* Weaver's exceptional ability to elude and survive through clashes and ganks is hard countered by Lion in every aspect.
* Weaver is very mana dependent and has a rather small mana pool in the beginning of the game, of which Mana Drain can deplete and lessen his early game presence.
* Earth Spike followed by Finger of Death in the huge majority of the time is enough to kill Weaver.
* Earth Spike can be point targeted to hit through Shukuchi.
* Hex's has a fair long duration, by which Weaver will not be able to deal damage, or even survive a coordinated attack, and it is single target, of which cannot be dodged.
* Mana Drain easily breaks Linken's Sphere. Its low cooldown allows Lion to infinitely break it whenever it recharges.
* Earth Spike and Hex when paired for the longer lengths of disables may diminish Time Lapse efficiency, possibly causing Weaver to not undo as much damage as he would.
* All of Lion's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Hex and Mana Drain can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating, especially when he acquires his Talents at level 20 and 25.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Earth Spike or Finger of Death with Aghanim's Scepter for the enemy.
* Heroes with high mobility can be prevented from using it to their advantage with Earthbind, even if they pack a dangerous arsenal: Earth Spirit, Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Anti-Mage, Weaver.
* See items and abilities disabled by roots
* Poof will destroy Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption and quickly escapes from Shadow Poison & Demonic Purge.
* Silences and other types of lockdown that prevent Weaver from using his spells: Silencer, Riki, Lion, Legion Commander, Shadow Shaman, Bane.
* Shadow Demon's main source of damage is his low cooldown, high damage spells - meaning Last Word and Global Silence will pretty much take him out of the game for the duration.
* Shadow Demon likes to spam his abilities, which makes him vulnerable to Arcane Curse.
* If Shadow Demon dies near Silencer, he will lose intelligence, reducing his mana pool, mana regen, and attack damage. Furthermore, if the game is long and Shadow Demon dies often, the intelligence losses will also reduce his spell damage.
* Disruption is not reliable enough to catch an Ember Spirit with a backup Fire Remnant.
* Sleight of Fist will also make quick work of the spawned illusions.
* The best you can do against an Ember Spirit is to dispel his Flame Guard with your Demonic Purge.
* Shadow Shaman's many disables can lock down Weaver. Even with Linken's Sphere, Weaver might not be able to escape should Shadow Shaman uses Shackles quickly enough following Hex.
* Mass Serpent Wards can make short work of Weaver once he is locked down.
* Shukuchi will trigger extra damage from Rupture.
* Shukuchi's invisibility is detected by Thirst.
* Time Lapse cannot dispel Rupture, preventing Weaver from escaping ganks. However, smart Weaver will buy Linken's Sphere to counter this problem for him.
Additional:
* Rupture is particularly crippling against Weaver, who relies on high movement speed from Shukuchi to fight and escape, and it cannot be dispelled by Time Lapse.
* Thirst detects Weaver through Shukuchi whenever his health is low.
* Blood Rite combined with Rupture forces Weaver to either take damage from the latter, or to get silenced for a long duration.
* Dragon Slave will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Light Strike Array for the enemy.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Lina out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Lina.
* A well-timed Fireblast with Multicast can prevent Weaver from escaping with Shukuchi and even Time Lapse.
* Ignite's high damage early on applies heavy pressure onto Weaver's very small health pool.
* However, the slow from Ignite is generally useless against Shukuchi, and Time Lapse dispels it if needed.
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova will tear apart any illusions spawned from Disruption
* Split Earth can punish improper usage of Disruption.
* Leshrac does not have any buffs that can be removed by Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Pulse Nova makes quick work of any illusions with amplified damage, and deals damage even if Leshrac is in Disruption.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Split Earth for the enemy.
* Disruption does not stop Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova once they start pulsing, and even worse it provides a safe shelter for Leshrac to keep pumping up his powerful AoE damage onto the battlefield.
* Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Leshrac out of the fight quickly, although Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Leshrac.
* Death Ward with Aghanim's Scepter makes quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* However, it can be cancelled by Disruption until Witch Doctor buys Linken's Sphere or Black King Bar.
