Counter Play: Lifestealer

Warning: Generally (especially in match making) it's better to build a solid team rather than try to "counter-pick" a single hero. If you can do both with a single pick, that's obviously a good route to choose. However, solid team composition is necessary for winning lanes, team fights, and ultimately the game.

Weaknesses of Lifestealer

• Silence -- if he cannot Rage or Infest, Lifestealer drops quickly
• Armor Reduction -- Lifestealer has super low armor (hence why you see things like Armlet and Assault Curiass picked up on him)
• Lockdown -- if Lifestealer cannot attack, he will die quickly
  • Kiting is a subcategory of this

Heroes that Provide These Things

Silence

• Silencer -- if you ult at the right time, Silencer makes team fights very hard to Lifestealer (he basically needs to buy BKB to do anything)
• Disruptor -- a well placed Kinetic Field + Static Storm destroy Lifestealer
• Puck -- initiator with a silence. Currently rising to being a top tier mid hero again. You also have Phase Shift to help if Lifestealer catches you out.
• Drow -- dropping a silence on Lifestaler in a fight is pretty devastating. You also have Ice Arrows to help kite him.
• Clinkz -- a hero that typically builds Orchid. You can burst Lifestealer down quickly usually (be careful there aren't many creeps aroudn)
• Death Prophet -- fast moving, an ult that does physical damage, and an easy to land 6-second silence
• Nighstalker -- at night, you have a stupidly long silence. However, you are melee, so he can still 1v1 you. Teamfight at night and Lifestealer isn't that scary though.
• (Skywrath Mage) -- has a long silence if you can pull it off in time. Otherwise, he is in trouble having a low amount of HP, relying on his high movement speed for survival, and dealing only magic damage.
• (Doom) -- super long silence, but not necessarily a reason to pick him against Lifestealer
• Honestly, I'd advise against picking Doom just for dealing with Lifestealer. Your ult has too long a cooldown and other heroes work just as well and are easier to fit in a lineup.

Armor Reduction

• Templar Assassin -- TA is an early-mid game stomper that has armor reduction to punish Lifestealer. Keeping Lifestealer down in mid-game makes it hard for him to carry at all.
  • Caution: TA generally needs to mid (you can run her as a carry though). Recently, she's fallen a bit out of favor at mid, but is still very good.
• Slardar -- physical stun + massive armor reduction as well as bashes. One more stun, and Lifestealer is pretty easy to deal with.
  • Caution: Slardar's sprint is pretty shitty and provides next to nothing for team fights, making him a bit weaker pickup than other heroes. Use it carefully though, and he can be incredibly powerful.
• Vengeful Spirit -- Wave of Terror is armor reduction. You have a great stun. Your aura is also very helpful lategame for dishing out physical damage.

Lockdown

• Bane -- your ult goes though BKB (just doesn't damage). On an equally important note, you'll drain Lifestealer's mana pool, which is incredibly small to begin with. He relies heavily on spells for survival.
• Beastmaster -- ult goes though BKB, you deal composite damage with axes (only good early on though)
• Batrider -- able to pull Lifestealer out of position with Lasso. Good for combo-ing.
• Shadow Demon -- not quite "lockdown", but you're able to Disrupt and set up combo stuns. Also, Soul Catcher destroys Lifestealer. Purge is also good against him because he's very kiteable.

Miscellaneous

• Razor -- Static Link works through Rage. You can drain some of his attack power. You also have an ult with Armor Reduction.
• Clockwerk -- Cogs can help isolate Lifestealer so your team can focus him down. While stuck in cogs, he won't have any creeps to infest.
  • Caution: Clock can become an easy target if you don't snowball. You might end up feeding Lifestealer if done incorrectly.
• Weaver -- you're very hard to kill, you have The Swarm which reduces his armor, and you deal lots of physical damage (even from hit and runs due to Geminate)
• (Undying) -- ealry game you can stomp Lifestealer (especially in tri. vs. tri) because every Decay means he loses base damage.
• (Phantom Assassin) -- you have Evasion and big physical damage crits. PA isn't necessarily a great pickup, but can work.
• (Viper) -- your slows work if you hit Lifestealer with them, then he Rages. He won't take the magic damage, but he becomes stupidly kiteable.
• Troll Warlord -- low HP and high armor to deal with Feast. Troll has bashes and loves to man fight (i.e. 1v1 whaling on each other) because of his attack speed passive.

