How to Counter Every Hero in Vainglory (1.18) by Cheese Ausar

Hey, I'm Ausar, author of the CAPS LOCK CATHERINE guide. I am only a casual player and will perhaps never make it to Vainglorious or take part in tournaments, but boasting hundreds of games of experience, I do have rudimentary knowledge of how heroes work. With the addition of draft mode in 1.14, I think this guide would be a good addition to have in VGF. This guide will list the heroes by the their roles and will provide tips and counters against them.

This guide is inspired by Cuttleboss' Guide to Countering Every Hero in DOTA. Do check it out if you play Dota 2!

Biggest counter to most Snipers are burst assassins like Koshka and Taka. You'll be seeing the latter a lot.

Ringo
*Ringo can kite effortlessly with Achilles Shot and Twirling Silver. Don't let it happen.
*Try not to run back and forth from him. Many try to advance on Ringo, get slowed and kited, then finished off with Hellfire Brew.

Items:
Reflex Block: A Reflex Block can be very handy to avoid his slow or burn.

Heroes:
Taka: Taka can instantly close the gap and burst Ringo down. His Kaiten negates a precious second of Ringo's high damage output, and his Kaku can prevent him from getting hit by Hellfire Brew if used before Ringo can activate his ult.
Kestrel: For the same reasons as Taka. Very effective burst and gap closer.
Koshka: Also for the same reasons. However she falls off late game and a good Reflex Block from Ringo can doom her, so caution is required.
Lance: Locks him down and peels him away.




Vox
*Vox's early game is really bad, but his late game is godlike. Gank him repeatedly and invade to take advantage of his weakness early on.
*Never stand together (or even worse, in a straight line) for Vox to pull his ult off. It's more devastating than you think.

Items:
Crucible, Aegis, Reflex Block: Blocking the silence and some of the massive damage through his ult is beneficial to you and your team.
warhorn: Extremely valuable in chasing him down. He's extremely slippery.

Heroes:
Phinn: While he may not seem like much, a good Phinn can pull Vox into the fray of it all, allowing allies to quickly kill him. He can also buff up allies with extra shield.

Glaive: His Afterburn can easily catch up to Vox and throw off his positioning. Afterwards he can burst Vox down. However, Vox can kite Glaive easily early on.

Blackfeather: One of the few sustain melee characters than can easily out-sustain Vox. He has a slow and a nuke that also speeds him up, and even if Vox zooms away his Rose Offensive allows him to easily catch up.




SAW
*Never fight him early on unless your team is full of stuns.
*Pay attention to your minimap. If SAW is visible by your turret, it's highly likely it's going to drop quickly. Stop his pushes.
*Gank him early; he's really easy to gank if you have stuns. He also pushes waves really nicely, so that's an added bonus.

Items:
Atlas Pauldron: The pinnacle of counters for WP SAW. This massively reduces his attack speed, dealing a huge blow to his damage output.
Warhorn: If you need to reposition against a SAW, this works wonders. Also helps to chase him down while he's using Roadie Run.

Heroes:
Joule: Best counter there is. SAW is a stationary potato target to her; a good Rocket Leap + Thunder Strike or Big Red Button combo will end him instantly.
Catherine: Very good counter too. The stun and silence will cripple him, both in ganks and teamfights.
Celeste: Can easily poke and kill him with Heliogenesis. Core Collapse is easy to land on him. Solar Storm won't be a problem either.
Skaarf: Like Celeste, he can poke and burn him down. The ult also melts saw HARD since he has no way to cancel it.
Lance: Big, stationary target for him to kill.




Skye
*Chasing her may result in the classic Coward Barrage turnaround. If you fight her, it's best to end her quickly instead of chasing her and losing 50% health while doing so.
*If playing in draft mode, DO NOT draft heroes with a damage output that Skye can dodge; for example, Joule's Big Red Button.

Items:
Warhorn: Very good for chasing and killing Skye. Also evacuates your team from her slows.

Heroes:
Ardan: A definite counter. Ardan can save a teammates from Skye's deadly damage, boost an ally to catch up and kill Skye, and to top it off can restrict her movement in his Gauntlet. Skye will have a very hard time against Ardan.
Catherine: With her stuns and silence, Skye's massive power is greatly reduced. Forward Barrage goes through Stormguard though.
Fortress: Though he may not seem like a good counter, his wolves can tank an entire Barrage and survive. It's great for negating damage just for that second.
Taka: It's very hard for CP Skye to properly aim her abilities at someone who's flipping and cartwheeling all over the place. It's even harder when she's dead within a second.
Lance: Locks her down, peels her away, can't be kited; what more can you ask for?




