Sven/Counters
< Sven
Counters
Contents
Bad against...[edit]
- Power Cogs greatly limits Sven's positioning, potentially wasting the duration of Black King Bar in a teamfight.
- Battery Assault makes it hard for Sven to fight Clockwerk in his Power Cogs.
- Clockwerk's Blade Mail forces Sven to avoid attacking while inside Power Cogs, effectively rendering him useless for a few seconds.
- Against her Untouchable, Sven is barely able to hit Enchantress without using his Black King Bar.
- Impetus goes through Sven's Black King Bar.
- Lifestealer excels at killing high health heroes with Feast, and Sven is no exception.
- Rage stops Storm Hammer from hitting Lifestealer.
- Rage and Open Wounds helps Lifestealer survive against Sven's high physical damage.
- Ghost Shroud nullifies Sven's bonus physical damage during God's Strength and also slowing him.
- Heartstopper Aura can be a problem for Sven, as he is a high health hero, and an easy target for Reaper's Scythe (provided that Sven's Black King Bar hasn't been activated or is on cooldown).
- Somewhat like Necrophos, Pugna can save himself or his allies with Decrepify, neutralizing the bonus physical damage from God's Strength.
- He can also cast this ability on Sven, provided the latter hasn't activated his Black King Bar beforehand.
- Blur prevents Sven from hitting Phantom Assassin consistently, and forces him to rush a Monkey King Bar.
- Static Link saps Sven's insane attack damage, and goes through Black King Bar.
- Degen Aura can slow Sven's already abysmal attack speed.
- Guardian Angel negate's Sven's massive damage during God's Strength.
- Sniper's long-range allows him to harass Sven endlessly in lane, as well as stay out of his reach in team fights.
- Headshot slows Sven's movement and attack speed greatly.
- Spectral Dagger hinders Sven's low movement speed, and can be an easy tool to escape against his high damage.
- Dispersion makes it harder for Sven to burst down Spectre in one on one fights, and can reflect Sven's high damage back to him or his nearby teammates.
- Haunt and Radiance disables Sven's Blink Dagger.
- Desolate's pure damage ignores Sven's high armor.
- Whirling Axes (Melee)'s blind makes Sven nearly useless in the early game and allows Troll Warlord to him on comfortably.
- Trollwarlord can build Skull Basher, whitch goes through Sven's Black King Bar and can stun him repeatedly during God's Strength.
- Venomancer forces Sven to choose between using his Black King Bar or getting constantly slowed by his poison.
- Poison Sting and Plague Wards are very effective at harassing Sven in lane.
- Cold Embrace saves any ally Sven initiates on and wastes the duration of God's Strength in team fights.
- Winter's Curse can be devastating to Sven's team, as his massive damage can take out a teammate before there is much time to react.
- Reincarnation helps Wraith King outlast Sven in fights, and wastes the duration of God's Strength.
- Wraithfire Blast's low cooldown allows Wraith King to stun Sven several times in a team fight.
Others[edit]
- In general, any hero that can stun, root or slow will give Sven a difficult time in teamfights.
- Keeper of the Light's AoE blind can keep Sven from landing hits.
Items[edit]
- Force Staff and Hurricane Pike are used to kite Sven, also can save allies from Storm Hammer.
- Blink Dagger disjoints Storm Hammer in quick hands.
- Ghost Scepter and Ethereal Blade allow for great control of the Sven. As a strength hero Sven seldom builds Nullifier.
- Heaven's Halberd neuters Sven's main damage source during a teamfight.
- Rod of Atos roots the Sven to the ground making him an easy target.
- Blade Mail reflects Sven's massive damage, recommended for beefy heroes or in combination with Heart of Tarrasque.
- Scythe of Vyse disables Sven completely.
- Linken's Sphere negates Sven's initiations with Storm Hammer.
- Radiance make Sven miss attacks without Monkey King Bar.
Good against...[edit]
- Anti-Mage is fairly fragile, and cannot stand against Sven in a prolonged fight.
- Sven's Black King Bar and low base mana protects against Mana Break.
- Great Cleave destroys the illusions from Anti-Mage's Manta Style.
- Great Cleave clears Spiderlings quickly to increase gold income.
- Warcry shields Sven and his allies against Broodmother and her Spiderlings.
- Great Cleave is very effective against Chaos Knight's illusions.
- Storm Hammer's radius can catch all of Chaos Knight's illusions at once, especially after Reality Rift.
- Warcry shields Sven and his teammates against Chaos Knight's burst physical damage.
- Great Cleave quickly destroys Chen's creeps in team fights, before they have a chance to do much.
- God's Strength allows Sven to take down Death Prophet quickly, reducing the damage dealt over time from Exorcism.
- Warcry's shield is very useful for Sven and his teammates against Exorcism, which deals physical damage.
- Doom generally does not impede Sven in any way, provided he has activated God's Strength beforehand.
- Great Cleave will devastate Meepo's clones. Against a closely packed group, Sven does not even need to target the clone with the lowest health.
- Warcry's shields protects Sven and his teammates from Swashbuckle.
- Sven's Black King Bar blocks most of Pangolier's skills.
- Great Cleave and God's Strength cuts through Phantom Lancer's illusions in no time.
- Storm Hammer's AoE stun will hit Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
- With God's Strength, Warlock's Golem goes down in a matter of seconds. The two weaker golems granted by Aghanim's Scepter will fare worse due to Great Cleave hitting both.
Others[edit]
- Heroes who depends on illusions and spawns: Naga Siren, Terrorblade.
- Fragile supports who die in a few hits against Sven's high physical damage: Crystal Maiden, Vengeful Spirit.
Items[edit]
- Manta Style's illusions will be cleared quickly by Great Cleave.
Works well with...[edit]
- Crystal Maiden's Frostbite and numerous slows make it easy for Sven to catch up to enemies.
- Arcane Aura helps to compensate for Sven's low manapool.
- A Vacuum and Storm Hammer combo can stun the whole enemy team with good cooperation.
- Surge makes Sven much harder to kite.
- A well positioned Black Hole could result in a team wipe for Sven's team, due to the AoE damage from Storm Hammer and Great Cleave.
- Tether and Relocate sets Sven up for easy ganks anywhere on the map. This is effective against single targets because Sven can burst them down without being disabled by the enemy's teammates.
- Overcharge makes Sven hit faster, increasing his damage output. The damage reduction, combined with Warcry, will make Sven tough to kill.
- Earth Spike and Hex gives Sven plenty of time to beat down the enemy.
- Empower gives Sven additional cleave and damage.
- A well-positioned Reverse Polarity allows Sven to devastate multiple opponents with God's Strength and Great Cleave. He can also prolong the disable with Storm Hammer.
- Fortune's End and False Promise dispels most disables, making Sven unstoppable in teamfights.
Others[edit]
- Heroes with lengthy stuns or roots will synergize well with Sven.
- Heroes with little armor but high health will benefit most from Warcry, becoming much more resilient: Alchemist, Bristleback, Lifestealer.
