Batrider counterpicks: who to choose against this hero in Dota 2

Batrider - most often is a mid or support. Dangerous on lane, deals a lot of magic damage and breaks the opponent's position with Flaming Lasso. He puts a lot of pressure on the enemy at the beginning of the game, but is not as effective in the late stages.

Good choices against Batrider are heroes that:

• Dispel negative effects
• Can catch, control or quickly kill Batrider.

Some of the best heroes against Batrider:

• Slark - normally melee heroes have a hard time standing up against Batrider, but Slark thanks to Dark Pact has the ability to dispel Sticky Napalm and even Flaming Lasso if you manage to press Dark Pact early. Slark can also use Pounce to catch Batrider and keep him from going for Firefly.
• Oracle - Just like Slark can dispel Sticky Napalm with Fortune's End and knock down Flaming Lasso with his False Promise. However, Oracle has another very useful ability against Batrider - Fate's Edict, which gives 100% resistance to magic damage and prevents Batrider from killing the hero quickly.
• Tidehunter - is a hero you don't want to target at all because of his innate Blubber ability, which applies a strong dispel to Tidehunter every time he takes 500 or more damage. Tidehunter can also catch Batrider with Aghanim's Shard's Dead In the Water and counter-initiate with Ravage if Batrider tries to start a fight by catching the victim in Flaming Lasso.

In addition to abilities with “strong” dispel, such as Abaddon's Aphotic Shield and Legion Commander's Press The Attack, in Dota 2 there are a number of other abilities that interrupt Batrider's Flaming Lasso - Supernova Phoenix (with Aghanim's Scepter), Work Horse (Aghanim's Scepter) Centaur Warrunner, Megameepo (Aghanim's Scepter) Meepo (if Flaming Lasso is applied to a clone), Glimpse Disruptor (if Batrider moves more than 500 units away), X Marks The Spot Kunkka (always knocks down, unlike Glimpse), Relocate Io (also always knocks down independent of distance), Tombstone (with Aghanim's Shard) Undying and Nether Swap Vengeful Spirit.

Flaming Lasso also interrupts Tinker's Warp Flare ability from Aghanim's Shard. However, this won't help counter Batrider, as this ability can only be used on the enemy, i.e. tearing up an allied Lasso.

And such abilities as Astral Imprisonment Outworld Destroyer, Disruption Shadow Demon, Enchant Remnant (Aghanim's Scepter) Earth Spirit, and Escape Act Ringmaster, although they make the chosen hero invulnerable (in Escape Act the hero can take damage, but cannot be targeted), do not interrupt Flaming Lasso and will only be effective if they are applied to Batrider himself (except for Escape Act, which can only be applied to allies). And Tusk can't even use Snowball on an ally under the effect of Lasso.

In addition to heroes, the following items will be effective against Batrider:

• Linken's Sphere - Batrider has no ability to shoot down Linken's Sphere and apply Flaming Lasso, unless he buys an item like Rod of Atos or Scythe Of Vyse.
• Lotus Orb - will remove Sticky Napalm stacks and protect from Flaming Lasso.
• Pipe of Insight/Mage Slayer - protects from Batrider's huge magic damage.
• Rod of Atos/Gleipnir - will help catch Batrider (until he buys Black King Bar or Wind Waker).

How to counter Batrider

Start of the game:

Standing on the lane against Batrider is extremely unpleasant and dangerous. The first thing you need to do is buy a Magic Stick, which will quickly accumulate charges by Sticky Napalm. If you don't have any abilities that can dispel Sticky Napalm, you should move to a safe distance after getting 4-5 stacks and wait for them to subside, otherwise you risk dying very quickly under the effects of Firefly and FlameBreak. Batrider is also very effective at farming neutral creep stacks, so it's a good idea to block spawn points in the enemy forest or try to pick up stacks yourself at the first opportunity.

Mid-game:

In mid-game, you need to prevent Batrider from earning easy kills for your team with Flaming Lasso. Supports need to ensure they have visibility on the map and don't leave their core heroes alone so they don't fall victim to ganks from Batrider and his team.

Late Stage:

Batrider is not as dangerous in the late-game as he was in the early stages. However, he can still cause trouble by breaking the opponent's position with Flaming Lasso. The best solution is to try to kill Batrider before a teamfight or control him in combat. However, if this fails you should try to save your allies by dispelling or knocking down Flaming Lasso.

Overall Strategy

Against Batrider, avoid letting him stack too many Sticky Napalm charges, as it drastically slows you down and amplifies his damage. Be cautious of Flaming Lasso—position yourself in a way that prevents him from isolating a key target. In fights, react quickly to his initiations and consider items like Lotus Orb or Eul’s Scepter to disrupt his control.