This isn't what I'd call an exhaustive list, but you should get the general idea behind picking. Look for stuff that can help against particular heroes, but also add something to your team composition as well.

Also, some items work well against Lifestealer:

• Orchid -- silence + damage amp
• Abyssal Blade -- stun that goes through Rage
• Heaven's Halberd -- if he can't hit you, he can't heal up. A well timed disarm also works wonders (note that Rage dispells it)
• Desolator / Medallion -- armor reduction
• Sheep Stick -- good against any hero really
• Skadi -- makes Lifestealer super kiteable, just hurts him all around.
• Force Staff -- helps kite Lifestealer and be able to move out of harm's way when you are debuffed by Open Wounds
• Medallion of Courage -- as long as you're not the one being focused, this is a very strong item against Lifestealer because his base armor is incredibly low. A Stun + Medallion debuff has high kill potential. 
• Caution: using this in Trilane vs. Trilane is risky and there may be other high priority items to get first (e.g. Magic Wand, or just wards and such)

Counter Play: Bloodseeker

Bloodseeker is a well known pub stomper, especially in the lower tier brackets. In truth, he's not that powerful of a hero, but you have to know how to play against him.

The good thing is that you don't need specific heroes to "counter" him, just use smart play and pick up a few items.

Bloodseeker's Playstyle

• Early Game / Laning
• Typically seen at the MID LANE
• Relies on being able to regenerate HP from Bloodbath
• Low ability to control the lane (i.e. cannot quickly push it for rune control)
• Mid Game
• Moving between lanes and ganking
• Able to solo kill many heroes who start at a lower HP than him (i.e. will die if they try to 1v1 him and are left with only running)
• Able to tower dive due to Bloodbath
• Able to find low HP heroes and intercept them due to Thirst
• End Game
• Has snowballed into a carry
• Becomes more of a support hero using Bloodrage to buff the carry or silence a support
• Strengths
• Bloodbath enables him to engage in riskier plays due to HP regen after a kill
• Bloodrage makes Bloodseeker more adaptable (buff himself/a carry, or silence a support)
• Laning - as long as he can kill creeps, he's hard to zone out
• 1v1 Hero Kills
• Ganking
• Clean up - finding heroes that escaped a fight and finishing them off
• Pseudo-Gem - reveals invisible heroes when they are low HP
• Weaknesses
• Lacks crowd control (especially stuns)
• Kiteable - he has speed, but not really DPS (Bloodrage can help though); also no gap closers
• Escapes - lacking in this department unless another hero is low HP around him
• Rune Control - nothing to clear the creep wave quickly in order to get there first
• Unreliable Skills - Thirst is only useful when a hero is low HP around him, it's very conditional as opposed to Nightstalker's ability (you know how long it will be night), or something like Bounty Hunter's Track (hero activated speed increase while around them)
• Role
• Semi-Carry - he can snowball into a carry role, but is less effective than other carries in late game
• Ganker - has a good kit for ganking
• Utility - he has a decent silence or buff (depending on what you want) and a spell that keeps many heroes in one place temporarily (5/7/9 seconds)

 Countering Bloodseeker

Despite being a new player's worst fear, Bloodseeker is actually not that hard to deal with. Most people just need to wrap their head around the fact that Bloodseeker's power comes from moving while his ult is active on you.