Petal
*Pick heroes that have good AOE damage, and say bye to her pets.
*Get early Travel Boots to flee from her ult.

Items:
Warhorn: Again, this item. Warhorn is exceptionally good in assisting in escaping from her ult. After that, you can go full-on on Petal.

Heroes:
Koshka, Skye, Kestrel, Celeste, Skaarf, Vox, Reim, Glaive, Joule: Wow, that's an extensive list. All of them have good AOE damage that can instantly sweep up her munions. Additionally Glaive and Joule have great gap-closers which is great to prevent themselves from being kited.

Phinn: If there's anything Petal doesn't want to do, it's sitting in the heat of battle. Phinn fixes that for your team and can kill all her pets in a single Quibble.

Taka: Deletes Petal instantly. Can also dodge her ult.




Kestrel
*Don't fight early. 4 Glimmershots will melt you.
*If she turns invisible don't blindly chase in a straight line. Flare up not only to gain vision of her, but also of the phosphor mist.
*Get early Travel Boots to evade her ult.

Items:

Flare Gun: ALWAYS stock on these or get Contraption.

Heroes:
Ringo: Easily prevents WP Kestrel from turning invisible, bursts her down easily and can finish her with his ult.
Glaive: Full of non-targeted abilities that is really handy in keeping her invis down. Also, massive damage.
Joule: Like Glaive, except that Big Red Button REALLY hurts.
Catherine: Reflects most damage coming from her. Stun and silence really helps.

Mages are the same as Snipers. Easily countered by burst assassins. Also they all have skillshot abilities, so picking heroes that can dodge their attacks are great.


Celeste
*Celeste can deal brutal damage and is a walking Contraption. Try advancing on her without using the brush which she will most probably check.
*Her stun is very potent but is predictable.

Items:
Reflex Block: As mentioned earlier her stun is predictable. If you have good reflexes, this will help.

Heroes:
Skye: Counter to all mages. She shreds them down and can easily dodge their abilities.
Taka: Also a very good counter. He sneaks up on them without a trace and ends them instantly.
Catherine: Stun, silence, and the squishy mage is dead.
Lance: Destroys her by throwing her out of position.




Skaarf
*Get early boots to get away from the Dragon Breath.
*If he is not the last pick, draft a hero with a stun against him to cancel his ult. Seriously, it hurts.

Items:
warhorn: Assists greatly in evading his ult.

Heroes:
Skye and Taka: Reasons explained above. You'll be seeing this for all mages.
Catherine: Though his burn goes through Stormguard, her stun and silence is great for beating him down. Cancelling his ult in the middle of a teamfight is priceless.
Lance: Destroys him, can cancel his ult, and throw him out of position, just like Celeste.




Reim:
*Because of the delay of the shatter of Winter Spire, be careful to avoid choke points.
*He needs to get into rather close proximity to land his root. Get early boots.
*PICK CHARACTERS THAT CAN KITE. Reim is extremely strong against many melee heroes

Items:
warhorn: General all-purpose utility item against Reim, both for fleeing and chasing him down.
Crucible, Reflex Block: If you are quick enough, you can block his Valkyrie. Even better. if you have a Crucible you can save your whole team.

Heroes:
Skye and Taka: Reasons explained above. They might not be as effective as they are to other mages, however, since Reim is quite tanky with his fortified health. Additionally if Taka's team doesn't immediately focus down Reim they can have a hard time since Taka will be easily killed/revealed with Reim's abilities.
Catherine: In general lockdown is very good against Reim, especially the silence, though his basic attacks still do pack a powerful punch.

Warriors deal massive sustain damage, and can usually be kited. Therefore a bursty ranged hero should do the trick against most.


Krul
This one has lots. Let's see...
*Kite him. Like seriously, he so easy to kite it's funny.
*Krul needs his abilities to deal significant damage, so silences and stuns are very good against him.
*CHECK BUSHES. You never know when a pissed-off Krul can come at you from the brush.
*Buy an early Light Shield and even consider turning it into a T3 item. Spectral Smite does heavy CP damage - shield will help against that. A 250 gold pickup won't hurt you and will get you going early on.
*Invade him to absolute hell. Take advantage of his weak early game.
Note: As of 1.15 he got a massive buff to his CP build. Engage with caution, even in the early game.

Items:
Atlas Pauldron: Biggest counter to Krul. Hampers his attack speed so much it hurts.
Reflex Block: If you're really quick you can block his stun.
Tension Bow and Aftershock: For carries, if you want to make quick work of a Krul get a burst item. The second one is preferred late game as Krul always builds very tanky.

