Counter Pudge?

I created the thread so I do believe I'm at liberty to say what it's about. So... scenario time! Let's say Pudge got 4 early/mid game kills as he is oft wont to do. That could be enough to snowball him into the thirty kills he always gets. Once he gets fed, even a little, how do you deal with him. P.S. Let's say he has a Shadow Blade and a Blink Dagger in his inventory.

Pudge bought a Shadow Blade - my reaction? I laugh at him 8{3

He's pretty much the same with or without Kills, it's just harder to 1 vs 1 him. So long as you avoid getting Meat Hooked and have teammates you can depend on, just play as 5. If you're Split-Pushing, try to keep track of where he is and don't over-extend while Pushing.

look i know i said before wards wards wards wards and that does still count, having vision means everything. but honestly when you start increasing in skill level and you are playing at a higher bracket you will find that its also experience.

when you have the experience and knowledge of playing against a Pudge you will find you start to anticipate the hooks and his positioning in lane and your map awareness will have increased a fair bit to the point that you develop say "a Pudge Sense". just last night i was playing as AA in lane and there was a pudge in Mid at 7:23 then at 7:48 i just felt something, i checked map and the pudge was still in mid but he was playing quite defensive which i just felt was odd, you could say my "pudge sense was tingling". so i popped a Dust and poof Pudge was about 500 units behind us in lane, i was able to get off a combo while juggernaut unleashed a blade fury right in his face.

obviously he had a illusion run in bottle and had found an invis rune. because of my experience playing pudge and knowing how players position him and how he works i knew that the one mid wasnt real. now good wards would have helped in this instance but he bottled the rune at top where it wasnt warded.(due to our offlane bristle not placing the ward i gave him).

if he becomes fed then your best hope is to try and pick him off. and by this i mean that a fed pudge will get "Over confident" and go running off by himself to get a kill. play to this by baiting him to his death.

anyway ... 3 points to combat pudge.

1.wards
2.experience (play him, play against him, Know him)
3.play to his weaknesses

Pretty much the same WITH or WITHOUT kill? Xyrus high on moustaches? A snowballer , with kills having negligible effect?

His damage output doesn't change that much with Kills (unless he goes Aghs, and even then, not by much), he just gets even Tankier. Blink Dagger and maybe Force Staff make him much more of a threat, but all you have to do is be cautious of the extra Range he can jump you from.

He falls off hard after a while, especially compared to Storm Spirit, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Timbersaw, etc.

Take Storm Spirit as an example, as the game goes on and he gets more Items, he can Dive further with Ball Lightning, he can get more Overload Charges on you and with a Black King Bar, he takes a lot to shut down once he gets going by comparison.

The main reason that most people struggle with a Fed Pudge is because they just aren't capable of dealing with him from the start, let alone once he has Blink Dagger.

It's pretty much stuff like this ^

Once you have that level of awareness, you'll do fine against Pudge...sadly, your team probably won't 8{(

WARDS!! Wards + Huskar to see Pudge rage quit at 15-20min mark. Wards are so important. Add in Huskar to just make their life miserable. Flame Spear whenever he gets close enough to last hit creeps. The 50% HP loss from Life Break makes even a fed Pudge squishy. If no one else will buy them buy them yourself even if you are the carry.

For a fun trick, take Drow and hit him with Gust from the side so he is pushed away from his tower while he has Rot on. The silence makes it so he can't turn off Rot and can't hook while you can pummel him with Frost Arrow. Hard to pull off but so satisfying. Bonus points for using Gust to push him into your tower so he gets hit by it as well.

Congrats on your very first post the other Mark. However, Huskar isn't an option for me. I'm taking Pudge down with OD no matter what y'all say.

Abaddon, Doom Bringer, Lifestealer, Shadow Demon, Silencer, Huskar, Wraith King, Faceless Void, Brewmaster.

Again, OD no matter what y'all say. Sorry F.E.A.R.0

Want pudge counters? Observer Ward best way to counter him, vision and map awareness, and when in game against one, you should generally pay attention to his level, w lvl 3 Meat Hook and Dismember he can net easy early kills (if he lands hooks). I generally always make the assumption that pudge is roaming and ensure I can cover the zones he can get optimal pick offs from.

Huskar does work with Burning Spear but can get murdered if pudge knows how to hook. Bloodseeker can also do some serious damage to a pudge. Centaur Warrunner doesn't give a ****, he just murders ****. Lifestealer is one of the hardest counters to Pudge, no matter his flesh heaps you'll do consistent big damage with Feast. abbaddon Aphotic Shield does wonders if someone's hooked, not toention his heal, and if you get hooked, Borrowed Time will probably proc during dismember, so you'll probably still walk away, and get time to shield again, laying out some deeps on him.

Axe murders pudge, battle hunger him and control the lane, I do believe dismember price spins too. The dunks are real!
Viper, OD, 1v1 shutdown heroes.
Even if you shut his laning down (which isn't difficult), you lose map awareness, and he will get his kills, so these heroes work, but wards and awareness are the only real ways to counter him.