* Sleight of Fist is the natural counter to Phantom Lancer's army of illusions, especially when combined with Battle Fury.
Additional:
* Sleight of Fist, allows Ember Spirit to destroy all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Flame Guard also deals significant damage to illusions, and protects against Spirit Lance.
* Phantom Rush is unable to catch Ember Spirit when he teleports to his Fire Remnants.
* Any hero with teleport abilities (e.g. Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit) can easily break Static Link.
* All Timbersaw's abilities deal AoE pure damage and can easily deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Reactive Armor highly negates Phantom Lancer's physical damage, making him having a hard time killing Timbersaw.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's lack of burst damage and constant attacks will increase Reactive Armor to max level immediately.
* Coupled with Timber Chain, it makes an easy escape and almost impossible for Timbersaw to be killed by Phantom Lancer.
* Whirling Death and Chakram can instantly destroy large groups of illusions, negating Phantom Lancer's advantage, although Phantom Lancer usually builds Diffusal Blade. It can be a problem in late game.
* Heroes who rely on abilities to deal damage (e.g. Timbersaw, Tinker) can fight a Razor even after Static Link.
Additional:
* Razor deals mostly physical damage towards the later game, and Timbersaw is also very mobile, making him a difficult kill to earn.
* Timbersaw rarely resorts to attacks, thus does not suffer when his damage is stolen with Static Link.
* Storm Spirit has multiple AoE abilities to deal with Phantom Lancer, especially with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Ball Lightning destroys illusions, avoids Spirit Lance, and makes Storm Spirit very hard to catch, even with Phantom Rush.
Additional:
* Ball Lightning with or without the Static Remnant talent allows Storm Spirit to destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly. It is also easy to dodge Spirit Lance with Ball Lightning and makes Spirit Storm very hard to catch even with Phantom Rush.
* Any hero with teleport abilities (e.g. Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit) can easily break Static Link.
Additional:
* Ball Lightning breaks Static Link.
* Razor has no way to catch a slippery Storm Spirit.
* Heroes that rely on illusions typically spawn very strong illusions inside Dark Seer Wall of Replica that he can use against them or their team: Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, Terrorblade.
Additional:
* Ion Shell helps taking down illusions quickly, making it easy to identify the real Phantom Lancer.
* Surge allows Dark Seer and his teammates to run away from Phantom Lancer, who relies on his Phantom Rush to chase enemies.
* Dark Seer can increase the movement speed of allies with Surge, breaking Static Link.
* Laser prevents Juxtapose from triggering, as it only triggers on successful attacks
* Laser does high splash, and upgrading it with Aghanim's Scepter makes it deal twice as much damage due to the bounce. Combined with Rearm, Tinker can rapidly deplete Phantom Lancer's illusion army
* However, if Phantom Lancer ambushes Tinker, Tinker will not survive versus Phantom Lancer.
* Heroes who rely on abilities to deal damage (e.g. Timbersaw, Tinker) can fight a Razor even after Static Link.
* Illusion heroes, such as Naga Siren, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade will become strong against Tinker in the late game. Without Aghanim's Scepter Tinker is forced to defensively disarm heroes with Laser, leaving illusions free to deal physical damage which Tinker's low armor makes highly effective. In addition, Mjollnir or Battle Fury, two common pickups against illusion heroes, don't work well on Tinker at all.
* Phantom Lancer's lack of disables makes it hard for him to stop Echo Stomp's channelling.
* However, due to the long cast time of his abilities, a good Phantom Lancer can use Manta Style and/or Doppelganger to dodge the abilities.
* Phantom Lancer's high agility and relatively low strength make him very vulnerable to Natural Order.
* Additionally, Echo Stomp and Earth Splitter can clear his wave of illusions.
* Should Phantom Lancer tries to increase his health by investing for Heart of Tarrasque, Earth Splitter does more damage to him and his illusions.
* Berserker's Call catches Phantom Lancer when he is hidden among his illusions.
* Counter Helix quickly destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army. The more illusions there are, the more often Counter Helix is triggered.
* Phantom Lancer's low early game health makes him an easy target for Culling Blade.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call helps locking down Phantom Lancer in a group of illusions.
* Counter Helix combined with Blade Mail clears Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly.
* Phantom Lancer's low health in the early game makes him a frequent target for Culling Blade.
* All of Sand King's abilities deal AoE damage.
* However, Epicenter is usually a non-issue against Doppelganger.
* Poof will destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions within a short time.
* Earthbind prevents Phantom Lancer from using Doppelganger.
Additional:
* Poof from multiple Meepos will destroy illusions quickly.
* Earthbind's area root can catch Phantom Lancer in a group of illusions and prevent him from using Doppelganger for a long time.
* Meepo aims to end the game as early as possible, while Phantom Lancer is a lategame hero.
* This also means that, in the late game, Meepo stands no chance against Phantom Lancer.
* Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army.
* Phantom Lancer can't escape with Doppelganger under your X Marks the Spot, but can use it to dodge it.
Additional:
* Tidebringer and Kunkka's AoE abilities in general are effective in clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Boulder Smash's and Geomagnetic Grip's (upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter) repositioning and disables make it very difficult for Razor to keep enemies within range of Static Link and Eye of the Storm.
* Astral Step and Dissimilate makes a quick work of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Resonant Pulse helps clear illusions and protects Void Spirit from Phantom Lancer's physical damage and with the Aghanim's Scepter upgrade, it prevents Phantom Lancer from casting his abilities.
* Void's Spirit mobility makes it hard for him to chase down with Phantom Rush.
* Shukuchi can break Static Link with little trouble.
* Time Lapse can easily be used to avoid damage from Plasma Field and can recover the damage done from Static Link and Eye of the Storm.
* Eye of the Storm can't kill bugs from The Swarm.
* Leshrac can easily clear Phantom Lancer's illusions with his huge area of effect damage.
Additional:
* Leshrac's AoE abilities destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova require no targeting, thus hitting Phantom Lancer whenever he's nearby.
* 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.
* Jakiro's spells inflict AoE damage, meaning he can take down Phantom Lancer's illusion army very quickly.
