* Stone Form's long stun duration may prevent Puck from using escape abilities.
* Visage frequently builds Rod of Atos for the root that will make Puck unable to move and use his escape abilities. Alternatively, Visage can also build
Bloodthorn to prevent Puck from using his escape abilities and make him more vulnerable to damage.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Shadow Shaman,
Visage,
Nature's Prophet,
Terrorblade,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Lone Druid has a huge reserve of health on the Summon Spirit Bear and a quick regeneration of his health with the help of
Spirit Link, which makes the Puck's magical abilities useless, since they cannot break through such a large pool of health
* The ability of the Summon Spirit Bear and in the
True Form of the Lone Druid
Entangling Claws allows you to catch Puck when he released the
Illusory Orb, since Puck will not be able to apply
Ethereal Jaunt during the root action
Additional:
* Lone Druid has a huge reserve of health on the Summon Spirit Bear and a quick regeneration of his health with the help of
Spirit Link, which makes Puck's magical abilities almost useless, since they cannot break through such a large pool of health.
* The ability of the Summon Spirit Bear and in the
True Form of the Lone Druid,
Entangling Claws, allows him to catch Puck when it releases the
Illusory Orb, since Puck will not be able to apply
Ethereal Jaunt during the root.
* Heroes who just want to farm and avoid Lone Druid early will find it very hard to do so when he starts knocking on towers: Templar Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Ember Spirit,
Morphling.
* 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.
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak,
Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well.
Enfeeble also reduces cast range of Phantom Assassin's abilities, making her unable to harass with
Stifling Dagger and to use
Phantom Strike at longer distances.
* Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with
Phantom Strike, and stop her from outputting damage.
* Phantom Assassin's low health pool early on makes her susceptible to {A|Brain Sap|Bane
Additional:
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak, Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well. Enfeeble also reduces any healing Phantom Assassin receives, making her unable to heal herself with Phantom Strike, and it also reduces cast range of Phantom Assassin's abilities, making her unable to harass with
Stifling Dagger and to use
Phantom Strike at longer distances.
* Nightmare and Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with Phantom Strike, and stop her from outputting damage, even with Black King Bar.
* Phantom Assassin's low health pool early on makes her susceptible to Brain Sap and Fiend's Grip's heavy nuke damage.
* Heroes with spell immunity or pseudo-blinks which provide invulnerability: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Omniknight,
Huskar, and
Tusk have spells which allow them to easily escape Dream Coil.
* Purification and
Hammer of Purity can easily catch Phantom Assassin once she jumps with
Phantom Strike in to attack.
* Heavenly Grace can be used to dispel slow from
Stifling Dagger, and disables from the items Phantom Assassin relies on.
* Phantom Assassin depends entirely on physical attacks and her damage output is 100% physical. Therefore, since she has no any sources of magical damage output and hates going for items that deal magical damage like Dagon,
Ethereal Blade and
Revenant's Brooch,
Guardian Angel will render her completely useless.
* Purification,
Heavenly Grace and
Guardian Angel can be used to save an allied hero before Phantom Assassin can finish them off with
Coup De Grace.
Additional:
* Purification and
Hammer of Purity can easily catch Phantom Assassin once she jumps with
Phantom Strike in to attack.
* Heavenly Grace can be used to dispel slow from
Stifling Dagger, and disables from the items Phantom Assassin relies on.
* Phantom Assassin depends entirely on physical attacks and her damage output is 100% physical. Therefore, since she has no any sources of magical damage output and hates going for items that deal magical damage like Dagon,
Ethereal Blade and
Revenant's Brooch,
Guardian Angel will render her completely useless.
* Purification,
Heavenly Grace and
Guardian Angel can be used to save an allied hero before Phantom Assassin can finish them off with
Coup De Grace.
* Illusory Orb is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace, either stunning Puck and setting up an easy Impale or forcing a premature
Phase Shift.
* Puck is an intelligence hero that tends to build intelligence items, making it vulnerable to Mana Burn.
* An ill-timed Phase Shift can easily set Puck up to be stunned by Impale.
* Puck's low base armor and below average agility gain mean it is always susceptible to Vendetta.
Additional:
* Nyx Assassin can take advantage of every one of Puck's weaknesses. His entire skill set is very effective in countering Puck.
* Because Illusory Orb is such a slow moving projectile, Nyx Assassin can simply walk into the orb and activate Spiked Carapace, stunning Puck and setting up an easy
Impale. This can be circumvented by using Phase Shift while the orb is traveling, however, that means that Puck cannot use Phase Shift to dodge any other skill nor use it to safely blink away from a fight.
* Puck is an intelligence hero that likes to build intelligence items such as Eul's Scepter of Divinity,
Scythe of Vyse, and
Dagon. This makes
Mind Flare that much more deadly against Puck.
* An ill-timed Phase Shift can turn into an easy setup for Impale.
* Heroes with heavy early and mid-game magical damage are also problematic for Phantom Assassin due to being able to easily kill her before she can gain an item advantage over them: Lina,
Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter,
Jakiro,
Death Prophet.
* Axe,
Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar,
Wraith King,
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger
Counter Helix more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin. Jumping on Axe with
Phantom Strike is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously easy target for a counter-initiation with
Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail.
* Most of Axe's abilities pierce Black King Bar, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
* Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe and may cause her to kill herself when used with Blade Mail.
Berserker's Call can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has
Black King Bar active as
Berserker's Call can fully pierce spell immunity, making
Berserker's Call one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
* Culling Blade can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time
Culling Blade successfully kills Phantom Assassin or any of her teammates, Axe gains permanent armor from it, which in combination with armor items that Axe often purchases like
Blade Mail,
Crimson Guard,
Assault Cuirass and
Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Counter Helix can weaken Phantom Assassin's damage output, and if her attack damage is weak,
Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well.
Additional:
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger
Counter Helix more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin in the early game. Jumping on Axe with
Phantom Strike is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously easy target for a counter-initiation with
Berserker's Call and
Blade Mail.
* Most of Axe's abilities pierce Black King Bar, allowing him to lock down Phantom Assassin at any time.
* Berserker's Call greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's ability to crit hard against Axe, and may cause her to kill herself when used with Blade Mail.
Berserker's Call can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has
Black King Bar active as
Berserker's Call can fully pierce spell immunity, making
Berserker's Call one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
* Culling Blade can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time
Culling Blade successfully kills Phantom Assassin or any of her teammates, Axe gains permanent armor from it, which in combination with armour items that Axe often purchases like
Blade Mail,
Crimson Guard,
Assault Cuirass and
Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
* Axe,
Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar,
Wraith King,
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Hoof Stomp and
Double Edge can often burst down Phantom Assassin from early to mid game.
