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