Underlord counters, Underlord, also known as Vrogros in the Dota 2 UNiVeRsE, is a formidable offlane hero capable of controlling key areas of the map and turning team fights to his team’s advantage. With his arsenal of disruptive abilities, he can force enemies into unfavorable engagements and decimate their ranks while boasting strong durability and lane sustainability. However, like every hero in Dota 2, Underlord has specific counters that can exploit his weaknesses. This guide dives deep into the strategies, hero counters, item choices, and tactics you can use to counter Underlord effectively, offering you a leg up in your Dota 2 battles.
Underlord’s Strengths and Weaknesses – Breaking Down the Pit Lord
To understand how to counter Underlord, it’s essential to first analyze his key strengths and weaknesses. By leveraging this understanding, you can exploit specific vulnerabilities in his playstyle and gain an upper hand during the match.
Underlord’s Strengths
- Pit of Malice: Underlord’s ability to disable enemies in an area creates devastating opportunities in both team fights and choke points.
- Lane Pushing: With his Firestorm ability, Underlord can clear creep waves quickly, enabling him to maintain lane pressure effectively.
- Tanky Offlane Presence: His damage reduction passive, Atrophy Aura, not only lowers enemy damage but boosts his attack damage, making him a durable and dangerous threat in the lane.
- Teleport Utility: Dark Rift, his ultimate ability, allows for team rotations or game-saving escapes, adding immense utility to his kit.
Underlord’s Weaknesses
- Lack of Mobility: Without any natural gap closers or significant movement tools, Underlord struggles against mobile heroes.
- Weak in Late Game: As the game progresses, his impact wanes due to his reliance on abilities that scale poorly compared to late-game carries.
- Vulnerable to Mana Burn and Silences: Underlord heavily relies on his abilities. Disabling his spells or depleting his mana pool can render him far less effective.
- Susceptible to High Burst Damage: While tanky, he is not invincible. Burst damage from high-mobility heroes can take him down before his team can respond.
Top Hero Counters to Underlord
Several heroes stand out as excellent counters to Underlord. These heroes either negate his strengths, exploit his weaknesses, or both. Below are the most effective hero counters categorized by their impact level.
High Disadvantage Heroes for Underlord
Rubick
Disadvantage: 6.27%
Rubick is one of the best counters to Underlord due to his ability to stealspells. By stealing impactful abilities like Pit of Malice or Firestorm, Rubick can turn Underlord’s strengths against him. His Telekinesis can also interrupt Underlord’s combos or momentarily control him, disrupting his effectiveness in both team fights and the laning phase.
Juggernaut
Disadvantage: 5.61%
Juggernaut’s Blade Fury provides magic immunity, allowing him to ignore Underlord’s disables, including Pit of Malice and Firestorm. Additionally, his damage output and healing from Healing Ward provide sustainability and the ability to kite or overwhelm Underlord in fights.
Enchantress
Disadvantage: 5.32%
Enchantress excels at harassing Underlord early in the lane with high-range attacks and creeps she can charm using Enchant. Her Impetus also scales effectively into the late game, threatening Underlord with consistent damage even as he builds tanky items.
Moderate Disadvantage Heroes for Underlord
Lifestealer
Lifestealer counters Underlord with his high survivability and mobility. His Rage offers magic immunity, while Feast ensures he heals when attacking Underlord. Lifestealer thrives in prolonged fights where Underlord’s damage output diminishes.
Ursa
Ursa’s ability to deliver rapid, high-damage strikes through his Fury Swipes ensures Underlord’s tankiness can be shredded quickly. Paired with his mobility-enhancing skills like Earthshock, Ursa becomes a significant threat to Underlord during both laning and late-game skirmishes.
Snapfire
Snapfire’s long-range harass via Scatterblast and her ultimate, Mortimer Kisses, allow her to target Underlord safely from a distance. She can also disrupt team fights, making her a solid counter to the Pit Lord’s frontline presence.
Specific Ability-Based Counters
Pugna
Pugna’s Nether Ward punishes Underlord for casting his mana-intensive spells. Additionally, Decrepify renders Underlord unable to attack or flee efficiently, further reducing his effectiveness in engagements.
Anti-Mage
Anti-Mage counters Underlord by depleting his mana pool using Mana Break. Once Underlord is out of mana, he becomes significantly less impactful. Mana Void also exploits Underlord’s health pool to deal devastating burst damage to him and nearby allies.
