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Many hands make light work.
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Bad against...[]
- Ice Blast negates healing from Shadow Wave, and lasts longer than Shallow Grave.
- Culling Blade kills any target under the health threshold, even through Shallow Grave.
- Although Counterspell's passive component doesn't protect Anti-Mage from the physical damage nukes from Poison Touch and Shadow Wave, a well-timed use of it will reflect Poison Touch back to Dazzle, slowing him in the process.
- This can be even more dangerous if Dazzle has an Aghanim's Shard, as Counterspell will reflect the hex back to Dazzle.
- Mana Break drains mana, which can be a problem for Dazzle, as all of his abilities have a high mana cost. This makes him especially vulnerable to Mana Void.
- Mirror Image's illusions can easily walk straight at Dazzle and attack him, due to Dazzle's lack of reliable AoE nukes or disables.
- Ensnare roots Dazzle or his allies, making it harder to stay in range of Dazzle's saving abilities.
- Song of the Siren can be used to initiate a fight with superior positioning, potentially zoning Dazzle's high-impact spells out of the fight.
- Astral Imprisonment is a versatile nuisance:
- If it is cast on a low-enough-health unit at least 1 second into Shallow Grave's duration, the Shallow Grave will end during the imprisonment, and the target will take lethal damage when released.
- It can be used remove Dazzle from the fight at a time he could have saved someone.
- It lets himself or an ally dodge all of Poison Touch's effects, for long enough to recover their Blink Dagger.
- Juxtapose and Doppelganger conjures too many illusions for Dazzle to deal with, given he has no inherent movement- or AoE-abilities.
- However, this can be partially solved with Aghanim's Shard-upgraded Poison Touch, as the hex instantly destroys illusions in an area as well as revealing the real Phantom Lancer when he's hiding among his army of illusions.
- Phantom Rush and Spirit Lance allow Phantom Lancer to trivially catch Dazzle even in the back line of a fight.
- Phantom Lancer has high base armor which counters Dazzle's physical damage based spells in lane.
- Pugna can turn out to be an effective hero against Dazzle due to the fact that he does not allow him to extend his Poison Touch with his Decrepify, which is why Dazzle cannot keep the enemy under prolonged deceleration.
- Pugna has a very strong ability against casters with a small health reserve - Nether Ward, which is why heroes like Dazzle will not be able to constantly throw their Poison Touch Bad Juju and Shadow Wave at enemies under the action of Nether Ward or will be forced to take a lot of damage
- A well-timed Global Silence prevents Dazzle from saving allies with Shallow Grave or Shadow Wave. Items that could dispel the silence are expensive, and difficult for Dazzle to farm from a support role.
- Arcane Curse and Last Word cause long damage over time, which may outlast Shallow Grave.
- Doom can completely shut down Dazzle through Doom, as it prevents him from casting his abilities and, by extension, gaining Bad Juju stacks.
Others[]
- Dazzle is weak against summons (especially ranged ones) because of Shadow Wave's unreliability as an area nuke.
- Bloodseeker's Thirst, Rupture, and huge AoE silence Blood Rite can fare well against Dazzle.
- Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus, Invoker or Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
- Heroes with high burst damage through their physical attacks or spells can kill Dazzle or his allies before he has a chance to use Shallow Grave. ( Lina, Lion, etc.)
Items[]
- Orchid Malevolence and Bloodthorn can silence Dazzle, either to kill him or block his spells in critical moments. This forces Dazzle to spend his meager support farm on expensive Eul's Scepter, Lotus Orb, or Guardian Greaves.
- Diffusal Blade burn Dazzle's mana quickly, rendering him useless.
- Dagon along with other quick nukes can snipe low-health allies before Shallow Grave's long cast animation completes.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can be used to cyclone an enemy affected by Shallow Grave, wasting a large part of the duration, and giving time to zone Dazzle away so he can't help any more: Using a Cyclone Dazzle at a crucial point will prevent him from helping his allies. This can be used to kill an almost-dead enemy who is under effect of Shallow Grave, thanks to the small 50 damage inflicted on landing.
- Ghost Scepter is more effective against Dazzle than other intelligence heroes because Dazzle has no abilities that let him deal magical damage at all. Ghost Scepter can later be upgraded into Ethereal Blade which can let enemies burst either Dazzle or any of his allies before he gets to save them with Shallow Grave.
Good against...[]
- Shadow Wave will hit Clockwerk every time when he's fighting with an enemy inside Power Cogs.
- Due to Clockwerk's steady damage output, Dazzle has plenty of time to Shallow Grave anyone Clockwerk initiates on.
- Reaper's Scythe is very predictable and gives Dazzle plenty of time to react with Shallow Grave: Dazzle just has to keep a close eye on his allies below 50% health.
- However, Dazzle must be sure to use Shadow Wave on that ally immediately after, or they will die from Heartstopper Aura when the Shallow Grave ends!
- Poison Touch allows Dazzle to harass both, Io and it's tethered target on lane. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Poison Touch can also hex both, Io and it's tethered target, preventing them from escaping with Relocate, and also disarming them, silencing them, muting them and rendering them helpless against Dazzle and his allies.
- Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Dazzle will have plenty of time to save an ally with Shallow Grave from gank by Io and it's tethered target.
