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Bad against...[]
- Berserker's Call can interrupt Freezing Field, even through Black King Bar and/or Glimmer Cape.
- Battle Hunger makes Crystal Maiden's already bad movement speed even worse.
- Axe frequently builds Blade Mail, which can quickly kill Crystal Maiden if her ultimate is used while he is under its effect.
- Shuriken Toss's stun is useful for cancelling Freezing Field from a distance.
- Track can be used for revealing Crystal Maiden when she uses Glimmer Cape.
- Jinada does burst physical damage (which is even bigger if dealt under Track's crits), which is effective due to Crystal Maiden's low HP and armor.
- Bounty Hunter likes to stay hidden from the fight and is less likely to get caught by Crystal Maiden's spells.
- Viscous Nasal Goo can hinder Crystal Maiden's already abysmal mobility, which allows Bristleback (or his teammates) to run her down and kill her.
- Bristleback frequently builds Blade Mail, which can quickly kill Crystal Maiden if her ultimate is used while he is under its effect.
- The passive part of Bristleback will trigger many, many times under the damage from Freezing Field, and as the stacks increase, the damage output from each successive cast (or proc) will eat away at Crystal Maiden's small HP pool.
- Battery Assault, Power Cogs, and Hookshot can interrupt Freezing Field, the latter two being able to go through invisibility should Crystal Maiden use Glimmer Cape.
- Rocket Flare can be used to find Crystal Maiden should she try to hide in the trees to try to safely cast Freezing Field.
- Hookshot allows Clockwerk to easily close in on Crystal Maiden and kill her.
- Doom alone can easily pick off Crystal Maiden since she is fairly fragile, even with using only basic attacks, Infernal Blade, and Scorched Earth.
- Doom prevents her from using any abilities in a fight, making her impact negligible.
- Devour allows Doom to acquire a stun, allowing him to cancel Freezing Field without having to use Doom.
- Boulder Smash and Geomagnetic Grip allow Earth Spirit to easily disrupt Freezing Field, regardless of where Crystal Maiden is due to their incredible range. Earth Spirit is quite possibly the best hero for stopping long channeling abilities, and Crystal Maiden is vulnerable to him without a Black King Bar.
- All of Earth Spirit's spells allow him to easily close in on Crystal Maiden and kill her. Since she is a low health support, she generally stays behind in teamfights, but Earth Spirit can easily close the distance.
- Crystal Maiden has low movement speed and no other escape mechanism, rendering her extremely vulnerable to Earth Spirit's arsenal of long-range, damaging spells.
- Ice Path allows Jakiro to easily cancel Freezing Field.
- Freezing Field makes Crystal Maiden an easy target for all of his abilities without a Black King Bar.
- With the Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Macropyre, Black King Bar becomes nearly useless for Crystal Maiden, as its high pure damage over time, long duration and ability to pierce spell immunity will either force Crystal Maiden to forcefully cancel Freezing Field or even discourage her from using it at all.
- Duel is a great initiation to target Crystal Maiden with, as it prevents her from using Freezing Field or any other abilities and allowing the enemy team to quickly kill her before she can aid her team in a fight.
- Lucent Beam allows Luna to easily cancel Freezing Field.
- Without Black King Bar protection, Lucent Beam and Eclipse can make a short work out of Crystal Maiden's abysmal health.
- Skilled Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance, allowing her team to have a vision on Crystal Maiden while invisible and during channeling Freezing Field.
- Even with Black King Bar, Luna can still inflict considerable damage on Crystal Maiden with her attacks, which get empowered with Moon Glaives and Lunar Blessing, also smart and skilled Luna will buy Abyssal Blade to cancel Freezing Field even through Black King Bar in case of emergency. And since Crystal Maiden rarely buys Linken's Sphere, this can be a very big problem for her.
- Mirror Image can dispel Frostbite.
- Song of the Siren can stop Freezing Field regardless of any kind of invisibility as well as allow Naga Siren's team to quickly close the gap on Crystal Maiden.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Naga Siren can get access to Reel In ability, which can allow her to pull Crystal Maiden toward herself and her team and cancel Freezing Field even through Black King Bar.
