Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Pugna
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Pugna's Decrepify allows him to save allies from being ganked by Viper, since Viper mostly relies on direct attacks in order to deal damage.
* Nether Ward can discourage Viper from spamming his abilities.
* Viper's damage over time is not enough to kill Pugna as he will have more than enough time to save himself (or his allies) with Life Drain and Viper has no solutions to cancel it.
* Pugna has no passive abilities, which renders Nethertoxin nearly useless.
Legion Commander
* Decrepify on either hero stops Legion Commander from completing a Duel, and dissuades her from initiating Duels on ethereal allies.
* Life Drain can help Pugna's teammates win a fight, either by killing Legion Commander or replenishing her target's health.
Additional:
* Decrepify prevents Legion Commander from attacking allies during Duel, regardless if it's used on her or on the ally .
* Pugna can easily cast Decrepify, Nether Blast and Life Drain on Legion during the 4/4.75/5.5/8 seconds of duel
Tusk
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Viper
* Viper Strike can be countered through Snowball, wasting Viper's mana through his ultimate.
* Nethertoxin is useless against Tusk as he has no passive abilities at all. And to make things worse,
Nethertoxin cannot disable
Walrus PUNCH! because it's an auto-cast ability.
Legion Commander
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Walrus PUNCH! makes Legion Commander lose Duel easily, especially when she doesn't have
Blade Mail. Tusk can also snowball dueled allies, preventing them from taking damage for a large portion of the duel's duration.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Naga Siren can easily disjoint, and dispel Corrosive Skin with Mirror Image.
* Since Viper is a single-target hero, he will not stand a chance against Naga Siren because she is an illusion based hero.
Legion Commander
* Song of the Siren lasts long enough to prevent a successful Duel (but only if Naga wasn't the target).
Legion Commander
* Heroes who rely on illusions will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade,
Naga Siren
Luna
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Viper
* Even though Luna has a hard time laning against Viper due to Nethertoxin being able to disable
Moon Glaives and
Lunar Blessing, Luna can take out Viper once she builds either
Black King Bar or
Silver Edge which will allow her to attack Viper freely.
* Eclipse can often finish off Viper from early-to-mid stages of the game before he can retaliate as
Corrosive Skin gives little magic resistance to him early on.
* Manta Style is an item that Luna commonly buys in most of the games, which lets her disjoint
Viper Strike. Additionally, illusions from Manta Style can make Viper waste time attacking them.
Additional:
* Even though Luna has a hard time laning against Viper due to Nethertoxin being able to disable
Moon Glaives and
Lunar Blessing, Luna can take out Viper once she builds either
Black King Bar or
Silver Edge which will allow her to attack Viper freely.
* Eclipse can often finish off Viper from early-to-mid stages of the game before he can retaliate as
Corrosive Skin gives little magic resistance to him early on.
* Manta Style is an item that Luna commonly buys in most of the games, which lets her disjoint
Viper Strike. Additionally, illusions from Manta Style can make Viper waste time attacking them.
Legion Commander
* A well-timed Eclipse before a Duel usually prevents Legion Commander from winning Duels, if Luna is the target.
* Meanwhile, when Luna is not a target, Eclipse and
Lucent Beam can also help an ally win a Duel against Legion Commander.
* However, skilled Legion Commander will always buy a Black King Bar to block
Eclipse and
Lucent Beam or
Aghanim's Scepter to reduce it's damage.
Additional:
* A well-timed Eclipse before a Duel usually prevents Legion Commander from winning Duels if Luna is the target. Luna can also buy
Linken's Sphere to block Duel.
* Meanwhile, when Luna is not a target, Eclipse and
Lucent Beam can also help an ally win a Duel against Legion Commander.
* Bear in mind, however, that skilled Legion Commander will always buy a Black King Bar to block
Eclipse and
Lucent Beam or
Aghanim's Scepter to reduce their damage.
Legion Commander
* Heroes that can keep Luna locked down for a long time can be a threat (she is very item and spell dependent): Faceless Void,
Legion Commander,
Doom.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Viper
* Enfeeble weakens Viper's attack damage, any healing he receives and his cast range, which makes him unable to harass enemy heroes with Nethertoxin, Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin is useless against Bane as all of his damaging abilities deal Pure damage.
* Viper has no solutions to cancel Fiend's Grip and in addition, he hates buying disabling items like
Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
Legion Commander
* Bane has powerful single-target abilities that can help his allies win Duels, or at least cripple Legion Commander for the duration.
* Nightmare can waste Duel's entire duration as the dueled units transfer the Nightmare back and forth. This may be prevented if a non-Dueling unit attacks the Nightmared Dueler.
Additional:
* Enfeeble,
Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip all prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels, especially when Bane has
Blink Dagger.
Legion Commander
* Heroes with strong dispels can dispel Bane's disables from their allies: Oracle,
Legion Commander,
Omniknight.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock
Legion Commander
* 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
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Viper
* Ranged heroes will have a hard time hitting enemies inside Magnetic Field: Silencer,
Viper.
Legion Commander
* Magnetic Field prevents Legion Commander from getting wins with Duel.
Additional:
* Magnetic Field prevents Legion Commander from easily gaining wins with Duel.
Legion Commander
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan,
Arc Warden,
Warlock,
Chen
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Legion Commander
* Shallow Grave prevents Legion Commander from killing her opponents in Duels.
* Shadow Wave will heal an ally caught in a Duel, as well as dealing damage to Legion Commander.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Legion Commander
* Atrophy Aura's percentage-based damage reduction greatly diminishes Legion Commander's overall damage output, even if she has won many Duels
* Legion Commander cannot get out the way of Firestorm because she is stationary.
Additional:
* Atrophy Aura makes it hard for Legion Commander to win Duels.
* Fiend's Gate can be used to save Underlord and his allies from a
Duel or to intercept Legion Commander, because outside from
Overwhelming Odds, Legion Commander has no other area-of-effect abilities.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Legion Commander
* Astral Imprisonment prevents Legion Commander from killing her opponents in Duels.