* All of Witch Doctor's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Voodoo Restoration can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Maledict or Paralyzing Cask for the enemy.
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption.
* Spiked Carapace allows Nyx to get an easy long-duration stun on Weaver once he uses Shukuchi, and then he can follow up with Impale.
* Vendetta works as a great setup for both Impale and Spiked Carapace and can deal decent damage to Weaver. Additionally he can neutralize The Swarm beetles due to his invisibility duration.
* Smoke Cloud prevents Shukuchi and Time Lapse, leaving Weaver helpless against Riki.
* The Swarm is ineffective against Riki because invisibility instantly removes the beetles.
* All of Queen of Pain's abilities are active, making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* However, Demonic Purge can help his allies kill a squishy Queen of Pain.
* Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Shadow Demon's abilities if he doesn't have disables.
* An attempt to save an ally using Disruption can easily become a perfect setup for a Sonic Wave for the enemy.
* 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.
* Weaver relies on Shukuchi to escape and kite enemy heroes. Slardar's Corrosive Haze lowers armor and reveals Weaver, who is already a very frail target.
* Weaver usually builds Linken's Sphere, Corrosive Haze can be used to pop the spell block, additionally the level 25 undispellable talent will prevent Weaver from removing Corrosive Haze with Time Lapse, allowing allied heroes to use their abilities on Weaver.
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze lowers armor and reveals Weaver during Shukuchi, who is already a frail target. In addition, Weaver usually builds Linken's Sphere, and Corrosive Haze can be used to "pop" the spell block. His level 25 talent can also make Corrosive Haze undispellable by Time Lapse, which puts Weaver in an even worse situation.
* Guardian Sprint can dodge Weaver's bugs with the movement speed bonus.
* Arc Lightning has a low cooldown can used to pop his Linken's Sphere.
* Lightning Bolt or (Nimbus upgraded from Aghanim's Scepter) detects Weaver during Shukuchi, preventing his ganks.
* Thundergod's Wrath can kill Weaver quickly before he can cast his Time Lapse at low health.
* All of Puck's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Shadow Demon will find a hard time catching a Puck, as he can get away with Illusory Orb or even Waning Rift;
* Puck can dodge Shadow Poison waves and potentially avoid the damage from Demonic Purge with Phase Shift. Furthermore, after Disruption ended, Puck can use Phase Shift to avoid any further danger and can blink away with Blink Dagger.
* Waning Rift can be used to initiate Shadow Demon, prevent him from using any spells.
* Sprout with True Sight items (Sentry Ward or Dust of Appearance) make it possible to trap Weaver in lane, unless he buys Quelling Blade or until he unlocks Time Lapse.
* The Swarm beetles can be destroyed with Nature's Prophet's Treants.
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* Earthshaker's many stuns can lock down slippery heroes like Slark in his Shadow Dance and Weaver in his Shukuchi.
* Even though Linken's Sphere will block your silence, you can cast Arcane Bolt to break it or wait until someone on your team breaks it. In addition, Linken's Sphere builders are usually squishy targets vulnerable to silences: Weaver, Queen of Pain, Morphling, Clinkz, etc. Don't forget that Ancient Seal also increases the magical damage these enemies take, along with silencing them.
Additional:
* Arcane Bolt has a long range and a low cooldown, and is a great spell to waste Linken's Sphere. It also serves as an effective spell to harass Weaver with.
* Ancient Seal prevents Weaver from using Shukuchi or Time Lapse.
* Lycan and Weaver has abilities that allow them to move at maximum movement speed, and those abilities can't be dispelled, potentially wasting the slow from Demonic Purge.
* Frostbite will reveal invisible heroes for its duration, making it a good tool against any such hero (Riki, Bounty Hunter, Weaver, or Clinkz for example), or as a soft counter to Shadow Blade, if it is used first. This can be an amazing tool to ensure that Dust of Appearance is used on the unit in question, and not wasted in not catching anything.
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* The long silence of Crippling Fear at night prevents Weaver from using his Shukuchi or Time Lapse.
