Warlock
* 
Impale and 
Spiked Carapace interrupts Upheaval with ease.
* Warlock's low health pool, mobility, and high intelligence gain makes him a prime target for Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
Pugna
* 
Nether Blast's animation makes it easy to time Spiked Carapace for a stun.
* Pugna has the largest intelligence gain in the game, making him a prime target for Mana Burn.
* Pugna needs to channel 
Life Drain, making him easy to hit with Impale.
Additional:
* Due to Pugna's incredible intelligence growth and terrible strength growth, Nyx should always be able to take you out with his combo, with or without an added 
Dagon. 
Mind Flare will deal a large amount of damage in particular, especially in the late game.
* Spiked Carapace is also a great tool versus Pugna. A good player will wait for you in 
Vendetta until you farm a creep wave with Nether Blast and reflect it back at you as their initiation and setup for Impale.
Warlock
* 
Mana Break prevents Warlock from casting his spells, particularly in the laning phase.
* 
Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Upheaval.
* 
Counterspell reduces damage from Shadow Word and Warlock's Golem's 
Permanent Immolation passive. Additionally, it can reflect Shadow Word and Fatal Bonds.
* 
Mana Void deals heavy damage after Anti-Mage has drained Warlock's large mana pool.
Pugna
* Pugna only deals magical damage, which Anti-Mage is exceptionally resistant due to Counterspell.
* Anti-Mage can dispel 
Decrepify with 
Manta Style.
* Pugna has a very large mana pool. This allows Anti-Mage to constantly deal bonus damage to Pugna with Mana Break and devastate Pugna's entire team with Mana Void.
Additional:
* Since Pugna relies on his teammates for protection, it is fairly common for Anti-Mage to get multiple kills with a single use of his Mana Void on Pugna if he's missing a considerable portion of his mana.
* Pugna's massive mana pool will result in Anti-Mage's Mana Break almost always dealing the bonus damage from the mana burn.
* Counterspell negates a large amount of Pugna's damage, as most of Pugna's damage comes from his spells.
* Blink can be used to get out of a bad situation, and Pugna has no way to prevent him from casting it.
Warlock
* 
Ursa can shred Warlock's Golems in a few seconds with 
Fury Swipes and 
Overpower.
Pugna
* If Ursa uses 
Enrage, Pugna's Life Drain is next to worthless against him, due to Ursa taking 80% less damage, therefor Pugna heals by only 20% of the damage that the spell normally deals.
* It also dispels Decrepify, Even if you wait until he casted it, he can still dispel it with Shard upgraded 
Earthshock
* Ursa also commonly builds 
Skull Basher. With his high Attack Speed from Overpower. he can easily cancel Life Drain
* If Decrepify is defensivly casted, Ursa can still cast Earthshock both to slow you, and to deal amplified magic damage. He also commonly builds a 
Nullifier
* If Ursa jumps on you with a 
Blink Dagger he can easily wipe you out with Overpower.
* Ursa's Overpower can destroy a full health 
Nether Ward and still have a few swipes leftover, Also Ursa's low mana spells means he takes negligible damage from the Nether ward anyway.
* Ursa is also a common 
Diffusal Blade carrier, using it to both amplify his damage, but as his primary way to catch fleeing heroes
* Pugna is also the primary target of Ursa, due to him being both quite squishy, and a serious threat to his team, Ursa prioritizes the weakest link as Fury Swipes stacking damage will quickly demolish them, allowing Ursa to safely switch heroes
Warlock
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities: 
Crystal Maiden, 
Dawnbreaker, 
Enigma, 
Pudge, 
Shadow Fiend, 
Shadow Shaman, 
Warlock.
Pugna
* Both Jakiro's Ice Path and Liquid Frost can be used to cancel Life Drain from either Jakiro or an ally.
* Decrepify only makes Pugna even more vulnerable to Jakiro's magical damage, And it has no adverse effects on Jakiro himself.
* 
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Macropyre can deal pure damage-over-time and pierce debuff immunity, which can discourage Pugna from even trying to use Life Drain.
* Bear in mind, however, that Nether Ward can do some considerable damage to Jakiro due to high mana costs on his abilities.
Warlock
* Because all of Warlock's abilities are active abilities, silences can make his impact in fights minimal. Be cautious of heroes that carry silences like 
Death Prophet, 
Puck, and the aforementioned 
Silencer.
Pugna
* Puck can dodge Nether Blast and Life Drain with his Phase Shift, easily avoiding Pugna's strong burst magic damage.
* 
Waning Rift's silence allows Puck and its teammates to easily deal with Pugna, which cannot do the same to it, because with Puck it will be easy to avoid such an attack from the Decrepify.