- Crystal Maiden has a very bad movement speed, so Impale is easy to land against her. Furthermore, even while trapped by Frostbite, Nyx Assassin can still cast Impale.
- Crystal Maiden has very low armor, so Vendetta is very effective.
- Nyx Assassin has two ways to stop Freezing Field, provided she doesn't get a Black King Bar. He can either pop Spiked Carapace and simply walk into the field, or he can use Impale to interrupt the field, since Crystal Maiden has to channel it.
- Even with Black King Bar or Linken's Sphere, Pudge's Meat Hook can still cancel Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field as she is a very easy target while channeling it.
- Pudge's Rot can make Crystal Maiden's already bad movement speed even worse.
- Many stacks of Flesh Heap will make it nearly impossible for Crystal Maiden to kill Pudge.
- Pudge's Dismember can also be used to cancel Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, and alternatively, Pudge can also use it to save allies from getting killed by Crystal Maiden and heal them when upgraded with Aghanim's Shard.
- Crystal Maiden is prone to ganks in the lane or in the off-lane without proper vision. Pudge can take advantage of Crystal Maiden's lack of mobility, and gank her often.
- Gush can make Crystal Maiden's already weak armor even weaker.
- Kraken Shell can dispel Frostbite, preventing him from getting stuck inside Freezing Field.
- Ravage is very useful for interrupting Freezing Field, even while Crystal Maiden is under the effects of Glimmer Cape. Crystal Maiden must purchase a Black King Bar, which is far more costly.
- Snowball allows Tusk to easily cancel Freezing Field from a safe distance without putting himself in any danger.
- Walrus PUNCH! is most certainly a high enough damage nuke to easily kill off Crystal Maiden.
- Ice Shards can prevent the already immobile Crystal Maiden from escaping, making her an easy kill for either Tusk or a teammate.
- Grave Chill will make Crystal Maiden's bad movement speed even worse.
- Soul Assumption charges can easily be stacked up from Freezing Field, allowing Visage to nuke enemies multiple times throughout the fight.
- Familiar's Stone Form can also be used to interrupt Freezing Field, even while Crystal Maiden is under the effects of Glimmer Cape. Crystal Maiden must purchase a Black King Bar, which is far more costly.
Others[]
- Juggernaut and Lifestealer have abilities ( Blade Fury and Rage respectively) that prevent Crystal Maiden from using her spells on them in the early game, before Black King Bar and other magical reduction is even an issue.
- In general, heroes with AoE or long range disables (such as Faceless Void with Chronosphere, Pudge with Meat Hook and Elder Titan with Echo Stomp) hinder Crystal Maiden, preventing her from using Freezing Field to help her team in a fight.
- In the same vein, heroes with silences — especially with the AoE ones like Death Prophet's Silence — can also prevent Crystal Maiden from being able to impact a fight.
- Heroes with large health pools ( Pudge) or good innate magic resistance ( Anti-Mage) can be very problematic for Crystal Maiden, since even if they are under the effect of her ultimate for the entire duration, the damage output is simply not enough to kill or force them to retreat.
- Heroes who can easily harass Crystal Maiden out of lane in the early game ( Clinkz, Viper) can prevent Crystal Maiden from being able to level effectively, and can ultimately slow down her level 6, 12, and 18 to a point where enemy carries already have items to address her ultimate.
Items[]
- Black King Bar makes Crystal Maiden completely helpless, and discourages her from even trying to do anything while also making it easy for enemy heroes to kill her off quickly, even in her ultimate.
- Skull Basher and Abyssal Blade can cancel Freezing Field even if Crystal Maiden is protected with any form of spell immunity.
- Orchid Malevolence and Bloodthorn are an issue for Crystal Maiden in the same way that they are for any spell based hero: if she can't use her abilities due to a silence, her fight impact will be greatly reduced.