* Retaliate makes it very unlikely for Phantom Assassin to win the lane against Warrunner.
Double Edge can also be used to wear her down, as she has a much smaller health pool than that of Centaur Warrunner until purchasing a
Ring of Health.
Stifling Dagger will also trigger
Retaliate and
Blur cannot evade
Retaliate.
* Centaur Warrunner's tankiness in combination with armour items that Axe often purchases like Blade Mail,
Crimson Guard,
Assault Cuirass and
Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Centaur Warrunner.
* Centaur Warrunner just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard and
Coup De Grace, as
Fan of Knives can disable
Retaliate even if Centaur Warrunner is spell immune.
Additional:
* Hoof Stomp and
Double Edge can often burst down Phantom Assassin from early to mid game.
* Retaliate makes it very unlikely for Phantom Assassin to win the lane against Warrunner.
Double Edge can also be used to wear her down, as she has a much smaller health pool than that of Centaur Warrunner until purchasing a
Ring of Health.
Stifling Dagger will also trigger
Retaliate and
Blur cannot evade
Retaliate.
* Centaur Warrunner's tankiness in combination with armour items that Centaur Warrunner often purchases like Blade Mail,
Crimson Guard,
Assault Cuirass and
Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Centaur Warrunner.
* Centaur Warrunner just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard and
Coup De Grace, as
Fan of Knives can disable
Retaliate even if Centaur Warrunner is spell immune.
* Unless Puck is facing the direction he wants to blink while in Phase Shift, the Venomous Gale and
Noxious Plague combo consistently ticks many times over several seconds, making it very difficult to use
Blink Dagger towards the other direction. Puck's slow turning rate makes this even worse.
* Venomancer can use Plague Wards to reveal Puck's position before he even gets a chance to initiate.
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe,
Viper,
Meepo,
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Slark,
Venomancer etc.
* Viper wins on the central line of Puck, because he has a huge damage from the Poison Attack ability, which Puck is not able to constantly avoid using
Phase Shift, which will give Viper an advantage in the possible damage inflicted on each other
* Puck takes more damage than it does due to the passive Corrosive Skin ability of the Viper, which makes it unprofitable for the Puck to fight against the Viper at an early stage of the game, when the Puck has a very small pool of health.
Additional:
* Viper wins on the central line of Puck, because he has a huge damage from the Poison Attack ability, which Puck is not able to constantly avoid using
Phase Shift, which will give Viper an advantage in the possible damage inflicted on each other
* Puck takes more damage than it does due to the passive Corrosive Skin ability of the Viper, which makes it unprofitable for the Puck to fight against the Viper at an early stage of the game, when the Puck has a very small pool of health
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe,
Viper,
Meepo,
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Slark,
Venomancer etc.
* Doom is generally tanky and has naturally high health, allowing him to survive Puck's onslaught in any stage of the game.
* His namesake ultimate Doom is one of the best solutions to counter Puck, as it will silence Puck for a lengthy duration. A Puck silenced for more than 3 seconds usually ends up dead.
* In addition, if Doom chooses the Level 25 talent Doom applies Mute, Puck will not be able to use items altogether, most especially
Blink Dagger and
Eul's Scepter of Divinity, making Doom a nightmare to deal with as Puck.
* Doom with the {ValueColor:1|Doom applies Break|25tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent can be useful against heroes with troublesome passive skills while also disabling them for a long time:
Phantom Assassin,
Enchantress,
Huskar,
Underlord.
* Axe,
Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar,
Wraith King,
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain,
Phantom Assassin
* None of Puck's abilities have any damage-over-time components, meaning that Refraction is a valuable form of defense against Puck's lane harassment.
* Psi Blades deals pure damage and spills over instantly. Puck cannot reliably dodge the damage with Phase Shift.
Additional:
* Puck high magical burst is almost completely useless against Refraction. Templar Assassin often buys Orchid Malevolence to render Puck useless in teamfights.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
* Heroes that have disposable area-targeted spells can force her to undo her Meld: Leshrac,
Puck,
Tiny,
Jakiro,. An experienced Templar Assassin could try to use Refraction before Meld so she can tank through those damage without getting her Blink disabled.
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Black King Bar is useless for Phantom Assassin against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
* Spectre only needs to be careful against Fan Of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard, as it can disable
Desolate and
Dispersion, though this issue can be solved by buying
Blade Mail, which is a common item on Spectre.
Additional:
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Black King Bar is useless against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
* Puck cannot use any of its normal means to survive should Night Stalker catch it within Crippling Fear, and goes down quickly.
Additional:
* Void is a potent nuke that is devastating to Puck's low health pool.
* Crippling Fear silence can prevent Puck from casting spells, leaving it vulnerable.
* Phase Shift is not an advantage against Arc Warden at all because Arc Warden can turn Puck's Phase Shift ability against him by using Spark Wraith, ensuring it to hit. To make this worse, Arc Warden can do it twice with his
Tempest Double.
* Flux is also an instant spell (and therefore unavoidable) with a heavy slow and damage over time, which disables Blink Dagger for a certain period of time.
* Jakiro has 3 damage over time spells, 2 of which are from debuffs on Puck (Dual Breath and
Liquid Fire) and 1 affecting an entire area (
Macropyre), making it easy for him to disable the Blink Dagger.
* Ice Path is also strong against Puck, as he can cast it towards Puck during Phase Shift, who then gets instantly stunned once Phase Shift ends.
Additional:
* Jakiro has 3 damage over time spells, 3 of which are from debuffs on Puck: Dual Breath,
Liquid Fire and
Liquid Frost from
Aghanim's Shard from and 1 affecting an entire area (
Macropyre), making it easy for him to disable the blink dagger.
* Ice Path is also strong against Puck, as he can cast it towards Puck during Phase Shift, who then gets instantly stunned once Phase Shift ends.
* Jakiro's reliance on his abilities can cause struggles for heroes who rely on evasion or blinds to get upper hand: Phantom Assassin,
Windranger,
Riki,
Troll Warlord,
Keeper of the Light.
* Heroes with good mobility to avoid Jakiro's abilities and with good chase to punish Jakiro from pushing a tower: Bloodseeker,
Ember Spirit,
Juggernaut,
Phantom Assassin,
Weaver.
* Puck cannot use spells if affected by Time Dilation, especially Phase Shift for main survivability as it effectively triples its cooldown.
