Tidehunter/Counters

Bad against...

 * quickly burns Tidehunter's mana pool, preventing him from spamming his abilities, and Kraken Shell does not mitigate the bonus damage component.
 * allows Anti-Mage to enter combat quickly and safely after Ravage.


 * can instantly deplete Tidehunter's low mana pool, especially in the early game, potentially preventing Tidehunter from casting Ravage.
 * Ravage's travel time allows Nyx Assassin to easily stun Tidehunter with.


 * Kraken Shell neither dispels nor provides damage reduction against . This ability also drains health based on percentage damage, making Tidehunter's large healthpool a very appealing target. Furthermore, the health gained from the Siphon is independent from the amount of damage dealt, so Death Prophet will always heal a large amount of from Tidehunter's pool even if Tidehunter has magic reduction items or abilities on him, which makes her an untargetable enemy for you as this easily outweights any damage output you can provide.
 * is yet another ability from which Kraken Shell provides no useful protection, as the spirits completely ignore the damage block and are unaffected by the dispel. This ability also creates an unfriendly area where your blink will be constantly cancelled, reducing your ability to land a good Ravage.
 * Ravage does not stop neither nor, making the ability mostly ineffective against her. Additionally, Death Prophet usually builds , which can be used to dodge the stun entirely.


 * Luna often builds, and none of Tidehunter's spells can bypass spell immunity.
 * Though can weaken Luna's physical damage, it does not weaken her magical damage, which means that  and  deal a lot of magic damage in the early and mid-game, which can bypass Tidehunter's.


 * Kraken Shell's dispel does not restore damage stolen by, and the stolen damage easily offsets Anchor Smash's damage reduction. Razor can keep attacking Tidehunter from afar, denying his chance to use Anchor Smash.
 * melts Tidehunter's armor and makes him much less tanky.
 * Razor can chase Tidehunter by himself without relying on actual crowd control ability, so the strong dispel from Kraken Shell is less useful.


 * Kraken Shell provides no protection against or.
 * If timed correctly,, and  are all capable of dodging Ravage, giving Juggernaut several tools to render your strongest ability moot.
 * is an effective way to harass Tidehunter in the laning stage as Tidehunter has no means of getting Juggernaut away from him. also greatly minimizes Tidehunter's ability to harass Juggernaut.
 * minimizes the effectiveness of Anchor Smash's damage reduction.


 * reduces damage output of Anchor Smash.
 * Ravage is an easy target to, so always be sure to use Anchor Smash immediately after Ravage when playing against a Rubick.
 * Spells stolen by Rubick are potentially stronger due to the lack of cast animations, his talents, and his passive,.


 * dispels debuffs from Gush, Anchor Smash and even Ravage if timed correctly.
 * Kraken Shell cannot restore attributes stolen by or dispel the leash if he gets d.


 * will keep stacking on Tidehunter since it cannot be dispelled by Kraken Shell and its bonus damage cannot be reduced by Anchor Smash.
 * dispels the slow from Gush, and if upgraded with, can even dispel Ravage's stun.

Others

 * Kraken Shell offers no help against aura-like or constantly ticking disables:, , , (especially with Viper's level 25 talent), , ,
 * Skills that provides spell immunity allows users to counter an ill-timed Ravage:, . Always try to cast Ravage near these heroes so they have less time to react.
 * Many skills cannot be dispelled even with the strong dispel provided by Kraken Shell:, , , , ,
 * Percentage-based damage, such as, is effective on Tidehunter's high health pool.

Items

 * prevents nearly all of Tidehunter's spells for its entire duration.
 * 's break can disable Kraken Shell.
 * burns Tidehunter's mana pool, although the slow can be dispelled by Kraken Shell.

Good against...

 * Kraken Shell dispels, wasting it easily.


 * Kraken Shell is very useful against and, easily dispelling them regularly.
 * Tidehunter is probably the worst hero to target with, as Kraken Shell will remove it and Tidehunter often survives long enough to cast Ravage in the middle of Batrider's team. At the same time, if Batrider initiates on his teammate, Tidehunter will have the perfect opportunity to counter-initiate.


 * Kraken Shell dispels the damage amplification stacks of as well as the damage reduction from  (provided he has taken enough damage).
 * Anchor Smash reduces Shadow Fiend's large attack damage, Kraken Shell makes Tidehunter the last target Shadow Fiend wants to attack.
 * Ravage can easily cancel if Shadow Fiend isn't protected by.


 * A dozen of Phantom Lancer's illusions with all their might can barely hurt Tidehunter at all thanks to Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash. The only way Phantom Lancer can hurt Tidehunter is through the mana burn provided by.
 * Even with high chasing power from and  (and even ), Tide Hunter can shrug it all off with Kraken Shell and escape by using a  or just moving away.
 * The AoE nukes from Ravage, Anchor Smash, and an -upgraded Gush can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions easily.


 * Kraken Shell easily dispels the lengthy stun from.
 * Kraken Shell (and possibly Anchor Smash) blocks huge amount of damage from.
 * Anchor Smash is one of the few sources of True Strike, which means Tidehunter can deal significant damage through, while also reducing Windranger's damage output.

Others

 * Skills that can be easily interrupted during combat by Ravage, creating a counter-initiate:
 * Skill that requires channeling:, , , , , ,.
 * Skills with considerable cast time, especially if they must be cast in the middle of the fight:, , ,.
 * Most summons and illusions can barely hurt Tidehunter at all, after their attacks get reduced by Anchor Smash and blocked by Kraken Shell: ,
 * Also Ravage's large area of effect and damage can easily damage all those units at once, or just straight up clear them.
 * Heroes that rely on base damage:, are easily countered with Anchor Smash.

Works well with...

 * and are two good spells to combine with Ravage.
 * combined with Kraken Shell will make you near immune to physical damage before the enemy carries build up some considerable damage.


 * Ravage can be a good setup for.


 * Ravage allows Elder Titan to follow up with an and  combo.


 * Ravage is the perfect setup for, and it also allows the effect to be fully utilized.


 * Ravage is a good setup for.

Others

 * Since Kraken Shell blocks a fixed amount of damage, it becomes proportionately more effective the less damage enemy heroes deal through right clicks. Therefore, any ally that can reduce their right click damage though a spell or an aura (such as or ) will turn you progressively tankier and harder to kill.
 * Tidehunter is a dedicated teamfighter thanks to Ravage and will benefit from other big team fight spells to combine with Ravage ( or to name a couple). The triumvirate of dota (5-man beats ganks beats split-push beats 5-man) holds quite true with Tidehunter : he is somewhat ill-suited to deal with split-push, but very hard to take down in a gank by one or two people.

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

Tidehunter/Противостоящие