Additional:
* Outworld Destroyer can save an ally hero caught by Duel with Astral Imprisonment, and he can inflict heavy damage on Legion Commander with Arcane Orb to aid his ally. However, if he gets caught, he is unlikely to survive the duel, due to his lack of durability.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Legion Commander
* 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.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 1%)Viper
* Viper is an agility hero, and his item build mostly includes agility items, so Natural Order can be devastating, removing all armor and greatly decreasing the effectiveness of Corrosive Skin, weakening Viper's magic resistance. Additionally, Echo Stomp and Earth Splitter deal both magical and physical damage, and can help bringing Viper down fast.
* Aghanim's Scepter may be necessary to take Viper down due to
Nethertoxin's break.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Legion Commander
* Mystic Flare can easily burst down Legion Commander while she is Dueling.
Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Legion Commander
* Battery Assault's mini-stuns can severely disrupt Legion Commander's attack animation when she enters a Duel, potentially saving Clockwerk (or his allies) and possibly even giving him an edge in securing a win himself.
* Power Cogs pushes Legion Commander away from Clockwerk's allies when she enters a Duel.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Viper
* Ball Lightning allows Storm Spirit to escape through
Viper Strike, wasting Viper's mana.
* It's also very easy to wait out the duration of Nethertoxin's break.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Viper
* Rage ignores all of Viper's magical damage, although
Viper Strike can pierce spell immunity and slows him down.
* Feast and
Open Wounds from
Aghanim's Shard can be combined to heal through Viper's physical damage.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Infest can be used to disarm Viper, preventing him from using
Poison Attack on Lifestealer's allies.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Viper
* Viper's Nethertoxin cannot disable
Reincarnation, which could put him in disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* In addition, Viper doesn't like buying Diffusal Blade, which is the only item that can help him against Wraith King.
* Wraith King's high burst damage allows him to kill Viper before being killed.
Legion Commander
* Wraith King's
Reincarnation allows him to severely punish Legion Commander after he revives, as her abilities are on cooldown. Legion Commander is still awarded a Duel win if Wraith King reincarnates.
Additional:
* Wraith King makes a poor Duel target, as he can be already quite hard to bring down once, and then you have to worry about his second life.
* However, even if Legion Commander does win the duel when Reincarnation is off cooldown, she still receives the permanent victory damage bonus because taking down Wraith King's first life still counts as a "kill".
Viper
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: Treant Protector,
Kunkka,
Alchemist,
Troll Warlord,
Wraith King,
Tiny,
Sven.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Legion Commander
* Cold Embrace saves allies from dying in Duels.
* Winter's Curse turns Legion Commander's high damage against her allies, giving the enemy team little time to react.
* However, Winter Wyvern lanes very poorly against Legion Commander due to Press the Attack removing all the debuffs she can give. Winter Wyvern also has little chances of surviving if she gets Dueled herself.
Additional:
* Cold Embrace is very effective against Duel.
* Also, casting Winter's Curse at Legion Commander while an ally is in a
Duel will stun her for most of the duration, possibly preventing lethal damage dealt to your ally. It can also turn her high-damage against her teammate.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Legion Commander
* Lucky Shot can disarm Legion Commander and reduce her armor, which can reduce her chances of winning a duel. If an ally is targeted, Pangolier can simply use
Swashbuckle to inflict it on her.
* If an enemy Pangolier casts a well-timed Rolling Thunder before Legion Commander can cast Duel, it might result in her chasing down Pangolier until his or her ultimate ends, whichever duration ends first, resulting in an open window for enemy allies to target Legion Commander, making her vulnerable and susceptible to any source of attacks. If Legion Commander has an
Aghanim's Scepter in her inventory, the risk of wasting a solid 8 seconds would result in a futile duel.
* Dueling Pangolier is normally a mistake, Pangolier can disarm you in the duel, and potentially gain some Duel damage, Only duel Pangolier if at least 1 ally is nearby, and he is on low health, And even then, be wary, A good duel can easily turn against you with one Lucky Shot (Due to Lucky Shot lasting 4 seconds).
Additional:
* Swashbuckle can be used to disarm Legion Commander while she is Dueling an ally, granting her opponent a considerable advantage, Lucky Shot lasts 4 seconds at most wasting Legion Commander's entire Duel, (Or half, if Legion Commander has the Scepter).
* Legion Commander will try not to duel Pangolier alone, as she will almost inevitably lose, thanks to Lucky Shot's disarm, If Legion Commander wants to duel a Pangolier, she must be with atleast a teammate, and if she has her scepter, 3 or 4 teammates.
* Legion Commander is often with her allies, allowing you to rack up some considerable damage resistance with Shield Crash.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Legion Commander
* Mana Shield makes Medusa very hard to take down in Duels.
* Stone Gaze stops Legion Commander from Dueling altogether, regardless of who she targets.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 8%)Viper
* Viper has no disable, which means he has no way of preventing Morphling from escaping from any of his abilities or keep him inside Nethertoxin.
* Viper is almost exclusively damage over time, which is weak against Morphling due to Attribute Shift (Strength Gain). Additionally, Morphling has no passive abilities, reducing
Nethertoxin's effectiveness against him even further.
* Morphling can turn into Viper himself, allowing him to use any of Viper's abilities against him (excluding Viper Strike). This is particularly bad due to the fact that Viper is already a very slow hero, making
Poison Attack and
Corrosive Skin's slows especially difficult to deal with.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 11%)Viper
* Viper is kind of a mixed package. Tinker is very good against him. but stands a better chance against him then most heroes.
* Viper has a high innate magic resistance, but relies on his primary attacks to really deal damage. making Laser an effective way to save allies from him, and deal damage. Keep in mind that his Corrosive Skin will prevent Tinker from blinking.
* Viper's Viper Strike and
Poison Attack will also have a hard time damaging allies through Tinker's constant casting of Defense Matrix.
* Viper has no solutions to cancel Rearm nor any of Tinker's escape attempts with
Boots of Travel
* However, if Viper gets a jump on Tinker first. Tinker will unlikely survive versus Viper.
Legion Commander
* Heroes with abilities that blind or cause Legion Commander to miss will prevent her from winning Duels: Arc Warden,
Keeper of the Light,
Riki,
Tinker
Legion Commander
* Press the Attack can dispel Laser's blind while providing great attack speed and health regeneration.
