Axe/Counters

Bad against...

 * is a great way to stop Axe from being a big impact in fights by reinitiating with Berserker's Call over and over. Axe also relies on Battle Hunger for bonus movement speed to kite out fights in his advantage... Saying that, not many heroes aren't shut down by this ability.
 * 's damage is calculated by percentage of maximum health, meaning that it will hurt Axe more than most normal attacks, negating some of his tankiness.
 * Doom can pick up several different abilities from neutral creeps using, some of which can be annoying to Axe.
 * Mud Golem, Dark Troll Summoner, Harpy Stormcrafter, Satyr Mindstealer or Satyr Tormenter are good examples.


 * Outworld Devourer's pure and magical damage is particularly effective against Axe.
 * is an excellent way to defend against an initiating Axe.
 * deals high damage to Axe due to his low mana pool.


 * can be used on allies to prevent them from attacking Axe and triggering Counter Helix during Berserker's Call. He can also cast it on Axe to prevent anyone from attacking him.
 * can be used to heal himself or allies caught in Berserker's Call, preventing them from dropping low enough for Axe to kill them with Culling Blade.


 * will save Shadow Demon's teammates from being killed by Counter Helix or Culling Blade.
 * slows Axe to a crawl, making him nearly useless after initiating. If Shadow Demon has Aghanim's Scepter, it will also break Counter Helix.


 * reduces the damage from and Counter Helix to a minimum, forcing Axe to play around Ursa's ultimate ability.
 * and tear through Axe's low survivability, even if he has relatively high health.


 * 's stacking strength reduction makes Axe much less dominant in lane.
 * 's zombies take no damage from Counter Helix, and will continuously put Axe's on cooldown until dealt with.


 * Venomancer's slows and magical damage-over-time work well against Axe's complete lack of mobility.
 * is especially useful for slowing down Axe, and revealing him before he initiates, as well as putting his on cooldown.


 * completely counters Axe's strong laning stage and makes creep skipping much more risky.
 * can save an ally from Axe or put Axe himself in a very bad position.
 * Vengeful Spirit has a very strong stun in on top of all of this, making her one of the best counters to Axe in the laning and early mid game in the entire game.


 * deals heavy damage to Axe at all stages of the game due to it being HP percentage based.


 * Zeus' likes to stand at the back of the fighting using spells, meaning getting into Berserker's Call range is very unlikely if the Zeus player is at all decent.

Others

 * Heroes who can slow Axe can make his teamfighting harder:, , , , , . However, Axe is a very common carrier.
 * can use after Axe initiates, but using a big teamfight ability on a hero who has already had his presence is questionable.
 * can deal massive amounts of damage to Axe if having a good start but should still be careful around creep waves due to Counter Helix dealing pure damage.
 * While many heroes can do well vs Axe when ahead, when behind it is a completely different story and sometimes you must respect Axe's Blink and Berserker's Call combination.
 * is a common misconception, he can be a counter to Axe when played as a tanky counter inititator, however, if he is initiated on by Axe, he does risk being bursted down by pure damage and Culling Blade. Also, deals very low damage in the early game and won't stop Axe from reinitiating with Blink Dagger once the debuff expires.  is a very good Axe pickup for situations such as this, as it will allow you to reinitiate.
 * In theory, Axe would be good against and he is in the laning stage, but later on when he starts to get items and build on his massive strength gain, he becomes harder and harder to deal with, especially with his critical strike lifesteal. If Axe doesn't get a chance to Berserker's Call him, he might just get shredded by his illusions late game.

Items

 * wastes the duration of Berserker's Call when used on Axe.
 * can help dodge a Berserker's Call, or push an ally out of its radius.
 * breaks Counter Helix.
 * keeps allies' health above Culling Blade's threshold, and can be used at the last moment to bait Axe into an overly long initiation.
 * can be used on an Axe to prevent any allied unit from attacking him.

Good against...

 * Berserker's Call is one of the most reliable ways to lock down Anti-Mage, preventing him from ing away.
 * Anti-Mage's high attack speed, along with illusions from, triggers Counter Helix continuously.
 * Axe's low mana pool and high health pool makes deal very little damage to Axe.