At Mid

Zoning

Bloodseeker can actually be zoned out fairly easily. The simple trick to it comes from one tidbit:

He needs to kill creeps to be viable at mid.

How do we take that away from him?

• Use spells early on to force him to use all his regen (preferably before he gets Bottle - which would be around 1:30-1:50 if he's bottle rushing)
• After that, keep hitting him every time he comes close
• Eventually, he will have to choose between killing a creep and potentially getting killed, or going back to base (giving you a huge lead in XP & GPM)

Rune Control

One thing Bloodseeker is really bad at is Rune Control. Many prominent mid heroes have an ability that allows them to burst down the creep wave. This allows them to get the rune while the other player chooses between farming under the tower, or contesting the rune (while losing XP & Gold opportunity).

With Items

Item choices are pretty simplistic. The common mantra you hear amongst DotA players is:

His Ult is countered by TP Scroll.

That's really it. If he ults you, just start teleporting. He has nothing that can stop your teleport (unless he's with allies). NOTE: Force Staff does not cancel TPs (it does in some other similar games), so if he goes that gimmicky route, you're still safe.

Other items that can be useful:

• Mekansm - a quick burst heal
• Heaven's Halberd - more HP, evasion, and the ability to disarm him
• Wards - information collecting is a huge part of strategy games. Knowing when Bloodseeker is on his way gives you a heads up to go get a TP scroll or hide in tower range
• Blade Mail - to some extent, this can be used if you're against him 1v1. Discourages him from attacking if you have more HP
• Tranquil Boots - always stay close to full HP
• Ghost Scepter - immune to physical attacks (however, his ult is Pure Damage, so you can't run, but you can stay still unless he has Radiance)

You get the idea. Anything that lets you withstand his ult, prevent him from getting you singled out, etc. They all work well. Forms of Stun/Hex can be useful too. I'm sure there are plenty of others. However, most of the time it's not worth building specific items to counter a Bloodseeker other than TP Scrolls and Wards.

With Hero Picks

A WORD OF CAUTION: Do not pick a hero to counter another unless you can fit it in your lineup. Making sure your lanes are solid is much better than countering a single hero.

• Mid Heroes
• Any popular mid will most likely be able to outlane Bloodseeker (e.g. Queen of Pain, Templar Assassin, Batrider, etc.)
• Axe - this is a special case. Sending Axe mid against Bloodseeker means that he has to face Axe's Counter-Helix in order to attempt creep kills. Combined with spells like Battle Hunter, Axe quickly becomes hard for Bloodseeker to go head to head with
• Huskar - the lower he gets you, the more DPS you have. His ult is a pseudo-buff to Huskar's natural abilities
• Misc
• Disruptor - able to send Bloodseeker back by 4 seconds. At high movespeeds, it really hurts his ganking potential
• Heroes with heals - Omniknight, Chen, etc. that are able to help teammates, or bait tower dives
• Beefy Heroes - Bloodseeker usually can't 1v1 them, and his ult isn't as effective against them
• Ancient Apparition - his ult prevents Bloodseeker from healing temporarily (if hit with it)

With Strategy

The strategy is pretty simple: don't allow yourself to get picked off. Move in groups, mount team pushes, etc.

Bloodseeker thrives on ganking heroes that are alone. Don't give him that opportunity. Or, at the very least, carry a TP scroll in the event he comes after you. But in reality, just do things as a team. Keep pushing towers together, or moving as a group to gank heroes. Bloodseeker really does not offer much to team fights.

Utilize good wards to see him coming in advance.

Counter Play: Phantom Lancer

There has been a bit of a rise in Phantom Lancer lately. He's a hero that is hard to gank due to his Illusions, slows, and invisibility. If the game is left to play out for too long (usually about 40 minutes), Phantom Lancer becomes nearly unbeatable.

Before delving into how to beat him, let's break the hero down.

