Enigma/Counters

Bad against...

 * can give Abaddon a second chance after a Black Hole combo.
 * can be used to save allies from a potential onslaught and dispel most negative debuffs.
 * Abaddon can easily heal himself as well as his allies during a team fight.


 * Enigma's Midnight Pulse damage can be substantially mitigated by Anti-Mage's high magic resistance thanks to.
 * In the early game, Anti-Mage's Mana Void can cancel a Black Hole until Enigma gets his Black King Bar.
 * Should Anti-Mage survive a Black Hole combo, Enigma will have exhausted most of his skills and items, preventing him from defending himself against any counter initiation or a follow-up from a blink escape.
 * Anti-Mage's will make him a very hard target to use your ultimate on, having to solo ult him later on in the game or leave him out of the black holes.


 * can flush Enigma out of position and potentially force him to activate his spell immunity prematurely, before pulling off a Black Hole combo.
 * Bloodseeker can find an Enigma out of position and him, making it difficult to initiate properly in a team fight, as it pierces through


 * Bristleback's tankiness can enable him to chase Enigma out of a teamfight, making it difficult to initiate with a Black Hole.


 * Despite Clinkz's fragility, his harassment in the early game can be devastating; as he can kite Enigma and his Eidolons and claim their bounty.


 * 's stun pierces through spell immunity and Enigma's channeling can be easily cancelled from a safe distance, assuming none of his allies are in the way.
 * Enigma lacks mobility without Blink Dagger or Force Staff. Clockwerk can stay atop Enigma using and isolate him with, and potentially track him down with.


 * pierces spell immunity and can prevent Enigma from casting any spells or using items until the duration of the spell depletes, as well as damaging him over time. This can however, be blocked by a Linken's Sphere.
 * An Enigma with a Helm of the Dominator can potentially feed his dominated creeps to Doom's, giving Doom the abilities and benefits instead.


 * Ezalor's will drain Enigma's mana pool rather quickly and won't let him chase or initiate with Black Hole properly.
 * will disable any close caster like Enigma, forcing him have to keep his Eidolons at maximum count and keep a safe distance.
 * can wipe the pushing Eidolons in a lane with ease, diminishing Enigma's laning presence by a lot.


 * Without Black King Bar and if not caught in it, Luna will be able to cancel Enigma's Black Hole from safe distance with her.
 * combined with can make a short work of Enigma's Eidolons.
 * If used in anticipation, will often kill Enigma before he even gets a chance to use Black Hole to disable Luna.
 * Luna has stronger laning presence than Enigma thanks to her and low mana cost of her abilities, diminishing Enigma's laning presence by a lot.


 * Medusa's can make quick work of Enigma's Eidolons and take advantage of their considerable bounty.
 * If Medusa activates at the start of a fight, it can make initiating — and landing an effective Black Hole exceedingly difficult.
 * can be potentially detrimental to Enigma's initiation. Getting hit by the latter high-damage bounces (from standing behind his Eidolons or his teammates) can hinder his mana pool, preventing him from executing a strong initiation.


 * Pudge can Enigma out of his Black Hole channeling and cancel it through Black King Bar when followed up with.
 * Enigma is prone to ganks in the jungle or in the off-lane without proper vision. Pudge can take advantage of Enigma lack of mobility, assuming Enigma is not blocked by his Eidolons.
 * Stacked magic resistance from his passive ability can mitigate Midnight Pulse's damage.


 * Enigma's abilities have a huge mana cost, meaning that will deal a lot of damage to Enigma.
 * Channeling Black Hole will render Enigma immobile, making him easy target for all of Pugna's abilities, especially, and.


 * Riki can potentially catch an Enigma out of position and prevent him from properly blinking and initiating, thanks to Cloak and Dagger used in tandem with Smoke Screen.


 * has a longer range than the AoE of Black Hole for the purposes of cancelling it.
 * All of Enigma's spells are useful to.
 * is useful for interrupting channeling spells or long cast animations.
 * can be used to push or counter-push a lane.
 * is useful to block an area or for team fights.
 * is very easy to steal, as it is a channeled ability. It's also one of the best ultimate abilities for team fights, and it can easily turn the fight around for the enemy team.


 * can be cast from a long range to prevent Enigma's potential initiation.
 * can interrupt Enigma's Black Hole channeling through Black King Bar and Linken's Sphere.


 * extends Sniper's attack range, allowing him to position himself safely behind his team, making it difficult to catch him in Enigma's relatively small Black Hole AoE. When left unattended, he can quickly kill a channeling Enigma (often from the high ground) to rout an otherwise strong initiation, assuming Enigma does not have Aeon Disk.