* Chronosphere can end Puck's life quickly, as stun, more than 3 seconds will be a death sentence to Puck.
* If not silenced, Faceless Void can just Time Walk to undo Puck's Burst damage.
Additional:
* Hard lockdowns such as Chronosphere can be used to quickly take down Puck. Whenever Puck is disabled for longer than 3 seconds, he will usually end up dead.
* As the type of hero that spams spells, Time Dilation counters Puck very effectively. Phase Shift is Puck's main ability for survivability, and Time Dilation effectively triples its cooldown.
* If not silenced, Faceless Void can use Time Walk can easily undo the damage dealt by Illusory Orb, Dream Coil and Dagon.
* Overgrowth prevents Phantom Assassin from using Blink Strike even through her spell immunity.
* Living Armor reduces Phantom Assassin's physical damage whenever she attempts to gank an allied hero.
* Whirling Axes (Melee) makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to land a
Coup De Grace.
* Troll Warlord often buys Silver Edge and
Monkey King Bar, the items that greatly help against Phantom Assassin's Blur ability.
* Battle Trance completely negates Phantom Assassin's large damage output, preventing Troll Warlord from dying easily. The lifesteal also allows Troll Warlord to restore much of his health.
Additional:
* Troll Warlord can build a Silver Edge or a
Monkey King Bar to completely ignore
Blur.
* Whirling Axes (Melee) provides a 60% miss chance, making a Coup de Grace critical strike very hard to land.
* Battle Trance negates Coup de Grace, preventing Troll Warlord from dying to her critical hits.
* Phantom Assassin relies on her Blur to stay alive, but is very vulnerable to Sand King's heavy magic damage.
* With Burrowstrike, Sand King can often catch Phantom Assassin before she can use her Black King Bar.
* Sand King can dodge Stifling Dagger with Sandstorm.
* Phantom Assassin has a hard time killing Sand King because of his high mobility.
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
* 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.
* Sharpshooter disables both
Blur and
Coup De Grace, especially with the level 25 talent.
* Because Phantom Assassin is often reliant on critical strikes, Hoodwink can have enough time to simply move near a tree and escape with Scurry.
Additional:
* Sharpshooter disables both
Blur and
Coup De Grace, weakening her damage and survivability.
* Because Phantom Assassin is often reliant on critical strikes, Hoodwink can have enough time to simply move near a tree and escape with Scurry.
* Phantom Assassin does not deal with early aggression very easily (especially when magical damage). A competent Batrider can make life very difficult with Sticky Napalm followed by any other spell.
* Fate's Edict cripples many heroes who rely on attacks, such as Phantom Assassin,
Sven, or
Enchantress, without a dispel or a
Black King Bar.
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Phantom Assassin,
Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe,
Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge,
Medusa,
Warlock.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Lycan,
Naga Siren,
Shadow Shaman,
Visage,
Nature's Prophet,
Terrorblade,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Any heroes with low mana pools will die quickly or even instantly to Sanity's Eclipse: Doom,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord.
* With Normal Punch from
Aghanim's Scepter, Dark Seer can gain an advantage against heroes who rely on evasion as
Normal Punch has true strike:
Phantom Assassin,
Windranger,
Hoodwink.
* Heroes who are strong against mobile heroes: Disruptor,
Bloodseeker,
Kunkka,
Keeper of the Light.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility:
Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter,
Dazzle with
Aghanim's Shard
* Puck with
Phase Shift
* 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
* Heroes capable of perofrming interceptions who can anticipate and counter-initiate after Phantom Assassin blinks on them with Phantom Strike will often kill her than the other way around: Axe,
Bane,
Dawnbreaker,
Centaur Warrunner,
Luna,
Medusa,
Omniknight,
Pudge,
Razor,
Terrorblade,
Underlord.
* Heroes such as Lone Druid,
Tidehunter and
Viper can be very problematic for Phantom Assassin because they give her very little time to farm and become scary.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe,
Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge,
Medusa,
Warlock.
* Enigma can be a perfect counter-initiator with his ultimate. A perfectly timed Black Hole will turn the tide of any initiation, especially from heroes like; Spirit Breaker,
Legion Commander,
Axe,
Puck, and
Slardar.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe,
Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge,
Medusa,
Warlock.
* Heroes who can clear the waves of Enigma's Eidolons: Lina,
Luna,
Dawnbreaker,
Jakiro,
Shadow Shaman,
Death Prophet,
Keeper of the Light,
Invoker,
Leshrac,
Puck.
* Heroes who are strong against mobile heroes: Disruptor,
Bloodseeker,
Kunkka,
Keeper of the Light.
* Heroes with gap-closing abilities who attempt to use them for escaping Bloodseeker will suffer serious damage from Rupture: Phantom Assassin,
Anti-Mage,
Faceless Void,
Riki,
Slark,
Spirit Breaker.
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Lycan,
Bloodseeker,
Anti-Mage,
Timbersaw.
* Heroes who are strong against mobile heroes: Disruptor,
Bloodseeker,
Kunkka,
Keeper of the Light.
* Axe,
Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar,
Wraith King,
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Backline supports (Lion,
Crystal Maiden) can keep Puck pinned long enough for a kill.
* Despite her high mobility, Hex or
Earth Spike can lock
Phantom Assassin down, make her vulnerable and mitigate her damage output.
* Lion relies entirely on his abilities to be effective, rendering Phatnom Assassin's high evasion through ineffective against him. And Phantom Assassin's low health pool makes her vulnerable to Lion's magical burst without Black King Bar.
* Waning Rift silences and damages enemies affected by the ability, diminishing
Lion's punishing powers.
* High burst damage potential plus mobility and disable through Illusory Orb,
Waning Rift, and
Dream Coil allows
Puck to effortlessly chase, lock and/or kill
Lion, as the Demon Witch lacks proper ways to avoid so.
* Phase Shift allows
Puck to dodge
Earth Spike,
Finger of Death and breaks
Mana Drain's link.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Juggernaut.
* 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.
* Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with
Phantom Strike.
* As a hero who typically builds Silver Edge, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's
Blur and
Coup de Grace, thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Slark will have plenty of time to escape with Pounce,
Shadow Dance and
Silver Edge (provided that he purchased it already).
* Depth Shroud from
Aghanim's Shard will allow Slark to save both, himself and his allies from Phantom Assassin with
Shadow Dance, and to freely fightback against her without removing invisibility upon attacking.
* Essence Shift is much more harmful for Phantom Assassin than for other heroes, as losing the agility means that her physical damage will be also reduced, which can also weaken
Coup de Grace if Slark manages to steal lots of agility from her.
