Bad against...
- Ice Blast prevents Io from healing the target.
- Ancient Apparition can easily harass Io on lane with Chilling Touch due to it's high range and damage. This can get even worse if Ancient Apparition buys Aghanim's Scepter and combines it with items that can give him bonus attack damage and attack speed.
- Chilling Touch combined with Ice Vortex makes it nearly impossible for Io to escape from Cold Feet. Ice Vortex can also make Io and it's tethered target more vulnerable to Ancient Apparition and his allies's magical damage.
- Batrider's Flaming Lasso can be used to cancel Io's attempts to escape with Relocate and drag him away from his Tethered target. And since Io doesn't like buying Linken's Sphere, he will be always vulnerable to Batrider's initiations.
- Io's tendency to stick close to it's Tethered target can make Io and it's target vulnerable to Batrider's harrasing.
- Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to catch and drag two heroes at once, not just one. Which can potentially turn Io's Tether against him.
- Thirst allows Bloodseeker to see where Io relocated to, should either Io or the tethered hero have low health.
- Rupture forces Io to stay in place, preventing it from using the Tether bonus movement speed to escape.
- Quill Spray is very effective against Io, as it has very low armor and has to stay close to the fight to not break its Tether.
- Strafe, Tar Bomb and Burning Barrage from Aghanim's Shard allow Clinkz to quickly kill Io due to its low armor.
- Clinkz iz a hero that very often goes for Orchid Malevolence, and its upgrade Bloodthorn. Alternatively, Clinkz also loves to buy Gleipnir. And if Clinkz has both of them, he will be able to root and silence Io and prevent him from escaping with either Tether or Relocate.
- 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 allows Dazzle Shadow Wave directly on Io and it's Tethered target which can also 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.
- Glimpse directly negates Relocate.
- Kinetic Field prevents Io from escaping with Tether.
- Static Storm can silence and damage both, Io and it's tethered target. And it can also mute both, Io and it's tethered target when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.
- Grimstroke can catch Io and his Tethered ally easily with Soulbind as Io has a tendency to Tether himself with an ally frequently, which also makes them easier targets for Soulbind.
- Io is highly vulnerable to disables. Hence, Grimstroke's Phantom's Embrace is a great ability to hinder Io's potential.
- Homing Missile can be used to cancel escape attempts with Relocate.
- Flak Cannon allows Gyrocopter to attack both, Io and his Tethered target, especially when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.
- Rocket Barrage and Call Down allow Gyrocopter to deal serious damage to both Io and his Tethered target.
- Jakiro's area-of-effect ability arsenal allows him to affect multiple heroes at once, giving Io difficulties in saving them as he can only heal one hero at a time with Tether.
- Ice Path can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
- Jakiro commonly buys Rod of Atos that can be used to cancel Relocate, prevent Io in escaping with Tether and make Io easy target for Ice Path and Macropyre.
- Duel is very effective against Io due to its low health and armor.
- Io is a hero who needs to be close to it's tethered target to make it effective, and that's where Leshrac gets the advantage thanks to many of his area-of-effect abilities.
- Lightning Storm will usually hit both Io and its tethered target since both will be close enough for the lightning to jump.
- Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova hit all units near Leshrac, meaning he can do colossal damage to both, Io and its tethered target.
- Lich's Chain Frost forces Io to either give up providing buff to his ally with Tether or suffer devastating damage with his Tethered ally.
- Lich can easily use Sinister Gaze to disable Io from getting away with Tether or Relocate.
- Lucent Beam can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate.
- Like with Leshrac's Diabolic Edict, Lightning Storm and Pulse Nova abilities. Luna's Moon Glaives and Eclipse abilities can make short work of Io and its tethered ally, particularly when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.
- Ensnare and Song of the Siren can be used to cancel both, Tether and Relocate and to close the distance on Io.
- Rip Tide combined with illusions from Mirror Image often finish off Io before he can save himself with Tether or Relocate.
- Spirits's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Naga Siren's illusions from Mirror Image.
