Wraith King
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Rubick
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 25%)Witch Doctor
* Witch Doctor's iconic
Death Ward is a perfect spell for Rubick to output high damage.
* Death Ward requires channeling which makes Witch Doctor a clear tagret for stealing. Rubick can steal the spell outside of Death Ward's attack range most of the times.
* Note that an skilled Witch Doctor player can cast
Voodoo Restoration to disrupt their last spell for Rubick to steal.
* Telekinesis can interrupt a channeling
Death Ward. With
Death Ward's high burst damage, combining
Death Ward and
Telekinesis to hold enemy in place can result in a solo kill in the early game.
* Paralyzing Cask provides an additional disable. The ability also helps moderately with farming.
* Voodoo Restoration provides some utility by healing Rubick and his team.
* Maledict is a damage-over-time nuke that amplifies the damage enemy taken.
* Telekinesis can reposition the enemy within the range of
Maledict.
Additional:
* Rubick can steal Death Ward easily as it is a channeled ability and then use it to turn teamfight to his advantage.
* However, a skilled Witch Doctor will toggle Voodoo Restoration immediately after placing his Death Ward to prevent that.
Venomancer
* Venomous Gale is a great ganking and farming skill.
* Plague Ward serves as a flexible ability for pushing, ganking, farming and scouting. The innate
Poison Sting also works on the stolen
Plague Ward with half the damage.
* Poison Nova, if stolen and cast, puts a huge damage-over-time debuff on the enemy team, even greater than Venomancer himself with the help of
Arcane Supremacy.
* Spell Steal has a greater cast distance than the effect area of
Poison Nova, allowing Rubick to steal the spell while staying at the back.
* Venomancer suffers from mana pool problems, while Rubick has relatively high intelligence gain and can cast the same set of spells at ease.
Additional:
* All of Venomancer's abilities are decent choices for Rubick's Spell Steal. Stealing Plague Wards makes them apply Poison Sting as well.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 15%)Witch Doctor
* Sacred Arrow can be used to interrupt Death Ward from a safe distance, forcing him to cancel it to dodge or get hit.
* Paralyzing Cask is a slow-moving stun, and Mirana can Leap away from her allies to keep it from bouncing.
* Witch Doctor has low health and can easily be killed with an Aghanim's Scepter combo or just when hit with an arrow.
Venomancer
* 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.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* It is especially easy for Oracle to negate the damage from Maledict, and even heal through it with Fate's Edict and
Purifying Flames.
* If by some miracle an enemy is still about to die because of Maledict, he can still save him with False Promise.
Venomancer
* Fortune's End and False Promise easily dispel many crippling debuffs, such as Venomancer's
Venomous Gale, or
Skywrath Mage's
Ancient Seal.
Additional:
* Fortune's End can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting from allies.
* Fate's Edict grants 100% magic resistance to target, inhibiting the damage from Venomancer abilities.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes who have channeled abilities can be stunned by Light Strike Array, like Witch Doctor with
Death Ward and
Bane's
Fiend's Grip.
Additional:
* Light Strike Array cancels out Death Ward from a long distance.
Venomancer
* Venomancer has low health, which makes him vulnerable to Lina's heavy magic damage.
* Fiery Soul attack speed bonus removes Plague Wards easily in all stages of the game.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with plenty of summons, such as Broodmother or
Nature's Prophet can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
Venomancer
* Teleportation allows Natures Prophet to save himself from the damage over time of Venomous Gale,
Poison Sting and
Poison Nova.
* Plague Wards can be destroyed with Nature's Prophet's Treants.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Shadow Shaman,
Pugna
Venomancer
* Sniper can easily destroy Plague Ward from long range.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Arc Warden's
Magnetic Field dodges all damage from Death Ward.
Venomancer
* 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.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Witch Doctor
* Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as Lina and
Witch Doctor are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
Venomancer
* Heroes who lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Phantom Assassin if they are not careful. Look for Luna,
Venomancer, and
Shadow Fiend and try to catch them off guard.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Witch Doctor
* Without Dust of Appearance or Sentry Wards, Riki is able to silence Witch Doctor with Smoke Screen, and is likely to build a Diffusal Blade, leaving Witch Doctor without mana to cast Voodoo Restoration, as well as Skull Basher to interrupt Death Ward.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Witch Doctor
* Like any hero with a channeled spell, Last Word is a counter to it.
* Global Silence goes through spell immunity and prevents Witch Doctor from casting his spells.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 2%)Venomancer
* Venomancer is a low health hero and low range hero who is easy to harass with Ion Shell on a creep in the early game.
