Centaur Warrunner vs Templar Assassin

How this matchup plays

Trying to burst down a Centaur Warrunner often backfires for Templar Assassin. Her survivability comes from Refraction charges, which block individual instances of damage. Centaur’s passive damage return means every time Templar Assassin attacks him, she immediately loses one of those precious charges to the return damage. A hero who relies on high attack speed to deal damage ends up shredding her own defensive shield very quickly by hitting him. This leaves her exposed to a follow-up Hoof Stomp and Double Edge far sooner than she would be against most other frontliners.

This dynamic forces Templar Assassin to change her target priority. She'll typically look for a softer target in teamfights and avoid attacking Centaur Warrunner until his allies are dead or her own Refraction is on cooldown anyway. Centaur, in turn, wants to force her attention, often blinking in to guarantee a stun or using Stampede to get on top of her. Because she can play around him by picking off his teammates, it's not a crippling matchup, but being unable to freely attack the enemy initiator gives Centaur's team a noticeable edge in fights.