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Many hands make light work.
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Bad against...[]
- Magnus has very mediocre damage against Alchemist, because he can survive the stun duration of Reverse Polarity with Chemical Rage.
- Anti-Mage can survive against Magnus's Reverse Polarity thanks to the high magic resistance from Counterspell.
- Should Anti-Mage survive Magnus's Reverse Polarity and Skewer, Magnus will have exhausted most of his skills and items, preventing him from defending himself against any counter initiation or a follow-up from a blink escape.
- Mana Break can deplete Magnus's much needed mana.
- Anti-Mage's Blink will make him a very hard target or Magnus to use Reverse Polarity on, having to solo ult him later on in the game or leave him out of the Reverse Polarity.
- Overall, any attempt for Magnus to gank Anti-Mage will hurt him more than it will hurt Anti-Mage.
- Rupture deals extra damage to Magnus during Skewer or Force Staff, preventing him from escaping or counter-initiating, forcing him to invest on a Linken's Sphere.
- Disruptor can disable Magnus's Blink Dagger using Thunder Strike during a considerable duration, disrupting his initiation attempts.
- Glimpse brings Magnus back after he escapes with Skewer and/or Force Staff.
- Static Storm if used on a fight can prevent Magnus from using Reverse Polarity after he jumps in.
- Magnus cannot manfight Huskar even with Empower, Berserker's Blood's high attack speed and health regeneration, combined with Huskar's high health and Burning Spear stacks will allow Huskar to kill Magnus before he can kill him.
- From a safe distance, Huskar can surprise and counter Magnus's initiation with Life Break and Burning Spear.
- Burning Spear also deals damage over time, disabling Blink Dagger and preventing him from initiating or escaping.
- Jakiro's abilities deal damage over time, which can disrupt Magnus's attempts to initiate with Blink Dagger and Reverse Polarity.
- Macropyre not only disables Blink Dagger for a considerable duration, but can also destroy Trees, revealing Magnus's cover and position.
- Dark Ascension reduces vision for the enemy team, which makes it more difficult for Magnus to initiate with Blink Dagger and Reverse Polarity. It is also more likely that Night Stalker will scout out Magnus with Aghanim's Scepter and a Gem of True Sight, after which he can silence Magnus with Crippling Fear.
- Phoenix will usually be on the sidelines or further back ready to use Sun Ray. Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and skewer Phoenix's teammates, Phoenix can usually counter-initiate using all of its abilities.
- Plasma Field can slow Magnus during Skewer, and when combined with Eye of the Storm, will potentially disable his Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating.
- Static Link drains the bonus damage from Empower. However, it can be broken by Skewer and/or Force Staff.
- Storm Surge gives Razor and his allies high mobility needed to avoid Shockwave & Reverse Polarity.
- All of Magnus's spells are perfect for Rubick to steal, especially Reverse Polarity for a counter-initiation.
- Telekinesis is one of the best instant-disables in the game, completely ruining Magnus's initiation.
- Shrapnel can sometimes scout out Magnus and also place his Blink Dagger on cooldown. Aside from that, Sniper likes to stay far back behind enemy lines, so it's difficult to catch him with Reverse Polarity unless you already have vision on him and can Skewer him to the rest of his team.
- Spectre disables Magnus' Blink Dagger using her ultimate, and later into the game can usually outlive Reverse Polarity's duration.
- Treant Protector can usually scout out Magnus in the trees with Eyes In The Forest and disrupt his initiation attempts. He can also counter Magnus' initiation with Overgrowth.
- Tinker can break Magnus's Blink Dagger using March of the Machines and Heat-Seeking Missile, therefore delaying any initiation or making Magnus use Skewer or Force Staff to initiate. His Defense Matrix will decrease the duration of Reverse Polarity and can also be cast on all of his teammates with Rearm. Tinker usually gets his own Blink Dagger as well, which makes him harder to lock down unless Magnus commits Reverse Polarity only for Tinker.
- 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.
- Even if Wraith King dies after Magnus disables him, Magnus' entire team will be slowed and vulnerable for counter-initiation.
- Zeus can easily find Magnus who is often hiding in the trees with Thundergod's Wrath and Lightning Bolt, which allows him to warn allies and disrupt his initiation attempts.
Others[]
- The main counter to Magnus is not just through picks but also through playstyle. Reduce the vision his team has, break his Blink Dagger and spread out so that he only manages to use Reverse Polarity on one hero.
- Damage over time can ruin Magnus's gameplay because it disables Blink Dagger.
- Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven, Omniknight, Enigma, Luna, Naga Siren, Mars, Jakiro, Venomancer, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Rubick, Keeper of the Light, Pugna, Invoker, Spectre, Alchemist, Treant Protector, Lina, Oracle, Zeus, Shadow Shaman, Phoenix, Razor, Huskar, Batrider, Kunkka, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Sand King, Medusa, Dawnbreaker.
- Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him: Huskar, Faceless Void, Weaver, Abaddon, Troll Warlord, Alchemist, Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, Viper.
Items[]
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can cancel Skewer and prevent Reverse Polarity.
- Orchid Malevolence's instant silence can prevent Reverse Polarity.
- Force Staff can cancel Skewer mid way.
- Radiance can put Magnus's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
- Rod of Atos prevents Magnus from using both Blink Dagger and Skewer.
- Black King Bar can protect it's wielder from most of the Magnus's abilities with the exception of Reverse Polarity.
Good against...[]
- All Magnus abilities are very good against Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions.
- Meepo is vulnerable to area damage and disables from Magnus himself as well as his team through Empower.
- Reverse Polarity pierces through Rage, wasting part of it's duration.
- Magnus is tanky and mobile, making it hard for Lifestealer to focus and kill him in all stages of a game.
- Shockwave can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Empower and Skewer in general are effective for clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Others[]
- Squishy core heroes ( Shadow Fiend, Sniper, etc)
- Heroes who rely on illusions and spawns ( Chaos Knight, Beastmaster, Nature's Prophet, Enigma etc.).
Items[]
- Manta Style's illusions will be cleared out of no time with Magnus' skill set.
Works well with...[]
- Mortimer Kisses can do huge damage to enemies caught in Reverse Polarity.
- He is a good target for Empower, especially before he has a Battle Fury.
- Reverse Polarity is a good set-up for Mana Void.
- Reverse Polarity with (or without) Skewer can set up a good Black Hole for Enigma.
- Reverse Polarity makes a perfect setup for Invoker's Tornado, Sun Strike, or Chaos Meteor.
- Phantom Assassin is another good target for Empower and one of the best sources of burst physical damage due to Stifling Dagger, Phantom Strike, and Coup de Grace.
- Sven is a perfect target for Empower, especially when he builds items that give attributes. Empower also stacks with Great Cleave.
- Reverse Polarity is a very good setup for Storm Hammer.
- Berserker's Rage melee form skillset is the best target for Empower since it can wipe out enemies caught in Reverse Polarity.
- All Phoenix's abilities are great in combination with Reverse Polarity. Fire Spirits and Sun Ray can do a lot of damage to enemies caught by Reverse Polarity, or with Supernova, it can deal huge damage and create another stun after Reverse Polarity's stun.
- On the other hand, Reverse Polarity can save Phoenix's Supernova from being destroyed, since it pierces through spell immunity.
- Reverse Polarity is a perfect setup for the Torrent and Ghostship combo.
- Kunkka is one of the best targets for Empower due to Tidebringer.
- Empower greatly increase Tiny's damage output combined with the cleave and bonus damage from Tree Grab and also massively increase the damage from Tree Volley as Tiny commonly builds Aghanim's Scepter
- Reverse Polarity keeps all units in one spot, creating an opportunity for Tiny to do huge amounts of damage from his AoE nuke abilities, especially Tree Volley when he has Aghanim's Scepter.
Others[]
- AoE Nukers ( Crystal Maiden, Queen of Pain, Invoker, Leshrac, Ancient Apparition, Sand King, Earthshaker, Witch Doctor, Shadow Fiend, Kunkka, Jakiro, Venomancer, Timbersaw, Snapfire )
- AoE Disablers ( Sand King, Earthshaker, Warlock, Slardar, Faceless Void, Disruptor, Elder Titan etc).
Works poorly with...[]
- Bane's single-targeted ability arsenal makes him a bad follow-up to Magnus's initiations with Reverse Polarity.
- Nightmare can accidentally disable Magnus if he impulsively tries to attack the targeted hero affected by it with Empower.
- If Magnus uses blink dagger before Pudge uses Meat Hook on a hero he's about to hook, then it will be Magnus who is going to be hooked, rendering both, Pudge and Magnus's ganking attempts wasted while alerting enemy hero on their presence.
Others[]
- Heroes who can unintentionally save enemy heroes from ganks work very poorly with Magnus, such as Bane, Pudge, Oracle, Naga Siren, Terrorblade.
- Heroes who have little to no area-of-effect spells and weak damage output are a bad follow-up to Magnus's initiations with Reverse Polarity: Io, Ogre Magi, Bane, Oracle.
Items[]
- Badly-timed and ill-positioned Force Staff will save the enemy hero from Magnus during the ganks.