* Once caught in a Duel, Tinker, who completely relies on his spells to be effective, has little chances of survival with his low health pool and armor.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 2%)Viper
* Heroes who do not have nor rely on passive abilities make Nethertoxin much less effective: Clinkz,
Pugna,
Nature's Prophet,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Tusk
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Viper
* Illusion or summon-based heroes can be a problem to Viper due to his lack of AoE damage: Naga Siren,
Phantom Lancer,
Beastmaster
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Viper
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock
Legion Commander
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman,
Lion
Legion Commander
* Pudge,
Legion Commander and
Axe will make the match a living hell for Shadow Shaman, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt Shadow Shaman's channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use
Press the Attack on an ally who is hexed as well.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Viper
* Heroes who do not have nor rely on passive abilities make Nethertoxin much less effective: Clinkz,
Pugna,
Nature's Prophet,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Tusk
Legion Commander
* Heroes with global abilities can give Legion Commander's opponent an edge in Duels from anywhere on the map: Nature's Prophet,
Ancient Apparition,
Zeus,
Invoker,
Treant Protector
Legion Commander
* Legion Commander's
Overwhelming Odds deals damage for every Treant it hits, which allows it to easily wipe out large waves of them.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Viper
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion,
Anti-Mage
Legion Commander
* Heroes with long or multiple disables will prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels: Shadow Shaman,
Lion
Legion Commander
* Lion is extremely dependent on his abilities. Silences like Silencer's
Last Word, magic resistance like
Oracle's
Fate's Edict, and dispels like
Legion Commander's
Press the Attack all make his abilities less effective.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Legion Commander
* Purification prevents Legion Commander from killing her target, and will always hit her during Duels.
* Guardian Angel completely wastes Duel's duration, and can save an ally across the map when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Both Guardian Angel and Purification are perfect counters against Duel.
Viper
* Heroes who can harass Omniknight out of lane will keep him weak in the mid game: Viper,
Venomancer,
Clinkz.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Legion Commander
* Fate's Edict prevents Legion Commander from attacking for a few seconds, potentially saving Oracle's ally.
* Fortune's End dispels Press the Attack's healing and attack speed buff, as well as the movement speed bonus from Overwhelming Odds.
* False Promise protects allies and prevents Legion Commander from winning Duels and gaining bonus damage.
Additional:
* Provided that the enemy team does not have an Axe, Oracle can guarantee that his ally survives for the duration of the Duel with False Promise and has decent nuke potential to help ally to win a Duel. He can also disarm Legion Commander with Fate's Edict.
* Oracle can dispel enemy buffs like Overwhelming Odds and
Press the Attack with Fortune's End.
Legion Commander
* Heroes with long disables, like Lion,
Night Stalker, or
Legion Commander, can prevent Oracle from using spells or items.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Viper
* Although Viper Strike cannot be dispelled by Doppelganger, Viper's lack of mobility and AoE damage makes him an easy target for Phantom Lancer.
* Viper's various slows do not work against Phantom Rush.
* Although Phantom Lancer should be wary due to Nethertoxin applying Break.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer can overwhelm Viper with spawned illusions from Spirit Lance and
Doppelganger.
* Viper's various slows do not work against Phantom Rush. Additionally, it is almost impossible to keep Lancer inside
Nethertoxin's radius in order to disable the passive.
Legion Commander
* Heroes who rely on illusions will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade,
Naga Siren
Additional:
* Overwhelming Odds deals high damage to Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Duel's long duration prevents Phantom Lancer from using Doppelganger.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Viper
* Windrun evades
Poison Attack and counteracts the slow.
* Viper's low mobility makes him an easy Shackleshot target.
* Focus Fire grants Windranger significant physical damage output to quickly wear Viper down.
* Powershot is a strong harassment and zoning tool against Viper in lane.
Viper
* Since Windranger is bad against magical damage, heroes with continuous magical damage or magical nukes can blast her: Zeus,
Tinker,
Leshrac,
Viper,
Skywrath Mage,
Lion,
Lina,
Venomancer.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Viper
* Ice Wall and
Ghost Walk can be used to kite and escape from Viper.
* Chaos Meteor and
Sun Strike deal heavy damage and can quickly bring Viper down.
* Cold Snap,
Tornado, and
Deafening Blast are powerful disables that reduce Viper's effectiveness.
* EMP burns Viper's limited mana pool, reducing his potential poison damage.
* Forge Spirits can melt Viper's armor and reduce his durability.
Legion Commander
* Invoker's spells will disable and destroy Legion Commander while she's locked in a Duel.
Viper
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper receive less damage from Invoker's spells
* Viper can harass Invoker with his Poison Attack in the early game.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack can kill Invoker easily if Ghost Walk is on cooldown.
Legion Commander
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Sven
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Legion Commander
* God's Strength makes Sven one of the worst heroes to Duel.
* Storm Hammer can be used to interrupt Duels.
* Warcry gives a big boost in passive defensive ability with the active component to nearby allies.
* With the Aghanim Shard Warcry also gives nearby allies passive increases.
Viper
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: Treant Protector,
Kunkka,
Alchemist,
Troll Warlord,
Wraith King,
Tiny,
Sven.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 25%)Viper
* If Rubick can use Spell Steal to take
Nethertoxin, he will be able to disable
Corrosive Skin, reducing much of Viper's durability.
* He can also steal Viper Strike, which can be used to hinder a hero on your team (or multiple heroes, if Rubick has
Aghanim's Scepter).
Legion Commander
* Heroes with low health will die easily during Duels, and can be farmed for damage in the early game: Crystal Maiden,
Lich,
Techies,
Rubick
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Heroes with extremely slow movement speed will cripple against Solar Bind: Medusa,
Viper
Legion Commander
* Heroes with abilities that blind or cause Legion Commander to miss will prevent her from winning Duels: Arc Warden,
Keeper of the Light,
Riki,
Tinker
Legion Commander
* Press the Attack can dispel Blinding Light or Solar Bind from a hero.
* Duel can be used to instantly take Keeper of the Light out of a team-fight.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Viper
* Nethertoxin disables Bristleback's passive.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack slow down Bristleback's movement speed so he's unable to get out from Nethertoxin.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin disables
Bristleback and prevents
Warpath from building stacks. Besides losing his defensive passive, Bristleback also loses his ability to build up damage over lengthy battles.
