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Bad against...[]

Alchemist icon
  • Magnus has very mediocre damage against Alchemist, because he can survive the stun duration of Reverse Polarity with Chemical Rage icon Chemical Rage.
Anti-Mage icon
  • Anti-Mage can survive against Magnus's Reverse Polarity icon Reverse Polarity thanks to the high magic resistance from Counterspell icon Counterspell.
  • Should Anti-Mage survive Magnus's Reverse Polarity icon Reverse Polarity and Skewer icon 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 icon Mana Break can deplete Magnus's much needed mana.
  • Anti-Mage's Blink (Anti-Mage) icon Blink will make him a very hard target or Magnus to use Reverse Polarity icon Reverse Polarity on, having to solo ult him later on in the game or leave him out of the Reverse Polarity icon Reverse Polarity.
  • Overall, any attempt for Magnus to gank Anti-Mage will hurt him more than it will hurt Anti-Mage.
Bloodseeker icon
Disruptor icon
  • Disruptor can disable Magnus's Blink Dagger using Thunder Strike icon Thunder Strike during a considerable duration, disrupting his initiation attempts.
  • Glimpse icon Glimpse brings Magnus back after he escapes with Skewer and/or Force Staff.
  • Static Storm icon Static Storm if used on a fight can prevent Magnus from using Reverse Polarity after he jumps in.
Huskar icon
  • Magnus cannot manfight Huskar even with Empower, Berserker's Blood icon Berserker's Blood's high attack speed and health regeneration, combined with Huskar's high health and Burning Spear icon 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 icon Life Break and Burning Spear icon Burning Spear.
  • Burning Spear icon Burning Spear also deals damage over time, disabling Blink Dagger and preventing him from initiating or escaping.
Jakiro icon
  • Jakiro's abilities deal damage over time, which can disrupt Magnus's attempts to initiate with Blink Dagger and Reverse Polarity.
  • Macropyre icon Macropyre not only disables Blink Dagger for a considerable duration, but can also destroy Trees, revealing Magnus's cover and position.
Night Stalker icon
  • Dark Ascension icon 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 icon Aghanim's Scepter and a Gem of True Sight icon Gem of True Sight, after which he can silence Magnus with Crippling Fear icon Crippling Fear.
Phoenix icon
  • Phoenix will usually be on the sidelines or further back ready to use Sun Ray icon Sun Ray. Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and skewer Phoenix's teammates, Phoenix can usually counter-initiate using all of its abilities.
Razor icon
  • Plasma Field icon Plasma Field can slow Magnus during Skewer, and when combined with Eye of the Storm icon Eye of the Storm, will potentially disable his Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating.
  • Static Link icon Static Link drains the bonus damage from Empower. However, it can be broken by Skewer and/or Force Staff.
  • Storm Surge icon Storm Surge gives Razor and his allies high mobility needed to avoid Shockwave & Reverse Polarity.
Rubick icon
  • All of Magnus's spells are perfect for Rubick to steal, especially Reverse Polarity for a counter-initiation.
  • Telekinesis icon Telekinesis is one of the best instant-disables in the game, completely ruining Magnus's initiation.
Sniper icon
  • Shrapnel icon 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 icon
  • Spectre disables Magnus' Blink Dagger using her ultimate, and later into the game can usually outlive Reverse Polarity's duration.
Treant Protector icon
  • Treant Protector can usually scout out Magnus in the trees with Eyes In The Forest icon Eyes In The Forest and disrupt his initiation attempts. He can also counter Magnus' initiation with Overgrowth icon Overgrowth.
Tinker icon
  • Tinker can break Magnus's Blink Dagger using March of the Machines icon March of the Machines and Heat-Seeking Missile icon Heat-Seeking Missile, therefore delaying any initiation or making Magnus use Skewer or Force Staff icon Force Staff to initiate. His Defense Matrix icon Defense Matrix will decrease the duration of Reverse Polarity and can also be cast on all of his teammates with Rearm icon 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.
Venomancer icon
  • Similar to Night Stalker, Venomancer can simultaneously scout Magnus hiding in trees and put Blink Dagger on cooldown with Plague Ward icon Plague Ward, which gives Magnus problems when trying to blink in and initiate.
Wraith King icon
  • Even if Wraith King dies after Magnus disables him, Magnus' entire team will be slowed and vulnerable for counter-initiation.
Zeus icon
  • Zeus can easily find Magnus who is often hiding in the trees with Thundergod's Wrath icon Thundergod's Wrath and Lightning Bolt icon Lightning Bolt, which allows him to warn allies and disrupt his initiation attempts.

Others[]

Items[]

Good against...[]

Chaos Knight icon
  • All Magnus abilities are very good against Chaos Knight's Phantasm icon Phantasm illusions.
Meepo icon
  • Meepo is vulnerable to area damage and disables from Magnus himself as well as his team through Empower.
Lifestealer icon
  • Reverse Polarity pierces through Rage icon 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.
Phantom Lancer icon
  • Shockwave can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions.
  • Empower and Skewer in general are effective for clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.

Others[]

Items[]

  • Manta Style icon Manta Style's illusions will be cleared out of no time with Magnus' skill set.

Works well with...[]

Snapfire icon
Anti-Mage icon
  • He is a good target for Empower, especially before he has a Battle Fury icon Battle Fury.
  • Reverse Polarity is a good set-up for Mana Void icon Mana Void.
Enigma icon
  • Reverse Polarity with (or without) Skewer can set up a good Black Hole icon Black Hole for Enigma.
Invoker icon
Phantom Assassin icon
Sven icon
  • Sven is a perfect target for Empower, especially when he builds items that give attributes. Empower also stacks with Great Cleave icon Great Cleave.
  • Reverse Polarity is a very good setup for Storm Hammer icon Storm Hammer.
Troll Warlord icon
  • Berserker's Rage icon Berserker's Rage melee form skillset is the best target for Empower since it can wipe out enemies caught in Reverse Polarity.
Phoenix icon
  • All Phoenix's abilities are great in combination with Reverse Polarity. Fire Spirits icon Fire Spirits and Sun Ray icon Sun Ray can do a lot of damage to enemies caught by Reverse Polarity, or with Supernova icon 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 icon Supernova from being destroyed, since it pierces through spell immunity.
Kunkka icon
  • Reverse Polarity is a perfect setup for the Torrent icon Torrent and Ghostship icon Ghostship combo.
  • Kunkka is one of the best targets for Empower due to Tidebringer icon Tidebringer.
Tiny icon
  • Empower greatly increase Tiny's damage output combined with the cleave and bonus damage from Tree Grab icon Tree Grab and also massively increase the damage from Tree Volley icon Tree Volley as Tiny commonly builds Aghanim's Scepter icon 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 icon Tree Volley when he has Aghanim's Scepter icon Aghanim's Scepter.

Others[]


Works poorly with...[]

Bane icon
  • Bane's single-targeted ability arsenal makes him a bad follow-up to Magnus's initiations with Reverse Polarity.
  • Nightmare icon Nightmare can accidentally disable Magnus if he impulsively tries to attack the targeted hero affected by it with Empower.
Pudge icon
  • If Magnus uses blink dagger before Pudge uses Meat Hook icon 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 minimap icon Bane, Pudge minimap icon Pudge, Oracle minimap icon Oracle, Naga Siren minimap icon Naga Siren, Terrorblade minimap icon 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 minimap icon Io, Ogre Magi minimap icon Ogre Magi, Bane minimap icon Bane, Oracle minimap icon Oracle.

Items[]

  • Badly-timed and ill-positioned Force Staff icon Force Staff will save the enemy hero from Magnus during the ganks.
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