* The Puck's combo: Waning Rift + 
Illusory Orb + 
Dream Coil doesn't have a huge amount of damage to feel the damage of the Pugna from Nether Ward, however, it may be quite enough to kill the Pugna solo at an early stage of the game with 
Witch Blade
Additional:
* Puck easily dodges the Nether Blast and the Pugna Life Drain with his 
Phase Shift, which is why he can easily avoid his strong magic damage
* The Puck's silence from the Waning Rift ability allows her team to easily cope with the Pugna, which cannot be said about the Pugna, because with the Puck it will be easy to avoid such an attack from the Decrepify
* The Puck's combo: Waning Rift + Illusory Orb + Dream Coil doesn't have a huge amount of damage to feel the damage of the Pugna from Nether Ward, however, it may be quite enough to kill the Pugna solo at an early stage of the game with Witch Blade
Warlock
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include 
Chaos Knight, 
Spirit Breaker, 
Riki, and more.
Pugna
* Life Drain does not instantly kill the illusions from 
Phantasm
* 
Chaos Bolt and 
Reality Rift can easily interrupt the channeling from Life Drain.
* Reality Rift makes it harder for Pugna to keep his distance between Chaos Knight.
* Nether Ward barely deals any significant damage on Chaos Knight as Chaos Knight's abilities do not cost a lot of mana
* The overwhelming damage of Chaos Knight and his illusions will do a quick work on Pugna's poor HP pool, or safely remove the Nether Ward from the battlefield.
Warlock
* Because all of Warlock's abilities are active abilities, silences can make his impact in fights minimal. Be cautious of heroes that carry silences like Death Prophet, Puck, and the aforementioned Silencer.
Pugna
* Spirit Siphon does a lot of magical damage, especially in the early game. This allows her to demolish low health heroes such as 
Zeus, 
Pugna, especially when combined with her other spells.
Pugna
* All of Pugna's damage is magical, which can get blocked by 
Fate's Edict's 100% magic resistance.
* Oracle has two abilities that apply a dispel, which can easily remove Decrepify on his ally or Oracle.
Warlock
* 
Ice Blast cancels Warlock's Golem's and Shadow Word's healing.
* 
Cold Feet stuns Warlock if he stands in place, forcing him to stop channeling Upheaval immediately or be forced to stop channeling it by it's stun.
Pugna
* Pugna's squishiness and lack of mobility make him easy prey for a Hookshot initiation.
* Clockwerk's high health, low mana costs, and lack of reliance on Blink Dagger make Nether Ward ineffective.
* Battery Assault shuts down Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Life Drain, as the repeated ministuns prevent Pugna from channeling for an extended length of time.
Additional:
* Clockwerk loves to 
Hookshot low health, immobile targets like Pugna.
* Pugna's Life Drain gets immediately and repeatedly (if an Aghanim's Scepter was purchased) cancelled due to 
Battery Assault, especially if Pugna is trapped inside 
Power Cogs.
* Clockwerk also loves to build 
Blade Mail, which will deal more damage to Pugna than Clockwerk due to Pugna's low health pool.
* Finally, both Hookshot and 
Rocket Flare can allow him to finish off Pugna out of range of his Nether Ward.
Warlock
* Weaver's 
Shukuchi allows him to escape from Warlock's Upheaval with high move speed.
* 
Time Lapse allows Weaver to ignore damage from Warlock's Golem and escape.
Warlock
* A pre-placed 
Fire Remnant allows Ember Spirit to escape Upheaval.
* 
Flame Guard blocks Shadow Word's damage.
* 
Sleight of Fist allows Ember Spirit to attack from outside of Upheaval's range, and 
Searing Chains lets him interrupt it.
Pugna
* Sniper's huge range makes him an unviable target to use Life Drain on, forcing Pugna to risk playing out of position to use it on Sniper.
* Sniper's 
Shrapnel can be used to provide vision on Nether Ward, and his range allows him to easily take it out.
* A clumsy Pugna may accidentally boost Sniper's Shrapnel and 
Assassinate damages if he recklessly uses Decrepify on himself or his allies.
Warlock
* Warlock's signature 
Chaotic Offering can be devastating if stolen and dropped on multiple heroes.
* Telekinesis interrupts 
Upheaval when used on Warlock. Alternatively, Rubick can also cast this on a naerby creep or hero and drop them near Warlock to interrupt its channeling. When upgraded with 
Aghanim's Shard, Rubick can also use it to save an ally (or himself) from its area slow and damage.
* 
Fatal Bonds provides Rubick with a decent farming and harassing tool in the early game.
* 
Shadow Word provides some utility by healing Rubick and his team, and also as a harassment tool when used on enemies in the laning stage.
* Upheaval slows and damages enemies in an area, and it works exactly the same when casted by Rubick. Furthermore, he can extend its range and debuff amplification with Arcane Supremacy.
* A stolen Chaotic Offering can also be used to interrupt Upheaval while Telekinesis is on cooldown.
* It is advised to build items around Chaotic Offering as Rubick. Aghanim's Scepter, 
Octarine Core and 
Refresher Orb are all legitimate item choices.
Additional:
* All of Warlock's abilities are worthy choices for Rubick to 
Spell Steal, primarily Chaotic Offering. Furthermore, stolen abilities are also affected by the increased cast range and spell amplification from 
Arcane Supremacy.