* Bear in mind, however, that once Phantom Lancer buys Diffusal Blade which can burn Jakiro's mana, Jakiro will be vulnerable to Phantom Lancer 's counter-attacks if he runs out of mana.
Additional:
* Jakiro's AoE abilities are great against Phantom Lancer:
* Dual Breath slows down and damages Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Liquid Fire will not only deal AoE damage but also lowers Phantom Lancer's attack speed.
* Ice Path and Macropyre combo can easily clear all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Jakiro can predict Doppelganger and Ice Path on top.
* Blink can instantly break Static Link, making it useless against her.
* Queen of Pain doesn't fully rely on her physical attack damage, so she can still fight after being hit with Static Link.
* Onslaught prevents all of Razor's abilities from being effective against him, especially in the laning stage.
* Blink can easily break Static Link and Counterspell reflects Static Link on Razor.
* Illusory Orb and Waning Rift are effective nukes against Phantom Lancer's illusions, especially in the early game.
* Dream Coil limits Phantom Rush and Doppelganger's mobility during teamfights.
* Flak Cannon destroys Phantom Lancer's illusions very quickly.
Additional:
* Flak Cannon and Call Down destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions very quickly.
* Bushwhack will stun and make a quick work of Phantom Lancer and his illusion when he's near a tree.
* Sharpshooter breaks Juxtapose and deals hefty damage.
* Sharpshooter ignores Illusions and will only damage and breaks the real phantom lancer, when used right, this will allow you to reveal the real phantom lancer amongst his Illusions
Additional:
* Acorn Shot combined with attack modifiers such as Maelstrom or Daedalus makes a quick work of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Bushwhack will stun Phantom Lancer and his illusions if they're near a tree.
* Stroke of Fate's damage increases the more units are hit by it, making it effective against Phantom Lancer's army of illusions.
* Phantom's Embrace and Ink Swell's stun can prevent Phantom Lancer from escaping with Doppelganger if properly timed.
* If he has already used Doppelganger, Soulbind can tie Phantom Lancer to one of his own illusions to keep him in place, or to ensure a kill if Grimstroke's team is unsure which one is the real hero.
Additional:
* Stroke of Fate clears Phantom Lancer's illusion easily as it deals bonus damage to more targets.
* Ink Swell can be used on an allied hero or Grimstoke himself to stun Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Soulbind has an undispellable debuff that can be used to mark the real Phantom Lancer. It also prevents him from using Doppelganger.
* Swashbuckle,Maelstrom or Diffusal Blade allow him to quickly destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Pangolier's high mobility allows him to easily escape from Phantom Lancer, through both Phantom Rush and Diffusal Blade.
* Phantom Rush will cause Phantom Lancer to be stunned by Rolling Thunder, or set himself up for a Shield Crash.
Additional:
* Pangolier's AoE abilities especially Shield Crash, are very effective against Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Snapfire's AoE abilities in general are effective in clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Broodmother, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer by their nature offer very good target for Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse.
* Heroes with summoned units don't fare well against Dawnbreaker. (Phantom Lancer ,Beastmaster ,Lycan).
* Heroes the make heavy use of illusions, like Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, or Spectre can suffer from Crystal Maiden, as Freezing Field can quickly kill off the entire horde if not stopped.
* Lion may upgrade Mana Drain, Hex and Finger of Death through Talent Tree and Aghanim's itens to make them affect secondary targets or turn them into AoE abilities. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren and Terrorblade, who rely on illusion armies.
* Heroes with global nukes will target and hit Phantom Lancer regardless of his illusions: Zeus
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet, Lich.
* Great Cleave and God's Strength destroys illusions in just a few hits.
* Storm Hammer's AoE stun will hit Phantom Lancer when he's grouped up with illusions.
* Sven's low mana causes him to take less damage from Diffusal Blade. This is further reduced by the armor bonus from Warcry.
Additional:
* Great Cleave and God's Strength cuts through Phantom Lancer's illusions in no time.
* Storm Hammer's AoE stun will hit Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Heroes that rely on right-clicks will find themselves unable to damage opponents seriously after being affected by Static Link, like Sven, Bloodseeker, and Juggernaut.
Additional:
* Static Link saps Sven's insane attack damage, and goes through Black King Bar.
* Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash makes it very difficult for Phantom Lancer's illusions to deal damage to Tidehunter.
* Ravage will stun the real Phantom Lancer while clearing most of his illusions.
* Anchor Smash reduces base damage, which is the majority of Phantom Lancer's auto-attack damage.
* An Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Gush slows down and reduces all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Additional:
* A dozen of Phantom Lancer's illusions with all their might can barely hurt Tidehunter at all thanks to Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash. The only way Phantom Lancer can hurt Tidehunter is through the mana burn provided by Diffusal Blade.
* Even with high chasing power from Spirit Lance and Phantom Rush (and even Diffusal Blade), Tide Hunter can shrug it all off with Kraken Shell and escape by using a Town Portal Scroll or just moving away.
* The AoE nukes from Ravage, Anchor Smash, and an Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded Gush can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions easily.
* Heroes who relies on high armor such as Dragon Knight, Tidehunter, and Pudge can be melted by Eye of the Storm.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell's dispel does not restore damage stolen by Static Link, and the stolen damage easily offsets Anchor Smash's damage reduction. Razor can keep attacking Tidehunter from afar, denying his chance to use Anchor Smash.
* Eye of the Storm melts Tidehunter's armor and makes him much less tanky.
* Razor can chase Tidehunter by himself without relying on actual crowd control ability, so the strong dispel from Kraken Shell is less useful.
* Time Walk can break Static Link very quickly, preventing Razor from building up to attack damage.
* Heroes who can proc their respective passives while inside Chronosphere can still be a problem for Darkterror: Axe, Abaddon, Razor...
* Life Break along with Burning Spear can quickly kill Razor before Static Link steals enough damage for Razor to take down Huskar.
* Berserker's Blood can make stealing Huskar's damage and using it against him somewhat dangerous, as Huskar will be able to inflict more and more Burning Spears rapidly.
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar: Phantom Lancer, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Chaos Knight.
