Rubick/Counters

Bad against...

 * Rubick deals little damage on his own, so Bristleback can simply shrug off all his spells and chase you down with his spells and attacks.
 * requires multiple casts and close range to add up stacks. Because Rubick does not stay in the front lines, it's generally not a good spell for him to steal.
 * will slow Rubick down even further and reduce his armor, making him vulnerable to Quill Spray and the damage bonus from.


 * and Broodmother's auto-attacks allow her to gank Rubick easily before Rubick has a chance to retaliate, especially if Broodmother obtains.
 * Broodmother loves buying, which drains Rubick's low supply of mana, preventing Rubick from spamming his abilities.
 * Though is a great spell to steal, Broodmother's untargetable nature and her low cooldown spells makes it a difficult spell to steal.


 * Considering Rubick's abysmal armor, Rubick is a squishy target for Clinkz to gank. None of his spells are useful except for.
 * Clinkz usually builds, which disables Rubick's ability to retaliate.
 * Vast numbers of s are needed to deal with Clinkz because of, making it harder for Rubick to buy more expensive and more useful support items like or.


 * Legion Commander's spells are relatively useless to Rubick, as isn't suitable for someone as squishy as Rubick.
 * can be useful, but its high mana cost will leave you with little mana.
 * only does damage and gives a movement speed bonus, Rubick can't do much with the extra move speed.
 * Generally, you will be a prime target for Legion Commander's s, as Rubick is relatively frail.


 * allows Phantom Lancer to dodge and dispel Fade Bolt's damage reduction debuff.
 * allows Phantom Lancer to dodge the stun from an incoming Telekenesis when he is not the primary target.
 * Phantom Lancer is a common carrier leaving Rubick no mana to spam abilities from Spell Steal.


 * Riki has high damage and invisibility, meaning he can easily gank Rubick and kill him before Rubick has the chance to react.
 * Almost all of Riki's spells are useless to Rubick.
 * is the only of Riki's spells that can be of some use to Rubick.
 * Similar to Clinkz, Rubick has to buy a large amount of Sentry Wards to keep track of Riki due to, preventing Rubick from getting better items.
 * Riki is a common carrier leaving Rubick no mana to spam abilities from Spell Steal.


 * On his own, Rubick can't do much to Shadow Fiend. However, Shadow Fiend can easily run Rubick over with his right-clicks and multiple s.
 * lowers Rubick's already low armor even further.
 * can be somewhat risky to use if stolen, as two of them require Rubick to get up close, which is something Rubick doesn't like doing.


 * While many of Silencer's spells are a great steal for Rubick, Silencer effectively neuters Rubick's excellent counter-initiation potential thanks to.
 * Rubick's relatively low intelligence for such a heavy caster means that losing Intelligence to will make your mana pool even smaller.


 * and together with some attacks can gank Rubick down quickly. Rubick can seldom retaliate because of the strong dispel of . What is more, Rubick is the type of squishy support that Slark exactly wants to gank.
 * Though is a great spell to steal, Slark's untargetable nature and his low cooldown spells prevents Rubick from stealing it.
 * Slark usually builds which can prevent Rubick to cast his abilities from Spell Steal.


 * Wraith King's abilities are mostly passive (with regards to Spell Steal), so Rubick cannot steal most of them.
 * together with some attacks can gank Rubick down quickly.

Items

 * prevents you from doing anything to a hero other than stealing spells, unless you have stolen a spell that can pierce spell immunity.
 * prevents stealing spell but Rubick may use his fail steal or other spells to break the Spellblock.
 * will wear down Rubick's mana pool, preventing him from spamming his abilities, as well as any stolen spells.

Good against...

 * Everything she has is great in Rubick's kit:
 * deals crowd damage and slows enemies, also helps on farming.
 * helps Rubick locks down enemies, also is a decent farming ability.
 * is a channeling ability and therefore can be stolen easily.
 * Arcane Supremacy's Debuff Duration Amplification also benefits and  greatly.


 * has a shorter cast time in Rubick's hands, making it a nice ability to either initiate or interrupt enemy ganks from a long distance.
 * Though isn't as powerful for the lack of  on Rubick, the damage can still be massive on enemies.


 * Everything Enigma has is something Rubick will like:
 * helps with interrupting channeling spells in case Telekinesis is off cooldown.
 * helps with pushing or counter-pushing a lane.
 * is great for blocking off areas or just doing steady damage in teamfights.
 * is one of the best spells for teamfights, and could easily turn a losing one around.
 * also requires channeling, making it an easy steal for Rubick because he usually stays back in a teamfight, making it hard to catch him with Black Hole.
 * Telekinesis can break Enigma's fairly easily.
 * Fade Bolt counters early push strategy of Enigma's waves of Eidolons.
 * Spell Steal pierces spell immunity, so Enigma can't prevent Rubick from stealing by activating.