Heroes:
Catherine: Has a stun, silence, great user for Atlas, and Stormguard makes Smite do nothing. What more can you ask for?
Skye, Petal, Vox and Ringo: All potent snipers that can kite Krul. Can be mitigated with Shiversteel however.
Skaarf, Kestrel, Taka, Koshka, Rona and Fortress: All of them deal massive early game damage. Pick these and invade Krul early.




Joule
*Focus her. She hurts. A lot.
*Try attacking her from the back if possible. Her perk gives her twice as much armour as most heroes.
*She's very difficult to play against and will require fast reflexes to fight against.

Items:
Reflex Block: Always attempt to block her stun.
Bonesaw: Reduces the armor from her perk.

Heroes:
Skye and Blackfeather: Very mobile heroes that can either kite her (skye) or evade her ult (both of them).
Catherine: Did I mention how much you will be flamed when you use Big Red Button against her Stormguard?
Taka: All of Joule's abilities are skillshots, so when played right Taka will be a pain in the neck, flipping all over the place and whatnot. He can also appear behind her and nullify her perk.



Glaive
*If you are laning follow a rule of thumb that you should never be stepping across the compass-like line, lest you want Glaive to come out with a giant rocket axe.
*If that happens, don't foolishly run back to your turret. Run in the direction of your nearest escape and ping your allies to help.

Items:
Reflex Block: Helpful for blocking the Afterburn knockback, though smart Glaives will wait till the 1 second is up.

Heroes:
Catherine: Stuns and silences Glaive to prevent him from running. Also is a really good Atlas carrier if Glaive goes WP.
Blackfeather: Deals heavy sustained damage to Glaive and can catch up if he Afterburns away.




Ozo
*His early game is quite strong, but his Three-Ring Circus can't heal him for much yet, so he's quite squishy. Any lockdown is appreciated.
*Get early Travel Boots to flee from his ultimate and put him in a sticky situation.
*Most supports who have disables can take care of him. See below.

Items:
Reflex Block: Negates his ultimate, which is always helpful.
warhorn: Evacuates your team from him. Also, if he is spinning towards you guys you can use this to back off, then re-engage.

Heroes:
Ardan: Can trap Ozo, which is not what you want to happen to a mobile hero.
Catherine: Can cancel Ozo mid-ultimate, disrupt his jumping manoeuvres and silence him, which really sucks.
Phinn: Can't be stunned by his ultimate, and, like Catherine, can disrupt him easily.
Krul: Can't out-damage a tanky Krul and can usually stick to Ozo and finish him off.



Rona
*She will invade early. Brace yourselves.
*Draft heroes with stuns to cancel her ult.

Items:
warhorn: Useful for evading her ult. Also good for chasing her down if she uses her A.

Heroes:
Catherine: Good, reliable stun for keeping her off. Also silences her to either prevent her from using her ult at the start of a fight or using her A to escape.
Kestrel: Reliable burst, and can turn invisible to escape.



Alpha
*She is not as powerful early game as you think. Of course the extra life will be very helpful, but it's extremely difficult for supports to keep her alive while resurrecting as they have no items to assist them in doing so.
*Keep track of her heroic perk, don't be afraid to initiate a fight if she has it down. It is her trump card - make use of time when it's not available.
*If you want to kill her with her resurrect up, go all the way. Often, players would walk away when she's respawning, then realise she's not so hard to kill and turn back when it's too late.

Items:
warhorn: Evacuate your team from a losing fight with this. Also helps with her ult.
Tension Bow and Aftershock: Typically if you have a carry that should get either of these, you guys should rush it. Burst is great against Alpha.

Heroes:
Blackfeather, Koshka, Taka: All bursty heroes that can kill her both while she's alive and resurrecting. Taka and BF can also easily escape if things go wrong.
Reim: Beats the hell out of her. Easily kills her while she's alive and steamrolls her stationary self.

Assassins specialize in burst damage, and are usually picked for the sole purpose of dealing massive damage in an instant. They, however, are usually not good at doing anything else, so tanky heroes that can survive their burst are great counters.

Koshka
*Never fight early. Her early game is ridiculous.
*An early Light Shield pickup can do wonders.
*If Koshka rushes a Aftershock, don't buy more max health.

Items:
Reflex Block: Blocking her ult will give you the upper hand at any time of the game.

Heroes:
Phinn: Can't be stunned, crazy defense, can buff allies to prevent them from being bursted and can pull Koshka back if she flees.
Catherine: Stuns and silences works like magic against Koshka.




Taka
*While laning you should always have vision of both lane bushes to see if he's sneaking up on you.
*If he gets the drop on you in a 1v1, just fight. Chances are you'll die while running, so better to try than attempting a fruitless escape. The same goes for most assassins, but more so for Taka.

