Ever since showing how strong he was at The International 2, Morphling has almost certainly experienced a surge in popularity in matchmaking games. Before talking about how to play against Morphling, it’s necessary to realize what makes him such a threat and so hard to deal with.

First off, he scales very well into late game and has a variety of build options that help him work well in nearly any situation. To top this off, three of his abilities can be used to help him cheat death!

Waveform



He can waveform away from ganks.

Morph



He can strength morph to become the most tanky hero on the map.

Replicate



He can simply jump himself over to any replicate he has created with his ultimate, no matter where it is on the map.

Here is a nice selection of options you have for dealing with Morphling, from playstyles to item choices.





Ganking

Taking down a morphling is no easy task, but catching him off guard is likely the best way to do it. Smoke of deceit helps you avoid being detected by wards, and if you use it on a few heroes that have stuns and sneak up on Morphling you may be able to take him out. This mostly works best during the laning phase earlier in the game, but late game you can try to pick him off while he is farming as well.





Vision

Wards win games! Morphling is a popular solo mid, and as with any solo mid, he has some ganking potential if he is in control of the runes. Wards help your team’s mid win the lane by giving him rune vision, and help see any incoming ganks from the Morphling! Nor every Morphling runs solo though, but if he is in a lane where his support can pull jungle creeps warding that camp can help put him a much more dangerous position and makes it easier for him to be ganked by stopping the creeps from spawning.

Lion

Hex shuts down his morph and wave form, can follow up with easy stun, has large burst from ultimate as well and can even drain mana to stop morphing. Hex also destroys replicates, which can help stop him from entering fights if you are able to pick it out properly





Shadow Shaman

Similar to lion, double disable is really useful as long as there is a teammate around to help with the gank. He also has a hex, which as mentioned can take out replicates.

Disruptor

Disruptor has a huge aoe silence, which is great to stop him from morphing strength in team fights, but it’s really his glimpse that helps him deal with the annoying watery thing. Glimpse at level 2 has a range equal to morphling’s waveform range, and at max level has an absurd 1800 range. You can easily bait out a waveform by coming in for a gank as early as level 7, then just glimpse him right back afterwards provided you have vision.





Riki

Riki’s smoke cloud is an amazing utility spell that pretty much directly counters any carry with built in escapes. Simply drop a smoke cloud right on him, and he won’t be able to morph strength or waveform away! Diffusal blade them while they are in the cloud for extra slow, or have allies around to stun as well. Just don’t pick him when your team already has 4 carries or 3 other invisibility dependent heroes.

Scythe of Vyse

Any major intelligence semi-carry can get a sheep stick, and counters morphling’s morph by giving a hex just like Lion and Shadow Shaman. Examples of good sheep stick holders are Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Nature’s Prophet, Obsidian Destroyer.

Orchid Malevolence

Orchid provides an on-demand silence that anyone can buy. Heroes like Clinkz and Storm Spirit are great orchid holders, and the silence the item offers gives you 5 seconds to take down or further disable Morphling before has a chance to react. Just remember that if he has a Manta Style already built, he can use the split to cancel it and it'll be like nothing ever happened!

Heaven's Halberd

Heaven's Halberd is a really underrated item that a lot of people forget even exists, but is a great choice to get against heavy physical damage dealers. Heroes like Night Stalker, Spirit Breaker, Lifestealer, or Alchemist are good holders of this item, and the disarm it provides keeps Morphling from auto attacking for 4.5 seconds. While this doesn't stop him from escaping, it's a great way to shut him down in a teamfight after he waveforms in.

Keep in mind that these aren’t the only ways to beat a Morphling, and some of them may not even be ideal ways depending on the game. In fact, the best way to win a game versus any hero or any team is teamwork and communication!