* Viper can perpetually kite Bristleback with Poison Attack and
Viper Strike.
Legion Commander
* Duel makes Bristleback fight Legion Commander face to face, forcing him to take full damage.
* Press the Attack dispels the slow from stacks of Viscous Nasal Goo.
Additional:
* When dueled, Bristleback will have to face Legion head on, not allowing his passive Bristleback to come into effect.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Viper
* Nethertoxin breaks Sniper's passives.
* Viper Strike together with
Poison Attack can slow Sniper and tears through his low health and mobility.
Legion Commander
* Sniper's low mobility and lack of defensive abilities makes him an easy gank target for the entire game, especially if Blink Dagger is picked up.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Viper
* Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage from
Impale and
Mana Burn.
* Nyx Assassin cannot survive several poison damage-over-time, even Spiked Carapace is activated.
Legion Commander
* Duel's long duration prevents Nyx Assassin escaping from Vendetta. With Aghanim's Scepter she can also bypasses
Spiked Carapace.
Void Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Viper
* Poison Attack makes it hard for Void Spirit to lane against him.
* Corrosive Skin reduces the magical damage from Void Spirit's spells.
Legion Commander
* Special mention to Legion Commander, as she can lock down Void Spirit for a long amount of time without worrying too much about being killed by him during the
Duel.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Viper
* Nethertoxin breaks Multicast.
* Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage from Ignite and Fireblast.
Legion Commander
* Heroes rely on their debuff to control the opponent will have a hard time against Press the Attack: Venomancer,
Earth Spirit,
Ogre Magi
Techies
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Viper
* Corrosive Skin will protect Viper from Techies' magical damage.
* Even though Reactive Tazer will disarm Viper if he attacks Techies with Poison Attack, he does lots of damage with his other abilities that can still kill Techies.
Legion Commander
* Heroes with low health will die easily during Duels, and can be farmed for damage in the early game: Crystal Maiden,
Lich,
Techies,
Rubick
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Viper
* Heroes who can easily harass Crystal Maiden out of lane in the early game (Clinkz,
Viper) can prevent Crystal Maiden from being able to level effectively, and can ultimately slow down her level 6, 12, and 18 to a point where enemy carries already have items to address her ultimate.
Legion Commander
* Duel is a great initiation to target Crystal Maiden with, as it prevents her from using Freezing Field or any other abilities and allowing the enemy team to quickly kill her before she can aid her team in a fight.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Viper
* Corrosive Skin means Viper can often outlast Venomancer in a battle of attrition.
* Venomancer has no mobility without items, which makes him vulnerable to constant slows.
Legion Commander
* Heroes rely on their debuff to control the opponent will have a hard time against Press the Attack: Venomancer,
Earth Spirit,
Ogre Magi
Additional:
* Press the Attack dispels Venomous Gale and Poison Sting from Legion Commander or her teammates.
* Venomancer is an ideal target for Duel due to his lack of mobility and low starting health.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Viper
* Viper's poison abilities can slow Bounty Hunter's movement speed and allows to chase him with True Sight items.
* Nethertoxin can break Jinada, and the silence from level 25 prevents Bounty Hunter from using all of his spells.
Legion Commander
* Legion Commander with
Press the Attack
* Heroes that can remove the Track debuff with their skills:
* Abaddon with
Aphotic Shield and
Borrowed Time
* Huskar with
Life Break
* Juggernaut with
Blade Fury
* Legion Commander with
Press the Attack
* Lifestealer with
Rage and
Infest
* Naga Siren with
Mirror Image
* Omniknight with
Heavenly Grace
* Oracle with
Fortune's End and
False Promise
* Phantom Lancer with
Doppelganger
* Slark with
Dark Pact
* Ursa with
Enrage
* Weaver with
Time Lapse
* Tidehunter with
Kraken Shell when damage received reaches the threshold.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 0%)Viper
* Hand of God has a long cooldown, so damage over time spells can be hazardous for Chen, forcing him to use it prematurely: Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Phoenix.
Legion Commander
* Chen's fragility and low mobility make him an enticing Duel target.
* Overwhelming Odds and
Moment of Courage can take advantage of converted creeps' numbers.
* With enough damage from Duel stacks, Legion Commander can also often kill any of Chen's unfortunate allies before he can use Hand of God.
Additional:
* Chen's frailty and low mobility make him an enticing Duel target.
* Overwhelming Odds and Moment of Courage can take advantage of converted creeps' numbers.
* With enough damage from Duel stacks, Legion Commander can also often kill any of Chen's unfortunate allies before he can use Hand of God.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Viper
* His Poison Attack is very useful against Huskar, since he tends to stay at low health.
* Nethertoxin disables passive skills like Berserker's Blood.
* It is dangerous for Huskar to jump on Viper because Corrosive Skin and
Viper Strike with the slowdown of movement and attack speed which usually will be deadly for Huskar.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin disables
Berserker's Blood, which Huskar relies upon for attack speed and healing.
* The damage from Burning Spear and
Life Break is largely absorbed by
Corrosive Skin. It also will return some damage, making it risky to use Burning Spears in the laning stage.
* Because Huskar wants to be on low health for Berserker's Blood, he is particularly vulnerable to
Poison Attack.
Legion Commander
* Carries that can out damage Huskar will do well against him: Legion Commander,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Phantom Assassin.
Additional:
* Life Break is almost suicidal when used on Legion Commander, as it invites an instant Duel and Legion Commander herself is a natural
Blade Mail carrier.
* Huskar's low survivability and mostly on low health makes him particularly vulnerable to Legion Commander's high physical damage.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 11%)Viper
* Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack, Nethertoxin and Viper Strike: Lion,
Anti-Mage
Viper
* Viper's skill set makes him an effective early game ganker against Anti-Mage before he is sufficiently farmed.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin and low mana pool causes him to take little damage from Mana Void.
* Nethertoxin disables Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Legion Commander
* Duel renders Anti-Mage's escape capabilities with Blink and Counterspell useless.