* Venomancer depends entirely on all his slows to keep distance or chase, but since Surge ignores slows, it is nearly impossible for Venomancer to hunt or run away from Dark Seer or his surged teammates.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities are easier to heal through with numerous Shadow Waves than other types of damage, and it's simple to time a Shallow Grave until the last possible second to save a teammate from them.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Venomancer
* Dark Pact can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting.
* Shadow Dance allows Slark heightened regeneration when out of vision making DoTs effects less threatening.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Venomancer
* Dark Rift allows Underlord to transport allies from poison damage-over-time to the fountain.
* Underlord usually buys Pipe of Insight that gives a magic resistance to allies, inhibiting the damage from Venomancer abilities.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 12%)Witch Doctor
* Death Ward can be easily canceled by Jakiro, or even turned against him with Macropyre, due to it's attack range being smaller then Jakiro's cast range
* Voodoo Switcheroo is even easier to land Jakiro's Macropyro/Ice Path combo
* Unlike Crystal Maiden, his Scepter does not allow him to move while using it
* While Maledict can be quite effective on Jakiro, but with his arsenal of stuns, it is very difficult to get a strong Maledict on him
* However his Maledict/Death Ward combo will still quickly eliminate Jakiro
* On the other hand. Voodoo Restoration will partly protect his allies from your spells, as it heals based on their Max Health once he gets his Talent (Level 25),
* Before then though, it won't make a dent in the damage you deal
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Vengeful Spirit has two abilities to interrupt Death Ward, even through Black King Bar.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Venomancer
* Snowball can be used to save allies or himself during Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova.
* Venomancer lacks mobility and has low base health, so he can be killed by Walrus PUNCH!
Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Kraken Shell dispels the stun from Paralyzing Cask. However, it does not dispel the damage from Maledict.
* Once Witch Doctor first uses his Death Ward in team fights, Tidehunter can simply cancel it with Ravage, turning the tables against him, especially if Witch Doctor does not have a
Black King Bar.
* As a precaution, let Tidehunter use Ravage first before channeling Death Ward to turn a team fight in your favor.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Beware of placing the Death Ward if Chronosphere is off cooldown, as it will cancel the effect and leave Witch Doctor vulnerable if he does not react in time.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Witch Doctor
* Witch Doctor's Maledict burst damage can be prevented by Sunder if timed correctly. But it can kill Terrorblade if he has no target to be Sundered with, especially in the early game.
* Death Ward deals physical damage, and Terrorblade's high armor can help him survive against Death Ward. However, Terrorblade has no disable in his skillset at all, and he cannot stop Witch Doctor from channeling Death Ward to maximum. And if Witch Doctor owns
Aghanim's Scepter, attacks from Death Ward will be able to bounce around and wipe out Terrorblade's illusions and his team.
* Terrorblade must be careful as Paralyzing Cask is commonly tricky to dodge for him due to his reliance on illusions.
Venomancer
* Sunder can prevent Terrorblade's or an ally's death by swapping health, making damage-over-time abilities inefficient. Heroes that rely on damage-over-time abilities like Venomancer and
Huskar will have a hard time against Sunder.
Additional:
* Reflection illusion will apply Poison Sting back towards Venomancer.
* Conjure Image and
Metamorphosis will make quick work of Plague Wards.
* While ticking down from Poison Nova, Terrorblade can wait until the last possible moment to Sunder a target, either friend or foe.
Witch Doctor
* Heroes who have channeling abilities because Terrorblade has no disables to cancel them at all and does not like buying disabling items at all: Enigma's
Black Hole,
Witch Doctor's
Death Ward,
Shadow Shaman's
Shackles,
Lion's
Mana Drain,
Bane's
Fiend's Grip,
Pudge's
Dismember,
Crystal Maiden's
Freezing Field,
Pugna's
Life Drain,
Dawnbreaker's
Solar Guardian, and
Naga Siren's
Reel In from
Aghanim's Scepter.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 8%)Witch Doctor
* Morphling can Attribute Shift to strength after being hit by Maledict. Since Maledict deals its damage based on the difference between HP on cast and HP after two seconds, odds are Morphling will have more HP than when Maledict was cast, thus resulting in no damage.
* On the upside, players prone to panicked reactions may Morph to agility, making Maledict even more efficient than intended.
* Adaptive Strike (Strength) can interrupt Death Ward at a decent range.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with plenty of summons, such as Broodmother or
Nature's Prophet can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Venomancer
* Vulnerable spellcasters with no escape mechanisms are easy targets for Huskar: Lich,
Crystal Maiden,
Silencer,
Keeper of the Light,
Venomancer, etc.