* 
Telekinesis interrupts Upheaval when casted on Warlock, or to save allies (or himself) from its area slow and damage with Aghanim's Shard.
* Bear in mind that Warlock likes to cast his abilities in quick succession, so the time window left for Rubick to steal Warlock's ultimate can be short.
Pugna
* Earth Spirit does not fly a small distance on 
Rolling Boulder using 
Stone Remnant, which will be a big problem for Life Drain, since Pugna will stop receiving health from breaking the distance of the ability, which will give the Earth Spirit team a chance to kill Pugna, by the way, this also works well with 
Boulder Smash, which pushes the enemy and can annoy the distance
* Earth Spirit has excellent control with a small recharge on Rolling Boulder and 
Geomagnetic Grip, which can knock down Pugna`s Life Drain, as well as completely turn him off in a fight, because he is very dependent on his abilities
* Magic damage from Earth Spirit's abilities can be disastrous for Decrepify, as it will kill him very quickly, and if Earth Spirit collects 
Ethereal Blade in such a game, it can easily destroy Pugna in one Rolling Boulder hit
* Earth Spirit also turns out to be a strong decision against Nether Ward, because he experiences it with his large amount of health, and if he collects 
Heart of Tarrasque(and 
Bracerin early game)in such a game, he may not feel it at all and calmly control Pugna with his abilities
Additional:
* Earth Spirit does not fly a small distance on Rolling Boulder using Stone Remnant, which will be a big problem for Life Drain, since Pugna will stop receiving health from breaking the distance of the ability, which will give the Earth Spirit team a chance to kill Pugna, by the way, this also works well with Boulder Smash, which pushes the enemy and can annoy the distance
* Earth Spirit has excellent control with a small recharge on Rolling Boulder and Geomagnetic Grip, which can knock down Pugna`s Life Drain, as well as completely turn him off in a fight, because he is very dependent on his abilities
* Magic damage from Earth Spirit's abilities can be disastrous for Decrepify, as it will kill him very quickly, and if Earth Spirit collects Ethereal Blade in such a game, it can easily destroy Pugna in one Rolling Boulder hit
* Earth Spirit also turns out to be a strong decision against Nether Ward, because he experiences it with his large amount of health, and if he collects Heart of Tarrasque(and Bracerin early game)in such a game, he may not feel it at all and calmly control Pugna with his abilities
Warlock
* Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from Chaotic Offering and hit summons hard.
* Tidebringer clears summons later in the game.
* Most of your spells can interrupt Upheaval.
Pugna
* Pugna's low health and reliance on channeled abilities make him very vulnerable to Tusk, although Pugna can win in a straight up 1v1 later in the game.
Pugna
* Luna can deal constant damage to Pugna through the low-cooldown Lucent Beam and her right clicks.
* Life Drain will be always canceled by 
Lucent Beam if Pugna does not have 
Black King Bar.
* Decrepify can be suicide against Luna due to Lucent Beam and 
Eclipse.
* Nether Ward is rather weak against Luna because unlike other heroes who rely on magical damage to damage or kill enemies, yet their ablities have very high mana costs, Luna does not have abilities that cost a lot of mana and Luna mostly uses her abilities to initiate a teamfight or to finish off fleeing enemy heroes.
* Luna is a common Black King Bar carrier, which allows her to protect herself against Pugna's only-magical damage output.
Additional:
* Luna can deal constant damage to Pugna through the low-cooldown Lucent Beam and her right clicks.
* Life Drain will be always canceled by Lucent Beam if Pugna does not have Black King Bar.
* Decrepify can be suicide against Luna due to Lucent Beam and Eclipse.
* Nether Ward is rather weak against Luna because unlike other heroes who rely on magical damage to damage or kill enemies, yet have very high mana costs, she does not have abilities that cost a lot of mana and Luna mostly uses her abilities to initiate a teamfight or to finish off fleeing enemy heroes.
* Luna is a common Black King Bar carrier, which allows her to protect herself against Pugna's only-magical damage output.
Pugna
* Phantom Lancer creates way too many illusions for Pugna's Life Drain to destroy, overwhelming him easily.
* 
Doppelganger can dodge Nether Blast or dispel Decrepify.
* Diffusal Blade is a common item for Phantom Lancer to burn Pugna's large mana pool and deals a large amount of damage in the process.
Additional:
* Though Life Drain instantly destroys illusions, Phantom Lancer creates way too many for Pugna to handle.
* A good Phantom Lancer will also dodge your Nether Blast with Doppelganger.
* Phantom Lancer is the most natural Diffusal Blade carrier to burn Pugna's very large pool of mana away and deal a large amount of damage in the process.
Warlock
* Heroes that rely on summons will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: 
Beastmaster, 
Broodmother, Enigma, 
Nature's Prophet, 
Visage, Warlock, 
Wraith King.
