Viper/Counters

Bad against...

 * severely reduces Viper's damage output.
 * 's pure damage ignores Corrosive Skin.
 * Viper cannot interrupt.


 * Viper's lack of area damage, escape and durability means he can be ran over in a laning stage by Spiderlings.
 * Broodmother can bring Viper down quickly with activated.


 * Viper has no response to the standard initiation combo of into.
 * can eliminate Viper almost instantly with its damage output.


 * and can be used to kite and escape from Viper.
 * and deal heavy damage and can quickly bring Viper down.
 * ,, and are powerful disables that reduce Viper's effectiveness.
 * burns Viper's limited mana pool, reducing his potential poison damage.
 * s can melt Viper's armor and reduce his durability.


 * ignores all of Viper's magical damage.
 * and combine to heal through Viper's physical damage.


 * Corrosive Skin is non-effective against Luna's and  early on.
 * and are strong enough to deal against Corrosive Skin, though they can be disabled by Nethertoxin.
 * allows Luna to manfight Viper without hurting herself with Corrosive Skin.


 * 's pure damage bypasses Corrosive Skin.
 * fully negates Viper's poison damage and slows.
 * negates Viper's physical damage output.


 * Phantom Lancer can overwhelm Viper with spawned illusions from and.
 * Viper's various slows do not work against . However, Nethertoxin does.


 * If Rubick uses to take Nethertoxin, he can disable Corrosive Skin.
 * Rubick can further combine this tactic with offensive to drop Viper's magic resistance into negative values.


 * Viper's damage over time and lack of disables makes him easy to.
 * Viper's physical damage is mitigated by Terrorblade's high armor.
 * Terrorblade under can quickly kill Viper with heavy physical damage.


 * While Ursa can be kited by Viper, he can quickly kill Viper if he initiates first.
 * removes Viper's slows and makes Ursa highly resistant to damage.
 * slows Viper, making it difficult to escape.


 * ignores slows and allows Weaver to escape Viper's onslaught.
 * dispels Poison Attack and Corrosive Skin and undoes poison damage.
 * Weaver's high burst damage allows him to kill Viper before being killed.


 * evades Poison Attack and counteracts the slow.
 * Viper's low mobility makes him an easy target.
 * grants Windranger significant physical damage output to quickly wear Viper down.
 * is a strong harassment and zoning tool against Viper in lane.

Others

 * Viper cannot interrupt heroes with powerful channeling abilities:, ,
 * Heroes with a built-in haste can ignore Viper's slows: ,
 * Illusion-based heroes can confuse Viper and often disjoint Viper Strike:, ,
 * Heroes with high physical or pure burst damage can kill Viper before his damage over time sets in.
 * Heroes that can drain mana negatively affect Viper's ability to use Poison Attack and Viper Strike:, ,

Items

 * allows heroes to escape from Viper, as he cannot interrupt it nor kill a healthy hero before they teleport.
 * nullifies most of Viper's arsenal.
 * can be used to take advantage of Viper's low mobility, but his damage over time makes it unreliable as an escape tool.
 * and protect against Viper's attacks.
 * 's invisibility prevents Viper from attacking the target, and the magic resistance counteracts Viper's damage over time.
 * can allow a hero to escape while slowed by Viper.
 * 's break disables Corrosive Skin.
 * disjoints Viper Strike and can make Viper waste time attacking illusions.
 * can slow Viper with its active ability and pin him down while burning his mana.
 * summons are difficult for Viper to fight against and burn his mana.
 * blocks Viper Strike, and Viper has no other ways to break the Spell Block.
 * can reflect Viper Strike.

Good against...

 * Poison Attack's slow can be immediately applied after 's strong dispel triggers.
 * Poison Attack and Viper Strike control Abaddon's movement.
 * Nethertoxin prevents from activating passively.


 * Nethertoxin negates at every point in the game. If Viper takes the level 25 Silence talent, Anti-Mage will be unable to  out of the affected area.


 * Viper's various slows and damage over time prevents Axe from initiating as well as putting his on cooldown.
 * Nethertoxin's break disables.


 * Viper controls Bristleback's movement with Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
 * Nethertoxin's break removes.


 * Dragon Knight is easily harassed by Poison Attack in the lane. Level 4 Poison Attack can overwhelm Dragon Knight's natural health regeneration in the late game.
 * Corrosive Skin protects Viper from and returns damage.
 * Nethertoxin mitigates.
 * Between Poison Attack and Viper Strike Viper can keep Dragon Knight permanently slowed, even in.


 * Nethertoxin gives Viper two great advantages in the matchup: he can safely push out creep waves in order to avoid gank attempts and it cancels out . Once Enchantress' passive is disabled, the combination of physical and magical damage Viper outputs will overwhelm the healing from.
 * Viper's layered slows negate Enchantress' naturally high movement speed.


 * Nethertoxin disables.
 * The damage from and  is largely absorbed by Corrosive Skin.


 * With the exception of, all of Leshrac's abilities do magical damage. Corrosive Skin makes Viper resistant to Leshrac's immense damage output.
 * Leshrac has low strength gain and no mobility without items. He is vulnerable to being slowed and ganked until he buys or.


