* Static Link can lower the damage output from Coup de Grace procs, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage. And Phantom Assassin is not a common Linken's Sphere wielder to counter this problem.
* Eye of the Storm strikes cannot be evaded by Blur.
* Both Static Link and Eye of the Storm pierces spell immunity, as Phantom Assassin is often reliant on Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Static Link can lower the damage output from Coup de Grace procs, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
* Eye of the Storm strikes cannot be evaded by Blur.
* Both Static Link and Eye of the Storm pierces spell immunity, as Phantom Assassin is often reliant on Black King Bar.
* Alchemist's reliance on fast attack speed to do single-target damage makes him vulnerable to Static Link. It also goes through Black King Bar, which is a standard item on Alchemist.
* Eye of the Storm is great against high health strength heroes as it reduces their survivability to physical damage.
* Razor has early lane push to counter Acid Spray.
* Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with Phantom Strike.
* As a hero who typically builds Silver Edge, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's Blur and Coup de Grace, thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Slark will have plenty of time to escape with Pounce, Shadow Dance and Silver Edge (provided that he purchased it already).
* Depth Shroud from Aghanim's Shard will allow Slark to save both, himself and his allies from Phantom Assassin with Shadow Dance, and to freely fightback against her without removing invisibility upon attacking.
* Essence Shift is much more harmful for Phantom Assassin than for other heroes, as losing the agility means that her physical damage will be also reduced, which can also weaken Coup de Grace if Slark manages to steal lots of agility from her.
* Overall, any attempt for Phantom Assassin to take down Slark will hurt her more than Slark.
Additional:
* Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with Phantom Strike.
* As a hero who typically builds Silver Edge, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's Blur and Coup de Grace, thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Slark will have plenty of time to escape with Pounce, Shadow Dance and Silver Edge (provided that he purchased it already).
* Depth Shroud from Aghanim's Shard will allow Slark to save both, himself and his allies from Phantom Assassin with Shadow Dance, and to freely fightback against her without removing invisibility upon attacking.
* Essence Shift is much more harmful for Phantom Assassin than for other heroes, as losing the agility means that her physical damage will be also reduced, which can also weaken Coup de Grace if Slark manages to steal lots of agility from her.
* Overall, any attempt for Phantom Assassin to take down Slark will hurt her more than Slark.
* Shadow Dance allows Slark to not be targeted by Unstable Concoction, making Alchemist stun himself and making himself vulnerable to the enemy.
* Dark Pact also allows him to just purge off the stun if timed correctly.
* Essence Shift will steal stats over long durations at a time should Alchemist lack the damage to kill Slark.
* Heroes who just want to farm and avoid Lone Druid early will find it very hard to do so when he starts knocking on towers: Templar Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Ember Spirit, Morphling.
* Alchemist likes to farm fast and be ahead, unfortunately Lone Druid likes to do the same by taking towers.
* Acid Spray will never prove a threat to Lone Druid or his Spirit Bear.
* Chemical Rage may not prove so useful once Lone Druid procs entangled keeping him in place.
* Monkey King Bar is a very good choice on Lone Druid's Spirit Bear and it directly counters any potential Radiance from Alchemist.
* Assault Cuirass is another very good Spirit Bear item that further makes Alchemist vulnerable to physical damage, which is all Lone Druid does.
* Alchemist is not the kind of hero who wants to go on single target summon units, by the time he has killed the Spirit Bear his teammates might had already been slayed by his teammates. Not to mention Lone Druid can just resummon it, even if he is successful.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers. Doom and Shadow Demon with Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility: Doom, Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with Aghanim's Shard
* Alchemist is a well-known Radiance carrier among other auras your illusions will benefit from. They also get the extra move speed and reduced base attack time from his Chemical Rage, and it's even better if you can catch him as his own rage is about to expire.
* Disruption will buy enough time for all allies to retreat when Alchemist starts to activate Unstable Concoction.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin, Wraith King, Juggernaut.
* Reaper's Scythe can kill Alchemist before Chemical Rage has the time to heal him.
* Ghost Shroud can prevent Alchemist from attacking Necrophos, as well as make him immune to Acid Spray and Unstable Concoction damage.
* Heartstopper Aura will do damage as long as Necrophos is alive based on health percentage, which is a problem for a strength hero such as Alchemist.
* Puck relies mainly on magical burst damage, which Phantom Assassin is most vulnerable against.
* Phase Shift and Illusory Orb disjoint Stifling Dagger, also allowing to kite Phantom Assassin.
* Dream Coil will stun Phantom Assassin if she uses Phantom Strike to blink away.
* Melee heroes that get kited easily have hard times dealing with Puck without any lockdowns, as Puck is one of the most mobile heroes. Heroes like Sven, Lifestealer, Ursa and Alchemist may have problems to get to Puck without proper initiation items. They also lack reliable lockdowns, as their disables are easily avoidable for Puck, or are just a soft disable.
* While Phantom Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage in a few strikes, Skywrath Mage can also do the same to her if she is not careful.
