Pangolier Counters & Build

Phantom Lancer 980 matches

−2.4%

WhyPhantom Lancer establishes an early advantage by winning the lane, where Spirit Lance constantly slows and harasses Pangolier with illusion pressure. In later fights, Doppelganger gives Phantom Lancer a basic dispel and repositioning tool to dodge Rolling Thunder, while his relentless swarm of Juxtapose illusions makes it difficult for Pangolier to isolate the real hero. Additionally, Phantom Rush provides Phantom Lancer with bonus evasion and rapid gap closing to stick directly onto Pangolier.

Techies 803 matches

−1.7%

WhyTechies secures an early advantage by using their ranged attack and heavy magic burst from Sticky Bomb and Blast Off! to heavily harass the melee Pangolier in lane. Additionally, Reactive Tazer punishes Pangolier's physical aggression by disarming him whenever he attempts to attack.

Silencer 924 matches

−1.6%

WhySilencer establishes an early advantage in lane against the melee Pangolier, heavily punishing his spellcasts with Arcane Curse and Last Word while harassing with Glaives of Wisdom. Throughout the game, Global Silence likely disrupts Pangolier's ability to chain maneuvers like Swashbuckle and Shield Crash, as it can affect him even through the debuff immunity of Rolling Thunder and Roll Up.

Axe 1,754 matches

−1.5%

WhyBerserker's Call forces Pangolier to attack Axe while granting Axe immense bonus armor, rapidly advancing the attack count needed to trigger Counter Helix's pure damage. Furthermore, Culling Blade provides a pure damage execute that can cleanly finish Pangolier through the barrier generated by Shield Crash.

Slardar 767 matches

−1.4%

WhyCorrosive Haze heavily reduces Pangolier's armor while forcing him to leave a water trail, granting Slardar continuous Seaborn Sentinel bonuses to movement speed, attack damage, and armor while pursuing him. Additionally, Bash of the Deep relies on a guaranteed attack count rather than random chance, entirely bypassing Pangolier's Fortune Favors the Bold passive to reliably lock him down.

Pudge 2,780 matches

+1.4%

WhyPangolier clearly loses the lane to Pudge's early kill threat with Rot and Meat Hook, but his advantage emerges in mid-to-late game teamfights. Rolling Thunder grants Pangolier debuff immunity and 80% magic resistance to mitigate Pudge's magic damage while continuously disrupting Pudge with knockback stuns—even continuing to knock back enemies if disabled during the roll. Additionally, Swashbuckle rapidly applies Lucky Shot to shred Pudge's armor, making him much easier to bring down despite his Flesh Heap durability.

Invoker 2,757 matches

+1.2%

WhyPangolier takes an early advantage in lane by using Swashbuckle for mobility and Lucky Shot procs, alongside Shield Crash for damage mitigation. Later in fights, Rolling Thunder's debuff immunity and massive magic resistance allow Pangolier to bypass Invoker's heavy magical burst and crowd-control spells like Tornado, Deafening Blast, and Cold Snap while repeatedly stunning him.

Wraith King 1,080 matches

+1.1%

WhyRolling Thunder provides Pangolier with debuff immunity to ignore Wraithfire Blast, allowing him to repeatedly stun and knock back the relatively immobile Wraith King in fights. Additionally, rapid attacks from Swashbuckle frequently proc Lucky Shot to reduce Wraith King's armor and drastically lower his attack speed, severely limiting his Mortal Strike output and Vampiric Spirit lifesteal.