Axe vs Mars

How this matchup plays

Fighting an Axe inside your own Arena of Blood is a disaster. Mars wants to lock key enemies down for his team to attack safely, but Axe thrives on being the center of attention. He will blink into the Arena, use Berserker's Call on Mars and his allies, and let Counter Helix and Blade Mail punish everyone for trying to fight. The walls that are meant to protect your team become a cage with an enemy who wants to be hit. Even if Mars survives the initial burst, Culling Blade provides a clean way to finish him off, completely bypassing the tankiness he gets from Bulwark.

This dynamic dictates the entire flow of the game past the laning stage. Early on, Mars can try to keep Axe at a distance with God's Rebuke, but once Axe has a Blink Dagger, the game changes. Mars can no longer confidently start a fight with his ultimate, because a counter-initiation from Axe can single-handedly lose the engagement. This forces the Mars player into a reactive role, waiting for Axe to be dead or visible somewhere else before committing his biggest spell, giving Axe's team total control over the tempo of the fight.