* Arcane Bolt's long range and low cooldowns allows Skywrath Mage to severely harass Phantom Assassin in lane.
* Ancient Seal prevents Phantom Assassin from escaping or engaging with Phantom Strike.
* Mystic Flare's heavy magical damage nukes Phantom Assassin down quickly during the early to mid game.
Additional:
* While Phantom Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage in a few strikes, Skywrath Mage can also do the same to her if she is not careful.
* Arcane Bolt's long range and low cooldowns allows Skywrath Mage to severely harass Phantom Assassin in lane.
* Ancient Seal prevents Phantom Assassin from escaping or engaging with Phantom Strike.
* Mystic Flare's heavy magical damage nukes Phantom Assassin down quickly during the early to mid game.
* Skywrath Mage can easily harass Alchemist in the laning phase with multiple Arcane Bolts. Additionally, if Alchemist is in the process of throwing an Unstable Concoction, and has no way to dispel Ancient Seal, the self stun becomes an easy set up for Mystic Flare.
* Caution, however, as a decently farmed Alchemist with {Item ID:Radiance} and {Item ID:Manta Style} can easily send illusions to harass and force Skywrath Mage out.
* Skywrath's pitiful defences also make him easy meat to heroes with high burst like Juggernaut, Lion, or Phantom Assassin, the latter occasionally downing a support Skywrath in a single Stifling Dagger.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Visage can quickly kill heroes with low to medium base armor and no innate escape mechanism. Examples include Alchemist, Crystal Maiden and Zeus.
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe, Viper, Meepo, Jakiro, Pugna, Slark, Venomancer etc.
* Viper can bully Alchemist out of mid lane quite easily, forcing him to either retreat into jungle, or stay harassed in lane, and get very few last hits. Vipers break also completely disables Greevil's greed which prevents Alchemist to earn his amazing amounts of money.
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe, Viper, Meepo, Jakiro, Pugna, Slark, Venomancer etc.
* Pugna's Decrepify makes sure that either Alchemist is unable to hit anyone while also being slowed and susceptible to magical damage, or can protect an ally from physical attacks. Besides, Pugna can push early on, when Alchemist is not strong enough to repel it, so by the time Alchemist comes online, he might be forced to sit in base.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage output to be effective will fare badly against Muerta's Pierce the Veil: Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Drow Ranger, Lifestealer, Anti-Mage, Alchemist, Lycan, Clinkz, Sniper.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage output to be effective will fare badly against Muerta's Pierce the Veil: Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Drow Ranger, Lifestealer, Anti-Mage, Alchemist, Lycan, Clinkz, Sniper.
* Heroes who cannot prevent Sven from killing towers will often struggle from a small map very early, such as Phantom Assassin, Storm Spirit and Phantom Lancer.
* Heroes who struggle to fight back against Sven at any point in the game are at a severe disadvantage: Alchemist, Anti-Mage, Crystal Maiden.
* With Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest, Lifestealer can use it on enemy heroes to attack them and disarm them from inside, even if they are spell immune, which can give him the edge over the heroes he's weak against like Ursa, Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade or Troll Warlord.
* Feast is good against high health strength heroes such as Alchemist.
* Rage allows Lifestealer to not be targetable by Unstable Concoction, possibly making Alchemist stun himself.
* Since Lifestealer build Aghanim's Scepter upgrades Infest similliar Heaven's Halberd can applies an undispellable disarm so Alchemist cannot attack during Chemical Rage, forcing him to activate Black King Bar beforehand.
* Lifestealer, at even farm levels, will often fall against other man-fighting non-Strength cores like Ursa, Phantom Assassin or Troll Warlord as he cannot truly rely on sustain from Feast.
Additional:
* Rage does absolutely nothing against Phantom Strike with items.
* Feast and Ghoul Frenzy are very difficult to utilise thanks to Blur.
* Lifestealer generally wants to buy items that make him hard to kill, not an Monkey King Bar which only offers damage.
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak, Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well. Enfeeble also reduces cast range of Phantom Assassin's abilities, making her unable to harass with Stifling Dagger and to use Phantom Strike at longer distances.
* Nightmare and Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with Phantom Strike, and stop her from outputting damage.
* Phantom Assassin's low health pool early on makes her susceptible to {A|Brain Sap|Bane
Additional:
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak, Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well. Enfeeble also reduces any healing Phantom Assassin receives, making her unable to heal herself with Phantom Strike, and it also reduces cast range of Phantom Assassin's abilities, making her unable to harass with Stifling Dagger and to use Phantom Strike at longer distances.
* Nightmare and Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with Phantom Strike, and stop her from outputting damage, even with Black King Bar.
* Phantom Assassin's low health pool early on makes her susceptible to Brain Sap and Fiend's Grip's heavy nuke damage.
* Purification and Hammer of Purity can easily catch Phantom Assassin once she jumps with Phantom Strike in to attack.
