Lion vs Magnus

How this matchup plays

Picking Lion to counter Magnus seems obvious, but it rarely plays out so simply. While Hex and Earth Spike can interrupt Reverse Polarity, this relies on catching Magnus without a Black King Bar. A core part of playing Magnus is farming that item specifically to ignore this kind of single-target lockdown. Before he has it, he can still use Skewer to reposition or escape after a stun, often surviving what looks like a guaranteed kill. The entire interaction pivots on cooldowns and who gets the first action.

Across the game, this creates a tense duel of timing and vision. Early on, Lion can pressure and hunt, hoping to delay that critical BKB. If he succeeds, his team gains a major advantage. But the moment Magnus activates that item, he often looks to jump straight onto Lion, removing the post-BKB lockdown threat from the fight. Success or failure for either side depends entirely on positioning and which team better enables their hero to execute their plan.