Pudge/Counters
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Counters
Contents
Bad against...[edit]
- Abaddon can activate Borrowed Time to dispel Dismember; breaking the disable and potentially allowing Abaddon to escape.
- Aphotic Shield can be cast on an ally to dispel the stun of Dismember, which can make kills difficult to secure, given that Dismember is Pudge's only reliable disable.
- If Meat Hook is used before Blink, Anti-Mage may be able to escape Pudge's grasp by blinking to safety.
- Spell Shield grants Anti-Mage a large degree of magic resistance, a damage type Pudge is highly reliant on to secure kills. This makes Anti-Mage a bad target for Pudge.
- Mana Break can quickly burn through Pudge's poor supply of mana; which may render Meat Hook & Dismember unusable.
- Pudge is particularly susceptible to Bristleback's Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray due to his naturally low armor & poor agility gain.
- Bristleback, in combination with his strength gain, high health, common itemization for magic resistance and damage reduction from Bristleback make him a poor target for Pudge.
- Doom disables the toggling of Rot and, if cast at the right time, may leave Pudge with a potentially lethal health drain.
- Doom's naturally high health, strength gain and damage output make him a poor target for Pudge.
- The damage of Doom's Infernal Blade scales with the target's maximum health, which is particularly effective against Pudge due to his naturally high health and further health granted by stacks of Flesh Heap.
- Legion commander can use Press the Attack on an ally to dispel the disable of Dismember. The bonus health regeneration also partially counters the damage of Rot
- Duel can be used on Pudge whilst Rot is active; disabling toggling which may result in a lethal health drain that leaves Legion Commander with a successful duel.
- The damage of Feast scales accordingly to the health of its target, which is effective against Pudge due to his high health and further health granted by stacks of Flesh Heap.
- Lifestealer can activate Rage to completely negate magic damage, therefore rendering the damage of Rot and Dismember null.
- Pudge's plentiful health makes him an ideal target for Open Wounds.
- Gush reduces Pudge's armor which he already lacks.
- Kraken Shell can dispel Dismember after reaching a certain threshold of damage.
- Tidehunter's naturally high health, strength gain, and common itemization for survivability through magic resistance make Tidehunter a poor target.
- The percentage-based primary-attribute reduction effect of Whirling Death can be devastating for Pudge due to his high strength gain through Flesh Heap.
- Reactive Armor's health regeneration and common itemization for magic resistance and durability make Timbersaw a poor target for Pudge.
- Timber Chain's high mobility makes Timbersaw difficult to lockdown for Pudge, given he only has one reliable disable.
- Shukuchi grants Weaver invisibility and a high degree of mobility for a short time, which can make Weaver a difficult target to hook.
- The Swarm can remove what little natural armor Pudge has and can be difficult to remove due to Pudge's low base attack time and poor agility. Additionally, The Swarm can scout out Pudge's location.
- Given Pudge only has one reliable disable in Dismember, should Weaver survive and use Time Lapse, Pudge has no natural way to counter.
Others[edit]
- Pudge is strong versus heroes with low health, being able to kill them with a combo. On the other hand, tanky heroes are strong versus Pudge because they can survive and even turn the fight around.
- Pudge often doesn't rush Black King Bar, that makes him often vulnerable during Dismember against most of disables such as Nightmare, Hex, Shackles, Malefice, Light Strike Array, Lucent Beam, Ice Path, Ensnare, Adaptive Strike, Avalanche, Disruption, Echo Stomp, Burrowstrike, and many more.
- Heroes with many summons or illusions are much harder to catch with Meat Hook: Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer etc.
- Any illusion hero that goes for Diffusal Blade is a big issue for Pudge because of his low mana pool.
Items[edit]
- Black King Bar will make the bearer immune to Pudge's magical damage. Keep in mind that Dismember stun pierces spell immunity, but does not deal any damage.
- Blink Dagger is not the best choice, but can be good to escape the area faster than Meat hook can reach.
- Lotus Orb and Linken's Sphere will deny Dismember.
- Force Staff will be seen used by players to escape Pudge Meat Hook, or, in worse conditions, escape Pudge himself after Dismember. It is also a great alternative for Blink Dagger due to increasing your mana, intelligence, and having a relatively cheaper price.
- Manta Style makes Meat Hook much harder to land because of illusions and invulnerability duration.
- Diffusal Blade will wear down Pudge's low mana pool.
Good against...[edit]
- Meat Hook can cancel Freezing Field, even if Crystal Maiden has Glimmer Cape.
