They say size can often be deceitful which is completely true in the case of Tiny. It may sound like the least intimidating name for a hero, but as the game takes its course, you will be the one feeling tiny against this gargantuan stone element. His spells are extremely lethal which can help him secure kills or separate the fight. The best part about Tiny is his flexibility, which makes him fit into various roles quite easily. You can play the carry Tiny with lethal physical damage, or the mid-Tiny with hybrid magical and physical damage, or you could go the roaming support build to stun and toss enemies all over the map.
The exceptional Tiny knows no bounds, he is an excellent hero regardless of what position he is playing. Although, however exceptional his spells may sound, they can often be countered or made feel inferior against certain heroes, as these heroes can counter him quite well right from the early game. We bring you the Best 10 Tiny Counters in the current meta!
Best general items against Tiny
- Black King Bar - On usage, it provides spell immunity. This entirely negates the damage from all of Tiny’s spells.
- Glimmer Cape - Provides invisibility, and can also be used on allies to escape or to initiate Tiny.
- Desolator - Provides increased damage along with armor corruption on physical attacks. It can also gain stacks and increased the mentioned perks with the increase in stacks. Desolator is ideal to mow down the squishy Tiny due to his low armor.
- Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for Tiny and his allies in an AoE.
- Shiva’s Guard - Upon activation, it deals damage in an AoE, slowing down Tiny. It also provides increased armor and reduces Tiny’s non-existent armor in an AoE.
- Force Staff - Allows you to force yourself or the targetted unit 600 units ahead in the direction they are facing, it can be useful to escape from his stun toss combo or initiate on him.
10. Sniper
As they say, looks are often deceiving, which is completely true in the case of this dwarf marksman as he is the stuff nightmares are made of. Tiny struggles largely against ranged heroes as they can harass him nonstop without worrying much about any retaliation. Sniper is menacing through the early game against Tiny as he has a massive range advantage. Tiny also has a lesser impact as the game progresses if he does not get his Blink Dagger on time, while Sniper needs only a few items to be impactful which he can farm effortlessly.
The mid-game is quite tricky for the Sniper when Tiny eventually gets his Blink Dagger as it allows him to get on top of the Sniper. Positioning is always the key while playing against crowd-control heroes like Tiny, quick reflexes can help you get away from his clutches. A good Sniper player can impact teamfights without being in the forefront. All his items grant him ungodly amounts of damage which can ruin Tiny’s game if he does not lock him down.
What makes Sniper great against Tiny?
- High base attack range and movement speed, which is advantageous against Tiny who needs to close the gap to catch heroes
- AoE spell that accelerates his farm, can easily farm the Tiny in the early stages of the game.
- Flexible build potential which counters both Tiny and his teammates
- Great talents that scale well with items and spells in the later stages of the game
Items to buy on Sniper
- Maelstorm/Mjolnir - Malestorm provides Sniper a chance to deal AoE damage on physical attacks. It’s a great item to counter the familiars by dealing AoE damage to them. Its upgrade, Mjolnir, can be used to cast on yourself or allies to deal AoE damage to enemies attacking you under its duration. Both of these items are excellent to stop Tiny’s onslaught.
- Dragon Lance - Provides increased stats and regen along with increased attack range. Sniper is anything but tanky, but an early-game Dragon Lance assures he does not get prioritized by Tiny in fights. It can further be upgraded into a Hurricane Pike.
- Mask of Madness - Increased attack speed and lifesteal, along with increasing your movement speed. This allows Sniper to deal high damage without many intervals.
- Shadow Blade - Provides invisibility which can be used to escape or set up on Tiny. It can later be upgraded into Silver Edge which can disable the latter’s passive Bash right after breaking invisibility.
- Monkey King Bar - Provides increased physical attack damage, and also provides true strike upon physical attacks, preventing or essentially countering Tiny if he purchases Butterfly.
- Daedalus - Deals high critical damage, it can be used to deal high damage to Tiny in the mid-game.