* With Dark Ascension and Gem of True Sight, Night Stalker can easily find and probably kill Weaver.
* Hunter In the Night's attack speed bonus removes The Swarm's beetles very quickly.
* Heroes that can punish aggressive heroes, such as: Leshrac, Shadow Demon, Pugna, Death Prophet.
* Duel's long duration prevents Weaver from activating Time Lapse or escaping with Shukuchi.
* 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.
* Weaver has poor health, relying on Shukuchi and Time Lapse to survive, With Jakiro's considerable arsenal of stuns, Weaver cannot initiate on Jakiro without being punished heavily or even killed in return.
* While difficult, Ice Path can catch Weaver during Shukuchi, And since Shukuchi only lasts 4 seconds while Ice Path's stun lasts 3.5, the stun from Ice Path will strip him of his escape.
* Weaver has to be very careful casting Time Lapse around Jakiro, as it could very easily put him inside of a Macropyre or Ice Path.
* Heroes with good mobility to avoid Jakiro's abilities and with good chase to punish Jakiro from pushing a tower: Bloodseeker, Ember Spirit, Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, Weaver.
* A well-timed Gust will prevent Weaver from escaping, and a silenced Weaver usually dies very quickly.
* Weaver gains a lot of armor, which is bypassed by Marksmanship.
Additional:
* A well-timed Gust followed by Frost Arrows will prevent Weaver from escaping with Shukuchi. A Weaver silenced for more than 3 seconds usually dies very quickly.
* Due to her high attack speed, Drow Ranger can easily kill The Swarm beetles.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Shukuchi cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, and can most likely die if detected through invisibility.
* If pinned to the arena's walls, Time Lapse tends to not be enough to save Weaver, as God's Rebuke can keep him burst down thanks to its damage scaling.
* The Swarm and Geminate Attack are not enough to pierce through Bulwark.
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with Aghanim's Scepter), Viper.
* Shukuchi gets Weaver in front of Bristleback, negating the protection from Bristleback.
* Weaver's mana break talent depletes Bristleback's mana pool, preventing him from spamming abilities.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter disables Bristleback's passives.
* Shukuchi allows Weaver to close the gap between himself and Sniper with high speed, and to maneuver through teamfights to get on top of him.
* A combination of The Swarm and Desolator tears through Sniper's low armor.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Heroes with good escapes can usually outmaneuver and escape from Spectre: Slark, Clinkz, Weaver
* Her illusions with Desolate are very valuable, especially when they are usually paired with Radiance. Unlike blink or force movement, Spectral Dagger's escaping mechanic requires manual movement, and therefore Demonic Purge can hold her back really hard and allow your allies to finish her off.
* If she tries to kill you or any key ally with Haunt at any point of the game, remember to not panic and always use Disruption on the illusion, whether it is fake or the real Spectre herself. When the situation calls, Demonic Purge can save a second victim from a haunting Spectre.
* When upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can remove Spectre from a fight by disabling Desolate and Dispersion, negating her damage and tankiness respectively.
* A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility: Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Dark Seer.
* Disruption sets up Anti-Mage for a chain disable. The illusions will deal extra damage due to Mana Break.
* Shadow Poison hits Anti-Mage even after he's Blinked away.
* If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can break Mana Break and Counterspell, weakening both his offense and defense.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Anti-Mage alone, Disruption's considerable cast range can become a perfect setup for any hard-disable to follow up. If he is pinned down, Anti-Mage will quickly face his demise when the illusions deplete his already low mana pool. Manta Style will easily allow him to escape, however.
* The illusions can be controlled to quickly sap mana from any other target, making Anti-Mage one of the most valuable targets to disrupt.
* Heroes with one single-target abilities such as Wraith King, Necrophos, or Doom will struggle against Weaver's Linken Sphere.
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
* Shukuchi allows Weaver to have faster movement speed and can outrun Primal Beast in most instances, such as while he is trampling.
* Trample disarms Primal Beast, so casting The Swarm can make him vulnerable to ranged attacks. Primal Beast also has an innately slow attack speed and will take a long time destroying the bugs.
