Counter-picks for Huskar in Dota 2

In the realm of Dota 2, Huskar is a character to reckon with. This hero defies the laws of mortality, fearlessly rushing into battle with the sheer courage and resilience that only a few can match.

With his fierce attributes, this hero can turn the tide of conflict, seemingly thriving on the verge of death while effortlessly delivering his enemies into the jaws of defeat. This merciless warrior intertwines a fragile balance of risk and reward with every tactical move and strategic decision, leaving his foes breathless and his allies in awe!

Huskar is a strength-based hero in "Dota 2" who inflicts damage on his adversaries via flaming spears. The less health Huskar has, the more hazardous he becomes for his competitors.

Starting with lane strategies, let's talk about how to position against Huskar properly. A savvy player on Huskar will level up Burning Spears first to trade for XP and immediately utilize the passive ability once the second level is acquired. If he's attacked in response, it works perfectly for him. Not many mid-heroes can exchange HP, so when Huskar hits the second level, he regenerates health rapidly and hits the opponent even faster.

How to Counter Huskar in Mid

Let's start with those who are not advantageous in HP trading and are not keen on doing so. Most of these are melee heroes, for example, Ember Spirit, Void Spirit or Monkey King. As these heroes, you should be angered by the first wave of creeps towards yourself, trying to pull them under your turret. With such a lineup, you must pull the creeps towards yourself, under your turret, without allowing the opponent to take your ranged creep. After all, your task is to prevent Huskar from getting to the second level. In other words, you must ensure your ranged creep survives while killing your opponent with your skills.

Who Counters Huskar?

There are many such heroes in the mid-lane; for example, one could open Dotabuff and see which heroes are taken against Huskar. Therefore, here are the top 3 mid-heroes who are most effective against this particular hero.

The most challenging lineup for Huskar in mid is Lina. She has always been a problematic mid-hero for Huskar. Lina, at any game stage through any build, leaves Huskar without a chance. If you can play "the fiery lady" even a bit, landing with Huskar won't trouble you. The trouble will be for him when he buys the armlet at the 10-minute. For most of the game, Huskar's HP will be at the half, and you're sure to send him to the fountain after casting a stun at the 6-minute mark and delivering some strikes.

Another full counter to Huskar is Viper. The gameplay here is similar to his. In mid, you should always amp up your first skill and spit it at him till he drops. At the second level, you need to level up the second ability and under no circumstances throw it just for the sake of it, as you will deplete all your mana with two uses. You should only spit the puddle when you're 100% sure you'd knock the enemy down.

The third hero who can stand against Huskar is Shadow Fiend. With this hero, you can purchase the Shadow Blade, which can later be upgraded to strip Huskar of his passive ability. SF throws coil at the opponent, preventing him from approaching the creeps. Alternatively, you can purchase Eul's on SF, and no Huskar can endure post-ultra hit.

On The Lane

The situation is more complex on the line, and it is pretty challenging to say who can defeat Huskar. Therefore, let's consider the game at par when neither the opponent nor you feed.

The first counter-pick against Huskar is Troll Warlord. His ultimate ability delays his death and sends him into a frenzy. He has direct damage, which Huskar hates, and once "Troll" sinks his teeth into him, our opponent will deliver several times fewer attacks than Warlord.

Another tricky hero for Huskar is Chaos Knight. He carries hefty physical damage, along with stun and three copies. Ursa can also quickly deal with Huskar due to his passive ability and ultimate, which reduces damage received. Another carry character who will force Huskar out of the game is Windranger.

With her third ability, Windrun, she forces Huskar to miss his spears, yet she cannot evade the opponent's ultra. Nonetheless, her ultimate doesn't allow a proper utilisation of the armlet. Doom prevents Huskar from using his skills. The hero becomes a mere melee creep, delivering a significantly lesser portion of the damage he could have inflicted.

Regarding support, those characters who can disable the opponent are required against Huskar. It will be Lion, who stuns with his first ability and disables with his second. Bane, whose ultimate takes Huskar out of the game for 7 seconds. Shadow Shaman also ruins the opponent's game with his second and third abilities. And of course, Ancient Apparition (Ice Blast) completely turns off any regenerative abilities of the hero with its ultimate.

Out of all the heroes described above, support with a stun and disabled will be the worst adversaries Huskar would want to face in any situation. However, carries pose a significant threat, but Ancient Apparition probably makes the gameplay most uncomfortable for Huskar. After all, the ultimate ability of the "apparition" penetrates even the Black King Bar (BKB), indicating that the hero will be vulnerable to any assault.

Defining the absolute worst hero who would always lose to Huskar is impossible. However, it should be underlined that staying in the lane will become unfeasible when up against Sniper mid, particularly when Huskar attains level six.

The 'Sniper' already has around 600 HP, but when hit with Huskar's ultimate, this is slashed by 50%, resulting in a remaining 300 HP. We can finish the fleeing 'Sniper' with a couple of auto-attacks. The same principle applies when playing against heroes such as Anti-Mage, Faceless Void, and Lone Druid, among others; heroes who lack reserves of health, armour and mobility and do not possess an escape mechanism. 

As we've established earlier, the third ability of Huskar is pivotal. Hence, we need to disable it, and in "Dota 2", there's solely one item that can disable passive abilities - that's the Silver Edge. Any hero following an attack with this item, will neutralize Huskar’s passive ability to regenerate for 4 seconds.

Trust me, in these 4 seconds, you could also take out a couple more heroes besides Huskar. Consider procuring a vital self-protection item - the Linken Sphere. This item will prevent your opponent from leaping onto you with their ultimate ability, thus keeping your HP intact. Meanwhile, Huskar will bear the cooldown consequences on his ultimate.

Summing it up, Huskar shines in those matches when he can be overlooked during the hero selection phase without countertop picks. However, picking up a Sliver Edge and a Linken Sphere can throw a wrench in your opponent's plans. Perhaps, you could clinch the victory by showcasing your ability to think quickly and make decisions.