Hero Breakdown

Play Style

Typically you'll see Phantom Lancer in a 4-Protecting-1 type of strategy. By this I mean his four allies create turmoil to distract the enemy while Phantom Lancer farms up and pushes towers. To some extent, you can consider Phantom Lancer a split-push carry as well.

Ganking him is also very difficult. You must have some form of detection and you must also be able to solo out the real hero. Often, Phantom Lancer may be pushing lanes with his Illusions alone, or jungling two spots at once, making it hard to tell where the real Phantom Lancer is.

Weaknesses

Early game, Phantom Lancer is very susceptible to any form of detection. On his own, Phantom Lancer cannot do much damage (low mana pool, despite high damage nuke/slow). He is also very squishy, though he has an escape mechanism in Dopplewalk.

Therefore, in early game, we can say his weaknesses are:

• Detection (Dust, Gem, and Sentries to some extent)
• Burst Damage
• Mana Burn (low mana pool with high mana cost abilities)

When you reach mid game, he becomes more difficult to deal with as he starts to build items like Diffusal Blade, which can Purge Dust. Manta Style will also dispell debuffs like Dust. Around mid game, you'll also see Phantom Lancer start to be off on his own more.

Therefore, mid game, we can say his weaknesses are:

• Detection - you just need to be smarter with it. Force him to Dopplewalk before using Dust so he cannot Purge it and use Dopplewalk to escape. If you have Sentries or a Gem, this is less of a problem.
• Anti-Split-Push - he will be farming the jungle, lane, and pushing towers on his own. Using heroes that can take out split pushers become valuable here. TPs are a must. Do not give up towers.

Late game is when he'll probably be seen more with his team. By this point in time, he should have farmed up a Heart. In team fights, you need to either get rid of his Illusions quickly or prevent them from spawning.

Therefore, in late game, we can say his weaknesses are:

• Cleave Heroes - auto attacks that hit an area
• AoE Spells - less effective for the damage, but still might help hurt the Illusion count
• Protection from Physical Damage - via spells, Ghost Scepter, Evasion, etc.
• Crowd Control / Disarm / Attack Slow - prevent him from spawning Illusions

Countering Phantom Lancer

There are many routes to countering a hero like Phantom Lancer. You might be able to make some of these decisions before play (e.g. Captains Mode), but in pubs you might not have that advantage.

Strategy

As we've talked about, Phantom Lancer needs his farm and needs the game to go on for a while. He can get aggressive early with support from Keeper of the Light, but that doesn't necessarily seal the game as a loss.

The main strategy would be: do not give him time to farm.

• Push Early - force him to come help his team defend, he does not pose much of a threat in early game. Take advantage of that.
• Occupy his Jungle - ward his jungle up, do not let him find farm anywhere
• Gank him when you can - use the wards to see when he's farming alone and use Smoke of Deceit to sneak over and gank him. Make it so he's not safe farming anywhere.

Heroes

Some heroes help to play against Phantom Lancer. They fall into four general categories: AoE Spells, Cleave Damage, Anti-Split Push, and Smart Play.

