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Many hands make light work.
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Bad against...
- Axe can easily close the distance to Sniper with either Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade.
- With Berserker's Call in combination with Counter Helix and Battle Hunger, Axe can make short work of Sniper, finishing him off easily with Culling Blade due to his naturally low HP & high attack speed in the late game
- Sniper is suspectible to being ganked by Bloodseeker, who can easily kill Sniper due to his lack of mobility and escape mechanisms.
- Even if Sniper builds mobility items, Bloodseeker can prevent and even punish Sniper from/for using them with Rupture :Sniper is forced to stand still with Shadow Blade, while Hurricane Pike and Blink Dagger deals damage if he attempts to use it while Ruptured.
- Bounty Hunter can use Shadow Walk to get close, and Jinada can do massive damage and slow down Sniper on the first attack.
- Track gives additional speed to Bounty Hunter and makes Shadow Blade useless, easily killing him with few attacks.
- Primarily, a Blink Dagger combined with Hoof Stomp can be used to catch Sniper.
- Centaur can also utilize Stampede to cover the distance.
- Double Edge can easily finish off Sniper after Centaur initiates on him.
- Retaliate punishes Sniper for focusing Centaur in teamfights, by returning damage dealt upon Sniper and giving attack damage charges for Centaur.
- Clockwerk can easily close the distance to Sniper using Hookshot and trap him using Power Cogs.
- Even though Sniper is a natural Hurricane Pike carrier, Sniper's low health usually means Clockwerk can finish him off with Battery Assault and Rocket Flare.
- Ember Spirit can close the distance between Sniper easily with his Activate Fire Remnant and further keeping Sniper in place with Searing Chains.
- With the help of Aghanim's Scepter Sniper cannot outrun Ember Spirit, even if Sniper builds mobility items.
- Invoker's arsenal of magical spells are troublesome for Sniper who has low HP and high armor, which does not benefit him much against Invoker.
- Besides magical damage, he can be disarmed and repeatedly ministunned with Cold Snap preventing him from reacting.
- Lifestealer can close the distance to Sniper by using Infest on a fast or durable creep to tank Sniper's damage while Lifestealer gets close enough to cast Open Wounds.
- Being mostly a physical damage dealer, Sniper's effectiveness is greatly reduced by Omniknight's Guardian Angel.
- Omniknight can also protect an ally from being finished off by Assassinate by using Purification.
- Phantom Strike allows her to jump on Sniper with increased attack speed and it's hard for him to win a fight against her.
- Coup de Grace and Desolator shreds Sniper's low health and armor.
- Blur can be activated to get within Phantom Strike's range, surprising Sniper before he has a chance to react. Its passive also reduces Sniper's overall effectiveness against Phantom Assassin, provided he hasn't purchased a Monkey King Bar.
- Phantom Rush grants Phantom Lancer mobility to close in the distance between sniper, which Sniper highly resorts to it to assault his enemies.
- Phantom Lancer can dispel Sniper's Assassinate easily with Doppelganger and causes confusion to Sniper with the latter effect of creating an additional of 2 illusions.
- Phantom Lancer's Juxtapose could create massive army of illusions in seconds to destroy Sniper easily since most Sniper's abilities are single targeted, which means Sniper has a hard time in taking down Phantom Lancer and his illusions one by one before Phantom Lancer kills him instead.
- Pudge's Meat Hook enables him to bring Sniper in the middle of any fight or to pick him up in early game which counters his ability to deal far away from the melee.
- Also, Dismember can lock Sniper down which makes him highly vulnerable and give enough time for Pudge to kill him alone.
- Slardar can use Guardian Sprint with Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade to get close, and Slithereen Crush will stun Sniper making him vulnerable to Slardar's teammates.
- Corrosive Haze lowers armor and making Sniper Shadow Blade useless, easily killing him with few attacks.
- Slark is natural Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger carrier and with Pounce Sniper has no opportunity to escape.
- With Essence Shift and Shadow Dance Slark will easily win a fight against Sniper.
- Haunt instantly takes her to melee range of Sniper, and Spectral Dagger makes it difficult to escape from her.
- Spectre outcarries Sniper in the late game, so Sniper must try to end the game early before Spectre comes online.
- Spirit Breaker can charge towards Sniper from anywhere on the map with Charge of Darkness.