Additional:
* 
Surge allows for Dark Seer and his allies to escape from Upheaval due to it ignoring any slow.
Pugna
* Fragile heroes: Bounty Hunter has decent nuking capabilities with Shiruken Toss and Jinada thus making fragile heroes easy picks for ganking. Few examples of such heroes are:Crystal Maiden, Pugna, 
Skywrath Mage, 
Io, 
Witch Doctor, etc.
Pugna
* Heroes who build a Black King Bar (or have any sources of spell immunity) to channel abilities/items can still get interrupted by Dismember: Enigma, 
Juggernaut, 
Phantom Assassin, Pugna, 
Elder Titan.
Pugna
* Heroes who rely on channeling abilities can be interrupted in teamfights by Rolling Thunder: Crystal Maiden, Pugna, Witch Doctor
Warlock
* Supports with useful teamfight or contribution spells will be helpless against Doom: 
Dazzle, 
Oracle, Warlock.
Additional:
* 
Doom will not only prevent Warlock from casting his abilities in team fights, but also it reduces the healing from Shadow Word.
* 
Devour allows Doom to acquire a stun from neutral creeps, allowing him to interrupt Upheaval without having to use Doom.
Pugna
* Pugna is a very fragile hero who can easily get caught and killed by Storm Spirit's long range initiation.
* This is especially true if he has 
Orchid Malevolence or 
Scythe of Vyse.
* Pugna has no disables that can prevent Storm Spirit from escaping.
* Even though 
Ball Lightning requires high amount of mana, Nether Ward is ineffective since Storm Spirit is invulnerable while using it.
* Storm Spirit's other abilities cost very insignificant amount of mana for Nether Ward to be effective.
Pugna
* Heroes with mana burn: 
Nyx Assassin, 
Invoker, 
Outworld Destroyer, Pugna, 
Lion
Warlock
* 
Shapeshift allows Lycan to escape from Upheaval with maximum movement speed.
* Warlock doesn't have a good solution to deal with Lycan's wolves from 
Summon Wolves.
Pugna
* Pugna's Decrepify prevents the target from taking physical damage or doing damage, which poses a huge problem for Lycan, as he mainly deals physical damage.
Warlock
* 
Enchant can not control golem Chaotic Offering from Warlock.
Pugna
* Amazingly, Enchantress has even lower health than Pugna. Though she does pack quite a punch through 
Impetus, she can't use it if she is under Decrepify.
* Pugna's Magical DPS is way greater than the heal from 
Nature's Attendants, which will also harm her quite a bit if she's next to Nether Ward.
Warlock
* Chaotic Offering's spell immunity piercing stun can stop Black Hole's channeling. Due to this ability's large area of effect, it can be cast at a safe distance from the Black Hole. It also goes through Black King Bar and ignores 
Linken's Sphere.
* Fatal Bonds and Aghanim's Shard upgraded Shadow Word can be used to make Enigma's Eidolons easier to kill, potentially feeding the enemy team. Also,their constant damage will put Blink Dagger on cooldown, potentially forcing Enigma to prematurely activate Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Chaotic Offering pierces spell immunity and is an area of effect ability, therefore it doesn't matter if Enigma buys Black King Bar or Linken's Sphere, Warlock will always be able to cancel the channeling of 
Black Hole.
* Enemies often get clumped up around Black Hole to hit your allies, giving you a perfect opportunity to cast Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval on multiple enemies.
Pugna
* Enigma's abilities have a huge mana cost, meaning that Nether Ward will deal a lot of damage to Enigma.
* Pugna can heal allies trapped inside Black Hole thanks to Life Drain, Pugna can also damage multiple of Enigma's allies around him with Life Drain when he casts it on Aghanim's Shard upgraded Nether Ward during teamfight.
* Nether Blast can easily kill Eidolons, especially when Enigma is pushing.
* Even though Pugna cannot cancel Black Hole on his own, smart Pugna can buy Orchid Malevolence to stop Enigma from channeling Black Hole and make him more vulnerable to counter-attacks with Decrepify and Life Drain.
Additional:
* Enigma's abilities have a huge mana cost, meaning that Nether Ward will deal a lot of damage to Enigma.
* Pugna can heal allies trapped inside Black Hole thanks to Life Drain.
* Nether Blast can easily kill Eidolons, especially when Enigma is pushing.
Warlock
* Illusion and heroes with summons are difficult to kill with Chen's single-target offensive spells: 
Terrorblade, 
Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Broodmother, 
Naga Siren, 
Lycan, Visage, Beastmaster, Warlock, Wraith King. And even though Chen can convert enemy summons with Holy Persuasion, their much greater numbers will often overwhelm Chen and his creeps.
Pugna
* Nether Blast can deal high damage to Chen and clear waves of his creeps.
* Decrepify can be used to waste the duration of 
Penitence.
* Nether Ward can discourage Chen from using Penitence, 
Holy Persuasion and 
Hand of God due to their fairly high mana costs.
