectre while completely avoiding Dispersion.
* Riki is great at destroying supports which are often needed to keep Spectre safe until she comes online. He can take them down quickly in team fights, which will leave Spectre alone against your whole team, a fight that she will most likely not win.
* While on Tricks of the Trade, Riki does not take damage from Dispersion.
Spectre
* Spectral Dagger follows Riki even after he goes invisible and stays on him through Tricks of the Trade, revealing his location.
* Desolate grants Spectre the ability to damage Riki with right clicks regardless of Smoke Screen's blind.
* Riki relies on his high damage to kill is opponents, which is countered by Dispersion.
* Haunt can find Riki globally at any time, negating much of his ganking potential.
Shadow Demon
* 
Dragon Slave will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a 
Light Strike Array for the enemy.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Lina out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Lina.
Spectre
* Spectral Dagger and Haunt allow Spectre to get close to Lina.
* Desolate is very strong against Lina, who's usually a bit isolated in fights because of her high attack and cast range.
* Dispersion can mitigate a good portion of Lina's burst damage, allowing Spectre to turn on her afterwards.
Additional:
* Spectre can very easily close the distance on Lina with Haunt and Spectral Dagger, and due to Lina's abysmal mobility without a Blink Dagger and terrible health pool and armor, Lina easily gets slaughtered due Desolate.
* Dispersion can mitigate a good portion of Lina's burst damage, allowing Spectre to turn against her afterwards.
Spectre
* Late game heroes are Sven's favourite kind of opponent, such as 
Anti-Mage, Spectre and Shadow Fiend.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
Spectre
* Heroes that have a weak laning stage: Spectre, 
Nyx Assassin, 
Clockwerk, Spirit Breaker, Omniknight, 
Pudge.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes that can punish aggressive heroes, such as: 
Leshrac, Shadow Demon, Pugna, 
Death Prophet.
Shadow Demon
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
Shadow Demon
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as 
Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
Spectre
*
Nether Blast is one of the best tower pushing abilities in the game, with a low cooldown. A competent Pugna will (at the very least) destroy tier 2 towers and make space for his team before Spectre can finally come online.
Nether Ward can be fairly damaging to Spectre early game. The mana degen will also dampen Spectre's early game power significantly.
Aghanim's Scepter, he can spam 
Life Drain on any illusion Spectre summons, whether it'd be from 
Haunt, 
Manta Style, or some other means.
Desolate ability (although its damage is pure, it requires physical attacks) with his 
Decrepify ability, leaving Spectre only with 
Spectral Dagger.
* Spectre's spells, while not spammable, have a fairly high mana cost, so
* Once Pugna gets
* In addition, Pugna can disable Spectre's
Shadow Demon
* All of Pugna's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from
Aghanim's Scepter useless.
Nether Ward punishes Shadow Demon's constant mana usage from spamming spells, especially Shadow Poison.
Nether Blast for the enemy.
Life Drain can be used to heal Pugna or an ally to save them from Shadow Demon's abilities.
*
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a
*
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption unless Pugna buys defensive items.