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Sniper
9. Bristleback
Bristleback is an exceptional counter to Tiny as he can just keep on disrupting his lane by constantly harassing him. Tiny virtually does no zero damage to Bristleback as he has decent HP and armor along with decent armor reduction, while Tiny has zero armor while he lanes against this grumpy porcupine. He also farms exceptionally and does a great deal of damage to Tiny right from the early game, while Tiny needs more levels to prove any useful against him.
Bristleback has quite literally been a thorn in the side of Tiny in the current meta. He takes no damage while dealing quite a ton of damage in return to him. He is an obnoxious laner, he is but he is quite the fun hero to play since all he does is spam his spells without thinking too much, which he can do effortlessly as he is backed by his insanely high armor against the Tiny.
Why is Bristleback a great counter to Tiny?
- Tiny's nonexistent armor in the early game makes him very vulnerable to Quill Spray's large amounts of physical damage.
- Bristleback decreases Tiny's high burst damage against Bristleback.
- Viscous Nasal Goo can slow Tiny to a crawl and allows Bristleback to easily kite him with his high movement speed and Quill Spray's long-range
Items to buy on Bristleback
- Ethereal Shroud - Converts magical damage into mana upon usage and passively offers spell lifesteal
- Kaya and Sange - Increased mana regen and overall stat gain
- Octraine Core - Provides spell lifesteal and stats
- Blademail - Reflects Tiny’s damage upon activation
- Black King Bar - It provides spell immunity from all of Tiny’s damage spells, making him invulnerable in the fight. It is always a top priority item against Tiny.
https://www.dota2.com/hero/bristleback
8. Viper
The venomous Viper knows no bounds and is on the same list when it comes to the most hated heroes in the game. Mid-players can benefit from playing this hero against Tiny as it is a free win! Viper has the range advantage so Tiny can’t freely come within the attack range to the last hit, he has to use his spells which in turn cost him a great deal of mana. The DPS and slow from his spells are also quite annoying to play against as a squishy low HP Tiny.
Tiny players despise Viper as he makes their presence and impact disappear from the game. His ultimate, Viper Strike isn’t even needed to kill Tiny as only his Poison Attack is enough to do the job. Picking Tiny against a Viper is essentially just throwing the game away!
Why is Viper great against Tiny?
- Tiny has low movement speed and attack speed, making him vulnerable to Viper's slows.
- Corrosive Skin provides magic resistance to lower Tiny's magic burst damage.
Items to Buy on Viper
- Kaya and Sange - Increases stats along with increasing mana gain and reducing mana cost, allowing him to cast spells freely against Tiny.
- Aghanim’s Scepter - Decreases Nethertoxin duration and increases damage, destroying the squishy Tiny in no time
- Pipe of Insight - Provides immense magic damage block on activation, and affects the whole team.
- Hurricane Pike - Allows Viper to close the gap and deal immense damage to Tiny, also provides decent stats and increases attack range
- Blademail - Reflects Tiny’ magical damage to him upon activation
- Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity, negating all the magical damage being dished out by Tiny.
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Viper
7. Phantom Assassin
Phantom Assassin’s lethal and cutthroat damage is often praised, she slits through her enemies like it's no big thing. Tiny can’t survive the onslaught of Phantom Assassin if he is laning against her as her spells can deal decent damage in the early game and the lack of mobility makes it easy for him to get caught if the PA has backup to help her gank him. Her damage just gets out of hand in the late game as she acquires more items and gets more kills due to it.
Phantom Assassin can obliterate Tiny with only a few hits. She is agile and silent in her moves, as an assassin generally is. Phantom Assassin is one of the most-played carry heroes in the game due to her ease of spells. She has great base movement and attack speed, which is rarely found in a carry hero. Her spells may seem underwhelming in the early game against the Tiny but as she reaches the late-game mark, she can do a lot with just one Stifling Dagger.
Why is Phantom Assassin a great counter to Tiny?
- Has great mobility with the Phantom Strike spell, and can be used both defensively and offensively to escape or initiate on Tiny.
- The damage is supplemented with allies that provide armor-reduction spells or abilities to decimate already non-existent armor of Tiny.