- Greater Bash deals Magical Damage, which can prove dangerous to low health Sniper.
- Both previous abilities combined with Nether Strike ensures Spirit Breaker can easily solo kill Sniper.
- Storm Spirit can close the distance towards Sniper very easily with his ultimate Ball Lightning.
- Snowball allows Tusk to move himself and allies towards Sniper whilst invulnerable and hidden.
- His Ice Shards may also block pathing for Sniper as he has no means of moving through obstacles. In addition, Tag Team can hinder Sniper's escape.
- Nethertoxin breaks Sniper's passives.
- Viper Strike together with Poison Attack can slow Sniper and tears through his low health and mobility.
- Shukuchi allows Weaver to close the gap between himself and Sniper with high speed, and to maneuver through teamfights to get on top of him.
- A combination of The Swarm and Desolator tears through Sniper's low armor.
Others
- Heroes with high mobility can approach Sniper: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Io, Nature's Prophet, Pangolier, Puck, Queen of Pain and most notably Riki.
- Heroes with catch to disrupt Sniper's positioning and deliver him into the enemies: Batrider, Disruptor, Pudge, Vengeful Spirit
Items
- Blade Mail returns all the damage Sniper deals, and the duration of it is often more than enough to either kill Sniper, or leave him low on HP.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can disjoint Assassinate if timed correctly, as you have ~4 seconds to react before being hit.
- Smoke of Deceit disables True Sight from Assassinate on target.
- Linken's Sphere blocks Assassinate on impact.
- Blink Dagger capable of closing gap between user and Sniper very fast and disjointing Assassinate.
- Lotus Orb reflects Assassinate.
Good against...
- Somewhat like Medusa, Drow Ranger is a fairly immobile hero that hopes to be able to attack without dying. Sniper should outrange her.
- Be careful however that if she starts attacking you, she packs a bigger punch than you thanks to Marksmanship.
- Sniper is able to kite Earthshaker with his very long range.
- Sniper can dodge Earthshaker's stuns like Fissure and Enchant Totem with mobility items such as Blink Dagger and Shadow Blade/ Silver Edge.
- Sharpnel can be used to cancel Earthshaker's Blink Dagger and preventing his Echo Slam.
- Sniper has a very long range, so it is rare that Enigma can catch him in a Black Hole.
- Assassinate can easily cancel Black Hole if he is not caught, especially with the level 20 talent.
- Enigma's Eidolons from Demonic Conversion are useless to push against a Sniper as he will easily kill them, especially with Maelstrom/ Mjollnir.
- Medusa is a fairly immobile hero that deals damage around her with Split Shot. Sniper should outrange her and stay out of harm's way from Split Shot.
- More importantly, Sniper should have enough attack range to fire at Medusa during her Stone Gaze without turning to stone, so the ultimate is mostly wasted against him.
- Sniper is a pure right click carry with a very long range, making it hard for Silencer to cast any of his skills on him in lane. During team-fights, Global Silence has little impact on Sniper.
- Shrapnel can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Blink Dagger from a huge range.
- Take Aim and Headshot allow Sniper to harass Shadow Fiend in lane without getting into the range of his Shadowraze.
- Assassinate can be used to cancel Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls if he is not a target.
- Sniper can easily destroy Tombstone from long range.
Others
- Heroes who Sniper can kite: Sven, Wraith King, Kunkka, Doom, Tidehunter, Underlord, Troll Warlord, and etc.
- Heroes with channeled abilities which Assassinate may cancel at long range: Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, Shadow Shaman, Pugna
- Silence and root abilities are irrelevant to Sniper.
Works well with...
- Precision Aura of Drow Ranger benefits Sniper a lot throughout the whole game as it provides him with extra attack speed, which is never bad for a carry.
- Bloodlust increases Sniper's attack speed and movement speed, enabling him to farm faster and output more damage in team-fight.
- Lich's multiple slows allow enemies to be easily kited
- Thirst grants True Sight on all enemies under 25% HP, even through Fog of War, providing vision for Sniper to attack or use Assassinate to secure kills.
Others
- Sniper appreciates durable front-liners to engage the enemies, allowing him to attack from a safe distance: Centaur Warrunner, Abaddon, Wraith King, Axe
