The Nevermore has terrorized all his foes, he knows no bounds as he is quick to decimate and add new souls to his collection. There is chaos in his actions and not all can be fortunate to live another day after encountering him. Though, there are a few mighty heroes which can counter his moves and give him a run for his money!
We bring you the Best 10 Powerful Shadow FIend Counters in the current meta, these heroes are highly picked against him and can destroy him if played well.
10. Doom
Doom is back in the meta! This hellish demon has sent countless of his enemies to the realm of hell, including Shadow Fiend. His abilities ensure nothing but pain and agony, his fearful presence wins him wars, he is the almighty Doom! Doom is known to farm the jungle effortlessly right from level one, and even gives SF the run for his money. His high base armor provides him sustain while fighting or laning. Doom can also be played as roaming support, ganking and catching the mighty fiend by surprise.
What makes Doom a great top lane hero?
- Doom has several disable abilities to choose from jungle creeps to deal with Shadow Fiend who lacks escape abilities.
- Although Shadow Fiend has a high physical damage output, Doom has a large health pool to survive it.
- Doom usually buys Radiance to improve his damage, making his nuke combo more deadly to Shadow Fiend. The blind also prevents Shadow Fiend from landing his attacks often.
Items to buy against Shadow Fiend
- Shadow Blade
- Blink Dagger
- Shiva’s Guard
- Black King Bar
- Refresher’s Orb
9. Ursa
This ferocious and breathtaking bear is a force to be reckoned with! Ursa is one of the most played carry heroes in the game, especially against Shadow Fiend, also known for his ability to jungle smoothly and slay Roshan alone. His third ability, Fury Swipes, combined with his second, Overpower, can obliterate squishy Shadow Fiend in the early game. Buying a Morbid mask allows him to sustain in lane and turn around a fight swiftly coupled with his ultimate, Enrage.
Why is Ursa a great counter to Shadow Fiend?
- Earthshock prevents Shadow Fiend from escaping after Ursa used his Blink Dagger to get on top of him.
- Overpower and Fury Swipes allow Ursa to quickly kill Shadow Fiend.
- Enrage keeps Ursa alive in a man fight with Shadow Fiend and allows him to stay close, even if Shadow Fiend uses Requiem of Souls.
Items to buy against Shadow Fiend
- Blink Dagger
- Diffusal Blade
- Satanic
- Abyssal Blade
- Monkey King Bar
- Swift Blink
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Ursa
8. Axe
Doing immense physical damage right off the bat is quite unheard of in the early stages of the game, but Axe is one noble exception! A few Counter Helix spins on Shadow Fiend and boom he is dead! It gets messy to communicate with your team as you have more units around you, the more damage the Axe Call does. No matter how farmed you are as a carry hero, all it takes is one Axe Blink Call to get you down to 0 HP in no time.
Why is Axe a great harass hero?
- Berserker's Call and Counter Helix allow Axe to kill Shadow Fiend if he stands too close to a creep wave.
- Battle Hunger is very strong against Shadow Fiend in the early game because Shadow Fiend's low attack damage makes it hard for him to get last hits.
- Offers great initiation, allowing his team to follow up.
Items to Buy against Shadow Fiend
- Blink Dagger
- Blade Mail
- Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard
- Force Staff
- Crimson Guard
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Axe
7. Bane
Bane is the culprit of endless nightmares in the shadow realm. He remains a solid counter to Shadow Fiend, especially in the current meta. He can quickly disable him by applying debuffs, and locking him down for a good duration! This means that Shadow Fiend can’t escape Bane’s wrath if locked down with Nightmare followed by Fiend’s Grip. The upside of having so many single targetted spells is that you can break the Linken’s as well.
Why is Bane great against Shadow Fiend?
- Enfeeble can be used to decrease Shadow Fiend's already abysmal level one damage even further, preventing him from getting farm and Necromastery stacks.
- Brain Sap allows Bane to heavily harass Shadow Fiend.
- Nightmare allows Bane to set up some early ganks onto Shadow Fiend.
Items to Buy against Shadow Fiend
- Glimmer Cape
- Ghost Scepter
- Aghanim’s Scepter
- Force Staff
- Aether Lens
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Bane
6. Bounty Hunter
Gondar, the Bounty Hunter is loved by all the pos 3 and 4 mains. He deals decent damage, tracks Shadow Fiend’s movements, and escapes effortlessly with his Shadow Walk. Bounty Hunter is known to be an annoying hero right from the laning phase, as not only does he steal his gold, but he also does pure damage with his spells and you never quite know where he is. Along with dealing damage, he can be played in the support position as well, itemizing the support way is also possible for him. In short, he is quite the flexible of the bunch, making him a great counter to Shadow Fiend.
Why is Bounty Hunter a great harass hero?
- Shuriken Toss can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls.
- Shadow Walk and Jinada allow Bounty Hunter to gank Shadow Fiend early on
- Track prevents Shadow Fiend from escaping with Shadow Blade.
