Bad against...[]
- Clinkz's high damage output and insane attack speed late-game can take Kunkka out of the fight before it begins.
- Burning Barrage and Searing Arrows together can kill allies easily even under Ghostship's buff.
- Skeleton Walk can allow Clinkz to make a quick escape after Kunkka's combo, or even avoid it all together.
- Ursa's massive physical damage can destroy Kunkka quickly.
- Enrage can be activated before being hit by Ghostship to prevent most of the damage.
- Earthshock slows Kunkka's movement speed. With no escape abilities, Kunkka is easy prey.
- Kunkka relies on his powerful AOE spells to turn the tides of teamfights. He cannot use them while silenced.
- Last Word can mess up Kunkka's ability synergy, silencing him in the middle of his strong combo.
- Global Silence can disable Kunkka's spell casting from anywhere on the map, even if Kunkka is spell immune at the time.
- Leap allows Mirana to easily escape Torrent and Ghostship.
- Supernova negates Kunkka's combo entirely, as it can't be affected by spells while using Supernova.
- Icarus Dive also allows Phoenix to dodge Ghostship and Torrent.
- Guardian Angel makes allies immune to all physical damage, effectively causing Tidebringer to do no damage.
- Purification is a powerful, pure damaging heal that can save Omniknight's allies after Kunkka's large damage.
- Since Tidebringer has a 4 second cooldown, Kunkka has little availability to manfight Huskar.
- Blade Fury negates Kunkka's X Marks the Spot.
- Kunkka has no way to dodge Omnislash.
- Kunkka has no way to hit Healing Ward directly in battle, and it mitigates Ghostship and Tidebringer's damage.
- Rubick can steal abilities from Kunkka (except Tidebringer) with Spell Steal. Since build Aghanim's Scepter, Rubick's make two steal abilities from Kunkka when the spot is right.
- Rage negates Kunkka's X Marks the Spot.
- As a strength hero with high strength gain and very little armor, as well as low agility gain, Kunkka is vulnerable to Lifestealer's Feast and Open Wounds.
- With his Take Aim, Sniper can simply sit out of your ability range and deal massive damage if not killed first.
- Assassinate can target allies who are still alive with low health because of Ghostship's buff.
- Headshot makes it harder for Kunkka to position/escape and makes it hard for Kunkka to hit with Tidebringer.
- Timbersaw Defeats Kunkka on the center line, due to the fact that he has a huge resistance to physical damage by Reactive Armor, which is why Tidebringer almost does not break through Timbersaw, and due to Whirling Death Timbersaw can very much break through Kunkka and force him to leave the line, or spend money on Tango.
- Astral Imprisonment can allow Outworld Destroyer to save himself or allies from Kunkka's full kit.
- Sanity's Eclipse deal a large amount of damage, as Kunkka's mana pool is much smaller than Outworld Destroyer's.
- Arcane Orb deals pure damage, shredding through Kunkka and his team even with Ghostship's buff.
Others[]
- Silences especially affect Kunkka's teamfighting ability, so be wary of enemies with silences.
- Treant Protector's Living Armor will also negate Tidebringer's damage.
- Heroes with hide abilities can often dodge a Ghostship just before it hits.
- Similarly, they can negate your X Marks The Spot & Torrent combo by protecting your target when you use Return. Good candidates to negate your combo include Outworld Destroyer and his Astral Imprisonment, and Shadow Demon and his Disruption.
- A Eul's Scepter of Divinity can also do the trick, but, unlike the previously mentioned abilities, you can only use it on yourself and not your allies.
- Because of his powerful teamfight spells, Kunkka could very likely be the target for control spells like Doom or Primal Roar. Mind your position before battle.
- Heroes with instant teleport or forced movement(e.g. Blink Dagger or Activate Fire Remnant) can dodge the X-mark & Torrent combo by shift-queuing. When being Returned, the last order is cancelled but the order after it is not. So if your hero is X-marked, order a move command then cast those instant abilities by shift-order for a stable dodge.
Items[]
- Crimson Guard will protect against much of Kunkka's damage early on.
- Black King Bar negates all of Kunkka's spell damage, and negates X Marks the Spot.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity negates X Marks the Spot both on allies and enemies, if timed correctly.