 * can ruin Enigma's initiation with Blink Dagger, no matter where he is on the map.
 * reflects the damage of Midnight Pulse and Black Hole inflicted back to Enigma.


 * Using with proper timing, Storm Spirit can protect himself from Malefice's instances, disjoint Demonic Conversion's attack projectiles, get out of Midnight Pulse's radius or even dodge a Black Hole.
 * An isolated Enigma in the early game can be easily killed by Storm Spirit thanks his higher mobility and dueling potential. However, Storm Spirit can be killed when caught by Enigma's full combo, especially if Enigma has Black King Bar.
 * Storm can kill all of Enigma's Eidolons relatively quickly without much risk, slowing down Enigma's farming speed, preventing him from split pushing, and giving Storm its considerable bounty, especially if Enigma chooses the Level 25 Talent that gives him more Eidelons.


 * can interrupt Black Hole and it can pierce spell immunity.
 * In pretty much any phase of the game, Tusk's abilities can easily cancel Black Hole and disrupt Enigma's positioning.


 * Vengeful Spirit can interrupt Black Hole's channeling through Black King Bar by using from a safe distance.
 * Vengeful Spirit's Level 25 Talent can make her pierce spell immunity, giving her another option to use in conjunction with  to cancel Enigma's Black Hole channeling through Black King Bar.


 * 's spell immunity piercing stun can stop Black Hole's channeling. Due to this ability's large area of effect, it can be cast at a safe distance from the Black Hole.
 * can be used to make Enigma's Eidolons easier to kill, potentially feeding the enemy team.
 * Warlock's Upheaval can interfere with Enigma's initiation and potential follow-ups thanks to its large AoE.


 * , when directly targeted on Enigma, can go through, stopping Enigma's Black Hole channeling. It can also can turn his team against him, potentially killing him.
 * can be targeted on an eidolon, killing off other eidolons and damaging nearby heroes as well.


 * Like Abbadon's Borrowed Time, can bring Wraith King back to life, giving him a second chance to counter initiate or escape after a Black Hole combo.
 * Enigma's Eidolons adds to Wraith King's, increasing his Skeleton charges.


 * Zeus can break with his long range abilities and global range ultimate,.
 * has a long range and a mini-stun, providing a way for him to cancel Black Hole from safe distances, assuming Enigma doesn't have his.
 * Zeus' upgraded ability  has a global range and mini-stun, making it an even more effective way to cancel Black Hole before Enigma initiates with.
 * Zeus is typically able to position himself at a safe distance from the fight, making him a difficult target to capture in a Black Hole.


 * Tide's will cripple all of enigma's eidolons, and at a higher level tide will one shot the whole group for a boost of gold.
 * negates eidolons' damage and Enigma's auto attacks, making laning impossible.
 * has an insane radius, and considering that you are waiting around for a blink BKB combo, the stun may catch you off guard and put blink on cooldown, limiting crucial team fight time.

Others

 * Enigma is fragile, and lacks escapes, being dependent on for mobility. Ganking Heroes or Heroes with burst damage will likely kill him before he can do anything. Such Heroes include:, , , , , etc.
 * Enigma's left level 25 talent (increasing the Eidolon count from three to eleven) powers up 's.
 * Long ranged disables, especially those that pierce spell immunity, cancel Black Hole:, , ,

Items

 * 's damage per second could mitigate Enigma's ability to use in order to initiate.
 * can be used as a longer ranged method to cancel Black Hole provided Enigma hasn't activated his or doesn't have his Linken's Sphere.
 * can be activated under Midnight Pulse or Black Hole to inflict that damage back to Enigma.
 * comes handy at diminishing his healing capabilities to single out him. Early game he can carry a Mekansm then at late game he can branch towards an Octarine Core.
 * 's stun and bash can pierce through Enigma's . However, it has extremely short range, and approaching Enigma while he is Spell Immune and channeling Black Hole is a very bad idea.

Good against...

 * The area of effect damage from Midnight Pulse and Black Hole help deal with 's illusions.


 * She will be not able to cast her ultimate while under Malefice's debuff.
 * Enigma's Black Hole can cancel Freezing Field's channeling regardless of her Glimmer Cape and Black King Bar.


 * His ultimate will be a double edged sword for him if he ever dares to use it by risking max health based damage of Enigma.
 * Enigma can mass ranged summons which he's rather helpless against.