Items:
Flare Gun or Contraption: BUY. VISION.

Heroes:
Glaive: Tanky if built right, can usually withstand Taka's initial assault and can easily reveal him from invisibility.




Blackfeather
*Buy armour against his execute. It hurts.
*Try to make sure his Rose Offensive charges are used up before debuffing him, since he can easily avoid it with the help of his ult.

Heroes:
Skye: Can easily kite and kill him. May require the help of some CD reduction though.

Never focus these guys in a fight. You should be attacking the carries. They are incredibly tanky, so Aftershock is usually recommended.

Adagio
*His heal and attack buff is to be reckoned with, especially if he builds a few crystal items.
*He's quite squishy compared to other roamers, so try drafting or banning tanky carries that complement him.

Items:
Crucible: Blocking Verse of Judgemnet = epic win.



Ardan
*Ardan is great against damage over time effects like Skye's Barrage and Petal's pets, since his perk heals him for every instance of damage. Don't draft such heroes against Ardan.

Items:
Crucible: Getting your team out of Gauntlet is priceless.
Aftershock: Ardan is extremely tanky - this will help.

Heroes:
Catherine: Can cancel his Gauntlet, and has no way of punishing a bad initiation from her.




Catherine
*When laning, be aware that she will try to stack her perk by ganking you. Keep away from the brush.
*DON'T USE ABILITIES WITH MASSIVE DAMAGE AGAINST HER WHEN SHE HAS HER SHIELD UP.

Items:
Crucible: Blocking her silence is also very priceless.

Heroes:
Phinn: Can't be stunned, and can easily punish a bad initiation with his A and B abilities.




Fortress
*His early game is incredible. He WILL invade - be prepared.
*He doesn't have a stun/peel, so he kind of falls of late game. This requires him to get the early game lead, so really, don't let him.
*He complements very well with other early game heroes, so try picking them before his team does to take away his advantage.




Phinn
*He is slow. VERY SLOW. Try taking the fight away from him, unless he already dragged you back.
*Try dodging Quibble, it's easy.

Items:
Crucible: Block his hook.
Aftershock: He has such high health that 15% is massive.

Heroes:
Fortress: His B ability does damage based on max health which is massive owing to Phinn's natural behemoth of a health pool, and makes him slower than he actually is. Phinn's Quibble can also be easily avoided with Fortress' A, hasting allies and destroying his team before he can do much.




Lance
*It's almost as if he was MADE to destroy kiting heroes. Draft sticky, sustain melee heroes if possible.
*His Impale may be dodged; it's quite sluggish.
*Stop focusing him, especially after he's used his Gythian Wall; the damage reduction is massive.

Items:
Crucible: As with all roamers, Lance boasts good crowd control. Blocking any one of his abilities will grant great dividends to your team.
warhorn: While his Combat Roll gives him massive mobility for a roamer, he cannot catch up with the speed of Warhorn. Great for chasing or fleeing.

Heroes:
Catherine: Silences will cripple him.
Blackfeather, Krul, Glaive, Joule: Can stick to him and his team and deal great sustain damage.

Below I'll put some tips for drafting. This guide about picking and countering wouldn't be complete if I didn't do this!

Draft Greediness

When drafting, always consider draft greediness. It's how greedy your team composition - the more late-game and farm dependent heroes you have, the greedier your draft is. For example, a team comp of Krul and Vox may not work because they need copious amounts of farm to reach their peak power.

Power Peaks

Every character has times in which they are very powerful. For example Krul has an insane late-game, but he needs farm to amass strength and his early game is pretty trash. Koshka, on the other hand, has devastating early-game power but falls off late game. When drafting, make sure that your team is not too inclined to trading the early-game for late power. Similarly, unless you plan to invade and push very early, don't let your team comp be composed full of early-game heroes.

Picking is akin to Banning

Title says it all. When you pick, you're automatically removing the enemy's chance to pick that hero. So for example, if the enemy team has picked Adagio, you might want to pick SAW if you can play him since he and Adagio go well together.

Hero Synergy

Just from the first pick alone, you can predict what the enemy is going to draft. Let's say they ban Joule and pick Adagio. Who do you think they're going to pick? SAW, of course. Just by hero synergy, you can attempt to ruin their intended team comp. Such knowledge usually comes with experience, so playing more will help you in situations like these.

Thanks for reading! I hope this guide helps you in your drafting endeavours. This guide will naturally be updated as more heroes are added. If you have anything else to suggest do leave a comment, I'd be more than happy to add more beneficial content!