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Bad against...[]
- Weaver's Shukuchi allows him to escape from Warlock's Upheaval with high move speed.
- Time Lapse allows Weaver to ignore damage from Warlock's Golem and escape.
- Mana Break prevents Warlock from casting his spells, particularly in the laning phase.
- Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Upheaval.
- Counterspell reduces damage from Shadow Word and Warlock's Golem's Permanent Immolation passive. Additionally, it can reflect Shadow Word and Fatal Bonds.
- Mana Void deals heavy damage after Anti-Mage has drained Warlock's large mana pool.
- Because Warlock's abilities are all active abilities, Silencer can make his impact minimal.
- Arcane Curse prevents Warlock from using his abilities without increasing it's duration, which since all of Warlock's abilities are actives it is very effective against him.
- Last Word can prevent Warlock from casting his Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval combo.
- Global Silence can nullify Warlock's impact in fights by preventing him from casting Fatal Bonds and Chaotic Offering, or by interrupting his Upheaval.
- Surge allows for Dark Seer and his allies to escape from Upheaval due to it ignoring any slow.
- Doom will not only prevent Warlock from casting his abilities in team fights, but also it reduces the healing from Shadow Word.
- Devour allows Doom to acquire a stun from neutral creeps, allowing him to interrupt Upheaval without having to use Doom.
- A pre-placed Fire Remnant allows Ember Spirit to escape Upheaval.
- Flame Guard blocks Shadow Word's damage.
- Sleight of Fist allows Ember Spirit to attack from outside of Upheaval's range, and Searing Chains lets him interrupt it.
- Shapeshift allows Lycan to escape from Upheaval with maximum movement speed.
- Warlock doesn't have a good solution to deal with Lycan's wolves from Summon Wolves.
- All of Warlock's abilities are worthy choices for Rubick to Spell Steal, primarily Chaotic Offering. Furthermore, stolen abilities are also affected by the increased cast range and spell amplification from Arcane Supremacy.
- Telekinesis interrupts Upheaval when casted on Warlock, or to save allies (or himself) from its area slow and damage with Aghanim's Shard.
- Bear in mind that Warlock likes to cast his abilities in quick succession, so the time window left for Rubick to steal Warlock's ultimate can be short.
- Ice Blast cancels Warlock's Golem's and Shadow Word's healing.
- Cold Feet stuns Warlock if he stands in place, forcing him to stop channeling Upheaval immediately or be forced to stop channeling it by it's stun.
- Impale and Spiked Carapace interrupts Upheaval with ease.
- Warlock's low health pool, mobility, and high intelligence gain makes him a prime target for Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
- God's Strength combined with Great Cleave destroys Chaotic Offering golems within seconds.
- Warcry gives Sven and his allies armor to help against Warlock's Golem's heavy physical damage and movement speed to help escape Upheaval.
- Storm Hammer disrupts Upheaval.
Others[]
- Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through his allies and deal with him, preventing him from doing his job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and more.
- Ursa can shred Warlock's Golems in a few seconds with Lua error in Module:Ability_ID at line 61: Could not find Cargo data for "Fury Swipes". and Lua error in Module:Ability_ID at line 61: Could not find Cargo data for "Overpower"..
- Because all of Warlock's abilities are active abilities, silences can make his impact in fights minimal. Be cautious of heroes that carry silences like Death Prophet, Puck, and the aforementioned Silencer.
Items[]
- Boots of Bearing makes allies in a large area ignore Upheaval's slow for a brief period, allowing them to escape from it.
- Orchid Malevolence silences Warlock, which is bad for him as he needs to use abilities to be impactful.
- Diffusal Blade removes mana from Warlock with each attack. Considering the high mana costs of his abilities, it could leave him with no mana for casting them.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can stop Warlock from casting Upheaval or interrupt it, which can then allow the carrier's team to escape or get close to deal damage.
- Blink Dagger allows the carrier to escape from Upheaval or get close to Warlock to disrupt it, and perhaps kill him as he has no escape abilities.
- Lotus Orb reflects Fatal Bonds and Shadow Word back at Warlock if he impulsively uses them on a hero affected by it.
