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Many hands make light work.
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Bad against...[]
- Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
- Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.
- Rage, acting as a pseudo- Black King Bar, completely negates Mars' initiation if used in time.
- Feast does damage and heals based on max health, perfect against high-health strength heroes like Mars.
- Infest allows Lifestealer to potentially save allies from Mars' initiation with a quick burst of extra health.
- Blink Strike gives bonus backstab damage and can bypass Bulwark. Defensively, it could be used to teleport away from Mars, especially while inside Arena of Blood.
- Smoke Screen can interrupt Mars' skill combos, especially when cast inside Arena of Blood.
- Tricks of the Trade can be used to evade Mars' skills, which have a slight delay to them. It could also be used to buy himself time while trapped inside of Arena of Blood.
- Sticky Napalm slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to face frontwards, where Spear of Mars and Bulwark are effective. In combination with Firefly, which deals magic damage, Batrider can make quick work of Mars.
- Flaming Lasso disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.
- Time Walk allows Faceless Void to escape or enter Arena Of Blood, and helps him recover from Mars' burst damage.
- Time Lock's magical damage ignores Bulwark.
- Chronosphere allows Faceless Void to reposition behind Mars, ignoring his Bulwark while he is helplessly frozen in time.
- Burning Spear's magical damage is very troublesome for Mars in the laning stage.
- Life Break's percentage-based magical damage bypasses Bulwark, and can also be used to jump in or out of Arena Of Blood.
- Dragon Slave deals reliable magic damage during the laning phase against Mars.
- Lina's Eul's Scepter of Divinity and Light Strike Array combo can interrupt Mars from being disruptive for a decent amount of time and leave him vulnerable for follow up stuns.
- Laguna Blade deals massive magical damage, and pure damage with Aghanim's Scepter.
- Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
- Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
- It is difficult for Mars to trade blows with Ogre Magi in the early game thanks to his high base health, resistance and Ignite.
- Bloodlust can assist Ogre Magi or an ally in repositioning against Mars for its move speed bonus.
- Fireblast can interrupt and mitigate Mars from performing his skill combos, especially in combination with Multicast.
- Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
- Astral Imprisonment can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
- Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence pool.
- Nether Blast, Decrepify and Life Drain deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
- Nether Ward reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
- Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.
- Swashbuckle is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
- Shield Crash upgraded with Aghanim is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
- Rolling Thunder makes him immune to magic, making Pangolier able to roll in and out of Mars' Arena Of Blood.
- Shadowraze deals magic damage and ignores Bulwark.
- Requiem of Souls deals magic damage and can fear Mars away, forcing him to turn around and therefore become vulnerable.
- Ball Lightning makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating for you.
- Overload is not reduced by Bulwark and the magical damage spam can wear down Mars quickly.
- Firestorm and Pit of Malice are very disruptive in team fights, completely matching Mars especially since it can all be cast inside Arena Of Blood and also does percentage-based magical damage, negating Bulwark.
- Dark Rift can save any allies of Underlord trapped in Arena Of Blood.
- Atrophy Aura allows Underlord to lane against Mars quite well since he does not have the best base damage during the early game.
- Underlord is a common carrier of both Pipe of Insight and Mekansm/ Guardian Greaves, allowing his team to combat Mars in the mid to late game.
- Decay, Soul Rip and Flesh Golem all deal magical damage which ignores Bulwark.
- Decay reduces Mars' natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in lane.
- Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
- Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
- Plague Ward can attack through Arena Of Blood.
- Nethertoxin breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
- Poison Attack and Viper Strike's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.
- Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars' stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
- Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as it deals significant damage and slow, making Bulwark slightly ineffective.
- It is worth noting that Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.
- Mars' own father is a formidable foe because Zeus deals massive amounts of magical damage. The high damage, low cooldown nukes of Arc Lightning and Lightning Bolt combined with the percent health magic damage of Static Field will shred Mars' health because it bypasses Bulwark completely.
Others[]
- Ursa is a special mention because despite Bulwark diminishing most of the damage Ursa does, he is quite durable, especially with Enrage, discouraging the aggressive all-in playstyle of Mars; Ursa can simply not target Mars.
- Legion Commander is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with Press the Attack and is a good Silver Edge carrier. However, Mars is not an ideal Duel target, as Bulwark will force her to 1: Buy Silver Edge, and 2: Hit Mars with it before the Duel, allowing a skilled Mars to react, especially with Eul's Scepter of Divinity. In teamfights, Mars will happily draw attention after using his abilities, and tank the Duel with all spells on cooldown.
- Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with Aghanim's Scepter), Viper.
- Medusa's Stone Gaze forces Mars to choose between getting petrified, or turning his vulnerable back on Medusa.
- Kunkka's Ghostship and Torrent disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
- Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle, Omniknight.
- Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw, Dark Willow, Enigma, Invoker, Pugna, Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Zeus, Oracle.
Items[]
- Silver Edge breaks Bulwark.
- Black King Bar allows heroes to walk freely in and out of Arena Of Blood.
- Glimmer Cape can be used to save an ally from Arena of Blood.
Good against...[]
- Arena Of Blood prevents Bloodseeker from attacking a Ruptured target.
- Bulwark helps Mars survive Rupture ganks simply by turning towards Bloodseeker without moving.
- Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can push Bloodseeker from Ruptured targets.
- Juggernaut deals mostly physical damage, which is easily mitigated with Bulwark.