- Shadow Wave will always hit both, Io and it's tethered target if they are near the ally Dazzle uses Shadow Wave on, while healing Dazzle's allies near them. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Shadow Wave can bounce on both, Io and it's tethered target, causing them both to take damage and to be attacked by Dazzle. And unlike Io who doesn't get healed while using Tether, Shadow Wave will always heal Dazzle no matter on which of his allies he uses it on.
- Bad Juju will cause both, Io and it's tethered target to lose armor every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
- Dazzle easily breaks the position of Lone Druid and his Summon Spirit Bear with his Poison Touch, As it always hits from afar and prolongs the slowdown on the Summon Spirit Bear, which is why he cannot catch up with Dazzle and treat his master with Spirit Link
- Dazzle helps his team survive the physical attacks of the Summon Spirit Bear thanks to the treatment from Shadow Wave and armor from Bad Juju, which can enable his team to kill Lone Druid
- The Lone Druid Summon Spirit Bear has a small amount of armor at the start of the game, because of Mid Dazzle, it can very much break through it and prevent Lone Druid from gaining an advantage at the very beginning of the game, giving his team the opportunity to overtake Lone Druid on items for killing him, by type: Spirit Vessel
- Aghanim's Shard upgraded Poison Touch can be used to easily kill many of Terrorblade's illusions from both Conjure Image and Manta Style, it can also hex the real Terrorblade, silencing him, disarming him, slowing him, muting him and rendering him unable to do anything at all.
- Shallow Grave can be used to save an ally whom Terrorblade has used Sunder on under the condition Dazzle is quick enough to do it. And since Terrorblade has no "real" burst damage potential outside from Sunder, Dazzle will usually have plenty of time to save an allied hero on which Sunder was used.
- Shadow Wave will always damage Terrorblade and his illusions whenever Terrorblade has no Metamorphosis available to use, while healing Dazzle's allies. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Shadow Wave can also be used directly on Terrorblade, and bounce on both Terrorblade and his illusions alike, causing them to take damage and to be attacked by Dazzle. Shadow Wave can also pierce throught debuff immunity by Black King Bar, one of the items Terrorblade relies on to survive in teamfights.
- Bad Juju can weaken Terrorblade's armor every time Dazzle casts a spell while strengthening armor of Dazzle's allies.
- Venomancer's damage-over-time abilities are easier to heal through with numerous Shadow Waves than other types of damage, and it's simple to time a Shallow Grave until the last possible second to save a teammate from them.
Others[]
- Shallow Grave and Town Portal Scroll is a reliable escape if the enemy does not have a stun to interrupt channeling.
- Dazzle, in general, does well in lane against any solo strength hero with low armor.
- Once he buys Aghanim's Shard, Dazzle's Poison Touch can hex enemies, and hex can instantly kill illusions, making Dazzle strong against heroes who rely on illusions. Bear in mind that Chaos Knight is the exception because his Phantasms are strong illusions that are immune to abilities that can instantly kill illusions.
- Heroes who rely on magical damage resistance may have a hard time laning against Dazzle as all of Dazzle's abilities deal physical damage instead of magical: Aghanim's Shard.
Items[]
- Many intelligence heroes have difficulties against items that grant magic damage resistance like Cloak, and it's upgrades: Hood of Defiance, Pipe of Insight and Eternal Shroud. However, all of Dazzle's abilities deal physical damage, making such items rather ineffective against him.
- Once he buys Aghanim's Shard, Dazzle can instantly kill illusions from Manta Style with Poison Touch.
Works well with...[]
- Shallow Grave can guarantee Brewmaster gets to use Primal Split.
- The damage nuke from Shadow Wave is amplified per unit, which maximum damage is trivially achievable on a target surrounded by Spawn Spiderlings' summons.
- Huskar is at his most effective on low health since his attack speed increases as his health decreases due to his passive. Dazzle is the best option for keeping him safe in that state with a well-timed Shallow Grave.
- Shallow Grave prevents Meepo's greatest weakness: getting one of Meepo bursted down quickly with single-target damage.
- Shadow Wave can heal all 5 Meepos at once, and deals formidable nuke damage to any enemy they are clustered around.
- Mirror Image spawns 3 illusions at level one, allowing for a massive Shadow Wave nuke even at the very start of the game.
- Rip Tide's armor reduction further increases the effectiveness of your spells, which all deal physical damage.
- By using Shadow Wave on Phantom Lancer and his illusions from Spirit Lance, Doppelganger and Juxtapose can deal massive damage to anyone in the vicinity.
Others[]
- Shallow Grave can be a substitute for Battle Trance when it is on cooldown.
- Heroes with summons like Nature's Prophet, Lycan, Beastmaster or the ability to convert neutrals such as Chen or Enchantress all provide possibilities for a healbomb.
- Illusion heroes do not only amplify the damage output of the healbomb, but also help to keep the illusion source at high health. Namely Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, Terrorblade or Shadow Demon.
- Minus armor strats often combine Dazzle with heroes that rely on armor reduction and deal heavy physical damage such as Templar Assassin, Slardar or Alchemist. Shadow Wave deals massive physical damage and all physical damage gets further amplified by Bad Juju.