Blade Mail and
Moment of Courage work well against Anti-Mage's relatively low health.
* A good initiation from Legion Commander and her team is enough to effortlessly kill Anti-Mage.
Additional:
* Counterspell offer no protection against Duel at all.
* Duel locks down Anti-Mage for a long duration, preventing him from escaping with Blink. One successful Duel initiation is usually enough for Legion Commander's team to kill Anti-Mage.
Riki
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Legion Commander
* Heroes with abilities that blind or cause Legion Commander to miss will prevent her from winning Duels: Arc Warden,
Keeper of the Light,
Riki,
Tinker
Viper
* Viper's Nethertoxin disables
Cloak and Dagger, negating Riki's invisibility and much of his damage. It also makes him more vulnerable to magic damage, which does not go well with Riki's low health pool. With the talent applied, he can't even blink to safety or hide with Tricks of the Trade.
* Corrosive Skin makes it hard for Riki to chase Viper and attack him due to the attack speed slow.
* Viper Strike stays on Riki even after he goes invisible.
* Poison Attack makes it risky for Riki to get last hits and can make the laning phase difficult for him.
Legion Commander
* Another great threat to Riki since her Duel forces him to fight from the front and expose him for the entire duration, almost always guaranteeing an easy win (unless Riki has allies helping him).
* Moment of Courage can become hard to deal with as it doesn't cease with silence.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Viper
* Heroes with damage-increasing passive abilities, such as Viper and
Riki, will usually kill Silencer in a short time before he even has time to set up his abilities.
Legion Commander
* Heroes that can disable or silence Silencer for a long time, such as Bane and
Legion Commander, can lock down Silencer while their allies put him down.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Viper
* In the early game, a Dragon Knight without Black King Bar is basically defenseless against Viper.
* Viper can harass Dragon Knight at any time with his Poison Attack.
* Corrosive Skin reduces damage from Dragon Fire and inflicts damage to him.
* Nethertoxin disables Dragon Blood, negating his main survivability.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack can severely slow him down even with his Elder Dragon Form.
Additional:
* Dragon Knight is easily harassed by Poison Attack after the laning stage ends.
* Corrosive Skin protects Viper from
Breathe Fire and returns damage.
* Nethertoxin mitigates
Dragon Blood, Dragon's Knight main source of armor and health regeneration.
* Between Poison Attack and
Viper Strike, Viper can keep Dragon Knight permanently slowed even in
Elder Dragon Form.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Viper
* Nethertoxin prevents Timbersaw from gaining stacks on Reactive Armor.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Legion Commander
* Duels prevents Queen of Pain from using Blink, which may force her to purchase a
Linken's Sphere
* Because Queen of Pain is also not a right-click hero, Legion won't have much difficulties in duels.
* Press the Attack dispels Shadow Strike's debuff.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Viper
* The slow applied from Corrosive Skin offsets the movement speed bonus granted by Scorched Earth and the tick-based damage from Infernal Blade and Doom will continually slow Doom down. This allows Viper, much like Sniper, to 'kite' Doom and keep him at a safe distance between the two. Additionally,
Corrosive Skin applies an attack-speed slow which is fairly crippling to a hero such as Doom that, naturally, has a high base attack-time, poor agility gain and builds little attack-speed items.
* Since Doom does not disable auto-cast abilities, Viper's Poison Attack will continue to work. Doom may find it hard to close the distance between himself and Viper, and thusly difficult to effectively lockdown and continually deal damage through his abilities.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Viper
* The damage over time from Viper's Poison Attack and
Viper Strike rapidly wear down Refraction charges, allowing Templar Assassin to be damaged. Additionally,
Corrosive Skin causes her attacks to apply damage overtime on her as well.
* Nethertoxin is a big threat to Templar Assassin. Her initially low range making it very hard to deal against Nethertoxin in the laning phase. At any stage of the game, a Nethertoxin can always force her to undo her Meld.
Additional:
* All of Viper's abilities quickly burn through Refraction charges.
* Templar Assassin's short range, aside from Psi Blades' spill damage, makes her vulnerable to
Poison Attack harassment.
* Templar Assassin traditionally forgoes health and armor items for damage. Outside of Black King Bar, Viper will almost always be able to kill her when
Refraction is down.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 18%)Viper
* Nethertoxin breaks both Necromastery and Presence of the Dark Lord, reducing his damage massively.
* Corrosive Skin gives Viper bonus Magic Resistance against Shadowraze and Requiem of Souls.
* Viper can easily take advantage of Shadow Fiend's lack of escape and mobility spells with Viper Strike and
Poison Attack. Poison Attack also serves as a great way to harass Shadow Fiend.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Legion Commander
* Press the Attack dispels Flaming Lasso.
* Batrider is unlikely to win a Duel in any stage of the game.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Viper
* Tiny has low movement speed and attack speed, making him vulnerable to Viper's slows.
* Corrosive Skin provides magic resistance to lower Tiny's magic burst damage.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Viper
* Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage Viper takes from all of Disruptor's skills.
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Viper
* 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.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 29%)Legion Commander
* Legion Commander can use Press the Attack on an ally to dispel Dismember. The bonus health regeneration also partially counters the damage of Rot
* Duel can be used on Pudge whilst Rot is active, disabling toggling which may result in a lethal health drain that leaves Legion Commander with a successful duel.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Viper
* Nethertoxin disables Vengeance Aura.
* Vengeful Spirit has no mobility spells aside from Nether Swap, which Viper can take advantage of with his slows.
* Viper can easily bully Vengeful Spirit out of a lane with Poison Attack.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin prevents the attack damage bonus from
Vengeance Aura and the components of
Nether Swap.
* Both Magic Missile and
Wave of Terror are counteracted by
Corrosive Skin, making Vengeful Spirit's fighting harder against Viper.
Primal Beast
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Legion Commander
* Duel prevents Primal Beast from using all of his spells and stops all of his damage output.
* Moment of Courage will not proc if Primal Beast is using Trample so you may want to play around that if you're looking for duel damage with a
Blade Mail.
* Press the Attack can be used to dispel Pulverize immediately and make allies survive Trample for a short duration with the heal.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)Legion Commander
* Duel pierces spell immunity and forces him to attack Legion Commander, making him unable to use
Omnislash.
