Drow Ranger

Drow ranger is an agility carry that specializes in nuking other heroes down with her insanely strong autoattack.  If left unchecked, a well farmed Drow can easily demolish the opposing team.  That being said, her biggest flaw is her defense.  The very definition of a glass cannon, Drow Ranger's main weakness is her inability to take any physical or magical damage (And let's not even get started on pure damage!)


Who is Drow Ranger strong against?

Anyone with a low physical defense struggles against Drow.  The majority of supports can't stand up to her arrows, and if she gets the jump on nearly any intelligence hero they will very likely become her next victim.  Her frozen arrows also make her a good pick against many melee heroes, especially those who have trouble closing gaps.  Specific heroes that Drow Ranger crushes:

Crystal Maiden:  Why?  It's almost sad to see a Crystal Maiden against a Drow Ranger.  If Crystal Maiden sees Drow coming, the only thing she can do is run and pray an arrow doesn't hit her.  Her best bet is to try and disable Drow and run, but she's honestly just as squishy as Drow and doesn't have the firepower or silence that Drow has.


Ursa:  Why?  Ursa has no natural gap closer, and even if he buys blink dagger, a single frost arrow is all Drow needs to escape from him.  Ursa will need a whole slew of items to successfully counter Drow, who can almost always keep him at a safe distance.  If Ursa charges Drow blindly, there's a good chance that he'll either be dead or nearly dead before he ever even touches her.

Rubick: Why? In most cases, Rubick does not have the firepower to take on a Drow Ranger.  Couple this with the fact that he's a low-survivability intelligence hero and you'll quickly understand what makes Drow so potent against him.  Even if Rubick manages to snag some great nukes, Drow's silence is more than enough to send Rubick reeling.

Meepo:  Why?  Perhaps the main reason that Meepo is so vulnerable to Drow is because if even one of his clones are nuked down, he's done.  All Drow has to do is wait until Meepo is preoccupied doing virtually anything, throw down a silence and nuke down a Meepo.  Factor in the imperfect micro that plagues many players and you may have an easy kill on your hands.  If the chosen Meepo clone manages to survive the Drow silence-onslaught, he may have a fighting chance if he can spam his teleport-nuke in time, but there are very few heroes that can deal with several seconds of silence + nuke arrows.

Keeper of the Light:  Why?  Keeper of the light has a number of problems when facing a Drow.  If Drow can dodge his illuminate, all it takes is a few frozen arrows and the Keeper is finished.  A quick silence and 3-4 arrows is really all it takes to bring down the Keeper of the Light.  In fact, many people will tell you that a silence isn't even necessary - Keeper of the Light is probably even more fragile than Drow.

OmniKnight:  Why?  OmniKnight can use repel to avoid the frost arrows, and he's moderately sturdy against Drow, but if Drow lands silence on OmniKnight before he can repel and run, he's done for.  OmniKnight's ultimate also can help him survive Drow, once again all it takes is a silence and a few seconds of focusing and the healing knight is done for.

Outworld Devourer: Why?  In this case, it's all about the silence.  Outworld Devourer is very powerful, but without his abilities he's basically a sitting duck.  He's fairly fragile, meaning Drow can rip him apart in the few seconds of silence.

Pugna:  Why?  Pugna has no real defense against Drow.  He's very fragile, has sub-par nuking ability, and is easily countered by silence.  Even if he decrepifies himself, Drow only needs to land a silence and follow him for a few seconds and then finish him off.  It's too bad decrepify snares him or he might have a fighting chance at escaping.

Windrunner:  Why?  Windrunner's only hope is to stun and use windwalk to try and escape.  Like Drow, Windrunner is very fragile, and Drow can easily kill her within the duration of her silence.  Windrunner's powershot is a nice nuke, but it won't bring Drow down, who is a very kill-or-be-killed type of hero.


Who is Drow Ranger weak against?


