Mars/Counters

Bad against...

 * forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
 * is a much stronger lane trader than Spear of Mars.


 * , acting as a pseudo-, completely negates Mars' initiation if used in time.
 * does damage and heals based on max health, perfect against high-health strength heroes like Mars.
 * allows Lifestealer to potentially save allies from Mars' initiation with a quick burst of extra health.


 * gives bonus backstab damage. Along with it completely bypasses Bulwark.


 * slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to control the direction he is facing to activate Bulwark.
 * disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.


 * allows Faceless Void to escape or enter Arena Of Blood, and helps him recover from Mars' burst damage.
 * 's magical damage ignores Bulwark.
 * allows Faceless Void to reposition behind Mars, ignoring his Bulwark while he is helplessly frozen in time.


 * 's magical damage is very troublesome for Mars in the laning stage.
 * 's percentage-based magical damage bypasses Bulwark, and can also be used to jump in or out of Arena Of Blood.


 * deals reliable magic damage during the laning phase against Mars.
 * Lina's and  combo can interrupt Mars from being disruptive for a decent amount of time and leave him vulnerable for follow up stuns.
 * deals massive magical damage, and pure damage with.


 * Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
 * protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.


 * Mars has no way to trade with Ogre Magi in the early game thanks to his high base health, resistance and.
 * Once Ogre Magi gets level 2 he may also have, which makes him even harder to deal with in lane.
 * can be ridiculously strong later on in the game for controlling Mars.
 * Spear of Mars, which is Mars' main source of damage in the early game, cannot guarantee kills early on Ogre Magi.


 * 's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
 * can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
 * deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence.


 * , and  deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
 * reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
 * Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.


 * is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
 * upgraded with Aghanim is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
 * makes him immune to magic, making Pangolier able to roll in and out from Mars' Arena Of Blood.


 * If Mars lanes middle, Shadow Fiend can keep the lane pushed against him.
 * Shadow Fiend can go an entirely magical based build, which is very effective against Mars.


 * makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating for you.
 * is not reduced by Bulwark and the magical damage spam can wear down Mars quickly.


 * and are very disruptive in team fights, completely matching Mars especially since it can all be cast inside Arena Of Blood and also does percentage-based magical damage, negating Bulwark.
 * can save any allies of Underlord trapped in Arena Of Blood.
 * allows Underlord to lane against Mars quite well since he does not have the best base damage during the early game.
 * Underlord is a common carrier of both and /, allowing his team to combat Mars in the mid to late game.


 * , and  all deal magical damage which ignores Bulwark.
 * reduces Mars' natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in lane.


 * Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
 * Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
 * can attack through Arena Of Blood.


 * breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
 * and 's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.


 * can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a  to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
 * is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as even with early Bulwark points it deal so much damage and slow that Mars is forced to back off from the lane and play defensively every time the spell is used.
 * Worth noting is that can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.


 * Mars' own father is a formidable foe because Zeus deals massive amounts of magical damage. The high damage, low cooldown nukes of and  combined with the percent health magic damage of  will shred Mars' health because it bypasses Bulwark completely.

Others

 * is a special mention because despite Bulwark diminishing most of the damage Ursa does, he is quite durable, especially with, discouraging the aggressive all-in playstyle of Mars; Ursa can simply not target Mars.
 * is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with and is a good  carrier. However, Mars is not an ideal  target, as Bulwark will force her to 1: Buy Silver Edge, and 2: Hit Mars with it before the Duel, allowing a skilled Mars to react, especially with . In teamfights, Mars will happily draw attention after using his abilities, and tank the Duel with all spells on cooldown.
 * Heroes with break abilities: (with ),.
 * 's forces Mars to choose between getting petrified, or turning his vulnerable back on Medusa.
 * 's and  disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
 * Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars:,.
 * Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark:, , , , , , , ,.

Items

 * breaks Bulwark.
 * allows heroes to walk freely in and out of Arena Of Blood.
 * can be used to save an ally from Arena of Blood.

Good against...

 * Arena Of Blood prevents Bloodseeker from attacking a d target.
 * Bulwark helps Mars survive ganks simply by turning towards Bloodseeker without moving.
 * Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can push Bloodseeker from Ruptured targets.


 * Juggernaut deals mostly physical damage, which is easily mitigated with Bulwark.
 * Juggernaut's switches to opposite directions which each slash, so Mars can mitigate most of its damage since he only takes full damage from one direction: his back.


 * Bulwark prevents Legion Commander from gaining wins with.


 * Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
 * God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from.


 * Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during.
 * Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
 * Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through.
 * Should be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.


 * Spectre cannot have a good game if she is pressured heavily in lane, which is something Mars can do.
 * Spectre can use and  inside and outside from Arena of Blood, but it doesn't really matter since Mars does best during the early and mid game.
 * Should Spectre get to the late game, Mars can block a large amount of her damage and split the teamfights in his advantage.


 * Bulwark negates most of the physical damage from Terrorblade and his illusions.
 * Mars' AoE abilities kill Terrorblade's illusions quickly.


 * cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, so with vision, Weaver is an easy kill.
 * will also not save Weaver in a large amount of situations inside Arena of Blood, especially if he's pinned to the walls with Spear of Mars.
 * and is not very useful against a hero that can tank 70% of his main damage source.

Others

 * Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities:,.
 * Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game:, , , , , , , ,.
 * Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars:, ,.
 * Heroes who rely on their target to run away:,.

Works well with...

 * makes a perfect setup for.


 * Due to how works, it makes it very ideal for Huskar when allies can separate heroes like Mars can.
 * Huskar can push enemies into the Arena of Blood corners with.
 * Huskar can also get large amounts of stacks very quickly if enemies are trapped in Arena of Blood.


 * An enemy rooted by is an easy target for.
 * gives Mars additional mana regen.
 * can easily deal damage to enemies trapped in Arena Of Blood.


 * can pull enemies that escaped back into Arena Of Blood.
 * Arena Of Blood is a good setup for . With, Disruptor can also stop enemies from activating and escaping Arena Of Blood.


 * helps with Mars' low mana pool.
 * knocks enemies into Arena of Blood's walls.
 * Arena Of Blood allows Keeper of the Light to easily hit enemies with.


 * and are easy to land against enemies trapped in Arena Of Blood.


 * allows Mars to tank even more damage with Bulwark.
 * Arena Of Blood keeps heroes closer together for more guaranteed bounces.


 * Arena Of Blood prevents enemies from escaping.
 * Arena Of Blood also allows Monkey King to easily gain stacks.


 * and work well on enemies trapped inside Arena Of Blood.
 * A well-placed Arena Of Blood can also protect Phoenix's from both melee and ranged attacks.


 * Arena Of Blood is a good setup for and.


 * Sven's can prolong the stun from.
 * 's shield enhances Mars' already impressive durability against physical attacks, making him nearly unkillable in team fights.
 * Arena Of Blood will help Sven catch an easy target with his and.

Others

 * Heroes with AoE nukes can take advantage of Arena Of Blood:, , , , , , , , , , , ,.
 * Heroes who can hit multiple enemies inside Arena Of Blood with their basic attacks:, ,.
 * Heroes with fear can cause enemies to run into Arena Of Blood's walls:, , (with level 25 talent).
 * Heroes who need front line/AOE control:, , , ,.
 * Heroes who have AoE force-move abilities:, , , (with level 25 talent),.
 * Heroes with strong single-target attacks: ,

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