Shadow Shaman/Counters

Bad against...

 * Rhasta's early game Shackle needs to not be disturbed, and Sand King's Burrow can make for a natural counter for Rhasta.
 * Since Rhasta does not have tons of health points, he can easily be taken out by the Epicenter at any point of the game.
 * With no area-of-effect spells, Shadow Shaman has no countermeasure to Sand King's invisibility.


 * Wraith King's stun is a natural countermeasure against Shadow Shaman, with a short cooldown ideal for interrupting.
 * allows Wraith King to survive Shadow Shaman's initial barrage of stuns and Serpent Ward attacks.


 * Morphling can survive through the duration of Shackles with his, since he can cast it while stunned. In the same manner Morphling can take advantage of the fact Shadow Shaman usually maxes Hex last.
 * Morphling can interrupt Shadow Shaman while he is shackling an ally, since will always apply a stun regardless of which attribute is dominant at the moment.
 * With, Morphling can take advantage of Rhasta's miniature health pool and quickly burst him down before the latter even has a chance to react.
 * Waveform escapes while trapped in Serpant Ward.


 * Riki is known for being a successful support killer, and not just for show. He can give you one hell of a time by constantly picking you off and/or forcing you to stick close to the rest of the team.
 * Riki's is particularly devastating to Shadow Shaman.  With neither his various disables nor a solid health pool Shadow Shaman is usually dead.  Consider a force staff if you find yourself in this scenario (to force yourself out of the cloud before shackling Riki) and buy sentry wards if you find the money.


 * Mirana can disturb your channeling even if you are under the effect of invisibility thanks to.
 * Mirana armed with an is known to be able to quickly burst down heroes - especially supports. Together with  the bullying can continue for the whole match.


 * Kraken Shell negates most damage from Serpent Wards and gets Tidehunter out of disables.
 * Ravage can disrupt Shadow Shaman during his channeling from afar.

Others

 * , and  can all sneak up and kill you, Nyx being particularly deadly.  Watch Slark carefully, as he can break either (but not both unless you are making a mistake) of your disables and leap out of a serpent ward ring. These heroes, however, rely heavily on escape and are themselves not very durable and none of them can survive a full lockdown with Mass Serpent Ward. Having Sentry Wards can turn you from prey to predator.
 * can make all your spells except useless with . He can also heal teammates which you disabled. The same goes to Abaddon.
 * , and  will make the match a living hell for you, since they are known for surprise attacks from the fog and quickly killing low HP heroes. They can also interrupt your channeling, Legion being especially problematic, as she can use  on an ally who is hexed as well.
 * Sniper, Medusa can destroy Serpant Ward quickly from their range advantage.
 * Illusion heroes also Meepo.
 * With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as, and.
 * Arc Warden with his Magnetic Field will protects allies from Serpant Ward and able to destroy it faster and Tempest Double with(out) Necronomicon will helps destroy Serpant Ward.
 * Anti-Mage's Mana Break and Mana Void make him is delicious target. Also when he has Manta Style, Serpant Ward is useless.

Items

 * An enemy armed with can escape a ring of 's if trapped.
 * Force Staff escapes from Serpant Ward but not from Shackles.
 * Lotus Orb reflects Hex and Shackle.
 * Linken's Sphere prevents Hex and Shackle.

Good against...

 * Can easily interrupt and disable Spirit Breaker with hex if being charged


 * Serpant Ward kill lots of Treant for defensive.
 * Serpant Ward can trap NP who try to Teleportation. Though he Sprouts himself.


 * Spiderling can't destroy Serpant Ward but her Ultimate may useful for this.


 * Boar is delicious target for Serpant Ward


 * Pushing alone may not good idea because wolves aren't good for destroy Serpant Ward and Lycan himself isn't good at this too except Necronomicon can do this well. His Shapeshifting may not help him whom stuck in Serpant Ward.


 * Shadow Shaman's many disables can lock down Weaver. Even with Linken's Sphere, Weaver might be able to escape should Shadow Shaman uses Shackles quickly enough following Hex.
 * Mass Serpent Ward can make short work of Weaver once he is locked down.

Others

 * In general, squishy heroes that rely on escape often struggles against the amount of disables Shadow Shaman can bring., and  are among these.
 * Entry
 * Entry

Works well with...

 * Shadow Shaman's high duration channeled stuns can make for a good combo with juggernaut's Blade Flury in the early game.


 * Just like with Juggernaut, Shadow Shaman can disable enemy heroes long enough for Ursa to make them his meal.


 * Reason


 * Reason


 * Reason

Others

 * Pusher heroes
 * Entry
 * Entry

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