Slark/Counters

Bad against...

 * stops Shadow Dance's passive health regeneration, even when Slark is not in vision.


 * forces Slark to attack him, even during Shadow Dance.
 * will hit Slark in Shadow Dance, with pure damage. It also triggers frequently against Slark's high attack speed after having stolen agility with Essence Shift.
 * finishes off Slark before he gets a chance to slip away and regenerate his health, preventing him from playing the hit-and-run style often associated with Slark.


 * makes Slark visible while at low health, canceling out Shadow Dance's passive. For this reason, Bloodseeker is usually considered the hardest counter to Slark.
 * cannot be dispelled by Dark Pact, and using Pounce while affected by it will cause Slark to take damage.


 * Both and  can hit Slark during Shadow Dance, the latter requiring a unit nearby for the ability to be cast on.
 * Slark has very low health in the early game, making him susceptible to the burst from.


 * s have enough health to survive Dark Pact, and Slark has no other source of AoE damage to deal with them.
 * allows Chaos Knight to escape the leash from Pounce.


 * and locks down Slark, as he cannot use Dark Pact to dispel any disables, or Pounce out while silenced.
 * puts an end to any attempts at ganking Disruptor or his allies, and also negates Slark's mobility by bringing him back into the fight if he tries to escape with Pounce.


 * Earthshaker's many AoE stuns help lock down Slark, and will often waste the duration of Shadow Dance.


 * is an easy kill on Slark in the mid and late game with any kind of decent farm or team followup.
 * While cannot break out of leash, Slark will lack the burst damage early on to kill him before it is used.
 * is devastating for a hero like Slark, as a well timed one can keep his Pounce and Dark Pact on a very long cooldown.


 * Lone Druid can use his Spirit Bear to trade hits with Slark, without suffering the stat loss from.


 * and will still hit Slark in Shadow Dance.
 * Dark Pact can only remove one.
 * will still affect Slark, even if he has a.


 * Slark's dependence on Pounce and close range makes him very easy to hit with.
 * Slark's damage, even with a high count of Essence Shift, is easily negated by Omniknight's heals and.


 * Slark has no sustained AoE to deal with Phantom Lancer's many illusions.
 * lets Phantom Lancer dodge Dark Pact and Pounce, and partially wastes the duration of Shadow Dance.
 * can give vision of Slark via spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from Shadow Dance.
 * helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark when he jumps away with Pounce.


 * and allows Puck to avoid most ganking attempts.
 * and makes it very hard for Slark to escape bad situations.
 * Puck's abilities used together also deals significant magical nuke damage, none of which are targeted and thus cannot be avoided by Shadow Dance.


 * A plus  combination deals heavy damage to Slark in the early game, making Tiny a very dangerous target to gank.

Others

 * Heroes who can fight back or surprise Slark are very dangerous and will require Slark to play more passively out of vision:, , etc.
 * Heroes with AoE abilities will hit Slark in Shadow Dance:, , , , , , ,
 * Heroes with heavy magical nukes will take advantage of Slarks poor HP or force him to use Shadow Dance early:, ,
 * Heroes that can deny Slark early kills will prevent him from snowballing: ,
 * Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape:, , ,

Items

 * allows users to dodge Pounce's leash.
 * nullifies Slark's nuke damage from Dark Pact, and destroys the leash from Pounce.
 * locks down Slark so he cannot escape to regenerate his health.
 * 's disarm cannot be dispelled by Dark Pact, while the evasion may force Slark to build.
 * gives the holder much more physical survivability and a useful active ability which will halt Slark during Shadow Dance.
 * prevents Slark from attacking the holder, wasting his Pounce.
 * 's break and damage reduction cannot be removed with Dark Pact. It also disables Essence Shift.
 * 's hex fully disables Slark, but hex can be dispelled with Dark Pact.

Good against...

 * is dispelled by Dark Pact.
 * Pounce allows Slark to avoid s.
 * allows Slark to build up Essence Shift stacks, especially when it is being used for split pushing.


 * Pounce and items like makes it very difficult for Drow Ranger to keep her distance from Slark, thereby losing her  bonus.
 * is rarely enough to keep Slark at bay, as Drow Ranger has no movement abilities and will simply be chased down afterwards.
 * Drow Ranger's heavy dependence on agility also makes her significantly weaker after being drained by Essence Shift.


 * Luna's lack of mobility and escape abilities makes her easily gankable by Slark.
 * Shadow Dance will avoid all the damage from.
 * For the same reasons, Slark is a good ally for Luna when they are in the same team.