* Heavenly Grace can be used to dispel slow from Stifling Dagger, and disables from the items Phantom Assassin relies on.
* Phantom Assassin depends entirely on physical attacks and her damage output is 100% physical. Therefore, since she has no any sources of magical damage output and hates going for items that deal magical damage like Dagon, Ethereal Blade and Revenant's Brooch, Guardian Angel will render her completely useless.
* Purification, Heavenly Grace and Guardian Angel can be used to save an allied hero before Phantom Assassin can finish them off with Coup De Grace.
Additional:
* Purification and Hammer of Purity can easily catch Phantom Assassin once she jumps with Phantom Strike in to attack.
* Heavenly Grace can be used to dispel slow from Stifling Dagger, and disables from the items Phantom Assassin relies on.
* Phantom Assassin depends entirely on physical attacks and her damage output is 100% physical. Therefore, since she has no any sources of magical damage output and hates going for items that deal magical damage like Dagon, Ethereal Blade and Revenant's Brooch, Guardian Angel will render her completely useless.
* Purification, Heavenly Grace and Guardian Angel can be used to save an allied hero before Phantom Assassin can finish them off with Coup De Grace.
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Black King Bar is useless for Phantom Assassin against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
* Spectre only needs to be careful against Fan Of Knives from Aghanim's Shard, as it can disable Desolate and Dispersion, though this issue can be solved by buying Blade Mail, which is a common item on Spectre.
Additional:
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Black King Bar is useless against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
* Phantom Assassin relies on her Blur to stay alive, but is very vulnerable to Sand King's heavy magic damage.
* With Burrowstrike, Sand King can often catch Phantom Assassin before she can use her Black King Bar.
* Sand King can dodge Stifling Dagger with Sandstorm.
* Phantom Assassin has a hard time killing Sand King because of his high mobility.
* Hoof Stomp and Double Edge can often burst down Phantom Assassin from early to mid game.
* Retaliate makes it very unlikely for Phantom Assassin to win the lane against Warrunner. Double Edge can also be used to wear her down, as she has a much smaller health pool than that of Centaur Warrunner until purchasing a Ring of Health. Stifling Dagger will also trigger Retaliate and Blur cannot evade Retaliate.
* Centaur Warrunner's tankiness in combination with armour items that Axe often purchases like Blade Mail, Crimson Guard, Assault Cuirass and Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Centaur Warrunner.
* Centaur Warrunner just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup De Grace, as Fan of Knives can disable Retaliate even if Centaur Warrunner is spell immune.
Additional:
* Hoof Stomp and Double Edge can often burst down Phantom Assassin from early to mid game.
* Retaliate makes it very unlikely for Phantom Assassin to win the lane against Warrunner. Double Edge can also be used to wear her down, as she has a much smaller health pool than that of Centaur Warrunner until purchasing a Ring of Health. Stifling Dagger will also trigger Retaliate and Blur cannot evade Retaliate.
* Centaur Warrunner's tankiness in combination with armour items that Centaur Warrunner often purchases like Blade Mail, Crimson Guard, Assault Cuirass and Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Centaur Warrunner.
* Centaur Warrunner just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup De Grace, as Fan of Knives can disable Retaliate even if Centaur Warrunner is spell immune.
* Firestorm can deal serious damage to Phantom Assassin during laning.
* Pit of Malice prevents Phantom Assassin from either escaping or engaging with Phantom Strike.
* Phantom Assassin's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for her in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects Coup De Grace, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
* Without proper items and any area-of-effect ability/item, Phantom Assassin cannot stop Underlord and his team to escape with Fiend's Gate, and she has nothing to intercept Underlord and his team when they use Fiend's Gate to teleport on any area of the map outside of Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard.
Additional:
* Firestorm can be used to deal serious damage to Phantom Assassin during laning that ignores evasion from Blur.
* Pit of Malice prevents Phantom Assassin from either escaping or engaging with Phantom Strike.
* Phantom Assassin's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for her in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects Coup De Grace, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
* Without proper items and any area-of-effect ability/item, Phantom Assassin cannot stop Underlord and his team to escape with Fiend's Gate, nor she can intercept them if Underlord chooses to teleport on any area of the map.
* Heroes who are entirely reliant on dealing physical damage and/or have very little to no area-of-effect abilities will make Underlord tickle and will have no effect against him thanks to his Atrophy Aura, and will also be unable to ambush Underlord and his team if Underlord chooses to use Fiend's Gate to get to a designated point of the map: Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Sven, Wraith King, Bounty Hunter, Alchemist, Templar Assassin, Nyx Assassin, Bane.
* 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.
* Tinker can use Laser to save an ally or himself from Phantom Assassin's initiate Phantom Strike due to the blind, forcing her to use a Black King Bar to effectively initiate, Tinker can also use Warp Flare one he buys Aghanim's Shard to reverse Phantom Strike's blinking with Phantom Strike.
* Tinker almost never uses his physical attack, relying on his spell-spamming to deal damage which ignores Blur's Evasion
* Defense Matrix prevents Coup de Grace from triggering.