Lina
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Viper
* Nethertoxin prevents buildup of Fiery Soul stacks.
* Corrosive Skin provides magic resistance against Lina's spells.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike can burn away Lina's small health pool.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Viper
* Viper does large amounts of magic damage over time, meaning that if a Necrophos uses Ghost Shroud, Viper's abilities will greatly reduce Necrophos survivability, and may actually kill him.
* By the same token, Viper can use his Viper Strike on Necrophos if he attempts to heal himself with Ghost Shroud, and depending on any other effects Necrophos may have from him, (IE:
Poison Attack,
Corrosive Skin), Viper can often kill Necrophos while he is in his Ghost Shroud.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin helps him take reduced damage from all of Nercophos spells that deal magical damage, which is Necrophos's only source of damage.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin prevents
Heartstopper Aura from dealing damage or healing Necrophos.
* Viper's magic damage is amplified whenever Ghost Shroud is used.
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper tankier against
Death Pulse and
Reaper's Scythe.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Legion Commander
* Drow Ranger's low mobility and lack of defensive abilities makes her an easy gank target in the early to mid-game.
* A Dueling Drow Ranger will lose her precious Marksmanship, reduce her damage output significantly and will more likely lose that Duel.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Viper
* 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:
* Nethertoxin disables
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.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 11%)Legion Commander
* Duel is a great initiation to kill Death Prophet before she can cast Exorcism. Furthermore, Legion Commander often builds
Blade Mail and can reflect Exorcism's damage to kill Death Prophet easily.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Legion Commander
* Because Duel requires both combatants to face each other, Bulwark's effectiveness will be increased by a huge margin, which makes it much more difficult for Legion Commander to win any duels against him.
* Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke pushes Legion Commander away during Duels against allies.
Additional:
* Bulwark immensely mitigates Duel, even with bonus physical damage, as Bulwark scales by percentage. Mars can also buy time for a dueled ally by pushing Legion Commander away with Spear of Mars.
Viper
* Nethertoxin breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin disables
Bulwark entirely, making Mars far less tanky. Using
Nethertoxin inside
Arena of Blood may discourage enemies from following up with Mars' initiation.
* Rod of Atos is currently common on Viper and keeps Mars in position long enough to be killed.
* Beware that Viper is not very tanky earlier in the game, so positioning against Mars is important since a well-timed Spear of Mars can be the end of Viper.
Legion Commander
* Legion Commander is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with
Press the Attack and is a good
Silver Edge carrier. However, Mars is not an ideal
Duel target, as Bulwark will force her to 1: Buy Silver Edge, and 2: Hit Mars with it before the Duel, allowing a skilled Mars to react, especially with
Eul's Scepter of Divinity. In teamfights, Mars will happily draw attention after using his abilities, and tank the Duel with all spells on cooldown.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 2%)Viper
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while: Doom and
Shadow Demon (via
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper,
Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: Treant Protector,
Kunkka,
Alchemist,
Troll Warlord,
Wraith King,
Tiny,
Sven.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Viper can bully Alchemist out of mid lane quite easily, forcing him to either retreat into jungle, or stay harassed in lane, and get very few last hits. Vipers break also completely disables
Greevil's greed which prevents Alchemist to earn his amazing amounts of money.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Viper
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc WardenLion
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Legion Commander
* Heroes rely on their debuff to control the opponent will have a hard time against Press the Attack: Venomancer,
Earth Spirit,
Ogre Magi
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Viper
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar,
Faceless Void,
Weaver,
Abaddon,
Troll Warlord,
Alchemist,
Dragon Knight,
Night Stalker,
Viper.
Additional:
* Most of Magnus' abilities except Empower will trigger damage through
Corrosive Skin.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike can slow Magnus during
Skewer, as well as putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)Legion Commander
* Heroes with low health will die easily during Duels, and can be farmed for damage in the early game: Crystal Maiden,
Lich,
Techies,
Rubick
Slark
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Viper
* Heroes with Break abilities will prevent Slark from regenerating and gaining Essence Shift stacks: Viper,
Shadow Demon, etc.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin negates
Essence Shift and the regeneration aspect of
Shadow Dance.
* Dark Pact doesn't mean a lot against Viper's ubiquitous slows.
* Viper becomes a relevant presence in team fights before Slark can procure his standard items (e.g. Shadow Blade).
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Legion Commander
* Heroes that lack burst damage will have a difficult time taking down Monkey King, and fare badly against Jingu Mastery: Legion Commander,
Lifestealer,
Weaver,
Wraith King
Viper
* Nethertoxin prevents the buildup of Jingu Mastery stacks.
* Viper's poison magical damage-over-time stops Monkey King from using Tree Dance. It also ignores the extra armor bestowed by Wukong's Command.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin prevents the buildup of
Jingu Mastery stacks.
* Monkey King's high base movement speed is of little worth against the array of slows Viper possesses.
* All of Viper's magical damage over time stops Monkey King from using Tree Dance. It also ignores the extra armor bestowed by
Wukong's Command.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Legion Commander
* Heroes with global abilities can give Legion Commander's opponent an edge in Duels from anywhere on the map: Nature's Prophet,
Ancient Apparition,
Zeus,
Invoker,
Treant Protector
Viper
* Corrosive Skin severely reduces Zeus's damage output throughout the game.
* During the laning stage, Viper can abuse Zeus' reliance on spells by hugging the creep wave. Zeus will take constant damage over time from Corrosive Skin unless he drives Viper from the lane or returns to farming in his absence.
* Prior to buying Blink Dagger or
Force Staff, Zeus is fragile and possesses low mobility. Any of Viper's numerous slows can set up an easy kill.
Additional:
* Corrosive Skin counters Zeus in lane by canceling the effects of
Clarity as Zeus relies on Arc Lightning to farm and secure last hits.
* Corrosive Skin also increases Viper's magic resistance to shrug off Zeus's magical nukes.
* Nethertoxin breaks Static Field.
