Pudge/Counters

Bad against...

 * Bristleback's namesake passive reduces all the damage he receives, making him really hard to kill. Due to Pudge's low armor, he can easily kill him with a few stacks of  and.


 * Despite being tanky, Pudge has really low armor and attack speed. A decently farmed Legion Commander can destroy Pudge very easily, especially with, and.


 * Due to Lifestealer's, if cannot kill him immediately Lifestealer will quickly regain all his health with a few hits on Pudge because of Pudge's naturally high health.
 * Lifestealer's will also negate  damage if cast quickly enough.


 * Necrophos's passive can wear down your HP incredibly fast as it deals percentage damage based on total health. This can be deadly in long teamfights even if you are tankier than your entire team.
 * damage is based on missing HP. A fully upgraded Necrophos with  can easily vaporize you at about 45% HP regardless of remaining health.


 * Due to Pudge's tendency to engage enemies upfront, Timbersaw's takes away a huge chunk of pudge health. Timbersaw can quickly turn the tide against Pudge with his own combination of spells. The pure damage of Timbersaw's spells ignores Pudge's increased magic resistance, and the percentage-based effect of  is effective against Pudge's high strength.
 * allows Timbersaw to escape from Pudge when getting hit by.
 * Timbersaw is usually too bulky for Pudge to solo-kill, as he naturally goes for high health items, and also gains strong health regeneration when attacked.

Others

 * Pudge is strong versus heroes with low health, being able to kill them with a combo. On the other hand, tanky heroes are strong versus Pudge because they can survive and even turn the fight around.
 * Pudge often doesn't rush Black_King_Bar_icon.png Black King Bar, that makes him often vulnerable during against most of disables such as, , , , , , , , , ,  , , , and many more.
 * Any illusion hero that goes for Diffusal_Blade_icon.png Diffusal Blade is a big issue for Pudge because of his low mana pool.

Good against...

 * can cancel, even if Crystal Maiden has  and.
 * Her already pathetic HP makes her a lovely victim for ganking.


 * Pudge can easily survive Luna's and, and his  and  can pirece Black_King_Bar_icon.png Black King Bar, making Luna one of perfect victims for ganking.
 * However can cancel, and Pudge often doesn't build for Black_King_Bar_icon.png Black King Bar, and if she is farmed enough, Luna will be able maybe to fightback against Pudge.


 * Pudge's stunlock does not allow Spectre to escape with.
 * He can easily tank the damage reflected by due to his high health, magic resistance and heal from Dismember.
 * Should Spectre try to get away through the trees or over a cliff with, Pudge can hook her back.


 * Pudge is the perfect hero for tanking mines, as grants him lots of health and magic resistance.
 * Techies' good highground defense can be bypassed by Pudge by hooking his enemies to the lowground from a long distance.
 * Techies usually sit in the trees during the laning stage, setting up mines, but Meat Hook can pull them out.


 * Pudge's penetrates, so landing a  on her and using  will deplete all absorb charges almost immediately.
 * Keep in mind Templar Assassin still has her Damage procs and can after you, so unless you have   or some form of detection, she can more than likely escape.


 * Zeus likes to stay far back in fights, dealing his damage uninterrupted, but once he gets hook into the fight, he usually dies very quickly.
 * Pudge's high health pool and magic resistance from Flesh Heap make it very hard for Zeus to burst him down.
 * Zeus' low max HP make him very vulnerable to the damage from Meat Hook, Rot and Dismember.

Others

 * Pudge is really good against most magic nukers, as they are usually squishy and lack any form of escape mechanism. Pudge's passive also grants him magic resistance making nukers less effective against him in the later stages of the game. Examples of heroes that Pudge can easily kill include:, , , , ,
 * Nature's Prophet
 * Death Prophet

Works well with...

 * Pudge can hook enemies into mines, which can guarantee a kill.


 * Pugna can use Decrepify on an enemy, causing them to take extra damage from Pudge's Rot and Dismember, since Decrepify increases magical damage by up to 60% at its max level.


 * Arc Warden can quickly build up a large amount of spark wraiths for pudge to stand in and hook players or using Flux for slow single enemy which make Pudge hook easier.


 * Pudge's mana pool is rather small, and his int gain is not great, so it does not take a lot of spells to completely deplete his mana pool. Having Outworld Devourer's Essence Aura is a huge help, as he can spam his spells more often without having to go to base every time.
 * Keep in mind the Essence Aura has a CHANCE of triggering as it is Pseudo-Random, and you may just run out of Mana at times.
 * Astral Imprisonment can also set up a hook, if timed correctly.


 * Lifestealer can remain hidden inside Pudge using his ultimate, and can burst out when Pudge successfully hooks an enemy. He can then continue to do damage while pudge disables his enemy using his ultimate.

Others

 * Bane can use Nightmare on his enemy, setting up an easy Hook for Pudge.

Works poorly with...

 * is a bad ability to attempt to set up a as there's a good chance  will end up hooking one of 's illusions.

Others

 * Any hero that can summon units or illusions need to be aware of where they are relative to so that they do not block his  attempt.