* His increased attack range makes it very hard to get close enough for Static Link, Eye of the Storm and Razor's own attacks.
* Headshot procs will slow Razor heavily regardless of Storm Surge, as it will knock him back for a brief duration.
* Carry heroes who can close the gap reliably are very problematic: Phantom Lancer, Ember Spirit, Phantom Assassin.
* Dead Shot passes through all of Phantom Lancer's illusions, allowing her to separate him from the illusions easily.
* However, Phantom Lancer's high mobility can still pose a threat to Muerta's limited movement.
* Heroes who buy Revenant's Brooch can attack Muerta even through Pierce The Veil: Luna, Jakiro, Broodmother, Dawnbreaker, Naga Siren, Lina, Silencer, Batrider, Outworld Destroyer, Razor.
* Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge an incoming snowball.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys a Diffusal Blade, which is very effective against Tusk's low mana pool.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys Manta Style which can also dodge an incoming snowball, much like Doppelganger.
* Static Link drains Tusk's base damage, and it also reduces the critical damage output from Walrus PUNCH!.
* Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm allow Razor to chase Tusk after he uses Snowball.
* Phantom Rush lets Phantom Lancer get close quickly and disable Marksmanship.
* As Phantom Lancer commonly buys Manta Style, he can easily dispel Gust and then chase after Drow Ranger.
* Because Phantom Lancer is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier, he can easily burn Drow Ranger's mana and render her unable to use Frost Arrow and Gust to save herself.
* Static Link weakens Drow Ranger's attack damage while strengthening Razor's attack damage.
* Plasma Field & Storm Surge keeps Razor close to Drow Ranger, continuously disabling Marksmanship.
* Lifestealer will struggle to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions and will either be forced to use his abilities too quickly, or itemize too heavily for them.
* Phantom Lancer commonly builds Diffusal Blade, which poses a large problem to Lifestealer and his low mana pool, and can shut him down from even casting his abilities.
Additional:
* Aside from his ultimate, Lifestealer has no AoE abilities to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions, nor does he have the mobility to escape Phantom Rush.
* Doppelganger dispels Open Wounds.
* Phantom Lancer usually builds Diffusal Blade, which a problem for a low already mana hero like Lifestealer.
* Razor's highly mobile nature allows him to control Lifestealer from a distance. As well, Lifestealer is already slow in comparison due to his lack of disables and move speed. Lifestealer is also an ideal target for Static Link, for its ability to pierce magic immunity and damage steal, which can render Lifestealer's Feast useless.
* Plasma Field can slow Lifestealer from a distance and force him to cast Rage too early.
* Eye of the Storm pierces magic immunity, deals physical damage, and reduces armor, allowing Razor to easily stand up to Lifestealer.
Additional:
* Static Link cannot be dispelled by Rage or Infest, so Razor will be able to track Lifestealer down during an attempted escape.
* Storm Surge makes it hard for Lifestealer to catch Razor.
* Static Link can stop Open Wounds from getting any additional lifesteal, but keep in mind Lifestealer can still utilize Feast.
* Eye of the Storm penetrates the spell immunity of Rage.
* Phantom Lancer with Diffusal Blade will very quickly burn Medusa's mana, making Mana Shield significantly less effective.
* Doppelganger's 1 second invulnerability can be used to dodge Medusa's petrification from Stone Gaze, as well as Mystic Snake.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions outnumber Medusa's targets from Split Shot, likely shielding his team in the process.
* With Static Link, Razor can effectively make Medusa useless in teamfights by reducing her main damage output. It can, however, be blocked by a Linken's Sphere.
* Plasma Field allows Razor to get on top of Medusa, slowing her already slow movement speed to a mere crawl.
* Eye of the Storm capitilizes on Medusa's low armor and causes her to be very vulnerable, even through Mana Shield.
* Ursa has no sustained AoE to deal with illusions, it becomes worse since Phantom Lancer can create more illusions in a matter of seconds.
* Diffusal Blade can be used to drain Ursa mana. This is a standard item for Phantom Lancer in every match.
* Doppelganger applies basic dispel on Phantom Lancer, which will remove the slow from Earthshock. It also resets fights with more illusions, making hard for Ursa to hit the real Phantom Lancer.
* Manta Style creates two more illusions and also applies a basic dispel, further complicating the problem for Ursa to deal with.
* Plasma Field can spot an Ursa sneaking into Roshan's pit
* Static Link has a 800 link break distance, meaning Razor can stay close enough to drain Ursa' damage, but not too close to get attacked
* Static Link cannot be dispelled by Enrage
* With Storm Surge, Razor will usually be faster than Ursa in most cases
* Eye of the Storm melts through Ursa's armor
* Illusion and heroes with summons are difficult to kill with Chen's single-target offensive spells: Terrorblade, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Broodmother, Naga Siren, Lycan, Visage, Beastmaster, Warlock, Wraith King. And even though Chen can convert enemy summons with Holy Persuasion, their much greater numbers will often overwhelm Chen and his creeps.
* Razor's Plasma Field and the passive from Eye of the Storm can damage and clear Chen's creeps.
* Chen has no escape mechanisms, making him easy prey for Static Link, which can also minimalize effects of Penitence.
* Eye of the Storm will rapidly strike Chen's creeps around Razor.
* Heroes with single-target abilities and low-mobility are all an exceptionally easy targets for Phantom Rush: Terrorblade, Chaos Knight, Wraith King
Additional:
* With no wave clear and mostly focus on dealing single target damage, Terrorblade will be overwhelmed in no time due to Juxtapose. And to make things worse, Terroblade is not a common Battle Fury nor Mjollnir wielder to counter this problem.
* Reflection can be dispeled instantly with Doppelganger.
* As Phantom Lancer is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier, he can drain Terrorblade's mana, leaving Terrorblade with no chance to use Sunder to save himself.
* Besides Reflection that can be used to detect real Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade has no other ways to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions. And what's worse is that Phantom Lancer can much easily detect the real Terrorblade due to Conjure Image having illusions having different colors.
* Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm can help Razor clear waves of Terrorblade's illusions.