* Time Lapse allows Weaver to negate and heal burst damage, which Primal Beast is reliant on.
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane: this includes Dazzle, Shadow Demon and Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
* Dark Seer's only disable is Vacuum. Though he starts off with high armor and health, he'll eventually have a hard time dealing with high mobility heroes such as Weaver or Queen of Pain.
* The constant dispel from Demonic Purge will make any attempt to save the victim or himself by Surge become futile. For what it's worth, Demonic Purge will also dispel Ion Shell.
* Though The Swarm can be blocked by Rage, it can be used to lower Lifestealer's already low armor, making him even more vulnerable to physical damage while Rage is on cooldown.
* Lifestealer has no strong disables on his own and thus cannot catch up with nor escape from Weaver's Shukuchi.
* Lifestealer's reliance on meticulous auto-attacks will not help against Time Lapse, which can undo Lifestealer's already slow build-up of damage. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Time Lapse can also be used to save allies from getting killed by Lifestealer, but that will require targeting the allied hero rather than just pressing the button that will trigger the Time Lapse.
Additional:
* Open Wounds's slow is ignored by Shukuchi.
* Lifestealer has no other lockdown and relies on being on top of enemies; Weaver can kite him with ease.
* Melee carries such as Sven, Ursa or Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
* Sven can be easily kited since Weaver is a natural Linken's Sphere carrier and Sven relies on Storm Hammer to disable and kill a hero.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* The swarm beetle can waste Ursa's Overpower attacks.
* Ursa has no inherent way of disabling a slippery Weaver by preventing him from Shukuchiing or Time Lapseing away, as the slow from Earthshock is useless against Shukuchi's haste effect.
Additional:
* Earthshock's slow is ignored by Shukuchi.
* Ursa can be kited with Shukuchi and his burst damage will be negated with Time Lapse as long as Weaver survives it.
* The Swarm breaks Ursa's Blink Dagger, forcing him to deal with the beetles.
* Melee carries such as Sven, Ursa or Lifestealer can be slowed and easily kited with Demonic Purge.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge renders Ursa useless even through Black King Bar as it slows him, continually purges his Overpower charges and can not be dispelled by Ursa's Enrage.
* Disruption is a good way to save teammates against Ursa. Disrupting Ursa is also a good way to kite him, as it can not be dispelled by Enrage.
* Heroes whose core item builds includes Monkey King Bar: Faceless Void, Windranger, Weaver, Juggernaut.
* Heroes who can summon illusions and summons because Terrorblade has no abilities to deal with multiple enemies at once outside Reflection: Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Lycan, Enigma, Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Demon, Dark Seer, Nature's Prophet, Invoker, Morphling, Visage, Grimstroke with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Heroes with haste can negate Enchant's slow: Weaver, Dark Seer, Lycan, Centaur Warrunner.
* Heroes with break can disable Untouchable for a while: Doom and Shadow Demon (via Aghanim's Scepter), Viper, Shadow Shaman with Hex Breaks talent.
* Heroes that are hard to kill without lockdown: Puck, Weaver.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Heroes that rely on slows or low-duration stuns have trouble catching Weaver: Omniknight, Lich.
* Heroes that can purge buffs can dispel Guardian Angel: Invoker, Shadow Demon, Oracle.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge can dispel Guardian Angel on the key target during combat, allow your allies to finish them.
* For the same reason, he has to be slightly more cunning when playing against heroes that can scout the treeline, such as Ancient Apparition and his Ice Vortex and Shadow Demon and his Shadow Poison.
* Time Lapse with Aghanim's Scepter dispels Flaming Lasso when used on allied hero.
* Linken's Sphere is core item for a Weaver making him a hard target for Lasso during entire game.
* Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer and Tusk can all save a Lasso'd teammate with their defensive spells.
* Weaver can easily kill Chen's creeps and kite Chen with The Swarm and Shukuchi.
* Neither Chen nor his converted creeps have burst damage at all, so Weaver will always have plenty of time to save himself with Time Lapse or his allies with Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Time Lapse.