Items to buy against Shadow Fiend
- Spirit Vessel
- Solar Crest
- Force Staff
- Lotus Orb
- Drum of Endurance
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Bounty_Hunter
5. Tidehunter
Tidehunter does exceptionally well against melee heroes but that doesn’t mean he lacks against the ranged ones. He excels exceptionally well against the squishy ones with low armor, such as the Shadow Fiend. With little to no damage being dealt by his laning carry due to Anchor Smash and high base armor, Shadow Fiend has no choice but to ignore this melon man during teamfights! But this does not mean that Tide ignores him, he ferociously pounces on him to ravage and decimate his foes and eventually wipe off the entire team.
Why is Tidehunter a great initiator?
- Kraken Shell dispels both Shadowraze's damage amplification stacks and Requiem of Soul's damage reduction (provided Tidehunter has taken enough damage).
- Ravage cancels Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend isn't protected by Black King Bar.
- Anchor Smash reduces base damage, which is the majority of a carry hero’s auto-attack damage.
- An Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Gush slows down and reduces the armor of all heroes.
Items to Buy against Shadow Fiend
- Blink Dagger
- Shiva’s Guard
- Lotus Orb
- Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard
- Force Staff
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Tidehunter
4. Disruptor
Prepare yourself for troubled weather as Disruptor barrages into the battlefield to change the trajectory of the battle! Disruptor is one of the most picked support heroes against Shadow Fiend in the current meta, as he provides insane disable in the form of Static Storm which further is amplified by Aghanim’s Scepter that mutes his items. Shadow Fiend can easily be caught off guard by Disruptor if he wanders in without suspecting anything, the aftermath can be in the favor of the Disruptor!
Why is Disruptor a great disabler?
- Glimpse and Kinetic Field allow Disruptor to set up some early kills onto Shadow Fiend.
- Static Storm can be used to cancel the cast of Requiem of Souls.
- Low CD on spells, allows him to spam and shove him off the lane
Items to Buy against Shadow Fiend
- Aghanim’s Scepter
- Ghost Scepter
- Eul’s Scepter
- Glimmer Cape
- Force Staff
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Disruptor
3. Luna
The Moon rider herself! Luna is essentially a beginner-friendly hero, but we frequently see it getting picked in both pub and pro games against Shadow Fiend. The reason is her quick farming abilities and massive AoE damage output. Luna offers tremendous wave clearance, which returns her a great deal of gold. Luna farms fairly well in the early game and offers decent damage to her nearby allies. This is an example of great synergy, Luna can be picked alongside massive crowd control heroes to wreak havoc against the mighty Shadow Fiend.
Why is Luna a great hero against Storm Spirit?
- Lucent Beam and Eclipse with mini stun talent can be used to cancel Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend does not have Black King Bar.
- Moon Glaives and Lunar Blessing allow Luna to out farm Shadow Fiend in the lane.
- Even though Shadow Fiend can evade all of Luna's abilities with Shadow Blade, a smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Shadow Fiend to her and her team.
Items to buy against Storm Spirit
- Eye of Skadi
- Satanic
- Black King Bar
- Butterfly
- Manta Style
- Hurricane Pike
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Luna
2. Zeus
Zeus, the ultimate god proves to be one of the best mid-laners against Shadow Fiend, this is highly attributed to his extreme DPS spells and wave clearance abilities. He is a must-play hero to counter SF as he is very annoying against him right from the laning phase. He can dish out some serious damage with spells and constantly harass him. He is also infamous for having the potential to solo kill enemies from miles away on the map with the right items and levels, hence Shadow Fiend stands no chance against him.
Why is Zeus a great Pos 2 hero?
- Arc Lightning allows Zeus to get the farm in the lane against Shadow Fiend without coming into the range of his Shadowrazes.
- Lightning Bolt can be used to heavily harass Shadow Fiend when he tries to get the last hit.
- Thundergod's Wrath and Lightning Bolt can be used to detect Shadow Fiend if he tries to escape with Shadow Blade.
Items to buy against Shadow Fiend
- Octraine Core
- Refresher’s Orb
- Arcane Blink
- Bloodstone
- Aghanim’s Scepter
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Zeus
1. Tinker
The mechanical maniac is also a genius, known to tinker around with gadgets and fry his enemies with lasers. His exceptional laning is evident against the mighty Shadow Fiend. Weak laners like him stand no chance in the laning phases against a Tinker as he will always be targeted with constant harassment in the form of rockets and lasers. With the addition of the Shield, Tinker can easily escape or otherwise initiate and lock Shadow Fiend down with his annoying Scythe and Rearm combo!
Why Tinker is a great hero against Shadow Fiend?
- The blind from Laser prevents Shadow Fiend from attacking for its duration, potentially preventing him from getting a kill.
- Scythe of Vyse can be used to prevent Shadow Fiend from casting Requiem of Souls.
- Reduced damage with the shield.
Items to buy against Shadow Fiend
- Scythe of Vyse
- Aether Lens
- Aghanim’s Scepter
- Shiva’s Guard
- Bloodstone
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Tinker
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