* Quas-Exort Invoker can win the mid lane easily against Alchemist because Quas regeneration will nullify Acid Spray's damage over time and Exort damage bonus will allow Invoker to out last hit Alchemist.
* Overgrowth prevents Phantom Assassin from using Blink Strike even through her spell immunity.
* Living Armor reduces Phantom Assassin's physical damage whenever she attempts to gank an allied hero.
* Despite her high mobility, Hex or Earth Spike can lock Phantom Assassin down, make her vulnerable and mitigate her damage output.
* Lion relies entirely on his abilities to be effective, rendering Phatnom Assassin's high evasion through ineffective against him. And Phantom Assassin's low health pool makes her vulnerable to Lion's magical burst without Black King Bar.
* Even though Phantom Assassin can easily kill Luna in few strikes, Luna can also do the same to Phantom Assassin if she is not careful.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned Phantom Strike will make Phantom Assassin an easy target for counter-attack with Eclipse if she does not have Black King Bar available to use and if Phantom Assassin cannot kill Luna fast enough. This can be even better if Luna buys Aghanim's Scepter.
* Moon Glaives can ignore Blur's evasion if Luna attacks an enemy near Phantom Assassin.
* Luna can counter Blur's evasion by buying either Silver Edge, or Monkey King Bar, which are common items on Luna.
* Luna just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup De Grace, as Fan of Knives can disable Moon Glaives and Lunar Blessing while Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, though this issue can be solved by buying Ethereal Blade, which is a situational item on Luna.
Additional:
* Even though Phantom Assassin can easily kill Luna in few strikes, Luna can also do the same to Phantom Assassin if she is not careful.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned Phantom Strike will make Phantom Assassin an easy target for counter-attack with Eclipse if she does not have Black King Bar available to use and if Phantom Assassin cannot kill Luna fast enough. This can be even worse if Luna buys Aghanim's Scepter.
* Moon Glaives can ignore Blur's evasion if Luna attacks an enemy near Phantom Assassin. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives can also reduce damage from Coup De Grace and Moon Glaives Phantom Assassin inflicts on Luna and damage Spirit Phantom Assassin she is close to her. And the Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives have true strike for their duration, which renders Blur's evasion insignificant.
* Luna can counter Blur's evasion by buying either Silver Edge, or Monkey King Bar, which are common items on Luna.
* Luna just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup De Grace, as Fan of Knives can deal health-based damage to Luna and disable Moon Glaives and Lunar Blessing while Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, though this issue can be partially solved by buying Ethereal Blade, which is a situational item on Luna.
* Heroes who are melee but cannot fight back against Eclipse will really struggle with Luna: Monkey King, Alchemist, Timbersaw.
* All assassin-type carries in a one against one situation: Meepo, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Ursa. Luna's only chances are that she buys Ethereal Blade or Black King Bar to gain a slight edge against them, or both items if necessary.
* Corrosive Haze followed by Slithereen Crush takes advantage of Alchemist's main weakness, being physical damage before he has the change to improve his surviability with items.
* Bash of the Deep will deal lots of damage during the laning phase.
* Whirling Axes (Melee) makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to land a Coup De Grace.
* Troll Warlord often buys Silver Edge and Monkey King Bar, the items that greatly help against Phantom Assassin's Blur ability.
* Battle Trance completely negates Phantom Assassin's large damage output, preventing Troll Warlord from dying easily. The lifesteal also allows Troll Warlord to restore much of his health.
Additional:
* Troll Warlord can build a Silver Edge or a Monkey King Bar to completely ignore Blur.
* Whirling Axes (Melee) provides a 60% miss chance, making a Coup de Grace critical strike very hard to land.
* Battle Trance negates Coup de Grace, preventing Troll Warlord from dying to her critical hits.
* Ember's magic damage build is able to burst down Alchemist due to his low strength gain and Alchemist's normal item pick up.
* Tidebringer will deal lots of damage to Alchemist before he builds physical survivability items.
* Torrent and X Marks the Spot can control Alchemist at all stages of the game before he has Black King Bar.
* Ghostship's rum buff will greatly reduce the Alchemist's damage output in teamfights including his Radiance.
* Morphling's naturally high armor thanks to his high agility makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to take him down with Coup de Grace.
* Phantom Assassin is known to be weak against bursts of magical damage, something Primal Beast excels at from the beginning of the game. He can use this to his advantage by constantly hunting Phantom Assassin down, especially if she is left alone to farm.
* Primal Beast is a good carrier of Ethereal Blade, Vanguard and Shiva's Guard all of which are very good against Coup de Grace and Phantom Strike.
* Even though Primal Beast does a lot of physical damage early on, later once Blur becomes more potent, she may find herself being overwhelmed by Trample and Onslaught instead.
* Primal Beast's ultimate goes through spell immunity and his level 25 talent makes it even more devistating against Phantom Assassin.
