Phoenix
* Earthbind can prevent Phoenix from using 
Icarus Dive, the only escaping mechanism of this hero.
* Heavy burst damage from Poof can easily kill Phoenix even when it slows down all the Meepos with 
Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's clones destroy the Phoenix Sun from 
Supernova in no time, even when they are slowed down by Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's naturally high magic resistance gives Phoenix a hard time with bursting him down. He can even turn the tide if Icarus Dive is on cooldown.
Additional:
* Meepo is unlike any other multi-unit enemy Phoenix may face in the battlefield. Unlike illusion-based heroes like 
Phantom Lancer or 
Chaos Knight, Meepo's clones are not illusions, meaning they can deal full damage to the Phoenix Sun if all four (or five) are present.
Phoenix
* Juggernaut's high attack speed lets him destroy a Supernova easily. He can even attack a Supernova during Blade Fury with his regular attacks.
* 
Blade Fury protects Juggernaut from all of Phoenix's spells (except Supernova, which pierces spell immunity).
* Blade Fury can also dispel the attack speed slow from Fire Spirits and the movement speed slow from Icarus Dive.
* Phoenix's Icarus Dive will not protect it from 
Omnislash unless it dives into creeps, and Phoenix's low armor makes for an easy kill.
Phoenix
* Huskar's high attack speed can counteract Fire Spirits, and easily destroy the Supernova.
Additional:
* 
Berserker's Blood will let Huskar easily face down a Supernova with increased attack speed.
* Icarus Dive may not be an easy escape from Huskar either as he can chase Phoenix during it with 
Life Break if Huskar times it right.
* However, Phoenix can buy items which can
Phoenix
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
Phoenix
* Anti-Mage dispels Phoenix's slows with 
Manta Style.
* Anti-Mage can Blink directly next to Supernova, giving him more time to destroy the egg.
Phoenix
* Silencer will most likely disrupt an initiation with his ultimate, 
Global Silence, prevent escape with his 
Last Word, and if Phoenix happens to die to him (or near him) enough times, he would sap enough of Phoenix's much needed Intelligence to make him a stronger foe and Phoenix with less mana than it already had.
Phoenix
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt 
Sun Ray and Icarus Dive.
Phoenix
* Ursa can easily unleash a number of attacks in an incredibly short amount of time, easily destroying the Supernova in a couple of seconds regardless of Fire Spirits' debuff. His 
Enrage also dampens any damage Phoenix might toss at his direction, as well as remove any debuffs Phoenix may place on him.
Phoenix
* Although Phoenix has many ways to disable a Blink Dagger, the high cooldown of all of its spells makes them not as reliable for this. Also, its spells cost a lot of health to use, making it easy to get nuked down.
* Waning Rift prevents Phoenix from using Supernova to refresh itself, giving Puck's team time to finish it off, or allow Puck to burst Phoenix down.
* Dream Coil prevents Phoenix from using Icarus Dive without consequences. Waning Rift and Dream Coil are also able to cancel Sun Ray, which is its main source of damage in the late game.
Phoenix
* Chemical Rage kills Phoenix very quickly in Supernova.
Phoenix
* Phoenix expends health to use its abilities, making it a good target for Thirst.
* Rupture deals heavy damage against Icarus Dive.
Additional:
* Although 
Blood Rite can be easily avoided, if it does hit, its lengthy silence and pure damage can be a severe punishment for a slow, unobservant, or simply unfortunate Phoenix.
* His 
Rupture can turn Icarus Dive into a suicide option, and it cannot be dispelled, meaning even if Phoenix completes a Supernova, choosing to Dive may just cut its health back down.
* And finally, due to Phoenix's health costs, too much careless ability spamming may just put Phoenix into Bloodseeker's vision through 
Thirst, making it a very tempting ganking target.
Phoenix
* Phoenix constantly depletes its own health due to the health costs of its abilities. Unlike heroes that have a similar mechanic, Phoenix does not benefit from low health, nor does it really have a countermeasure for it. As such, Phoenix is a very vulnerable target for Necrophos to prey on, especially when caught off guard before it can cast Supernova.
Additional:
* Necrophos becomes a bigger threat the lower one's health gets, and unfortunately for Phoenix, most of its spells have noticeable health costs. Those costs, coupled with his 
Heartstopper Aura, means that staying in a teamfight for too long under Necrophos' presence will make Phoenix a more valid target for his ultimate, with its stun completely preventing any form of retaliation or protection. Necrophos players are also likely to buy more durability items such as 
Hood of Defiance, making him more able to withstand Phoenix's damage despite having no escape mechanisms.
