Axe/Counters

Bad against...

 * decreases all damage across the board, effectively countering and, making Axe take the brunt of the damage. Although you can still provide significant damage and even solo kill Ursa with some creeps nearby and a blademail, Axe will be forced to play around his ultimate in order to avoid bad initiations, or always keep company to ensure Ursa is unable to pop his ultimate before lowering to Culling Blade threshold (Which will still kill Ursa no matter what if his health is low enough).


 * Despite being a meele hero, should be careful when trading blows with Tiny. If Axe gets too close to Tiny, Tiny can use his Avalanche-Toss combo to deal massive damage to Axe, possibly even killing him.


 * Spectre's dispersion makes her very tanky, as it reduces the amount of damage she receives, while also reflecting some of the damage back. Since it deals more damage to closer enemies, Axe might be at a disadvantage when trading blows with her.


 * By using, Rizzrack reduces Axe's base strength by 15%, making him easier to kill.
 * is stackable up to 3 times, or even more with items, runes or.
 * is ineffective against attribute changes and Rizzrack's mobility with means he might wait out Axe's Blade Mail.
 * Timbersaw has low attack speed and rarely directly attacks, instead relies on his spells. His disarms, making  and  less effective.
 * However, as the laning stage ends and late-game approaches and controlling Timbersaw becomes more important, a into Call (which cannot be purged or blocked with magic immunity) can assure he stays in place so your team can kill him.


 * Doom has slow attack speed, but cuts through health with his attack modifier.
 * Doom can pick up several different abilities from Neutral Creeps using, some of which can be annoying to Axe. However, creeps are randomly spawned during the laning stage making the tactic less reliable.
 * A mud golem, satyr mindstealer, harpy stormcrafter or satyr tormentor are good examples.
 * Doom can make Axe less disruptive in fights with, if there aren't more important targets than Axe. An Aghanim's upgraded Doom also disables Axe's counter helix, making him effectively useless for a really long duration.



Others

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Items

 * or can help dodge a.
 * breaks Axe's important passive.
 * and depletes Axe's already low mana pool.
 * Scythe of Vyse can be used to disable Axe for a brief period, making him useless in team fights and leaving him Vulnerable. It should however be noted that Counter Helix procs even when Axe is disabled, so one must be careful not to get killed when trying to kill a Hexed Axe.
 * with a on your team, as notorious team Wings showed, can put Axe's  on a hefty cooldown while making  useful again. However, this is probably ineffective unless timed perfectly.

Good against...

 * can counter very hard if the Broodmother player isn't careful. If Axe can  her and her spiderlings together after she's built a large army he is almost certain to get lots of  procs, farming her whole wave and getting the squishy spider low enough for . Though a good Brood player should be able to micro her spiderlings to avoid this, Axe always counters a concerted spiderling push, and gets big farm off it to boot.


 * can still kill the hero affected by, as long as his/her health is low enough.
 * However, needs to be careful not to tank enemy creeps during the laning stage if  is on the other side, or he would take tremendous amount of damage from.


 * Unlike most disables, cannot dispel, and the output damage would be returned by.


 * can expose 's unprotected front, allowing and his allies to deal full damage to him.


 * Troll Warlord's high attack speed means will proc extremely frequently even without creeps near him. This, combined with a  means Axe can easily solo kill Troll Warlord even in later stages of the game.

Others

 * Melee heroes would be forced to stick close to each other when affected by, just like , and they are more likely to be struck by.
 * Since procs more times the more hits  takes, it can be a counter to basically any hero with large number of summons or illusions, including clones of.
 * Similar to above, attack speed buffs on enemies may backfire and cause them to take more damage.
 * Heroes with low health and high attack damage and/or attack speed can easily kill themselves through the and  combo.
 * Stealth units reveal themselves when affected by.
 * bonus armor makes nearly immune to physical damage for a short duration, which can be used to neutralize physical nukes such as, , and.

Items

 * is nearly useless against.
 * would be disabled when its holder is affected by.

Works well with...

 * can initiate the fight with, giving Disruptor the time to set up and  around the area. The Barrier will trap enemies inside and the silence from his ultimate can be especially useful against enemies like , who are notoriously elusive and can otherwise escape his barrier with ease.


 * can help survive the initiation by providing armor, heals and using  to save him or prolong his death.


 * Sand King's ultimate, Epicenter, requires channeling. Axe can start the team fight by jumping in between the enemies and using Berserker's call. During this time, Sand King can fully channel his ultimate and follow up Axe's initiation and deal massive damage to their enemies.


 * Since Toss has a reasonably big range, Tiny can Toss Axe into the enemies. Axe will not take any damage from the toss, but the enemies will. Axe can then use Berserker's call, forcing his enemies to attack him. This will give enough time for the rest of Axe's team to follow up on the initiation.


 * Axe's initiation will give Enigma enough time and room to set up Midnight Pulse and Black Hole, dealing massive damage to his enemies and disabling them for a very long duration. This also works against magic immune enemies, Midnight Pulse, Black Hole and Berserks call pierce spell immunity. This will give Axe's team plenty of time to make short work of their enemies.

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