Zeus/Counters

Bad against...

 * Anti-Mage can burn mana, which is a big problem for a spellcaster like Zeus that heavily relies on it.
 * decreases magical damage from Zeus.
 * Although Zeus has spells which enable him to keep track of Anti-Mage, they are usually not enough once he has maxed out.
 * Zeus' high intelligence and mana pool makes him a perfect target for.


 * can limit Zeus to casting his abilities only once in a fight, effectively serving as a 6/8/10/12 second silence.
 * negates Zeus's burst damage.


 * speaks for itself.
 * is especially deadly against Zeus since he has no escape mechanism.


 * negates all magical attack from Zeus.
 * can easily take down Zeus. Be wary that most players will get a or a  against you.


 * not only negates all magical attack from Zeus, it's very also useful to kill Zeus.
 * is good enough to take down Zeus.
 * A good player could try to bait Zeus' ultimate while being safely hidden inside a creep with.


 * will make it very difficult to burst him down.
 * Zeus has little armor, HP and mobility; Ursa's favorite kind of target.


 * strikes only the first Meepo.
 * Meepo has high base magical defense so he receives less damage from Zeus.
 * Zeus has low mobilty so consecutive s are easy to hit and he'll quickly die from s.

Others

 * Zeus can deal a huge amount of damage, but he lacks defensive abilities, such as good mobility or resistance. Due to that, he doesn't like to be touched by any means. Heroes with higher damage output and good mobility will often get easily near Zeus and trade damage (eventually causing Zeus's downfall). Such Heroes include:, , , and others.
 * As a spellcaster, silences will nullify him entirely.
 * , as usual, fits this description nicely.
 * Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as,  ,  (the entire skill set) and others.

Items

 * Arc Lightning and Lighting Bolt have very low cooldowns, which will provide plenty of charges for or.
 * The magic resistance from, as well as it's upgrades, and , will greatly reduce the effectiveness of Zeus's spell since they are all magic based.
 * works as well, but keep in mind that Zeus can easily reveal you out of invisibility with Lightning Bolt and Thundergod's wrath. However, it enables the wearer to avoid Thundergod's Wrath's damage.
 * is Zeus' worst enemy.
 * silences and amplifies the damage Zeus takes, hitting him right in his weak spots (being very dependent on spells and being a very fragile Hero).
 * is another item that Zeus hates. It offers a great magic resistance, cheap regeneration to the wilder and the active creates a shield that blocks magical damage for the entire team. will not damage anyone if the shield is active.
 * will return the damage Zeus deals. At the start of a fight, the percentage-based damage of can be especially harmful to Zeus.
 * not only cut Zeus's mana, it's purge Zeus from Eul's cyclone if he has one.
 * Any invisibility item or skill negates Thundergod's Wrath damage. Also Invulnerability.
 * A special mention should go to, since it will immediately hide you and your nearby allies from Zeus' ultimate, potentially saving your lives for a small 50g cost.

Good against...

 * With activated, Slardar will take even more damage from Zeus in early game.
 * Slardar has high priority on building moblity items such as rather than tank items. Zeus can easily deal large amount of damage to him if not get caught out of position at first.


 * Enchantress has a very low health pool, allowing Zeus to burst her down quickly before she can heal off the damage.
 * Zeus will not be affected by Untouchable, as he won't try to attack her anyway.
 * Zeus can stay out of her attack range while trying to kill her, especially if he has bought an Aether Lens.
 * Most heroes would want to get on top of Zeus to kill him, but Enchantress does not have this option as doing so would severely limit her Impetus damage.
 * The exception is the laning phase, where Enchantress can gank Zeus if she Enchants a good creep.


 * Reactive Armor will not trigger from Zeus's spells or protect Timbersaw from their damage.
 * Early game Timbersaw's strength is average and Zeus can heavily aid in bursting him down.
 * Late game, if Timbersaw has built a lot of HP items, Zeus's passive Static Field will be more effective at chipping away Timbersaw's large HP pool.
 * A Timbersaw who builds Pipe of Insight will be much more difficult to kill, as Zeus has no way to hold Timbersaw down, but Timbersaw will have less armor, mana, and damage than normal if he buys this item early game just to counter Zeus.


 * Bounty Hunter has a very low health pool, allowing Zeus to burst him down quickly.
 * Zeus can cast Lightning Bolt to gain true sight in any area he suspects Bounty Hunter may be invisible or any area he thinks BH may have warded.
 * If Bounty Hunter tries to escape a gank by going invisible, Zeus can gain vision of him with both Lightning Bolt and Thundergod's Wrath.


 * Any ally that Winter Wyvern tries to save with Cold Embrace can still be damaged by all of Zeus's spells.
 * If Wyvern tries to juke vision by flying up a cliff or in the trees, Zeus can gain vision there with Lightning Bolt or Thundergod's Wrath.
 * If Zeus is forced to attack an ally by Winter's Curse, his terrible damage and attack speed means they won't be hurt much by him. Zeus will also stay near the back of fights away from his allies, making a deadly Curse less likely.


 * Zeus's damage will not trigger the Frost Armor slow or be reduced by it.
 * Lich does not pose a big threat to Zeus in teamfights, as his spells don't have great cast range and Zeus should be too far back for a Chain Frost to bounce among him and his allies.
 * Lich has a very low health pool, allowing Zeus to burst him down quickly.

Others

 * Zeus has one of the highest damage outputs in the game, but he can be easily countered if enemies are allowed to farm items like Black King Bar and Pipe of Inishght. Zeus is thus very effective early and mid game against heroes that have to build certain items that aren't good against him, such as illusion heroes that have to build Radiance or agility items or initiators that have to rush Blink Dagger.
 * Heroes with mediocre health pools who rely on armor or evasion to survive fights such as Troll Warlord, Windranger, and Terrorblade can be killed by Zeus if caught off guard.
 * Heroes that avoid damage by coming in and out of invisibility in teamfights such as Weaver, Templar Assassin, and Riki will be easy for Zeus to reveal with Lightning Bolt and Thundergod's Wrath, but these heroes usually have other ways to avoid his damage or kill him, so he is not a perfect counter alone.
 * Zeus is good against heroes that juke in trees or up cliffs, like Batrider, Spectre, and Tinker, by providing vision in any area with Lightning Bolt, or guaranteeing vision on enemies with Thundergod's Wrath.
 * Zeus's Lightning Bolt is the cheapest way to get True Sight. So Techies won't gain any kill from Land Mines at early game. Making Techies useless in their team because his bad GPM and XPM lessen his role in fighting and defending.

Works well with...

 * Both Zeus and love enemies with low HP (so they can finish them off effortless).
 * Their skill set grant vision of the unlucky enemy for each other, being like Yin and Yang.


 * makes enemies die quicker than they should. Along with Zeus huge damage and the fact that both and  are global ranged, enemies are very unlucky.
 * The Apparition also amplifies the magical damage enemies take by reducing their magic resistance with.


 * Can effectively protect the fragile Zeus, allowing him to stay in the fight longer to cause the massacre the King of the Gods can.


 * He is also able to protect Zeus against heavy nukers like, that will frequently kill Zeus in less than 3 seconds.


 * Both Zeus and have great teamfight abilities, a mix between damage and disable for every fight.

Others

 * amplifies the magical damage enemies take, increasing Zeus damage.
 * Mana batteries Heroes, like and  work really well for Zeus spells.
 * is great for Zeus to cast twice his almighty, being like a must item for Zeus.
 * Heroes with good AoE abilities or Global abilities work greatly with Zeus.

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