* Overall, any attempt for Phantom Assassin to take down Slark will hurt her more than Slark.
Additional:
* Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with
Phantom Strike.
* As a hero who typically builds Silver Edge, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's
Blur and
Coup de Grace, thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Slark will have plenty of time to escape with Pounce,
Shadow Dance and
Silver Edge (provided that he purchased it already).
* Depth Shroud from
Aghanim's Shard will allow Slark to save both, himself and his allies from Phantom Assassin with
Shadow Dance, and to freely fightback against her without removing invisibility upon attacking.
* Essence Shift is much more harmful for Phantom Assassin than for other heroes, as losing the agility means that her physical damage will be also reduced, which can also weaken
Coup de Grace if Slark manages to steal lots of agility from her.
* Overall, any attempt for Phantom Assassin to take down Slark will hurt her more than Slark.
* Illusory Orb and
Phase Shift allows Puck to avoid most ganking attempts.
* Waning Rift and
Dream Coil makes it very hard for Slark to escape bad situations.
* Puck's abilities used together also deals significant magical nuke damage, none of which are targeted and thus cannot be avoided by Shadow Dance.
* Heroes with heavy early and mid-game magical damage are also problematic for Phantom Assassin due to being able to easily kill her before she can gain an item advantage over them: Lina,
Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter,
Jakiro,
Death Prophet.
* Axe,
Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar,
Wraith King,
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe,
Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge,
Medusa,
Warlock.
Additional:
* If Phantom Assassin jumps on Pudge first with Phantom Strike, she will be a very easy target for Pudge's
Meat Hook and
Dismember combo.
* Even though it can deal damage based on Pudge's max health, Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard cannot disable Pudge's
Flesh Heap as
Flesh Heap is one of the few passive abilities that cannot be disabled by break.
* Both Meat Hook and
Dismember ignore spell immunity which allows Pudge to disable Phantom Assassin even while she has
Black King Bar active.
* Pudge occassionally buys armor items like Blade Mail, which in combination with many stacks from
Flesh Heap can make Phantom Assassin have little effect against Pudge.
* Generally heroes who don't rely on magical damage, such as Sven,
Phantom Assassin, and
Outworld Destroyer, as they can practically ignore Flesh Heap's damage block.
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,
Bloodseeker,
Lifestealer,
Troll Warlord,
Sven
* In general, Brewmaster's Cinder Brew and Thunder Clap makes him good against physical damage carries: Ursa,
Clinkz,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Templar Assassin,
Phantom Assassin.
* Heroes with spell immunity or pseudo-blinks which provide invulnerability: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Omniknight,
Huskar, and
Tusk have spells which allow them to easily escape Dream Coil.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage output to be effective will fare badly against Muerta's Pierce the Veil:
Phantom Assassin,
Terrorblade,
Drow Ranger,
Lifestealer,
Anti-Mage,
Alchemist,
Lycan,
Clinkz,
Sniper.
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe,
Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge,
Medusa,
Warlock.
* Ensnare prevents using any kind of movement abiilties, Making Naga Siren good against heroes who rely on gap-closing abilities to escape:
Phantom Assassin,
Magnus,
Slark,
Riki,
Faceless Void,
Storm Spirit.
* Morphling's naturally high armor thanks to his high agility makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to take him down with Coup de Grace.
* Heroes with silencing abilities that are not blocked by Linken's Sphere, like Puck's
Waning Rift,
Death Prophet's
Silence or
Silencer's
Global Silence.
* Tinker can use Laser to save an ally or himself from Phantom Assassin's initiate Phantom Strike due to the blind, forcing her to use a Black King Bar to effectively initiate, Tinker can also use Warp Flare one he buys
Aghanim's Shard to reverse Phantom Strike's blinking with
Phantom Strike.
* Tinker almost never uses his physical attack, relying on his spell-spamming to deal damage which ignores Blur's Evasion
* Defense Matrix prevents Coup de Grace from triggering.
* Low health spellcasters: Lina,
Witch Doctor,
Tinker,
Keeper of the Light, all rely heavily on their spells and are fragile heroes. They all also have avoidable spells, allowing Puck to get to them and quickly burst them down.
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings without Battle Fury.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
* Silken Bola can cripple Phantom Assassin greatly due to her being 100% reliant on physical attacks.
* Aghanim's Scepter gives Broodmother access to
Spinner's Snare, which allows her to create invisible lines on her webs from
Spin Web that will root Phantom Assassin, deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin and reveal Phantom Assassin if she unwittingly steps on them, disrupting her attempts to initiate or escape with with
Phantom Strike while also alerting Broodmother on her attempts to ambush her and her allies.
Additional:
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings without Battle Fury.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
* Silken Bola can cripple Phantom Assassin greatly due to her being 100% reliant on physical attacks.
* Aghanim's Scepter gives Broodmother access to
Spinner's Snare, which allows her to create invisible lines on her webs from
Spin Web that will root Phantom Assassin, deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin and reveal Phantom Assassin if she unwittingly steps on them, disrupting her attempts to initiate or escape with with
Phantom Strike while also alerting Broodmother on her attempts to ambush her and her allies.
* Mass summoning heroes: Broodmother,
Nature's Prophet and
Enigma all have summons Puck can clear with Illusory Orb and Waning Rift instantly, due to their summons having low health.
* While Phantom Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage in a few strikes, Skywrath Mage can also do the same to her if she is not careful.
* Arcane Bolt's long range and low cooldowns allows Skywrath Mage to severely harass Phantom Assassin in lane.
* Ancient Seal prevents Phantom Assassin from escaping or engaging with
Phantom Strike.
* Mystic Flare's heavy magical damage nukes Phantom Assassin down quickly during the early to mid game.
Additional:
* While Phantom Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage in a few strikes, Skywrath Mage can also do the same to her if she is not careful.
* Arcane Bolt's long range and low cooldowns allows Skywrath Mage to severely harass Phantom Assassin in lane.
* Ancient Seal prevents Phantom Assassin from escaping or engaging with
Phantom Strike.
* Mystic Flare's heavy magical damage nukes Phantom Assassin down quickly during the early to mid game.
* Skywrath's pitiful defences also make him easy meat to heroes with high burst like Juggernaut,
Lion, or
Phantom Assassin, the latter occasionally downing a support Skywrath in a single
Stifling Dagger.
* Firestorm can deal serious damage to Phantom Assassin during laning.
* Pit of Malice prevents Phantom Assassin from either escaping or engaging with
Phantom Strike.