 * All of Invoker's abilities scales with his level, thus Rubick possesses great potential in late game by owning any of Invoker's arsenal.
 * Fade Bolt counters early push from.


 * Despite most Kunkka players depending on their immense physical damage, his spells provide a lot of utility for Rubick:
 * is very easy to land when paired with Telekinesis.
 * can potentially be more effective in Rubick's hands due to his tendency to increase his cast range with his talents and items.
 * , paired with Telekinesis, allows Rubick to land it very easily without requiring or.


 * All his abilities is decent in Rubick's kit:
 * allows Rubick to harass and constantly slow down enemies.
 * increases Rubick's as well as his allies' and tower's survivability to physical attacks.
 * A well-timed can be devastating to the enemy team.


 * Rubick will find all Lina's abilities useful:
 * provides a good way to clear creep waves and allows Rubick to deal tons of magical damage in teamfights.
 * gives Rubick a solid area stun, which is easy to set up right after Telekinesis.
 * gives Rubick a massive damage boost and great solo kill potential.


 * Everything Lion has is great in Rubick's kit, further amplified by Arcane Supremacy:
 * adds a second bit of crowd control and some damage.
 * solves a lot of Rubick's mana issues.
 * is one of the strongest single-target lockdowns in the game.
 * is one of the best magical nukes in the game.


 * is a solid magic nuke.
 * can cause massive damage if cast in the right time.
 * Rubick has a good chance to steal Eclipse for Luna has only two cast abilities.
 * greatly increased the effectiveness of the ability, including more damage as well as longer cast range. In addition, it allows him to cast it on another hero so Rubick doesn't have to get close to the enemy team in teamfights.


 * Rubick can turn around entire teamfights if he manages to steal.
 * allows Rubick to farm pretty fast together with Fade Bolt, and also deals decent AoE damage in teamfights.
 * If Rubick steals, he can use Telekinesis to displace enemies and Skewer them away.


 * Because of her need to get status items early to tank it up, Rubick can greatly reduce her damage early with Fade Bolt
 * Her stationary nature and the slow cast time of her spells makes it easier for Rubick to steal or
 * 's Mystic Snake is often better used by Rubick than by Medusa


 * Morphling's abilities can cause unique interactions on their own:
 * is a damaging pseudo-blink, giving Rubick much needed mobility.
 * is a great ability for Rubick:
 * The changes done by it are permanent even after losing the ability. Pumping all the agility into strength makes him much tankier. The armor loss due to reduced agility can be mitigated by cheap items like or.
 * The extra strength allows Rubick to survive Morphling's -  combo.
 * Beware when using ! Unlike Morphling, Rubick does not gain damage from it, since agility is not his primary attribute.
 * is a long-ranged stun.
 * The true power of this ability is revealed when has been stolen previously: it gives a 4 second ranged stun every 10 seconds, which greatly counters heroes with mobility, such as Morphling himself.
 * All of Rubick's abilities break, a core item for Morphling.


 * All Omniknight's abilities are perfect to steal:
 * can heal allies as well as damage enemies under the right circumstances. It is extremely useful since Rubick has no heal of his own.
 * gives a strength bonus, status resistance, and health regeneration, which can help an ally or Rubick survive longer.
 * can turn the tide of battle by negating all physical damage, which is especially useful if the opposing team has physical attackers.

Others

 * Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like, , , etc.
 * Abilities that grant mobility gives Rubick an advantage in ganking or escaping:, , etc.
 * Rubick has three abilities to break . Furthermore, makes Spell Steal a 2 seconds cooldown tool to pop.

Works well with...

 * Their roles on a team are complimentary, on top of being synergistic laning partners: Rubick can support Alchemist by providing harass and not requiring lane farm.
 * Telekinesis is a great setup for a solid-timed stun.
 * The buff of Rubick turns him into a far more potent, active, and safer teamfighter; and having a hero that is much better at farming for it like Alchemist build it for him can be a blessing. With Aghanim's out of the way, Rubick has the freedom to buy many other helpful items like  or  and would have the slots to do it, as the gifted Aghanim's Scepter Synth is simply a buff rather than an item slot.


 * is one of the best solutions out there to Rubick's constant mana issues, especially after he expands his mana pool with and a  or.
 * Rubick has some very good hard crowd control in Telekinesis, something that benefits Crystal Maiden greatly; it's invaluable in saving the incredibly squishy Crystal Maiden from ganks and other such nonsense, and keeps enemies off of her while she's channeling.


 * allows Morphling and Rubick to potentially "steal" enemy abilities twice (except for ultimate abilities).
 * With the Morph Targets Allies talent, Morphling can turn into Rubick, keeping his stolen spell, allowing the pair to use any stolen ability twice.
 * This can be particularly effective if Rubick has stolen an ultimate spell, as Morph does not copy ultimate abilities.

Others

 * Heroes with abilities that require set up, such as 's, 's , 's , etc

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

Rubick/Противостоящие