- Once Naga Siren buys Aghanim's Scepter, she can gain access to Reel In, which not only allows her to cancel both, Tether and Relocate, but also to pull Io to herself and her team while he is affected with Ensnare, similarly to Batrider's Flaming Lasso.
- Aghanim's Shard upgraded Song of the Siren can also heal the hero Io and his Tethered targed try to gank.
- Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
- Coup de Grace can make a short work of Io's low health and armor.
- Take Aim and Assassinate allow Sniper to reach Io even if it stays in the backline.
- Charge of Darkness can be used to escape or counter-initiate against a Relocate gank.
- Greater Bash and Nether Strike is devastating due to Io's low armor, and can even knock it away from his Tethered target.
- Terrorblade can easily take advantage of Io's weak durability with Reflection and Metamorphosis.
- As Io relies on boosting his and his Tethered target's attack speed with Overcharge, Terrorblade can take advantage of this with Reflection, which can damage and slow both, Io and his Tethered target.
- Spirits's weak area-of-effect makes it a bad tool to deal with Terrorblade's illusions from Conjure Image and Manta Style.
- Io's damage output is one of the weakest, therefore Terrorblade will have plenty of time to save himself with Sunder.
- However, Terrorblade has no way of stopping Io to escape with Tether or to stop both, Io and his Tethered target to escape with Relocate besides Terror Wave from Aghanim's Scepter.
- Living Armor and Leech Seed can be used to save a hero from a Relocate gank.
- Overgrowth can be used to cancel escape attempts with Relocate.
- Once Treant Protector buys Aghanim's Scepter, he will gain access to Eyes In The Forest, that will allow him to enchant a tree which will grant him unobstructed vision in that location, allowing him to keep his allies alerted on Io and his Tethered's attempts to gank them, and which can also allow Overgrowth to damage them and root them if they are within a 800 radius of an tree affected by Eyes In The Forest.
- Cold Embrace can render the extra attack speed from Overcharge meaningless.
- Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse are very affective against Io, as it has to stay close to his Tethered target.
Others
- Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
- Heroes that can easily bypass Io's allies to get to Io: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker, Lifestealer.
- Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker, Muerta, Dazzle.
- Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane, Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Lina, Luna, Nyx Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Ursa, Void Spirit.
- Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect: Beastmaster, Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Shaman, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock, Wraith King.
Items
- Radiance and Dagon combined with Ethereal Blade, Veil of Discord and Revenant's Brooch can take out Io quickly in teamfights or any of his teammates before he even gets a chance to save them. In addition, they are all good against Io in their own way: Radiance can deal damage-over-time to both, Io and it's tethered target while also causing them to miss attacks, reducing the effectiveness of Overcharge. Dagon can burst down either Io or any of his teammates before he can save them. Ethereal Blade can be used to disarm either Io or his tethered target and make them more vulnerable to magic damage, diminishing effects of the Overcharge in process. Veil of Discord can make both, Io and it's tethered target more vulnerable to spell damage, Veil of Discord can later be upgraded into Shiva's Guard which can also reduce Io's healing and reduce attack speed from Overcharge. Revenant's Brooch's active ability allows it's owner's attacks to deal magic damage that can weaken either Io's or it's tethered target's magic resistance by 20%, and to make things worse, Revenant's Brooch's active ability allows it's owner to attack ethereal units, making Ghost Scepter, one of the items Io relies on to survive against heroes reliant on direct attacks, useless and detrimental for Io.
- Blink Dagger and it's upgrades: Overwhelming Blink, Swift Blink and Arcane Blink allows heroes to jump on Io for quick kill.
- Spirit Vessel and Shiva's Guard are very good items against Io: Spirit Vessel can heavily reduce any healing Io tries to provide to the Tethered target while Shiva's Guard can not just reduce any healing Io tries to provide to the Tethered target, but can also greatly reduce attack speed from Overcharge and make him more vulnerable to magical damage. Making Io weak even against heroes he naturally counters.
- Black King Bar will render Io unable to damage enemy heroes who wield it at all.