* However, it is also important to remember that a Scepter-upgraded Supernova can help protect an ally from his ultimate.
Phoenix
* Tempest Double, Magnetic Field's attack speed bonus, and Arc Warden's high attack range will easily destroy a Phoenix using Supernova much faster than usual.
* Phoenix is very weak against pushers, especially those like Arc Warden who can kill him easily, as his skillset works best in teamfights.
Additional:
* His 
Tempest Double is not an illusion, but rather a full hero unit, which effectively reduces half of the Supernova's health. His 
Magnetic Field can tremendously boost his attack speed, allowing him to destroy Supernova in no time even when he's affected by Fire Spirits.
Phoenix
* As a hero with uncommon traits, 
Phoenix's abilities require more health than mana. It is advised for Rubick to purchase health regeneration items such as 
Tranquil Boots, 
Urn of Shadows or Hood of Defiance to keep up with the HP loss.
* Phoenix's signature Supernova, if casted successfully, can turn a teamfight around if being stolen.
* The initial lift and the following crowd control from the drop of 
Telekinesis can protect the egg from being attacked if casted right before Supernova with quick fingers.
* A successfully reborn Supernova refreshes the cooldown of Telekinesis as well as 
Fade Bolt, so don't hesitate to spam both of them before Supernova with the reasons mentioned above.
* Supernova has a stun range of 1200, which requires Rubick to have Level 3 
Arcane Supremacy at least to exceed its range. Consider buying 
Aether Lens or 
Blink Dagger to help with positioning.
* It is not possible to cast Supernova (as of 7.31c) with 
Aghanim's Shard's extra Sun Ray even with both spell stolen, since Sun Ray takes up two stolen ability slots.
* Icarus Dive is a useful repositioning ability for scouting, initiation or escaping.
* Fire Spirits aids with Rubick farming given enough HP regeneration. In early skirmishes, the stolen ability can slow the attack speed of the enemy team to a crawl.
* Combined with Fade Bolt, both the attack damage and attack speed of the enemy team are reduced if they have no source of dispel, effectively nullifying their physical attack damage.
* Sun Ray thrives in and after a teamfight by damaging enemy heroes and healing allies at the same time.
* Rubick can interrupt both Icarus Dive and Sun Ray by casting Telekinesis.
Phoenix
* 
Lil' Shredder will make quick work of Supernova.
* 
Mortimer Kisses can easily hit a Phoenix using Sun Ray.
Phoenix
* 
Corrosive Skin gives Viper additional resistance to Phoenix's magical damage, and since they deal damage over time, Phoenix would be constantly afflicted by his passive's own debuff, making him not an ideal target for Phoenix's harassment. Phoenix's abilities also constantly drain its own health away, becoming more vulnerable to 
Poison Attack.
Phoenix
* Inner Beast helps Beastmaster's team destroy Supernova quickly.
Phoenix
* Marci can destroy Supernova by herself with Unleash at any stage of the game.
* Phoenix is squishy hero with low armor and is very vulnerable for Rebound and Sidekick at the laning stage.
Phoenix
* Heroes with spell immunity-granting spells will render Phoenix useless against them, as Phoenix has almost no spell immunity-piercing ability, other than the stun at the end of Supernova: 
Lifestealer, 
Juggernaut.
Phoenix
* Heroes that deal damage over time will also fail to bring down Abaddon and his allies, such as 
Huskar, 
Venomancer, or Phoenix.
Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut, 
Clinkz, 
Troll Warlord, 
Beastmaster, 
Lina.
Phoenix
* Heroes with blink or movement abilities, which are disabled by Pounce's leash: 
Anti-Mage, 
Earth Spirit, 
Faceless Void, 
Magnus, 
Mirana, 
Monkey King, 
Morphling, 
Pangolier, 
Phantom Assassin, Phoenix, 
Puck, 
Queen of Pain, 
Riki, 
Sand King, 
Spirit Breaker, 
Timbersaw, 
Tusk.
Phoenix
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like 
Death Prophet, 
Skywrath Mage, and even 
Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
Phoenix
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like Death Prophet, Skywrath Mage, and even Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut, Clinkz, Troll Warlord, Beastmaster, Lina.
