Zet, the Arc Warden knows no bounds, his foes know no ways of countering him, as there are often two of him! Known to deal massive damage right off the bat, Arc secures the laning phase versus his opponent. Late game Arc Warden can disable and obliterate enemies within a few hits and clicks of spells! He is quite uncounterable, or is he?

We bring you the Best 10 Heroes that obliterate Arc Warden in the current meta, these heroes are also quite relevant and can work in various different matchups!

10. Meepo

Meepo is a menacing counter to heroes like Arc Warden. Arc, on paper, has an advantage against Meepo due to his AoE and disabling toolkit but that does not happen until much later in the game, as he is farming away while Meepo dominates the game. Meepo can gank any lane he wants in the early game with the help of his sustaining and damage-dealing spells. Arc can not come online this early into the game, which provides much leverage to Meepo to gank lanes and secure objectives before Arc even has the chance to strike.

Why is Meepo a great counter to Arc Warden?

• Flux is severely impaired against Meepo because of Divided We Stand.
• Meepo's farming speed and early power spikes allow him to pressure Arc Warden before he is capable of fighting effectively.
• Without Black King Bar, Poof can finish Arc Warden quickly before he has time to do much.

Items to buy on Meepo

• Blink Dagger - Great for gap closing or initiating     
• Eye of Skadi - Great for reducing Arc Warden’s regen while also providing stats. 
• Scythe of Vyse - Disables Arc Warden and removes him from the fight
• Dragon Lance - Provides immense stats and regen
• Heart of Tarrasque - Increased HP, useful to survive the massive burst damage from AW

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Meepo

9. Broodmother

Whether you have Arachnophobia or not, I’m sure you’re afraid of the almighty Broodmother. Arc deals enough AoE damage to delete the Spiderlings but that does not happen for the first 15-20 minutes of the game where he lacks the items to do so. This is the time when Brood proves to be lethal and dominates the lane as well as has control over the map. If given free rein, she may even be knocking on your Tier 3s. All it takes is Insatiable Hunger and Diffusal Blade to melt the squishy Arc Warden, as he lacks the required armor to stay resilient to her attacks as well as he lacks the lifesteal to sustain in the laning phase.

Why is Broodmother a great counter to Arc Warden? 

• None of Arc Warden's abilities are very effective against Broodmother and her spiderlings.
• A good Broodmother looks to end the match early while Arc Warden, a very item-reliant hero, thrives in longer matches.
• Arc Warden has no innate disables to stop Broodmother from life-stealing with Insatiable Hunger and shredding through his relatively lower armor.

Items to Buy on Broodmother

• Aghanim’s Scepter - Gives a ton of charges to Webs and makes them global
• Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity, making you invulnerable in the fight
• Monkey King Bar - Increased physical damage, also provides true strike 
• Diffusal Blade - Slows down AW and burns his mana
• Bloodthorn - Silences and deals immense damage at the end of the duration

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Broodmother

8. Anti-Mage

The charismatic Anti-Mage is a deadly force to be reckoned with. He can quite instantly melt Arc Warden in the mid as well as the late game if he acquires his heavy-hitting items. Arc may have his spells reflected on him with the help of Counterspell, which may lead to him silencing himself or casting Flux, which may prove to be a signal for AM to get on top of him and strike him down till he has the advantage to do so. Arc can’t fare well in the later stages of the game as he still remains squishy, while AM is quite unstoppable and hard to penetrate with all his items.

Why is Anti-Mage a great counter to Arc Warden? 

• Arc Warden's high reliance on casting abilities leads him to be dependent on mana, which Anti-Mage can quickly burn with Mana Break.
• Blink mitigates the threat of Flux slow and allows Anti-Mage to close the distance between himself and Arc Warden.
• Anti-Mage's ability to farm quickly allows him keep up with Arc Warden's farm while also de-pushing the lanes Arc Warden shoves in with his Tempest Double.
• Anti-Mage also frequently buys Manta Style, and can use it so dispel Arc Warden's items that can threaten an Anti-Mage like Bloodthorn.

