After a remake and a series of buffs, this flying monstrosity has become a completely disgusting pubstomper. He’s the type of Hero that’s powerful throughout the whole game, early, mid and late. His main weakness is anything that’s spell immune, but his damage output it’s so huge otherwise that this flaw of his seems minimal. His control with Astral Imprisonment isn’t something to laugh at, either.
Today, I’ll suggest a few picks better suited to give him a tough time.
: A favourite among high-ranked games against OD, because he can both deal with him in lane and as a carry, which is a rare combination. Lone Druid doesn’t really need mana to be effective, has high HP with his ult and, of course, him being two units instead of one makes Astral Imprisonment a less effective spell. The bear is also immune to Sanity’s Eclipse, and can still manfight an OD. The downside of this is that you’re picking a not very active mid laner. Lone Druid still is quite item dependent, so you should be careful of those ganks.
: What a surprise.
A maxed Mana Burn deals 5 times the target’s Intelligence as damage (and, well, as mana burn), resulting in a few Lagunas for our buddy OD. What’s really good about Nyx is that his effectiveness progresses as much as OD himself. Well-timed Spiked Carapaces and maybe an Aghanim’s Scepter pickup can really make an OD’s life hell.
: Haven’t seen this guy in action for some time. Miss chance is something an OD hates, since MBK isn’t the best of choices for him. The recent addition in Rod of Atos giving a chance to not miss is decent, but not always enough. A level 1 Drunken Haze applies a 45% chance to miss, which is huge. Primal Split is also a great way to completely control an OD during a fight unless he gets BKB.
: Kind of a double-edged sword. Blur is great for the above reasons, but her low INT gain will make Sanity’s Eclipse hurt. Perhaps with a tweaking in her item build, such as getting Drums+Manta+Diffusal could possibly work. I wouldn’t really call her a hard “counter”, but she’s not completely terrible against him.
: Having such sort range could possibly give you a hard time during the lane against OD, and Templar Assassins usually go mid. However, Refraction is absolutely great against him. You can evade a LOT of damage with it. Also, her burst potential with Desolator+Blink+BKB won’t go to waste. The ideal scenario is if OD goes safelane and you bypass laning against him completely.
: Built-in spell immunity can go a long way, but Astral can also be a pain for you. However, Infesting an ancient creep means OD can do absolutely nothing against you. Do I smell a Radiance build right here?
And of course, there’s always the traditional Armlet+Desolator paired with Daedalus and Abyssal. And a Blink to initiate.
But seriously, I believe the Radiance Dragon or Golem will work wonders against OD.
: What’s great about Slark is that he can both survive and hurt an OD quite easily. Each hit with Essence Shift will steal 2 INT from OD, and at level 4 it will last a whopping 2 minutes. Shadow Dance will enable you to avoid a lot of damage and still keep attacking OD, but remember to use it relatively early, if you don’t want to be bursted down by his ult. As a natural Skadi carrier, you’ll have good HP and INT to sustain yourself. A well timed Dark Pact can possibly remove a Hex. Throw in a BKB, and the only thing the OD will manage is to Astral himself. If he chooses to activate BKB too, all the better for you; keep right-clicking the living daylights out of him.
: I believe this one is generally very underrated. He’s also extremely good against an OD; he has, I believe, the highest INT in the game (26 starting + 4 every level), and his Nether Ward will work for every hit infused with Arcane Orb. That means a 175 spell damage taken for the OD every time he attacks. Decrepify can also be useful, but must be used correctly.
Side note: Silence is a disable that screws an OD more than other carriers. He’ll have to get a BKB and possibly a Refresher later just to be able to fight.
: We’ve seen Puck put against OD in the midlane standoff mostly in pro matches. Phase Shift can evade a lot of Arcane Orbs, and the innate silence from Waning Rift is also great. A good Puck player will be able to control an OD almost completely.
: Ancient Seal provides an instant 6-second silence that also boosts spell damage. The “instant” factor is very important here.
: Not only can you silence him for a thousand seconds, but Silencer’s INT steal factor will hinder the OD for the whole game. Make sure you fight him early and often. Consider playing Silencer as a carry. He’s a very good carry anyway, and twice as much against OD.
: Also a long-lasting targeted Silence, plus the ability to chase effectively. Laning against him is a bad idea though, prefer the offlane if OD goes mid.