* Static Link can significantly weakens Terrorblade's damage, even during Metamorphosis, making Terrorblade's attacks tickle while strengthening Razor's attack damage. Terrorblade also lacks escape mechanisms, making Terrorblade a good target for Static Link and forcing Terrorblade to buy Linken's Sphere.
* Storm Surge makes it difficult for Terrorblade to catch Razor, and when upgraded with Aghanim's Shard, it can also deal damage to Terrorblade and his illusions.
* Eye of the Storm can rapidly weaken Terrorblade's armor, which combined with Terrorblade's low health and strength gain can almost completely discourage Terrorblade from even being present in teamfights.
* Static Link and Eye of the Storm cannot be dispelled neither with Manta Style nor blocked by Black King Bar, which can put Terrorblade in a big disadvantage against Razor.
* However, Razor's lack of disables makes it difficult for him to burst down Terrorblade before he can use Sunder unless Razor has either Black King Bar or Linken's Sphere to protect himself against it.
Additional:
* Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm can help Razor clear waves of Terrorblade's illusions.
* Static Link significantly weakens Terrorblade's damage, even during Metamorphosis, making Terrorblade's attacks tickle while strengthening Razor's attack damage. Terrorblade also lacks escape mechanisms, making Terrorblade a good target for Static Link and forcing Terrorblade to buy Linken's Sphere.
* Storm Surge makes it difficult for Terrorblade to catch Razor, while also allowing Razor to deal damage to Terrorblade and his illusions.
* Eye of the Storm can rapidly weaken Terrorblade's armor, which combined with Terrorblade's low health and strength gain can almost completely discourage Terrorblade from even being present in teamfights.
* Static Link and Eye of the Storm cannot be dispelled neither with Manta Style nor blocked by Black King Bar, which can put Terrorblade in a big disadvantage against Razor.
* However, Razor's lack of disables can make it difficult for him to burst down Terrorblade before he can use Sunder unless Razor has either Black King Bar or Linken's Sphere to protect himself against it.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
* Diffusal Blade, his core item, drains Templar Assassin's small mana pool, rendering her unable to save herself with Meld.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
* Diffusal Blade, his core item, drains Templar Assassin's small mana pool, rendering her unable to save herself with Meld.
* Templar Assassin's Refraction will easily be removed by Eye of the Storm, and Static Link reveals Templar Assassin hiding with Meld and drain the bonus damage from Refraction.
Additional:
* Razor's Eye of the Storm damage-over-time easily wear off Refraction charges, allowing Templar Assassin to be damaged.
* Static Link empties Templar Assassin's damage output even with the bonus from Refraction, and will keep doing that even if the Razor cannot see her during Meld.
* Plasma Field can easily strike her during Meld.
* 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.
* 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.
* Void's slow is dispelled by Doppelganger or counteracted by Phantom Rush.
* Spirit Lance's and Diffusal Blade's slow reduces Night Stalker's mobility and helps him or his ally escape if they're inflicted by Void or Crippling Fear.
* Night Stalker has no AoE abilites to take out Phantom Lancer's illusions. Even if Night Stalker gets an Aghanim's Scepter, there will be way too many illusions for Night Stalker to handle.
* Heroes with stronger lane presence that can threaten to kill him: Batrider, Juggernaut, Ursa, Monkey King, Razor.
* Any heroes that naturally buy Diffusal Blade like Phantom Lancer or have a mana break talent is a big issue for Pudge because of his low mana pool.
* Anti-Tank heroes like: Razor, Necrophos, Undying.
* Illusion-based heroes are effective against Omnislash and Juggernaut's single-targeted damage: Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade,Phantom Lancer.
* Heroes that rely on right-clicks will find themselves unable to damage opponents seriously after being affected by Static Link, like Sven, Bloodseeker, and Juggernaut.
* Doppelganger dispels Sticky Napalm and Flamebreak.
* There are usually way too many illusions for Batrider to lasso the real Phantom Lancer, since the illusions' hitboxes also body block the real Phantom Lancer.
* Juxtapose and Doppelganger conjures too many illusions for Dazzle to deal with, given he has no inherent movement- or AoE-abilities.
* However, this can be partially solved with Aghanim's Shard-upgraded Poison Touch, as the hex instantly destroys illusions in an area as well as revealing the real Phantom Lancer when he's hiding among his army of illusions.
* Phantom Rush and Spirit Lance allow Phantom Lancer to trivially catch Dazzle even in the back line of a fight.
* Phantom Lancer has high base armor which counters Dazzle's physical damage based spells in lane.
* Diffusal Blade a natural item from Phantom Lancer can drains mana, which can be a problem for Dazzle, as all of his abilities have a high mana cost.
* Phantom Lancer has higher mobility and the ability to reset any fights with Doppelganger can be a nuisance for spectre to fight against.
* Phantom Lancer is a natural carrier of Diffusal Blade and Manta Style, which is outright nullify Desolate. In fact, Phantom Lancer will always have illusions with him at anytime, thus further exacerbated the problem.
* Although Spectre is largely AoE oriented, unfortunately, they are damage-over-time (DoT) rather than burst AoE damage. Without any effective ways to quickly destroy illusion and reveal the real hero, Spectre has little availability to manfight Phantom Lancer at any points in the game.
* Spectre often relies on Spectral Dagger as a pseudo-mobility skill. With her low mana pool and complete dependence on it to catch enemy team, she will soon find herself unable to do anything significant once her mana pool is completely drained.
* Doppelganger can be used to dispel the slow from Spectral Dagger, thus completely render it useless.
* Phantom Lancer's Doppelganger has a low cooldown and applies a basic dispel on PL, making it hard to keep Corrosive Haze on him.
* Phantom Lancer usually purchases Manta Style which provides another basic dispel to remove Corrosive Haze with.
* Besides Slithereen Crush, Slardar does not have another way to deal with illusions and has a low mana pool, which allows Phantom Lancer with Diffusal Blade to quickly build up illusions while draining Slardar's mana.
* Phantom Rush outruns Guardian Sprint, forcing Slardar to Blink away or use Slithereen Crush defensively to avoid being killed.