* In the laning stage, making illusions of Venomancer will turn his Poison Sting back at him, making for an easy gank at level one, and for later when your mid comes for ganks.
* Illusions and summons are double-edge sword type of matchup for Luna. On one hand, they can tank damage from Eclipse, but on the other hand, she can easily clear them before Eclipse with Moon Glaives. Examples include Spectre, Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, Chen, Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden).
* Escape-type carries: Slark, Storm Spirit, Weaver.
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive. And Luna's commonly items Manta Style and Black King Bar does not work dispell to Demonic Purge
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
Additional:
* Demonic Purge takes off Luna's superior mobility, removing the need for chasing her and allowing your team to reposition in team fights or escape when at low HP. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Sceptre it will also take away glaive bounces and extra damage from Luna's passive.
* Luna's illusions created by Disruption are very valuable with their Moon Glaives. These will effectively counter her pushing attempts and are painfully effective in team fights.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally from Eclipse.
* For the same reasons, Shadow Demon is a very good ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
* Shukuchi grants Weaver invisibility and a high degree of mobility for a short time, which can make him a difficult target to hook.
* The Swarm beetles are difficult for Pudge to remove, due to his low base attack time and poor agility. Additionally, it can be used to can scout out Pudge's location.
* Should an ally get snagged by Meat Hook, Weaver can use Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Time Lapse on them to send them back to where they were before hooked, even if Pudge has already started to Dismember them.
Additional:
* While Weaver is in Shukuchi, Rot doesn't slow him and Meat Hook is easy to avoid.
* Even when hooked, Weaver can use Time Lapse, negating both the damage and displacement.
* Pudge has low armor and low attack speed, making him susceptible to The Swarm and physical attacks.
* Dismember is easy to block with Linken's Sphere and it's the only way to break Weaver's Linken Sphere.
* However, the long duration stun of Dismember can be dangerous for Weaver.
* Shukuchi can break Static Link with little trouble.
* Time Lapse can easily be used to avoid damage from Plasma Field and can recover the damage done from Static Link and Eye of the Storm.
* Eye of the Storm can't kill bugs from The Swarm.
* Brewmaster is slow and has low armor, making his laning stage very difficult against Geminate Attack.
* Apart from the slow moving Hurl Boulder, which can be disjointed, he has no control to catch Weaver.
* Time Lapse allows Weaver (or an ally if upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter) to regain HP while affected by Ice Blast.
* Shukuchi completely ignores the slow from Ice Vortex and helps him escape the freeze range of Cold Feet.
Additional:
* Cold Feet is extremely easy to nullify with Shukuchi.
* Ice Vortex does not slow Weaver in Shukuchi.
* Time Lapse will still affect his health, even when hit by Ice Blast.
* Ancient Apparition has no escapes or saves and is very squishy, making him an easy target for Weaver to get on top of.
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless for 7 seconds.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
Additional:
* Shadow Demon can waste precious seconds of Windrun with Disruption.
* Alternatively, Demonic Purge. can be used to dispel it altogether, leaving her completely defenseless.
* Disruption can be used to save an ally if they get stunned by Shackleshot.
* Alchemist is a well-known Radiance carrier among other auras your illusions will benefit from. They also get the extra move speed and reduced base attack time from his Chemical Rage, and it's even better if you can catch him as his own rage is about to expire.
* Disruption will buy enough time for all allies to retreat when Alchemist starts to activate Unstable Concoction.
* 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.
* 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.
* Marci's Dispose is blocked by Linken's Sphere which is a common item for Weaver.
* Shukuchi allows Weaver to escape from Rebound slow.
* The swarm beetle require 4 hits to kill. Weaver can use it on her when she use Unleash. This give Marci a hard choice: ignore The swarm and her armor keep decreasing or kill the beetle and wasting 4 attacks of Unleash.
* Geminate Attack works on Tombstone, allowing Weaver to kill it quickly.
* Zombies attacking Weaver disappear once he goes invisible with Shukuchi.
