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Bad against...
- Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use Time Lapse. It can also catch Weaver in Shukuchi.
- Due to his fast attack speed from Geminate Attack and items that give attack speed, Counter Helix will activate a lot, and the damage would be returned by Blade Mail, which hurts Weaver far more than it hurts Axe.
- Culling Blade can finish off Weaver's low health pool before he escapes with Shukuchi and Time Lapse.
- Battle Hunger is a good tool to pop Weaver's Linken's Sphere due to its low cooldown.
- Rupture is particularly crippling against Weaver, who relies on high movement speed from Shukuchi to fight and escape, and it cannot be dispelled by Time Lapse.
- Thirst detects Weaver through Shukuchi whenever his health is low.
- Blood Rite combined with Rupture forces Weaver to either take damage from the latter, or to get silenced for a long duration.
- A well-timed Gust followed by Frost Arrows will prevent Weaver from escaping with Shukuchi. A Weaver silenced for more than 3 seconds usually dies very quickly.
- Due to her high attack speed, Drow Ranger can easily kill The Swarm beetles.
- The wide range of Chronosphere makes it difficult for Weaver to avoid it with Shukuchi and, once caught, his low survivability makes him an easy kill.
- With no significant source of burst damage, it is easy for Void to survive combat with Weaver using Time Walk.
- Time Dilation will prevent Weaver from using Shukuchi or force him to use Time Lapse to dispel the debuff and re-engage.
- The long silence of Crippling Fear at night prevents Weaver from using his Shukuchi or Time Lapse.
- With Dark Ascension and Gem of True Sight, Night Stalker can easily find and probably kill Weaver.
- Hunter in the Night's attack speed bonus removes The Swarm's beetles very quickly.
- Spiked Carapace allows Nyx to get an easy long-duration stun on Weaver once he uses Shukuchi, and then he can follow up with Impale.
- Vendetta works as a great setup for both Impale and Spiked Carapace and can deal decent damage to Weaver. Additionally he can neutralize The Swarm beetles due to his invisibility duration.
- Arcane Bolt has a long range and a low cooldown, and is a great spell to waste Linken's Sphere. It also serves as an effective spell to harass Weaver with.
- Ancient Seal prevents Weaver from using Shukuchi or Time Lapse.
- Corrosive Haze lowers armor and reveals Weaver during Shukuchi, who is already a frail target. In addition, Weaver usually builds Linken's Sphere, and Corrosive Haze can be used to "pop" the spell block. His level 25 talent can also make Corrosive Haze undispellable by Time Lapse, which puts Weaver in an even worse situation.
- Guardian Sprint can dodge Weaver's bugs with the movement speed bonus.
- Strong escape combo abilities from Spirit Breaker Charge of Darkness and Bulldoze can easily catch Shukuchi from Weaver. Since Spirit Breaker build Aghanim's Scepter, Charge of Darkness is very fast able to reach catch Weaver trying it.
- Time Lapse also affected Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
- Arc Lightning has a low cooldown can used to pop his Linken's Sphere.
- Lightning Bolt or ( Nimbus upgraded from Aghanim's Scepter) detects Weaver during Shukuchi, preventing his ganks.
- Thundergod's Wrath can kill Weaver quickly before he can cast his Time Lapse at low health.
Others
- Bounty Hunter has a cheap way to break Linken's Sphere and keep track of Weaver while he is using Shukuchi, though both can be dispelled with Time Lapse.
- All of Weaver's spells are useful for stealing with Spell Steal, and with Aghanim's Scepter it's easy to pop Weaver's Linken's Sphere and save allies with an upgraded Time Lapse.
- Silences and other types of lockdown that prevent Weaver from using his spells: Silencer, Riki, Lion, Legion Commander, Shadow Shaman, Bane.
- Burst damage, such as Finger of Death or Laguna Blade, can shred Weaver.
- Techies has both a silence and a powerful nuke in Blast Off!, root from Stasis Trap and even more magical damage in Proximity Mines and Remote Mines.
- Earthshaker has a lot of stuns that will prevent Weaver from using Time Lapse or Shukuchi, making him an easy target to kill.
Items
- Orchid Malevolence will prevent running away with Shukuchi or Time Lapse. It can be blocked by Linken's Sphere, however.
- Items have no cast time and can be used to break Linken's Sphere.
