Bad against...[]
- Berserker's Call prevents Sven from bursting his targets before Axe can interfere. The worst kind of opponent for Sven is one who can stop him from attacking who he wants to, which is exactly what Axe does.
- Culling Blade may finish off Sven before he has the chance to lifesteal or run with Warcry.
- Axe is a very common Blade Mail carrier which will make very short work of a Sven with God's Strength activated.
- Pugna can save allies with both healing or by making them ethereal but needs to be careful of Sven's Aghanim's Scepter purge.
- Static Link saps Sven's insane attack damage, and goes through Black King Bar.
- Cloak and Dagger makes Sven unable to detect where Riki is until he shows or his team provides detection.
- Smoke Screen will make Sven miss attacks before he has his Black King Bar.
- Purification can heal allies while dealing pure damage to Sven.
- Heavenly Grace can remove Storm Hammer's debuff immediately or make it a very mediocre stun.
- Guardian Angel negates Sven's massive damage during God's Strength.
- It should also be noted Sven can remove Omniknight's active spells with Aghanim's Scepter.
- Mana Shield makes it very hard for Sven to burst her within Storm Hammer's stun duration.
- Stone Gaze makes it very difficult for Sven to fight Medusa at any stage of the game.
- Mystic Snake can slow Sven down enough for allies to capitalize on his commitment in a fight.
- Whirling Axes (Melee)'s blind makes Sven nearly useless in the early game and allows Troll Warlord to take him on comfortably.
- Battle Trance will mean Sven will never take Troll out in a 1vs1 with equal farm.
- Sven has no easy way to burn Refraction charges and needs help from teammates to kill TA successfully.
- Cold Embrace saves any ally Sven initiates on and wastes the duration of God's Strength in team fights.
- Winter's Curse can be devastating to Sven's team, as his massive damage can take out a teammate before there is much time to react.
Others[]
- Heroes who can stun Sven even with an activated Black King Bar can be an issue: Clockwerk, Beastmaster.
- Sven is very vulnerable to chain stun such as Lion, Shadow Shaman or Magnus.
- Heroes who thrive on teamfights can be a problem, such as Venomancer, Necrophos, Centaur Warrunner...
- Heroes who can fight back easily are not ideal matchups for Sven, such as Troll Warlord as mentioned above, Lone Druid and Templar Assassin.
- Heroes that can prevent Sven from farming are very strong against him. Such as Riki and Bounty Hunter with their respective invisibility.
- Heroes who can take advantage of God's Strength being on cooldown are also not great matchups, such as Templar Assassin, Morphling and Huskar.
- In general, any hero that can stun, root or slow will give Sven a difficult time in teamfights.
- Keeper of the Light's AoE blind can keep Sven from landing hits.
Items[]
- Force Staff and Hurricane Pike are used to escape Sven, also can save allies from Storm Hammer.
- Blink Dagger disjoints Storm Hammer in quick hands.
- Ghost Scepter and Ethereal Blade protect heroes from Sven's physical damage, forcing him to build either Nullifier, Revenant's Brooch or Aghanim's Scepter.
- Heaven's Halberd neuters Sven's main damage source during a teamfight.
- Rod of Atos roots Sven to the ground, making him an easy target.
- Blade Mail reflects Sven's massive damage, recommended for beefy heroes or in combination with Heart of Tarrasque.
- Scythe of Vyse disables Sven completely unless if he is debuff immune already.
- Linken's Sphere negates Sven's initiations with Storm Hammer.
- Radiance will make Sven miss his attacks more often.
- Abyssal Blade disables Sven even if he is debuff immune.
- Lotus Orb can reflect Storm Hammer back at Sven if he impulsively uses it on a hero protected by it.
Good against...[]
- Anti-Mage is fairly fragile, and cannot stand against Sven in a prolonged fight.
- Sven's Black King Bar and low base mana can protect Sven from the effects of Mana Break and Mana Void.
- Great Cleave destroys the illusions from Anti-Mage's Manta Style.
- Although Sven should be careful as a well-timed Counterspell can block and reflect Storm Hammer back at Sven.
- Great Cleave can clear Spiderlings very quickly, and give Sven lot of gold.
- Warcry shields Sven and his allies against Broodmother and her Spiderlings.
- Great Cleave is very effective against Chaos Knight's illusions.
- Storm Hammer's radius can catch all of Chaos Knight's illusions at once, especially after Reality Rift.
- Warcry shields Sven and his teammates against Chaos Knight's physical damage output.
- Great Cleave can quickly destroy Chen's creeps in team fights, before they have a chance to do much.