Additional:
* Huskar can easily regenerate lost health from DoT spells through Berserker's Blood rendering them ineffective
* Venomancer has little armor and mobility, and rarely builds Linken's Sphere, so he is quite vulnerable to Life Break.
Undying
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Witch Doctor
* Generally, any fragile heroes will have a hard time dealing with Undying's tankiness, and even more so if Decay is used on them. Some examples are Crystal Maiden and
Witch Doctor.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Venomancer
* 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.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Venomancer
* 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.
Warlock
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* 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.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Venomancer
* Heroes that deal damage over time will also fail to bring down Abaddon and his allies, such as Huskar,
Venomancer, or
Phoenix.
Additional:
* Borrowed Time &
Aphotic Shield can dispel Venomous Gale and Poison Sting.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or
Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Venomancer
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain
Bash of the Deep charges, and
Templar Assassin can spill
Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Witch Doctor
* 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.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes like Slark,
Witch Doctor and others also tend to suffer in Ice Blast's heal denial.
Primal Beast
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes who cannot escape from Trample early might be easy first blood. Heroes like Witch Doctor and
Omniknight should play very cautiously alone...
Luna
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Witch Doctor
* Luna can easily cancel channeling spells with Lucent Beam and 0.25s Eclipse Lucent Ministun talent for
Eclipse, she can also buy
Abyssal Blade in case they decide to buy
Black King Bar:
Enigma's
Black Hole,
Witch Doctor's
Death Ward,
Shadow Shaman's
Shackles,
Lion's
Mana Drain,
Bane's
Fiend's Grip,
Pudge's
Dismember,
Crystal Maiden's
Freezing Field,
Pugna's
Life Drain,
Dawnbreaker's
Solar Guardian, and
Naga Siren's
Reel In from
Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Lucent Beam interrupts Death Ward from a decent range.
* Eclipse kills Witch Doctor during Death Ward, even through
Glimmer Cape.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 29%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes that have a channeled ability that can be interrupted by Meat Hook: Shadow Shaman,
Witch Doctor,
Enigma,
Bane.
Additional:
* Meat Hook interrupts Death Ward from a decent range, even through
Black King Bar &
Glimmer Cape.
* Pudge can survive the damage from Maledict because of his Flesh Heap stacks.
* However the damage-over-time from Rot is counteracted by Voodoo Restoration.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Venomancer
* Squishy heroes or heroes without hard disables or silences: Shadow Demon,
Shadow Fiend,
Venomancer,
Ancient Apparition etc.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes who rely on channeling abilities can be interrupted in teamfights by Rolling Thunder: Crystal Maiden,
Pugna,
Witch Doctor
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Venomancer
* 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.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with long channeling abilities like Witch Doctor are easy targets for Kunkka to interrupt in team fights.
Additional:
* Torrent can cancel Death Ward from a far distance.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Venomancer
* Heroes with damage-over-time abilities will not only proc Bristleback's passive continuously, they will also do little harm to him when he is facing away from the source: Venomancer,
Arc Warden
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Guardian Angel protects allies from Death Ward's physical damage.
* Purification and
Heavenly Grace will most likely save teammates from dying to Maledict.
Venomancer
* Heroes who can harass Omniknight out of lane will keep him weak in the mid game: Viper,
Venomancer,
Clinkz.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 11%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage get away from Venomancer's slows.
Additional:
* Counterspell provides magic resistance, diminishing the effectiveness of Venomancer's spells.
* Venomancer's lack of hard disable allows Anti-Mage to use Blink, circumventing the slows Venomancer depends on.
Witch Doctor
* Heroes with abilities or items that can silence or disable Anti-Mage for long periods of time will prevent him from Blinking away: Lion,
Silencer,
Shadow Shaman,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Skywrath Mage,
Puck.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 5%)Witch Doctor
* Death Ward does little damage against Dragon Knight's armor, and Dragon Knight's high health regeneration minimizes damage from
Maledict.
Venomancer
* In general, heroes that can slow down Dragon Knight's movement speed will do well against him. This includes Venomancer and others in addition to the heroes mentioned above.
Mars
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
* Plague Ward can attack through Arena Of Blood.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison attacks are all magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective against Mars' low mobility.
* Plague Wards can attack through Arena of Blood.
Enchantress
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 2%)Venomancer
* Untouchable won't mitigate Venomancer's magical damage, and Enchantress is vulnerable to magic damage.
* Both Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova lowers the amount of healing received by Enchantress and her allies from Nature's Attendants.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Witch Doctor
* Paralyzing Cask's short stun rarely prevents Monkey King from ambushing Witch Doctor.
