Nyx Assassin/Counters

Bad against...

 * completely negates all of Nyx Assassin's abilities except Vendetta.
 * combined with an Ancient creep makes Nyx Assassin an easy target with or a.


 * completely counters all of Nyx Assassin's abilities except Vendetta.
 * makes quick work of Nyx Assassin even with Spiked Carapace.


 * leaves the ability-dependent Nyx Assassin very vulnerable.
 * With and, Night Stalker can easily spot an incoming Nyx Assassin.


 * 's Familiars deal many instances of damage quickly, minimizing the effectiveness of Spiked Carapace. They are, however, relatively fragile and can be killed quickly with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage, especially from Vendetta.
 * 's and often tanky item builds make him hard to kill with burst damage.
 * 's long range on and  make him hard to escape from, and 's low cooldown outmatches Spiked Carapace.


 * on Zet and his will reveal Nyx Assassin and quickly drain his mana.
 * Spiked Carapace has a short duration, so Zet can use other units in his control to slow Nyx Assassin down.
 * Arc Warden can farm and  faster than Nyx and can use them twice thanks to, letting him out-burst Nyx Assassin.


 * As he is heavily reliant on Vendetta's invisibility, shuts down Nyx Assassin.

Others

 * Any hero with damage over time abilities can easily pierce Spiked Carapace and damage Nyx Assassin; however, this also means they are easily stunned.
 * Heroes with high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
 * Nyx Assassin is ability-dependent and thus vulnerable to silence, especially while Burrowed.

Items

 * Detection items prevent Nyx Assassin from using Vendetta to initiate or escape.
 * blocks most of Nyx Assassin's damage.
 * can waste Nyx's, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's.
 * Any good strength/health item like, or even  can completely eliminate Nyx's solo ganking as a threat.
 * protects multiple heroes from Nyx Assassin's spell damage.
 * discourages Nyx Assassin from targeting a hero with spells or items. However, Nyx Assassin can punish this in return with Spiked Carapace.
 * turns the inherently frail Nyx Assassin's burst damage against him, and does not interact with.

Good against...

 * is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace, either stunning Puck and setting up an easy Impale or forcing a premature.
 * Puck is an intelligence hero that tends to build intelligence items, making it vulnerable to Mana Burn.
 * An ill-timed can easily set Puck up to be stunned by Impale.
 * Puck's low base armor and below average agility gain mean it is always susceptible to Vendetta.


 * Spike Carapace easily interrupts.
 * 's damage over time sets up an easy Spiked Carapace stun.
 * Crystal Maiden is extremely fragile and dies quickly to Nyx Assassin's burst damage.


 * is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for massive damage.
 * 's area damage can set up an easy stun with Spiked Carapace, especially when combined with Vendetta.
 * In the early game, Sniper's low health pool and high intelligence makes him easy prey for Nyx Assassin.


 * Enigma's uncontrollable damage from and  make him easy to stun with Spiked Carapace.
 * can be easily interrupted by Impale or Spiked Carapace.


 * Spiked Carapace reacts on any of Phoenix's damage over time to interrupt and.


 * Spiked Carapace can be easily triggered by or, setting up a deadly Impale.


 * Mana Burn removes much-needed mana for.
 * Spiked Carapace triggers on for an easy stun.


 * Mana Burn quickly destroys, especially if Medusa only increases her mana pool by bolstering Intelligence.
 * Uncontrollable damage from and  can trigger Spiked Carapace.
 * lacks single target damage, making a Burrowed Nyx Assassin hard to kill.


 * All of Nyx Assassin's skills can penetrate, as attacks have True Strike.
 * Spiked Carapace can potentially reflect for heavy damage.


 * and allow easy Spiked Carapace stuns.
 * As a fragile hero that relies on mana and intelligence items, Tinker is vulnerable to Mana Burn.
 * Nyx Assassin's stuns can interrupt and leave Tinker helpless.

Others

 * Heroes with low-moving projectiles, large area-of-effect abilities, and/or damage over time are easily stunned by Spiked Carapace:, , ,.
 * Heroes with high intelligence gain and low durability are vulnerable to Mana Burn.
 * Positioning-dependent heroes are threatened by Vendetta:,.

Items

 * With Spiked Carapace off cooldown, Nyx Assassin is somewhat a hard counter to . He can use Carapace, then Mana Burn a target with an active Lotus Orb, protecting him from the damage of the reflected mana burn (but not the burnt mana), reflecting the damage back and stunning the target.
 * This becomes even better if he bought a, which he often does, since all it does it deals damage so Lotus Orb will 100% backfire, and the target will suffer twice the dagon's damage.
 * This becomes EVEN BETTER with the 200% spiked carapace talent (at level 25), reflecting the dagon's damage twice, resulting in three times the dagon's damage in total. With dagon 5, this becomes an instant 2400 damage nuke and 2.4 second stun (before amplification/reduction).

Works well with...

 * Nyx Assassin's initiation potential works great in conjunction with Invoker's high damage spells.
 * Nyx Asassin's allows Invoker's  to be easily aimed.
 * Invoker's, , and allows Nyx Assassin to land  rather easily.


 * Nyx Assassin's high burst damage helps Legion Commander gain damage.
 * removes silences and from Nyx Assassin.


 * Nyx Assassin can initiate using and Vendetta, making him an ideal  target.


 * helps Nyx Assassin locate and eliminate weakened enemies.
 * can help land Impale, which can in turn set up.

Others

 * Heroes with global or very long range spells can help Nyx Assassin take out tougher enemies:, ,.
 * Tanky heroes who can lure enemies to use their AoE nukes, allowing Nyx Assassin to counter-initiate with.
 * Heroes with area disables that can help Nyx Assassin land an Impale:, , and.
 * Heroes with can take advantage of Vendetta to sneak behind enemy lines.

List of heroes that counter Nyx Assassin, and list of heroes that work well with Nyx Assassin.