* Primal Beast can dispel Stifling Dagger and any attack modifers it applies with his left level 15 talent.
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from Stifling Dagger.
* Phantom Assassin has a moderate health pool and usually appears in the front line of battle, making her vulnerable to Timbersaw's pure burst damage output.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
Additional:
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from Stifling Dagger, as well as ganking attempts.
* Phantom Assassin is a hero with moderate HP pool, and usually appears in the front line of battle. Because Blur does nothing against spells, she is vulnerable to Timbersaw's skills.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
* Sharpshooter disables both Blur and Coup De Grace, especially with the level 25 talent.
* Because Phantom Assassin is often reliant on critical strikes, Hoodwink can have enough time to simply move near a tree and escape with Scurry.
Additional:
* Sharpshooter disables both Blur and Coup De Grace, weakening her damage and survivability.
* Because Phantom Assassin is often reliant on critical strikes, Hoodwink can have enough time to simply move near a tree and escape with Scurry.
* Untouchable greatly reduces Chemical Rage's attack speed advantage.
* Phantom Assassin does not deal with early aggression very easily (especially when magical damage). A competent Batrider can make life very difficult with Sticky Napalm followed by any other spell.
* Phantom Assassin's Blur is useless against Windranger as she commonly buys items that require Javelin like Maelstrom, Monkey King Bar or Bloodthorn, and other than Stifling Dagger, Phantom Assassin has nothing else that can bypass Windrun.
* Additionally, Phantom Assassin doesn't like building Monkey King Bar because her crits are reliant on attack damage.
* Focus Fire can still deal considerable damage despite Blur's evasion due to the increased attack speed.
Additional:
* Phantom Assassin's Blur is useless against Windranger as she commonly buys items that require Javelin like Maelstrom, Monkey King Bar or Bloodthorn, and other than Stifling Dagger, Phantom Assassin has nothing else that can bypass Windrun.
* Additionally, Phantom Assassin doesn't like building Monkey King Bar because her crits are reliant on attack damage.
* Focus Fire can still deal considerable damage despite Blur's evasion due to the increased attack speed.
* Fate's Edict cripples many heroes who rely on attacks, such as Phantom Assassin, Sven, or Enchantress, without a dispel or a Black King Bar.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Doom, Bane, Beastmaster, Pudge, Medusa, Warlock.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer, Sven, Wraith King, Phantom Assassin, Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
* Heroes capable of perofrming interceptions who can anticipate and counter-initiate after Phantom Assassin blinks on them with Phantom Strike will often kill her than the other way around: Axe, Bane, Dawnbreaker, Centaur Warrunner, Luna, Medusa, Omniknight, Pudge, Razor, Terrorblade, Underlord.
* In general, Brewmaster's Cinder Brew and Thunder Clap makes him good against physical damage carries: Ursa, Clinkz, Faceless Void, Troll Warlord, Templar Assassin, Phantom Assassin.
* Heroes such as Lone Druid, Tidehunter and Viper can be very problematic for Phantom Assassin because they give her very little time to farm and become scary.
* Heroes with high mobility can be prevented from using it to their advantage with Earthbind, even if they pack a dangerous arsenal: Earth Spirit, Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Anti-Mage, Weaver.
* See items and abilities disabled by roots
* Any heroes with low mana pools will die quickly or even instantly to Sanity's Eclipse: Doom, Phantom Assassin, Troll Warlord.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Doom, Bane, Beastmaster, Pudge, Medusa, Warlock.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities who attempt to use them for escaping Bloodseeker will suffer serious damage from Rupture: Phantom Assassin, Anti-Mage, Faceless Void, Riki, Slark, Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Doom, Bane, Beastmaster, Pudge, Medusa, Warlock.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Heroes with heavy early and mid-game magical damage are also problematic for Phantom Assassin due to being able to easily kill her before she can gain an item advantage over them: Lina, Necrophos, Nyx Assassin, Gyrocopter, Jakiro, Death Prophet.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers. Doom and Shadow Demon with Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility: Doom, Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with Aghanim's Shard
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* With Normal Punch from Aghanim's Scepter, Dark Seer can gain an advantage against heroes who rely on evasion as Normal Punch has true strike: Phantom Assassin, Windranger, Hoodwink.
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe, Viper, Meepo, Jakiro, Pugna, Slark, Venomancer etc.
* 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.
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as Windranger, Phantom Assassin, Troll Warlord and Keeper of the Light.
* Clinkz can use Burning Army in teamfights which will cause a problem for Alchemist.
* Heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like Phantom Assassin, Riki and Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
* Heroes who rely on burst physical damage are affected by Lucky Shot's disarm: Terrorblade, Sven, Clinkz, Windranger, Alchemist, Dragon Knight, Legion Commander
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,Bloodseeker, Lifestealer, Troll Warlord, Sven
* Heroes with heavy early and mid-game magical damage are also problematic for Phantom Assassin due to being able to easily kill her before she can gain an item advantage over them: Lina, Necrophos, Nyx Assassin, Gyrocopter, Jakiro, Death Prophet.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Doom, Bane, Beastmaster, Pudge, Medusa, Warlock.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Ensnare prevents using any kind of movement abiilties, Making Naga Siren good against heroes who rely on gap-closing abilities to escape: Phantom Assassin, Magnus, Slark, Riki, Faceless Void, Storm Spirit.
