Slark/Counters

Bad against...

 * stops Shadow Dance's passive health regeneration, even when Slark is not in vision.


 * can't be dispelled by Slark's.


 * forces Slark to attack him, even during Shadow Dance.
 * will hit Slark in Shadow Dance. It also triggers frequently against Slark's high attack speed provided by Essence Shift stacks.
 * finishes off Slark before he gets a chance to slip away and regenerate his health, preventing him from playing the typical hit-and-run style.


 * stops Shadow Dance's passive health regeneration if Slark's current health is below the Thirst's visibility threshold.
 * effectively relaxes Slark's mobility in battle, leaving him susceptible to AoE stuns or forcing to teleport out of the fight.


 * s have enough health to survive Dark Pact, and Slark has no other source of AoE damage to deal with them.


 * and locks down Slark, as he cannot use Dark Pact to dispel any disables, or Pounce out while silenced.
 * puts an end to any attempts at ganking Disruptor or his allies, and also negates Slark's mobility by bringing him back into the fight if he tries to escape with Pounce.


 * Earthshaker's many AoE stuns help lock down Slark and will often waste the duration of Shadow Dance.


 * and will still hit Slark in Shadow Dance.
 * Dark Pact can only remove one.
 * will still affect Slark, even if he has a.


 * Slark's dependence on Pounce and close range makes him very easy to hit with.
 * Slark's damage, even with a high count of Essence Shift stacks, is easily negated by Omniknight's heals and.


 * deals pure damage, which ignores the armor granted from permanent agility stacks.
 * can disrupt any Pounce attempt by banishing the leashed ally.
 * Slark's low mana pool makes him more susceptible to.


 * Slark has no sustained AoE damage to deal with a lot of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
 * lets Phantom Lancer dodge Dark Pact and Pounce and partially wastes the duration of Shadow Dance.
 * can give vision of Slark via spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from Shadow Dance.
 * helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark when he jumps away with Pounce.


 * and allows Puck to avoid most ganking attempts.
 * and makes it very hard for Slark to escape bad situations.
 * Puck's abilities used together also deals significant magical nuke damage, none of which are targeted and thus cannot be avoided by Shadow Dance.


 * will still hit Slark in Shadow Dance.
 * Pugna can rarely target Slark directly with, but he can use it defensively on an ally to prevent Slark from getting stacks.
 * Despite being somewhat easy to break with Pounce, Pugna can damage Slark and provide vision over him with.


 * and deals heavy damage to Slark in the early game, making Tiny a very dangerous target to gank.
 * Tiny has 0 agility, which means Slark's permanent agility steal does not do much against him.

Others

 * Heroes with Break abilities will prevent Slark from regenerating and gaining Essence Shift stacks:, , etc.
 * Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance:, , , , , , ,.
 * Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slark's poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early:, ,
 * Heroes that can deny Slark early kills will prevent him from snowballing:,.
 * Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape:, , ,.
 * 's level 25 talent makes undispellable, thus providing his allies vision of Slark.

Items

 * ,, and allow users to break Pounce's leash.
 * nullifies Slark's nuke damage from Dark Pact and destroys the leash from Pounce.
 * locks down Slark so he cannot escape to regenerate his health.
 * 's disarm cannot be dispelled by Dark Pact, while the evasion may force Slark to build.
 * gives the holder much more physical survivability and a useful active ability which will halt Slark during Shadow Dance.
 * prevents Slark from attacking the holder, wasting his Pounce.
 * 's break disables Essence Shift and cannot be removed with Dark Pact.
 * 's hex fully disables Slark, but the hex can be dispelled with Dark Pact.

Good against...

 * is dispelled by Dark Pact.
 * Pounce allows Slark to avoid s.
 * allows Slark to build up Essence Shift stacks, especially when it is being used for split pushing.


 * Shadow Dance's passive can inform Slark when he's under enemy vision, meaning it'll be very hard to catch Slark off-guard with.
 * is dispelled by Dark Pact. Its casting can be prevented with or  (it requires ).


 * Pounce and items like makes it very difficult for Drow Ranger to keep her distance from Slark, thereby losing her  bonus.
 * is rarely enough to keep Slark at bay, as Drow Ranger has no movement abilities and will simply be chased down afterwards.
 * Drow Ranger's heavy dependence on agility also makes her significantly weaker after being drained by Essence Shift.


 * does not offer any protections against, as it can go through spell immunity and reduces attribute.
 * Slark can pounce away from Juggernaut and he cannot prevent or chase slark.
 * prevent Juggernaut from using altogether, while regen himself at a higher rate. Slark can freely hit juggernaut without any fears of retaliation.


 * Luna's lack of mobility and escape abilities makes her easily to gank for Slark.
 * Shadow Dance helps avoid all the damage from.


