Death Prophet
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like 
Tidehunter, 
Brewmaster, 
Death Prophet, etc.
Phoenix
* As a hero with uncommon traits, 
Phoenix's abilities require more health than mana. It is advised for Rubick to purchase health regeneration items such as 
Tranquil Boots, 
Urn of Shadows or 
Hood of Defiance to keep up with the HP loss.
* Phoenix's signature 
Supernova, if casted successfully, can turn a teamfight around if being stolen.
* The initial lift and the following crowd control from the drop of 
Telekinesis can protect the egg from being attacked if casted right before Supernova with quick fingers.
* A successfully reborn Supernova refreshes the cooldown of Telekinesis as well as 
Fade Bolt, so don't hesitate to spam both of them before Supernova with the reasons mentioned above.
* Supernova has a stun range of 1200, which requires Rubick to have Level 3 
Arcane Supremacy at least to exceed its range. Consider buying 
Aether Lens or 
Blink Dagger to help with positioning.
* It is not possible to cast Supernova (as of 7.31c) with 
Aghanim's Shard's extra 
Sun Ray even with both spell stolen, since Sun Ray takes up two stolen ability slots.
* 
Icarus Dive is a useful repositioning ability for scouting, initiation or escaping.
* 
Fire Spirits aids with Rubick farming given enough HP regeneration. In early skirmishes, the stolen ability can slow the attack speed of the enemy team to a crawl.
* Combined with Fade Bolt, both the attack damage and attack speed of the enemy team are reduced if they have no source of dispel, effectively nullifying their physical attack damage.
* Sun Ray thrives in and after a teamfight by damaging enemy heroes and healing allies at the same time.
* Rubick can interrupt both Icarus Dive and Sun Ray by casting Telekinesis.
Death Prophet
* Heroes that can kill Death Prophet with nukes can prevent her from using Exorcism to its full duration or using it at all: 
Lina, 
Lion, 
Puck, 
Morphling.
Phoenix
* Although Phoenix has many ways to disable a Blink Dagger, the high cooldown of all of its spells makes them not as reliable for this. Also, its spells cost a lot of health to use, making it easy to get nuked down.
* Waning Rift prevents Phoenix from using Supernova to refresh itself, giving Puck's team time to finish it off, or allow Puck to burst Phoenix down.
* Dream Coil prevents Phoenix from using Icarus Dive without consequences. Waning Rift and Dream Coil are also able to cancel Sun Ray, which is its main source of damage in the late game.
Death Prophet
* Death Prophet has a high mana pool and due to her heavy reliance on her spells, she will be a prime target for 
Mana Void.
* Death Prophet has less mobility than Anti-Mage due to 
Blink.
Phoenix
* Anti-Mage dispels Phoenix's slows with 
Manta Style.
* Anti-Mage can Blink directly next to Supernova, giving him more time to destroy the egg.
Death Prophet
* In early to mid stage, Silence is also a great way to counter escape oriented heroes such as 
Anti-Mage, 
Queen of Pain, and 
Phantom Assassin to prevent them from escaping, provided that they don't have any basic dispels.
Death Prophet
* Heroes that can kill Death Prophet with nukes can prevent her from using Exorcism to its full duration or using it at all: Lina, Lion, Puck, Morphling.
Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: 
Juggernaut, 
Clinkz, 
Troll Warlord, 
Beastmaster, Lina.
Death Prophet
* 
Guardian Angel nullifies the physical damage from Exorcism during teamfights. And when upgraded with 
Aghanim's Scepter, it also prevents Death Prophet from pushing towers. However, Death Prophet can partially counter this issue with 
Eul's Scepter of Divinity, a common item on Death Prophet.
* 
Heavenly Grace dispels 
Silence.
Additional:
* 
Exorcism's damage is blocked by Guardian Angel.
* Heavenly Grace can dispel Silence allies if Omniknight is able to cast it.
Phoenix
* Phoenix does significant magic damage over time which can either be dispelled or negated by Fate's Edict.
* Oracle's burst damage potential can prove lethal to Phoenix, as they already have to sacrifice health to cast their basic skills.
Phoenix
* Tempest Double, Magnetic Field's attack speed bonus, and Arc Warden's high attack range will easily destroy a Phoenix using Supernova much faster than usual.
* Phoenix is very weak against pushers, especially those like Arc Warden who can kill him easily, as his skillset works best in teamfights.
Additional:
* His 
Tempest Double is not an illusion, but rather a full hero unit, which effectively reduces half of the Supernova's health. His 
Magnetic Field can tremendously boost his attack speed, allowing him to destroy Supernova in no time even when he's affected by Fire Spirits.