* Undying has no way to catch a mobile Weaver.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption will allow his allies to maneuver around you. It can also be used to protect an ally from your abilities, or Astral Imprisonment - Meteor Hammer combo.
* Disseminate turns your high damage Arcane Orb and Sanitiy's Eclipse against you and your teammates.
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge will break your Essence Flux passive for 7 seconds, preventing you from regaining mana, and severely hindering your damage output.
* Weaver doesn't care much about Lich's slows thanks to Shukuchi.
* If he sees Chain Frost is targeting him, he can easily isolate himself with Shukuchi so that it stops bouncing around.
* Unless Lich bursts Weaver immediately, Lich has no hard disables or silences to prevent him from using Time Lapse.
* Disruption can protect Shadow Demon's allies from Fortune's End, preserving healing or buffs. It can also catch Oracle's allies, allowing Shadow Poison to be used without being dispelled.
* Demonic Purge prevents over-time healing during False Promise, such as Purifying Flames and Urn of Shadows. If he has Aghanim's Scepter, this issue can persist for longer or on multiple allies.
* It will not, however, prevent healing from instant abilities, items, or auras, making Mekansm a good choice against him.
* Shadow Demon with an Aghanim's Scepter will use Demonic Purge to disable Curse of Avernus and the passive component of Borrowed Time. If this is combined with a silence, Borrowed Time will not trigger at all.
* Even without Aghanim's Scepter, he can still waste Borrowed Time with Disruption. Curse of Avernus fully works on illusions, turning the passive ability against him.
* Heroes with Linken's Sphere as core item: Weaver, Morphling, Medusa.
* Heroes who often build Linken's Sphere: Weaver, Morphling, Medusa.
* Heroes with summons or illusions makes Sacred Arrow harder to land: Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet.
* Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar, Faceless Void, Weaver, Abaddon, Troll Warlord, Alchemist, Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, Viper.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* Weaver cannot Time Lapse out of Huskar's burn damage.
* Heroes with abilities that reduce armor will make Huskar very vulnerable: Weaver, Dazzle, Bristleback, Vengeful Spirit.
* Shadow Demon's Shadow Poison can quickly stack to the point where Huskars generally low health is easily finished off.
* Shadow Demon's Disruption can turn Huskar's high attack speed and regeneration against him, It also makes him an easy target for Shadow Poison,
* Shadow Demon commonly builds a Meteor Hammer, allowing him to land a heavy stun on Huskar
* Shadow Demon's upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Huskar, It also pierces Spell Immunity, Without his passive for 7 seconds Huskar quickly falls in battle
* However note that Shadow Demon is a squishy target and you can often overwhelm him if he is alone, But he can still Disrupt you to escape
Additional:
* Shadow Poison can quickly stack up on Huskar, And with his naturally low health you don't need as many stacks to be effective.
* Disruption turns Huskars high attack speed against him, They also have the highest survivability as illusions due to his passive Berserker's Blood, It also allows you to put Shadow Poison stacks on him,
* Dissimulate turns Huskar's burning damage against his team, You can cast it on an ally who is taking a bunch of Burning Spear stacks and cause Huskar to take high amounts of damage as well
* Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge is your most effective weapon against him, It's 7 second Break causes him to quickly die in battle
* In general, Timbersaw struggles against highly mobile heroes that can avoid his abilities: Puck, Weaver, Ember Spirit and others.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* Once you have an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Demon instantly reaches a new power spike and becomes a counter for a variety of heroes that have strong passives.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of their tankiness and become easier to finish off: Bristleback, Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Dragon Knight.
* Heroes that lose a great amount of damage output and become less threatening: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Slark, Phantom Lancer.
* You can always stack camps and farm the scepter with Shadow Poison.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon, Dazzle, Oracle, Bane, Pugna, Tusk, Winter Wyvern, Io, Underlord, Treant Protector and Keeper of the Light.
Additional:
* Be ready to save an ally from Omnislash with your Disruption.
* Spawning Juggernaut's illusions is a great deal, as his base attack time is low and he has a critical strike. Illusions will benefit from both.