* Due to Zeus' poor mobility, Viper Strike will cripple Zeus and will allow Viper and his teammates to land a lot of attacks.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Legion Commander
* Heroes with global abilities can give Legion Commander's opponent an edge in Duels from anywhere on the map: Nature's Prophet,
Ancient Apparition,
Zeus,
Invoker,
Treant Protector
Viper
* Corrosive Skin minimizes the damage Viper takes from all of Ancient Apparition's abilities.
* Ancient Apparition's slow movement speed, squishy nature, and lack of escape abilities can easily be taken advantage of through Poison Attack and
Viper Strike.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Legion Commander
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Legion Commander relies on her powerful attack and her Duel to be effective. But if Phoenix gets the jump on her first, she can find herself severely slowed, taking heavy damage, and find herself unable to Duel a burning Supernova.
* It must be noted that Press the Attack will both dispel the attack slow of Fire Spirits and grant her or whoever she targets bonus attack speed. This allows her to easily destroy a Supernova if caution is not taken to prevent this from occurring. As such, it would be a better decision to simply avoid a farmed or skilled Legion Commander instead of attempting to overpower her.
* If an ally is caught by Duel, Phoenix can use Sun Ray to heal the ally and damage Legion Commander, possibly swinging the Duel in their team's favor. Or with
Aghanim's Scepter, Phoenix can save an ally from dying in Duel with Supernova and cancel the Duel as well.
Viper
* Corrosive Skin gives Viper additional resistance to Phoenix's magical damage, and since they deal damage over time, Phoenix would be constantly afflicted by his passive's own debuff, making him not an ideal target for Phoenix's harassment. Phoenix's abilities also constantly drain its own health away, becoming more vulnerable to
Poison Attack.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* As Viper focuses on single-target damage, he has trouble fighting off Phantasm illusions.
* Reality Rift counteracts Viper's slows and reduces his already low durability against physical damage.
Additional:
* Viper has no response to the standard initiation combo of Reality Rift into
Chaos Bolt.
* Phantasm and
Chaos Strike can eliminate Viper almost instantly with it's damage output.
* Besides Nethertoxin, Viper has no other ways of dealing with Phantasm.
Viper
* Heroes with Attack speed decreasing skills: Jakiro,
Viper
Lich
Legion Commander
* Heroes with strong area damage to destroy Phantasm illusions: Axe,
Ember Spirit,
Legion Commander,
Phoenix
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Viper
* Almost all of Viper's damage revolves exclusively around single-target damage-over-time effects. Furthermore, without any hard disables, Terrorblade can almost always get a Sunder off.
* Viper has low mobility and Corrosive Skin doesn't protect against physical damage, which means that Terrorblade under Metamorphosis can quickly kill Viper.
Additional:
* Viper's damage over time and lack of disables makes him easy to Sunder.
* Viper's physical damage is mitigated by Terrorblade's high armor.
* Terrorblade under Metamorphosis can quickly kill Viper with heavy physical damage.
Legion Commander
* Duel's long duration prevents Terrorblade from swapping his health with Sunder.
* Overwhelming Odds deals high damage to Terrorblade's illusions.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Viper
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack-dependent heroes such as Viper,
Ursa or
Clinkz can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Viper
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe,
Viper,
Meepo,
Pugna,
Slark etc.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Legion Commander
* 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.
Legion Commander
* Heroes who can dispel will be able to remove remove Soul Catcher's debuff to instantly bring the health of affected heroes back to a considerable amount: Abaddon,
Slark,
Legion Commander,
Oracle.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Legion Commander
* Axe usually wants to fight in the middle of creep waves to proc his Counter Helix. Legion Commander wants to do the same thing to proc Moment of Courage, often resulting in Axe getting a huge amount of damage in against Legion Commander.
* Axe's high armor gain thanks to Culling Blade makes him almost impossible to kill during a Duel in the late game.
Viper
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike slows Axe significantly, and puts his
Blink Dagger on cooldown, preventing him from initiating.
* Nethertoxin can break Counter Helix.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin prevents
Counter Helix from triggering, which significantly lowers Axe's damage output in the early to mid game.
* Viper's various slows and damage over time prevents Axe from initiating as well as putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Legion Commander
* Troll Warlord's melee bash and high attack speed can often help him and his allies win Duels against Legion Commander.
Viper
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: Treant Protector,
Kunkka,
Alchemist,
Troll Warlord,
Wraith King,
Tiny,
Sven.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Shukuchi ignores slows and allows Weaver to escape Viper's onslaught.
* Time Lapse dispels
Poison Attack and
Corrosive Skin and undoes poison damage.
* Weaver's high burst damage allows him to kill Viper before being killed.
Legion Commander
* Duel's long duration prevents Weaver from activating Time Lapse or escaping with
Shukuchi.
Dawnbreaker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Legion Commander
* Solar Guardian can save allies who are being dueled and will interrupt her Duel initiation.
Viper
* Nethertoxin disables Dawnbreaker's Luminosity|Dawnbreaker. Since she's a melee hero, she needs to close gap to attack and Nethertoxin will be bad for her since she cannot heal.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack will severely slow her down and combined with
Nethertoxin, it will be her death sentence (unless her Celestial Hammer or Solar Guardian are off cooldown). Besides that, chasing her down will be easy due to the slow.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Legion Commander
* If he isn't broken (break), Abaddon can use Borrowed Time to waste Legion Commander's Duel, As Borrowed Time has a shorter cooldown, Legion Commander can't win duels, effectively reducing her targets by one, Duel also means that Borrowed Time heals Abaddon for the duration of the duel, as Legion can't stop attacking.
Additional:
* Aphotic Shield and
Mist Coil makes it hard for Legion Commander to kill Abaddon's teammates in Duels.
* Borrowed Time makes Abaddon nearly impossible to kill in Duels, and often replenishes much of his health because Legion Commander cannot manually stop attacking during Duels.
Viper
* Because Poison Attack has no cooldown,
Aphotic Shield is ineffective as a hard dispel.
* Nethertoxin prevents
Borrowed Time from activating passively and blocks
Curse of Avernus
Warlock
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Viper
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman,
Warlock
Legion Commander
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan,
Arc Warden,
Warlock,
Chen
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Legion Commander
* Earthshaker's AoE stuns can save ally against Duel, forcing Legion Commander to spend
Aghanim's Scepter or
Black King Bar.