- Linken's Sphere will block Frostbite and Crystal Maiden has no other way to put it on a cooldown. However, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Freezing Field can indirectly apply a Frostbite to any unit that has been standing in the Freezing Field for over 1.75s, which allows it to ignore Linken's Sphere's spellblock.
- Lotus Orb's ability to reflect single-targeted abilities at it's caster discourages Crystal Maiden from trying to use a Frostbite on an enemy hero affected by it. However, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Freezing Field can indirectly apply a Frostbite to any unit that has been standing in the Freezing Field for over 1.75s, which allows it to ignore Lotus Orb's spell reflecting.
- Blade Mail can reflect Freezing Field, doing incredible damage to Crystal Maiden when she uses her ultimate. Due to her low health pool, this can quickly spell her doom.
Good against...[]
- Though Slark's large damage output is most certainly a concern for the squishy Crystal Maiden, she does perform fairly well against him when coupled with aid from her team.
- Slark has no innate way to cancel Freezing Field, but the common purchase of Skull Basher does make Slark a substantially greater threat to Crystal Maiden as the game progresses.
- Freezing Field can still hit Slark while he is under the effect of Shadow Dance, and for the early and mid game, the damage output of Crystal Maiden's ultimate outscales Slark's passive regeneration, making a quick use of Freezing Field as soon as Slark uses Shadow Dance a great way to combat him.
- Crystal Maiden's Frostbite and Crystal Nova are helpful in disabling and slowing the slippery Slark so he can be killed by her teammates.
- Though certainly not a "hard counter", Crystal Maiden's skillset (magical damage nukes) does pose a substantial threat to Phantom Assassin through the mid game, especially if followed up with engagement by her team.
- A quick use of Freezing Field directly after Phantom Strike can leave Phantom Assassin trapped inside the area of effect, capitalizing on Phantom Assassin's relatively low HP pool when she is not protected by Blur, and besides Skull Basher, Phantom Assassin hates buying disabling items like Scythe of Vyse or Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
- If Phantom Assassin chooses not to buy a Black King Bar relatively early, the attack slow from Freezing Field can greatly hinder the proc chance of Coup de Grace in a teamfight.
- However, Phantom Assassin's massive damage, and her tendency to build both Black King Bar and Skull Basher makes her a formidable foe the later the game goes, and fighting her without a team is almost never a good choice.
- As with other heroes mentioned in this section, Templar Assassin is not a hero that is fully "countered" by Crystal Maiden (the way she is against Viper and Jakiro), however, the proper combination and execution Crystal Maiden's spells, stacked with her team, can most certainly spell the end for Templar Assassin. Though as the later the game goes, and fighting her without team is not the best choice.
- Frostbite can quickly eat away Refraction charges, leaving Templar Assassin vulnerable for the rest of her team to kill.
- Freezing Field will still apply damage to Templar Assassin when she is under the effect of Meld, making it an even less viable form of escape until a Blink Dagger is purchased.
- Blink Dagger is also cancelled by all of Crystal Maiden's spells, and the fairly short cooldowns on Frostbite and Crystal Nova make her a great asset to a chase against Templar Assassin.
- This is not to say that Templar Assassin has any difficulty killing off the low armor, low HP pool Crystal Maiden, so fighting her alone is never advised.
- While Terrorblade can kill Crystal Maiden due to her low durability with Reflection and Metamorphosis, Crystal Maiden can do the same to him if he is not careful.
- Crystal Nova and Freezing Field can destroy Terrorblade's Illusions from Conjure Image and Manta Style while it can also kill Terrorblade from early to mid game if he has no Black King Bar.
- Terrorblade has no disable in his ability set at all and has no solutions to cancel it Freezing Field. In addition, he doesn't like purchasing disabling items like Scythe of Vyse or Abyssal Blade, which are the only solutions to deal with Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field outside of Black King Bar.
- Since Crystal Maiden often buys Black King Bar and Glimmer Cape, or it's alternative item Shadow Blade, as well as it's upgrade Silver Edge, Terrorblade will rarely have a chance to save himself against Crystal Maiden's damage output with Sunder.