* Static Link can steal Shadow Fiend's high physical damage output from Necromastery, lowering his damage output, and Static Link cannot be prevented by Black King Bar.
* Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm can melt down Shadow Fiend easily, due to his low health.
* Phantom Lancer creates way too many illusions for Pugna's Life Drain to destroy, overwhelming him easily.
* Doppelganger can dodge Nether Blast or dispel Decrepify.
* Diffusal Blade is a common item for Phantom Lancer to burn Pugna's large mana pool and deals a large amount of damage in the process.
Additional:
* Though Life Drain instantly destroys illusions, Phantom Lancer creates way too many for Pugna to handle.
* A good Phantom Lancer will also dodge your Nether Blast with Doppelganger.
* Phantom Lancer is the most natural Diffusal Blade carrier to burn Pugna's very large pool of mana away and deal a large amount of damage in the process.
* Static Link drains away Riki's damage while keeping his location revealed for its duration, allowing his team to accurately land detection or area-of-effect skills.
* Storm Surge procs on invisible heroes, making him aware of Riki's presence near him.
* Due to Phantom Rush and Juxtapose being passives and not affected by silence, a Phantom Lancer with a Diffusal Blade can easily kill Silencer.
* Static Link is effective against Troll Warlord, as he mainly relies on attack speed more so than damage.
* Static Link is even more effective if Troll Warlord used Battle Trance, as he has no way to break the link.
Additional:
* Static Link can drain most or all of Troll Warlord's damage, making him useless in a teamfight or unable to last hit in lane. This is especially effective during Battle Trance, because Troll has no option to cancel the link.
* Storm Surge allows Razor to chase after or run away from Troll Warlord while doing damage with Eye of the Storm.
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with summons and illusions as Spirit Breaker has no strong AoE capabilities to deal with them: Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Broodmother, Warlock, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Shadow Shaman, Lycan, Wraith King.
* Nether Strike can't remove Static Link and reduces Spirit Breaker's physical damage output.
* Eye of the Storm melts Spirit Breaker's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
Additional:
* Plasma Field can slow Spirit Breaker and reduce damage from Greater Bash.
* Static Link drains damage bonus from Greater Bash, and it cannot be removed by Nether Strike.
* Storm Surge will proc on Spirit Breaker every time he attacks Razor or if he uses Charge of Darkness on Razor, damaging him and alerting Razor to Spirit Breaker's incoming ganks, no matter how far Spirit Breaker is from Razor.
* Eye of the Storm can rapidly reduce Spirit Breaker's armor, making him much less durable, especially in teamfights.
* Doppelganger is a very reliable tool against Glimpse, enabling him to dodge it consistently.
* Doppelganger also allows Phantom Lancer to escape from Kinetic Field so long as there isn't a Static Storm on top of him.
Additional:
* Doppelganger lets Phantom Lancer instantly escape from Kinetic Field.
* Doppelganger is one of the most reliable ways to dodge Glimpse, other than spell immunity.
* Doppelganger dispels Thunder Strike.
* However, even with the negation of the rest of his kit, Static Storm (especially when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter) remains as one of the strongest lockdowns against Phantom Lancer, and as such Disruptor must never be underestimated.
* Ogre Magi has no undispellable AoE damage or disables and has nothing to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Doppelganger disjoints and dispels Ignite.
* Battery Assault's damage is dispersed against Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Phantom Lancer can blink out of Power Cogs with Doppelganger.
* When chasing, a Phantom Lancer can close in with Phantom Rush and burn down Clockwerk's mana with Diffusal Blade, rendering him helpless before he has a chance to erect a defensive Power Cogs.
* Because Clockwerk does not like to buy items to deal with multiple enemies at once, like Battle Fury, Maelstrom and Mjollnir, he will be unable to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions coming from Juxtapose.
Additional:
* Doppelganger. lets Phantom Lancer jump in and out of Power Cogs.
* Clockwerk's low mobility makes him an easy target for Phantom Lancer to rush on, and overwhelm with clones.
* Phantom Lancer's many illusions will easily destroy Tombstone, provided he has sufficient farm.
* He also has no ways of dealing with the illusions, since Decay doesn't steal strength from illusions.
* Vengeful Spirit has no strong AoE nuke or disable against Phantom Lancer's Illusions.
* Phantom Lancer is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier, which reduces Vengeful Spirit's low mana pool very quickly, leaving her defenseless.
* Doppelganger can dodge Vengeful Spirit's abilites.
* Phantom Rush with his illusions can chase Vengeful Spirit efficiently.
* Diffusal Blade lets Phantom Lancer drain Wraith King's mana, preventing Reincarnation from triggering until he buys an Aghanim's Shard.
* Wraith King is bad against illusions-based heroes, as Wraithfire Blast is his only single-target disable and can get overwhelmed easily.
* Doppelganger can disjoint Wraithfire Blast.
Additional:
* Doppelganger disjoints Wraithfire Blast.
* Wraith King is not good at handling illusion-based heroes, as his only disable is single-target.
* Phantom Lancer tends to get Diffusal Blade, leaving Wraith King no mana to reincarnate until he has Aghanim's Shard.
* Lone Druid and his Spirit Bear lack mobility, and are easy overwhelmed after being slowed by Diffusal Blade.
* Savage Roar is useless since Phantom Lancer can return to fight him again with his Phantom Rush.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions will quickly destroy multiple layers of Gravekeeper's Cloak.
* Visage has no mobility mechanisms, making him a prime target for Phantom Rush.
* Doppelganger can dispel Leech Seed. It can also destroy large amounts of trees, counteracting Nature's Guise and Eyes in the Forest.
* Doppelganger dispels Flux.
* Phantom Rush closes the distance between Phantom Lancer and Arc Warden.
* Juxtapose can overwhelm Arc Warden and nullify his kit which is only effective against isolated enemies.
Additional:
* One of Arc Warden's hardest counters, Arc Warden, who has primarily single target damage, will struggle tremendously against Phantom Lancer:
* Flux is paused if even one illusion remains near Phantom Lancer. It can also be dispelled with Doppelganger.
* Phantom Lancer can also easily dodge an activated Spark Wraith, or use his illusions to trigger it safely.