Phoenix
* Ursa can easily unleash a number of attacks in an incredibly short amount of time, easily destroying the Supernova in a couple of seconds regardless of Fire Spirits' debuff. His 
Enrage also dampens any damage Phoenix might toss at his direction, as well as remove any debuffs Phoenix may place on him.
Death Prophet
* 
God's Strength allows Sven to take down Death Prophet quickly, reducing the damage dealt over time from Exorcism.
* 
Warcry's bonus armor and movement speed is very useful for Sven and his teammates against Exorcism, which deals physical damage.
Phoenix
* Phoenix expends health to use its abilities, making it a good target for Thirst.
* Rupture deals heavy damage against Icarus Dive.
Additional:
* Although 
Blood Rite can be easily avoided, if it does hit, its lengthy silence and pure damage can be a severe punishment for a slow, unobservant, or simply unfortunate Phoenix.
* His 
Rupture can turn Icarus Dive into a suicide option, and it cannot be dispelled, meaning even if Phoenix completes a Supernova, choosing to Dive may just cut its health back down.
* And finally, due to Phoenix's health costs, too much careless ability spamming may just put Phoenix into Bloodseeker's vision through 
Thirst, making it a very tempting ganking target.
Phoenix
* Earthbind can prevent Phoenix from using Icarus Dive, the only escaping mechanism of this hero.
* Heavy burst damage from Poof can easily kill Phoenix even when it slows down all the Meepos with Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's clones destroy the Phoenix Sun from Supernova in no time, even when they are slowed down by Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's naturally high magic resistance gives Phoenix a hard time with bursting him down. He can even turn the tide if Icarus Dive is on cooldown.
Additional:
* Meepo is unlike any other multi-unit enemy Phoenix may face in the battlefield. Unlike illusion-based heroes like 
Phantom Lancer or 
Chaos Knight, Meepo's clones are not illusions, meaning they can deal full damage to the Phoenix Sun if all four (or five) are present.
Phoenix
* 
Corrosive Skin gives Viper additional resistance to Phoenix's magical damage, and since they deal damage over time, Phoenix would be constantly afflicted by his passive's own debuff, making him not an ideal target for Phoenix's harassment. Phoenix's abilities also constantly drain its own health away, becoming more vulnerable to 
Poison Attack.
Phoenix
* Chemical Rage kills Phoenix very quickly in Supernova.
Phoenix
* Juggernaut's high attack speed lets him destroy a Supernova easily. He can even attack a Supernova during Blade Fury with his regular attacks.
* 
Blade Fury protects Juggernaut from all of Phoenix's spells (except Supernova, which pierces spell immunity).
* Blade Fury can also dispel the attack speed slow from Fire Spirits and the movement speed slow from Icarus Dive.
* Phoenix's Icarus Dive will not protect it from 
Omnislash unless it dives into creeps, and Phoenix's low armor makes for an easy kill.
Phoenix
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt Sun Ray and Icarus Dive.
Phoenix
* Silencer will most likely disrupt an initiation with his ultimate, 
Global Silence, prevent escape with his 
Last Word, and if Phoenix happens to die to him (or near him) enough times, he would sap enough of Phoenix's much needed Intelligence to make him a stronger foe and Phoenix with less mana than it already had.
Phoenix
* Phoenix constantly depletes its own health due to the health costs of its abilities. Unlike heroes that have a similar mechanic, Phoenix does not benefit from low health, nor does it really have a countermeasure for it. As such, Phoenix is a very vulnerable target for Necrophos to prey on, especially when caught off guard before it can cast Supernova.
Additional:
* Necrophos becomes a bigger threat the lower one's health gets, and unfortunately for Phoenix, most of its spells have noticeable health costs. Those costs, coupled with his 
Heartstopper Aura, means that staying in a teamfight for too long under Necrophos' presence will make Phoenix a more valid target for his ultimate, with its stun completely preventing any form of retaliation or protection. Necrophos players are also likely to buy more durability items such as Hood of Defiance, making him more able to withstand Phoenix's damage despite having no escape mechanisms.
* However, it is also important to remember that a Scepter-upgraded Supernova can help protect an ally from his ultimate.
Phoenix
* Huskar's high attack speed can counteract Fire Spirits, and easily destroy the Supernova.
Additional:
* 
Berserker's Blood will let Huskar easily face down a Supernova with increased attack speed.
* Icarus Dive may not be an easy escape from Huskar either as he can chase Phoenix during it with 
Life Break if Huskar times it right.