 * Medusa cannot chase Slark in any way and has no disable beyond her ultimate, making her unable to stop him getting away and regenerating before coming back to finish her off.
 * Essence Shift particularly removes 1 intelligence point per hit, thus lowering Medusa's mana pool's cap and leaving her much more vulnerable in prolonged fights.


 * Slark's allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with.
 * As a hero who typically builds, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's and , thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output.
 * Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Slark will have plenty of time to escape with, and  (provided that he purchased it already).
 * can be very harmful for Phantom Assassin as losing the agility means that her physical damage will be also reduced, which can also weaken if Slark manages to steal lots of agility from her.
 * Overall, any attempt for Phantom Assassin to take down Slark will hurt her more than Slark.


 * Sniper hugely lacks mobility and escape abilities so that he is an easy target for ganks from Slark.


 * Essence Shift deals 20 extra damage by draining one strength per hit, which cannot be reduced or spread by.
 * Pounce prevents Spectre from escaping with.
 * illusions usually don't deal a lot of damage to Slark as he tends to buy a, preventing 's and 's damage and activating Shadow Dance's regeneration to make up for any damage caused by.
 * Slark is a natural carrier of, which helps break both and.


 * Pounce's leash prevents Storm Spirit from using, making it hard for Storm Spirit to escape a gank from Slark.
 * Dark Pact can dispel 's Soul Burn.


 * Dark Pact rips through charges and still steals attributes during Refraction.
 * Pounce and Dark Pact will still hit Templar Assassin while she is ed. Since she cannot move, both abilities will be easy for Slark to land.


 * does not interrupt Slark too much, as he can just Pounce out of the area.
 * and can be dispelled by Dark Pact.

Others

 * cannot escape from a Pounce even if he uses, and has no disabling abilities to stop Slark.
 * Dark Pact rips through and  charges.
 * Heroes with low mobility and no escape mechanisms are easy targets for Slark.
 * Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,.
 * Pounce also stops 's.
 * Disables such as stuns can be easily dispelled by Slark's Dark Pact if he has activated it before the disables are inflicted.

Works well with...

 * Bane's numerous disables help Slark position and take out his targets.
 * Pounce and Dark Pact will break without transferring the disable to Slark.


 * Earthshaker's many stuns help lock down Slark's targets.
 * Slark can easily jump over if he gets caught on the wrong side.


 * allows Slark to significantly increase his farming speed, as without mana issues, Dark Pact can deal lots of AoE damage very quickly to neutral camps.
 * Pounce helps Keeper of the Light charge up a full . Along with early points into Dark Pact, the two can deal massive damage in the laning phase and bully the enemy out of the lane.
 * is a good follow-up to Pounce to keep enemies from escaping ganks.


 * provides Slark bonus damage and night vision for teamfights and ganks.
 * triggers night, allowing Slark to take advantage of his superior night vision and the enemy's reduced vision to initiate or escape.
 * Despite its short duration, 's stun is useful to help Slark leash escaping enemy heroes with Pounce.


 * is a perfect setup for Dark Pact, and usually allows Slark to pick off one target before the long stun ends.
 * helps Slark farm significantly faster as well as gank more efficiently.


 * Pounce gives Kunkka plenty of time to land all of his abilities.
 * 's buff makes it very difficult for enemies to kill Slark, as he takes reduced damage during team fights, then quickly regenerates his lost health while the delayed damage is applied.


 * Pounce keeps the enemy close for an easy.
 * provides a strong dispel and status resistance. Combined with Dark Pact and Shadow Dance, this makes it very difficult for enemies to keep Slark locked down.


 * With Slark always having his HP at 100% with Shadow Dance, Pugna can cast to restore his mana.
 * Pounce keeps enemy in place so that Pugna can cast Life Drain on them.
 * A defensive can save Slark if he gets into trouble, buying him time to use his abilities.


 * helps Slark chase down slowed enemies.
 * Pounce locks enemies in place for Skywrath Mage to nuke them with.


 * helps Slark land his Pounce and Dark Pact.
 * Pounce helps Underlord land his.
 * Essence Shift's attribute steal combined with significantly reduces their enemies' base damage.


 * Pounce prevents an enemy from moving away when Witch Doctor uses his, ensuring at least one kill in most circumstances.
 * Essence Shift's attribute steal causes enemies to take proportionately more damage from later ticks of.


 * Slark's ability to detect and pinpoint enemy vision allows Zeus to deward very easily with.
 * Pounce keeps enemies under Zeus' for longer.

Others

 * Heroes with long stuns and slows will help Slark beat down the enemy:, , , ,
 * Pounce locks down enemies and helps heroes with abilities that are otherwise hard to land:, ,

Items

 * and let Slark's team deward as Shadow Dance gives clues to where the enemy has vision.

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

Slark/Противостоящие