Items to Buy on AM

• Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity from all of Arc’s spells, making you invulnerable in the fight
• Mana Style - Exceptional to push lanes and dispel spells and root
• Abyssal Blade - Can be used to quickly lock down Arc after blinking on top of him, allowing you to beat her down with the physical damage
• Battlefury - Essential to split push and farm quickly
• Eye of Skadi - Great for reducing Arc’s regen while also providing stats. 
• Butterfly - Increased evasion, agility, and movement speed

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Anti-Mage 

7. Invoker

Invoker, the master of arcane arts fares extremely well against Arc Warden in a purely 1v1 lane matchup. His skillset ensures he can both initiate and escape from Arc Warden if need be. All of his combos work well against him due to the naturally low resistance Arc has to magic. He can harass Arc and ward him off the lane or manage to lock him down and kill him with his Tornado-Meteor or Tornado-EMP combo. Invoker is slightly squishy in the early game but if he manages to gank and play safe, he can effectively out farm and out level Arc, ensuring his damage isn’t enough to kill him.

Why is Invoker a great counter against Arc Warden?

• His Forge Spirit can negate Flux.
• Provided he does a right combo with Chaos Meteor, Invoker can easily burst down Arc Warden (plus his clone if he spawns it.)
• An early Orchid Malevolence can shut down Arc Warden pretty hard, especially when Invoker has a good lane against him if he kills him early on.
• Deafening Blast and Ice Wall limit Arc Warden's mobility and damage, crippling him greatly.

Items to buy on Invoker

• Scythe of Vyse - Disables AW and removes him from the fight
• Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity
• Aghanim’s Scepter - Reduces CD on spells
• Blink Dagger - Great for gap closing or initiating     
• Refresher’s Orb - Can refresh spells and items and use them again in quick succession to delete AW from the fight

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Invoker 

6. Riki

Riki, the silent assassin has overthrown empires and obliterated his enemies. He is often picked against Arc due to his invisibility, making him last longer in teamfights and deal massive damage and disable with the help off Smoke Screen. Riki is the ultimate carry counter to Arc Warden as he can jump in and out of the Magnetic Field and decimate him with Tricks of the Trade. He is a threat if paired with the right support in the lane. He can snowball quite easily if fed off a few kills. He can also gank Arc’s lane in the early game, as his Blink Strike ability assists him in striking the latter down easily.

Why is Riki a great counter to Arc Warden? 

• Smoke Screen combined with Diffusal Blade leaves Arc Warden effectively useless for a while as he struggles to escape the silence with low mobility.
• With Arc Warden's low mobility, Tricks of the Trade often deal decent damage to him before he moves out of it.

Items to buy on Riki

• Diffusal Blade - Slows down Arc Warden and burns his mana, powerful in tandem with Smoke Screen
• Abyssal Blade - Can bash Arc and prevent him from TP’ing
• Mana Style - Exceptional to push lanes and dispel spells or Silence from Bloodthorn
• Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity
• Daedalus - Immense critical damage

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Riki

5. Chaos Knight

Chaos Knight is undoubtedly a great counter to Arc Warden due to the lack of AoE damage from him as well as any ways to stop him from farming in the early game. Chaos Knight needs nothing but a good early game and free farm to counter Arc Warden in the late game. Arc can easily be brought out of his Magnetic Field with the help of Realiy Rift, making it easy for him to gank Arc or eliminate him early on in the teamfights. Arc feels overpowered and helpless against the army of CK illusions and can’t face him 1v1 in the late game.

Why is Chaos Knight a great counter to Arc? 

• Chaos Knight can dispel Flux with Phantasm.
• Chaos Knight can use Reality Rift to pull Arc Warden out of Magnetic Field.
• Once Chaos Knight jumps on Arc Warden with Reality Rift, Arc Warden struggles to escape due to low mobility.

Items to Buy on CK

• Armlet of Mordiggian - Increased damage and HP, can toggle through Arc’s damage
• Black King Bar - Spell immunity completely ignores Arc’s combo
• Manta Style - Can work in tandem with Reality Rift, exceptional to push lanes and dispel spells
• Assault Cuirass - Increased armor gain, while also reducing Arc’s armor
• Eye of Skadi - Reduced HP gain for Arc while offering immense stats
• Echo Sabre - Great stat gain along with immense damage and attack speed

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Chaos_Knight

4. Axe

Axe is one of the few heroes who can effortlessly solo kill Arc with just his Blink and Blademail. Doing immense physical damage right off the bat is quite unheard of in the early stages of the game, but Axe is one noble exception! A few Counter Helix spins are enough to bring Arc down. It gets messy to communicate with your team as you have more units around you, the more damage the Axe Call does, hence Arc players have to be extremely cautious while pushing high-ground or farming as a wild Axe may appear out of nowhere and decimate him in a matter of seconds. No matter how farmed Arc is, all it takes is one Axe Blink Call to get him down to 0 HP. 

Why is Axe a great counter to Arc Warden? 