* However, Phoenix can buy items which can
Death Prophet
* 
Doom can stop Death Prophet from casting spells, which makes her useless during team fights if she didn't cast Exorcism before the fight, and also nullifies healing from Exorcism and Spirit Syphon. Furthermore, Doom can use 
Scorched Earth to chase after her.
Phoenix
* 
Lil' Shredder will make quick work of Supernova.
* 
Mortimer Kisses can easily hit a Phoenix using Sun Ray.
Phoenix
* Inner Beast helps Beastmaster's team destroy Supernova quickly.
Phoenix
* Heroes with spell immunity-granting spells will render Phoenix useless against them, as Phoenix has almost no spell immunity-piercing ability, other than the stun at the end of Supernova: 
Lifestealer, Juggernaut.
Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut, Clinkz, Troll Warlord, Beastmaster, Lina.
Death Prophet
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: 
Disruptor, Death Prophet, 
Enigma, 
Faceless Void, 
Invoker, 
Lich, 
Magnus, 
Mars, 
Medusa, 
Outworld Destroyer, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, 
Shadow Fiend, 
Treant Protector, 
Underlord, 
Winter Wyvern, 
Witch Doctor, 
Zeus.
Phoenix
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor, Death Prophet, Enigma, Faceless Void, Invoker, Lich, Magnus, Mars, Medusa, Outworld Destroyer, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend, Treant Protector, Underlord, Winter Wyvern, Witch Doctor, Zeus.
Phoenix
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, 
Shadow Demon, 
Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.
Phoenix
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like Death Prophet, 
Skywrath Mage, and even 
Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
Death Prophet
* Ice Blast prevents Death Prophet from gaining health from 
Spirit Siphon and Exorcism.
Additional:
* 
Ice Blast prevents Death Prophet from gaining health from Spirit Siphon and Exorcism.
* However, there is a way for Death Prophet to counter Ice Blast: Since Death Prophet is not healed until the spirits are returned to her. She can attempt to outrun her spirits to delay their return until Ice Blast duration runs out.
Phoenix
* Since all of Phoenix's abilities (except for Supernova) have health costs, heroes like 
Ancient Apparition or 
Necrophos can turn Phoenix's abilities against it. However, Supernova does completely protect Phoenix from Ice Blast.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive helps Phoenix escape from Cold Feet.
* However, all of Pheonix's basic abilities do cost health, which can be harmful under the effects of Ice Blast.
* Supernova can save Phoenix from Ice Blast.
Additional:
* Supernova with or without Aghanim's Scepter allows to save ally or himself through Ice Blast.
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from 
Cold Feet.
Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut, Clinkz, Troll Warlord, Beastmaster, Lina.
Additional:
* Due to Fervor and Battle Trance, Troll Warlord is one of the best heroes to deal with Supernova.
Death Prophet
* 
Riki is another good hero to shutdown Death Prophet with 
Diffusal Blade as his core item. His 
Smoke Screen stops her from initiating and casting spells.
Death Prophet
* Heroes that can kill Death Prophet with nukes can prevent her from using Exorcism to its full duration or using it at all: Lina, Lion, Puck, Morphling.
Death Prophet
* 
Duel is a great initiation to kill Death Prophet before she can cast Exorcism. Furthermore, Legion Commander often builds 
Blade Mail and can reflect Exorcism's damage to kill Death Prophet easily.
Phoenix
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Legion Commander relies on her powerful attack and her Duel to be effective. But if Phoenix gets the jump on her first, she can find herself severely slowed, taking heavy damage, and find herself unable to Duel a burning Supernova.
* It must be noted that 
Press the Attack will both dispel the attack slow of Fire Spirits and grant her or whoever she targets bonus attack speed. This allows her to easily destroy a Supernova if caution is not taken to prevent this from occurring. As such, it would be a better decision to simply avoid a farmed or skilled Legion Commander instead of attempting to overpower her.
* If an ally is caught by Duel, Phoenix can use Sun Ray to heal the ally and damage Legion Commander, possibly swinging the Duel in their team's favor. Or with Aghanim's Scepter, Phoenix can save an ally from dying in Duel with Supernova and cancel the Duel as well.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
Death Prophet
* Heroes that are hard to gank: 
Axe, Death Prophet, Phantom Lancer, 
Slark, 
Centaur Warrunner, 
Bristleback, Medusa, Mars.