* Life Drain can often kill Chen or any of his allies before he can save them with Hand of God thanks to it's high damage and low cooldown.
Warlock
* Heroes with channeling spells because Shadow Fiend has nothing to cancel channeling outside of Requiem of Souls: 
Bane, Enigma, Pudge, Shadow Shaman, Dawnbreaker, Warlock, Crystal Maiden.
Additional:
* Because Shadow Fiend lacks escaping mechanisms, and is dependent on fair positioning for channeling 
Requiem of Souls, it's easier for Warlock with his long range crowd control abilities to lock Shadow Fiend down for his team.
Pugna
* Decrepify prevents Shadow Fiend from attacking for its duration, potentially preventing him from getting a kill.
* Nether Ward can do heavy damage to Shadow Fiend if he tries to cast his Requiem of Souls and his 
Shadowraze.
Additional:
* Decrepify prevents Shadow Fiend from attacking for its duration, potentially preventing him from getting a kill.
* Nether Ward can do heavy damage to Shadow Fiend if he tries to cast his Requiem of Souls or spam Shadowraze.
Warlock
* Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities: Bane, Enigma, Shadow Shaman, Warlock
Pugna
* 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.
Warlock
* Chaotic Offering can stop heroes who like to use spell immunity and teleport scrolls to safely farm during the early to mid game, since it stuns and also goes through spell immunity. Notable examples: Juggernaut, 
Lifestealer.
Pugna
* Decrepify prevents 
Omnislash damage, until Juggernaut gets a Nullifier.
* Without a disable, Pugna's high movement speed makes it harder to chase him with 
Blade Fury.
* Juggernaut has low mana and his skills cost large amount of mana. Nether Ward will hurt him more and even worse, the damage from the ward is inflicted before the Spell immunity provided by Blade Fury.
Additional:
* Decrepify is the perfect tool against Omnislash until he gets a Nullifier, and even then he will probably waste a couple of slashes before he uses it.
* Without an extra disable, Pugna's high movement speed makes it impossible to chase him with Blade Fury.
* Unlike some other carries like 
Slark or Phantom Assassin, Juggernaut's spells cost a hefty amount of mana and he will seriously get hurt by Nether Ward. Don't forget the damage from the ward is inflicted before the spell immunity is provided by Blade Fury.
Warlock
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
Pugna
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: 
Axe, 
Viper, 
Meepo, 
Jakiro, Pugna, Slark, 
Venomancer etc.
Warlock
* While heroes with strong mobility are able to get close or flee from Upheaval, heroes with no escaping abilities or that lack long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the Warlock Golem lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Notable examples: 
Huskar, 
Drow Ranger, Lion, Elder Titan, etc.
Pugna
* Nether Ward will be problematic for heavy nukers and spammers like Skywrath Mage, 
Lina, Lion and Invoker, but Pugna must not use Decrepify defensively against them as he will be helping them out more than anything.
Warlock
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer, Crystal Maiden, Warlock, 
Ancient Apparition, 
Grimstroke, Witch Doctor
Warlock
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a 
Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game: 
Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker, 
Tusk, 
Bounty Hunter, Riki, Warlock.
Additional:
* Warlock can cast Upheaval when Templar Assassin uses 
Meld, preventing her from escaping at the right moment.
* Warlock can also send his Warlock Golem near where she used Meld, preventing escape by Blink Dagger due to the Warlock Golem's Permanent Immolation.
* Warlock's Golem's Permanent Immolation will burn away 
Refraction with its damage over time.
Pugna
* Pugna's Decrepify can render Templar Assassin's physical attacks useless.
* Pugna can also cast Life Drain on Templar Assassin, burning her Refraction instances.
* On the other hand, Pugna generally has low health and armor. Use this to your advantage.
Warlock
* Chaotic Offering's vast area-effect can destroy trees and stun Hoodwink.
* Upheaval makes retreating with 
Scurry difficult.
Pugna
* Nether Ward can punish Timbersaw, as Timbersaw is a spell-caster with low cooldowns. Furthermore, Timbersaw usually appears in the midst of battle, placing himself in range of Nether Ward's Mana Flares.
* Timbersaw has no stuns or silences to stop Life Drain. Since all of Pugna's Spells are magical, the damage can be devastating to Timbersaw.
* Decrepify can further increase all the magical damage done to Timbersaw, bypassing the enhanced physical resistance he can get from 
Reactive Armor.
Additional:
* Nether Ward can punish Timbersaw, as Timbersaw is a spell-caster with low cooldowns. Furthermore, Timbersaw usually appears in the midst of battle, placing himself in range of Nether Ward's Mana Flares.
* Timbersaw has no stuns or silences to stop Life Drain. Since all of Pugna's Spells are magical, the damage can be devastating to Timbersaw, especially when combined with Decrepify.
Warlock
* Warlock has strong counter initiation which reduces Marci's effectiveness throughout the game.
* Fatal Bonds cancels Blink Dagger, which means Marci can move in and out of fights less effectively.
