Dazzle is a ranged intelligence support hero. His abilities are focused on helping protect allies and debuffing enemies. Using his abilities requires fast reflexes as enabling them at the right time can even save allies from death. This can make dealing with dazzle on the enemy team a hassle. Luckily, this article will help you with the Best Dazzle Counters in Dota 2.
As a support, Dazzle has high right-click damage during the early laning stage. This makes it easy for him to kite enemy heroes, making them overspend on regen items. All the while, he himself does not need much Gold as he is item independent. Relying only on his abilities as a support to help allied heroes.
However, Dazzle himself is a fragile hero with no escapes making it easy to kill him by picking the right hero draft. If eliminated before a team fight, his allies can be made to suffer.
Dazzle
Dazzle, the Shadow Priest uses his dark light and low cooldown spells to help allies fight better and for a longer duration. He is a hard support that should be played as a position 5. This makes the lane stronger, as Dazzle can harass opponents while the safe lane carries farms for Gold and XP.
Poison Touch is the first ability in Dazzle’s arsenal of spells. This ability releases an AOE attack that slows touch and deals DPS to all enemy units affected. At its maximum, it can target up to 8 units making it ideal for creep cutting. What makes this ability deadly is that it refreshes each time the unit is attacked. Increasing the movement slowly until the enemy can no longer escape.
Up next is the ability that Dazzle is most famed for, the Shallow Grave. This ability can be cast on an ally hero, including Dazzle himself. This makes it so that the hero targeted cannot die regardless of how low their health is. It can last up to 5 seconds which can be critical in a team fight, especially for heroes with Lifesteal. Making this one of the most powerful spells in Dota 2.
Shadow Wave is another AoE ability that affects both allies and enemies within its radius. Once Dazzle casts this ability, it heals all surrounding allies while damaging enemies. This ability works well with the Poison Touch as it allows Dazzle to cut creep waves quicker. In team fights, it can work well to initiate against the enemy team while healing all allies in the vicinity.
The final and ultimate ability of Dazzle is the Bad Juju. It is a passive ability that lowers all of Dazzle’s spells and item cooldowns. Additionally, it lowers surrounding enemies’ armor each time Dazzle casts a spell. Making it easier for the core heroes to kill them.
Ancient Apparition
Ancient Apparition is also a position 5 support hero, much like Dazzle. He has a variety of spells that help allies by placing debuffs effects on enemy heroes. Cold Feet can be used to stun Dazzle if he aggressively moves out of position while he tries to support allies.
Ice Blast can be used to stop Dazzle from healing allies by using Shadow Wave. It also lasts longer than Shallow Grave so whoever it’s used on has a higher chance of dying.
Silencer
Silencer is one of the most diversified heroes in Dota 2. He can be played as a support, carry and initiator with the right playstyles. This makes him one of the few exceptional heroes who can cripple intelligence heroes from casting spells for a long duration of time.
Global Silence is an ability that stops Dazzle and his allies from casting spells. This way, Dazzle is unable to save allies by either Shadow Wave or Shallow Grave. The only way to deal with this is to buy items that can dispel the Global Silence. However, that is hard for Dazzle being a support hero who does not get much Gold.
Many of Silencer’s abilities have a cast delay followed by an activation delay that can last longer than the Shallow Grave. Therefore, once these abilities are cast, they outlast Shallow Grave and will always kill the low HP opponent they are used on.
Outworld Devourer
Outworld Devourer is an Intelligence hero who deals pure damage with right-click attacks. Drafting him against Dazzle can be a tough battle. Dazzle is a naturally fragile hero. Should Outworld Devourer gank him, he could be killed before he has a chance to place his spells.
Astral Imprisonment can be a very strong counterspell to all of Dazzle’s abilities. It lasts longer than the Shallow Grave, meaning that it will always damage the hero lethal once it’s over. It can also isolate Dazzle from his teammates, therefore, he cannot use his abilities to save allies.
If used right, it can also save your own allies or Outworld Devourer himself from Poison Touch. This allows them to use Blink Dagger to escape or initiate the fight from a better position. This makes Outworld Devourer one of the Best Dazzle Counters in Dota 2.
Phantom Lancer
Phantom lancer is a hard carry hero. Dazzle has no real way of dealing with him either in the early or the late-game stage. Even in lane, Dazzle is unable to restrict him farm as he cannot deal with the sheer number of illusions Phantom Lancer can spawn.
Once Juxtapose is upgraded, Phantom Lancer will always have illusions around him that Dazzle cannot do anything against. Since none of his abilities can clear them, he is an easy target for Phantom Lancer.
Additionally, the high base armor that Phantom Lancer has early game helps him take harass from Dazzle without having to spend extra buying regen items. During team fights, Phantom Rush and Spirit Lance are great abilities that can target Dazzle even if he’s in the backlines.
Naga Siren
Naga Siren is another one of the best Dazzle Counters in Dota 2 due to a variety of her abilities. Much like Phantom Lancer, Naga siren can use Mirror Images to conjure up illusions. These can target Dazzle and run right at him. Since he has no escape or method of dealing with multiple illusions, he can easily be killed by Naga Siren.
Ensnare, on the other hand, roots targets making it easier for Naga Siren to attack them. Dazzle has no way of saving himself or his allies against this, making escape even harder. Even if he uses Shallow Grave, Naga Siren can continue to ensnare him until the duration runs out.
Lastly, her ultimate ability Song of the Siren is a great initiator that can provide her positioning against Dazzle. It can also allow her to focus on eliminating Dazzle first before he has a chance of saving his allies.
Axe
Axe is a scary hero for any high damage dealer. For heroes with low armor like Dazzle, Axe can be a very tough opponent. Dazzle has no way of saving allies from Battle Hunger. Since it also provides Axe movement speed, he can catch up to Dazzle and call him. Forcing him to fight an unwinnable battle.
Dazzle also cannot stun or disable Axe from ganking his allies. Axe can use Blink Dagger and Berserker’s call to fight at his advantage. Dazzle cannot offer his allies any protection against this.
Additionally, Shallow Grave does not stop Axe from killing enemy heroes by using his Culling Blade, making the ability useless to cast on allies.
Dazzle is a strong support hero, no doubt. However, Dota 2 is a game of strategy and tactics. Every hero has their own strengths and weaknesses.
In this article, we have outlined several of the Best Dazzle Counters in Dota 2 so that you can use them to win your matches and enjoy playing the game.
