Pudge/Counters

Bad against...

 * Bristleback's namesake passive Bristleback 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 Nasal Goo and Quill Spray.


 * Despite being tanky, Pudge has really low armor and attack speed. A decently farmed Legion Commander can destroy pudge very easily, especially with Press The Attack, Blade mail and Duel.


 * In the laning phase, Axe can very easily harass Pudge owing to the fact that Pudge is a melee hero, and he will have a hard time trading blows or getting last hits. Axe can use Berserkers call if he gets too close, potentially making him take a lot of damage due to Counter Helix.
 * Axe is a tanky hero, and it is usually difficulty to kill him with just spells. He can easily turn the tide using blade mail, Berserker's call and Culling Blade.


 * Due to Lifestealer's feast, 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 rage will also negate Dismember damage if casted quickly enough.


 * Necrophos's Heartstopper passive can wear down your HP 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.
 * Reaper's Scythe damage is based on missing HP. A fully upgraded Necrophos with Aghanims's Sceptre can easily vaporize you at about 45% HP regardless of remaining health.


 * Due to Pudge's tendency to engage enemies upfront, Timbersaw's takes away a huge chunk of pudge 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 Whirling Death is effective against Pudge's high strength.
 * allows Timbersaw to escape from Pudge when getting hooked.
 * 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.

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.

Items

 * Black King Bar
 * Force Staff
 * Blink Dagger
 * Scythe of Vyse

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






 * If the Pugna has a self-cast Decrepify on, he will take additional Magic damage from Pudge's Rot and Dismember.




 * Reason

Others

 * Templar Assassin
 * Pudge's Rot penetrates Refraction, so landing a hook on her and rotting will deplete all Absorb charges almost immediately.
 * Keep in mind Templar Assasin still has her Damage procs and can Meld after you Dismember, so unless you have Scepter or some form of detection, she can more than likely escape.
 * Nature's Prophet
 * Death Prophet

Works well with...

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


 * Pugna can use Decrepify 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 spark wraiths for pudge to stand in and hook players or using Flux for slow single enemy which make Pudge hook easier.


 * 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 Essence Aura 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.
 * Astral Imprisonment can also set up a hook, if timed correctly.


 * Lifestealer can remain hidden inside Pudge using his ultimate, 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

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

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