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.
Winter Wyvern
* 
Cold Embrace is a perfect setup for Mystic Flare.
* Winter Wyvern is a spellcaster, and the 6 second silence from Ancient Seal can prevent her from contributing much.
* Because Skywrath Mage tends to stay back in fights, Winter Wyvern will have to get close to a teamfight to cast 
Winter's Curse on him. And if she chooses to cast it on one of his allies, his low attack speed and damage means that he won't do much.
* However, bear in mind that Skywrath Mage has seriously awful armor, and that can make him an adequate target to being turned against his own team with Winter's Curse, which can result in his death quickly.
Additional:
* Cold Embrace is the perfect setup for 
Mystic Flare, and his 6-second silence is good against Winter Wyvern in general.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Arctic Burn and Splinter Blast's debuffs are can be dispelled with with 
Dark Pact. Arctic Burn also cannot be used to escape against 
Pounce.
* Even though Cold Embrace can protect it's owner from Slark's direct attacks, Slark can still gain 
Essence Shift stacks from attacking heroes affected by it.
* However, Essence Shift works against allies, and Slark's low health pool means that if he's the target for Winter's Curse, he will go down very quickly as Winter's Curse cannot be dispelled at all.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Heavy nukers will do well against Cold Embrace (Lina, 
Zeus etc).
Winter Wyvern
* All of Tinker's damage is magical and pure, which makes Cold Embrace a good setup for his nukes.
* Winter's Curse is very hard to cast on Tinker because he usually stays in the back-lines in team-fights. In turn, Tinker has mediocre attack damage and will contribute very little when he is cursed to attack an ally. He can also save his ally under Winter's Curse effect with 
Ethereal Blade and 
Defense Matrix.
Winter Wyvern
* Guardian Angel completely counters Winter's Curse if Omniknight is able to cast it.
Additional:
* 
Guardian Angel completely counters Winter's Curse, allowing his team to survive Winter Wyvern's initiation.
* 
Purification and 
Repel are very useful against Arctic Burn, Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse as well.
Phoenix
* Phoenix does significant magic damage over time which can either be dispelled or negated by Fate's Edict.
* Oracle's burst damage potential can prove lethal to Phoenix, as they already have to sacrifice health to cast their basic skills.
Phoenix
* Tempest Double, Magnetic Field's attack speed bonus, and Arc Warden's high attack range will easily destroy a Phoenix using Supernova much faster than usual.
* Phoenix is very weak against pushers, especially those like Arc Warden who can kill him easily, as his skillset works best in teamfights.
Additional:
* His 
Tempest Double is not an illusion, but rather a full hero unit, which effectively reduces half of the Supernova's health. His 
Magnetic Field can tremendously boost his attack speed, allowing him to destroy Supernova in no time even when he's affected by 
Fire Spirits.
Phoenix
* 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.
Winter Wyvern
* Outworld Destroyer's pure damage from Arcane Orb can go through Cold Embrace.
* Outworld Destroyer can negate the healing from Cold Embrace using Astral Imprisonment, and steal mana while doing so.
* Outworld Destroyer's damage during Winter's Curse is reduced due to Arcane Orb being unable to target allies.
Additional:
* Winter Wyvern must never put her allies in Cold Embrace against Outworld Destroyer as 
Arcane Orb will continue to deal damage to the defenseless hero.
* Arcane Orb does not hit his allies when he is taunted by Winter's Curse, making it weak against allies, but strong versus enemies.
* 
Astral Imprisonment can protect a target inflicted with Winter's Curse.
Winter Wyvern
* Winter Wyvern cannot handle the Zombies created by Undying's Tombstone very well. In most situations, Zombies will have more movement speed than her.
* Undying can gain one or two easy Decay stacks on an ally in Cold Embrace. The ally will still take the damage as well.
Additional:
* Winter Wyvern cannot handle the Zombies created by 
Tombstone very well. In most situations, Zombies will have more movement speed than her.
* Undying can gain one or two easy 
Decay stacks on an ally in Cold Embrace. The ally will still take the damage as well, since it is magical.
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
* 
Corrosive Skin gives Viper additional resistance to Phoenix's magical damage, and since they deal damage over time, Phoenix would be constantly afflicted by his passive's own debuff, making him not an ideal target for Phoenix's harassment. Phoenix's abilities also constantly drain its own health away, becoming more vulnerable to 
Poison Attack.
Phoenix
* Chemical Rage kills Phoenix very quickly in Supernova.
Phoenix
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt 
Sun Ray and Icarus Dive.
Phoenix
* Silencer will most likely disrupt an initiation with his ultimate, 
Global Silence, prevent escape with his 
Last Word, and if Phoenix happens to die to him (or near him) enough times, he would sap enough of Phoenix's much needed Intelligence to make him a stronger foe and Phoenix with less mana than it already had.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace is a death sentence against Pugna, since its the perfect setup for all his abilities, especially 
Life Drain.