Bane
Bane’s Fiend’s Grip and Nightmare effectively neutralize Underlord during crucial moments. Additionally, Enfeeble reduces Underlord’s damage output, ensuring he cannot win trades during the laning phase.
Strategies and Tactics to Counter Underlord
Lane Phase – Early Game Pressure
Countering Underlord begins in the laning phase. Here’s what you need to do:
- Pick Aggressive Supports: Supports like Lion, Disruptor, or Skywrath Mage can pressure and harass Underlord consistently, preventing him from farming freely.
- Deny Creeps: Underlord relies heavily on gaining levels and farm to scale into the mid and late game. Denying creeps can stunt his momentum early.
- Buy Harass and Sustain Items: Items like Orb of Venom or consumables like Tangoes and Healing Salves can help mitigate Underlord’s attempts to trade hits in lane.
Team Fights – Exploiting His Weaknesses
During team fights, focus on the following tactics:
- Mana Burn: Heroes like Anti-Mage or items like Diffusal Blade can render Underlord ineffective by draining his mana.
- Isolate and Burst: Heroes with high burst, such as Lina or Queen of Pain, can kill Underlord before his team can react.
- Flank and Disrupt: Avoid clumping together to nullify the impact of his Pit of Malice and Firestorm. Heroes with mobility can exploit Underlord’s lack of repositioning ability.
Itemization Against Underlord
- Black King Bar (BKB): Makes your core heroes immune to magic disables like Pit of Malice.
- Force Staff: Provides a way out of fiery situations, particularly Underlord’s AOE abilities.
- Silver Edge: Disables Underlord’s Atrophy Aura passive, reducing his durability in fights.
Underlord Counters – FAQ
What are Underlord’s biggest weaknesses?
Underlord lacks mobility, is vulnerable to burst damage, and heavily relies on mana and abilities, making him weak against silences and mana drainers.
Which heroes are strong against Underlord?
Rubick, Juggernaut, and Enchantress top the list due to their ability to counter his spells, outmaneuver him, or deal consistent damage.
How does Anti-Mage counter Underlord?
Anti-Mage’s Mana Break burns Underlord’s mana, and Mana Void can deliver devastating burst damage once the Pit Lord is low on mana.
Can silences counter Underlord?
Yes, silences like Drow Ranger’s Gust or Silence from Skywrath Mage can prevent him from using his abilities, severely limiting his impact.
What items are effective against Underlord?
Items like Black King Bar, Force Staff, and Silver Edge are effective in countering Underlord’s disables and survivability.
Should I prioritize killing Underlord in fights?
While Underlord is tanky, his spells can be game-changing. If you can burst him down quickly, it can effectively turn the fight in your favor.
How does Rubick counter Underlord?
Rubick can steal Underlord’s abilities, especially Pit of Malice or Dark Rift, turning his strengths against him. Rubick’s disables also make repositioning difficult for Underlord.
What lane matchups favor Underlord’s counters?
Heroes like Juggernaut or Lifestealer can sustain themselves through Underlord’s harass while applying pressure, making them effective laning counters.
Is magic immunity useful against Underlord?
Yes, magic immunity from items like Black King Bar or abilities like Juggernaut’s Blade Fury counters most of Underlord’s spells.
Which team compositions excel against Underlord?
Team compositions with high mobility, burst damage, and silences generally perform well against Underlord by exploiting his lack of mobility and reliance on spells.
How to Counter Underlord – A Step-by-Step Guide
- Draft Wisely: Pick heroes with mobility or magic immunity to negate his crowd control abilities.
- Focus the Laning Phase: Zoning Underlord early with aggressive, ranged heroes can slow his progression.
- Build Anti-Magic Items: Tools like Diffusal Blade or BKB can mitigate his impact in fights.
- Flank in Team Fights: Use mobile heroes to bypass Underlord’s front-lining capabilities and target his team first.
- Neutralize Utility: Employ coordinated stuns or silences to ensure he cannot use Dark Rift to save his team.
Conclusion
While Underlord can be a daunting foe, understanding his weaknesses and employing the proper counters can turn the tides in your team’s favor. Leveraging heroes with mobility, persistent harass, and the ability to bypass his disables will make dealing with Underlord far more manageable. Combine that with effective item choices and concerted teamwork, and you’ll find success in shutting down this tanky offlaner in your Dota 2 matches.
Source : DotaCinema
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