Top Introduction This guide will give you a list of guidelines on how to counter the most common pubstomp heroes. I will be talking about ways to counter these heroes:

Riki

Bloodseeker

Sniper

Huskar

Viper

Drow Ranger

Zeus

Pudge

I chose these heroes because they are currently sitting at the top of the chart in terms of number of kills per match (



These heroes are very popular in pub games because they are mostly low skill heroes : they are extremely easy to play, and they make it very easy to own pub games because people don't know how to deal with them. All these heroes are almost never seen in high-level games (with maybe the exception of Pudge, but just because Dendi plays him doesn't mean that he is viable in competitive). They are terrible picks against competent players because you can counter them easily, however they are still able to own pubs because people still don't know how to.



Explaining how to counter them is the purpose of this guide. However, this guide is not about counterpicking (even though I do mention counterpicks). This guide is about countering these guys with any hero, simply by adapting your playstyle. You don't need a specific counterpick to deal with these guys : not only is counterpicking a form of abuse if you are doing it in all pick (or at least a form of heavy tryharding), but it is completely unnecessary if you are aware of how these heroes work. You simply need to identify their weaknesses and adapt your item build and your playstyle to take advantage of them. I chose these heroes because they are currently sitting at the top of the chart in terms of number of kills per match ( http://dotabuff.com/heroes/impact ), and also at the top of the chart in terms of the most picked heroes. From a point of view, you could say that they are currently the most successful heroes in pubs.These heroes are very popular in pub games because they are mostly low skill heroes : they are extremely easy to play, and they make it very easy to own pub games because people don't know how to deal with them. All these heroes are almost never seen in high-level games (with maybe the exception of Pudge, but just because Dendi plays him doesn't mean that he is viable in competitive). They are terrible picks against competent players because you can counter them easily, however they are still able to own pubs because people still don't know how to.Explaining how to counter them is the purpose of this guide. However,(even though I do mention counterpicks). This guide is about countering these guys, simply by adapting your playstyle. You don't need a specific counterpick to deal with these guys : not only is counterpicking a form of abuse if you are doing it in all pick (or at least a form of heavy tryharding), but it is completely unnecessary if you are aware of how these heroes work. You simply need to identify their weaknesses andto take advantage of them.

Top The basic idea : adapt your build! The main point I would like to get across about countering heroes is the following:



No matter what hero you are playing, you should ALWAYS make your item choices depending on the enemy heroes you are facing.



You shouldn't follow "standard" item builds, you should always, always adapt your build to the situation.



For example, suppose that you are playing Lifestealer. He is a very simple right-click carry, all he does is right-click people with a free Black King Bar. So essentially you can build any right-click item on him and it will work. The standard item build tells you to go Armlet of Mordiggian, Assault Cuirass and Skull Basher (for example). Should you get this every game in that order? Absolutely not! Say that the enemy carry is a Drow Ranger Shadow Blade Open Wounds Blink Dagger

Say that the enemy carry is a Phantom Lancer Battle Fury

Also, any other build that you can make up 'on the fly' may work just as well...and could even be more adapted to the situation. For example if you want to go Manta Style Daedalus Armlet of Mordiggian Spectre Desolate

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that battlefury naix is a good build (^^), there's a reason why you don't usually go for battlefury on naix (having garbage attack speed early/mid game is one of them for example). But my point is that a lot of heroes in the game can be countered very hard by purchasing one specific item, and you should always take advantage of item counters instead of building your hero the same way in every game just because a guide told you so.

DotA allows for a lot of creativity in terms of item builds and you can really make up your build as the game goes on. In the following I will give examples of item counters, so that you can simply adapt them to the specific hero you are playing.



In short, don't choose your items depending on who you are playing, always choose your items depending on who you are playing *against*. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that battlefury naix is a good build (^^), there's a reason why you don't usually go for battlefury on naix (having garbage attack speed early/mid game is one of them for example). But my point is that a lot of heroes in the game can be countered very hard by purchasing one specific item, and you should always take advantage of item counters instead of building your hero the same way in every game just because a guide told you so.DotA allows for a lot of creativity in terms of item builds and you can really make up your build as the game goes on. In the following I will give examples of item counters, so that you can simply adapt them to the specific hero you are playing.

Top Drow Ranger



Everything I said about Sniper and Viper also applies to Drow Ranger, word for word. For how to counter Drow, refer to these two sections.



Still, a bit of advice specific to Drow : if you're laning in a dual lane vs dual lane situation against her and she's harassing you with Frost Arrows, to counter her harass, just go freaking kill her . Drow is one of the squishiest lvl 1 heroes in the game, her HP is low and she has less than 1 starting armor, so she's extremely weak to right-clicks. 2 stuns, or a stun and a nuke = dead Drow. Do NOT play passively and if she's harassing you, go aggressive instead.

Top Howto : ganking the mid lane Ganking the mid lane is just as easy as ganking any other lane. You may even find out that it is easier to gank mid than to gank the sidelanes because people won't expect it.



There is only one possible path on each side for ganking mid:







The yellow line is the path you should follow if you are Radiant, the blue line if you are Dire. Both paths are on the left side, you can't come from the right side because you would be in tower range.



You need to wait until the enemy mid hero is standing near the river (at the edge of the high ground). If he is in the middle of the high ground near his tower then you need to wait outside of vision range until he comes forward.



Ganking mid is easier at night because of the reduced vision, but still possible during the day. If you do it during the day then it's advised to wait until your target is in the river (the low ground) so he won't see you coming.



Great heroes for ganking mid are heroes with a good disable (e.g Mirana, Vengeful Spirit, Venomancer, Crystal Maiden, Lion, Shadow Shaman, Disruptor, Shadow Demon, Earthshaker, Sven, Naga Siren...), or heroes with a good nuke (e.g Juggernaut).

Some heroes can also just tower dive for the kill (e.g Night Stalker).

Enchantress and Chen are pretty much designed for ganking mid too, thanks to the disables from their creeps (trolls or centaurs)



Something you can do also is ask your mid to push the lane and then dive the tower. Since the tower will be attacking your creeps, you can walk under tower range without problem.



Don't hesitate to gank mid early, even at level 1 if you have the right hero for it. It's a great way to get first blood.



Bonus points for using a Smoke of Deceit to avoid being seen by enemy wards.

Top Conclusion Thanks for reading. I hope you found this guide useful. Any constructive feedback on this guide is much appreciated. I sincerely hope that giving tips on counters could prevent the same heroes from owning pubs again and again, so that we could see more high-skill hero pickups in pub games.



If you would like to have a hero added to this list, don't hesitate to make a suggestion.