Good against...[]
- Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Chaos Knight's Phantasm army all through the game.
- Kunkka's entire kit is great for taking out multiple units at once.
- Tidebringer's cleave will split through a wave of spiderlings.
- X Marks the Spot is great for dragging Broodmother back out of her web for Kunkka's team to set up on her.
- Torrent and Ghostship will demolish any spiderlings within the radius.
- Tidebringer's cleave will cripple any of his summons.
- Could potentially build Heaven's Halberd to cripple Lycan even more.
- X Marks the Spot is good to prevent a single meepo from escaping from a deadly situation.
- Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Meepo's clones.
- Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army.
- Phantom Lancer can't escape with Doppelganger under your X Marks the Spot, but can use it to dodge it.
- Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from Sonic Wave and Scream of Pain.
- Queen of Pain can't escape easily from X Marks the Spot - Torrent combo.
- Outlanes Queen of Pain on the midline, due to the fact that Queen of Pain has a small reserve of health at the beginning of the game, and she suffers very much from Tidebringer, which is why she is forced to either spend money on Tango, or skip creeps and run for bounty runes, and Kunkka at this time will gain an advantage in level and gold.
- Spectre can't escape with Spectral Dagger under X Marks the Spot.
- Kunkka can dominate Spectre's lane using Tidebringer and gain an advantage.
- Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from Haunt.
- Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from Epicenter, especially if he initiates during the battle.
- Sand King can't dodge X Marks the Spot - Torrent combo by his abilities. Torrent drags him out of his Sand Storm
- Windranger can't escape Windrun X Marks the Spot with combo Torrent or Ghostship trap.
- Ghostship helps your team soak up damage from Chaotic Offering and hit summons hard.
- Tidebringer clears summons later in the game.
- Most of your spells can interrupt Upheaval.
Others[]
- X Marks the Spot is a counter to Disruptor's Glimpse, but you need quick reactions to pull it off.
- Heroes with long channeling abilities like Witch Doctor are easy targets for Kunkka to interrupt in team fights.
- In general, highly mobile heroes like Earth Spirit or Storm Spirit are at a disadvantage against X Marks the Spot.
- Similarly, heroes with low cooldown teleports can be afraid to split push against X Marks the Spot, such as Tinker and Nature's Prophet.
Items[]
- Manta Style's illusions are cleared in no time by Kunkka's spells.
- Necronomicon, Book of the Dead and Helm of the Dominator summons are easily cleared off by Tidebringer.
- Force Staff, Blink Dagger, and Hurricane Pike mobility is prevented by X Marks the Spot.
Works well with...[]
- Vacuum - Wall of Replica combo can set Kunkka up for a perfect Torrent + Ghostship combo and a potential teamwipe. Vacuum could be placed right after Kunkka cast Torrent since Torrent has a delay.
- Chronosphere lets Kunkka land an easy Ghost Ship.
- Ghostship allows Huskar to soak up even more magical damage and fight at low HP without dying. Berserker's Blood helps regenerate the Rum damage.
- X Marks the Spot helps Huskar to chase high mobility heroes.
- X Marks the Spot makes a setup for Sun Strike if timed correctly.
- Ghost Ship synergizes well with many of Invoker's spells.
- Ghostship allows Lifestealer to stay in front as a fearsome melee fighter. Lifestealer could use Feast to regenerate the Rum damage.
- Ghostship and Tidebringer clears illusions which Lifestealer cannot deal with easily.
- X Marks the Spot helps Lifestealer to catch high mobility heroes.
- Ghostship allows Slark to stay in front and steal more attributes. Slark can easily regenerate the Rum damage thanks to Shadow Dance.
- X Marks the Spot helps Slark to catch heroes that can easily break Pounce leash.
- Massive AOE damages from Kunkka's abilities work well with Warlock's Fatal bonds especially during a teamfight.
- By channeling Upheaval through Torrent-Ghostship combo warlock can provide a follow up slow (up to 84%) after the combo.
Others[]
- Lengthy disables such as Echo Stomp, Sacred Arrow, or Primal Roar make perfect setups for Kunkka's spells.