 * Viper can lane well against Phantom Assassin in a 1v1 matchup. activates Corrosive Skin while Nethertoxin allows Viper to assail her with Poison Attack.
 * Until Phantom Assassin gets, she can easily fall to magical damage.
 * Nethertoxin's break removes and, eliminating her evasion and burst potential.


 * Spectre is one of the weakest laners at early levels. It's feasible to run Viper as part as an aggressive trilane to stifle her farm.
 * Poison Attack and Corrosive Skin give Viper a large advantage in the lane.
 * Nethertoxin disables and . Adequate positioning and spell usage can ensure Spectre must fight without both passives if she commits to an engagement.
 * Viper hits his first power peak before Spectre can afford her major items.


 * Viper's abilities quickly burns through charges. Since all of his non-ultimate abilities have low cooldowns and little to no mana cost, Viper is not left in a disadvantageous situation when he commits abilities to break it.
 * Templar Assassin's short range, aside from spill damage, makes her vulnerable to Poison Attack harassment.
 * Templar Assassin traditionally forgoes health and armor items for damage. Outside of, Viper will almost always be able to kill her when is down.


 * Corrosive Skin means Viper can often outlast Venomancer in a battle of attrition.
 * Venomancer has no mobility without items, which makes him vulnerable to constant slows.


 * Prior to buying or, Zeus is fragile and possesses low mobility. He can be easily chased down and killed if Viper manages to effect him with any of his numerous slows.
 * Since Zeus relies on spells to secure last hits in the early game, Viper can hug the creep wave in order to proc Corrosive Skin. Zeus will take constant damage over time unless he drives Viper from the lane or returns to farming in his absence.
 * Corrosive Skin severely reduces Zeus's damage output throughout the game.

Others

 * Melee heroes with low mobility can be kited and killed by Viper:, , , , , ,
 * Heroes reliant on magical damage cannot easily wear Viper down due to Corrosive Skin.
 * Any hero that relies on a passive which Viper can break with Nethertoxin

Works well with...

 * Viper can ensure a stun with his slows from Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
 * 's slow and magic resistance reduction combine well with Nethertoxin.
 * synergizes with Viper's abilities. His multiple slows, in conjunction with his range, make it easy to get all buffed attacks off.
 * prevents healing via any method, amplifying the threat from Viper's numerous spells.


 * into isolates heroes for Viper to focus.
 * combined with Nethertoxin equals death for many opponents.


 * grants the necessary mana regeneration for Viper to use Nethertoxin in the lane. Unlike she does not have to rotate to help him in this regard.
 * Crystal Maiden is very slow with low health. Viper acts as a distraction with his innate tankiness so she can get off her spells without interruption, especially.


 * in practice is an intuitive combination with Poison Attack. Even if the target runs away, it is easy to refresh its duration by throwing out Nethertoxin. This is particularly strong in the early stages of the game.
 * can save Viper in a dangerous spot while he continues to wear down his opponents.
 * is a great preemptive ability to use on Viper before a high ground siege or team fight. Viper is usually the one standing in front so he enjoys the extra armor.


 * greatly increases Viper's attack damage, making his laning phase even stronger.
 * and combined with Viper's slows make it difficult for an enemy to escape.
 * Nethertoxin eliminates the defenses of several heroes that Drow Ranger struggles to kill.
 * Corrosive Skin makes Viper tanky so he can shield Drow Ranger who prefers to output damage from the backline.


 * provides easy targets for Viper to pick off from a distance.
 * When used in the middle of a team fight, halts the cooldown of disables that are troublesome for Viper to deal with.
 * Nethertoxin makes many heroes that Faceless Void struggles to kill much easier to take down.
 * Viper can create space for Faceless Void to farm up lategame items since he becomes a potent threat so early in the game.


 * and increases Viper's attack and movement speeds while providing further durability.
 * makes up for Viper's lack of mobility.


 * accelerates Viper's farm, doubly so if he buys.
 * as well as Ogre Magi's high base attributes and armor help secure the lane for Viper early on.


 * is a strong disable for assisting Viper in ganks, especially since Rubick traditionally buys as his first item.
 * benefits Viper offensively and defensively.


 * interrupts channeling abilities and can lock down a target for Viper to kill.
 * massively increases Viper's single-target damage.
 * Both Viper and Slardar fight at the same pace. They possess low cooldown spells and the tankiness to use them several times in a fight.


 * protects Viper in lane without the need for rotations. Combined with Corrosive Skin, Viper becomes almost impossible to gank.
 * locks opponents in place for Viper to attack them.


 * helps Viper catch up with enemies.
 * and amplify Viper's damage output.
 * If Vengeful Spirit dies, the negative makes Viper harder for the enemy to bring down.
 * Both heroes fight early and often.

Others

 * Viper excels when he is assisted by heals and other means of survival:, ,
 * Viper is a robust tank that can protect fragile ranged heroes with high damage output:, , ,
 * Heroes with magic resistance reduction amplify the power of Nethertoxin and vice versa:, ,
 * Heroes with abilities that increase movement speed compensate for his mobility issues:, ,

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

Viper/Противостоящие