Magnus/Counters

Bad against...

 * Magnus has very mediocre damage against Alchemist, because he can survive the stun duration of Reverse Polarity with.


 * deals extra damage to Magnus during Skewer or, preventing him from escaping or counter-initiating, forcing him to invest on a.


 * Disruptor can disable Magnus's Blink Dagger using during a considerable duration, disrupting his initiation attempts.
 * brings Magnus back after he escapes with Skewer and/or Force Staff.
 * if used on a fight can prevent Magnus from using Reverse Polarity after he jumps in.


 * Magnus cannot manfight Huskar even with Empower, 's high attack speed and health regeneration, combined with Huskar's high health and stacks will allow Huskar to kill Magnus before he can kill him.
 * From a safe distance, Huskar can surprise and counter Magnus's initiation with and.
 * also deals damage over time, disabling Blink Dagger and preventing him from initiating or escaping.


 * Jakiro's abilities deal damage over time, which can disrupt Magnus's attempts to initiate with Blink Dagger and Reverse Polarity.
 * not only disables Blink Dagger for a considerable duration, but can also destroy Trees, revealing Magnus's cover and position.


 * reduces vision for the enemy team, which makes it more difficult for Magnus to initiate with Blink Dagger and Reverse Polarity. It is also more likely that Night Stalker will scout out Magnus with and a, after which he can silence Magnus with.


 * Phoenix will usually be on the sidelines or further back ready to use . Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and skewer Phoenix's teammates, Phoenix can usually counter-initiate using all of its abilities.


 * can slow Magnus during Skewer, and when combined with, will potentially disable his Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating.
 * drains the bonus damage from Empower. However, it can be broken by Skewer and/or Force Staff.
 * gives Razor and his allies high mobility needed to avoid Shockwave & Reverse Polarity.


 * All of Magnus's spells are perfect for Rubick to steal, especially Reverse Polarity for a counter-initiation.
 * is one of the best instant-disables in the game, completely ruining Magnus's initiation.


 * can sometimes scout out Magnus and also place his Blink Dagger on cooldown. Aside from that, Sniper likes to stay far back behind enemy lines, so it's difficult to catch him with Reverse Polarity unless you already have vision on him and can Skewer him to the rest of his team.


 * Spectre disables Magnus' Blink Dagger using her ultimate, and later into the game can usually outlive Reverse Polarity's duration.


 * Treant Protector can usually scout out Magnus in the trees with and disrupt his initiation attempts. He can also counter Magnus' initiation with.


 * Tinker can break Magnus's Blink Dagger using and, therefore delaying any initiation or making Magnus use Skewer or  to initiate. His  will decrease the duration of Reverse Polarity and can also be cast on all of his teammates with . Tinker usually gets his own Blink Dagger as well, which makes him harder to lock down unless Magnus commits Reverse Polarity only for Tinker.


 * Similar to Night Stalker, Venomancer can simultaneously scout Magnus hiding in trees and put Blink Dagger on cooldown with, which gives Magnus problems when trying to blink in and initiate.


 * Even if Wraith King dies after Magnus disables him, Magnus' entire team will be slowed and vulnerable for counter-initiation.


 * Zeus can easily find Magnus who is often hiding in the trees with and, which allows him to warn allies and disrupt his initiation attempts.

Others

 * The main counter to Magnus is not just through picks but also through playstyle. Reduce the vision his team has, break his Blink Dagger and spread out so that he only manages to use Reverse Polarity on one hero.
 * Damage over time can ruin Magnus's gameplay because it disables Blink Dagger.
 * Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,.
 * Any hero who can survive Magnus's initiations and manfight him:, , , , , , , ,.

Items

 * can cancel Skewer and prevent Reverse Polarity.
 * 's instant silence can prevent Reverse Polarity.
 * can cancel Skewer mid way.
 * can put Magnus's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
 * prevents Magnus from using both Blink Dagger and Skewer.
 * can protect it's wielder from most of the Magnus's abilities with the exception of Reverse Polarity.

Good against...

 * All Magnus abilities are very good against Chaos Knight's illusions.


 * Meepo is vulnerable to area damage and disables from Magnus himself as well as his team through Empower.


 * Reverse Polarity pierces through, wasting part of it's duration.
 * Magnus is tanky and mobile, making it hard for Lifestealer to focus and kill him in all stages of a game.


 * Shockwave can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions.
 * Empower and Skewer in general are effective for clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.

Others

 * Squishy core heroes (,, etc)
 * Heroes who rely on illusions and spawns (,, , etc.).

Items

 * 's illusions will be cleared out of no time with Magnus' skill set.

Works well with...

 * can do huge damage to enemies caught in Reverse Polarity.


 * He is a good target for Empower, especially before he has a.
 * Reverse Polarity is a good set-up for.


 * Reverse Polarity with (or without) Skewer can set up a good  for Enigma.


 * Reverse Polarity makes a perfect setup for Invoker's, , or.


 * Phantom Assassin is another good target for Empower and one of the best sources of burst physical damage due to, , and.


 * Sven is a perfect target for Empower, especially when he builds items that give attributes. Empower also stacks with.
 * Reverse Polarity is a very good setup for.


 * melee form skillset is the best target for Empower since it can wipe out enemies caught in Reverse Polarity.


 * All Phoenix's abilities are great in combination with Reverse Polarity. and  can do a lot of damage to enemies caught by Reverse Polarity, or with , it can deal huge damage and create another stun after Reverse Polarity's stun.
 * On the other hand, Reverse Polarity can save Phoenix's from being destroyed, since it pierces through spell immunity.


 * Reverse Polarity is a perfect setup for the and  combo.
 * Kunkka is one of the best targets for Empower due to.


 * Empower greatly increase Tiny's damage output combined with the cleave and bonus damage from and also massively increase the damage from  as Tiny commonly builds
 * Reverse Polarity keeps all units in one spot, creating an opportunity for Tiny to do huge amounts of damage from his AoE nuke abilities, especially when he has.

Others

 * AoE Nukers
 * AoE Disablers (,, , , , , etc).

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

Works poorly with...

 * Bane's single-targeted ability arsenal makes him a bad follow-up to Magnus's initiations with Reverse Polarity.
 * can accidentally disable Magnus if he impulsively tries to attack the targeted hero affected by it with Empower.


 * If Magnus uses blink dagger before Pudge uses on a hero he's about to hook, then it will be Magnus who is going to be hooked, rendering both, Pudge and Magnus's ganking attempts wasted while alerting enemy hero on their presence.

Others

 * Heroes who can unintentionally save enemy heroes from ganks work very poorly with Magnus, such as, , , ,.
 * Heroes who have little to no area-of-effect spells and weak damage output are a bad follow-up to Magnus's initiations with Reverse Polarity:, , ,.

Items

 * Badly-timed and ill-positioned will save the enemy hero from Magnus during the ganks.

Magnus/Противостоящие 马格纳斯/克制