About to throw laptop out of window.

I hate it when my team pick these heroes. They are so easily countered and very easy to out carry. All of them have very strong pick-off abilities, but are useless if they get jumped, or caught out in a teamfight, which is very easy to do. I used to have this problem with them, but if you have any idea what you're doing they are really not a problem.

Just got out of a match where the enemy team had sniper and Riki. Both got fed early on but late game me on Shadow Shaman and our Crystal Maiden shut them down.

For Riki; dust, wards, and maybe a gem if you can stay alive. Basically all you need to do is stun him and let the team clean him up.

For Sniper; just be able to close the distance quickly. Then stun him. Sniper doesn't hit so hard when he's a chicken.

So stuns are your friend. Most Sniper and Riki players won't buy a BKB. Cause their noobs.

Viper is just a pain.

But crowd control beats everything.

The best way to counter these heroes is to sit down for a minute and think about their strengths.

Rikimaru: High damage from behind. Permanent invis. Fairly mobile

Sniper: Strong right click. Long range.

Viper: Lane control.

By looking at their strengths, you can usually notice their weaknesses.

For Rikimaru, it boils down to two things. He deals the most of his damage when attacking from behind. So if you can get a team mate nearby-ish (So as to be safe from his smoke screen) then, when he decides to jump on you, you turn to face him, and fight, while your ally casts a stun or two. Another strength of the hero is his invis and mobility, and therefore, global presence (You never know where he is. He could be anywhere). But intelligently placed wards, properly timed stuns, and properly timed [Dust of Appearance], as well as smart play (trying to bait him in to over committing) can shut him down fairly easily. But placing the wards in smart spots, and timing everything properly is where everything becomes tricky. Just kind of play around with it in games.

Both Sniper and Viper rely on the ability to deal strong right click damage, and chase their target down. But where they fall short is their mobility. Viper and Sniper are painfully slow, even with Phase Boots.

With Sniper, as stated above, you need to call his bluff. Remember, he can hit you hard. Later in the game. Early on, his damage output and range are very limited, and his survive-ability is practically nil.

Viper is a little trickier, though. He hits you, you're slowed. You hit him, you're slowed. So pretty much, the best advice I can give against Viper, is to gank early and often. I mean, that's essentially the same trick against Rikimaru, Sniper, and Viper...

These three heroes NEED kills and NEED farm. And they cannot, under any circumstance, die. But if you throw off their delicate little game, you'll begin to notice how weak they actually are.

But even knowing all this, I still end up having troubles against these heroes on occasion.