Viper
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike allowing to kite and slow Earthshaker significally, putting
Blink Dagger on cooldown and preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Nethertoxin breaks Aftershock. The silence from Level 25 talent also prevents Earthshaker from initiating or re-initiating.
Additional:
* Being a melee hero, Earthshaker's movement is liable to suppression by Poison Attack and
Viper Strike.
* Earthshaker's kit, with the exception of Enchant Totem, deals magic damage.
Corrosive Skin effectively blunts his killing potential with a standard Blink combo among other things.
* Nethertoxin disables
Aftershock, which removes the stun and bonus damage from
Enchant Totem and
Echo Slam.
Io
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Legion Commander
* Tethered heroes are much harder for Legion Commander to kill in Duels.
* Relocate can cancel Duels and save allies.
Legion Commander
* Duel is very effective against Io due to its low health and armor.
Razor
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Legion Commander
* Static Link drains Legion Commander's accumulated damage, effectively neutralizing her overall primary advantage, and prevents her from winning Duels.
* Storm Surge's movement speed buff makes Razor and his allies harder to catch and initiate on.
* Eye of the Storm, if used beforehand, will always hit Legion Commander during Duels, due to her forced proximity. This drastically lowers her survivability during Duel.
Viper
* Viper's Poison Attack and
Viper Strike that can slow Razor, and is one of the few heroes that can keep him immobile.
* Altogether, Viper's skills reduce Razor's attack speed, heavily reducing the benefit of the damage drain from Static Link.
Additional:
* Storm Surge is counteracted by
Nethertoxin, leaving Razor without faster MS.
* Static Link's damage drain doesn't bother Viper a lot as most of his early to mid game damage is magical.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Viper
* Clinkz does not have any passive abilities at all, making Nethertoxin nearly useless.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin provides no protection against Clinkz's physical damage output.
Legion Commander
* Searing Arrows and Clinkz physical damage items is almost suicidal when used on Legion Commander, as it invites an instant Duel and Legion Commander herself is a natural
Blade Mail carrier.
* Duel locks down Clinkz for a long duration, preventing him from escaping with Skeleton Walk.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Legion Commander
* Fury Swipes can give Ursa the edge in Duels.
* Enrage's instant cast time allows it to be used before Legion Commander initiates a Duel, causing Ursa to take almost no damage for a brief period of time.
* However, Duel stops Ursa from casting Enrage at the most critical moment
Viper
* Nethertoxin breaks Fury Swipes, making Viper a decent counter to Ursa in a laning stage.
* Viper Strike is a strong, undispellable slow, making it much easier to kite Ursa for everyone.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 15%)Legion Commander
* Heroes that cannot move in fights such as a Dueling
Legion Commander or anyone channeling a spell like
Bane,
Pudge, or
Enigma are easy Sacred Arrow targets.
Legion Commander
* Heroes that can protect or dispel stunned allies such as Legion Commander,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon and
Oracle can reduce the effectiveness of Sacred Arrow.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 16%)Legion Commander
* Heroes with global abilities can give Legion Commander's opponent an edge in Duels from anywhere on the map: Nature's Prophet,
Ancient Apparition,
Zeus,
Invoker,
Treant Protector
Viper
* Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper: Treant Protector,
Kunkka,
Alchemist,
Troll Warlord,
Wraith King,
Tiny,
Sven.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Viper's lack of escape and durability means he can be ran over in a laning stage by Spawn Spiderlings.
* Broodmother can bring Viper down quickly with Insatiable Hunger activated.
Legion Commander
* Overwhelming Odds's damage stacks with each enemy unit in its radius. If this hits Broodmother and a large number of spiders it can deal significant amounts of damage.
* Moment of Courage has a high chance to proc if Broodmother and all of her spiders are attacking her.
* Duel can keep Broodmother in place long enough for Legion's team to kill her.
Additional:
* Overwhelming Odds is great at killing many stacked up spiderlings, thus giving Legion Commander a large buff.
* Duel is a reliable way to lock down Broodmother, preventing her from running into the treeline.
Visage
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 2%)Legion Commander
* Gravekeeper's Cloak protects Visage from Legion Commander's attacks for most of Duel's duration.
* Chain stuns from Visage's familiars prevents Legion Commander from winning Duels.
Viper
* Nethertoxin cuts off
Gravekeeper's Cloak, Visage's primary defense mechanism.
* Viper can ignore Grave Chill's attack speed slow with his magic damage output.
Additional:
* Since Visage is a slow hero, Viper can easily kite him with
Poison Attack and
Viper Strike while successfully chipping away at Gravekeeper's Cloak.
* Nethertoxin removes all layers of Gravekeeper's Cloak, leaving Visage exposed.
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper highly resistant to Soul Assumption.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Legion Commander
* When Legion Commander uses Duel on one Meepo, he can use his other Meepos to kill her. If he wasn't dueled, he can help the teammate who was duelled to give the teammate the damage instead of Legion Commander.
* However, if Legion Commander picked up an Aghanim's Scepter and she duels one Meepo, that might be the end of Meepo if Legion managed to gather enough damage from previous duels.
Viper
* Nethertoxin prevents the lifesteal from Ransack.
* Meepo and his clones have a lack of magic resistance, so they're vulnerable to Poison Attack &
Viper Strike directed onto one clone.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 3%)Viper
* Heroes who do not have nor rely on passive abilities make Nethertoxin much less effective: Clinkz,
Pugna,
Nature's Prophet,
Dark Seer,
Lycan,
Tusk
Legion Commander
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan,
Arc Warden,
Warlock,
Chen
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assassin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (lane data is parsed from hero guides dotabuff)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- Improved UX on small screens - when selecting heroes page automatically scrolls so hero select input is displayed at the very top of screen, leaving more space for results.
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal win rate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest win rate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Viper
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Viper abilities.
Rod of Atos.
* Viper has no way to cancel Death Ward, even through
Legion Commander
*
Paralyzing Cask can save ally from Legion Commander Duel's until she purchase
Aghanim's Scepter.
Voodoo Restoration can heal Witch Doctor allies from Duel's.
Death Ward can help Witch Doctor allies from winning Duel's, if, he is not a target.
*
*