Underlord vs Riki

How this matchup plays

Trying to find an opening as Riki feels awful when an Underlord is on the other team. Your entire game plan of blinking on a support for a quick kill is disrupted by abilities that don't need to target you. Underlord can simply drop Pit of Malice on the teammate you jump, rooting you in place for an easy counter-kill. Even if you aren't caught, the constant threat from Firestorm makes it hard to stay in a fight or even approach an area. His Atrophy Aura also cuts your physical damage, making it that much harder to burst down a target before the enemy team can react.

Across the game, this dynamic forces Riki to play much more cautiously. You can't initiate fights with the same confidence. Instead, you have to wait for Underlord to commit his spells elsewhere or rely on your team to draw his attention first. Underlord, meanwhile, can comfortably protect his own backline by simply existing near them. This often pushes Riki into buying items to survive the lockdown earlier than he would like. While Riki can still be effective by picking his fights carefully and avoiding the big team brawls, Underlord makes his job significantly more complicated.