* Phantom Rush allows Lancer to quickly close gap to get inside of Arc Warden's Magnetic Field.
* Phantom Lancer and his clones are able to quickly drain Arc Warden of his mana with a Diffusal Blade. This means Warden's Tempest Double will also be summoned without mana.
* Illusions can be sent out to destroy Techies mines.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
* Heroes that can destroy trees will deny Monkey King spots to jump on, or cause him to fall: Windranger, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos, Phoenix, Alchemist, Earthshaker, Razor, Tinker, Leshrac, Queen of Pain
Additional:
* Static Link can steal the bonus damage from Jingu Mastery and reduce the physical damage from Boundless Strike. It also reduces Wukong's Command's damage if it's used after stealing damage via Static Link.
* Static Link will give Razor shared vision on Monkey King if he tries to escape using Tree Dance or ​Mischief.
* Plasma Field can prevent Monkey King from using Tree Dance and Mischief.
* Eye of the Storm will remove the armor buff from Wukong's Command, as well as hitting Monkey King during Mischief.
* Heroes with summons or illusions makes Sacred Arrow harder to land: Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Nature's Prophet.
* Heroes with dispels: Legion Commander, Oracle, Slark, Phantom Lancer
* Nyx Assassin's skillset is mostly single-targeted, therefore he will have difficulties against heroes with illusions and summons: Naga Siren, Broodmother, Lycan, Visage, Phantom Lancer. And to make things worse, Nyx Asassin is not a common Battle Fury, Maelstrom, Mjollnir, Gleipnir or Radiance wielder to counter this problem.
* Heroes with both illusions and summons, for Io has nothing to deal with multiple enemies at once outside from Spirits's weak area-of-effect: Beastmaster, Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Shaman, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Skywrath Mage also has a terrible time fighting against anything that isn't a hero. His skills are mostly target-based and he has terrible strength and agility, he can easily be kited or harassed by illusion-based heroes like Chaos Knight and Phantom Lancer, or by Heroes that summon other units like Lone Druid, Lycan and Beastmaster.
* Heroes that reduce the damage that Marci can deal during her ultimate, like Razor, Rubick, Bane, Dragon Knight and Underlord.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
* Heroes with illusion and clone abilities may confuse Bloodseeker, causing him to waste time in fights: Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Arc Warden
* Heroes that rely on right-clicks will find themselves unable to damage opponents seriously after being affected by Static Link, like Sven, Bloodseeker, and Juggernaut.
* Phantom Lancer with Doppelganger
* Heroes that can remove the Track debuff with their skills:
* Abaddon with Aphotic Shield and Borrowed Time
* Huskar with Life Break
* Juggernaut with Blade Fury
* Legion Commander with Press the Attack
* Lifestealer with Rage and Infest
* Naga Siren with Mirror Image
* Omniknight with Heavenly Grace
* Oracle with Fortune's End and False Promise
* Phantom Lancer with Doppelganger
* Slark with Dark Pact
* Ursa with Enrage
* Weaver with Time Lapse
* Tidehunter with Kraken Shell when damage received reaches the threshold.
Additional:
* Doppelganger dispels Track.
* Bounty Hunter also has no area of effect abilities to help with the illusions.
* Heroes with no AoE abilities will struggle against Phantom Lancer: Phantom Assassin, Broodmother
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions can make it difficult to Doom the real hero. Should Doom figure out the real hero, the illusions can make it difficult to cast any abilities, as their hitboxes can be used to body-block the real Phantom Lancer.
* Phantom Lancer is an ideal Diffusal Blade carrier. With it, he can quite easily deplete Doom's already poor mana pool, potentially making him unable to cast his abilities to escape, retaliate or heal.
* Doom lacks any effective ability to clear waves of creeps and illusions, as the vast majority of his abilities are single-target. Without an answer, Doom may find it difficult to deal with Phantom Lancer's presence.
* Illusions and summons are double-edge sword type of matchup for Luna. On one hand, they can tank damage from Eclipse, but on the other hand, she can easily clear them before Eclipse with Moon Glaives. Examples include Spectre, Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, Chen, Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden).
* Even though Luna can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions with Moon Glaives, Phantom Lancer can create too many illusions to tank Luna's Eclipse and for Luna to handle overall.
* Doppelganger can be used to dodge a number of Lucent Beams during Eclipse.
* Phantom Lancer can chase Luna effectively regardless of her high movement speed thanks to Phantom Rush and Spirit Lance.
* Luna's low health pool is easily exploited by the sheer damage output from Phantom Lancer's illusions. Additionally, Phantom Lancer can often create more illusions for Luna to handle.
* For the same reasons, Phantom Lancer makes a very powerful ally for Luna when they are in the same team.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
* Phantom Lancer can dispel or escape from Cold Feet with Doppelganger and Phantom Rush, respectively. Phantom Lancer also frequently builds a Manta Style which dispels Cold Feet.
* Ancient Apparition has trouble dealing with Phantom Lancer's illusions due to a lack of Area of Effect damage other than Ice Blast.
* Phantom Lancer tends to build a Diffusal Blade, which greatly amplifies his damage against Ancient Apparition due to Ancient Apparition's high mana pool.
* Ancient Apparition has no escape/mobility mechanisms, making him an easy target for Phantom Lancer at any stage of the game.
* As long as Windranger is able to identify the real hero among the illusions, heroes relying on them can be easily tagged with Focus Fire: Chaos Knight, Terrorblade, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren.
* Static Link can lower the damage output from Focus Fire.
* Eye of the Storm strikes cannot miss, even if Windrun is active.
Additional:
* Static Link greatly lowers Windranger's damage output from Focus Fire.
* Eye of the Storm strikes cannot miss, even if Windrun is active.
* Heroes that require burst damage to kill will be difficult for Phantom Lancer to take down: Timbersaw, Axe, Bristleback, Alchemist and Underlord
* 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.
* Heroes with summons and illusions can find themselves easily bested by Lina, like Broodmother, Nature's Prophet, Chen, Terrorblade, Naga Siren, Visage, Wraith King, Lycan, Phantom Lancer, Shadow Shaman.
