WhyChaos Knight can quickly isolate and burst Io by using Reality Rift to pull Io away from its Tethered ally and surround it with heavy-hitting Phantasm illusions. Additionally, Chaos Bolt provides a ranged stun that can cancel Io's Relocate during its cast delay.
Io Counters & Build
45.63%
Win rate
0.607%
Pick rate
5
Counters
7.41e
Patch
Io is countered by Chaos Knight, Muerta and Lina, and performs best against Spectre, Phantom Lancer and Arc Warden — patch 7.41e, legend–ancient.
Countered by
5These heroes beat Io more often than their general strength explains.
WhyIo generally needs to stay close to a Tethered ally, making both heroes easy targets for Dead Shot's ricochet fear and Gunslinger's multi-target attacks. Additionally, Dead Shot's fear can disrupt Io during Relocate's cast delay to cancel the teleport, while The Calling's silence prevents Io from utilizing defensive spells like Overcharge.
WhyLina heavily wins the lane to establish an early advantage, and her Combustion innate naturally punishes Io for positioning close to allies via Tether by spreading damage between them. Additionally, Lina's massive burst damage from Laguna Blade and the stun from Light Strike Array can quickly eliminate Io before Overcharge healing can react or cancel Relocate during its cast delay.
WhyWhile the lane between them is roughly even, Underlord gains the advantage in later teamfights by heavily punishing Io and its Tethered ally for grouping up. Pit of Malice and Firestorm cover large areas, repeatedly rooting and burning both heroes together, while the root can disable Io during its Relocate cast delay. Additionally, Atrophy Aura cuts into the base attack damage of the cores Io seeks to empower.
WhyWhile the laning stage is roughly even, Crystal Maiden gains an edge in teamfights because Io must stay near its Tethered partner, making both heroes easy targets for the large area-of-effect damage and slows from Crystal Nova and Freezing Field. Additionally, Frostbite provides a reliable root that locks down Io or its tethered ally, and disabling Io during the cast delay will cancel Relocate entirely.
Strong against
5Io outperforms against these.
WhyAlthough the laning phase is roughly even, Io counters Spectre in the mid-to-late game by consistently sticking within a 300 to 350 range of an ally with Tether, preventing Spectre and her illusions from triggering bonus pure damage from Desolate. Additionally, Io negates Spectre's global pickoff attempts from Haunt and Shadow Step by sustaining targets with high health regeneration via Overcharge and rapid healing transfer.
WhyWhile the laning stage is roughly even, Io gains the advantage in later teamfights because Spirits explode on hero contact to deal area damage against clustered Juxtapose and Doppelganger illusions. Furthermore, Overcharge and Tether provide heavy health regeneration, movement speed, and defensive buffs to sustain allied cores against Phantom Lancer's physical onslaught.
WhyIo clearly loses the lane to Arc Warden, but can gain an advantage later in the game as grouping increases. Tether keeps Io perpetually near an ally, naturally preventing Arc Warden's Flux from dealing damage since its effect is muted when allies are close together. Later on, Relocate allows Io and a tethered core to globally collapse on Arc Warden or his Tempest Double whenever they attempt to isolate themselves across the map.
WhyAlthough the lane is roughly even, Io disrupts Doom's game plan later on by providing the mobility and defensive buffs needed to survive his engagements. Tether grants bonus movement speed to kite Doom during Scorched Earth, while Overcharge with the Medigun facet supplies critical armor and magic resistance against his sustained damage. Additionally, Relocate allows Io to globally reposition or save allies from Doom's isolated pickoffs.
WhyIo establishes an early lane advantage by using Spirits to deal heavy magical burst damage without triggering Timbersaw's Reactive Armor stacks. The rapid sustain from Wellspring combined with Tether and Overcharge allows Io to easily out-heal Timbersaw's ability damage and out-sustain him throughout the early game.
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 4min 4,409 builds -
Soul Ring 7min 7,222 builds -
Helm of the Dominator 9min 6,265 builds -
Aghanim's Scepter 17min 15,071 builds -
Holy Locket 21min 6,751 builds -
Maelstrom 24min 2,274 builds -
Black King Bar 25min 8,748 builds -
Shiva's Guard 29min 4,036 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.