Shadow Demon/Counters

Bad against...

 * is not reliable enough to catch an ember spirit with a backup.
 * will make quick work of the spawned illusions.
 * The best you can do versus an ember spirit is to purge his with your.


 * makes quick work of any illusions with amplified damage, and deals damage even if Leshrac is in.
 * can seldom save an ally from Leshrac since his damage output is constant, even help set up a perfect for the enemy.
 * Shadow Demon doesn't have the burst damage to take Leshrac out of the fight quickly.


 * Oracle has no less than three tools to prevent the damage from making it near impossible to get any good damage out of this skill.
 * Similarly,, , and  can all purge  the poison from themselves and their allies . However, Shadow Demon's other spells make him overall pretty strong versus these heroes.


 * Good luck with catching Storm Spirit with Shadow Demon's abilities as he can simply get away with . Shadow Demon need a strong skill such as to catch a Storm Spirit if you initiate with.
 * Once Storm Spirit has, he can catch Shadow Demon with ease both in gank and in teamfight if Shadow Demon has no survivability item.


 * Lion's and  can make quick work of whatever illusions you're creating.

Others

 * Although will generate strong illusions, and you can also break his  with an aghanim's, you have small chances of guessing which is the real Phantom Lancer after he used
 * ,, , , since all these heroes have a way move at maximum move speed, potentially wasting the slow from Demonic Purge.
 * (and for that matter) however can be purged, so you can wait until he uses it and immediately purge it.
 * You can potentially kill a fragile by using disruption DURING  with a well-placed, wasting the Shukuchi. But odds are he'll wait to get low hp,  the damage and Shukuchi away once more.
 * , , since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.

Items

 * and can dispell Soul Catcher and Shadow Poison.  can also reflect Disruption and Demonic Purge.

Good against...

 * Alchemist is a well-known carrier, among other auras your illusions will benefit from. They also get the extra move speed and reduced BAT from his  and it's even better if you can catch him as his own rage is about to expire.


 * Probably one of Anti-Mage's worst enemies. Disruption followed up by a disable of any kind will usually prevent him from ing away before the illusions completely drain his already low mana pool.
 * The illusions can be controlled and used to quickly sap mana from any other target, making them useful in a teamfight.


 * can save allies and mess up initiation from an enemy Legion Commender, leaving her unable to do anything in a duel for 2.5 seconds.
 * and cannot be purged by, which in turn can be purged by your ultimate.


 * will dispel  making the opponents feel much less secure.


 * 's banish is the perfect tool against.


 * Shadow Demon's entire kit counters Spectre, even her greatest strengths. If she would try to kill you with at any point of the game, there are a couple of rules to follow: either she's foolish enough to use  immediately, in which case you use the generic combo against her, or she doesn't in which case you can use  against the illusion to run away or kill it. The worst case is if you have to use disruption immediately to save your life, and she uses reality after that to chase you down with.


 * Be ready to save an ally from with your.
 * Spawning 's illusions is a great deal, as his base attack time is low and he has a critical strike. Illusions will benefit from both.

Others

 * Any tank caught by will be tanky no longer because of the provided amplified damage.
 * Melee carries that rely heavily on magic immunity such as, or  can be slowed with Demonic Purge.
 * is a very good tool to waste the enemy's time. If you have no better target, you can always prevent an enemy from running away with, or.
 * Once you have an, Shadow Demon is suddenly very strong against a lot of heroes that have strong passives. You will probably make short work of a disabled or , or a  without  and . Suddenly,  will not  through your illusions.  will neither steal stats with  or regenerate during . Don't forget you can farm this scepter with.
 * Special mention goes to, as you will disable his evasion from , but the spawned illusions will keep his critical strike. Also Brewmaster's illusions have a guaranteed critical strike when they spawn.
 * Any opponent with a, or , especially if your team doesn't have one.

Works well with...

 * is deadly to enemy buildings paired with and.
 * As an extra tip, try to use one last disruption right before metamorphosis runs out, because your illusions will still benefit from the transformation even though Terrorblade or his illusion won't.


 * At level 1, is an almost guaranteed 320 physical nuke if Dazzle clumps up next to your disruption to hit the enemy 4 times. At level 3, with two points in, another point in  and a fifth unit to come next to your disruption, that's suddenly 500 physical damage +30%, or 650 damage, just from the Dazzle heal. Don't hesitate to get a  on either of these supports in this case.


 * A long channel of is probably your best bet to get 5 stacks of  on an enemy. Granted, an enemy that's stuck inside Upheaval will probably die to another hundred spells before you get your stacks up.


 * Luna is an excellent and often seen partner to Shadow Demon as her already stellar pushing capabilities are taken to extreme levels with Disruption. An exposed set of barracks in the enemies' base will melt very quickly due to the illusions' and is a safe way to push even when your team has backed off.

Others

 * Both and  are natural  carriers and tend to have very strong illusions, making your own very potent as well. is also a strong follow up to Disruption to beat down an enemy with an army of illusions.
 * ,, , , since works as the perfect setup tool for , ,  or , that can help catch some otherwise slippery heroes like ..
 * When siegeing a tower, you can always use on your strongest hitting ally while the tower is protected by glyph. When it isn't, it's harder to tell if you're wasting time or not. If your ally has good stats and little raw damage/attack speed items, such as a, it's probably good. Be careful not to give the opponent a perfect setup for their spells.
 * However, since your illusions are so strong, never hesitate to use disruption on an ally's illusion as you're sure to get more damage out of it. The only exception to this is if the illusion would time out during the 2.5sec banish, as no illusions would pop out in this case.

Works poorly with...

 * is a bad ability to attempt to set up a as there's a good chance  will end up hooking one of 's illusions.

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