Witch Doctor/Counters

Bad against...

 * is a great AOE spell, which will protect from Death Ward physical damage. It is especially good against Witch Doctor with Aghanim's Scepter.
 * and most likely will save teammate from dying from Maledict.
 * Paralyzing Cask doesn't stun or damage spell immune heroes affected by.


 * Beware of placing Death Ward inside, as it will cancel the effect and leave Witch Doctor vulnerable if he does not react in time.


 * Morphling can to strength after being hit by Maledict. Since Maledict deals its damage based on the difference between HP on cast and HP after two seconds, odds are Morphling will have more HP than when Maledict was cast, thus it will deal no damage.
 * On the upside, players prone to panicked reactions may Morph to agility, making Maledict even more efficient than intended.
 * Adaptive Strike can interrupt Death Ward at range.


 * It is especially easy for Oracle to negate the damage from Maledict, and even heal through it with and.
 * If by some miracle an enemy is still about to die because of Maledict, he can still save him with.


 * Without Dust of Appearance or Sentry Wards, Riki is able to silence Witch Doctor with Smoke Screen, and is likely to build a Diffusal Blade, leaving Witch Doctor without mana to cast Voodoo Restoration, as well as Skull Basher to interrupt Death Ward, or pre-empt Paralyzing Cask.


 * Rubick can steal Death Ward easily as it is channeled ability and then use it to turn teamfight to his advantage.


 * Like any hero with a channeled spell, is a counter to it. And  even goes through spell immunity.


 * Vengeful Spirit has two abilities to interrupt Death Ward, even through Black King Bar.

Others

 * 's dodges all damage from Death Ward. Should he choose to buy a, they are quite effective to absorb some shots from your cask, and attack you during Death Ward.
 * Heroes with plenty of summons, such as or  can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
 * Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore and  are poor choices to use it on.
 * However, once the first hit landed, the bounces can no longer miss. Don't forget to manually aim for a target with no evasion !
 * Heals are doubly effective against Maledict.

Items

 * Paralyzing Cask does not stun or attempt to damage spell immune enemies. Also protects from Maledict periodic damage.
 * reflects Paralyzing Cask.
 * is able to cancel the channeling of Death Ward. It can also be used to dodge Paralyzing Cask.

Good against...

 * Paralyzing Cask is likely to bounce between him and his bear every single time.


 * Paralyzing cask bounces between him and his wolves, keeping him stunned for long amounts of time.


 * Another hero that should not leave a special circle for his ultimate. The only thing to be afraid is.


 * Visage will often have his familiars grouped up, and it becomes very easy to disale both Visage and his summons, with the Cask being great disable vs him, Witch Doctor can easily start channeling Death Ward and burn through Visage's resistance. But watch out for familiars when they are not stunned as they can easily cancel your ultimage.


 * allows to make early kills against farming Terrorblade by bouncing between him and his illusions, stunning them for 5 seconds, which is really effective against Terrorblade
 * Witch doctor can easily zone Terrorblade in lane stage using Maledict and big right-click damage
 * Witch doctor has huge damage output from to Terrorblade helping the team to kill through a long stun or silence.


 * Witch Doctor can help his midlaner with the lane stage by using save teleports and to Arc Warden and his .  will save mid lader from early Arc Warden attacks.
 * Witch Doctor can place into, causing him to move away.


 * can fully save allies from and  with the huge heal.

Others

 * Roaming duos have a chance to have their gank turned around if they have nothing to soak up Paralyzing Cask.
 * Overall Witch doctor is good against heroes with summons and illusions, sunning them for 5 seconds an dealing enormous damage from Maledict.

Works well with...

 * is the perfect set up for Death Ward (especially if upgraded by ).
 * combined with Maledict can deal huge amount of damage against high health heroes.


 * traps opponents while Death Ward can kill them (especially if upgraded by ).
 * It's also a good setup for your Maledict.


 * and Paralyzing Cask is a recipe for disaster against poorly coordinated enemies.


 * stuns enemies for a long duration and pulls them together allowing to follow with Paralyzing Cask and Death Ward (especially if upgraded by ) and just clean them up.


 * Pit of Malice traps long enough to cast a maledict and death ward combo.


 * Zombies give excellent vision allowing Death Ward with projectiles still bounces to them.
 * Also Witch Doctor typically wants a buffer in front of him which Undying does well.

Others

 * Heroes that has long duration disables:, , , etc.
 * Any burst damage you can deal after Maledict has been applied can make it a lot more effective:, ,.

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

Witch Doctor/Противостоящие