* Doom with the {ValueColor:1|Doom applies Break|25tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent can be useful against heroes with troublesome passive skills while also disabling them for a long time: Phantom Assassin, Enchantress, Huskar, Underlord.
* Doom can disable Chemical Rage's increased healing, rendering Alchemist helpless against Doom.
* Attacks from Infernal Blade can deal serious damage to Alchemist as it deals damage based on the hero's maximum health.
* Doom's low armor makes him weak against Alchemist's high physical damage output.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven, Phantom Assassin, Ursa, Wraith King, Lifestealer
* Ice Blast cancels out Chemical Rage's rapid health regeneration. It can also take advantage of Alchemist's Armlet of Mordiggian toggling, as it will make HP drain insanely fast, essentially killing the bearer in no time.
Additional:
* Ice Blast nullifies the health regeneration granted by Chemical Rage, which Alchemist greatly relies on to stay alive in battle.
* Alchemist tends to build Armlet of Mordiggian which can be deadly during Ice Blast.
* Ancient Apparition has no escape or reliable control and is very fragile, which makes him an easy target for anyone who can get on top of him, like Phantom Assassin or Clinkz.
* Chemical Rage will rarely save Alchemist against Ursa's Fury Swipes.
* Enrage allows Ursa to both be a threat to Alchemist and avoid his over time damage.
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack-dependent heroes such as Ursa, Terrorblade or Lifestealer can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
* Laguna Blade is one of the best tools to kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in early-to-mid game due to its high magical (pure with Laguna Blade damage is Pure and pierces Spell Immunity talent) burst damage.
* Blur offers no protection against Lina's abilities. Likewise, Lina can counter Blur's evasion by buying either Silver Edge or Monkey King Bar.
* Lina just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup De Grace, as Fan of Knives can deal pure damage to Lina and disable Fiery Soul awhile Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, which may force Lina to buy Ethereal Blade to deal with Phantom Assassin.
Additional:
* Laguna Blade is one of the best tools to kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in early-to-mid game due to its high magical (pure with Laguna Blade damage is Pure and pierces Spell Immunity talent) burst damage.
* Blur offers no protection against Lina's abilities. Likewise, Lina can counter Blur's evasion by buying either Silver Edge or Monkey King Bar.
* Lina just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup De Grace, as Fan of Knives can deal pure damage to Lina and disable Fiery Soul awhile Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, which may force Lina to buy Ethereal Blade to deal with Phantom Assassin.
* Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as Lina and Witch Doctor are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Chen's creeps to get to Chen: Riki, Tusk, Clinkz, Sniper, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, Spirit Breaker.
* Alchemist's Acid Spray can heavily damage Chen's creeps and disrupt his jungling.
* Alchemist builds items like Radiance and Battle Fury, allowing him to quickly clear Chen's creeps.
* Alchemist's Greevil's Greed will grant him more bonus gold as he kills Chen's creeps.
* Carries that can out damage Huskar will do well against him: Legion Commander, Faceless Void, Troll Warlord, Phantom Assassin.
* Chemical Rage mitigates damage from Burning Spear.
Additional:
* Chemical Rage negates almost all damage from Burning Spears.
* Heroes with Evasion or abilities that cause Tiny to miss like Phantom Assassin and Tinker are very effective because of Tiny's low attack speed. Additionally, Monkey King Bar is not a good item for Tiny because of its reliance on high attack speed to proc for magical damage.
* He can quickly take out heroes with low armor (Tiny) with his great physical damage.
* Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.
Additional:
* Stifling Dagger and Phantom Strike allow Phantom Assassin to close the gap with Sniper and prevent his escape.
* Blur allows Phantom Assassin to approach Sniper while invisible and dodge much of Sniper's damage. It can also disjoint Assassinate.
* Coup De Grace quickly cuts through Sniper's low health; one or two procs will usually kill him.
* Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard can deal damage to Sniper's maximum health and disable Headshot and Take Aim.
* Fade Bolt is not enough to burst Phantom Assassin down without the help of other stolen spells.
* Rubick has little armor and can be Phantom Assassin's primary target.
* Telekinesis is the only way for Rubick to retaliate if being jumped on, but the lockdown duration is generally not enough for Rubick to escape.
* Few of Phantom Assassin's spells grants utility for Rubick.
* Phantom Assassin's spells strengthes her assault power combined with her physical damage output, yet Rubick is not considered a physical damage dealer.
* With that said, Blur could be of use for Rubick to hide on back in teamfights waiting for the key spell without fearing of being initiated.
