Ember Spirit/Counters

Bad against...
Lion possesses two strong disables in and  and heavy magic burst with. When getting his Lion can punish Ember Spirit's overextention immediately, or initiate fight on him with disables.

and can prevent Ember Spirit from casting  to escape. also provide high pure damage not negated by. is also potent harassing tool in the laning stage as it's cooldown is faster than 's.

Storm Spirit is not only potent carrier, additionally, his  provides additional disable and  provides great slow and paired with  can cut through  fast. not only provides great initiation upon Ember Spirit from any position anytime, but also helps dodging and getting out when rooted down with.

Faceless Void is one of the best heroes against Ember Spirit, providig a lot of ways of dealing with him. Ember Spirit becomes a lot weaker if affected by, as he can no longer spam. is also reliable lock down for Ember Spirit, even though it can be evaded sometimes by. additionally, Void can easily negate damage with. And finally, Void is a great carrier, not only  is a physical damage that's not negated by, but it also burns Ember Spirit's mana, that won't allow him to escape even if surviving.

The pure damage provided by is a great addition for killing Ember Spirit, as well as a good way of saving teammates. fully negate all magic damage of and, and  will temporary save all team from  physical damage, and Ember Spirit is not a hero that will get  to counter these skills.

Riki can not only roam to pressure Ember Spirit early, but can stay potent any stage of the game because of, preventing Ember Spirit from using.

Using Nyx Assassin can move closely to Ember Spirit when he's farming with his  and use  with  to provide reliable and long disable. is also good, as Ember Spirit relies on his limited manapool for early-/midgame.

Others

 * Disable and pure damage from 's and  can be potent skills for locking Ember Spirit down. But Ember Spirit can play around them, as his  can stop, and  will keep him safe. Additionally,  is not fast enough and most of the time Ember Spirit will leave lane faster than Spirit Breaker gets there. Though, Spirit Breaker can still be extremely effective ganker before Ember Spirit will get his , and can stay potent if getting early.
 * General opinion that can counter Ember Spirit with his  is a misconception, as  is too slow to cast and even  initiation won't help getting  applied. Doom is still extremely effective early ganker, as his  and  damage can quickly overwhelm  magic resistance, leaving Ember Spirit helpless. Additional skills that Doom can get from Neutral creeps can also help bullying Ember Spirit early.  on Doom can also help, providing the only way to apply  on Ember Spirit.
 * can be good against Ember Spirit, as his purges, which is the big part of Ember Spirit's early game damage and survivability. Still, Invoker is too weak to provide his team with reliable ways of killing Ember Spirit, as he has no way of stopping . Though, early  paired with  or  can help him dealing with Ember Spirit.
 * can be legit for dealing with Ember Spirit, getting, additionally, her provides pure damage that helps bursting Ember Spirit down, and  helps slowing him. Though Queen of Pain can be punished by Ember Spirit, as his  prevents her from getting  off.
 * Any hero with disables.

Items

 * and can be devastating for Ember Spirit, as silence prevents him from getting  off. Ember Spirit is quite fragile so additional damage from these items will be very helpful. Also it will probably force Ember Spirit to get  or  which will limit his late game damage potential.
 * and are both strong disables. Ember Spirit is probably doomed if he will make any mistakes against this items.
 * and - greatly decrease Ember Spirit's damage output from regular attacks and.
 * , and  will allow enemy heroes become more tanky against Ember Spirit because of miss chance.
 * , and  are all tank items that will allow enemies survive Ember Spirit's late game AOE damage from . Additionally,  will allow repeatedly breach Ember Spirit's highground, without committing any resources.
 * Heaven's Halberd makes Ember Spirit physical attack temperary 0. Especially when he has high damage.

Good against...
Meepo is quite fragile in the early game and can be easily taken down by overwhelming and  damage. Later on Meepo is very vulnerable to damage due to  cleave on multiple Meepos. His skill set is also not good enough against Ember Spirit, as he has no natural way of stoping.

Ember Spirit is naturally very evasive and can dodge close encounters with melee heroes like Chaos Knight. Ember Spirit can't be caught with slow and his  can bring  illusions down fast.

Ember Spirit can deal devastating damage to illusion heroes like Terrorblade with. Terrorblade has no way of preventing Ember Spirit from getting off and additionally Ember Spirit's ability to fight from long range as well as his wide skill set won't give a chance for Terrorblade to get  off.

Crystal Maiden is extremely fragile and she's merely a food for him. She has no real disables than can lock Ember Spirit down, all of her skill damage can be negated with and  can be easily interrupted with. Most of the time magical damage from and  is more than enough to bring Crystal Maiden down.

Ember Spirit can easily deal with push by using his, and after  purchase, 's summons are just food for him. He also have multiple ways of escaping. additionally, Ember Spirit can break trees with  and interrupt  with.

is the natural counter to Phantom Lancer's army of illusions. The best a PL can do is to escape from with  and purge off your  with his. If you're still having trouble dealing with him, seriously consider the purchase of a second.

Others

 * You need a hard disable or a silence to catch Ember Spirit, roots and slows should never be enough so long as he has a Remnant somewhere. As such, he can be a good pick against any line-up that lacks those disables.
 * Similarly, the only disable Ember Spirit offers is the root from . As such, he can also be a good pick if the enemies are vulnerable to root effects.
 * Mostly Ember Spirit does normal attack to creep and Sleight of Fist for enemy heroes. So Blademail doesn't work against him. But except when he caught by Duel or Berserker's Call. But that really rare happened because Ember Spirit mostly seperates himself for Pushing or stay as backup.

Works well with...
Magnus is a great addition for a team with Ember Spirit. His is extremely effective, as it greatly increase Ember Spirit's farming speed, granting him buff somewhat similar to. stays potent during all game, as it increases damage proportionally and it's cleave stack with. Additionally, paired with  is extremely effective late game combo.

Dazzle is a great laning support and he can not only protect Ember Spirit, but also provides killing potential with his. Dazzle's abilities to make game changing plays with his, saving Ember Spirit makes him strong pair for the whole game. also greatly amplifies damage by armor removal.

Others

 * All AoE disabler and nuker are good for Sleight of Fist.

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