Death Prophet
* 
Shadowraze (Near), 
Shadowraze (Medium), and 
Shadowraze (Far) can hit hard in the early stages of the game, and due to Shadow Fiend's high attack damage, most of Death Prophet's last hits will be denied in the laning phase. Additionally, 
Requiem of Souls can deal massive damage or kill Death Prophet at the start of team fights in combination with Eul's Scepter of Divinity or 
Shadow Blade.
Phoenix
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or 
Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Phoenix
* 
Song of the Siren does not affect Supernova, which allows her and her team to focus the egg while the enemy team is affected by sleep.
* Phoenix cannot use Icarus Dive for escaping when rooted by 
Ensnare.
* However, Phoenix has many area-of-effect abilities that allow him to clear Naga Siren's illusions from 
Mirror Image.
Phoenix
* 
Sand King and Phoenix have many tools to deal with multiple enemies at once, which will work well against a crowd of illusions.
Death Prophet
* Silence will prevent Chen from activating 
Hand of God.
* 
Crypt Swarm and Exorcism can clear Chen's creeps and heavily damage Chen.
* Spirit Siphon heavily damages Chen and slows him, while healing Death Prophet.
Additional:
* Silence will prevent Chen from activating Hand of God.
* Crypt Swarm and Exorcism can clear Chen's creeps and heavily damage Chen.
* Spirit Siphon heavily damages Chen and slows him, while healing Death Prophet.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's large damage over time with Icarus Dive and Fire Spirits can kill Chen's allies before he can use Hand of God.
* Phoenix naturally buys 
Spirit Vessel, which allows him to reduce healing from 
Divine Favor and Hand of God.
* Phoenix's Supernova cannot be damaged by Chen's creeps, and their normal speed means they will often not be able to kill Phoenix whenever he uses Supernova.
Additional:
* Not only Phoenix is able to disrupt Chen's jungling with Fire Spirits, but its high damage over time can also force Chen to use Hand of God prematurely, potentially wasting any chance to save his allies during teamfights.
* Creeps' damage and attack speed are very abysmal, so Chen often cannot kill Phoenix whenever it casts Supernova.
Death Prophet
* Death Prophet's Crypt Swarm and Spirit Siphon can repetively damage Earthshaker, preventing him from using Blink Dagger.
* Silence can be used to silence Earthshaker after he blinks in with Blink Dagger, preventing him from executing his combo.
* Spirits from Exorcism are completely invulnerable and cannot interact with anything at all, which will greatly weaken damage from 
Echo Slam. This can put Earthshaker in a serious disadvantage against Death Prophet.
Phoenix
* Supernova allows Phoenix to save himself (or an ally, with Aghanim's Scepter) through Echo Slam. Earthshaker will also have a difficult time destroying the supernova, due to his low base attack time and poor agility.
* Icarus Dive can pass through Earthshaker's 
Fissure.
* Most of Phoenix's abilities disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a good period of time due to the damage-over-time nature of its spells.
Death Prophet
* Spirit Siphon can deal some serious damage to Clockwerk while he is in 
Power Cogs while healing Death Prophet in process. Exorcism can also be used to take down Clockwerk faster while he is in Power Cogs.
* Death Prophet usually buys a 
Hurricane Pike or Eul's Scepter of Divinity which allows her to easily escape from Power Cogs or save her allies from Clockwerk.
* Silence can prevent Clockwerk from using his ablities during teamfight, especially since Clockwerk is an easy target for it while in Power Cogs.
Additional:
* Spirit Siphon can deal some serious damage to Clockwerk while he is in Power Cogs while healing Death Prophet in process. Exorcism can also be used to take down Clockwerk faster while he is in Power Cogs.
* Death Prophet usually buys a Hurricane Pike or Eul's Scepter of Divinity which allows her to easily escape from Power Cogs or save her allies from Clockwerk.
* Silence can prevent Clockwerk from using his ablities during teamfight, especially since Clockwerk is an easy target for it while in Power Cogs.
Phoenix
* Clockwerk being confined in his own Power Cogs means Clockwerk is unable to quickly escape from Phoenix's Sun Ray and Supernova.
* Sun Ray will also heal the enemy Clockwerk is fighting, making it unlikely for Clockwerk to take an enemy down with him.
* For the same reasons, Phoenix also makes a powerful ally for Clockwerk when the situation is reversed.
Death Prophet
* Heroes who can continue dealing damage even while being stunned: 
Luna, 
Razor, Axe, Bristleback, 
Leshrac, Death Prophet, 
Jakiro.
Phoenix
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Supernova is problematic for Spirit Breaker to take down, and even more so with Fire Spirits debuff applied.
