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Many hands make light work.
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Bad against...
- Weaver's Shukuchi allows him to escape from Warlock's Upheaval with maximum move speed.
- His ultimate Time Lapse allows him to ignore damage from Warlock Golem and escape.
- Mana Break prevents Warlock from casting his spells.
- Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Upheaval.
- Counterspell reduces damage from Shadow Word and the Warlock Golem's Permanent Immolation.
- Mana Void deals heavy damage after Chaotic Offering and interrupts Upheaval.
- Blood Rite can silence Warlock, which as a spellcaster is bad for him.
- Rupture prevents Warlock from moving without taking damage, which due to his general lack of escapes is bad for him, and when combined with Blood Rite can be a very lethal combo.
- Because Warlock's abilities are all active abilities, Silencer can make his impact minimal.
- Arcane Curse prevents Warlock from using his abilities without taking 56/84/112/140 damage, and slowed by 9%/12%/15%/18%.
- Last Word can prevent Warlock from casting his combo.
- Global Silence can nullify Warlock's impact in fights and prevent him from getting any spells off.
- 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 range, ignoring Upheaval, and Searing Chains lets him interrupt it.
- Shapeshift allows Lycan to escape from Upheaval with 650 movement speed.
- Warlock doesn't have a lot of AoE abilities to deal with Lycan's wolves from Summon Wolves.
- Ice Blast nullifies the healing from Warlock Golem and Shadow Word.
- Cold Feet stuns Warlock if he chooses to continue channeling Upheaval.
- Impale interrupts Upheaval.
- Nyx Assassin Vendetta allows him to escape from Warlock's Upheaval with maximum move speed.
- Warlock's low health pool and mobility can easily take down by Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
- God's Strength combined with Great Cleave destroys Chaotic Offering golems within seconds.
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 your allies and deal with you, preventing you from doing your job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight, Spirit Breaker, Riki, and some others.
- Ursa can shred Warlock 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
- Orchid Malevolence silences Warlock, which is bad for him as a spell based hero.
- Diffusal Blade removes mana from Warlock with each attack. Considering the high mana costs of his spells, it could leave him with no room for casting additional spells.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can stop Warlock from casting Upheaval, which can then allow the enemy team to escape, or get close to deal damage.
- Blink Dagger can allow heroes to escape from Upheaval and get close to Warlock.
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 allow Warlock's team to gather their wit and retaliate.
- After jumping in, Huskar will not have any means to escape Upheaval. Being an attack-dependent hero, this is bad for him.
- Fatal Bonds links the Meepos together.
- Warlock can cast Upheaval when Templar Assassin uses Meld, preventing escape.
- Warlock can also send his Golem near where she used Meld, preventing escape by Blink Dagger due to the Golem Permanent Immolation.
- Lacking escaping mechanisms, being dependent on fair positioning and channeling for his ultimate, its easier to Warlock with your long range crowd control abilities to lock the Shadow Fiend down to your 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 channeling of Black Hole.
- Enemies often get clumped up around Black Hole giving Warlock a perfect opportunity to cast Fatal Bonds and Upheaval on multiple enemies.
Others
- Warlock has long cast ranges on his abilities. You should never go in the middle of the enemies to do your work, sending your Golem instead, and helping him and your teammates with your abilities. Buying a Glimmer Cape helps you even more.
- While heroes with strong mobility able to get close/flee or long range disables do well against him, heroes with no escaping abilities/lacking long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the Golem lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Just watch your pet burn the enemies as they try running away or blow their strongest abilities to stop your Golem. Notable examples: Huskar, Drow Ranger, Lion, Elder Titan, etc.
- Team fight composition is often a bad deal against Warlock, since his stronger point is to counter an initiation and disrupt/curse a crowd of enemies.
- 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, Shadow Fiend, Enigma, etc.
Works well with...
- Sven's Storm Hammer works well with Warlock's Upheaval.
- Warcry allows Warlock Golem to catch up to enemies and gives it better survivability against physical damage.
- Bloodseeker can land his Blood Rite after Warlock drop his ability combo ( Chaotic Offering -> Fatal Bonds -> Upheaval), making it deal a lot of damage 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 heroes into an Upheaval.
- Surge allows Warlock Golem from Chaotic Offering to chase down enemy heroes.
- Fatal Bonds, Chaotic Offering, and Upheaval combo makes a perfect setup for Torrent and Ghostship combo.
- Reverse Polarity can be set up with Chaotic Offering and Upheaval.
- Fatal Bonds can be very dangerous with an Empowered Magnus.
- Chaotic Offering, Upheaval, and Fatal Bonds are very dangerous with Black Hole and Midnight Pulse, they can bring down enemies in few seconds.
- Silencer's Last Word and Global Silence prevent the enemy team from casting stuns or silences upon Warlock.
- 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
- Legion Commander, because Warlock Golem can help deal damage and stun the opponent during Duel, and Upheaval can prevent escape from either initiation or if the Duel is unsuccessful.
- Any hero that deal AOE 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 allows Warlock prevent them from escaping using his Upheaval.
