Morphling can look like an easy target with a low health pool, then survive the entire team's damage a few seconds later and escape with Waveform. His survivability is tied to Attribute Shift, so simply getting close and using abilities isn't enough to kill him. Let's look at Morphling counterpicks for every role, useful items, and the moments when it's best to catch him.

Hero's Strengths and Weaknesses

Attribute Shift lets Morphling shift Strength into Agility and vice versa. Agility increases his damage, attack speed, and armor, while shifting into Strength helps him survive an attack. Waveform deals damage and moves him to a chosen location. Adaptive Strike adds to his burst, while Morph lets him use the basic abilities of a selected enemy.

Morphling's main strengths are his flexibility in fights, high damage with items, and ability to quickly change position. His weaknesses are his reliance on mana and the need to activate defensive abilities at the right time. If he has shifted too much health into Agility, a sudden disable and quick damage may be enough to kill him. Reducing health restoration and preventing healing make it harder for him to save himself by shifting.

Best Heroes Against Morphling

Morphling is usually picked in position 1 as a carry, though he sometimes plays mid. You need heroes who can catch him before he starts shifting, burn his mana, or prevent him from restoring health. It's also important how easily the team can follow up on the initial disable.

Carry

  • Anti-Mage burns mana with Mana Break and chases him after Waveform with Blink. Without mana, Morphling has a harder time using his abilities, but Anti-Mage isn't guaranteed to win a direct exchange of attacks with equal farm.
  • Phantom Lancer creates a host of illusions and quickly drains Morphling's mana with Diffusal Blade. Morphling has to find the real hero and spend resources on the copies instead of attacking an easy target.

Mid

  • Lina can quickly kill Morphling if he has shifted too much Strength away. To do so, she needs to disable him first: if she telegraphs the attack, the enemy will have time to shift and survive the burst.
  • Outworld Destroyer deals pure damage with Arcane Orb, bypassing the high armor from Agility. Astral Imprisonment can temporarily remove Morphling from the fight or save an ally from his attack.

Offlaner

  • Axe starts the attack with Blink Dagger and Berserker's Call. Culling Blade is especially dangerous for Morphling if he has shifted too much into Agility and left himself with little health.
  • Doom prevents Morphling from freely using his abilities. Doom's healing prevention makes it harder to survive focus fire through health restoration, even if the enemy was counting on being saved by shifting.

Support

  • Lion can initiate instantly with Hex and follow up with Earth Spike. Finger of Death adds quick damage, while Mana Drain is useful when Morphling is already being held by allies.
  • Skywrath Mage casts Ancient Seal to prevent Morphling from using his abilities. Mystic Flare helps finish him off while he's disabled by an ally, before he can dispel the silence with a defensive item.

Hard Support

  • Ancient Apparition prevents health restoration with Ice Blast. Morphling loses his usual way of surviving an attack, so it's best to combine the ultimate with the team's disables.
  • Winter Wyvern turns Morphling's high damage against one of his allies with Winter's Curse. Cold Embrace helps protect your target from regular attacks, but leaves them vulnerable to magical burst.

What to Build Against Morphling

  • Spirit Vessel reduces health restoration and makes it harder for him to save himself by shifting. Keep Manta Style in mind: after he buys it, it's best to apply the effect once Morphling has already used his dispel.
  • Orchid Malevolence prevents Morphling from using Waveform and his other abilities. Without allies following up with attacks, silence alone may not be enough.
  • Diffusal Blade helps burn mana with attacks. It's especially useful on heroes who can attack Morphling for a long time, either on their own or with the help of illusions.
  • Scythe of Vyse lets you catch Morphling by surprise. Ideally, use it before he starts shifting into Strength.
  • Eye of Skadi slows with attacks and reduces health restoration. It's a useful option for a carry in prolonged trades against Morphling.
  • Glimmer Cape helps an ally survive magical damage and escape subsequent attacks if the enemy has no True Sight.
  • Aeon Disk can save a support from a sudden burst. Watch out for Nullifier on the enemy team: it makes the item's protection less reliable.

How to Play Against Morphling at Different Stages

Laning

Deal damage to Morphling gradually so he has to keep more Strength and sacrifice some damage when last-hitting creeps. Don't use all your abilities on a hero who has already started shifting and is protected by a support. If Waveform is used to farm or trade, take advantage of the opening to attack. Try to use disables and damage together, without a long delay between them.

Mid Game

Catch Morphling under vision while he's farming with a low health pool. The disable should land first, rather than a random attack that warns him about the gank. Check his inventory: Linken's Sphere can block a targeted ability, while Manta Style can dispel silence or Spirit Vessel. A stun alone doesn't guarantee a kill if Morphling started shifting beforehand.

Late Game

Don't leave heroes with key disables within range of Morphling's initial jump. In a fight, wait for him to use his defensive items, then keep attacking once their effects end. If he uses Waveform to close the gap, that's a good opportunity to keep him nearby. Also watch which hero he chooses with Morph: abilities copied from your team can give him an extra escape or a powerful counterattack.