- The Blur spell provides up to 50% evasion, which is a great spell in the early game.
- Is capable of dealing over 2k critical damage.
Items to buy on Phantom Assassin
- Desolator - Provides increased damage along with armor corruption on physical attacks. It can also gain stacks and increased the mentioned perks with the increase in stacks. Desolator is ideal for Phantom Assassin to mow down the squishy Tiny.
- Skull Basher - Provides a chance to Bash (Mini Stun) on physical attacks. It can further be upgraded into Abyssal Blade later on in the game.
- Satanic - Allows Phantom Assassin to lifesteal and sustain herself in teamfights. This item also dispels any negative buffs, quickly life-stealing from 0 to 100 in no time.
- Butterfly - Provides Phantom Assassin with increased evasion, agility, and movement speed. Butterfly essentially makes him untouchable in the late game due to the high miss chance and physical damage.
- Black King Bar - It provides spell immunity from all of Tiny’s damage spells, making him invulnerable in the fight. It is always a top priority item against Tiny.
- Monkey King Bar - Provides increased physical damage and also provides a chance to true strike on attacks.
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Phantom_Assassin
6. Chaos Knight
Chaos ensues when this veteran of the countless battle of a thousand worlds steps his foot into the battlefield. Chaos Knight is unbearably strong against most heroes due to the lack of AoE damage from them, however, Tiny can give him a run for his money in the early game due to his constant early-game AoE magic damage spam with his stun toss combo. Chaos Knight can eventually turn the tides in the late game, and destroy squishy Tiny in no time with his high physical damage along with his illusions.
Although he lacks in the farming department, CK is extremely tanky and is only threatened by multiple heroes at once. CK can snowball easily if he manages to get a few kills in the early game. He can also sustain himself in team fights due to his naturally high armor and HP. All he needs is a good early game and a free farm to counter Tiny in the late game.Why is Chaos Knight a great counter to Tiny?
- Chaos Bolt and Reality Rift make Tiny's low mobility nonexistent.
- Chaos Strike means Chaos Knight will most likely survive longer in a duel between the two because Tiny has a much lower attack speed.
- Chaos Knight has a 3.2-strength growth, making him one of the tankiest heroes and a very difficult target for Tiny to burst.
Items to Buy on CK
- Armlet of Mordiggian - Provides increased HP and damage, and is toggleable. CK benefits highly from this toggleable HP mechanic against Tiny due to the latter’s high magical burst damage.
- Black King Bar - It provides CK with spell immunity from all of Tiny’ magic damage spells, making him invulnerable in the fight. It is always a top priority item against Tiny.
- Manta Style - Can work in tandem with Reality Rift, exceptional to push lanes and dispel spells
- Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for enemies in an AoE.
- Eye of Skadi - It reduces HP regen and healing upon physical attacks from CK. It helps reduce Tiny’s regen if he opts for Bloodstone. Eye of Skadi also provides increased stats and HP to Juggernaut.
- Echo Sabre - It provides insane stats along with increased damage and attack speed. It is an essential item that is built in the early game of Chaos Knight.
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Chaos_Knight
5. Ursa
Ursa is one of the most deadly carry heroes in the game, he is a force to be reckoned with. Ursa is also one of the most-played carry heroes in the game due to his ease of spells. Known for his ability to jungle smoothly and slay Roshan alone, Ursa is dominant right from the laning phase against Tiny. His Fury Swipes stack up quickly, combined with his second spell, Overpower, make him deal high amounts of physical damage right from the early game. Ursa’s ultimate, Enrage, makes him take less damage from Tiny’s spells combo, making him unstoppable in teamfights.
It is obvious that as a carry, Ursa relies a ton on his items, but he does not need a ton of items to make an impact. All he needs is a Morbid Mask which allows him to sustain in lane and turn around a fight swiftly coupled with his ultimate, it also allows him to Roshan extremely early on in the game. Tiny stands no chance if Ursa has a smooth early game. Ursa almost always purchases a Black King Bar due to his poor magic resistance, and doing so against Tiny is a no-brainer.
Why is Ursa a great counter to Tiny?