* Phantom Assassin's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for her in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects
Coup De Grace, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
* Without proper items and any area-of-effect ability/item, Phantom Assassin cannot stop Underlord and his team to escape with Fiend's Gate, and she has nothing to intercept Underlord and his team when they use
Fiend's Gate to teleport on any area of the map outside of
Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard.
Additional:
* Firestorm can be used to deal serious damage to Phantom Assassin during laning that ignores evasion from
Blur.
* Pit of Malice prevents Phantom Assassin from either escaping or engaging with
Phantom Strike.
* Phantom Assassin's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for her in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects
Coup De Grace, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
* Without proper items and any area-of-effect ability/item, Phantom Assassin cannot stop Underlord and his team to escape with Fiend's Gate, nor she can intercept them if Underlord chooses to teleport on any area of the map.
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damaging and/or disabling abilities will be able to intercept Underlord and his team when they exit from Fiend's Gate: Luna's
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Eclipse,
Dawnbreaker's
Solar Guardian,
Axe's
Berserker's Call,
Mars's
Arena of Blood,
Jakiro's
Macropyre,
Dual Breath and
Ice Path,
Naga Siren's
Song of the Siren,
Razor's
Eye of the Storm and
Plasma Field,
Lina's
Light Strike Array,
Broodmother's
Spinner's Snare from
Aghanim's Scepter,
Elder Titan's
Earth Splitter and
Echo Stomp,
Alchemist's
Unstable Concoction and
Acid Spray,
Queen of Pain's
Sonic Wave,
Dark Seer's
Wall of Replica and
Vacuum,
Venomancer's
Noxious Plague and
Poison Nova from
Aghanim's Scepter,
Oracle's
Fortune's End and
Rain of Destiny from
Aghanim's Shard,
Bloodseeker's
Blood Rite,
Enigma's
Black Hole and
Midnight Pulse,
Shadow Fiend's
Requiem of Souls,
Batrider's
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Flaming Lasso,
Firefly,
Flamebreak and
Sticky Napalm,
Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast,
Sand King's
Epicenter,
Sand Storm and
Burrowstrike,
Gyrocopter's
Call Down,
Ember Spirit's
Sleight of Fist,
Death Prophet's
Exorcism and
Silence,
Monkey King's
Wukong's Command,
Crystal Maiden's
Freezing Field,
Muerta's
The Calling,
Medusa's
Stone Gaze,
Zeus's
Nimbus from
Aghanim's Scepter.
Dark Willow's
Bramble Maze,
Pangolier's
Swashbuckle,
Grimstroke's
Soulbind,
Ink Swell and
Stroke of Fate,
Earthshaker's
Echo Slam and
Fissure,
Puck's
Dream Coil and
Waning Rift,
Winter Wyvern's
Winter's Curse,
Magnus's
Reverse Polarity.
* Even though Phantom Assassin can easily kill Luna in few strikes, Luna can also do the same to Phantom Assassin if she is not careful.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned Phantom Strike will make Phantom Assassin an easy target for counter-attack with
Eclipse if she does not have
Black King Bar available to use and if Phantom Assassin cannot kill Luna fast enough. This can be even better if Luna buys
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Moon Glaives can ignore
Blur's evasion if Luna attacks an enemy near Phantom Assassin.
* Luna can counter Blur's evasion by buying either
Silver Edge, or
Monkey King Bar, which are common items on Luna.
* Luna just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard and
Coup De Grace, as
Fan of Knives can disable
Moon Glaives and
Lunar Blessing while
Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, though this issue can be solved by buying
Ethereal Blade, which is a situational item on Luna.
Additional:
* Even though Phantom Assassin can easily kill Luna in few strikes, Luna can also do the same to Phantom Assassin if she is not careful.
* An ill-timed and ill-positioned Phantom Strike will make Phantom Assassin an easy target for counter-attack with
Eclipse if she does not have
Black King Bar available to use and if Phantom Assassin cannot kill Luna fast enough. This can be even worse if Luna buys
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Moon Glaives can ignore
Blur's evasion if Luna attacks an enemy near Phantom Assassin.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Moon Glaives can also reduce damage from
Coup De Grace and
Moon Glaives Phantom Assassin inflicts on Luna and damage Spirit Phantom Assassin she is close to her. And the
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Moon Glaives have true strike for their duration, which renders
Blur's evasion insignificant.
* Luna can counter Blur's evasion by buying either
Silver Edge, or
Monkey King Bar, which are common items on Luna.
* Luna just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard and
Coup De Grace, as
Fan of Knives can deal health-based damage to Luna and disable
Moon Glaives and
Lunar Blessing while
Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, though this issue can be partially solved by buying
Ethereal Blade, which is a situational item on Luna.
* All assassin-type carries in a one against one situation: Meepo,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Ursa. Luna's only chances are that she buys
Ethereal Blade or
Black King Bar to gain a slight edge against them, or both items if necessary.
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from
Stifling Dagger.
* Phantom Assassin has a moderate health pool and usually appears in the front line of battle, making her vulnerable to Timbersaw's pure burst damage output.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
Additional:
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from
Stifling Dagger, as well as ganking attempts.
* Phantom Assassin is a hero with moderate HP pool, and usually appears in the front line of battle. Because Blur does nothing against spells, she is vulnerable to Timbersaw's skills.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Lycan,
Bloodseeker,
Anti-Mage,
Timbersaw.
* Sniper has no spells to disable Puck. He lacks a silence to prevent spell casting and a stun to disable, allowing Puck to act instantly against Sniper.
* Sniper's main strategy is to attack his enemies from a safe distance. Illusory Orb, combined with Blink Dagger makes it easy for Puck to get close to Sniper. Due to his low health, he is also easily nuked down by Puck.
* The status debuff placed by Assassinate on its target makes it very easy to avoid it. Puck has 2 (3 when having
Blink Dagger, 4 when having
Eul's Scepter of Divinity, 5 when having
Linken's Sphere) methods to disjoint or dodge the projectile, making it a bad spell for finishing off Puck.
* Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.
Additional:
* Stifling Dagger and
Phantom Strike allow Phantom Assassin to close the gap with Sniper and prevent his escape.
* Blur allows Phantom Assassin to approach Sniper while invisible and dodge much of Sniper's damage. It can also disjoint Assassinate.
* Coup De Grace quickly cuts through Sniper's low health; one or two procs will usually kill him.
* Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard can deal damage to Sniper's maximum health and disable
Headshot and
Take Aim.
* Waning Rift silences Anti-Mage, preventing him from blinking away.
* However, Waning Rift can be dispelled by Manta Style.
