Sniper/Counters

Bad against...

 * She usually builds a Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade to initiate and {{A|Duel|Legion Commander} someone, so she can abuse very well how weak Sniper is to ganks.
 * Sniper tends to build many attack speed items, thus having a very high chance for many procs during the Duel, making a Duel loss very likely.
 * All of your skills are more or less useless against her trying to duel you: Shrapnel cannot be used as she is the one initiating; Take Aim's range increase is obviously useless during Duel; Headshot reduces her attack speed, but Moment of Courage lets her instant attacks anyway; and Assassinate cannot be used as Duel silences Sniper.


 * Phantom Assassin has a good gap-closing ability along with a slow, so her critical damage can make short work of fragile Sniper. Besides, Phantom Assassin has a great miss chance through , so until Sniper builds , a lot of his physical damage would be wasted on her.


 * Anti-Mage is another hero capable of closing gap between himself and Sniper very fast. Sniper does not have a large mana pool, so attacks from Anti-Mage can burn through his mana very quickly, not allowing Sniper to use to escape. Besides, given Anti-Mage's ability to disjoint projectiles thanks to his, Sniper's ultimate can be fairly ineffective against him.


 * Pudge is a hero who can significantly interfere with Sniper's early laning in mid if he is not careful enough. His damages for a significant portion of Sniper's paper HP, and a follow-up  or  later can spell an end for Sniper. However, good map awareness and a well-placed ward would usually prevent most of the problems.


 * Bounty Hunter is a hero who can take out squishy heroes like Sniper very well thanks to his kit - Shuriken and Jinada alone can work through quite a portion of Sniper's health points. In addition, renders use of  as a mean of escape ineffective, unless there is a friendly Purge available.


 * Vengeful Spirit has a great positioning spell that allows her to bring Sniper from his comfortable position in the back to dangerous front lines where he can be killed off fairly easily so one should be mindful of her Swap.


 * Clinkz will easily close the distance on Sniper with and burst him down with a combination of  and . Furthermore, it's difficult to fight back against Clinkz if he's buffed with.

Other Heroes

 * can save himself or his ally from, or exchange HP with himself, putting him into a tough position.
 * can hunt Sniper as soon as he sees him, and being a carrier, makes it hard for Sniper to escape. Adding in  for an explosive combo with  can sign a hard game for you.
 * can trap Sniper with and move him back to his previous location with, hindering Sniper's chances at survival.
 * is capable of slowing Sniper's mediocre movement speed even more, also disabling for escape. However,  or  can help get out of sticky situations.  deserves a mention for the same reason--  is a stacking slow, and  is a stacking physical damage, which can work through Sniper fast.
 * 's tankiness in combination with his passive ability make it difficult for Sniper to attack him without suffering heavy damage in return. He can also allow his team to easily close in on Sniper with.
 * 's allows her to instantly catch Sniper from the back lines, and her  makes for a difficult escape. If he is far enough away from his allies,  makes quick work of Sniper.
 * Generally speaking, any hero that can easily get within melee range of a hero represents a bad match up for Sniper.

Items

 * Blade Mail returns all the damage Sniper deals, and the duration of it is often more than enough to either kill Sniper, or leave him low on HP.
 * Eul's Scepter of Divinity can disjoint if timed correctly, as you have ~4 seconds to react before being hit.
 * Smoke of Deceit disables True Sight from on target.
 * Linken's Sphere blocks on impact.

Good against...

 * Sniper has a very long range, so it is rare that Enigma can catch him in a
 * Sniper's ultimate can easily cancel  if he is not caught.
 * Enigma's Eidolons from are useless to push against a Sniper as he will easily kill them, especially with /.


 * Sniper counters Medusa only if one builds Sniper correctly. It counters in lane as Medusa cannot hit easily on Sniper due to Sniper's huge range.
 * In team-fights, again if team can tank Medusa long enough, Sniper will kill it from with its long range.


 * Sniper is a pure right click carry with a very long range. So Silencer can hardly cast any of his skill on him in lane. During team-fight the has little impact on Sniper.

Others

 * Heroes who have the power of Crowd-control can be one of Sniper's signature targets due to his long range. (Earthshaker with Echo+Enchant+Fissure can be an example)
 * Agility Heroes who have High Armor are ignored by Sniper's Headshot proc chance and build.
 * Pugna.
 * Venomancer.
 * Shadow Shaman.

Works well with...

 * Precision Aura of Drow Ranger benefits Sniper a lot throughout the whole game as it provides him with extra damage, which is never bad for a carry.


 * Ogre Magi makes for an excellent duo with Sniper thanks to his Bloodlust which increases Sniper's attack speed and movement speed, enabling him to farm better or possibly secure a kill. In addition, may Sniper be ganked, Ogre Magi can impede the gank with his slow and stun, while letting Sniper go unharmed.

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