* 
Decrepify can be cast to save the ally under Winter's Curse effect, wasting most of its duration.
* Winter Wyvern's abilities require a lot of mana, allowing 
Nether Ward to deal lots of damage.
Winter Wyvern
* Timbersaw relies on dealing massive amounts of pure damage, making Cold Embrace a good setup for his nukes.
* If he has 
Reactive Armor stacks, Timbersaw can tank the damage from his allies if he is targeted by Winter's Curse. If he's not the target, Timbersaw's abysmal attack damage will contribute next to nothing when he is cursed to attack an ally.
* As Timbersaw commonly buys 
Lotus Orb, he can use it to reflect Winter's Curse back to Winter Wyvern if she uses it impulsively on him or any other hero while affected by it.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace is no salvation against 
Lucent Beam and 
Eclipse.
* 
Moon Glaives will not hit a hero affected by Winter's Curse, making it weak against allies, but strong versus enemies.
* Luna has better night vision provided by 
Lunar Blessing than Winter Wyvern when affected by Arctic Burn.
Additional:
* Cold Embrace is no salvation against Lucent Beam and Eclipse.
* Moon Glaives will not hit a hero affected by Winter's Curse, making it weak against allies, but strong versus enemies.
* Luna has better night vision provided by Lunar Blessing than Winter Wyvern when affected by Arctic Burn.
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
* 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
* 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
* 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
* 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.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace is the perfect setup for all his nukes - 
Chaos Meteor, 
E.M.P. and especially global 
Sun Strike.
Phoenix
* 
Lil' Shredder will make quick work of Supernova.
* 
Mortimer Kisses can easily hit a Phoenix using Sun Ray.
Phoenix
* Heroes that deal damage over time will also fail to bring down Abaddon and his allies, such as 
Huskar, 
Venomancer, or Phoenix.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor, Death Prophet, Enigma, Faceless Void, Invoker, Lich, Magnus, Mars, Medusa, Outworld Destroyer, Phoenix, Puck, Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend, Treant Protector, Underlord, Winter Wyvern, Witch Doctor, Zeus.
Phoenix
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, 
Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with 
Aghanim's Scepter.
Phoenix
* Silence (and mana burns) will be a persistent problem for Phoenix, as it is heavily reliant on its abilities whether defensively or offensively, so heroes like Death Prophet, Skywrath Mage, and even Nyx Assassin must be closely observed to prevent being shut down by these heroes.
* Hexes are a greater threat to Phoenix as they also disable items, preventing Phoenix from dispelling the debuff on its own.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace makes its target immovable, allowing Ancient Apparition to easily land Ice Blast, or a Cold Feet stun.
* Ice Blast also negates healing from Cold Embrace.
Additional:
* Ice Blast disables the healing component of Cold Embrace, making it essentially a 4 second stun on an ally and a perfect setup for Ice Blast.
* If 
Cold Feet is cast on an Allied hero affected by Cold Embrace, it will almost guarantee the Ally comes out stunned.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Heavy nukers will do well against Cold Embrace (Lina, Zeus etc).
Additional:
* Any ally that Winter Wyvern tries to save with Cold Embrace can still be damaged by all of Zeus's spells.
* If Winter Wyvern tries to juke vision by flying up a cliff or in the trees, Zeus can gain vision there with Lightning Bolt or Thundergod's Wrath.
* If Zeus is forced to attack an ally by Winter's Curse, his unimpressive attack damage and attack speed means they won't be hurt much by him. Zeus will also stay near the back of fights away from his allies, making a deadly Curse less likely.
Winter Wyvern
* Heroes with the ability to heal allies will not be able to heal heroes affected by 
Doom: 
Chen, 
Dazzle, 
Io, 
Oracle, 
Omniknight, Witch Doctor, Winter Wyvern, 
Abaddon, etc.
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
* 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.
Winter Wyvern
* Heroes with abilities that can save teammates are also effective such as Shadow Demon, Dazzle, Oracle, 
Bane, 
Pugna, Tusk, Winter Wyvern, Io, Underlord, Treant Protector and 
Keeper of the Light.
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
* 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.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace can protect allies from Lone Druid and the Spirit bear, who mainly deal physical damage
* Winter's Curse can turn Lone Druid and the Spirit Bear against his teammates.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* 
Broodmother, 
Nature's Prophet, 
Phantom Lancer by their nature offer very good target for Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like 
Lifestealer, 
Sven, 
Wraith King, Phantom Assassin, 
Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
Phoenix
* Heroes with strong area damage to destroy Phantasm illusions: 
Axe, 
Ember Spirit, 
Legion Commander, Phoenix
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace protects targets affected by Reality Rift.