- Juggernaut's Omnislash switches to opposite directions which each slash, so Mars can mitigate most of its damage since he only takes full damage from one direction: his back.
- Bulwark immensely mitigates Duel, even with bonus physical damage, as Bulwark scales by percentage. Mars can also buy time for a dueled ally by pushing Legion Commander away with Spear of Mars.
- Even if he can slow Mars down with Shrapnel and Headshot, Mars can tank Sniper's physical damage simply by facing him with Bulwark, allowing him to endure his auto-attacks into the late-game. Should Sniper choose to attack someone else, Mars can redirect his projectiles with Bulwark's active ability.
- Sniper's poor mobility makes him very vulnerable to Arena of Blood, especially in the early game. Mars can also take advantage of this by pushing him closer to the front line with Spear of Mars.
- If visible, Mars can knock Monkey King off his Tree Dance with God's Rebuke, as well as Spear of Mars. Arena of Blood also destroys a large swath of trees, which can disrupt Monkey King's positioning and turn him vulnerable should he choose to hide in trees.
- Mars can endure Jingu Mastery attacks simply by facing him with Bulwark.
- Mars can end Wukong's Command early by displacing Monkey King with a well-thrown Spear of Mars. Mars can also endure most of his clones with Bulwark.
- As long as Mars is facing her with Bulwark, even if pushed away with Gust, Drow Ranger will do no effectual damage against him. Mars' ability to endure her onslaught usually gives him enough time to cast Arena of Blood, of which she has a very slim chance surviving without Gust.
- With Bulwark's active ability, Mars can protect allies pursued by Drow Ranger by redirecting her projectiles to his shield instead.
- Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
- God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
- Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during Shadow Dance.
- Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
- Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through Shadow Dance and Depth Shroud.
- Should Pounce be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.
- Spectre cannot have a good game if she is pressured heavily in lane, which is something Mars can do. He may even force her to cast Haunt as an escape, putting it on a long cooldown.
- Should Spectre get to the late game, Mars can block a large amount of her damage with Bulwark and can mitigate some of the chaos caused by her Haunt illusions with God's Rebuke.
- Bulwark negates most of the physical damage from Terrorblade and his illusions.
- God's Rebuke and Spear of Mars can decimate Terrorblade's illusions quickly.
- Shukuchi cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, and can most likely die if detected through invisibility.
- If pinned to the arena's walls, Time Lapse tends to not be enough to save Weaver, as God's Rebuke can keep him burst down thanks to its damage scaling.
- The Swarm and Geminate Attack are not enough to pierce through Bulwark.
Others[]
- Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom, Magnus.
- Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Luna, Sniper, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Clinkz.
- Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet, Lich.
- Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki, Bounty Hunter.
Works well with...[]
- Vacuum makes a perfect setup for Arena Of Blood.
- Due to how Berserker's Blood works, it makes it very ideal for Huskar when allies can separate heroes like Mars can.
- Huskar can push enemies into the Arena of Blood corners with Inner Fire.
- Huskar can also get large amounts of Burning Spear stacks very quickly if enemies are trapped in Arena of Blood.
- An enemy rooted by Frostbite is an easy target for Spear of Mars.
- Arcane Aura gives Mars additional mana regen.
- Freezing Field can easily deal damage to enemies trapped in Arena Of Blood.
- Glimpse can pull enemies that escaped back into Arena Of Blood.
- Arena Of Blood is a good setup for Static Storm. With Aghanim's Scepter, Disruptor can also stop enemies from activating Black King Bar and escaping Arena Of Blood.
- Chakra Magic helps with Mars' low mana pool.
- Blinding Light knocks enemies into Arena of Blood's walls.
- Arena Of Blood allows Keeper of the Light to easily hit enemies with Illuminate.
- Frost Shield allows Mars to tank even more damage with Bulwark.
- Arena Of Blood keeps heroes closer together for more guaranteed Chain Frost bounces.
- Arena Of Blood prevents enemies from escaping Wukong's Command.
- Arena Of Blood also allows Monkey King to easily gain Jingu Mastery stacks.
- Supernova and Sun Ray work well on enemies trapped inside Arena Of Blood.
- A well-placed Arena Of Blood can also protect Phoenix's Supernova from both melee and ranged attacks.
- Arena Of Blood is a good setup for Smoke Screen and Tricks of the Trade.
- Sven's Storm Hammer can prolong the stun from Spear of Mars.
- Warcry's shield enhances Mars' already impressive durability against physical attacks, making him nearly unkillable in team fights.
- Arena Of Blood will help Sven catch an easy target with his Great Cleave and God's Strength.
Others[]
- Heroes with AoE nukes can take advantage of Arena Of Blood: Elder Titan, Kunkka, Phoenix, Sand King, Underlord, Gyrocopter, Shadow Fiend, Enigma, Jakiro, Techies, Warlock, Witch Doctor, Ember Spirit.
- Heroes who can hit multiple enemies inside Arena Of Blood with their basic attacks: Sven, Luna, Medusa.
- Heroes with fear can cause enemies to run into Arena Of Blood's walls: Dark Willow, Lone Druid, Queen of Pain (with level 25 talent).
- Heroes who need front line/AOE control: Sniper, Terrorblade, Tinker, Zeus, Invoker.
- Heroes who have AoE force-move abilities: Batrider, Dark Seer, Huskar, Invoker (with level 25 talent), Keeper of the Light.
- Heroes with strong single-target attacks: Ursa, Legion Commander