Slardar counters, Slardar, the Slithereen Guard, is a melee strength hero in Dota 2 infamous for his mobility, high damage bursts, and initiation capabilities. With skills like Sprint, Slithereen Crush, and Bash of the Deep, he excels at catching heroes off-guard during battles. His Corrosive Haze also gives his team an edge by reducing enemy armor and revealing key targets. However, like any hero in Dota 2, Slardar has inherent weaknesses that players can exploit. This article delves into strategies, hero matchups, and gameplay tips to counter Slardar effectively, ensuring you’re always prepared when facing this amphibious powerhouse in your games.
Understanding Slardar – Strengths and Weaknesses
To successfully counter Slardar, it’s crucial to first understand what makes him a threat and where he falls short. Let’s take a closer look.
Slardar’s Strengths
- Exceptional Mobility: Slardar’s Sprint ability allows him to close gaps quickly and hunt down enemies. His mobility makes escape difficult for heroes without reliable mobility themselves.
- Teamfight Presence: With Slithereen Crush, Slardar can disable multiple heroes in an area, setting up devastating teamfight engagements for his allies.
- High Physical Damage: Slardar’s Bash of the Deep deals bonus physical damage with a stun, making him dangerous both in prolonged fights and on single-target initiations.
- Corrosive Haze Utility: The ability not only reduces armor but also provides vision of the target, enabling his team to eliminate key heroes easily.
Slardar’s Weaknesses
- Kiting Issues: As a melee hero, Slardar relies on closing the distance to deal damage. Heroes with disables, slows, or mobility can kite and poke him down before he becomes a real threat.
- Reliance on Items: Slardar’s late-game impact largely depends on getting farmed items like Blink Dagger and Black King Bar. Shutting him down before he acquires these items drastically reduces his effectiveness.
- Magic Vulnerability: Despite his physical prowess, Slardar struggles against magical bursts and disables as he lacks innate tankiness against magic damage.
- Slardar functions as an initiator and relies on catching players off-guard, but placing vision and counter-initiating can shut down his aggressive tendencies.
Heroes That Counter Slardar
Certain heroes naturally perform well against Slardar due to their abilities, playstyles, or item builds. Below is a categorized breakdown of top heroes that you can rely on to counter this fearsome fish-man.
Heroes with Disables and Lockdowns
To offset his mobility and prevent him from initiating, choosing heroes withdisables and lockdowns can neutralize Slardar’s impact. Here are the best options:
- Lion: With Earth Spike, Hex, and Finger of Death, Lion can completely lock down Slardar, rendering him useless during fights.
- Bane: Bane’s Fiend’s Grip is a nightmare for Slardar, literally. The extended disable helps isolate and kill him while bypassing his magic immunity and mobility from Sprint.
- Pugna: Pugna’s Decrepify can not only cripple Slardar’s physical damage but also make him a prime target for magic-focused allies. Combine this with Nether Blast, and Pugna becomes a serious threat.
Heroes with Kiting Capabilities
Heroes that can consistently avoid engaging Slardar up close are excellent counters. These heroes can poke him down or disable him from a safe distance:
- Drow Ranger: Her long-range attacks, supported by the silence from Gust, make it difficult for Slardar to close the gap. Her barrage of physical damage can finish him off before he becomes a threat.
- Windranger: With abilities like Shackleshot and Powershot, Windranger offers disables while dealing substantial damage. Her Windrun allows her to evade most of Slardar’s attacks.
Heroes with High Damage Output
Out-damaging Slardar before he gets a chance to contribute to fights is an effective way to keep him in check. Here are some high-damage heroes:
- Anti-Mage: The combination of his Blink and high attack speed makes Anti-Mage a nightmare for Slardar. With proper itemization and superior mobility, he can eliminate Slardar in fights.
- Lifestealer: Feast allows Lifestealer to sustain through Slardar’s damage output while his Rage negates Slardar’s stuns and disables.
Heroes with Area of Effect (AoE) Abilities
Since Slardar thrives in chaotic teamfights, picking heroes with strong AoE damage can significantly limit his movements and effectiveness:
- Leshrak: His AoE spells such as Pulse Nova and Split Earth can rapidly bring down Slardar in teamfights, even as he tries to dive your backline.
- Kunkka: Kunkka’s Ghost Ship provides both damage and crowd control, while Tidebringer ensures that Slardar can’t easily stick to his targets in a fight.