- Rod of Atos shuts down Io's mobility and can be used to cancel Relocate. Later it can be upgraded into Gleipnir, to shut down mobility of both, Io and it's tethered target and cancel Relocate while also passively providing a chance to release a chain lightning that can damage, both Io and it's tethered target.
- Orchid Malevolence, it's upgrade Bloodthorn and Scythe of Vyse will render Io absolutely powerless if Io is not protected by any form of Spell Immunity.
Good against...
- Drow Ranger's lack of escape abilities makes her an easy target for Relocate ganks.
- Tether helps Io escape from Earthbind even if Meepo has Blink Dagger.
- Io's Spirits can pressure Meepo while laning and will usually hit at least one of his clones.
- Nature's Prophet is extremely easy to gank with Relocate while he's split pushing.
- Tether on a friendly unit can destroy Nature Prophet's trees should he surround himself with Sprout as a defense.
- Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
- Tether and Overcharge makes it much harder for Pudge to kill a target with Meat Hook, and Relocate can save the Io's ally while Dismember is being channeled.
- Io can escape from Pit of Malice with Tether or Relocate.
- Relocate can counter Dark Rift's split pushing.
Works well with...
- Chaos Knight's single target disables makes him a formidable ganker when Relocated.
- Reality Rift can bring an enemy into the Spirits slow.
- Tether's regeneration and movement speed buff fuel Gyrocopter's abilities and ganks in the early and mid game.
- Spirits's movement speed slow keeps enemies in range of Gyrocopter's abilities and attacks.
- Overcharge's attack speed buff complements Gyrocopter's attack damage items in the late game.
- Healing Ward works with Tether, healing both heroes for an enourmous amount.
- When Juggernaut uses Omnislash, Io's Tether will persist, buffing Juggernaut's attack speed with Overcharge.
- Press the Attack's heal is very powerful when combined with Tether.
- Relocate can be used to pick off lone enemies using Duel.
- Overcharge helps Legion Commander win Duels more easily.
- With Infest, Io can Relocate two heroes at the same time for a surprise gank.
- Stifling Dagger's movement speed slow helps Io land Spirits.
- Overcharge makes Phantom Assassin more durable and allows her to get more hits in.
- Greater Bash becomes more powerful with higher movement speed, and benefits from Overcharge's attack speed increase.
- Tethering to Spirit Breaker while he is using Charge of Darkness can pull Io along for a considerable distance.
- Sven's mobility is greatly improved by Tether.
- Storm Hammer and God's Strength will take down an enemy in no time after a Relocate.
- Mana regeneration from Io's items allows Sven to initiate much more often with Storm Hammer.
- Tiny's burst damage with Avalanche and Toss is ideal for finishing off enemies quickly during a Relocate gank.
- Tiny can also Toss Io if the enemy gets away.
- Relocate helps negate Tiny's mobility issues.
- Overcharge greatly boosts Tiny's slow base attack speed.
- Ursa's burst melee damage makes him an ideal ally to bring along on Relocate ganks.
- Ursa's mobility is greatly improved by Tether.
- Overcharge will allow Ursa to dish out heavy damage with Fury Swipes as well as making him literally invincible while enraged.
Others
- In general, heroes that can stun and beat down an opponent quickly will work well with Relocate.
- Heroes with long disables make up for Io's lack of them and can buy time for Relocate's channel: Bane, Earthshaker, Elder Titan, Lion, Shadow Shaman
- Heroes who can provide vision help scout out Relocate's destination: Beastmaster, Techies, Templar Assassin, Treant Protector
- Heroes with area healing abilities, combined with Tether, provide large amount of regeneration to Io and tethered targets: Dazzle, Chen, Witch Doctor
Items
- Armlet of Mordiggian's health drain is mitigated by Tether's healing.
- Smoke of Deceit and Relocate to bring in another hero make ganking easy.
- Mekansm can heal your teammates and tethered hero large amounts of hp.
- Heart of Tarrasque grants you and your tethered teammate amazingly high survivability.