Others[]
- Heroes with mobility spells like Queen of Pain, Anti-Mage, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Puck, and Spirit Breaker that are cancelled by Frostbite can suffer greatly from the presence of Crystal Maiden. It is absolutely critical, however, to have followup from teammates, as all of the above heroes can make quick work of the squishy Crystal Maiden after they are released from her grip.
- Frostbite will reveal invisible heroes for its duration, making it a good tool against any such hero ( Riki, Bounty Hunter, Weaver, or Clinkz for example), or as a soft counter to Shadow Blade, if it is used first. This can be an amazing tool to ensure that Dust of Appearance is used on the unit in question, and not wasted in not catching anything.
- Freezing Field will still hit and slow units that are hidden by invisibility, so it can be an excellent way to prevent a slippery heroes from escaping death.
- Heroes like Enchantress and Chen, or heroes that make use of Helm of the Dominator are weak to Crystal Maiden, as Frostbite can do wonders against Enchant, Holy Persuasion, or dominated creeps. Careful though, as an army of carefully controlled creeps ( Enchantress and Chen) can hold many stuns that will cancel Freezing Field.
- Heroes the make heavy use of illusions, like Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, or Spectre can suffer from Crystal Maiden, as Freezing Field can quickly kill off the entire horde if not stopped.
Works well with...[]
- Frostbite provides the perfect setup for Blade Fury, a deadly combo as early as level 1. Later, it can be followed by Crystal Nova to provide an additional slow and ensure the full damage of Blade Fury.
- Arcane Aura provides much needed mana regen for Juggernaut as all his spells cost a considerable amount of mana. It allows him to repeat the combo Frostbite + Blade fury at any opportunity in the lane, while staying healthy thanks to Healing Ward. The aura stays relevant well into the late game.
- Frostbite provides great set up for Timbersaw's many abilities in all phases of the game, allowing him to place Chakram directly on top of an enemy hero, then following up with the rest of his combo.
- Though Timbersaw is forced to build extensive mana regeneration in order to fuel Chakram, the addition of Arcane Aura is very useful in the early game, allowing Timbersaw to always have Timber Chain available for escape or initiation.
- Freezing Field stacks very well with the slow from Timbersaw's Chakram, and Timbersaw's excellent mobility allows him to easily chase down heroes who escaped from the full damage of Freezing Field.
- Arcane Aura helps significantly with Sven's pitiful starting mana regeneration, allowing him to more freely use Storm Hammer and Warcry in lane, and well into the middle and later game.
- Storm Hammer layered well with Frostbite in lane is a quick and easy way to ensure a kill, and if Crystal Nova and Warcry are added, it allows for insane chase potential for even the most stubborn of laners.
- With both Frostbite and Crystal Nova, Crystal Maiden is well equipped to help Sven chase down enemies, or hold them in place while he kills them. This helps to prevent Sven from being kited, especially during the duration of God's Strength.
Others[]
- Every hero in the game can make good use of Arcane Aura, especially early game as many heroes at that point cannot spam spells. Just one point in arcane aura is very helpful during the laning stage. For this reason, Crystal Maiden works well in many situations, provided the enemy does not pick heroes that can deal with her effectively and render her useless.
- Many strength and agility heroes benefit greatly from Arcane Aura for the entire game, such as heroes like Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Pudge, Chaos Knight, and so on. By having a source of mana regeneration via Arcane Aura, they can focus on other items that could benefit them more instead of having to buy an item for mana regeneration.
- Frostbite provides an instant, reliable disable that can be a good setup for unreliable spells such as Light Strike Array, Split Earth, Torrent, or Sun Strike.
- Any hero with a large, AoE disable works very well with Crystal Maiden (think Black Hole, Ravage, or Overgrowth), allowing easy setup for her ultimate, and ensuring that a decent duration of it is used before getting ended. Just be sure not to catch enemies' disables while using this tactic, otherwise both ultimates will be wasted!