Heroes with Mobility and Evasion
Similarly, heroes with strong mobility or evasion can make it incredibly difficult for Slardar to execute his gameplan:
- Phantom Assassin: Evasion from Blur and the crits from Coup de Grace can tear through Slardar’s health, especially in late-game scenarios.
- Venomancer: Placing wards strategically on the battlefield slows Slardar’s advances. Additionally, Poison Nova ensures that he pays the price in health for daring to initiate.
Specific Matchups
Some heroes offer particularly effective solutions to Slardar’s gameplay. Here’s how some standout matchups play out:
- Terrorblade: His illusions overwhelm Slardar, forcing him to struggle to determine the real Terrorblade. Combined with Reflection, Slardar’s reduced movement and attack speed make him easier to kill.
- Phantom Lancer: Much like Terrorblade, Phantom Lancer overwhelms Slardar with sheer numbers. The illusions also make Corrosive Haze less impactful since hitting the right target becomes a massive challenge for Slardar.
- Luna: Her ability to quickly deal magical and physical damage with Eclipse and Lucent Beam gives her the upper hand in most scenarios against Slardar.
General Strategies to Counter Slardar
Employing the right strategy often works wonders even when you don’t have a tailored hero counter for Slardar. Here’s what you should keep in mind:
- Place Wards: Monitoring Slardar’s movements with wards (especially around Roshan) prevents him from executing effective surprise initiations.
- Focus Fire: In teamfights, coordinate with your team to burst down Slardar first. Prevent him from leaving with Sprint before his Slithereen Crush turns the fight.
- Itemization: Items like Ghost Scepter, Force Staff, or Eul’s Scepter of Divinity all help mitigate Slardar’s aggressive playstyle.
- Farm Efficiency: Shutting down Slardar’s economy by contesting his farm will delay crucial core items such as Blink Dagger or Black King Bar, reducing his mid and late-game effectiveness.
Step-by-Step How-to Guide – Countering Slardar Effectively
- Study the Draft: If the enemy team picks Slardar, opt for heroes that can disable, kite, or out-burst him.
- Prioritize Vision: Ward critical areas, especially near Roshan, as Slardar often controls this space due to Corrosive Haze.
- Draft Counters: Select heroes like Lion, Windranger, or Lifestealer to neutralize his key strengths.
- Punish Sprint Usage: Attack him when he activates Sprint, as he takes amplified damage during its duration.
- Plan Team Fights: Save abilities like stuns and magic bursts for Slardar’s initiation to thwart his momentum.
Slardar Counters – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What are Slardar’s biggest weaknesses?
Slardar is vulnerable to magic damage, kiting, and disables. His initiation heavily depends on items such as a Blink Dagger, meaning he can be weaker if shut down early.
Which role is most effective against Slardar?
Position 5 supports with disables and Position 1 carries with mobility or late-game damage output are effective choices.
How do I counter Slardar’s Sprint?
Items like Force Staff and Eul’s Scepter, or abilities that slow or kite him, like Gust from Drow Ranger, can counter Sprint effectively.
Is Slardar strong in all phases of the game?
Slardar’s strongest phase is the mid-game when he typically has a Blink Dagger. However, he falls off late if you build armor and crowd control to counter his abilities.
Does Slardar struggle against ranged heroes?
Yes, ranged heroes like Drow Ranger with disables or mobility can kite Slardar effectively. They limit his ability to engage or retreat successfully.
Can itemization counter Slardar?
Absolutely. Items like Ghost Scepter, Lotus Orb, and Force Staff are very effective at evading Slardar’s abilities or mitigating his damage output.
How do I stop Slardar from using Corrosive Haze?
Removing Corrosive Haze with items like Lotus Orb or Eul’s Scepter can negate its armor reduction and tracking utility.
Is Slardar good at solo killing heroes?
Yes, especially against low-armor heroes, but he will struggle against high-mobility or crowd control-heavy targets.
How do I play against Slardar in the lane?
Harass him early using ranged abilities and prevent him from controlling the creep wave with aggression. Heroes like Venomancer and Pugna excel in-lane versus Slardar.
What’s the best way to deal with Slardar in the late game?
Stick together as a team, ensure consistent vision, and prevent pick-offs. Items like Guardian Greaves mitigate his minus armor effects on your team.
Source : Dota 2 Meta
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