* Demonic Purge will prevent Juggernaut's desperate attempt to flee using Blade Fury. However, it cannot stop him if he is using Town Portal Scroll.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers. Doom and Shadow Demon with Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility: Doom, Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with Aghanim's Shard
* Heroes who can dodge Earth Spirit's abilities: Ember Spirit, Puck, Weaver
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
* Heroes with hide abilities can often dodge a Ghostship just before it hits.
* Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
* A Eul's Scepter of Divinity can also do the trick, but, unlike the previously mentioned abilities, you can only use it on yourself and not your allies.
* Clockwerk lacks burst damage, and that makes him vulnerable to heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage after Clockwerk finishes his initiation. Additionally, Clockwerk hates buying Dagon and Ethereal Blade, which are the only itmes that can help him deal with heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage: Faceless Void, Terrorblade, Ursa, Weaver, Broodmother, Slark, Abaddon, Wraith King, Lifestealer.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Faceless Void, Gyrocopter, Juggernaut, Meepo, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Phantom Assassin, Phantom Lancer, Riki, Shadow Fiend, Slark, Sniper, Terrorblade, Troll Warlord, Weaver.
* Heroes who commonly buy Linken's Sphere: Luna, Weaver, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Ember Spirit.
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Enigma lacks burst damage, and that makes him vulnerable to heroes who can recover themselves and turn the fight around to their advantage after Enigma finishes his initiation: Faceless Void, Terrorblade, Ursa, Weaver, Broodmother, Slark, Abaddon, Wraith King, Lifestealer.
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility: Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Dark Seer.
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
* Heroes that can gain vision over trees to catch Tinker: Invoker, Shadow Demon, Batrider.
* Techies is very good against roaming supports and gankers such as Bounty Hunter, Riki, Weaver, Earthshaker, Nyx Assassin, etc. that are constantly moving around the map.
* Shadow Demon's spammable illusions can be used to scout Techies' Proximity Mines.
* 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 usually build Linken's Sphere as either a core or situational item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Luna, Naga Siren.
* Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon, Outworld Destroyer, Omniknight, Dawnbreaker.
* Although Phantom Lancer will generate strong illusions, and you can also break his Juxtapose with an Aghanim's Demonic Purge, you have a small chance of guessing which is the real Phantom Lancer after he uses Doppelganger.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's strength is the sheer amount of illusions he can conjure, Dissimulate can be cast on an ally that he is focusing to quickly thin out his ranks
* Landing a upgraded Demonic Purge on the real Phantom Lancer prevents him from making very many illusions (His only source being Doppelganger), You can reapply as needed if you have the Shard
* Disrupting Phantom Lancer allows you to create multiple extra illusions with Juxtapose, As he is a common carrier of Diffusal Blade, you can also drain the mana of any nearby heros
* 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
* Heroes that can maintain vision on Monkey King can see when he uses Tree Dance: Bloodseeker, Treant Protector with Eyes In The Forest, Sniper, Weaver
* Phantom's Embrace and Soulbind prevent Weaver from using Shukuchi or Time Lapse to escape.
* Ink Swell discourages Weaver from moving through and damaging allies with Shukuchi.
* Disruption instantly removes Phantom Embrace, and can potentially save allies affected by Soulbind.
* Demonic Purge dispels Ink Swell.
* Time Dilation while Shukuchi and Geminate Attack are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, reducing Weaver's escape potential.
* Chronosphere will reveal Weaver during Shukuchi.
Additional:
* The wide range of Chronosphere makes it difficult for Weaver to avoid it with Shukuchi and, once caught, his low survivability makes him an easy kill.
* With no significant source of burst damage, it is easy for Void to survive combat with Weaver using Time Walk.
* Time Dilation will prevent Weaver from using Shukuchi or force him to use Time Lapse to dispel the debuff and re-engage.
* Disruption can banish Faceless Void or an ally in Chronosphere, making it a less effective ability.
* Faceless Void's illusions created by Disruption will not get stunned by Chronosphere, allowing Shadow Demon to attack Faceless Void in his Chronosphere.