- Enrage grants Ursa status reduction which reduces the duration of Tiny’s spell combo.
- Tiny can’t withstand the late-game damage which is dished out by Ursa, who does not falter off in the late game.
- The laning phase is extremely rough for Tiny as he is slowed and mowed down with the help of Fury Swipes.
Items to buy on Ursa
- Blink Dagger - Great for gap closing or initiating, allows Ursa to both escapes or get on top of Tiny
- Diffusal Blade - Upon usage, it can slow Tiny down by 100% upon casting and physical attack. It also burns his mana, making him useless as he cannot cast any spells.
- Satanic - Provides increased lifesteal on physical attacks upon activation, also provides basic dispel from the latter.
- Black King Bar - It provides spell immunity from all of Tiny’s damage spells, making him invulnerable in the fight. It is always a top priority item against Tiny.
- Skull Basher - Provides a chance to Mini Stun on physical attacks. It can further be upgraded into Abyssal Blade later on in the game.
- Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard - Scepter allow Ursa to use Enrage even when he is disabled/stunned, hence it is useful to get rid of Tiny’s Stun. Shard procs Enrage whenever Ursa uses Earthshock.
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Ursa
4. Lion
Lion is one of those heroes that cripples Tiny right from the laning phase. Tiny is known to perform well against most support heroes, but Lion is a noble exception. Lion can disable Tiny with his lethal toolkit. He can also drain Tiny’s mana, making him unable to escape this hellish torture. Lion also has very lethal nuke damage with his Finger of Death ultimate, which can further be amplified with the number of kills he gets with it, allowing a possibility of one-shotting the stone giant in the later stages of the game.
Lion is vulnerable to Tiny’s stun toss combo, which can cause him to succumb to it in the early phases of the game, but he can purchase various items to stand his ground against the respectable physical damage being dished out by Tiny. The latter is privy to magical damage, courtesy of his low magic resistance, which can be abused in the early game with constant ganks. Tiny is effectively a melee creep against Lion if he does not have a good start in the game.
What makes Lion a great counter to Tiny?
- Lion has a decent cast range for spells
- He can also chain disable multiple enemies at once
- High burst damage and magical output that scales well
- Lion can continuously Mana Drain Tiny in the early game, depleting his small mana pool for his abilities.
Items to buy on Lion
- Aether Lens - Increased cast range, can catch Tiny off-guard
- Blink Dagger - Great for gap-closing or initiating
- Force Staff - Another great tool to close gaps or escape from Tiny
- Aghanim’s Scepter - AoE damage from Finger, also reduces the cooldown
- Aeon Disk - Saves him from getting burst quickly from Tiny and also applies a basic dispel
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Lion
3. Necrophos
The plague-mongerer is back in the meta! Necrophos loves infesting his foes with his lethal and rancid spells. Tiny has low magic resistance, which is exploited heavily by Necrophos as he has spells that can deal decent magic damage right from the get-go. Necrophos can lock Tiny down with his Scythe while his allies beat him down, guaranteeing a kill for him. Necrophos is vulnerable to Tiny’s spell combo but it does not take him time to heal himself and get back to decent HP with his spells.
Necrophos has plagued Tiny, corrupting his immunity with his rancid spells. He is one of the most hated heroes in the current patch by Tiny mains. Necrophos is a very annoying laner, thanks to his passive. His abilities provide him with immense healing while dealing damage to the giant stone giant. He can ensure he isn't seen on the battlefield for a long time with his ultimate.
Why is Necrophos a great counter to Tiny?
- Reaper's Scythe will turn Tiny's high health against him.
- Heartstopper Aura does substantial damage to Tiny as a result of his high max health.
- Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from Tiny's physical damage with Tree Grab and Tree Volley.
Items to buy on Necrophos
- Radiance - Burn damage prevents Tiny from blinking away, and can also be useful in pushing lanes and farming.