Additional:
* Due to Fervor and Battle Trance, Troll Warlord is one of the best heroes to deal with Supernova.
Phoenix
* Any hero with high attack speed will be a threat to Phoenix when it initiates, as they can easily tear down a Supernova, perhaps even while debuffed by Fire Spirits: Juggernaut, Clinkz, Troll Warlord, Beastmaster, Lina.
Phoenix
* 
Void can interrupt Icarus Dive.
* His 
Crippling Fear's silence will shutdown a spell caster Phoenix.
* However, Phoenix punishes Night Stalker with Supernova because it will turn night into day, and it has a higher priority than 
Dark Ascension, effectively canceling the passive bonuses Night Stalker gets from 
Hunter in the Night.
Phoenix
* Phoenix turns night to day, overriding Dark Ascension during Supernova.
Phoenix
* 
Song of the Siren does not affect Supernova, which allows her and her team to focus the egg while the enemy team is affected by sleep.
* Phoenix cannot use Icarus Dive for escaping when rooted by 
Ensnare.
* However, Phoenix has many area-of-effect abilities that allow him to clear Naga Siren's illusions from 
Mirror Image.
Phoenix
* Sand King and Phoenix have many tools to deal with multiple enemies at once, which will work well against a crowd of illusions.
Phoenix
* Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Supernova is problematic for Spirit Breaker to take down, and even more so with Fire Spirits debuff applied.
Primal Beast
* Durable heroes: 
Axe, 
Dawnbreaker, 
Bristleback, 
Mars, 
Omniknight, 
Tidehunter, 
Wraith King, 
Primal Beast, 
Underlord.
Phoenix
* Sun Ray allows Phoenix to heal any allies caught in Berserker's Call while burning away Axe's high HP at the same time.
* Icarus Dive and Fire Spirits puts Axe's Blink Dagger on cooldown.
* Axe's slow attack speed makes it difficult for him to destroy Supernova on his own.
Primal Beast
* Long lockdown is a great way to deal with Axe to prevent Berserker's Call from being used, heroes such as 
Legion Commander, Beastmaster and Primal Beast are good examples of this.
Phoenix
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as 
Shadow Fiend or 
Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who have low or high armor but very high health will be difficult for drow to burst down quickly: Primal Beast, Axe, 
Centaur Warrunner.
Phoenix
* Fire Spirits applies a severe attack speed slow, severely hindering Phantom Assassin's damage output.
* Phantom Assassin cannot cast Phantom Strike on Phoenix during Supernova.
Additional:
* While her 
Phantom Strike does give limited extra attack speed, she cannot use the ability against the Phoenix Sun, and while her 
Blur may protect her from attacks, Phoenix's strong magical DPS burns away her small health pool quickly, and the attack speed slow makes her unable to fight back (provided she has no source of spell immunity).
Phoenix
* Phoenix's large damage over time with Icarus Dive and Fire Spirits can kill Chen's allies before he can use Hand of God.
* Phoenix naturally buys 
Spirit Vessel, which allows him to reduce healing from 
Divine Favor and 
Hand of God.
* Phoenix's Supernova cannot be damaged by Chen's creeps, and their normal speed means they will often not be able to kill Phoenix whenever he uses Supernova.
Additional:
* Not only Phoenix is able to disrupt Chen's jungling with Fire Spirits, but its high damage over time can also force Chen to use Hand of God prematurely, potentially wasting any chance to save his allies during teamfights.
* Creeps' damage and attack speed are very abysmal, so Chen often cannot kill Phoenix whenever it casts Supernova.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's AoE abilities can prove troublesome for Phantom Lancer.
* Fire Spirits dramatically reduces Phantom Lancer and his illusions' attack speed.
* Icarus Dive's movement speed reduction makes retreating difficult.
* Supernova burns away illusions, and is invulnerable to attacks from illusions.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive and Supernova can destroy the tree Monkey King is standing on.
* Fire Spirits reduces Monkey King's attack speed, preventing Monkey King from building up Jingu Mastery.
* Supernova can be casted next to Wukong's Command, forcing Monkey King to step away of it or to withstand its massive AOE damage
Additional:
* Icarus Dive, Sun Ray, and Supernova all destroy trees that Monkey King relies on to use his ability 
Tree Dance. If you spot him, you can quickly Icarus Dive in his direction and then follow up with Fire Spirits and Supernova. If you manage to cut the tree he is on, he will be stunned for 4 seconds and will be forced to take a lot of damage. However, most Monkey King players tend to build attack speed items to make use of their passive, 
Jingu Mastery, so a battle against a farmed Monkey King will depend on who gets the jump on the other first.