* Anti-Mage's low health pool making vulnerable to Phantom Assassin's burst damage and Coup De Grace critical strike, while Blink is on cooldown.
* Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal Mana Break to her.
* Phantom Assassin has low intelligence and low mana pool, making Mana Void do minimal damage.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical bursts due to Counterspell, but he is still somewhat vulnerable to physical damage. Phantom Assassin's burst physical damage can destroy Anti-Mage while Blink is on cooldown or while he is stunned or hexed.
* Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal significant damage to her without buying Monkey King Bar, which means he cannot buy items to benefit his Mana Break.
* Phantom Assassin has an abysmal mana pool and intelligence gain, making Mana Break and Mana Void deal minimal damage.
* Magnus has very mediocre damage against Alchemist, because he can survive the stun duration of Reverse Polarity with Chemical Rage.
* Blink Strike does not grant Riki a mobility advantage over Phantom Assassin, as her Phantom Strike serves the same purpose, but with a higher range.
* A Carry Riki usually has a hard time dealing with Blur, as a Monkey King Bar or Bloodthorn are unfavourable item picks for him (or, even more unlikely, a Silver Edge).
* A Black King Bar is a very common pick for Phantom Assassin, fully countering Smoke Screen and Diffusal Blade while activated.
* Chemical Rage will take down Tombstone in no time.
Additional:
* With Greevil's Greed, Alchemist can farm Tombstone zombies and gain a significant gold advantage.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
* Coup de Grace can make a short work of Io's low health and armor.
* Phantom Assassin doesn't care about Silencer's spells as she relies on right-clicks more than spells.
* Phantom Assassin often builds Black King Bar, which allows her to remove Global Silence before engaging.
* Phantom Assassin can easily escape Lich's slows with Phantom Strike.
* Phantom Assassin's Coup De Grace can be used to burst down the squishy Lich.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Sprout is good for trapping melee carries with no escape abilities: Sven, Alchemist, Lifestealer etc.
* Nature's Prophet's low mobility and health pool allow Phantom Assassin to destroy him in the early game.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to jump in and out of Sprout, provided she has vision.
* Acid Spray and Greevil's Greed will quickly destroy pushes with treants.
* Because of his poor movement speed,Alchemist can catch up and kill him with Chemical Rage.
* Alchemist has very bad armor and does not build armor items for the large majority of his build, so Jingu Mastery and Wukong's Command can be very deadly.
* Desolator, Sange and Yasha or Diffusal Blade can all be purchased to increase your damage against Alchemist or just to keep your movement speed high enough to match him while Chemical Rage is active.
* Monkey King is an agility hero and scales with armor, so Acid Spray loses it's effectiveness later in the game.
* Blur makes it hard for Monkey King to stack Jingu Mastery.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to blink directly to Monkey King during Wukong's Command, bypassing all his clones.
* Coup de Grace's high damage can kill Monkey King quickly, thus ending Wukong's Command prematurely.
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos, Phoenix, Alchemist, Earthshaker, Razor, Tinker, Leshrac, Queen of Pain
* Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as Lina and Witch Doctor are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
* Heroes with high burst damage and Black King Bar can take down Dark Willow quickly: Phantom Assassin, Sven, Wraith King
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin, Spirit Breaker, and Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers. Doom and Shadow Demon with Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility: Doom, Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with Aghanim's Shard
* Dazzle's lack of a true disable makes him a relatively vulnerable target for Phantom Assassin.
* Coup de Grace will often kill Dazzle's teammates before he has a chance to use Shallow Grave.
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King, Bane, Phantom Assassin.
* Phantom Assassin's Blur is a real problem for Lycan, as he relies entirely on direct attacks to deal damage.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Heroes that require burst damage to kill will be difficult for Phantom Lancer to take down: Timbersaw, Axe, Bristleback, Alchemist and Underlord
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack-dependent heroes such as Ursa, Terrorblade or Lifestealer can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
* Jakiro's reliance on his abilities can cause struggles for heroes who rely on evasion or blinds to get upper hand: Phantom Assassin, Windranger, Riki, Troll Warlord, Keeper of the Light.
* Heroes with good mobility to avoid Jakiro's abilities and with good chase to punish Jakiro from pushing a tower: Bloodseeker, Ember Spirit, Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, Weaver.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Doom, Bane, Beastmaster, Pudge, Medusa, Warlock.
Additional:
* If Phantom Assassin jumps on Pudge first with Phantom Strike, she will be a very easy target for Pudge's Meat Hook and Dismember combo.
* Even though it can deal damage based on Pudge's max health, Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard cannot disable Pudge's Flesh Heap as Flesh Heap is one of the few passive abilities that cannot be disabled by break.
* Both Meat Hook and Dismember ignore spell immunity which allows Pudge to disable Phantom Assassin even while she has Black King Bar active.
* Pudge occassionally buys armor items like Blade Mail, which in combination with many stacks from Flesh Heap can make Phantom Assassin have little effect against Pudge.