 * Enigma's Eidolons can help soak Juggernaut's Omnislash in the early game, mitigating the damage and wasting it on disposable summons. Should Juggernaut choose to kill your Eidelons with Blade Fury, he leaves himself open to your disables.
 * Enigma's Black Hole and Midnight Pulse damage can pierce through Juggernaut's Blade Fury.


 * Lacking any stun and being heavily dependent on his physical attacks and spell immunity, Lifestealer has no way to stop Black Hole, assuming he does not initiate Enigma first with Abyssal Blade.
 * Enigma's abilities, with exception of Malefice, can pierce spell immunity and deal pure damage (and percentage-based damage in Midnight Pulse's case), putting Lifestealer in potentially adverse situations.


 * Malefice will cause Monkey King to struggle without Black King Bar, as its periodic damage and stun disables/interrupts abilities, such as and.
 * Midnight Pulse also destroys trees in a wide radius, stunning Monkey King if he happened to be on a tree caught within that AoE.


 * Her illusions are easily dealt with area damage effects.
 * Naga Siren won't have much option to recover from a bad position unless she built up a few key items in mid-game.


 * Heroes under can be still damaged from the pure damage of Black Hole and Midnight Pulse.
 * will do nothing against Enigma except amplifying damage of the Midnight Pulse.

Others

 * Enigma deals pure damage based on enemies' health, so the effective HP is usually a non-issue. He completely ignores defensive abilities like, , , and others. Heroes with stacking health will also be worthless against him.
 * Heroes with channeling abilities or long cast points will struggle when under the effects of Malefice, as its periodic stun will interrupt their casting. This includes spells like;, , , etc.
 * Enigma fares well against a wide range of heroes thanks to his abilities that pierce spell immunity, especially when drafted judiciously and positioned well to initiate or clean up team fights.
 * Enigma can be a perfect counter-initiator with his ultimate. A perfectly timed Black Hole will turn the tide of any initiation, especially from heros like;, , , , and

Works well with...

 * 's shatter threshold can often be reached quickly thanks to Enigma's Midnight Pulse damage.


 * can be used to deal insane amount of damage to the enemies trapped on the Black Hole.


 * taunts enemies to forcefully gather around Axe, allowing Enigma to follow up with a Black Hole combo.


 * Black Hole combined with can be devastating when used at its full duration.


 * Dark Seer's allows him to suck more heroes into Black Hole or help Enigma initiate easier for a multi-man Black Hole.
 * 's illusions are able to attack the enemy heroes caught in Black Hole without restraint, dealing devastating amounts of damage.
 * allows Enigma to initiate or escape more easily.
 * can help deal even more damage towards heroes stuck inside Black Hole.


 * can keep Enigma alive while he channels his Black Hole.


 * Black Hole used in tandem with can deal immense amounts of damage during a team fight.
 * Earthshaker can use his abilities to help set up a potential Black Hole initiation or follow-up by keeping the enemy team stunned for a longer duration.


 * used in tandem with Black Hole can keep the enemy team stunned for an exceedingly long duration.


 * Naga Siren can help with Enigma's initiation by locking someone down with.
 * A well-timed can keep multiple enemies in place, giving Enigma enough time set up his Midnight Pulse and Black Hole.


 * Enigma gives Outworld Destroyer an opportunity to steal intelligence from enemies stuck inside Black Hole, which can then be followed up with.
 * is useful to saving allies such as Enigma, as the time spent hidden gives him the opportunity to use Blink Dagger whenever its cooldown has been reset.


 * used in conjunction with a Black Hole can result in devastating amounts of damage, as well as further increasing the duration in which enemies are stunned.


 * A well-placed can help Enigma initiate with a Black Hole, further allowing Sand King to follow-up with.


 * can protect Enigma against burst attacks and allows him to recover from nukes.
 * Treant Protector's can disable the enemy team during a team fight, giving Enigma enough time to follow up with a Black Hole combo.


 * used in conjunction with Enigma's Midnight Pulse and Black Hole can deal devastating amounts of pure damage to the enemy team.
 * can slow enemies, making it difficult to escape Midnight Pulse's AoE damage.
 * can be used to help Enigma initiate or follow up with his initiation.


 * Witch Doctor can follow up with Death Ward to deal substantial amounts of damage to enemies stuck in Enigma's Black Hole, especially when upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter.

Others

 * Some heroes might make it easier for Enigma to initiate or follow up with his abilities:, , etc.
 * Enigma's Black Hole gives carries enough time to finish off any enemies stunned inside Black hole:, , , , etc.
 * Enigma works well with any hero that requires the enemy to hold still in order to deal the most effective damage:, , etc.

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

Enigma/Противостоящие