Phoenix
* Phoenix will usually be on the sidelines or further back ready to use Sun Ray. Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and skewer Phoenix's teammates, Phoenix can usually counter-initiate using all of its abilities.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially 
Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by 
Disruption.
Phoenix
* Sand King has nothing to deal with Supernova, as none of his spells are effective.
* The damage-over-time abilities of Phoenix disable Sand King's Blink Dagger very often.
Phoenix
* Fire Spirits does damage over time, preventing Faceless Void from backtracking the full damage with Time Walk.
* Fire Spirits applies a big attack speed slow, stopping Faceless Void from doing many attacks while in Chronosphere.
* Sun Ray can heal allies and damage Faceless Void from outside Chronosphere.
* Supernova can be cast outside of Chronosphere, forcing Faceless Void to step away from it, lest he'll take a lot of damage
Phoenix
* Supernova negates Kunkka's combo entirely, as it can't be affected by spells while using Supernova.
* Icarus Dive also allows Phoenix to dodge Ghostship and Torrent.
Phoenix
* Fire Spirits greatly reduces Slardar's already low starting attack speed (which Bash of the Deep relies on), making the laning phase very hard for him and discouraging Slardar from aggressively threatening lane kills.
* Supernova, ignoring Phoenix's lack of armor and Slardar's high damage single hits, is extremely hard for Slardar to take down on his own, especially after being hit by Fire Spirits.
* Icarus Dive is one of the longest distance escape spells in the game, and can help a good Phoenix escape from Slardar before he gets a Blink Dagger. However, the high cooldown means Phoenix is vulnerable to backstabs from any roamers after said spell is used.
* Slardar can interrupt an Icarus Dive from completing the flight with both of his stuns, however, likely leading to death if Supernova is on cooldown.
* A lot of the items a Phoenix builds throughout the game naturally counter Slardar. 
Shiva's Guard, 
Heaven's Halberd and 
Eul's Scepter of Divinity all stall Slardar's normal attacks in some way, while Spirit Vessel's percentage-based damage is good against his innate durability.
Phoenix
* Supernova allows Phoenix to save himself (or an ally, with 
Aghanim's Scepter) through 
Echo Slam. Earthshaker will also have a difficult time destroying the supernova, due to his low base attack time and poor agility.
* Icarus Dive can pass through Earthshaker's 
Fissure.
* Most of Phoenix's abilities disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger for a good period of time due to the damage-over-time nature of its spells.
Phoenix
* Lone druid's bear attacks on Phoenix's Supernova Egg don't increase the hit count. Given that Lone Druid's main hero often doesn't have much farm, the Supernova Egg is less likely to get killed.
Phoenix
* Her 
Refraction charges can and will be easily burned away by Phoenix's damage over time abilities, and 
Meld can't protect her from Phoenix's AoE abilities, even without detection.
Additional:
* Phoenix's abilities target and deals damage over time, making them a threat against Meld and Refraction. His abilities' nature makes them pretty hard to correctly land on the target, but that is not a problem against a Templar Assassin that needs to stand still during Meld.
* Icarus Dive allows Phoenix to shrug off the slow from her trap and make an easy escape from her ambush.
* As Templar Assassin relies on her quality-over-quantity bursting attacks to make quick work on fragile target, Fire Spirits' attack speed reduction can cripple her ability to deals any damage during combat. With the debuff applied in early-mid game, a Meld-breaking hit from her is significantly slowed to the point that her target can travel a safe distance before she even lands the hit.
* Sun Ray has a quick damage tick and will burn through her Refraction in no time.
* Supernova deals damage over time in an incredibly large area, and again with her quality-over-quantity style, she may not be able to attack quickly enough to break through the Phoenix Sun by herself. (not to mention the debuff from Fire Spirits) This can lead to a failed ganking attempt or even a turnaround.
Phoenix
* Clockwerk being confined in his own Power Cogs means Clockwerk is unable to quickly escape from Phoenix's Sun Ray and Supernova.
* Sun Ray will also heal the enemy Clockwerk is fighting, making it unlikely for Clockwerk to take an enemy down with him.