- Her already very low health makes her a lovely victim for ganking.
- Meat Hook can pull Drow Ranger to Pudge, disabling her Marksmanship.
- Following up with Dismember will prevent Drow Ranger from using Gust or Shadow Blade.
- Pudge can easily survive Luna's Lucent Beam and Eclipse, and his Meat Hook and Dismember can pierce Black King Bar, making Luna one of the perfect victims for ganking.
- However, Lucent Beam can cancel Dismember, as Pudge often doesn't build Black King Bar, and if she is farmed enough, Luna might be able to fight back against Pudge.
- Pudge's stunlock does not allow Spectre to escape with Haunt.
- He can easily tank the damage reflected by Dispersion due to his high strength and heal from Dismember.
- Should Spectre try to get away through the trees or over a cliff with Spectral Dagger, Pudge can hook her back.
- Pudge is the perfect hero for tanking mines, as Flesh Heap grants him lots of strength.
- Techies' good highground defense can be bypassed by Pudge hooking his enemies to the lowground from a long distance.
- Techies usually sit in the trees during the laning stage, setting up Proximity Mines, but Meat Hook can pull them out.
- Rot penetrates Refraction, so landing a Meat Hook on her and using Rot will deplete all absorb charges almost immediately.
- Keep in mind Templar Assassin still has her Damage procs and can Meld after you Dismember, so unless you have Aghanim's Scepter or some form of detection, she can more than likely escape.
- Zeus likes to stay far back in fights, dealing his damage uninterrupted, but once he gets hook into the fight, he usually dies very quickly.
- Pudge's high strength from Flesh Heap make it very hard for Zeus to burst him down.
- Zeus' low health pool makes him very vulnerable to the damage from Meat Hook, Rot and Dismember.
- Sniper has a poor Health pool and Strength gain. Pudge is one of the best counters against Sniper because of this.
- An average Sniper player likes to stay in one, good position in a team fight. Pudge can with ease hook him out.
- Assassinate won't do much damage to Pudge because of Pudge's high strength thanks to Flesh Heap.
- Axe is very vulnerable to Disables and Pure damage. Pudge is the perfect hero for this as he's one of the best Disablers in the whole game.
- Axe should be really careful when using Berserker's Call against Pudge, because Pudge has a high health pool in the mid-late game, which may give Axe very low chances to kill The Butcher.
- In the other hand, Pudge should be really careful hooking Axe. Axe can use his Berserker's Call immediately when he gets hooked by Pudge, denying his Rot+Dismember Combo.
- Pudge's high health pool will make him have possibilities of escaping Rupture.
Others[edit]
- Pudge is really good against most magic nukers, as they are usually squishy and lack any form of escape mechanism. Flesh Heap also grants him bonus strength making nukers less effective against him in the later stages of the game. Examples of heroes that Pudge can easily kill include: Zeus, Skywrath Mage, Shadow Shaman, Lina, Leshrac, Sand King, Nature's Prophet, Death Prophet
Works well with...[edit]
- Pudge can hook enemies into mines, which can guarantee a kill.
- Pugna can use Decrepify on an enemy, causing them to take extra damage from Rot and Dismember.
- The control provided by Rot + Dismember combo gives Pugna an easier time into casting Nether Blast and Life Drain on the hooked victim
- Arc Warden can quickly build up a large amount of Spark Wraiths for Pudge to stand in and hook players. Also, Flux's single target slow makes it easier for Pudge to hook enemies.
- Astral Imprisonment can set up a hook, if timed correctly.
- Lifestealer can remain hidden inside Pudge using Infest, and can burst out when Pudge successfully hooks an enemy. He can then continue to do damage while Pudge disables his enemy using his ultimate.
- Tiny and Pudge can make quite a deadly duo with Tiny able to use Toss to engage by tossing Pudge onto an enemy or toss a enemy onto Pudge so Pudge can get a Dismember off to keep them stunned long enough for the rest of the team or just Tiny to help secure the kill.
- Another good reason is if you really want is to get a bit tactical with Toss and Meat Hook by tossing pudge into a spot where he can get a good hook and maybe pull someone who is low to either their death or save them from certain doom.
Others[edit]
- Bane can use Nightmare on an enemy, setting up an easy Meat Hook for Pudge.
- Rubick can use Telekinesis on an enemy, giving Pudge enough time to hook during the lift duration.
- Lion can use Earth Spike or Hex on an enemy, setting up an easy Meat Hook for Pudge.