* Dream Coil stops Anti-Mage from blinking, with
Aghanim's Scepter also locks down Anti-Mage for long duration.
* Anti-Mage's low health pool making vulnerable to Phantom Assassin's burst damage and Coup De Grace critical strike, while Blink is on cooldown.
* Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal Mana Break to her.
* Phantom Assassin has low intelligence and low mana pool, making Mana Void do minimal damage.
Additional:
* Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical bursts due to Counterspell, but he is still somewhat vulnerable to physical damage. Phantom Assassin's burst physical damage can destroy Anti-Mage while
Blink is on cooldown or while he is stunned or hexed.
* Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal significant damage to her without buying Monkey King Bar, which means he cannot buy items to benefit his
Mana Break.
* Phantom Assassin has an abysmal mana pool and intelligence gain, making Mana Break and
Mana Void deal minimal damage.
* All of Puck's abilities are area-targeted, and will hit Dark Willow when she uses Shadow Realm.
* Illusory Orb allows Puck to bypass Bramble Maze, close the gap and silence Dark Willow with
Waning Rift.
* Phase Shift helps Puck dodge attacks charged by Shadow Realm, and is easily timed against Terrorize's long cast time.
* Heroes with high burst damage and Black King Bar can take down Dark Willow quickly:
Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Wraith King
* Low health spellcasters: Lina,
Witch Doctor,
Tinker,
Keeper of the Light, all rely heavily on their spells and are fragile heroes. They all also have avoidable spells, allowing Puck to get to them and quickly burst them down.
* Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as Lina and
Witch Doctor are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
* Melee heroes that get kited easily have hard times dealing with Puck without any lockdowns, as Puck is one of the most mobile heroes. Heroes like Sven,
Lifestealer,
Ursa and
Alchemist may have problems to get to Puck without proper initiation items. They also lack reliable lockdowns, as their disables are easily avoidable for Puck, or are just a soft disable.
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack-dependent heroes such as Ursa,
Terrorblade or
Lifestealer can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
* Illusory Orb and
Waning Rift provides great mobility, allowing Puck to catch up Pangolier when he is attempting to disengage with his own skills.
* Dream Coil's leash act almost as a literal silence to Pangolier, disabling half of his arsenal and also piercing his spell immunity during Rolling Thunder. Also Dream Coil's very long duration will make Pangolier wasting his entire ultimate rolling in place.
Additional:
* Dream Coil and Wanning Rift prevent Pangolier from using Swashbuckle and
Rolling Thunder. If Puck has
Aghanim's Scepter, Dream coil will stop Rolling Thunder from moving entirely.
* 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.
* Mass summoning heroes: Broodmother,
Nature's Prophet and
Enigma all have summons Puck can clear with Illusory Orb and Waning Rift instantly, due to their summons having low health.
* Nature's Prophet's low mobility and health pool allow Phantom Assassin to destroy him in the early game.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to jump in and out of Sprout, provided she has vision.
* Blur makes it hard for Monkey King to stack Jingu Mastery.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to blink directly to Monkey King during Wukong's Command, bypassing all his clones.
* Coup de Grace's high damage can kill Monkey King quickly, thus ending Wukong's Command prematurely.
* Illusory Orb serves as a good scouting tool whenever Magnus is hiding in the trees, allowing Puck to warn its allies and disrupt his initiation attempts.
* Phase Shift allows Puck to dodge Shockwave when timed correctly.
* Even after Magnus successfully uses Reverse Polarity and Skewer Puck's teammates, Puck can usually counter-initiate using both Waning Rift and
Dream Coil.
* Magnus cannot use Skewer when he is affected by Dream Coil, making him vulnerable to follow-up disables.
* Puck usually gets its own Blink Dagger as well, which makes it harder to lock down unless Magnus commits Reverse Polarity only for Puck.
* 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.
* All of Puck's damaging spells deal AoE magic damage, which focuses on Terrorblade's low health pool and ignores his armor.
* Puck's spells are also great at quickly clearing all of Terrorblade's illusions. Even a single Illusory Orb is enough to drop their health very low, allowing creeps, towers or allies to finish them off very quickly. Waning Rift and Illusory Orb together are usually enough to clear his illusions.
* Waning Rift prevents Terrorblade from casting Sunder at low health.
* Puck is a common Dagon carrier, making it possible to finish off Terrorblade before he has a chance to
Sunder.
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack-dependent heroes such as Ursa,
Terrorblade or
Lifestealer can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
* Phase Shift can easily disjoint Phantom Embrace and waste half of the Soulbind's duration.
* Puck is very mobile hero who can jump backsides and burst Grimstroke before he can cast anything.
* Void Spirit can easily be bursted down by Puck's high magic damage spells in early game.
* Wanning Rift and Dream Coil prevent him from using two of his important mobility abilities: Dissimilate and
Astral Step.
Additional:
* Dream Coil prevents the usage of Void Spirit's escape abilities and limits his damage output in fights almost entirely.
* Killing Puck in the late game becomes difficult when they obtain a Eul's Scepter of Divinity,
Blink Dagger, and
Phase Shift.
* Phantom Assassin can easily escape Lich's slows with Phantom Strike.
* Phantom Assassin's Coup De Grace can be used to burst down the squishy Lich.
* Puck can initiate on Mirana with Waning Rift to prevent her from going invisible or Leaping.
* A Mirana caught in Dream Coil will stun herself if she tries to Leap away.
* Puck's Burst damage takes advantage of Mirana's below average health.
* Puck can easily dodge Sacred Arrow and Starstorm with Phase Shift.
Additional:
* Mirana's spells are laid out to assassinate enemies. Puck can easily avoid the slow moving Sacred Arrow, and also can avoid
Starstorm with Phase Shift, since the meteors have a delay.
* If Puck casts either Waning Rift or Dream Coil in the area, Mirana cannot Leap away.
* Puck Outlanes Invoker with his abilities: Illusory Orb,
Waning Rift finishing off all creeps on the line and getting a higher level than him
* Puck dodges Invoker's magic attacks with his abilities: Illusory Orb,
Phase Shift in a fight, preventing Invoker from doing damage
Additional:
* Puck Outlanes Invoker with his abilities: Illusory Orb,
Waning Rift finishing off all creeps on the line and getting a higher level than him
* Puck dodges Invoker's magic attacks with his abilities: Illusory Orb,
Phase Shift in a fight, preventing Invoker from doing damage
* Phase Shift allows Puck to dodge all of Earthshaker's abilites.
* Waning Rift disables Earthshaker's stuns, leaving him and his team vulnerable.