Death Prophet
* In early to mid stage, Silence is also a great way to counter escape oriented heroes such as Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain, and Phantom Assassin to prevent them from escaping, provided that they don't have any basic dispels.
Phoenix
* Fire Spirits applies a severe attack speed slow, severely hindering Phantom Assassin's damage output.
* Phantom Assassin cannot cast Phantom Strike on Phoenix during Supernova.
Additional:
* While her 
Phantom Strike does give limited extra attack speed, she cannot use the ability against the Phoenix Sun, and while her 
Blur may protect her from attacks, Phoenix's strong magical DPS burns away her small health pool quickly, and the attack speed slow makes her unable to fight back (provided she has no source of spell immunity).
Death Prophet
* Because Exorcism's damage is not reduce by damage block abilities or items, Death Prophet can be very good against heroes who rely on armor to survive: Axe, 
Terrorblade, Morphling, 
Dragon Knight
Phoenix
* Sun Ray allows Phoenix to heal any allies caught in Berserker's Call while burning away Axe's high HP at the same time.
* Icarus Dive and Fire Spirits puts Axe's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Axe's slow attack speed makes it difficult for him to destroy Supernova on his own.
Death Prophet
* In the same vein, heroes with silences — especially with the AoE ones like Death Prophet's Silence — can also prevent Crystal Maiden from being able to impact a fight.
Phoenix
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like 
Crystal Maiden or Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's AoE abilities can prove troublesome for Phantom Lancer.
* Fire Spirits dramatically reduces Phantom Lancer and his illusions' attack speed.
* Icarus Dive's movement speed reduction makes retreating difficult.
* Supernova burns away illusions, and is invulnerable to attacks from illusions.
Death Prophet
* Exorcism's ghosts will automatically clear all Proximity Mines revealed when Death Prophet walks near them, provided that the ghosts do not have a specific target at that time.
* Death Prophet is a natural Eul's Scepter of Divinity carrier, meaning she can easily escape a Blast Off initiation.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive and Supernova can destroy the tree Monkey King is standing on.
* Fire Spirits reduces Monkey King's attack speed, preventing Monkey King from building up Jingu Mastery.
* Supernova can be casted next to Wukong's Command, forcing Monkey King to step away of it or to withstand its massive AOE damage
Additional:
* Icarus Dive, Sun Ray, and Supernova all destroy trees that Monkey King relies on to use his ability 
Tree Dance. If you spot him, you can quickly Icarus Dive in his direction and then follow up with Fire Spirits and Supernova. If you manage to cut the tree he is on, he will be stunned for 4 seconds and will be forced to take a lot of damage. However, most Monkey King players tend to build attack speed items to make use of their passive, 
Jingu Mastery, so a battle against a farmed Monkey King will depend on who gets the jump on the other first.
Phoenix
* Her 
Refraction charges can and will be easily burned away by Phoenix's damage over time abilities, and 
Meld can't protect her from Phoenix's AoE abilities, even without detection.
Additional:
* Phoenix's abilities target and deals damage over time, making them a threat against Meld and Refraction. His abilities' nature makes them pretty hard to correctly land on the target, but that is not a problem against a Templar Assassin that needs to stand still during Meld.
* Icarus Dive allows Phoenix to shrug off the slow from her trap and make an easy escape from her ambush.
* As Templar Assassin relies on her quality-over-quantity bursting attacks to make quick work on fragile target, Fire Spirits' attack speed reduction can cripple her ability to deals any damage during combat. With the debuff applied in early-mid game, a Meld-breaking hit from her is significantly slowed to the point that her target can travel a safe distance before she even lands the hit.
* Sun Ray has a quick damage tick and will burn through her Refraction in no time.
* Supernova deals damage over time in an incredibly large area, and again with her quality-over-quantity style, she may not be able to attack quickly enough to break through the Phoenix Sun by herself. (not to mention the debuff from Fire Spirits) This can lead to a failed ganking attempt or even a turnaround.
Death Prophet
* Quas-Exort Invoker is also a good matchup due to the fact he has no 
Wex to run faster due to the movement impairment on his stealth. The 
Forge Spirit and 
Cold Snap combo doesn't harm her as well since you can drain Invoker's HP with Spirit Siphon which forces him to retreat.
* Silence also prevents Invoker from using 
Invoke or casting his main spells temporarily. There is no way Invoker can block it unless he has Eul's Scepter of Divinity to cyclone himself or has help from allies.
Phoenix
* Phoenix will usually be on the sidelines or further back ready to use Sun Ray. Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and skewer Phoenix's teammates, Phoenix can usually counter-initiate using all of its abilities.
