Shadow Fiend/Counters

Bad against...

 * Sniper has a great nuke potential with his long range attacks and the Headshot skill and can also cancel blink dagger with his Shrapnel, and his Assassinate can do a lot of damage.
 * In team-fights is very annoying, and also can stay away from Shadow Fiend's spells.


 * Zeus also has a very good nuke, which is good against Shadow Fiend in the middle lane, he can take off half of your HP with his Lightning Bolt skill as well as see invisibility, he can spam his Arc Lightning to farm and do damage to you as well.


 * Shadow Fiend has a huge lack of mobility, in which Disruptor can exploit and easily gank Shadow Fiend with his Glimpse and Static Storm skills. Along with any hero that can do a some amount of damage, Shadow Fiend is pretty much dead. And if he has an Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Fiend won't be able to activate his Black King Bar, which is the only item that can help him from Disruptor.


 * All of Bane's skills can be used to hinder your game. His first skill, Enfeeble, can prevent Shadow Fiend to farm or do damage to his opponents. His second skill, Brain Sap, is a great nuke against him and, like Zeus, can easily take off Shadow Fiend's HP. His third skill, Nightmare, enables Shadow Fiend to be easily ganked and can take him off the Team Fight. And his Ult, Fiend's Grip, can kill Shadow Fiend and, even if it doesn't, probably a teammate around him will finish Shadow Fiend off.


 * Probably the worst enemy Shadow Fiend can have. First of all, her Refraction can prevent Shadow Fiend from doing any damage at all, it can take the damage from Shadow Fiend's nuke skills as well as 3 hits more. Her Meld can be used to remove your armor and kill you with few hits. Her Psi Blades are probably the best way to remove Shadow Fiend's HP while he is in lane. And her ult can damage Shadow Fiend's mobility even more.


 * Ursa Fury Swipes can kill him in short time and Enrage make it quicker without Ursa injuring.


 * Invoker's high nuke damage spells can deal a considerable amount of damage to Shadow Fiend in the early-mid game. Without Black King Bar, Invoker can deal a lot of damage to Shadow Fiend.


 * Jakiro mostly deals damage with area-of-effect spells, which makes Shadow Blade noneffective


 * Bounty Hunter's Track makes Shadow Blade escapes or initiations useless


 * Axe's Berserker's Call can catch Shadow Fiend in the creep wave of the midlane, and Counter Helix will diminish Shadow Fiend's health rather quickly, Battle Hunger can harass Shadow Fiend early on when his Right-Click damage is very low. Culling Blade can kill Shadow Fiend quickly because of his low health pool.


 * Pugna's Nether Ward will trigger before Requiem of Souls because it has no delay, also prevents him from continuous spamming Shadowraze

Others

 * Spirit Breaker.
 * Lion
 * Lina
 * Nyx Assassin
 * Weaver
 * Techies

Items

 * Items with stun and disable can give Shadow Fiend out of the action such as; Scythe of Vyse
 * Orchid Malevolence can silence Shadow Fiend soaking up the damage caused by enemies and results to an imminent death.
 * Eul's Scepter of Divinity is Shadow Fiend's mortal enemy, casting on him will disrupt the cast time of Requiem of Souls.
 * Abyssal Blade can bash Shadow Fiend, giving the enemy to attack and results in death.

Good against...

 * Meepo's clones are ineffective as Shadow Fiend focuses on a weak clone to kill.
 * The amount of damage from AoE spells such as Shadowraze and Requiem of Souls makes Meepo vulnerable in every aspect.


 * His treants are useful for Shadow Fiend in farming Necromastery.
 * Due to Nature's Prophet being squishy, Shadow Fiend can usually finish him off with a properly executed Requiem of Souls or Shadowraze.
 * When combined with Boots of Travel and Shadow Blade, Shadow Fiend's mobility and stealth renders Nature's Prophet ability to push virtually useless as he will regularly shut him down.


 * Requiem of Souls penetrates Guardian Angel which prevent physical damage only.
 * Even with repel, Shadow Fiend's high damage output will compensate.


 * Even if caught in Pit of Malice, Shadow Fiend can still inflict grave damage to Underlord.
 * If Shadow Fiend spots Dark Rift, he can use Shadow Blade and position/time his Requiem of Souls at the right moment to wipe out the enemy team.


 * Unstable Current will not be triggered by Shadow Fiend's spells.


 * Shadow Fiend is mostly played as right-click carry, so Silencer's spells will be very ineffective.


 * Slark's Shadow Dance does no protection at all to him from Shadow Fiend's spells and sometimes Shadow Fiend will be able to kill Slark with Requiem of Souls in one hit before he can activate Shadow Dance (That's if he has enough souls from granted by Necromastery).

Others

 * Any few HP base heroes. Examples are Pugna, Crystal Maiden, Skywrath Mage and Lina.

Works well with...

 * Enigma's Black Hole pulls enemy heroes into its center, allowing Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls to reach its maximum damage potential when done in sync.


 * The armor reduction from Wave of Terror when combined with Presence of the Dark Lord, gives Shadow Fiend an upper hand in right-click attacks.


 * Magnus' ulti stuns and gathers enemy heroes at a particular spot, making Requiem of Souls deadly when setup well.


 * Massive armor reduction with Corrosive Haze goes well with Presence of the Dark Lord as they leave enemy heroes extremely vulnerable.


 * Given the ability that Legion Commander can lock down a target long enough to give Shadow Fiend enough time to cast Requiem of souls even twice while positioning on top of the target to dish out the full damage making it an instant kill and a won duel.

Others

 * Heroes with pure initiation can easily make Shadow Fiend join in.
 * Sven's Great Cleave and Storm Bolt can grant Shadow Fiend to join the fray.
 * Arc Warden's Magnetic Field can make Shadow Fiend fight in a short second against fragile Heroes.
 * Tidehunter's Ravage can easily stun them out, giving Shadow Fiend to use Requiem of Souls against them.
 * Naga Siren's Song of the Siren is a good setup spell if they are clumped on each other, making Shadow Fiend to cast Requiem of Souls when timed precisely.
 * Luna's Aghanim Upgraded Eclipse can be used on Shadow Fiend after/before he initates with Requiem of Souls.
 * Underlord's Pit of Malice roots enemy heroes, preventing them from moving and gives Shadow Fiend opportunity to land a successful cast of Requiem of Souls.

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