Necrophos vs Rubick

How this matchup plays

Stealing Reaper's Scythe is a high-impact play that can turn a teamfight, which is what keeps this matchup competitive for Rubick. The issue is that the rest of Necrophos's kit is far less exciting to take. A stolen Death Pulse is a decent nuke and heal, but it rarely creates the same swing as his ultimate. This puts the Rubick player in a position of waiting for one specific, game-changing spell, while the rest of the time Necrophos is consistently applying pressure.

Throughout the game, this creates a tense dynamic around a single cooldown. The Necrophos player is always aware that casting his ultimate is a potential liability and will try to use it when Rubick is disabled or has already used Spell Steal. Because Necrophos contributes so much just by being alive near the enemy team, his path to impact is more straightforward. He can methodically wear opponents down, giving him a slight advantage over a hero like Rubick who is more dependent on capitalizing on a key moment.