* Doppelganger can be used to easily dodge Light Strike Array if timed correctly.
* While Lina can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions with her abilities, Phantom Lancer can quickly deplete Lina's mana pool with his illusions and deal massive damage from it simultaneously since Phantom Lancer is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier.
* Heroes who rely on illusions will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade, Naga Siren
Additional:
* Overwhelming Odds deals high damage to Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Duel's long duration prevents Phantom Lancer from using Doppelganger.
* Static Link drains Legion Commander's accumulated damage, effectively neutralizing her overall primary advantage, and prevents her from winning Duels.
* Storm Surge's movement speed buff makes Razor and his allies harder to catch and initiate.
* Eye of the Storm, if used beforehand, will always hit Legion Commander during Duels, due to her forced proximity. This drastically lowers her survivability during Duel.
* Heroes that require burst damage to kill will be difficult for Phantom Lancer to take down: Timbersaw, Axe, Bristleback, Alchemist and Underlord
Additional:
* Firestorm is very useful for clearing multiple Phantom Lancer's illusions swiftly.
* Pit of Malice will continuously disrupt many of Phantom Lancer's illusions, drastically reducing their damage and potency.
* Atrophy Aura reduces damage of both Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Phantom Lancer has nothing to stop Underlord and his team to escape with Fiend's Gate, nor to intercept them if Undelord chooses to use Fiend's Gate to get to the designated points of the map.
* Static Link greatly reduces Underlord's attack damage, while benefits Razor himself, even when in Atrophy Aura's range.
* Underlord is a slow and low mobility hero, and cannot outrun Razor's high movement speed, easily for Razor to absorb his damage with Static Link to the maximum and burst him down from the bonus damages, combine with the armor reduction from Eye of the Storm.
* However, Razor has no way of preventing enemies to escape with Fiend's Gate. And his only way to counter this is by buying disabling items.
* Morphling can break Static Link with Waveform. Alternatively, Morphling can Morph into Razor and use the same ability against him.
* Morphling's high armor makes Eye Of The Storm mostly ineffective, enabling Morphling to fight Razor for longer.
* Razor has no disables, enabling Morphling to avoid his abilities as needed.
Additional:
* Static Link is almost completely useless against Morphling, as he is able to quickly break it off with Waveform or turn into Razor himself with Morph and recover all of his stolen damage, or simply steal Razor's own.
* Phantom Lancer can effortlessly overwhelm Morphling with a large number of illusions. It becomes even more effective with {Item ID:Diffusal Blade}, which takes away his mana in the process.
* Doppelganger can be used to dodge Adaptive Strike combo and create confusion with two additional illusions.
* Eye of Skadi can be bought to slow and negate the health regeneration from Attribute Shift, and a common item for Phantom Lancer.
* Bristleback's tankiness and damage reduction from the rear makes him very hard for Phantom Lancer to chase and finish off, due to his lack of burst damage.
* Quill Spray quickly destroys Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Bristleback's passive costs no mana, meaning that it will continue to trigger even if Phantom Lancer drains Bristleback's mana with Diffusal Blade.
Additional:
* Bristleback's tankiness and damage reduction from the rear makes him very hard for Phantom Lancer to chase and finish off, due to his lack of burst damage.
* Quill Spray destroys Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Bristleback's passive costs no mana, meaning that it will continue to trigger even if Phantom Lancer drains Bristleback's mana with Diffusal Blade.
* Eye of the Storm melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
* Static Link can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.
* Storm Surge allows Razor to outdistance Bristleback, even with a few stacks of Viscous Nasal Goo on him. Also, if Razor has his Shard, it will deal full damage to Bristleback every time he uses Viscous Nasal Goo (as Bristleback will face him to cast it).
Additional:
* Eye of the Storm melts Bristleback's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
* Static Link can completely drain Bristleback's bonus damage from Warpath.
* Empower helps Magnus' allies clear out illusions.
* Reverse Polarity and Skewer will pull Phantom Lancer along with his illusions, and reposition them together for easy nuking.
* Shockwave deals significant area damage in the early game,destroys phantoms and may even indicate the real Phantom Lancer.
* Plasma Field can slow Magnus during Skewer, and when combined with Eye of the Storm, will potentially disable his Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating.
* Static Link drains the bonus damage from Empower. However, it can be broken by Skewer and/or Force Staff.
* Storm Surge gives Razor and his allies high mobility needed to avoid Shockwave & Reverse Polarity.
* The dragon's splash damage wears down his illusions.
* Early harassment with Breath of Fire hinders his farming.
* Fireball stops his pushes and allows for a defence.
Additional:
* Breathe Fire and Elder Dragon Form's splash damage takes out Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly.
* If Dragon Knight can Dragon Tail the real Phantom Lancer, he and his team can quickly kill him before he has a chance to escape.
* Static Link saps Dragon Knight of his already low base damage, making him even more useless in a fight if he gets kited.
* Storm Surge makes Razor much faster than Dragon Knight, and hard to catch.
* Eye of the Storm melts Dragon Knight's armor and bypasses Black King Bar, his core item.
* Razor has no way to deal with Chaos Knight's multiple illusions from Phantasm.
* Juxtapose allows Phantom Lancer to overwhelm Chaos Knight due to his single-target abilities.
* Phantom Lancer often builds a Manta Style, which can be used to disjoint Chaos Bolt or dispel Reality Rift.
* Doppelganger can be used to dodge Chaos Bolt.
* Diffusal Blade, another common item on Phantom Lancer, can quickly drain Chaos Knight's low mana pool, leaving him unable to cast spells.
Additional:
* Chaos Knight's single target abilities are difficult to target against Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Chaos Knight's lack of mobility makes him an easy target for Phantom Lancer to Phantom Rush and drain his already low mana pool.
* Necrophos usually doesn't build itmes that give attack damage, minimalizing effects of Static Link.
* He can use Ghost Shroud to prevent Razor from attacking him with the stolen damage from Static Link.
* Razor is somewhat vulnerable to magical damage, and Reaper's Scythe prevents him from escaping with his high movement speed when things get dangerous.