* Winter's Curse turns Phantasm illusions against Chaos Knight or a teammate.
* 
Splinter Blast deals decent area damage to Phantasm illusions.
* 
Arctic Burn's percentage-based damage quickly wears down Chaos Knight's high max health.
Additional:
* Winter Wyvern can make Chaos Knight's illusions attack the real one, provided the player knows who it is.
* Alternatively, Winter's Curse can make Chaos Knight and all his illusions attack one of his allies.
* Cold Embrace protects ally who is focused by Chaos Knight.
* Splinter Blast deals decent area damage to Chaos Knight's illusions.
* Chaos Knight's high health pool and tendency to not build magic resistance items will make Arctic Burn deal a lot of damage to him and his illusions.
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
Winter Wyvern
* Any hero that can nullify effects of Chronosphere: (Keeper of the Light with Aghanim's Scepter during daytime, Winter Wyvern), banishing him or Faceless Void (Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Earth Spirit with Aghanim's Scepter) or protecting him in other ways (Dazzle, Oracle, Abaddon) can greatly limit Chronosphere's potential.
Phoenix
* Primal Beast is disarmed during Trample so will be unable to destroy a Supernova no matter how close it is to him.
* The same ability can also be used to save allies with the help of an Aghanim's Scepter.
* Sun Ray will do thousands of damage to Primal Beast if surviving a full channel time due to his high health scaling for the ability.
* Icarus Dive is a fantastic way to escape Primal Beast after he has used Onslaught.
* Phoenix has a naturally very high health pool making it hard for Primal Beast to deal with him with his magical damage.
Winter Wyvern
* Supports who can slow him to the point Trample does very little damage in the lane are also not fun: Lich, 
Ogre Magi, Winter Wyvern.
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).
Winter Wyvern
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer, Sven, Wraith King, Phantom Assassin, Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace saves allies from dying in Duels.
* Winter's Curse turns Legion Commander's high damage against her allies, giving the enemy team little time to react.
* However, Winter Wyvern lanes very poorly against Legion Commander due to Press the Attack removing all the debuffs she can give. Winter Wyvern also has little chances of surviving if she gets Dueled herself.
Additional:
* Cold Embrace is very effective against Duel.
* Also, casting Winter's Curse at Legion Commander while an ally is in a Duel will stun her for most of the duration, possibly preventing lethal damage dealt to your ally. It can also turn her high-damage against her teammate.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: 
Bristleback, 
Crystal Maiden, 
Batrider, 
Arc Warden, Winter Wyvern, 
Clockwerk
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
* 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.
Winter Wyvern
* Arctic Burn makes it nearly impossible for Spectre to juke into the trees.
* Cold Embrace negates all of Spectre's physical damage. Furthermore, Cold Embrace will generally outheal 
Desolate.
* Winter's Curse can taunt illusions, not only wasting the entire duration of 
Haunt but also turning its illusions against Spectre's own team.
Winter Wyvern
* Arctic Burn allows Winter Wyvern to escape Lycan, even when he uses his ultimate.
* Splinter Blast is very effective in dealing with Lycan's summons.
* Cold Embrace saves allies from Lycan's raw physical damage and can buy allies enough time to turn the tide of battle.
* Winter's Curse stops Lycan in his tracks and is very effective because of his summons.
Additional:
* All of Lycan's damage is physical which is totally negated by Cold Embrace.
* Lycan often moves around with large amount of creeps, wolves created by 
Summon Wolves and neutral creep dominated by 
Helm of the Dominator which can be easily cleared by Splinter Blast or used as a great source of damage by Winter's Curse. If you catch Lycan with creeps nearby and affected by 
Shapeshift using Winter's Curse on him will most certainly end up with his death.
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
* 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.
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
* 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
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially 
Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by 
Disruption.
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
* 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.
Winter Wyvern
* Winter's Curse, when directly targeted on Enigma, goes through 
Black King Bar, stopping Enigma's Black Hole channeling. It also turns his team against him, potentially killing him. Even if Enigma gets 
Linken's Sphere on top of Black King Bar, Splinter Blast can be used to pop Linken's Sphere, and Winter's Curse will stop Black Hole channeling.
* Splinter Blast can be targeted on an eidolon, killing off other eidolons and damaging nearby heroes as well.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace saves any ally Sven initiates on and wastes the duration of God's Strength in team fights.
* Winter's Curse can be devastating to Sven's team, as his massive damage can take out a teammate before there is much time to react.
Winter Wyvern
* Winter's Curse and Splinter Blast can devastate Underlord's team when they are grouped up for the teleportation with 
Fiend's Gate.