• AoE Spells
• Leshrac - as long as you don't get focused down, your ult can help clear out Illusions
• Earthshaker - a classic counter due to his Ultimate triggering off of Illusions as well
• Darkseer - a generally good hero in any case, but also good for grouping up the enemy team + Illusions. Not 100% sure, but his Ult clone of Phantom Lancer might spawn Illusions on hit as well.
• Magnus - another hero capable of grouping heroes up. The long stun duration on his ult helps to quickly focus down Phantom Lancer.
• Cleave Damage
• Sven - paired with a hero like Magnus, Sven's Ult + Cleave can rip through Phantom Lancer. He also has an AoE stun and an AoE armor buff for the team.
• Luna - her Glaives, paired with naturally high DPS make her easily able to cut through Phantom Lancer. She does not have high mana dependency, so the Mana Burn on Diffusal Blade is not as large of a threat to her. She is squishy, so making sure Phantom Lancer does not focus her is a must.
• Gyrocopter - Flak Cannon is an amazing ranged cleave. It only lasts for 6 attacks, but splashes in a 1000 AoE. Paired with Farm and his AoE Ultimate, Gyrocopter can make quick work of Phantom Lancer.
• Tiny - after getting Aghanim's Scepter, the cleave is huge against Phantom Lancer. Early game, Tiny is also very good at comboing Phantom Lancer for a near instant kill.
• Kunkka - Not necessarily as effective as other cleave heroes, but Tidebringer + Crits has the potential to wipe out Illusions quickly.
• Dragon Knight - in his ult form, he has splash damage and his 3rd level ult also slows enemies. If you can get the Phantom Lancers grouped up, Dragon Knight can put a dent in them.
• Anti-Split Push
• Nyx Assassin - high tier solo killer right now. Mana Burn, plus the damage from your ult and stun can easily kill a solo farming Phantom Lancer, as long as you know which one is real.
• Bounty Hunter - not as good at solo kills anymore, but still potent. Nevertheless, track is still useful against Phantom Lancer.
• Wisp - paired with a good hero, Wisp can quickly gank Phantom Lancer (provided good wards), then return to help the team with whatever they were doing. Basically, an excellent hero for playing against 4-protecting-1 teams.
• Smart Play
• Shadow Demon - by using Disruption on Phantom Lancer, Shadow Demon is capable of spawning his own Phantom Lancer army.
• Faceless Void - if you can capture the original Phantom Lancer in your Chronosphere, he'll be done for quickly.
• Spectre - by tanking up, Spectre can kill Illusions (and the enemy team) with just Dispersion damage
• Omniknight - not necessarily a counter, but his Ultimate (Guardian Angel) can help keep your team alive long enough to kill Phantom Lancer. Degen Aura also helps by slowing Phantom Lancer's movement and attacks.
• [Untested] Naga Siren - I have not tested this, but my theory is that if you use the Naga Ult, then by the end of it the Illusions will have disappeared and you can lock Phantom Lancer down with Net.

There are also some heroes that are double-edged swords. Basically, whoever gets the jump first will probably come out on top. These would be:

• Axe - early game to mid game, you'll generally have the advantage. Using Call, you can keep Phantom Lancer pinned down while his Illusions cause your to Spin more. However, after the armor buff from Call wears off, Phantom Lancer has the potential to melt you.
• Tinker - March of the Machines is a great spell for dealing with Phantom Lancer. Laser also reduces his ability to land hits (i.e. less chance to spawn Illusions). However, if he gets the jump on you first, Diffusal Blade will melt your mana pool and you will not win the fight.
• Medusa - Mystic Snake, Stone Gaze, and Split Shot are all great against Phantom Lancer. Mystic Snake does a ton of damage to Illusions (1500, if I recall), and Stone Gaze slows Phantom Lancer so he has a harder time attacking and spawning more Illusions. The problem is that if he jumps you first, Diffusal Blade will destroy your Mana Shield.

Items

Some items can be good for playing against Phantom Lancer. None are really "hard counters", but every little thing helps.

• Shiva's Guard - AoE damage plus a passive AoE attack/movespeed slow. The armor will help you live longer, but you'll also have additional mana which can be burned by Diffusal Blade.
• Halberd - Evasion is excellent against Phantom Lancer. The active ability to Disarm is also great if you can get it on him before he starts spawning Illusions.
• Butterfly - on the same note as Halberd, it provides evasion which is incredibly helpful in surviving against Phantom Lancer.
• Battlefury / Mjollnir - both are types of cleave. Any kind of cleave will help to clear out Illusions
• Detection - Sentries, Dust, Gems, etc.
• Ganking Items - Observer Wards, Smoke of Deceit, and TPs
• Force Staff - able to get allies out of the mass of Phantom Lancers
• Ghost Scepter - immunity to Physical damage can help survive as well