* Casting Disruption after releasing Shadow Poison charges will make Time Walk unable to backtrack the damage.
* Shadow Poison is a good way to deal damage as the initial damage and the release damage can't both be Time Walked at the same time.
* Demonic Purge is a great slow, useful to force out a Time Walk early and can break Time Lock with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Bounty Hunter has a cheap way to break Linken's Sphere and keep track of Weaver while he is using Shukuchi, though both can be dispelled with Time Lapse.
* Weaver with Time Lapse
* 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.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge with Aghanim's Scepter cannot break Reincarnation, which could put him in a disadvantage against Wraith King if his whole team is with him.
* Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the damage from Shadow Demon's abilities.
* However, Wraith King is a single-target hero, so he cannot deal with Disruption illusions.
* Wraithfire Blast is easy to disjoint with Shukuchi or Time Lapse, and it's the only way to break Weaver's Linken Sphere.
* Wraith King has no other disables and no mobility, allowing Weaver to chase or escape Wraith King as he wishes.
* With the Mana Break talent and Diffusal Blade, Weaver can prevent Reincarnation from triggering until Wraith King gets his shard.
Additional:
* Weaver can run away after killing Wraith King once thanks to Shukuchi.
* Wraithfire Blast is quite predictable. If Weaver is quick, he will disjoint it with Shukuchi and proceed to chase Wraith King down.
* Shukuchi does have a fade time. They cannot disjoint it if you use it right next to them. They will be stunned and take damage; however they will still become invisible if they used Shukuchi before the stun hits.
* Weaver can easily harass Wraith King out of his lane thanks to his high base damage and Geminate Attack.
* Weaver can burn Wraith King's mana quickly with his {ValueColor:1|Mana Break|15tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent or Diffusal Blade, until Wraith King purchases Aghanim's Shard to remove Reincarnation's manacost.
* Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use Time Lapse. It can also catch Weaver in Shukuchi.
* Weaver's high attack speed, along with high attack damage from Geminate Attack, triggers Counter Helix continuously and the output damage would be returned by Blade Mail.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use Time Lapse. It can also catch Weaver in Shukuchi.
* Due to his fast attack speed from Geminate Attack and items that give attack speed, Counter Helix will activate a lot, and the damage would be returned by Blade Mail, which hurts Weaver far more than it hurts Axe.
* Culling Blade can finish off Weaver's low health pool before he escapes with Shukuchi and Time Lapse.
* Battle Hunger is a good tool to pop Weaver's Linken's Sphere due to its low cooldown.
* Disruption will save Shadow Demon's teammates from being killed by Counter Helix or Culling Blade.
* Demonic Purge slows Axe to a crawl, making him nearly useless after initiating. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, it will also break Counter Helix.
* Demonic Cleanse clears Battle Hunger and Aghanim's Shard Counter Helix Damage Reduction, both allowing targets to escape and reducing your own survivability.
Additional:
* While it is unwise to encounter Axe alone, Disruption can be used to save your allies from Axe's initiate Berserker's Call, or, if timed correctly, from his Culling Blade.
* Illusions spawned from Axe has the Counter Helix passive, which with deal some nasty damage if an enemy focuses them
* Your upgraded Demonic Purge breaks Axe's primary damage output: Counter Helix, This can be used on him during Berserker's Call to seriously hinder him.
* Demonic Cleanse will clear Battle Hunger, which is Axe's method of catching heroes, and Shard upgraded Counter Helix's Damage Reduction, which is one of Axe's primary survivability abilities.
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Weaver
* Ball Lightning allows Storm Spirit to close the gap between him and Weaver in no time. Once locked down with certain items, Weaver is extremely fragile to Storm Spirit and his teammates.
Shadow Demon
* Shadow Demon will have a hard time catching Storm Spirit, as he can get away with Ball Lightning.
* Static Remnant will make quick work of the spawned illusions from Disruption.
* With very high mobility and usually being paired with Orchid Malevolence, he can catch Shadow Demon with ease both in ganks and in teamfights if Shadow Demon has no survivability items.