Death Prophet
* Crypt Swarm helps clear waves of Treants.
* Silence prevents Nature's Prophet from using Sprout or Teleportation.
* Exorcism kills Treants with ease.
Additional:
* Crypt Swarm helps clear waves of Treants.
* Silence prevents Nature's Prophet from using Sprout or Teleportation.
* Exorcism kills Treants with ease.
Phoenix
* Fire Spirits greatly reduces Slardar's already low starting attack speed (which Bash of the Deep relies on), making the laning phase very hard for him and discouraging Slardar from aggressively threatening lane kills.
* Supernova, ignoring Phoenix's lack of armor and Slardar's high damage single hits, is extremely hard for Slardar to take down on his own, especially after being hit by Fire Spirits.
* Icarus Dive is one of the longest distance escape spells in the game, and can help a good Phoenix escape from Slardar before he gets a Blink Dagger. However, the high cooldown means Phoenix is vulnerable to backstabs from any roamers after said spell is used.
* Slardar can interrupt an Icarus Dive from completing the flight with both of his stuns, however, likely leading to death if Supernova is on cooldown.
* A lot of the items a Phoenix builds throughout the game naturally counter Slardar. 
Shiva's Guard, 
Heaven's Halberd and Eul's Scepter of Divinity all stall Slardar's normal attacks in some way, while Spirit Vessel's percentage-based damage is good against his innate durability.
Phoenix
* Fire Spirits does damage over time, preventing Faceless Void from backtracking the full damage with Time Walk.
* Fire Spirits applies a big attack speed slow, stopping Faceless Void from doing many attacks while in Chronosphere.
* Sun Ray can heal allies and damage Faceless Void from outside Chronosphere.
* Supernova can be cast outside of Chronosphere, forcing Faceless Void to step away from it, lest he'll take a lot of damage
Death Prophet
* Because Timbersaw relies heavily on his spells to deal damage, Silence can easily disable him in a team fight.
* Exorcism's spirits do not count as regular attacks, and will not add stacks of 
Reactive Armor.
Phoenix
* Primal Beast is disarmed during Trample so will be unable to destroy a Supernova no matter how close it is to him.
* The same ability can also be used to save allies with the help of an Aghanim's Scepter.
* Sun Ray will do thousands of damage to Primal Beast if surviving a full channel time due to his high health scaling for the ability.
* Icarus Dive is a fantastic way to escape Primal Beast after he has used Onslaught.
* Phoenix has a naturally very high health pool making it hard for Primal Beast to deal with him with his magical damage.
Death Prophet
* Kraken Shell neither dispels nor provides damage reduction against Spirit Siphon. This ability also drains health based on percentage damage, making Tidehunter's large healthpool a very appealing target. Furthermore, the health gained from the Siphon is independent from the amount of damage dealt, so Death Prophet will always heal a large amount of from Tidehunter's pool even if Tidehunter has magic reduction items or abilities on him, which makes her an untargetable enemy for you as this easily outweights any damage output you can provide.
* Exorcism is yet another ability from which Kraken Shell provides no useful protection, as the spirits completely ignore the damage block and are unaffected by the dispel. This ability also creates an unfriendly area where your blink will be constantly cancelled, reducing your ability to land a good Ravage.
* Ravage does not stop neither Spirit Siphon nor Exorcism, making the ability mostly ineffective against her. Additionally, Death Prophet usually builds Eul's Scepter of Divinity, which can be used to dodge the stun entirely.
Death Prophet
* Exorcism kills Primal Split's units very quickly.
Death Prophet
* Spirit Siphon and Exorcism can damage through his 
Resonant Pulse shields.
* Silence can prevent Void Spirit escape or contributing much in fights.
Phoenix
* Supernova negates Kunkka's combo entirely, as it can't be affected by spells while using Supernova.
* Icarus Dive also allows Phoenix to dodge Ghostship and Torrent.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially 
Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by 
Disruption.
Phoenix
* Sand King has nothing to deal with Supernova, as none of his spells are effective.
* The damage-over-time abilities of Phoenix disable Sand King's Blink Dagger very often.
Death Prophet
* Death Prophet's Silence allows her to prevent Bounty Hunter from escaping with Shadow Walk.
* If Bounty Hunter cannot escape with Shadow Walk while affected by Silence, she will be able to burst him down with Crypt Swarm and Spirit Siphon.
Additional:
* Death Prophet's Silence allows her to prevent Bounty Hunter from escaping with Shadow Walk.
