If you’ve ever queued into a Dota 2 match only to watch a fed Monkey King jump your entire backline, delete your support, and escape with 100 HP left, you know how frustrating this hero can be when he gets rolling. Learning how to counter Monkey King Dota 2 isn’t just about picking the right hero—you need to adjust your playstyle at every phase of the game to shut off his biggest strengths before he gets out of control. I’ve played over 4,000 hours of Dota 2, climbed to Immortal three times, and lost 6 ranked matches in a row to Monkey King spammers before I figured out the tactics that work, so all of these tips are tested in real high-level play.
Laning Phase Tricks to Counter Monkey King Dota 2 Early
The laning phase is where 90% of Monkey King snowballs start, so shutting him down here will make the rest of the match 10x easier. His biggest early strengths are his Jingu Mastery damage stacks, Tree Dance escape, and low cooldown Boundless Strike gap closer, so you want to target all three of these from level 1. Deny every single ranged creep you can—Monkey King relies on fast XP gain to hit level 6 before your side lanes, and cutting his ranged creep denies cuts his XP by 30% on average if you do it consistently.
Ward the nearby tree lines at level 1 to catch him when he jumps into branches to regen or escape ganks. I’ve seen so many players waste stuns on him right after he gets Jingu stacks, but if you wait until he’s mid-jump to use your stun, you’ll cancel his escape and force him to burn a Tango or Salve just to stay alive. If you’re playing a ranged support, don’t stand within jump range of low-health creeps—he can use Boundless Strike on the creep to close the gap and get two free hits on you for Jingu stacks before you can run away.
Best Hero Picks to Shut Down Monkey King
Drafting the right heroes against Monkey King eliminates half the work of countering him before the match even starts. You want heroes that either negate his physical damage, interrupt his escape, or burst him down before he can stack Jingu Mastery. Phantom Assassin is one of the hardest counters to Monkey King—her Blur makes him miss all his Jingu Mastery hits unless he buys a Monkey King Bar, which delays his core item timings by 15 to 20 minutes on average. Her Coup de Grace burst can also delete him in two hits before he can react if you catch him out of position.
For supports, Shadow Shaman is a top pick—his two point stuns lock Monkey King down for 6 full seconds, and his Mass Serpent Wards cut off his escape paths if he tries to jump into trees. Omniknight is another great option, as his Repel can dispel Jingu Mastery stacks off of allies and his Guardian Angel negates all of Monkey King’s physical damage during team fights. There are a few common draft mistakes you want to avoid when facing Monkey King, too:
Mid Game Tactics to Stop His Snowball
The mid game is when Monkey King usually picks up his Black King Bar and starts ganking side lanes to farm kills and stack Jingu Mastery. Never fight Monkey King alone in areas with lots of trees—he can jump between branches to avoid your damage, reset Jingu stacks, and bait you into overextending to chase him right into his team’s rotations. If you see him in your jungle, make sure you have at least two teammates with stuns before you engage, or you’ll likely end up feeding him another kill.
Focus on pushing lane waves into his tier 1 and tier 2 towers early, too. Monkey King is terrible at clearing waves fast until he gets Battle Fury, so forcing him to defend towers stops him from farming jungle stacks and ganking your allies. Every core on your team should carry a Quelling Blade or Iron Talon when facing Monkey King—you can cut down the trees he’s hiding in to force him out into the open where your team can burst him down. If he uses his Wukong’s Command ultimate, don’t stand inside the circle—run out, because the clones deal 70% of his damage and can stack Jingu Mastery on you just as fast as he can.
Late Game Team Fight Tips to Neutralize Him
By the late game, a fed Monkey King will usually have BKB, Battle Fury, Monkey King Bar, and Assault Cuirass, so he can wipe your entire team in 10 seconds if you don’t focus him correctly. Save your strongest stuns and disables for after he uses his BKB—most Monkey King players will pop BKB as soon as they jump into your backline, so wait 4 to 5 seconds for it to run out before you use your hex or long stun. Don’t waste disables on other enemy heroes if Monkey King is alive and in range of your backline, even if their support is out of position.
Items like Glimmer Cape on supports can help your carries avoid his initial Boundless Strike stun, and Shiva’s Guard reduces his attack speed so he can’t stack Jingu Mastery as fast. If he jumps onto your carry, use a Force Staff to push them away before he can get 4 hits in, even if it means you die in their place. I’ve won so many late game fights against 6-slotted Monkey Kings just by making sure he can never get full Jingu stacks on our core damage dealer.
At the end of the day, even the most skilled Monkey King players can be shut down if you adjust your playstyle and draft correctly. Most players lose to Monkey King not because he’s overpowered, but because they make small mistakes early that let him get his core items 10 to 15 minutes faster than he should. Taking the time to learn how to counter Monkey King Dota 2 will help you win more ranked matches, avoid frustrating losses, and even climb a few ranks faster than you expected. Next time you see him picked in the draft phase, you’ll know exactly what to do to shut him down before he can take over the game.