* For the same reasons, Phoenix also makes a powerful ally for Clockwerk when the situation is reversed.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's Supernova cannot be damaged by Familiars.
* In the early and mid game, Sun Ray won't deal enough damage to be reduced by Gravekeeper's Cloak.
* Once Sun Ray deals enough damage to protect Visage, a layer of Gravekeeper's Cloak is burnt every 0.2 seconds.
Phoenix
* Heroes that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like Tusk and Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, 
Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Phoenix
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
Phoenix
* Heroes with strong area damage to destroy Phantasm illusions: Axe, 
Ember Spirit, Legion Commander, Phoenix
Primal Beast
* Heroes who have high health are a problem for Sniper because he likes to attack the closest target and sit at the back, much like a 
Terrorblade so when that hero doesn't die; he's forced to show his position for a very long time: Centaur Warrunner, Legion Commander, Primal Beast.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with abilities that can lock down Terrorblade and prevent him from using Sunder: 
Bane, 
Batrider, 
Earthshaker, 
Elder Titan, Faceless Void, 
Invoker, Legion Commander, Mars, Primal Beast, Riki, 
Shadow Shaman, 
Silencer, 
Vengeful Spirit, 
Void Spirit.
Phoenix
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like 
Crystal Maiden or 
Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Phoenix
* Heroes with slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Phoenix
* Heroes who can hide the Dueled target (
Outworld Destroyer, 
Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter etc).
Additional:
* Legion Commander relies on her powerful attack and her 
Duel to be effective. But if Phoenix gets the jump on her first, she can find herself severely slowed, taking heavy damage, and find herself unable to Duel a burning Supernova.
* It must be noted that 
Press the Attack will both dispel the attack slow of Fire Spirits and grant her or whoever she targets bonus attack speed. This allows her to easily destroy a Supernova if caution is not taken to prevent this from occurring. As such, it would be a better decision to simply avoid a farmed or skilled Legion Commander instead of attempting to overpower her.
* If an ally is caught by Duel, Phoenix can use Sun Ray to heal the ally and damage Legion Commander, possibly swinging the Duel in their team's favor. Or with Aghanim's Scepter, Phoenix can save an ally from dying in Duel with Supernova and cancel the Duel as well.
Phoenix
* Phoenix with Supernova
* Heroes that can dodge Glimpse:
* Puck with 
Phase Shift
* Riki with 
Tricks of the Trade
* Phantom Lancer with 
Doppelganger
* Ember Spirit with 
Sleight of Fist and 
Activate Fire Remnant
* Chaos Knight with 
Phantasm
* 
Naga Siren with Mirror Image
* Tusk with 
Snowball
* Juggernaut with Omnislash
* 
Brewmaster with 
Primal Split
* Lifestealer with 
Infest
* Phoenix with Supernova
Phoenix
* Since all of Phoenix's abilities (except for Supernova) have health costs, heroes like 
Ancient Apparition or 
Necrophos can turn Phoenix's abilities against it. However, Supernova does completely protect Phoenix from 
Ice Blast.
Phoenix
* Icarus Dive helps Phoenix escape from Cold Feet.
* However, all of Pheonix's basic abilities do cost health, which can be harmful under the effects of Ice Blast.
* Supernova can save Phoenix from Ice Blast.
Additional:
* Supernova with or without Aghanim's Scepter allows to save ally or himself through Ice Blast.
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from 
Cold Feet.
Phoenix
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: 
Disruptor, Death Prophet, 
Enigma, Faceless Void, Invoker, 
Lich, Magnus, Mars, 
Medusa, Outworld Destroyer, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend, 
Treant Protector, Underlord, 
Winter Wyvern, Witch Doctor, 
Zeus.
Phoenix
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.
Phoenix
* Phoenix does significant magic damage over time which can either be dispelled or negated by Fate's Edict.
* Oracle's burst damage potential can prove lethal to Phoenix, as they already have to sacrifice health to cast their basic skills.
Primal Beast
* Oracle can negate and shut down Primal Beast simply with Fate's Edict, especially in the early game, as a majority of his damage-dealing spells are magic.
Onslaught charge with a well-timed Fortune's End.
* Oracle can interrupt Primal Beast's
* Primal Beast's lethal burst damage combos can be further stalled with False Promise; combined with Fate's Edict and regen from Purifying Flames, Oracle can even completely negate Primal Beast's offense.