- Abyssal Blade and Scythe of Vyse provide additional hard lockdowns.
- Shadow Amulet and any of its upgrades' invisibility can be used to neutralize The Swarm beetles.
- Sentry Ward in the early game will stop the advantages of Shukuchi and a Gem of True Sight in the late game is recommended against any invisible hero.
- Buckler and its upgrades will mitigate damage taken from The Swarm.
- Ghost Scepter makes the enemy immune to Weaver's attacks, forcing him to consider buying Nullifier to dispel.
Good against...
- Cold Feet is extremely easy to nullify with Shukuchi.
- Ice Vortex does not slow Weaver in Shukuchi.
- Time Lapse will still affect his health, even when hit by Ice Blast.
- Ancient Apparition has no escapes or saves and is very squishy, making him an easy target for Weaver to get on top of.
- Brewmaster is slow and has low armor, making his laning stage very difficult against Geminate Attack.
- Apart from the slow moving Hurl Boulder, which can be disjointed, he has no control to catch Weaver.
- Open Wounds's slow is ignored by Shukuchi.
- Lifestealer has no other lockdown and relies on being on top of enemies; Weaver can kite him with ease.
- Geminate Attack works on Tombstone, allowing Weaver to kill it quickly.
- Zombies attacking Weaver disappear once he goes invisible with Shukuchi.
- Undying has no way to catch a mobile Weaver.
- While Weaver is in Shukuchi, Rot doesn't slow him and Meat Hook is easy to avoid.
- Even when hooked, Weaver can use Time Lapse, negating both the damage and displacement.
- Pudge has low armor and low attack speed, making him susceptible to The Swarm and physical attacks.
- Dismember is easy to block with Linken's Sphere and it's the only way to break Weaver's Linken Sphere.
- However, the long duration stun of Dismember can be dangerous for Weaver.
- Sven can be easily kited since Weaver is a natural Linken's Sphere carrier and Sven relies on Storm Hammer to disable and kill a hero.
- Earthshock's slow is ignored by Shukuchi.
- Ursa can be kited with Shukuchi and his burst damage will be negated with Time Lapse as long as Weaver survives it.
- The Swarm breaks Ursa's Blink Dagger, forcing him to deal with the beetles.
- Wraithfire Blast is easy to disjoint with Shukuchi or Time Lapse, and it's the only way to break Weaver's Linken Sphere.
- Wraith King has no other disables and no mobility, allowing Weaver to chase or escape Wraith King as he wishes.
- With the Mana Break talent and Diffusal Blade, Weaver can prevent Reincarnation from triggering until Wraith King gets his shard.
Others
- Heroes with low mobility and survivability make perfect targets for Weaver: Lich, Warlock.
- Heroes that rely on slows or low-duration stuns have trouble catching Weaver: Omniknight, Lich.
- Heroes with one single-target abilities such as Wraith King, Necrophos, or Doom will struggle against Weaver's Linken Sphere.
- A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility: Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Dark Seer.
- An Aghanim's Shard-upgraded The Swarm is a decent way to scout other heroes with invisibility.
Works well with...
- Arcane Aura allows Weaver to use Shukuchi more often.
- Frostbite, Crystal Nova and Weaver's high damage output can be used to secure early kills.
- Alchemist can grant Weaver an Aghanim's Scepter. Upgraded Time Lapse works exceptionally well with Alchemist, who has high regeneration from Chemical Rage.
- Acid Spray reduces enemies' armor further, stacking with The Swarm.
- Wave of Terror synergizes well with The Swarm's armor reduction.
- Vengeance Aura adds damage to Weaver's Geminate Attack.
- Nether Swap can be used to save Weaver during gank attempts and team fights, who then can regain health with Time Lapse.
Others
- Any front line heroes that can distract the enemy team or any heroes with strong disabling abilities will help Weaver deal more damage and chase down the enemy heroes easily.
- Any hero or aura that increases your damage ( Bloodrage, Vengeance Aura, Chilling Touch) will do so two-fold for Weaver thanks to Geminate Attack.
- Any hero with slow or stun ( Frost Blast, Ignite, Magic Missile), can help Weaver kill a hero without a good way to escape.
- Heroes with armor reduction abilities ( Corrosive Haze, Viscous Nasal Goo) or Blight Stone and its upgrades work well with The Swarm, increasing physical damage output on Roshan and enemy heroes.
