[PSA] How to counter Storm Spirit

Hello, Everyone. As you probably have seen in your pub games, Storm has become quite popular recently. Part of the reason is because he counters heroes who are in the meta right now, like Sniper. Part of the reason is because people in the pro scene like Sumail used him and now he is flavor of the month. But that's kinda irrelevant. I've seen a lot of threads floating around this subreddit on how Storm is OP and needs nerfs. And maybe I, a Storm main, am biased, but I don't feel like he needs nerfs. I think that the reason he is so strong in pubs is because no one knows how to play vs. him. So let me enlighten you.

First, let's talk about laning vs. a Storm.

Storm Spirit loses lane to any decent ranged hero. He has a mediocre attack range, base int, and MS. If you have an SF or OD or some other lane bully laning against Storm, he is going to get 0 farm. And without his core items, (Orchid/Bloodstone) he is worthless.

Even if you don't have a strong mid laner, pre-6 Storm is one of the easiest heros in the game to gank, because he has no mobility and is very squishy. All you need is a roaming support to come and stun him, and your mid laner should have an easy kill. Shut him down before he can reach his first power spike (level 6).

Another thing to note is that he is incredibly dependent on Bottle/Runes for sustain in the early game. Ward the rune spots, place mines with Techies, have a roaming support/offlaner take them, I don't care. Just deny him the runes, and he will have 0 sustain.

Now let's talk about the mid game.

Storm loves seeing enemy supports moving around the map on their own. If he has Orchid, then they are practically a free kill. To avoid getting picked off, stay together or in pairs, just like you would vs. a Riki (and ward the map so you can see him coming). Also, try to pick heroes/supports with good disables, like Lion or Shaman, who can react to a gank/prevent Storm from getting the kill. If a Storm can't get fed/gank successfully, he won't be strong in the late game.

Storm is one of those heroes who wrecks random pubs with no coordination. You need to counterpick him at the start of the game, and you need to work together to win.

Lastly, let's talk about late game teamfighting and hero/item choices.

Items: I cannot emphasize enough, BKB is your friend. None of Storm's disables (Orchid, Tether, Hex) can go through BKB, and even his overload won't work on you if you're magic immune. Use that 5-10 second window to kill him or his team, because Storm won't be able to fight you.

Counterpicking: If you want to stop Storm from being a nuisance and zipping around in teamfights, the solution is simple. Pick Silencer. As soon as he jumps in, pop your ult, and all of a sudden he is in the middle of your team with no escape route. If he has BKB, wait for him to use it before ulting.

In general, heroes with good lockdown are great vs. Storm, and Silencer is useful because of his ability to react with ulti from anywhere on the map. But if you want someone who can outcarry him, pick Anti-Mage. He outscales Storm (in terms of a 6 item AM vs. a 6 item SS) and AM loves nothing more than to use Mana Void on a Storm Spirit after he has drained his mana with a couple of right clicks and get a free rampage (Mana is Storm's life blood, moreso than HP. You burn his mana, and he is fucked).

Omniknight is a great counterpick because he can make his Agi carry magic immune for 12 seconds (even better than BKB).

Disruptor works quite effectively against a Storm Spirit if he can Glimpse SS into a Kinetic Field/Static Storm.

Tl;dr: Storm Spirit is a snowball hero, due to the interaction between Ball Lightning and Bloodstone. The more kills he gets, the stronger he gets (kills -> more charges -> more kills etc). But he is a high risk high reward hero; if he dies, he becomes severely crippled (losing 1/3 stacks). All you need to do is shut him down in the early game so he can't snowball in the late game. And remember, if he dies and loses his charges, he loses a huge amount of power. Take advantage of that; the more you kill him, the easier it gets. If you kill him once, keep on being aggressive and try to kill him again before he can recover his stacks.