Pudge/Counters

Bad against...

 * Bristleback's namesake passive reduces all the damage he receives, making him really hard to kill. Due to Pudge's low armor, he can easily kill him with a few stacks of  and.


 * Despite being tanky, Pudge has really low armor and attack speed. A decently farmed Legion Commander can destroy Pudge very easily, especially with, and.


 * Due to Lifestealer's, if Pudge cannot kill him immediately Lifestealer will quickly regain all his health with a few hits on Pudge because of Pudge's naturally high health.
 * Lifestealer's can also negate Dismember damage if cast quickly enough.


 * Necrophos's passive can wear down your health incredibly fast as it deals percentage damage based on total health. This can be deadly in long teamfights even if you are tankier than your entire team.
 * damage is based on missing health. A fully upgraded Necrophos with can easily vaporize you at about 45% health regardless of remaining health.


 * Due to Pudge's tendency to engage enemies upfront, Timbersaw's takes away a huge chunk of Pudge's health. Timbersaw can quickly turn the tide against Pudge with his own combination of spells. The pure damage of Timbersaw's spells ignores Pudge's increased magic resistance, and the percentage-based effect of  is effective against Pudge's high strength.
 * allows Timbersaw to escape from Pudge when getting hit by Meat Hook.
 * Timbersaw is usually too bulky for Pudge to solo-kill, as he naturally goes for high health items, and also gains strong health regeneration when attacked.


 * Even though Abaddon is being disabled and stunned by Pudge's ultimate, he can still have his ultimate on and quickly regain health from the Rot/Dismember combo.


 * Anti-Mage may have low health, making him a perfect target for Pudge, but Anti-Mage can, escaping Pudge's hook.
 * In late game, Anti-Mage can destroy Pudge in seconds regardless of Pudge's health.

Others

 * Pudge is strong versus heroes with low health, being able to kill them with a combo. On the other hand, tanky heroes are strong versus Pudge because they can survive and even turn the fight around.
 * Pudge often doesn't rush, that makes him often vulnerable during Dismember against most of disables such as , , , , , , , , , , , , , and many more.
 * Any illusion hero that goes for is a big issue for Pudge because of his low mana pool.

Good against...

 * Meat Hook can cancel, even if Crystal Maiden has.
 * Her already pathetic health makes her a lovely victim for ganking.


 * Pudge can easily survive Luna's and, and his Meat Hook and Dismember can pierce , making Luna one of the perfect victims for ganking.
 * However, can cancel Dismember, as Pudge often doesn't build Black King Bar, and if she is farmed enough, Luna might be able to fight back against Pudge.


 * Pudge's stunlock does not allow Spectre to escape with.
 * He can easily tank the damage reflected by due to his high health, magic resistance and heal from Dismember.
 * Should Spectre try to get away through the trees or over a cliff with, Pudge can hook her back.


 * Pudge is the perfect hero for tanking mines, as Flesh Heap grants him lots of health and magic resistance.
 * Techies' good highground defense can be bypassed by Pudge hooking his enemies to the lowground from a long distance.
 * Techies usually sit in the trees during the laning stage, setting up, but Meat Hook can pull them out.


 * Pudge's Rot penetrates, so landing a Meat Hook on her and using Rot will deplete all absorb charges almost immediately.
 * Keep in mind Templar Assassin still has her Damage procs and can after you Dismember, so unless you have  or some form of detection, she can more than likely escape.


 * Zeus likes to stay far back in fights, dealing his damage uninterrupted, but once he gets hook into the fight, he usually dies very quickly.
 * Pudge's high health pool and magic resistance from Flesh Heap make it very hard for Zeus to burst him down.
 * Zeus' low health pool makes him very vulnerable to the damage from Meat Hook, Rot and Dismember.

Others

 * Pudge is really good against most magic nukers, as they are usually squishy and lack any form of escape mechanism. Pudge's passive Flesh Heap also grants him bonus magic resistance making nukers less effective against him in the later stages of the game. Examples of heroes that Pudge can easily kill include:, , , , , , ,.

Works well with...

 * Pudge can hook enemies into mines, which can guarantee a kill.


 * Pugna can use on an enemy, causing them to take extra damage from Pudge's Rot and Dismember, since Decrepify increases magical damage by up to 60% at its max level.


 * Arc Warden can quickly build up a large amount of s for Pudge to stand in and hook players. Also, ' single target slow makes it easier for Pudge to hook enemies.


 * Pudge's mana pool is rather small, and his int gain is not great, so it does not take a lot of spells to completely deplete his mana pool. Having Outworld Devourer's is a huge help, as he can spam his spells more often without having to go to base every time.
 * Keep in mind the Essence Aura has a chance of triggering as it is pseudo-random, and you may just run out of mana at times.
 * can also set up a hook, if timed correctly.


 * Lifestealer can remain hidden inside Pudge using, and can burst out when Pudge successfully hooks an enemy. He can then continue to do damage while Pudge disables his enemy using his ultimate.

Others

 * can use on his enemy, setting up an easy Meat Hook for Pudge.

Works poorly with...

 * is a bad ability to attempt to set up a Meat Hook as there's a good chance Pudge will end up hooking one of Shadow Demon's illusions.

Others

 * Any hero that can summon units or illusions needs to be aware of where they are relative to Pudge so that they do not block his Meat Hook attempt.