* Chaotic Offering paired with Upheaval provides a ministun, a movement slow and paired with Fatal Bonds has the potential to deal a lot of damage to Marci while she jumps on a target. The ministun also means that Marci will have a harder time casting Rebound. If Warlock does build Aghanim's Scepter and Refresher Orb, the physical damage from Golems will overwhelm Marci, especially when played as a support.
Pugna
* Arc Warden can't use Magnetic Field to stall the damage of Nether Blast on towers, but he can buy Aghanim's Shard to diminish its damage.
* Arc Warden has no innate disables to stop Life Drain and Decrepify
* The short cooldown of both Life Drain and Decrepify also means Pugna can deal with Arc Warden and Arc Warden's clone simultaneously most of the time
* A good Pugna looks to end the match early while Arc Warden, a very item reliant hero, thrives in longer matches.
Pugna
* Nether Blast, Decrepify and Life Drain deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
* Nether Ward reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
* Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.
Pugna
* Due to the high mana cost of his spells and the low cool down of them, Nether Ward can seriously damage Skywrath Mage if he isn't careful.
* Skywrath Mage's fragility makes him very susceptible to Pugna's high burst damage.
Additional:
* Nether Ward will make Skywrath Mage next to useless in fights, as his low hp pool will not allow him to sustain through the damage of the ward should he choose to cast spells. Be wary though that Skywrath's huge burst will make very quick work of Pugna's low hp should the ward be destroyed, and Decrepify won't help Pugna at all.
Pugna
* 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.
* Spectre's spells, while not spammable, have a fairly high mana cost, so Nether Ward can be fairly damaging to Spectre early game. The mana degen will also dampen Spectre's early game power significantly.
* Once Pugna gets 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.
* In addition, Pugna can disable Spectre's 
Desolate ability (although its damage is pure, it requires physical attacks) with his Decrepify ability, leaving Spectre only with 
Spectral Dagger.
Pugna
* 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.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Nether Blast for the enemy.
* Life Drain can be used to heal Pugna or an ally to save them from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption unless Pugna buys defensive items.
Pugna
* Troll Warlord can't switch targets at will, in order to build 
Fervor stacks, which makes it easy to use Decrepify in order to save allies
* During 
Battle Trance, Pugna can easily use Nether Blast, Decrepify and Life Drain on him
Pugna
* Pugna easily copes on the line with the Keeper of the Light push with his Nether Blast, and in addition to Nether Ward, the Keeper of the Light is not able to throw 
Illuminate on creeps for a long time, so Pugna earns more gold and a level on the line
Additional:
* Pugna easily copes on the line with the Keeper of the Light push with his Nether Blast, and in addition to Nether Ward, the Keeper of the Light is not able to throw Illuminate on creeps for a long time, so Pugna earns more gold and a level on the line
Pugna
* Decrepify can be used on allies to prevent them from attacking Axe and triggering Counter Helix during Berserker's Call. He can also cast it on Axe to prevent anyone from attacking him.
* Life Drain can be used to heal himself or allies caught in Berserker's Call, preventing them from dropping low enough for Axe to kill them with Culling Blade.
Pugna
* Decrepify prevents Faceless Void from attacking trapped allies inside 
Chronosphere, wasting a large portion of its duration if Faceless Void can't dispel it.
Pugna
* Nether Ward punishes Leshrac's constant mana usage from spamming spells.
* Leshrac needs to be in the thick of the fight to deal damage, and so cannot escape from Nether Blast nor Life Drain easily.
Additional:
* Leshrac needs to be close to target in order to do damage, Pugna can outrun Leshrac with ease due to his superior movement speed.
* 
Split Earth can also be hard to land on Pugna for the same reason.
* Leshrac uses huge amounts of mana to do damage, Nether Ward forces him to either not contribute in a fight or kill himself in the process.
Pugna
* Nether Ward on its own can greatly hinder Invoker from casting many of his abilities, at least until he gets a significant amount of HP or is under the protection of spell immunity from Black King Bar
* Life Drain provides True sight, revealing Invoker through Ghost Walk, and forcing him or his allies to use an ability or item to interrupt its channeling
* Outside of Nether Ward's range, Invoker shall have the advantage, as Invoker has Tornado to purge Pugna's Decrepify when it is used defensively, Tornado or Cold Snap to prevent Pugna from channeling Life Drain
* A poorly used Decrepify on Pugna's allies means Invoker's abilities can be used to deal more damage to them.
Additional:
* Because Invoker relies on casting a large amount of spells to contribute to fights, Nether Ward can force him to not cast anything at all or take a large amount of damage to cast spells.
Pugna
* Even though Pugna's low HP means that he can be quickly burst down, his Nether Ward heavily punishes casters whose spells cost a lot of mana, like Zeus. Casting 4 of his active spells, including Nimbus, close to an enhanced level 4 Nether Ward, can make the ward deal up to 1750 magical damage.