• Magnetic Field doesn't provide protection against Berserker's Call and Counter Helix and his high attack speed together with Tempest Double will often trigger Counter Helix.
• The threat of a blink and Berserker's Call may make the real Arc Warden stay further back, thus effectively halving the team's damage output for a while.
• Axe also has the tools to even solo kill a Tempest Double, with his Manta Style and Aghanim's Shard build, and can also de-push the lanes Arc Warden shoves in.

Items to Buy on Axe

• Blink Dagger - Great for gap closing or initiating on AW    
• Blademail - Reflects back Arc’s damage upon activation
• Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard - AoE Battle Hunger and reduced CD on spells
• Force Staff - Another great tool to close gaps or escape the fight
• Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity, making you invulnerable in the fight

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Axe

3. Naga Siren

Naga emerges from the deep seas as a beautiful yet threatening entity whose voice can cure the worst diseases! Naga deals some heavy physical damage right off the get-go to Arc Warden. Along with her damage, she can also lock him down with her net or even the ultimate. Arc can pierce the ultimate with BKB, but with her Aghanim’s Scepter, he can’t pierce the net! She can pin him down and rip you into pieces with the assistance of her mirror illusions. She can also effectively counter-push and give Arc the run for his money when it comes to farming.

Why is Naga Siren a great counter to Arc Warden?

• Her Mirror Image illusions can depush the lanes pushed by the Tempest Double, relieving the pressure.
• Mirror Image dispels Flux, and the illusions stop Flux from working.

Items to Buy on Naga Siren

• Diffusal Blade - Slows down Arc and burns his mana
• Butterfly - Increased evasion, agility, and movement speed
• Manta Style - Dodge Arc’s spells and can be used to push lanes
• Eye of Skadi - Great for reducing Naga’s regen while also providing stats. 
• Heart of Tarrasque - Increased HP, useful to survive the massive burst damage from Arc

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Naga_Siren

2. Phantom Lancer

The countless army of fierce warriors is quite overwhelming for Arc Warden. The sheer capability to multiply and confuse Arc as he lacks the AoE damage early on in the game to identify the real PL. Phantom Lancer may be quite underwhelming against Arc in the early game due to the lack of items but the late game is quite a treat for him as he can fight with the help of his items as he progressively farms. He can pounce on Arc easily and deal a ton of physical damage which is hard to negate as he can jump in and out of his Null Void, making it easy for him to deal damage without getting interrupted.

Why is Phantom Lancer a great counter to Arc Warden?

• Doppelganger dispels Flux.
• Phantom Rush closes the distance between Phantom Lancer and Arc Warden.
• Juxtapose overwhelms Arc Warden and nullifies his kit which is only effective against isolated enemies

Items to buy on Phantom Lancer

• Diffusal Blade - Slows down Arc and burns his mana
• Mana Style - Exceptional to push lanes and dispel his silence
• Butterfly - Increased evasion, agility, and movement speed
• Eye of Skadi - Great for reducing Arc’s regen while also providing stats. 
• Abyssal Blade - Can be used to quickly lock down Arc after getting on top of her, allowing you to beat him down with the physical damage
• Heart of Tarrasque - Increased HP, useful to survive the massive physical damage from Arc 

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Phantom_Lancer 

1. Pugna

The skeletal figure comes alive after he drains Arc Warden’s life and turns him into bones and dust. Pugna is infamous for decimating Arc in a purely 1v1 mid-matchup, which is quite a rare sight. A pure lane matchup can favor Pugna as he has more INT and mana pool compared to Arc along with that he faces constant harassment and gets shoved out of the lane due to the bonkers damage he deals with his Nether Ward and Nether Blast. His decrep also allows him to stop Arc in his tracks by disarming him and amplifying the magical damage he takes. He is known to farm effortlessly due to his AoE spell and hit his item timings relatively early compared to Arc. He can also save his low HP allies with Life Drain. 

Why is Pugna known as a counter to Arc Warden? 

• Arc Warden has no innate disables to stop Life Drain and Decrepify
• The short cooldown of both Life Drain and Decrepify also means Pugna can deal with Arc Warden and Arc Warden's clone simultaneously most of the time
• A good Pugna looks to end the match early while Arc Warden, a very item-reliant hero, thrives in longer matches.

Items to Buy as Pugna

• Aether Lens - Increased cast range
• Aeon Disk - Saves him from getting burst quickly from Arc and also applies a basic dispel
• Scythe of Vyse - Disables Arc and removes him from the fight
• Dagon - Huge single targetted burst damage
• Blink Dagger - Great for gap closing or initiating     

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Pugna

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