* In the mid-game, Tidehunter relies on Kraken Shell to stay alive and get his Ravage off. Apart from Thunder Strike, none of Disruptor's abilities can be dispelled, so it's rather easy to trap him inside Kinetic Field and Static Storm.
* Be mindful, however, that Kraken Shell still makes Tidehunter very tanky, so be sure that you can kill him with your combo or your partners while he is silenced and trapped.

* Disruptor can always Glimpse back Io or his target after he Relocated nearby.
* Even better, thanks to the indicator on the ground, you can even preemptively drop Static Storm and Kinetic Field on the spot they will relocate to.
* Thunder Strike and Glimpse are also good tools to bring back an Io that Tethered away in the fog of war.
Additional:
* Glimpse directly negates Relocate.
* Kinetic Field prevents Io from escaping with Tether.
* Static Storm can silence and damage both, Io and it's tethered target. And it can also mute both, Io and it's tethered target when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter

* Kraken Shell neither dispels nor provides damage reduction against Spirit Siphon. This ability also drains health based on percentage damage, making Tidehunter's large healthpool a very appealing target. Furthermore, the health gained from the Siphon is independent from the amount of damage dealt, so Death Prophet will always heal a large amount of from Tidehunter's pool even if Tidehunter has magic reduction items or abilities on him, which makes her an untargetable enemy for you as this easily outweights any damage output you can provide.
* Exorcism is yet another ability from which Kraken Shell provides no useful protection, as the spirits completely ignore the damage block and are unaffected by the dispel. This ability also creates an unfriendly area where your blink will be constantly cancelled, reducing your ability to land a good Ravage.
* Ravage does not stop neither Spirit Siphon nor Exorcism, making the ability mostly ineffective against her. Additionally, Death Prophet usually builds Eul's Scepter of Divinity, which can be used to dodge the stun entirely.

* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer

* Fury Swipes will keep stacking on Tidehunter since it cannot be dispelled by Kraken Shell and its bonus damage cannot be reduced by Anchor Smash.
* Enrage dispels the slow from Gush, and if upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter, can even dispel Ravage's stun.

* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.

* Dark Pact dispels debuffs from Gush, Anchor Smash and even Ravage if timed correctly.
* Kraken Shell cannot restore attributes stolen by Essence Shift or dispel the leash if he gets Pounced.

* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.

* Mana Burn can instantly deplete Tidehunter's low mana pool, especially in the early game, potentially preventing Tidehunter from casting Ravage.
* Ravage's travel time allows Nyx Assassin to easily stun Tidehunter with Spiked Carapace.

* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.

* Luna often builds Black King Bar, and none of Tidehunter's spells can bypass spell immunity.
* Though Anchor Smash can weaken Luna's physical damage, it does not weaken her magical damage, which means that Lucent Beam and Eclipse deal a lot of magic damage in the early and mid-game, which can bypass Tidehunter's Kraken Shell.
Additional:
* Luna often builds Black King Bar, and none of Tidehunter's spells can bypass spell immunity.
* Though Anchor Smash can weaken Luna's physical damage, it does not weaken her magical damage, which means that Lucent Beam and Eclipse deal a lot of magic damage in the early and mid-game, which can bypass Tidehunter's Kraken Shell.

* Lucent Beam can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
* Like with Leshrac's Diabolic Edict, Lightning Storm and Pulse Nova abilities. Luna's Moon Glaives and Eclipse abilities can make short work of Io and its tethered ally, particularly when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Lucent Beam and 0.25s Eclipse Lucent Ministun talent for Eclipse can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
* Luna's Moon Glaives and Eclipse abilities can make short work of Io and its tethered ally, particularly when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.

* Positioning-reliant heroes (Windranger, Tidehunter, Ursa...), since Earth Spirit can disrupt positioning with his Boulder Smash.

* Squishy heroes (Io, Crystal Maiden, Lina...), as Earth Spirit can deal tons of damage with Magnetize.

* Living Armor can be used to save a hero from a Relocate gank.

* Both Gush and Ravage do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage escape through Anchor Smash.
* Tidehunter's small mana pool can be eated by Mana Break, preventing to spam his abilities and ignores the protection from Kraken Shell.
Additional:
* Mana Break quickly burns Tidehunter's mana pool, preventing him from spamming his abilities, and Kraken Shell does not mitigate the bonus damage component.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to enter combat quickly and safely after Ravage.

* Ensnare and Song of the Siren can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate and to close the distance on Io.
* Rip Tide combined with illusions from Mirror Image often finish off Io before he can save himself.
* Spirit's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Naga Siren's illusions from Mirror Image.
* Once Naga Siren buys Aghanim's Scepter, she can gain access to Reel In, which not only allows her to cancel both, Tether and Relocate, but also to pull Io to herself and her team while he is affected with Ensnare, similarly to Batrider's Flaming Lasso.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Song of the Siren can also heal the hero Io and his tethered targed try to gank.

* Kraken Shell's dispel does not restore mana lost through Astral Imprisonment, and the stolen mana can really hurt Tidehunter's ability to initiate
* Arcane Orb high pure damage ignores Tidehunter's Armor, and is barely affected by his Kraken Shell's damage block
* It is also completely unaffected by Anchor Smash, due to it relying on Outworlds Mana pool
* Sanity's Eclipse is effective on Tidehunter's poor mana pool, While it is reduced by Kraken Shell, the damage reduction is negligible.

