WhyAnti-Mage establishes an early edge in lane and naturally counters Pugna's magic-heavy offense using the passive magic resistance of Counterspell, which can also be activated to reflect targeted spells like Decrepify or Life Drain. Furthermore, Blink allows Anti-Mage to instantly close the distance to burn Pugna's mana pool with Mana Break and slow him with Persecutor. With Pugna depleted of mana, Anti-Mage can easily finish him off with the burst damage of Mana Void.
Pugna Counters & Build
51.24%
Win rate
0.34%
Pick rate
5
Counters
7.41e
Patch
Pugna is countered by Anti-Mage, Medusa and Dark Seer, and performs best against Crystal Maiden, Timbersaw and Phantom Lancer — patch 7.41e, legend–ancient.
Countered by
5These heroes beat Pugna more often than their general strength explains.
WhyMedusa establishes an early lane advantage by using Mystic Snake to harass Pugna while continually replenishing the mana pool that powers Mana Shield. Furthermore, if Pugna targets Medusa with Decrepify or Life Drain, Cold Blooded automatically retaliates with a Mystic Snake that turns him to stone and interrupts his channeling.
WhyDark Seer struggles against Pugna in the laning stage, but his advantage likely emerges in later teamfights. Vacuum provides a reliable way to interrupt Pugna's channeled Life Drain while pulling him out of position, and Surge grants max movement speed to ignore the movement slow from Decrepify. Furthermore, Dark Seer can quickly close the distance to stun Pugna with Normal Punch and force him through Wall of Replica.
WhyWith the laning phase playing out relatively evenly, Luna likely gains an edge later by using Lucent Beam's stun to reliably cancel Pugna's channeled Life Drain. Furthermore, if Pugna uses Decrepify to protect himself from Luna's physical attacks and Moon Glaives, he increases his vulnerability to magic damage from Lucent Beam and Eclipse.
WhyThe lane between the two is roughly even, but Nyx Assassin gains an advantage in mid-to-late game skirmishes. Pugna relies on a large mana pool that fuels heavy damage from Mind Flare, while Spiked Carapace easily turns Pugna's Nether Ward, Nether Blast, or Life Drain against him to interrupt channels and stun him. Nyx can then initiate from Vendetta and lock Pugna down with Impale before he can safely position or sustain.
Strong against
5Pugna outperforms against these.
WhyNether Ward severely punishes Crystal Maiden's frequent spellcasting by retaliating with heavy damage scaled to her mana spent. Pugna can also easily melt her low health pool with Decrepify into Nether Blast and sustain through her attempts to fight back using Life Drain.
WhyPugna establishes an advantage early in the lane by bypassing Timbersaw's Reactive Armor with heavy magical damage from Nether Blast and Life Drain. Furthermore, Timbersaw relies on constantly casting high-cost abilities like Timber Chain and Chakram, making him exceptionally vulnerable to Nether Ward firing back damage based on the mana he spends.
WhyDecrepify prevents Phantom Lancer from landing physical attacks to generate Juxtapose illusions while amplifying the magical burst from Nether Blast. Furthermore, Nether Ward heavily punishes Phantom Lancer's frequent casts of Spirit Lance and Doppelganger, and his swarms of illusions deal only 25% damage when trying to attack and destroy the ward.
WhyPugna can heavily disrupt Winter Wyvern's toolkit because Cold Embrace only blocks physical damage and freezes allies in place, leaving them entirely vulnerable to amplified magical damage from Nether Blast and Life Drain. Furthermore, Decrepify renders units unable to attack or be attacked physically, neutralizing the physical damage output forced by Winter's Curse. While the lane matchup remains relatively even, Nether Ward also consistently punishes Wyvern whenever she casts her mana-heavy spells throughout teamfights.
WhyPugna clearly loses the laning stage against Undying's Decay pressure, but his advantage arrives later in the game during teamfights. Undying's frequent casting of Decay and Soul Rip triggers continuous reactive damage from Nether Ward. Furthermore, Decrepify neutralizes Undying's Flesh Golem attacks while amplifying the magic damage dealt by Nether Blast and Life Drain against his high-strength health pool.
Best allies
5Pairs that win more together than apart.
Popular build
legend–ancientThe eight most-bought items, in the order they are usually finished. Chosen by purchase frequency rather than win rate — an item's win rate reflects how the game was going, not what the item did. The minute is the median completion time: what to aim for.
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Null Talisman 2min 2,900 builds -
Infused Raindrops 4min 800 builds -
Aether Lens 19min 10,601 builds -
Glimmer Cape 20min 7,514 builds -
Aghanim's Scepter 33min 796 builds
Patch 7.41e · legend–ancient · updated 2026-08-24. Figures are shrunk toward the expected result by sample size, so a large number on thin data is deliberately damped rather than shown raw.