* Decrepify can further increase the damage dealt by Nether Ward upon Zeus. However, if used on Pugna himself or on one of his allies, it will amplify the damage done by Zeus' abilities.
Pugna
* Nether Ward can do a ton of damage to Disruptor because of his high mana costs.
* Life Drain can be used to heal an ally trapped by Static Storm-Kinetic Field combo (if Pugna is not a target).
Warlock
* Warlock Golems do plenty of physical and pure damage to bring down Huskar when he is at low health. Warlock is always a hazard for Huskar to initiate by using 
Life Break, because Chaotic Offering can stun him instantly, even when Black King Bar is activated, and allows Warlock's team to gather their wit and retaliate.
* After using Life Break to jump in, Huskar will not have any means to escape Upheaval. Which since he is an attack-dependent hero, this will nullify his impact in fights.
Pugna
* Nether Ward discourages Tinker from using abilities and items due to its high damage against heavy mana usage.
Pugna
* Cold Embrace is a death sentence against Pugna, since its the perfect setup for all his abilities, especially Life Drain.
* Decrepify can be cast to save the ally under Winter's Curse effect, wasting most of its duration.
* Winter Wyvern's abilities require a lot of mana, allowing Nether Ward to deal lots of damage.
Pugna
* Pugna can turn out to be an effective hero against Dazzle due to the fact that he does not allow him to extend his 
Poison Touch with his Decrepify, which is why Dazzle cannot keep the enemy under prolonged deceleration.
* Pugna has a very strong ability against casters with a small health reserve - Nether Ward, which is why heroes like Dazzle will not be able to constantly throw their Poison Touch 
Bad Juju and 
Shadow Wave at enemies under the action of Nether Ward or will be forced to take a lot of damage
Additional:
* Pugna can turn out to be an effective hero against Dazzle due to the fact that he does not allow him to extend his Poison Touch with his Decrepify, which is why Dazzle cannot keep the enemy under prolonged deceleration.
* Pugna has a very strong ability against casters with a small health reserve - Nether Ward, which is why heroes like Dazzle will not be able to constantly throw their Poison Touch Bad Juju and Shadow Wave at enemies under the action of Nether Ward or will be forced to take a lot of damage
Pugna
* Nether Ward will be problematic for heavy nukers and spammers like Skywrath Mage, Lina, Lion and Invoker, but Pugna must not use Decrepify defensively against them as he will be helping them out more than anything.
Pugna
* As Terrorblade's damage output comes mainly from direct attacks, he will struggle greatly against heroes who have abilities that give evasion, trigger on attack or which can disarm an enemy hero: 
Centaur Warrunner, 
Hoodwink, Huskar, Invoker, 
Leshrac with 
Nihilism from Aghanim's Scepter, Lifestealer with Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Infest, 
Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Pugna, 
Techies, 
Windranger etc.
Pugna
* Heroes that commonly attack ethereal units will not have any problems against Muerta's Pierce The Veil: 
Tinker, Jakiro, Lina, 
Luna, Pugna or 
Ogre Magi, Enigma, 
Batrider, Techies, Broodmother, Dawnbreaker, Shadow Shaman, Bane, Tinker, Venomancer, 
Arc Warden.
Warlock
* Channeling heroes will not go well against Warlock, especially those who build Black King Bar as Warlock's ultimate ability stun goes through spell immunity. E.g.: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Enigma, etc.
Pugna
* Heroes with high movement speeds like Pugna and Meepo can run around, to, or away from Snapfire during 
Mortimer Kisses and dodge the projectiles easily due to their slow speed.
* Heroes with mobility spells (such as 
Queen of Pain's 
Blink and 
Clockwerk with Hookshot) can easily avoid 
Lil' Shredder and Mortimer Kisses.
* Heroes with high movement speeds like Pugna and Meepo can run around, to, or away from Snapfire during Mortimer Kisses and dodge the projectiles easily due to their slow speed.
Pugna
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden, 
Chen, 
Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Lina, 
Mirana, Nature's Prophet, Pugna and 
Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes that outrange Plague Ward after obtaining talents that increase attack range.
Pugna
* Heroes with magical or pure damage output will not have any problems against Atrophy Aura at all: Luna, Lina, Jakiro, Pugna, Bane, 
Snapfire, 
Muerta, Nyx Assassin, Enigma, Tinker, Witch Doctor, Zeus, Crystal Maiden.
Pugna
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: 
Sven, 
Omniknight, Enigma, Luna, Naga Siren, 
Mars, Jakiro, Venomancer, Elder Titan, 
Faceless Void, 
Rubick, 
Keeper of the Light, Pugna, Invoker, 
Spectre, 
Alchemist, 
Treant Protector, Lina, Oracle, Zeus, Shadow Shaman, 
Phoenix, 
Razor, Huskar, Batrider, 
Kunkka, 
Tidehunter, Wraith King, 
Sand King, 
Medusa, Dawnbreaker.