* Generally heroes who don't rely on magical damage, such as Sven, Phantom Assassin, and Outworld Destroyer, as they can practically ignore Flesh Heap's damage block.
* Though certainly not a "hard counter", Crystal Maiden's skillset (magical damage nukes) does pose a substantial threat to Phantom Assassin through the mid game, especially if followed up with engagement by her team.
* A quick use of Freezing Field directly after Phantom Strike can leave Phantom Assassin trapped inside the area of effect, capitalizing on Phantom Assassin's relatively low HP pool when she is not protected by Blur, and besides Skull Basher, Phantom Assassin hates buying disabling items like Scythe of Vyse or Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
* If Phantom Assassin chooses not to buy a Black King Bar relatively early, the attack slow from Freezing Field can greatly hinder the proc chance of Coup de Grace in a teamfight.
* However, Phantom Assassin's massive damage, and her tendency to build both Black King Bar and Skull Basher makes her a formidable foe the later the game goes, and fighting her without a team is almost never a good choice.
* Crystal Maiden's low health pool and slow movement speed make her a tempting and easy target.
* However, it may be wise to build Black King Bar first before attempting to fight her alone, as she can disable you and retaliate with Freezing Field.
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker, Lion, Rubick, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Dawnbreaker, Alchemist, Ogre Magi, Axe, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Mars, Bane, Pudge, Clockwerk.
* Heroes which rely exclusively on right clicks will struggle somewhat against Blinding Light: Phantom Assassin, Wraith King, Medusa
* Heroes with teleports to escape Solar Blind and Will-O-Wisp: Phantom Assassin, Puck, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit
* 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).
* Chemical Rage kills Phoenix very quickly in Supernova.
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings without Battle Fury.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
* Silken Bola can cripple Phantom Assassin greatly due to her being 100% reliant on physical attacks.
* Aghanim's Scepter gives Broodmother access to Spinner's Snare, which allows her to create invisible lines on her webs from Spin Web that will root Phantom Assassin, deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin and reveal Phantom Assassin if she unwittingly steps on them, disrupting her attempts to initiate or escape with with Phantom Strike while also alerting Broodmother on her attempts to ambush her and her allies.
Additional:
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings without Battle Fury.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
* Silken Bola can cripple Phantom Assassin greatly due to her being 100% reliant on physical attacks.
* Aghanim's Scepter gives Broodmother access to Spinner's Snare, which allows her to create invisible lines on her webs from Spin Web that will root Phantom Assassin, deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin and reveal Phantom Assassin if she unwittingly steps on them, disrupting her attempts to initiate or escape with with Phantom Strike while also alerting Broodmother on her attempts to ambush her and her allies.
* Alchemist can easily farm Spiderlings with Acid Spray and Greevil's Greed.
* Alchemist's Chemical Rage nullifies Broodmother's Insatiable Hunger
Additional:
* Greevil's Greed makes Broodmother’s spiderlings far more valuable to Alchemist making it important that he does farm them as opposed to other heroes where the spider's bounties are negligible.
* Acid Spray makes it difficult to attack Alchemist in lane without losing some spiderlings to the damage over time, potentially giving him farm he wouldn't have otherwise.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
Latest changes first
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger Counter Helix more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin. Jumping on Axe with Phantom Strike is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously easy target for a counter-initiation with Berserker's Call and Blade Mail.
* Most of Axe's abilities pierce Black King Bar, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
* Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe and may cause her to kill herself when used with Blade Mail. Berserker's Call can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has Black King Bar active as Berserker's Call can fully pierce spell immunity, making Berserker's Call one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
* Culling Blade can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time Culling Blade successfully kills Phantom Assassin or any of her teammates, Axe gains permanent armor from it, which in combination with armor items that Axe often purchases like Blade Mail, Crimson Guard, Assault Cuirass and Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Counter Helix can weaken Phantom Assassin's damage output, and if her attack damage is weak, Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well.
Additional:
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger Counter Helix more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin in the early game. Jumping on Axe with Phantom Strike is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously easy target for a counter-initiation with Berserker's Call and Blade Mail.
* Most of Axe's abilities pierce Black King Bar, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
* Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe, and may cause her to kill herself when used with Blade Mail. Berserker's Call can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has Black King Bar active as Berserker's Call can fully pierce spell immunity, making Berserker's Call one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
* Culling Blade can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time Culling Blade successfully kills Phantom Assassin or any of her teammates, Axe gains permanent armor from it, which in combination with armour items that Axe often purchases like Blade Mail, Crimson Guard, Assault Cuirass and Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
Alchemist
* Axe can force Alchemist to attack him with Berserker's Call. High attack speed from Chemical Rage will cause Counter Helix to proc multiple times.
* This can get worse if axe has Blade Mail, which then returns all damage to Alchemist himself.
* Axe's abilities can pierce through Black King Bar, which is a common item for Alchemist.
* Berserker's Call grants Axe a huge bonus armor, which greatly counters Alchemist's physical damage for the most part.