- It should be noted though that Shadow Word can be upgraded with the Shadow Word AoE
talent so that it is no longer affected by Spell Reflection.
- It should be noted though that Shadow Word can be upgraded with the Shadow Word AoE
Good against...[]
- Warlock Golems do plenty of physical and pure damage to bring down Huskar when he is at low health. Warlock is always a hazard for Huskar to initiate by using Life Break, because Chaotic Offering can stun him instantly, even when Black King Bar is activated, and allows Warlock's team to gather their wit and retaliate.
- After using Life Break to jump in, Huskar will not have any means to escape Upheaval. Which since he is an attack-dependent hero, this will nullify his impact in fights.
- Fatal Bonds links the Meepos together, which combined with area of effect damage or Cleave will be devastating.
- Warlock can cast Upheaval when Templar Assassin uses Meld, preventing her from escaping at the right moment.
- Warlock can also send his Warlock Golem near where she used Meld, preventing escape by Blink Dagger due to the Warlock Golem's Permanent Immolation.
- Warlock's Golem's Permanent Immolation will burn away Refraction with its damage over time.
- Because Shadow Fiend lacks escaping mechanisms, and is dependent on fair positioning for channeling Requiem of Souls, it's easier for Warlock with his long range crowd control abilities to lock Shadow Fiend down for his team.
- Chaotic Offering pierces spell immunity and is an area of effect ability, therefore it doesn't matter if Enigma buys Black King Bar or Linken's Sphere, Warlock will always be able to cancel the channeling of Black Hole.
- Enemies often get clumped up around Black Hole to hit your allies, giving you a perfect opportunity to cast Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval on multiple enemies.
Others[]
- While heroes with strong mobility are able to get close or flee from Upheaval, heroes with no escaping abilities or that lack long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the Warlock Golem lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Notable examples: Huskar, Drow Ranger, Lion, Elder Titan, etc.
- Channeling heroes will not go well against Warlock, especially those who build Black King Bar as Warlock's ultimate ability stun goes through spell immunity. E.g.: Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Enigma, etc.
- Chaotic Offering can stop heroes who like to use spell immunity and teleport scrolls to safely farm during the early to mid game, since it stuns and also goes through spell immunity. Notable examples: Juggernaut, Lifestealer.
Works well with...[]
- Sven's Storm Hammer works well with Warlock's Upheaval, as it can buy time for the slow to build up.
- Great Cleave can deal massive damage on whole enemy team at once if they are linked with Fatal Bonds.
- Warcry allows Warlock's Golem to catch up to enemies and gives it better survivability against physical damage.
- Bloodseeker can land his Blood Rite after Warlock drops his ability combo: Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, Upheaval, making it deal a tons of damage to the linked enemies while silencing them.
- Warlock can cast Fatal Bonds on enemies caught by Berserker's Call, causing them to take increased damage from Counter Helix procs, then follow it with Upheaval to prevent them from leaving Axe's range after the call ends.
- Vacuum can be used to pull enemies into Upheaval.
- Surge allows Warlock's Golems to chase down enemy heroes.
- Reverse Polarity can be set up with Chaotic Offering and Upheaval.
- Fatal Bonds can be very dangerous when combined with an Empowered Magnus.
- Chaotic Offering, Upheaval, and Fatal Bonds are very dangerous with Black Hole and Midnight Pulse, as they can bring down enemies in a few seconds.
- Silencer's Last Word and Global Silence prevent the enemy team from casting stuns or silences upon Warlock to disrupt Upheaval.
- Shadow Word keeps Spectre healthy in lane. Having more health also means more reflected damage with Dispersion.
- Fatal Bonds further increases damage of Haunt on a group of enemies.
Others[]
- Alchemist can give an Aghanim's Scepter to Warlock early in the game, which will make Chaotic Offering way more effective.
- Legion Commander, because Warlock's Golem can help deal damage the opponent during Duel, and Upheaval can prevent escape from either initiation or if the Duel is unsuccessful.
- Any hero that deals area of effect damage can work with Warlock as his Fatal Bonds can spread the damage and Upheaval can be used to further increase the crowd control by slowing them down.
- Any hero with a stun, which disallows enemies to disrupt Upheaval and escape.