* If Bounty Hunter cannot escape with Shadow Walk while affected by Silence, she will be able to burst him down with Crypt Swarm and Spirit Siphon.
Phoenix
* Lone druid's bear attacks on Phoenix's Supernova Egg don't increase the hit count. Given that Lone Druid's main hero often doesn't have much farm, the Supernova Egg is less likely to get killed.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's Supernova cannot be damaged by Familiars.
* In the early and mid game, Sun Ray won't deal enough damage to be reduced by Gravekeeper's Cloak.
* Once Sun Ray deals enough damage to protect Visage, a layer of Gravekeeper's Cloak is burnt every 0.2 seconds.
Death Prophet
* Death Prophet is a terrible Flaming Lasso target if Exorcism has already been used, since it can still damage Batrider and his teammates, but if Batrider manages to Lasso her before that, it can lead to Death Prophet being quickly burst down.
Death Prophet
* Because Exorcism's damage is not reduce by damage block abilities or items, Death Prophet can be very good against heroes who rely on armor to survive: Axe, Terrorblade, Morphling, Dragon Knight
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, 
Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Death Prophet
* Because Exorcism's damage is not reduce by damage block abilities or items, Death Prophet can be very good against heroes who rely on armor to survive: Axe, Terrorblade, Morphling, Dragon Knight
Death Prophet
* Spirit Siphon does a lot of magical damage, especially in the early game. This allows her to demolish low health heroes such as Zeus, 
Pugna, especially when combined with her other spells.
Phoenix
* Heroes with strong area damage to destroy Phantasm illusions: Axe, 
Ember Spirit, 
Legion Commander, Phoenix
Phoenix
* Heroes that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like Tusk and Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.
Death Prophet
* Any heroes with stuns or silences: Death Prophet, Lion, 
Shadow Shaman, Skywrath Mage
Death Prophet
* A couple of long-range heroes with excellent laning like 
Mirana, Lina, Necrophos, Death Prophet. The key to success is sticking together and attacking Luna whenever she enters the range, without even giving Luna a chance to retaliate. Multiple long-range heroes is a reason to pick another hero.
Death Prophet
* Spirit Siphon does a lot of magical damage, especially in the early game. This allows her to demolish low health heroes such as Zeus, Pugna, especially when combined with her other spells.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Death Prophet
* In early to mid stage, Silence is also a great way to counter escape oriented heroes such as Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain, and Phantom Assassin to prevent them from escaping, provided that they don't have any basic dispels.
Additional:
* Silence will prevent Queen of Pain from using Blink to escape or chase.
* If Queen of Pain uses Blink to close the gap to Death Prophet, Death Prophet will be in range for Spirit Siphon and typically gain an advantage over Queen of Pain.
Phoenix
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Death Prophet
* Heroes with good counter-push abilities to clear creep waves can hinder Jakiro's early pushing ability: Death Prophet, 
Sniper, 
Tinker, 
Windranger.
Phoenix
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Death Prophet
* Heroes who can silence will shut down Dark Willow entirely: Death Prophet, 
Silencer, Drow Ranger
Phoenix
* Phoenix with Supernova
* Heroes that can dodge Glimpse:
* Puck with 
Phase Shift
* Riki with 
Tricks of the Trade
* Phantom Lancer with 
Doppelganger
* Ember Spirit with 
Sleight of Fist and 
Activate Fire Remnant
* Chaos Knight with 
Phantasm
* 
Naga Siren with Mirror Image
* Tusk with 
Snowball
* Juggernaut with Omnislash
* Brewmaster with 
Primal Split
* Lifestealer with 
Infest
* Phoenix with Supernova
Death Prophet
* Windranger heavily relies on her abilities for any form of tactical advantage and damage. A well timed silence will make her useless: Puck,Silencer, Death Prophet, Skywrath Mage, Drow Ranger, 
Earth Spirit, 
Grimstroke.
Death Prophet
* Because all of Warlock's abilities are active abilities, silences can make his impact in fights minimal. Be cautious of heroes that carry silences like Death Prophet, Puck, and the aforementioned Silencer.
Death Prophet
* Heroes who can clear the waves of Enigma's Eidolons: Lina, Luna, 
Dawnbreaker, Jakiro, Shadow Shaman, Death Prophet, 
Keeper of the Light, Invoker, Leshrac, Puck.
Death Prophet
* Death Prophet is able to Silence Undying up to 6 seconds. Besides, due to Undying's high strength during a team fight, Spirit Siphon is a powerful ability against Undying thanks to the percentage health drain.
Death Prophet
* Any heroes with silences can negate the majority of Outworld Destroyer's damage output: Death Prophet, 
Night Stalker, Drow Ranger, 
Doom .