Warlock
* Channeling heroes will not go well against Warlock, especially those who build Black King Bar as Warlock's ultimate ability stun goes through spell immunity. E.g.: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Enigma, etc.
Pugna
* Pugna's Decrepify makes sure that either Alchemist is unable to hit anyone while also being slowed and susceptible to magical damage, or can protect an ally from physical attacks. Besides, Pugna can push early on, when Alchemist is not strong enough to repel it, so by the time Alchemist comes online, he might be forced to sit in base.
Warlock
* While heroes with strong mobility are able to get close or flee from Upheaval, heroes with no escaping abilities or that lack long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the Warlock Golem lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Notable examples: Huskar, Drow Ranger, Lion, Elder Titan, etc.
Pugna
* Heroes who are reliant on physical damage will be nullified by Decrepify: Riki, Wraith King, Juggernaut.
Warlock
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect: Beastmaster, Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Shaman, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock, Wraith King.
Pugna
* Pugna: Decrepify prevent the Spirit bear from attacking or protect allies from it.
Warlock
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded 
Brain Sap: Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock, Wraith King.
Pugna
* Heroes that can punish aggressive heroes, such as: Leshrac, 
Shadow Demon, Pugna, Death Prophet.
Pugna
* Any heroes with high intelligence, such as Invoker and Pugna.
Warlock
* While heroes with strong mobility are able to get close or flee from Upheaval, heroes with no escaping abilities or that lack long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the Warlock Golem lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Notable examples: Huskar, Drow Ranger, Lion, Elder Titan, etc.
Warlock
* Heroes with summons: Lycan, Broodmother, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Warlock.
Warlock
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Warlock or Shadow Fiend.
Pugna
* Nether Ward causes Death Pulse to actually damage Necrophos rather than heal him. Meanwhile, Reaper Scythe's gigantic mana cost while Necrophos is near the Nether Ward can often instantly kill him.
* Nether Blast and Life Drain both make quick work of Necrophos's small healthpool, especially during Ghost Shroud. The latter also makes him an unappealing target for Reaper's Scythe, and can often force Necrophos to use it defensively as he has no other means of interrupting his channeling.
Warlock
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan, Arc Warden, Warlock, Chen
Pugna
* 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
Pugna
* Pugna's Nether Ward doesn't really hurt Meepo since he usually buys attribute items to tank up and can be killed very quickly by 4 clones. Decrepify can amplify Poof's damage should Pugna use it to avoid Meepo's right clicking.
Warlock
* Fatal Bonds links the Meepos together, which combined with area of effect damage or Cleave will be devastating.
Pugna
* Heroes with no mobility will take some good damage from Sand King's spells: 
Dragon Knight, Jakiro, Pugna, 
Earthshaker.
Pugna
* Pugna's Nether Ward damages Sand King when he channels Epicenter, preventing him from using Blink Dagger afterward.
Warlock
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
Warlock
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
Warlock
* With God's Strength, Warlock's Golem from Chaotic Offering will go down in a matter of seconds. The two weaker golems granted by Aghanim's Scepter will fare worse due to 
Great Cleave hitting both.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Storm Hammer Aghanim's Scepter can dispel Shadow Word.
Additional:
* 
God's Strength combined with Great Cleave destroys Chaotic Offering golems within seconds.
* 
Warcry gives Sven and his allies armor to help against Warlock's Golem's heavy physical damage and movement speed to help escape Upheaval.
* Storm Hammer disrupts Upheaval.
Pugna
* Pugna can save allies with both healing or by making them ethereal but needs to be careful of Sven's Aghanim's Scepter purge.
Warlock
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
Pugna
* Heroes who are reliant on physical damage will be nullified by Decrepify: Riki, Wraith King, Juggernaut.
Warlock
* Upheaval does not interrupt Slark too much, as he can just Pounce out of the area.
* Fatal Bonds and Shadow Word can be dispelled by Dark Pact.
Pugna
* Nether Blast will still hit Slark even if he is hidden during Shadow Dance.
* Even though Pugna can rarely target Slark directly with Decrepify, he can still use it defensively on an ally to prevent Slark from getting stacks.
* Despite being somewhat easy to break with Pounce, Pugna can damage Slark and provide vision over him with Life Drain.
Pugna
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, Pudge.
Warlock
* Warlock often stays back and counter-initiates by dropping his Chaotic Offering on Earthshaker and his allies.
Warlock
* Because Warlock's abilities are all active abilities, Silencer can make his impact minimal.
Arcane Curse prevents Warlock from using his abilities without increasing it's duration, which since all of Warlock's abilities are actives it is very effective against him.
Last Word can prevent Warlock from casting his Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval combo.
Global Silence can nullify Warlock's impact in fights by preventing him from casting Fatal Bonds and Chaotic Offering, or by interrupting his Upheaval.
*
*
*
Pugna
* Pugna is very reliant on his abilities for damage which Silencer can take advantage off. But he has to be careful around the
Nether Ward as Silencer's abilities cost a lot of mana to use.