- Guardian Greaves - Upon usage, it heals Necrophos and all allied units in the AoE while also providing a basic dispel
- Eternal Shroud - Converts magical damage into mana upon usage and passively offers spell lifesteal
- Lotus Orb - Reflects targetted spells hence can also be used to prevent the Toss combo
- Aghanim’s Scepter - Reduces the cooldown on Heartstopper Aura
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Necrophos
2. Lifestealer
Lifestealer is one of the quintessential counters to Tiny. The first reason is his immense health pool which helps him survive the stun toss combination. Lifestealer also fares well in the laning phase due to his lifesteal, being one of the very few carry heroes that can sustain themselves so easily. The spell immunity from Rage negates all the damage dished out from Tiny’s spells, making it easy for you to ignore his spells and mow him down in no time. Lifestealer is known to excel against squishy heroes, and Tiny is no exception to that!
Lifestealer relies on kills to get gold, making him a fight-oriented hero, as with the right items he can obliterate the enemy team and turn Tiny’s ashes into dust. Tiny has to essentially ignore Lifestealer in teamfights as he can’t stop his onslaught. Even if Lifestealer is caught by Tiny, he can just find the nearest creep or ally to infest, giving him a safe uber ride back to his base.
Why is Lifestealer a great counter to Tiny?
- Feast will deal an enormous amount of damage because of Tiny's huge health pool.
- Rage protects Lifestealer from Tiny's magical burst damage.
Items to Buy on Lifestealer
- Armlet of Mordiggian - Provides increased HP and damage, and is toggleable. Lifestealer benefits highly from this toggleable HP mechanic against Tiny.
- Desolator - Provides increased damage along with armor corruption on physical attacks. It can also gain stacks and increased the mentioned perks with the increase in stacks. Desolator is ideal to mow down the squishy Tiny
- Skull Basher - Provides a chance to Bash (Mini Stun) on physical attacks. It can further be upgraded into Abyssal Blade later on in the game.
- Sange and Yasha - Provide decent stats, agility, strength, and physical damage. SnY also provides status resistance and increased movement speed, making Lifestealer fast and stronger against Tiny.
- Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for Tiny if he is in the AoE.
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Lifestealer
1. Juggernaut
The masked Samurai Juggernaut is a lethal hero that is best left untamed, as he can rip his enemies into shreds within no time. Tiny finds it impossible to contain him if he unleashes his true potential. Juggernaut fares exceptionally well against squishy heroes, and Tiny is undoubtedly squishy even in the later stages of the game. All it takes is one single Omnislash for Juggernaut to demolish Tiny. He also does well in the laning stage, as he can essentially dodge the stun toss combo by just using Blade Fury which makes him immune to magic damage.
Tiny falls off in the late game while Juggernaut only gets stronger while also controlling the tempo with his ultimate. He farms quickly and is more dominant in the mid and late games, whereas Tiny’s impact diminishes after the mid-game. Tiny can't go head-to-head in the late game against Juggernaut, as this matchup is rarely in his favor.
Why is Juggernaut a great counter to Tiny?
- Blade Fury protects Juggernaut from all of Tiny's magic burst damage.
- Blade Fury and Omnislash allow Juggernaut to avoid Tiny’s AoE spell entirely.
Items to buy on Juggernaut
- Diffusal Blade - Slows down Tiny by 100% upon casting and physical attack. It also burns his mana, making him useless as he cannot cast any spells.
- Sange and Yasha - Provide decent stats, agility, strength, and physical damage. SnY also provides status resistance and increased movement speed, making Juggernaut fast and stronger against Tiny.
- Aghanim’s Scepter - Grants Swiftslash ability, which acts as mini Omnislash, dealing the same amount of damage as the ultimate in half the time.
- Aghanim’s Shard - Allows Juggernaut to perform instant physical attacks under the Bladefury duration, along with increasing his movement speed.
- Butterfly - Provides Juggernaut with increased evasion, agility, and movement speed. Butterfly essentially makes him untouchable in the late game due to the high miss chance and physical damage.
- Eye of Skadi - Reduces regen and healing upon physical attacks. It helps reduce Tiny’s regen if he opts for Bloodstone. Eye of Skadi also provides increased stats and HP to Juggernaut.
https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Juggernaut
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