 * Berserker's Call can catch Broodmother in her web, as well as groups of spiderlings. This is particularly effective when Broodmother attempts to push towers with her spiderlings.
 * Counter Helix destroys spiderlings very quickly, and earns Axe a good deal of gold.


 * Culling Blade ignores the protection from, and will kill any target whose health is low enough. This makes Axe one of the hardest counters to Dazzle, and stops one of Dazzle's most important supporting ability.


 * Huskar is often played at low health to maximize the bonuses from, and also because his abilities cost health to use. This makes him especially vulnerable to Culling Blade.
 * gives Huskar no protection against the pure damage of Culling Blade. Its attack speed bonus also means that Counter Helix will proc more often.
 * Axe's tankiness and base health regeneration makes it hard for Huskar to take him down with s.


 * Berserker's Call and Counter Helix will still hit targets inside of a defensive.
 * Counter Helix clears treants in no time.
 * Nature's Prophet's low damage is unlikely to hurt Axe until the very late game.
 * Nature's Prophet's low mobility makes him very easy for Axe to chase down or initiate on, especially when affected by Battle Hunger.


 * 's extra attack speed causes Phantom Assassin to proc Counter Helix more often. Using it on Axe also makes Phantom Assassin an easy target for a counter-initiation with Berserker's Call and.
 * Most of Axe's abilities pierce, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
 * Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe, and may cause her to kill herself when used with.


 * Berserker's Call catches Phantom Lancer when he is hidden among his illusions.
 * Counter Helix quickly destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army. The more illusions there are, the more often Counter Helix is triggered.
 * Phantom Lancer's low early game health makes him an easy target for Culling Blade.


 * Berseker's Call catches Slark in, wasting its duration and preventing him from escaping to regenerate.
 * Unlike most disables, cannot dispel Berserker's Call, and the output damage would be returned by.


 * Terrorblade's low base health and lack of mobility make him an easy target for Axe to initiate on, and kill.
 * Counter Helix will trigger from, and destroy many of Terrorblade illusions.


 * Troll Warlord's high attack speed means Counter Helix will proc extremely frequently even without creeps near him. This, combined with a means Axe can easily solo kill Troll Warlord even in later stages of the game.


 * Berserker's Call is one of the best ways to lock down Weaver before he has a chance to use . It can also catch Weaver in.

Others

 * Heroes with agility gain and no strong lane mechanics will give Axe an easy lane:, , , ,.
 * Melee heroes who rely on summons, illusions or clones will trigger Counter Helix more often, thus taking more damage:, ,
 * Melee heroes who rely on fast attack speed will also trigger Counter Helix frequently:, , ,
 * Heroes with low health and high attack damage can easily kill themselves against the Berserker's Call and combo.

Items

 * is nearly useless against Axe, as his abilities go through spell immunity.
 * 's illusions will trigger Counter Helix more often.

Works well with...

 * sets up enemies for Berserker's Call.
 * helps Axe deal more damage when enemies are taunted and attacking him.
 * helps Axe chase down enemies during the early game for a Berserker's Call.


 * Dazzle helps Axe survive the initiation by providing armor, heals and using to save him or delay his death.


 * Axe's initiation will give Enigma enough time and room to set up and, dealing massive damage to his enemies and disabling them for a very long duration. This also works against spell immune enemies, as the mentioned abilities all pierce spell immunity.


 * Berserker's Call sets up an easy and  combo for Disruptor, locking down mobile heroes like  or.


 * puts all affected enemies onto a single point, giving Axe the perfect opportunity to use Berserker's Call.


 * Berserker's Call allows Phoenix to easily land all of it's abilities, particularly Sun Ray and Supernova.


 * Berserker's Call gives Sand King the time to channel and land.


 * Berserker's Call prevents enemies from moving out of 's small radius, forcing them to take full damage.


 * Tiny can Axe into a group of enemies for instant initiation. This is especially useful before Axe has a.


 * Venomancer's numerous slows and damage over time can turn multiple enemy heroes into vulnerable targets for Culling Blade.


 * Berserker's Call makes it much easier to target 's small AoE, and usually ensures at least one kill with.

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

Axe/Противостоящие Axe/Combinações