* Dream Coil takes a stun from Earthshaker if he tries to escape from
Blink Dagger or Enchant Totem upgraded from
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
* Coup de Grace can make a short work of Io's low health and armor.
* Laguna Blade is one of the best tools to kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in early-to-mid game due to its high magical (pure with
Laguna Blade damage is Pure and pierces Spell Immunity talent) burst damage.
* Blur offers no protection against Lina's abilities. Likewise, Lina can counter
Blur's evasion by buying either
Silver Edge or
Monkey King Bar.
* Lina just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard and
Coup De Grace, as
Fan of Knives can deal pure damage to Lina and disable
Fiery Soul awhile
Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, which may force Lina to buy
Ethereal Blade to deal with Phantom Assassin.
Additional:
* Laguna Blade is one of the best tools to kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in early-to-mid game due to its high magical (pure with
Laguna Blade damage is Pure and pierces Spell Immunity talent) burst damage.
* Blur offers no protection against Lina's abilities. Likewise, Lina can counter
Blur's evasion by buying either
Silver Edge or
Monkey King Bar.
* Lina just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from
Aghanim's Shard and
Coup De Grace, as
Fan of Knives can deal pure damage to Lina and disable
Fiery Soul awhile
Coup De Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, which may force Lina to buy
Ethereal Blade to deal with Phantom Assassin.
* Puck can dodge Lina's Dragon Slave and
Light Strike Array with his
Phase Shift skill, which helps him avoid combining these abilities with
Laguna Blade and avoid burst damage from Lina.
* Puck forbids Lina to use her abilities with the Waning Rift ability, which will help her teammates survive and even give them the opportunity to kill her.
Additional:
* Puck can dodge Lina's Dragon Slave and
Light Strike Array with Phase Shift. A good Puck player can even dodge
Laguna Blade, as it has an invisible projectile, therefore avoiding all the burst damage from Lina.
* Puck forbids Lina to use her abilities with Waning Rift, which will help Puck's teammates survive and even give them the opportunity to kill her.
* Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as Lina and
Witch Doctor are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
* Heroes that can easily bypass Chen's creeps to get to Chen: Riki,
Tusk,
Clinkz,
Sniper,
Slark,
Phantom Assassin,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes that can reliably kite out Dispose, Unleash and dodge Rebound, like Ember Spirit,
Void Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Anti-Mage,
Faceless Void,
Puck or always build items like
Blink Dagger and
Force Staff.
* Heroes with Evasion or abilities that cause Tiny to miss like Phantom Assassin and
Tinker are very effective because of Tiny's low attack speed. Additionally,
Monkey King Bar is not a good item for Tiny because of its reliance on high attack speed to proc for magical damage.
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Lycan,
Bloodseeker,
Anti-Mage,
Timbersaw.
* Heroes that are hard to kill without lockdown: Puck,
Weaver.
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Lycan,
Bloodseeker,
Anti-Mage,
Timbersaw.
* Puck silences Ogre Magi with
Waning Rift, and
Phase Shift makes Puck untargetable for the duration.
* Heroes with long range abilities are also able to touch Zeus, such as Clockwerk,
Kunkka,
Puck,
Skywrath Mage,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk and others.
* Melee heroes that get kited easily have hard times dealing with Puck without any lockdowns, as Puck is one of the most mobile heroes. Heroes like Sven,
Lifestealer,
Ursa and
Alchemist may have problems to get to Puck without proper initiation items. They also lack reliable lockdowns, as their disables are easily avoidable for Puck, or are just a soft disable.
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin,
Spirit Breaker, and
Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
* Ancient Apparition has no escape or reliable control and is very fragile, which makes him an easy target for anyone who can get on top of him, like Phantom Assassin or
Clinkz.
* 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.
* 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.
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility:
Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter,
Dazzle with
Aghanim's Shard
* All of Puck's abilities are active making Demonic Purge break from Aghanim's Scepter useless.
* Shadow Demon will find a hard time catching a Puck, as he can get away with Illusory Orb or even
Waning Rift;
* Puck can dodge Shadow Poison waves and potentially avoid the damage from Demonic Purge with Phase Shift. Furthermore, after Disruption ended, Puck can use Phase Shift to avoid any further danger and can blink away with
Blink Dagger.
* Waning Rift can be used to initiate Shadow Demon, prevent him from using any spells.
* 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.
* Puck's area of effect nukes in the form of Illusory Orb and
Waning Rift clears Phantasm illusions from the early game to mid game.
* Phase Shift can be used to disjoint Chaos Bolt.
* Riki and
Disruptor:
Smoke Screen and
Static Storm, respectively, can be thrown wherever Puck used Phase Shift, making Puck an easy target if it doesn't have Blink Dagger or is on cooldown. Puck is also very susceptible to Riki's high attack damage when attacking from the back. Glimpse also prevents Puck from escaping altogether.
* Blink Strike does not grant Riki a mobility advantage over Phantom Assassin, as her Phantom Strike serves the same purpose, but with a higher range.
* A Carry Riki usually has a hard time dealing with Blur, as a Monkey King Bar or
Bloodthorn are unfavourable item picks for him (or, even more unlikely, a
Silver Edge).
* A Black King Bar is a very common pick for Phantom Assassin, fully countering
Smoke Screen and
Diffusal Blade while activated.
* Heroes with mobility spells like Queen of Pain,
Anti-Mage,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Puck, and
Spirit Breaker that are cancelled by Frostbite can suffer greatly from the presence of Crystal Maiden. It is absolutely critical, however, to have followup from teammates, as all of the above heroes can make quick work of the squishy Crystal Maiden after they are released from her grip.
* Though certainly not a "hard counter", Crystal Maiden's skillset (magical damage nukes) does pose a substantial threat to Phantom Assassin through the mid game, especially if followed up with engagement by her team.
* A quick use of Freezing Field directly after Phantom Strike can leave Phantom Assassin trapped inside the area of effect, capitalizing on Phantom Assassin's relatively low HP pool when she is not protected by
Blur, and besides
Skull Basher, Phantom Assassin hates buying disabling items like
Scythe of Vyse or
Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
* If Phantom Assassin chooses not to buy a Black King Bar relatively early, the attack slow from Freezing Field can greatly hinder the proc chance of
Coup de Grace in a teamfight.
* However, Phantom Assassin's massive damage, and her tendency to build both Black King Bar and
Skull Basher makes her a formidable foe the later the game goes, and fighting her without a team is almost never a good choice.
* Puck has both Waning Rift and Dream Coil to stop Freezing Field's channel regardless of whether or not Crystal Maiden has a
Glimmer Cape, as both spells fully affect invisible units.