* Death Ward's long channel is easily interrupted by Boundless Strike.
Witch Doctor
* Another hero that should not leave a special circle for his ultimate. The only thing to be afraid is Boundless Strike.
Venomancer
* Venomancer's magical damage-over-time poisons will constantly put Tree Dance on cooldown, greatly diminishing Monkey King's mobility.
* Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova will hit Monkey King when he is perched on a tree, or disguised with Mischief.
* However, Venomancer is also easily ganked by Monkey King if caught by surprise.
Additional:
* Venomancer's magical damage-over-time poisons putting Tree Dance on cooldown, greatly diminishing Monkey King's mobility.
* Venomous Gale and Posion Nova will hit Monkey King when he is perched on a tree, or disguised by Mischief.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Maledict cannot be dispelled by Phantasm, and can be used to tag the real Chaos Knight hiding within his illusions.
* If Witch Doctor has an Aghanim's Scepter,
Death Ward will bounce between Chaos Knight's illusions, destroying them quickly.
* However, Death Ward is easily interrupted by Chaos Bolt until Witch Doctor buys
Glimmer Cape or
Black King Bar.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Venomancer
* Plague Wards are very hard for Batrider to play against as they provide a lot of vision as well as disable
Blink Dagger for a long duration.
Techies
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Venomancer
* Plague Wards may reveal a hiding Techies. If there's a sentry nearby, they may also reveal a stack of mines hidden in a juking spot.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter Bloodseeker's Thirst.
* Rupture is generally useless against Witch Doctor while he is staying on Death Ward.
* Although Witch Doctor needs to be careful as Blood Rite can interrupt Death Ward.
Axe
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Ward is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Additional:
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* For the same reasons, Venomancer is a good ally for Axe when the situation is reversed.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Venomancer
* Similar to Night Stalker, Venomancer can simultaneously scout Magnus hiding in trees and put Blink Dagger on cooldown with Plague Ward, which gives Magnus problems when trying to blink in and initiate.
Additional:
* Venomancer can simultaneously scout Magnus hiding in trees and putting Blink Dagger on cooldown with Plague Wards, which makes Magnus real problems to blink and initiate.
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 0%)Venomancer
* 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.
Witch Doctor
* Heroes with channeling spells, for Chen has no disables on his own, hates buying disabling items and his creeps are often not fast enough to cancel them: Enigma's
Black Hole,
Witch Doctor's
Death Ward,
Shadow Shaman's
Shackles,
Lion's
Mana Drain,
Bane's
Fiend's Grip,
Pudge's
Dismember,
Crystal Maiden's
Freezing Field,
Pugna's
Life Drain,
Dawnbreaker's
Solar Guardian, and
Naga Siren's
Reel In from
Aghanim's Scepter.
Venomancer
* Venomancer's damage over time can force Chen to use Hand of God prematurely, potentially wasting a chance to save his allies during a teamfight.
* Venomancer's Poison Nova,
Venomous Gale and
Plague Ward can easily kill Chen's creeps.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Venomancer
* Venomancer's poison damage over time is very effective against Spectre, who tends to lack magic resistance during the early to mid game.
* Venomancer's multiple slows greatly reduces Spectre's movement speed and mobility.
* Plague Wards can scout out Spectre while she is hiding in trees.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison damage-over-time are very effective against Spectre, which is lack of magic resistance from early to mid game.
* Venomancer's multiple slows greatly reduces Spectre's low mobility, even through Spectral Dagger.
* Plague Wards reveals Spectre while she is hiding on trees.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Paralyzing Cask is likely to bounce between him and his bear every single time.
* Lone Druid's lack of mobility makes him vulnerable to Death Ward and Maledict.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Venomancer
* Aggressively Poofing and Earthbinding is not going to end well against Venomancer, as he will be an easy target for Poison Nova.
* Venomancer's constant slows greatly reduce Meepo's mobility.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 57% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Paralyzing cask bounces between him and his wolves, keeping him stunned for long amounts of time.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with the ability to heal allies, or those with good defensive abilities: Chen,
Dazzle,
Io,
Oracle,
Omniknight,
Witch Doctor,
Winter Wyvern,
Abaddon, etc.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Venomancer
* Heroes who thrive on teamfights can be a problem such as Venomancer,
Necrophos,
Centaur Warrunner...
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Venomancer
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer,
Viper,
Dazzle,
Arc WardenLion
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with channeling abilities: Enigma,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Venomancer
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage: Venomancer,
Huskar,
Ember Spirit,
Dark Seer,
Sand King,
Doom,
Dawnbreaker.
Dawnbreaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Venomancer
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker. ( Lion,
Crystal Maiden ,
Venomancer etc.)
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Witch Doctor
* 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
Venomancer
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain
Bash of the Deep charges, and
Templar Assassin can spill
Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
Witch Doctor
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna
Venomancer
* Venomancer's entire arsenal deals lingering damage over a long time and therefore burns through her Refraction very quickly. Not only that, his persistent slow from Poison Sting (and can be re-apply again and again with
Plague Ward) allows his team to catch up to her even with the disruption from her Psionic Trap.
Additional:
* Venomous Gale and Plague Wards allow to quickly melt through Refraction charges.
* Both Poison Nova and Venomous Gale hit invisible units, so Meld cannot be used defensively.
Puck
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Witch Doctor
* Low health spellcasters: Lina,
Witch Doctor,
Tinker,
Keeper of the Light, all rely heavily on their spells and are fragile heroes. They all also have avoidable spells, allowing Puck to get to them and quickly burst them down.
Venomancer
* Unless Puck is facing the direction he wants to blink while in Phase Shift, the Venomous Gale and
Poison Nova combo consistently ticks many times over several seconds, making it very difficult to use
Blink Dagger towards the other direction. Puck's slow turning rate makes this even worse.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 10%)Witch Doctor
* Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore Windranger and
Phantom Assassin are poor choices to use it on.
Venomancer
* Due to lack of magic resistance, Venomancer poisons eats through Windranger's health.
Additional:
* Due to lack of magic resistance, Venomancer abilities eats through Windranger's health.
* Venomancer's multiple slows, to an extent, negates Windrun's mobility.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Witch Doctor
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
Venomancer
* Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time works well against Earthshaker's which completes lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards are useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his
Blink Dagger on cooldown if Venomancer has vision over Earthshaker.
Additional:
* Earthshaker can be kited by Venomancer's slows, which is lack of mobility.
* Plague Wards is very useful for slowing and kitting down Earthshaker, revealing him from initiating and re-initiating and putting his Blink Dagger on cooldown.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Witch Doctor
* Low mobility heroes: Heroes with no/little means of traveling fast have difficulty getting to/away from Bounty Hunter due to his slowing Jinada and hastening Track. Few examples of such heroes are: Crystal Maiden,
Sniper,
Ursa,
Witch Doctor, etc.
Venomancer
* Venomancer's magical damage-over-time poisons greatly reduce Bounty Hunter's mobility.
* Venomous Gale, combined with
Plague Wards and
Poison Nova with True Sight items can allow Venomancer and his teammates to gank Bounty Hunter while he is roaming alone.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Venomancer
* Heroes rely on their debuff to control the opponent will have a hard time against Press the Attack: Venomancer,
Earth Spirit,
Ogre Magi
Additional:
* Press the Attack dispels Venomous Gale and Poison Sting from Legion Commander or her teammates.
* Venomancer is an ideal target for Duel due to his lack of mobility and low starting health.
Witch Doctor
* Paralyzing Cask can save ally from Legion Commander Duel's until she purchase
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Voodoo Restoration can heal Witch Doctor allies from Duel's.
* Death Ward can help Witch Doctor allies from winning Duel's, if, he is not a target.
Visage
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 2%)Witch Doctor
* Stone Form can easily interrupt heroes with long channeling spells, like Crystal Maiden,
Bane,
Witch Doctor, or
Enigma.
Venomancer
* Venomous Gale,
Poison Sting and
Poison Nova deal damage over time and will chip away at Gravekeeper's Cloak in addition to slowing an already sluggish hero.
* Venomancer's normal attacks deal
Poison Sting and will chip away at Gravekeeper's Cloak.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Venomancer
* 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.
Witch Doctor
* 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.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Venomancer
* Corrosive Skin means Viper can often outlast Venomancer in a battle of attrition.
* Venomancer has no mobility without items, which makes him vulnerable to constant slows.
Witch Doctor
* Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Viper abilities.
* Viper has no way to cancel Death Ward, even through Rod of Atos.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assassin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (lane data is parsed from hero guides dotabuff)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- Improved UX on small screens - when selecting heroes page automatically scrolls so hero select input is displayed at the very top of screen, leaving more space for results.
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal win rate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest win rate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Witch Doctor
* Wraithfire Blast cancels
Death Ward in decent range.
Death Ward is meaningless while Reincarnation is off cooldown.
Maledict.
*
* Vampiric Aura can out-heal the {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from
Venomancer
* While
Reincarnation is off cooldown, Poison Nova poses less of a threat as Wraith King will return with all debuffs cleared.
Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the slow {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Poison Sting.
*