Lion vs Spectre

How this matchup plays

Trying to burst down a Spectre feels like you're killing yourself. Lion’s entire combo, from Hex to Finger of Death, is single-target damage that gets thrown right back at him because of Spectre's Dispersion. Even if Lion somehow survives the initial reflected damage, a farmed Spectre is usually tanky enough to live through the burst anyway. She’s not the kind of hero you can instantly delete, which is what Lion's kit is designed to do. He wants to find a squishy target and remove them from the fight, but Spectre is the opposite of that.

As the game goes on, this problem only gets worse for Lion. He wants to stay in the back and control fights, but Spectre's Haunt means she can be on top of him at any moment. Once she has a few items, Lion becomes a primary target because he's squishy, has no escape, and is often isolated enough for Desolate to activate. Lion is forced into buying defensive items like a Ghost Scepter simply to survive her initial jump, while Spectre doesn't really have to build anything special to handle him.