* Diffusal Blade is a core item on Phantom Lancer. And when combined with his numerous illusions, it allows him to rapidly deplete Necrophos's mana, rendering Necrophos incapable of doing anything.
* It can be difficult to single out the true Phantom Lancer among his army, giving Necrophos a hard time with aiming his ultimate.
* Even if his illusions are defeated, Phantom Lancer can simply create more of them at his disposal with almost no issues.
* Pounce can easily break Static Link, making it less powerful against him.
* Slark is one of the few heroes who can man fight a Razor, because of Essence Shift.
* Shadow Dance can prevent Razor from killing him and may provide an opportunity to kill Razor due to it preventing Razor from attacking Slark.
* Slark has no sustained AoE to fight off Phantom Lancer's illusions as they continually spawn.
* Spirit Lance can give vision of Slark by spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from Shadow Dance.
* Phantom Rush helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark if he tries to escape with Pounce.
Additional:
* Slark has no sustained AoE damage to deal with a lot of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Doppelganger lets Phantom Lancer dodge Dark Pact and Pounce and partially wastes the duration of Shadow Dance.
* Spirit Lance can give vision of Slark via spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from Shadow Dance.
* Phantom Rush helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark when he jumps away with Pounce.
* Viper's Poison Attack and Viper Strike that can slow Razor, and is one of the few heroes that can keep him immobile.
* Altogether, Viper's skills reduce Razor's attack speed, heavily reducing the benefit of the damage drain from Static Link.
Additional:
* Storm Surge is counteracted by Viper Strike, leaving Razor without his extra movement speed.
* Static Link's damage drain doesn't bother Viper a lot as most of his early to mid game damage is magical.
* Although Viper Strike cannot be dispelled by Doppelganger, Viper's lack of mobility and AoE damage makes him an easy target for Phantom Lancer.
* Viper's various slows do not work against Phantom Rush.
* Although Phantom Lancer should be wary due to Nethertoxin applying Break.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer can overwhelm Viper with spawned illusions from Spirit Lance and Doppelganger. In addition, Diffusal Blade, a core item on Phantom Lancer, burns Viper's limited mana pool, reducing his potential poison damage.
* Viper's various slows do not work against Phantom Rush. Additionally, it is almost impossible to keep Lancer inside Nethertoxin's radius in order to disable the passive.
* Phantom Lancer's many illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Echo Slam deals tremendous damage when multiplied by Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Earthshaker's AoE abilities can quickly kill Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Enchant Totem with Aghanim's Scepter gives Cleave to help destroy illusions.
* Static Link drains the damage bonus from Enchant Totem, until he purchase Aghanim's Scepter or Force Staff to break it.
* Storm Surge with Razor's high mobility items can easily avoid all of Earthshaker abilities.
* Plasma Field & Eye of the Storm prevents Earthshaker escaping from Blink Dagger.
Additional:
* Static Link drains Earthshaker's bonus damage from Enchant Totem until he purchases an Aghanim's Scepter or Force Staff to break it.
* Eye of the Storm and Plasma Field can disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences and mutes him.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's strength is the sheer amount of illusions he can conjure, Dissimulate can be cast on an ally that he is focusing to quickly thin out his ranks
* Landing a upgraded Demonic Purge on the real Phantom Lancer prevents him from making very many illusions (His only source being Doppelganger), You can reapply as needed if you have the Shard
* Disrupting Phantom Lancer allows you to create multiple extra illusions with Juxtapose, As he is a common carrier of Diffusal Blade, you can also drain the mana of any nearby heros
* Although Phantom Lancer will generate strong illusions, and you can also break his Juxtapose with an Aghanim's Demonic Purge, you have a small chance of guessing which is the real Phantom Lancer after he uses Doppelganger.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Faceless Void, Gyrocopter, Juggernaut, Meepo, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Phantom Assassin, Phantom Lancer, Riki, Shadow Fiend, Slark, Sniper, Terrorblade, Troll Warlord, Weaver.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded Brain Sap: Broodmother, Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade, Visage, Warlock, Wraith King.
* Outworld Destroyer doesn't care if Razor steals his damage because he does most of his damage through Arcane Orb.
* Astral Imprisonment can prevent Razor from using the stolen damage from Static Link or chasing with Eye of the Storm.
* Sanity's Eclipse will do a ton of damage to Razor due to his low mana pool.
* Doppelganger and Juxtapose allow Phantom Lancer to initiate on Outworld Destroyer, and, although Arcane Orb will normally destroy his illusions instantly, Phantom Lancer will spawn too many to deal with without using Sanity's Eclipse.
* Outworld Destroyer has very little AOE ability; His Astral Imprisonment with Aghanim's Scepter is his primary AOE, and it does too little damage to eliminate Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Additional:
* Although Outworld Destroyer will typically destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions in one shot, Phantom Lancer spawns too many of them for Outworld Destroyer to deal with. However, be careful about initating on Outworld, as Sanity's Eclipse will erase your illusions and deal massive damage to you. He can then follow up with Astral Imprisonment and Meteor Hammer.
* Fortune's End can catch out or impair position-based heroes with low mobility, such as Sniper or Razor.
* Heroes who are not easily crippled by Fate's Edict or Fortune's End, such as Timbersaw, or those who can dispel them, such as Phantom Lancer, can kill Oracle unhindered.
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Phantom Lancer
* His illusions will kill themselves in a few hits because of Retaliate. The nukes from Hoof Stomp and Double-Edge should be enough to clear them for a large portion of the game
* Centaur Warrunner's small mana pool makes Diffusal Blade's damage much lower once Centaur doesn't have any more mana left to burn. Keep in mind that Double Edge does not cost mana.
* Be wary when chasing down Phantom Lancer. Hoof Stomp's terrible cast time makes it quite easy to dodge with Doppelganger.
Additional:
* Hoof Stomp and Double Edge makes short work of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Retaliate together with Blade Mail reflects Phanton Lancer's damage and quickly destroys his illusions.
Razor
* Centaur can use Stampede to break Static Link. It also prevents Razor from chasing Centaur Warruner or his teammates with Eye of the Storm, and Plasma Field's slow will do nothing to slow them down.