Do you want to know how to counter Slardar in your games?
One of the Slithereen Guards; Slardar is a melee, strength, core hero that overwhelms enemies with intense physical damage. With an incredibly high aptitude for dishing out stuns even through spell immunity, he becomes a menace to fight against. Therefore, in order to have a fighting chance against him you should know the Best Slardar Counters in Dota 2.
A higher armor than most and an above-average base attack speed leads to Slardar having a dominating presence early on in the lane. His abilities allow him to continue to assert his strength throughout the laning phase and into the mid-game. Apart from this, he is also a hero that beginners can master with elementary mechanics.
Though Slardar is a very stable Offlaner, he does have a few weaknesses that hinder his ability to control games. Spells that rely on getting close to enemies can make it quite easy to kite Slardar with lockdown. Additionally, he has no escape apart from his speed from Guardian Sprint, and this can lead to him getting caught easily.
Lack of creep clear cripples his capacity to farm creeps and gather gold. Being reliant on items like Blink Dagger and Black King Bar while having minimal AoE makes having an impact with this hero difficult. Without these items and no way to close the distance, Slardar falls off and fails to initiate good team fights.
Slardar
The immense potential to run over your lane while also making space for your carries makes playing Slardar extremely appealing. Snowballing by getting basic items and his prowess in dealing vast amounts of burst damage to enemy heroes is devastating to go up against. Making it all the more important to learn the Best Slardar Counters in Dota 2.
Guardian Sprint is the ability that supplements his high mobility and makes Slardar capable of chasing down enemy heroes. With this ability, he gains a move speed bonus of 40% for 10 seconds. He also gets a passive movement speed increase of 15% while moving through the river.
His second ability is Slithereen Crush, which is an AoE stun for a radius of 350. Besides this, the spell has a stun duration of 1 second and a slow for both attack and movement speed. It also deals maximum damage of 280 and slows enemies for up to 6 seconds. Upgrading this move with the Aghanim’s Scepter is a viable improvement.
Next is the key ability in backing up the fighting prowess that Slardar boasts. Bash of the Deep deals 200 damage and 1.3-second stun per bash while dealing double the damage to creeps. Bashing after every three hits makes this spell quite potent in allowing Slardar to be a consistent source of damage.
Slardar uses his ultimate ability, Corrosive Haze, to augment his damage output by reducing enemy armor. In company with the armor reduction, this ability also supplies True Sight for a total of 8 seconds. Upgrading this ability using talents increases armor reduction to 24, which proves to be lethal against heroes with low HP. It works especially well against heroes like Riki and Bounty Hunter, who can easily be caught and killed with it.
Counters
Slardar dominates games with his abilities to burst down heroes quickly. Not only this, but being tanky and having excess armor himself allows him to live through taxing team fights. Thus, it is essential for every player to know the Best Slardar Counters in Dota 2.
Phoenix
Reducing attack speed counters Slardar’s reliance on his Bash of the Deep to fight enemies. This is exactly what Phoenix achieves with his Fire Spirits which can reduce attack speed by up to 140. Furthermore, leveling up this ability in the Laning stage cripples Slardar’s mobility.
Slardar needs to close the distance between himself and his enemies to take advantage of the burst damage he outputs. With one of the best and most long-ranged escapes in Dota 2, Phoenix uses Icarus Dive to run away effortlessly. Not only this, but this ability also cancels out Slardar’s excessive move speed leading to an easy kill.
Phoenix can also use Supernova to escape Slardar’s grasp, whose attack speed does not scale as much. Phoenix also survives whenever he plays against Slardar alone. This is because his high damage single attacks do not matter in destroying the egg.
Phoenix also builds items such as Eul’s Scepter of Divinity, Heaven’s Halberd, and Shiva’s Guard, which kite Slardar heavily. It can also utilize Spirit Vessel to counter Slardar’s heavy durability, making it easier to bring him down.
Phantom Lancer
By using Doppelganger, Phantom Lancer can dispel Slardar’s slows and armor reduction, making it easy to escape fights. Moreover, this spell eliminates the advantage that Slardar’s spells can provide him against enemies. This makes it incredibly hard for him to keep Phantom Lancer under control in a game.
Phantom Rush also empowers Phantom Lancer by allowing him to outrun and outmaneuver Slardar’s Guardian Sprint. As a result, he weakens Slardar’s fighting potential by making it tough to close the distance between them. In addition to this, he can also catch enemy supports from the backlines by rushing onto them.
Specializing in illusions, Phantom Lancer is a terrifying foe for Slardar, who has extremely minimal crowd clear and AoE. Slardar also suffers from very low mana, which Phantom Lancer exploits with Diffusal Blade. Manta Style is another choice item that provides an additional dispel against Slardar, allowing Phantom Lancer to escape his stuns when timed right.
Oracle
Oracle has a multitude of spells that work very well against the many strengths of Slardar. One of these important spells is Fortune’s End, which not only applies a dispel but also roots Slardar. This dispel cancels out both Corrosive Haze and even Guardian Sprint, thus reducing what Slardar can do in any fight.
Fate’s Edict is a handy spell that can disarm any enemy or ally for up to 5 seconds. Utilize this spell to disarm Slardar whenever he charges onto an allied hero, which does not let him use his bashes. Slardar fails to deal any amount of his burst physical damage without his bashes, which is vastly useful for Oracle and his allies.
False Promise gives Oracle the chance to save any ally he wishes, allowing him to delay the inevitable. Using this also gives him the chance to dispel Corrosive Haze and any stuns or slows Slardar has used. Even this limited time when Oracle saves his teammate can help turn around or win a team fight.
Abaddon
Playing Abaddon not only as a core but as a support counters Slardar because of his impressive abilities. Aphotic Shield applies a massive dispel onto his allies, removing any debuffs on them. Besides this, this shield also lets allies absorb 200 damage which can be the determining factor in winning an engagement.
Furthermore, Abaddon secures himself from any threat that Slardar poses with his ultimate ability called Borrowed Time. This ability discards any debuff on him and heals him for the exact damage that Slardar deals. In this case, the burst damage from Slardar plays against him by making Abaddon even more sustainable.
All his debuffs provide Slardar with an insane amount of physical damage and high durability. Along with this, the immense fighting potential also aids his ability to carry games and rip apart enemies. Therefore, knowing the Best Slardar Counters in Dota 2 is imperative to win your games against him.