 * Medusa cannot chase Slark in any way and has no disable beyond her ultimate, making her unable to stop him getting away and regenerating before coming back to finish her off.
 * Essence Shift removes 1 of every attribute, lowering Medusa's mana pool's cap and leaving her much more vulnerable in prolonged fights.


 * Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with.
 * As a hero who always goes for the and  Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin and her  and, drastically reducing her damage output and ability to evade attacks, and also preventing her from acting.
 * Phantom Assassin's requires Random Number Generation in order to proc, which gives Slark more than enough time to escape and recover himself.


 * Rubick's lack of mobility and escape mechanisms makes him one of the easier heroes for Slark to gank.
 * Dark Pact dispels &.
 * Pounce allows Slark to avoid an incoming if Slark is not the target.
 * With Diffusal Blade and Essence Shift stacks, Slark can burn and reduce Rubick's low intelligence, preventing him from spamming his abilities from.
 * Dark Pact and Pounce are not good spells for Rubick to steal, and Shadow Dance's non-targetable nature prevents Rubick from stealing it easily.


 * Sniper is one of the most gankable heroes in the game, and has no defenses when Pounced on by Slark.


 * Essence Shift deals 20 extra damage by draining one strength per hit, which cannot be reduced or spread by.
 * Pounce prevents Spectre from escaping from or chasing with.
 * illusions usually don't deal a lot of damage to Slark as he tends to buy a, preventing 's and 's damage and activating Shadow Dance's regeneration to make up for any damage caused by.


 * Pounce's leash prevents Storm Spirit from using, making it hard for Storm Spirit to escape a gank from Slark.
 * Dark Pact can dispel 's Soul Burn.


 * Dark Pact rips through charges and still steals attributes during Refraction.
 * Pounce and Dark Pact will still hit Templar Assassin while she is ed. Since she cannot move, both abilities will be easy for Slark to land.


 * does not interrupt Slark too much, as he can just Pounce out of the area.
 * and can be dispelled by Dark Pact.

Others

 * cannot escape from a Pounce even if he uses, and has no disabling abilities to stop Slark.
 * Dark Pact rips through and  charges.
 * Heroes with low mobility and no escape mechanisms are easy targets for Slark.
 * Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,.
 * Pounce also stops 's.

Works well with...

 * Bane's numerous disables help Slark position and take out his targets.
 * Pounce and Dark Pact will break without transferring the disable to Slark.


 * Earthshaker's many stuns help lock down Slark's targets.
 * Slark can easily jump over if he gets caught on the wrong side.


 * upgraded can be cast on Slark before he jumps into the fray, allowing both heroes to wreak havoc on enemy team.
 * also triggers night, allowing Slark to take advantage of his superior night vision and the enemy's reduced vision to initiate or escape.
 * While has a short duration, it is useful to help Slark leash escaping enemy heroes with Pounce.
 * provides Slark bonus damage and armor for teamfights and gankings.


 * is a perfect setup for Dark Pact, and usually allows Slark to pick off one target before the long stun ends.
 * helps Slark farm significantly faster, as well as gank more efficiently.


 * Pounce gives Kunkka plenty of time to land all of his abilities.
 * 's buff makes it very difficult for enemies to kill Slark, as he takes reduced damage during team fights, then quickly regenerates his lost health while the delayed damage is applied.


 * Pounce keeps the enemy close for an easy.
 * provides a strong dispel and status resistance. Combined with Dark Pact and Shadow Dance, this makes it very difficult for enemies to keep Slark locked down.


 * helps Slark chase down slowed enemies.
 * Pounce locks enemies in place for Skywrath Mage to nuke them with.


 * helps Slark land his Pounce and Dark Pact.
 * Pounce helps Underlord land his.
 * Essence Shift's attribute steal combined with significantly reduces their enemies' base damage.


 * Pounce prevents an enemy from moving away when Witch Doctor uses his, ensuring at least one kill in most circumstances.
 * Essence Shift's attribute steal causes enemies to take proportionately more damage from later ticks of.


 * Slark's ability to detect and pinpoint enemy vision allows Zeus to deward very easily.
 * Pounce keeps enemies under Zeus' for longer.

Others

 * Heroes with long stuns and slows will help Slark beat down the enemy:, , , ,
 * Pounce locks down enemies and helps heroes with abilities that are otherwise hard to land:, ,

Items

 * and let Slark's team deward as Shadow Dance gives clues to where the enemy has vision.

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

Slark/Противостоящие