The efficiency of Drow Ranger's ultimate is cut in half when a hero manages to actually reach her.  This coupled with her incredible lack of health make her a prime target for any stealth hero.  Anyone with a decent stun or heavy nuke can also cause trouble for Drow, provided she doesn't silence them first.  Finally, melee heroes with tons of HP or excellent gap closers can also make Drow nervous.  Specific heroes that make mincemeat out of Drow Ranger:

Bounty Hunter:  Why?  Simply put, all 3 of Bounty Hunter's basic skills were practically made to slaughter heroes like Drow Ranger.  Bounty Hunter's invisibility allows him to get close without suffering a painful flurry of frost arrows, his Jinada both slows Drow as well as punishes her lack of constitution, and a nice shuriken, if not killing her outright, will leave her with just a few bits of HP.  Add on track and you have a hero that will dread the very idea of playing a match with Bounty Hunter.

Rikimaru:  Why?  While not as ideal against Drow, Rikimaru still has the makings of a powerful counter to Drow.  Permanent invis allows you to get in close, backstabs will tear her HP to shreds, and smoke + blink strike will prevent her from getting very far before hitting the dirt.

Clinkz:  Why?  Clinkz is a hero very much like Drow - he hits hard, he's very squishy, and he can be a pain to deal with if left unchecked.  The main difference between Drow and Clinkz is his invis skill.  All too often, a Drow gets overly confident and strays from her tower.  It only takes about 5 seconds for a fully prepared Clinkz to slaughter a Drow, so if the element of surprise is on Clinkz's side, it should be an easy kill.

Nyx Assassin:  Why?  Not only does Nyx have the benefit of invisibility on his side, but he also has a flurry of nukes as well as a nasty long duration stun.  If Drow somehow manages to survive the slaughter of a fully loaded Nyx, she will be forced to try and run - Nyx's defensive move will result in an additional stun and nasty bit of damage if Drow tries to fight back.

Phantom Assassin:  Why?  Phantom Assassin's main advantage on Drow is her ability to close gaps and pump out damage.  Since Phantaom Assassin can get very close, Drow loses a lot of her ultimate damage bonus, and if Phantom Assassin lands a crit or two it can be all over for Drow in a matter of seconds.

Slardar:  Why?  Slardar's ultimate sharply increases the frailty on an already defensively weak hero, and his sprint helps negate the frustration of Drow's frost arrows.  On equal footing, a Slardar vs Drow match is over the moment Slardar catches Drow.  His slam stun + his chance to stun on attack means the match is over if Slardar can get to her.

Pudge:  Why?  Pudge hangs out in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity.  If Pudge manages to land a hook + rot + dismember combo, Drow ranger is dead.  Pudge loses this advantage if Drow spots him, but all too often it only takes a few seconds for Pudge to get repositioned and try for his winning gank combo again.

Centaur Warrunner: Why?  Centaur's ability to reflect damage to is severely punishing, especially when he likely has several times the HP you have.  His ultimate will make catching you a breeze, and like with many other heroes that specialize in stun, if he catches you, you're finished.

Lycanthrope: Why?  Lycan has high HP and hits pretty hard.  His wolves are annoying, but the truly scary part is if his shapeshift is up, and if his ult is maxed out, he will almost always have shapeshift available.  Shapeshift strongly counters your snare, and he'll be on you in seconds.  If you can catch him without his ult, you have a decent chance of winning, but the cooldown really isn't too high so fighting against a Lycan can be scary for a Drow.

Sven:  Why? Sven has decent armor and great HP, allowing him to take a few arrows without hurting too much.  The real strength of Sven vs Drow comes in the form of his stun, his movement speed buff and his ultimate.  When Sven's ultimate is up, he essentially deals nuke-like damage, which can easily bring down the fragile Drow.

A tip on defeating Drow Ranger?  Shut her down early game.  Have your ganker on her at all times - if she strays from her tower even a little, heroes like Bounty Hunter and Riki will tear her down in seconds.  If Drow gets shadow blade, it can be difficult to kill her unless you either stun her or have dust, so keep this in mind when playing against a Drow Ranger.