Death Prophet
* Lich is heavily reliant on his abilities to contribute to team fights, so be wary of enemies that can Silence: 
Bloodseeker, Death Prophet, Silencer, Drow Ranger, Skywrath Mage.
Death Prophet
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as Silencer, Drow Ranger and Death Prophet.
Death Prophet
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damaging and/or disabling abilities will be able to intercept Underlord and his team when they exit from Fiend's Gate: Luna's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Eclipse, Dawnbreaker's 
Solar Guardian, Axe's 
Berserker's Call, Mars's 
Arena of Blood, Jakiro's 
Macropyre, 
Dual Breath and 
Ice Path, Naga Siren's Song of the Siren, Razor's 
Eye of the Storm and 
Plasma Field, Lina's 
Light Strike Array, 
Broodmother's 
Spinner's Snare from Aghanim's Scepter, 
Elder Titan's 
Earth Splitter and 
Echo Stomp, 
Alchemist's 
Unstable Concoction and 
Acid Spray, Queen of Pain's 
Sonic Wave, 
Dark Seer's 
Wall of Replica and 
Vacuum, 
Venomancer's 
Noxious Plague and 
Poison Nova from Aghanim's Scepter, 
Oracle's 
Fortune's End and 
Rain of Destiny from Aghanim's Shard, Bloodseeker's Blood Rite, Enigma's 
Black Hole and 
Midnight Pulse, Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls, 
Batrider's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Flaming Lasso, 
Firefly, 
Flamebreak and 
Sticky Napalm, Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast, Sand King's 
Epicenter, 
Sand Storm and 
Burrowstrike, 
Gyrocopter's 
Call Down, Ember Spirit's Sleight of Fist, Death Prophet's Exorcism and Silence, 
Monkey King's 
Wukong's Command, Crystal Maiden's 
Freezing Field, 
Muerta's 
The Calling, Medusa's 
Stone Gaze, Zeus's 
Nimbus from Aghanim's Scepter. 
Dark Willow's 
Bramble Maze, 
Pangolier's 
Swashbuckle, Grimstroke's 
Soulbind, 
Ink Swell and 
Stroke of Fate, 
Earthshaker's Echo Slam and Fissure, Puck's 
Dream Coil and 
Waning Rift, Winter Wyvern's 
Winter's Curse, Magnus's 
Reverse Polarity.
Death Prophet
* Heroes that can kill Death Prophet with nukes can prevent her from using Exorcism to its full duration or using it at all: Lina, Lion, Puck, Morphling.
Death Prophet
* While Morphling can burst her down with 
Adaptive Strike (Agility), Death Prophet does have tools to disrupt him. A Morphling affected by Silence makes it unable to use 
Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) to increase its health pool or use 
Waveform to escape.
Phoenix
* 
Void can interrupt Icarus Dive.
* His 
Crippling Fear's silence will shutdown a spell caster Phoenix.
* However, Phoenix punishes Night Stalker with Supernova because it will turn night into day, and it has a higher priority than 
Dark Ascension, effectively canceling the passive bonuses Night Stalker gets from 
Hunter in the Night.
Death Prophet
* Heroes that can punish aggressive heroes, such as: Leshrac, Shadow Demon, Pugna, Death Prophet.
Phoenix
* Phoenix turns night to day, overriding Dark Ascension during Supernova.
Phoenix
* Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: Anti-Mage, Earth Spirit, Faceless Void, Magnus, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Riki, Sand King, 
Spirit Breaker, 
Timbersaw, Tusk.
Death Prophet
* Heroes with silencing abilities can be particularly deadly when Slark is trying to escape: Silencer, Death Prophet, Puck, Doom.
Phoenix
* Marci can destroy Supernova by herself with Unleash at any stage of the game.
* Phoenix is squishy hero with low armor and is very vulnerable for Rebound and Sidekick at the laning stage.
Death Prophet
* Spirit Siphon exploits her naturally high HP to deal a good amount of DPS. She may break the link with Rebound, but Silence covers that problem.
* Marci's poor armor makes her vulnerable to Exorcism.
Death Prophet
*
Exorcism will continuously heal Abaddon under Borrowed Time, and cannot be turned off.
* {Ability ID:Spirit Siphon|Death Prophet} will continuously heal Abaddon under Borrowed Time, for a percentage of his maximum health.
Phoenix
* Heroes that deal damage over time will also fail to bring down Abaddon and his allies, such as
Huskar, 
Venomancer, or 
Phoenix.