* Lich's Chain Frost forces Io to either give up providing buff to his ally with Tether or suffer devastating damage with his tethered ally.
* Lich can easily use Sinister Gaze to disable Io from getting away with Tether or Relocate.

* No matter how Tidehunter builds tanky items such as (Guardian Greaves, Crimson Guard or Pipe of Insight), all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe.

* Ice Blast prevents Io from healing an ally with Tether and prevents healing from Overcharge
* Io is a common Mekansm builder which is useless if he is affected by Ice Blast.
Additional:
* Ice Blast prevents Io from healing the target.

* Io is a hero who needs to be close to it's tethered target to make it effective, and that's where Leshrac gets the advantage thanks to many of his area-of-effect abilities.
* Lightning Storm will usually hit both Io and its tethered target since both will be close enough for the lightning to jump.
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova hit all units near Leshrac, meaning he can do colossal damage to both, Io and its tethered target.
Additional:
* Lightning Storm will usually hit both Io and his Tethered target since both will be close enough for the lightning to jump. It can then be followed up by Split Earth.
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova hit all units near Leshrac, meaning he can do colossal damage to Io and his Tethered target.

* Nethertoxin cancels out Kraken Shell and stops the hard dispel from passively activating, preventing Tidehunter from functioning as a frontline tank.
* Anchor Smash is mostly irrelevant against a ranged hero.
* Tidehunter relies on the threat of Ravage, which has an obscenely long cooldown. Viper can exploit the downtime with his short cooldowns.

* Thirst allows Bloodseeker to see where Io relocated to, should either Io or the tethered hero have low health.
* Rupture forces Io to stay in place, preventing it from using the Tether bonus movement speed to escape.

* Cold Embrace can render the extra attack speed from Overcharge meaningless.
* Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse are very affective against Io, as it has to stay close to its tethered hero.

* Fireblast is a good tool to interrupt Io during its escapes through Tether.
* Ignite can be one of the few spells with enough total damage to out-trade the sustained healing Io provides for its fellow laner.
* However, picking other supports that focus less on the laning phase is generally a better choice against Io.

* Soulbind can target both Io and its Tethered ally, allowing Grimstroke and his team to target both with single target spells. Should Io try to Relocate, Phantom's Embrace can stop its channel to prevent escape.
Additional:
* Grimstroke can catch Io and his ally easily with Soulbind as Io has a tendency to tether himself with an ally frequently.
* Io is highly vulnerable to disables. Hence, Grimstroke's Phantom's Embrace is a great ability to hinder Io's potential.

* Melee heroes who may struggle to get close to Sniper: Wraith King, Kunkka, Doom, Tidehunter, Underlord, Troll Warlord, and etc.

* Take Aim and Assassinate allow Sniper to reach Io even if it stays in the backline.

* Quill Spray is very effective against Io, as it has very low armor and has to stay close to the fight to not break its Tether.

* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.

* Heroes with low mana pools (eg.Doom andTidehunter) will feel the effects of Silencer's Intelligence Steal far more than others.

* Heroes who relies on high armor such as Dragon Knight, Tidehunter, and Pudge can be melted by Eye of the Storm.

Additional:
* Kraken Shell's dispel does not restore damage stolen by Static Link, and the stolen damage easily offsets Anchor Smash's damage reduction. Razor can keep attacking Tidehunter from afar, denying his chance to use Anchor Smash.
* Eye of the Storm melts Tidehunter's armor and makes him much less tanky.
* Razor can chase Tidehunter by himself without relying on actual crowd control ability, so the strong dispel from Kraken Shell is less useful.

* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirit's weak area-of-effect: Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Shaman, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock.

* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker.

* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.

* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.

* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer

* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.

* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirit's weak area-of-effect: Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Shaman, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock.

* Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.

* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.

* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker.

* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.

* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter, Brewmaster, Death Prophet, etc.

Additional:
* Fade Bolt reduces damage output of Anchor Smash.
* Ravage is an easy target to Spell Steal, so always be sure to use Anchor Smash immediately after Ravage when playing against a Rubick.
* Spells stolen by Rubick are potentially stronger due to the lack of cast animations, his talents, and his passive, Arcane Supremacy.

* Heroes with large physical resistance do not counter Muerta's Pierce the Veil such as Omniknight or Tidehunter

* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirit's weak area-of-effect: Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Shaman, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock.

* Burning Barrage and Searing Arrows allow Clinkz to quickly kill Io due to its low armor.
* Clinkz iz a hero that very often goes for Orchid Malevolence, and its upgrade Bloodthorn. And if Clinkz has it, he will be able to silence Io and prevent him from escaping wit either Tether or Relocate.

* Kraken Shell provides no protection against Omnislash or Swiftslash.
* If timed correctly, Omnislash, Swiftslash and Blade Fury are all capable of dodging Ravage, giving Juggernaut several tools to render your strongest ability moot.
* Blade Fury is an effective way to harass Tidehunter in the laning stage as Tidehunter has no means of getting Juggernaut away from him. Healing Ward also greatly minimizes Tidehunter's ability to harass Juggernaut.
* Blade Dance minimizes the effectiveness of Anchor Smash's damage reduction.

* 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 tethered target.

* Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high HP targets such as Tidehunter.
* Doom prevents Tidehunter from casting his Gush, Anchor Smash and Ravage, making him useless in team fights.
* If Doom gets an Aghanim's Scepter, he can also disable Kraken Shell, reducing his survivability.

* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
* Coup de Grace can make a short work of Io's low health and armor.