- God's Strength allows Sven to take down Death Prophet quickly, reducing the damage dealt over time from Exorcism.
- Warcry's bonus armor and movement speed is very useful for Sven and his teammates against Exorcism, which deals physical damage.
- Doom generally does not impede Sven in almost any way, provided he has activated God's Strength beforehand.
- Warcry allows Sven to tank the damage from Omnislash due to its high armor gain.
- However Blade Fury provides spell immunity which blocks the stun from Storm Hammer.
- Great Cleave will devastate Meepo's clones. Against a closely packed group, Sven does not even need to target the clone with the lowest health.
- Warcry can protect Sven and his teammates from Swashbuckle.
- With Black King Bar, Sven will be able to protect himself from most of Pangolier's skills.
- Great Cleave and God's Strength cuts through Phantom Lancer's illusions in no time.
- Storm Hammer's AoE stun will hit Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
- Past the early game, Sniper is an easy target for Sven to jump on with Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Storm Hammer, Blink Dagger, Silver Edge or Harpoon, common items on Sven.
- Sven's high armor and health pool makes it difficult for Sniper to focus, as his main source of damage is his right click, especially if Sven uses Warcry.
- Sniper is very squishy, and will not stand a chance against Sven head on.
- Avalanche and Toss will never be enough damage to take out Sven in a clean way.
- Tiny is very slow with low armour growth and does not buy items to sustain Sven's damage output.
- With God's Strength, Warlock's Golem from Chaotic Offering will go down in a matter of seconds. The two weaker golems granted by Aghanim's Scepter will fare worse due to Great Cleave hitting both.
- Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Storm Hammer Aghanim's Scepter can dispel Shadow Word.
Others[]
- Late game heroes are Sven's favourite kind of opponent, such as Anti-Mage, Spectre and Shadow Fiend.
- Heroes who struggle to fight back against Sven at any point in the game are at a severe disadvantage: Alchemist, Anti-Mage, Crystal Maiden.
- Heroes who depends on illusions and summons: Naga Siren, Arc Warden, Broodmother will struggle against Great Cleave.
- Heroes who cannot prevent Sven from killing towers will often struggle from a small map very early, such as Phantom Assassin, Storm Spirit and Phantom Lancer.
- Strong laners are usually at a disadvantage because of how well Sven can jungle. Heroes such as Dark Seer. Underlord and Legion Commander may find that later Sven takes care of them very quickly after some jungle farming.
- Heroes who cannot prevent Sven from killing supports will always be at a disadvantage in fights such as Lina, Slark and Zeus.
- Fragile supports who die in a few hits against Sven's high physical damage: Crystal Maiden, Vengeful Spirit, Dark Willow.
Items[]
- Manta Style's illusions will be cleared quickly by Great Cleave.
- Aghanim's Scepter will make items such as Ghost Scepter and Glimmer Cape not ideal.
Works well with...[]
- Crystal Maiden's Frostbite and numerous slows make it easy for Sven to catch up to enemies.
- Arcane Aura helps to compensate for Sven's low manapool.
- Vacuum combined with Storm Hammer can stun the whole enemy team with good cooperation.
- Great Cleave and Exorcism can easily clear waves of creeps, summons and illusions.
- Warcry can give Death Prophet bonus armor during the teamfights, for she is very frail and cannot endure a lot if she gets focused.
- Silence prevents enemy heroes from using abilites against Sven in attempts to counter-initiate against him.
- God's Strength and Exorcism can very quickly make a short work out of enemy heroes and buildings alike.
- A well positioned Black Hole could result in an enemy teamwipe for Sven's team, due to the AoE damage from Storm Hammer and Great Cleave.
- Tether and Relocate sets Sven up for easy ganks anywhere on the map. This is effective against single targets because Sven can burst them down without being disabled by the enemy's teammates.
- Overcharge makes Sven hit faster, increasing his damage output. The damage reduction, combined with Warcry, will make Sven tough to kill.
- Earth Spike and Hex gives Sven plenty of time to beat down the enemy.
- Empower gives Sven additional cleave and damage.
- A well-positioned Reverse Polarity allows Sven to devastate multiple opponents with God's Strength and Great Cleave. He can also prolong the disable with Storm Hammer.
- Fortune's End and False Promise dispels most disables, making Sven unstoppable in teamfights.
- Fate's Edict protects Sven from magical damage, pairing with Warcry to make him highly resilient.
Others[]
- Heroes with lengthy stuns or roots will synergize well with Sven.
- Heroes with little armour but high health will benefit most from Warcry, becoming much more resilient: Alchemist, Bristleback, Lifestealer.