* Cold Embrace can be used to heal Winter Wyvern's allies, and protect them from the attack damage from 
Atrophy Aura. Bear in mind, however, that the heroes affected by Cold Embrace are easy targets for 
Firestorm and 
Pit of Malice.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse turns Morphling's high attack damage and attack speed against his targeted teammate.
Winter Wyvern
* 
Terrorblade and his illusions deal huge damage, which might used against him and his team with Winter's Curse.
Winter Wyvern
* Heroes with other kind of disables that pierce spell immunity can hold Pangolier in place during Rolling Thunder: Axe, Beastmaster, Enigma, Magnus, 
Pudge, Batrider, Bane, Winter Wyvern
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
Winter Wyvern
* Broodmother, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer by their nature offer very good target for Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse.
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 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 who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or 
Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
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 slow movement speeds and small health pools (supports like Crystal Maiden or Witch Doctor) are easy targets for Phoenix. Should they be inflicted by its DOT debuffs, they will be very quickly killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
Phoenix
* Phoenix 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
Winter Wyvern
* Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse works very well against the increased attack speed from Bloodlust.
Winter Wyvern
* Winter Wyvern's Arctic Burn can also be a useful tool against Centaur, who generally has very high health. Winter's Curse on Centaur can cause Retaliate to damage allies who are forced to attack him.
Winter Wyvern
* Broodmother, Nature's Prophet, Phantom Lancer by their nature offer very good target for Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse.
Winter Wyvern
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer, Sven, Wraith King, Phantom Assassin, Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace can protect Troll Warlord's target, especially during Battle Trance.
* Winter's Curse can turn Troll Warlord's high physical damage and attack speed against his allies.
Additional:
* Cold Embrace will protect your ally from being damaged if he gets focused by Troll, although be careful as 
Fervor will keep gaining stacks even while Cold Embrace is active.
* Fervor works on allies.
* His high attack speed will help to kill his cursed ally faster.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace can heal herself or an ally, as well as protecting them from Clinkz's physical attacks and wasting his mana if Searing Arrows is on autocast.
* Winter's Curse allows Winter Wyvern to turn Clinkz's high damage and high attack speed against his allies, or take advantage of Clinkz's fragility if he can't use Skeleton Walk.
Phoenix
* Inner Beast helps Beastmaster's team destroy Supernova quickly.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace mitigates Primal Roar's single-target initiation on allies.
* Winter's Curse can turn Beastmaster's summons and Inner Beast against his teammate.
Additional:
* Beastmaster's summons and 
Inner Beast are very useful to attack his cursed teammate.
* Cold Embrace effectively mitigates 
Primal Roar's single-target initiation on allies.
Phoenix
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
Winter Wyvern
* Cold Embrace can render the extra attack speed from 
Overcharge meaningless.
* Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse are very affective against Io, as it has to stay close to his 
Tethered target.
Phoenix
* Earthbind can prevent Phoenix from using Icarus Dive, the only escaping mechanism of this hero.
* Heavy burst damage from Poof can easily kill Phoenix even when it slows down all the Meepos with Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's clones destroy the Phoenix Sun from Supernova in no time, even when they are slowed down by Fire Spirits.
* Meepo's naturally high magic resistance gives Phoenix a hard time with bursting him down. He can even turn the tide if Icarus Dive is on cooldown.
Additional:
* Meepo is unlike any other multi-unit enemy Phoenix may face in the battlefield. Unlike illusion-based heroes like Phantom Lancer or Chaos Knight, Meepo's clones are not illusions, meaning they can deal full damage to the Phoenix Sun if all four (or five) are present.
Winter Wyvern
* Winter's Curse in late game is pretty much the end for Meepo or any of his nearby allies. Natural counter for Winter's Curse like Linken's Sphere or Lotus Orb is meaningless to her if she can land it on one of Meepo's clones.
Additional:
* Meepo's clones usually gets grouped in teamfight making any of them ideal target for Winter's Curse, forcing Meepo to literally kill himself. Also, unlike other heroes he cannot protect himself with Linken's Sphere.
* While Meepo's clones are grouped up, Splinter Blast will hit almost every clone, slowing Meepo and making him easier to fight.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer, Sven, Wraith King, Phantom Assassin, Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
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.
Winter Wyvern
* Even though Ursa is a hero who relies on direct attacks to be effective,
Fury Swipes does not work on allies if Ursa is affected by Winter's Curse, mitigating a majority of Ursa's damage. In addition, Ursa's unimpressive attack speed and attack damage without 
Overpower and 
Fury Swipes means that he deals little to no damage to allies during Winter's Curse.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded 
Enrage allows Ursa to survive Winter Wyvern's initiation with Winter's Curse.
*