* Crystal Maiden's low health pool and slow movement speed make her a tempting and easy target.
* However, it may be wise to build Black King Bar first before attempting to fight her alone, as she can disable you and retaliate with
Freezing Field.
* Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe,
Viper,
Meepo,
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Slark,
Venomancer etc.
* Puck can dodge Nether Blast and
Life Drain with his Phase Shift, easily avoiding Pugna's strong burst magic damage.
* Waning Rift's silence allows Puck and its teammates to easily deal with Pugna, which cannot do the same to it, because with Puck it will be easy to avoid such an attack from the
Decrepify.
* The Puck's combo: Waning Rift +
Illusory Orb +
Dream Coil doesn't have a huge amount of damage to feel the damage of the Pugna from
Nether Ward, however, it may be quite enough to kill the Pugna solo at an early stage of the game with
Witch Blade
Additional:
* Puck easily dodges the Nether Blast and the Pugna
Life Drain with his
Phase Shift, which is why he can easily avoid his strong magic damage
* The Puck's silence from the Waning Rift ability allows her team to easily cope with the Pugna, which cannot be said about the Pugna, because with the Puck it will be easy to avoid such an attack from the
Decrepify
* The Puck's combo: Waning Rift +
Illusory Orb +
Dream Coil doesn't have a huge amount of damage to feel the damage of the Pugna from
Nether Ward, however, it may be quite enough to kill the Pugna solo at an early stage of the game with
Witch Blade
* Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using Black King Bar, the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
Doom and
Shadow Demon with
Aghanim's Scepter also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility:
Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter,
Dazzle with
Aghanim's Shard
* Dazzle's lack of a true disable makes him a relatively vulnerable target for Phantom Assassin.
* Coup de Grace will often kill Dazzle's teammates before he has a chance to use Shallow Grave.
* Phantom Assassin's Blur is useless against Windranger as she commonly buys items that require
Javelin like
Maelstrom,
Monkey King Bar or
Bloodthorn, and other than Stifling Dagger, Phantom Assassin has nothing else that can bypass Windrun.
* Additionally, Phantom Assassin doesn't like building Monkey King Bar because her crits are reliant on attack damage.
* Focus Fire can still deal considerable damage despite Blur's evasion due to the increased attack speed.
Additional:
* Phantom Assassin's Blur is useless against Windranger as she commonly buys items that require
Javelin like
Maelstrom,
Monkey King Bar or
Bloodthorn, and other than Stifling Dagger, Phantom Assassin has nothing else that can bypass Windrun.
* Additionally, Phantom Assassin doesn't like building Monkey King Bar because her crits are reliant on attack damage.
* Focus Fire can still deal considerable damage despite Blur's evasion due to the increased attack speed.
* Phase Shift allows Puck to effectively dodge Powershot, and even
Shackleshot if timed correctly.
* Waning Rift prevents Windranger from casting all her abilities, most especially Windrun and
Focus Fire .
* Windranger cannot escape with Windrun when she's affected by Dream Coil, as she will be instantly stunned when she tries to break away from the coil, allowing Puck's teammates to focus her down.
* Heroes who cannot prevent Sven from killing towers will often struggle from a small map very early, such as Phantom Assassin,
Storm Spirit and
Phantom Lancer.
* Melee heroes that get kited easily have hard times dealing with Puck without any lockdowns, as Puck is one of the most mobile heroes. Heroes like Sven,
Lifestealer,
Ursa and
Alchemist may have problems to get to Puck without proper initiation items. They also lack reliable lockdowns, as their disables are easily avoidable for Puck, or are just a soft disable.
* All of Puck's abilities are good for Rubick to Spell Steal:
* Illusory Orb and Waning Rift are all great wave-clear abilities.
* If Rubick manages to steal Waning Rift, he can silence Puck, disabling all its abilities including Phase Shift, Puck's main survivability tool.
* Dream Coil is a powerful teamfight ultimate that leashes enemies and disables their movement.
* As an elusive hero who requires constant repositioning, Puck is greatly countered by its own ultimate as it disables all its mobile abilities and items (especially Blink Dagger), forcing it to either stay in the danger zone or latches and stuns for a long time.
* Although Phase Shift does not provide extra damage or lockdown on its own, it does grant Rubick invulnerability, and enables him to use Blink Dagger with full duration similar to Puck's escaping combos.
* Rubick can initiate on Puck relatively fast as Telekinesis only has a 0.15 second cast animation.
Additional:
* Illusory Orb and
Waning Rift are all great wave-clear abilities.
* Waning Rift can silence
Puck, disabling all her abilities including
Phase Shift.
* Dream Coil is a powerful teamfight ultimate that leashes enemies and disables their movement.
* As an elusive hero who requires constant repositioning, Puck is greatly countered by her own ultimate as it disables all her mobile abilities and items (especially
Blink Dagger), forcing
Puck to either stay in the danger zone or latches and stuns for a long time.
* Although Phase Shift does not provide extra damage or lockdown on its own, it does grant Rubick invulnerability, and enables him to use
Blink Dagger with full duration similar to
Puck's escaping combos.
* Rubick can initiate on Puck relatively fast as
Telekinesis only has a 0.15 second cast animation.
* Fade Bolt is not enough to burst
Phantom Assassin down without the help of other stolen spells.
* Rubick has little armor and can be
Phantom Assassin's primary target.
* Telekinesis is the only way for Rubick to retaliate if being jumped on, but the lockdown duration is generally not enough for Rubick to escape.
* Few of Phantom Assassin's spells grants utility for
Rubick.
* Phantom Assassin's spells strengthes her assault power combined with her physical damage output, yet Rubick is not considered a physical damage dealer.
* With that said, Blur could be of use for Rubick to hide on back in teamfights waiting for the key spell without fearing of being initiated.
* Once you farm up an Orchid Malevolence or a
Scythe of Vyse, you're suddenly a lot more fearsome to elusive heroes like
Storm Spirit or even that pesky
Puck.
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Lycan,
Bloodseeker,
Anti-Mage,
Timbersaw.
Additional:
* Puck will make a game of dodging as many Shadow Strikes as he can with Phase Shift. If he's a good player, he will also dodge Sonic Wave. If he's a great player, he will also dodge Scream of Pain, and it's all thanks to this single spell.
* Puck also has a silence in Waning Rift to prevent Queen of Pain from blinking away.
* Puck can provide vision to hunt her down if she blinks into the trees with Illusory Orb.
* If Queen of Pain is under the effect of Dream Coil, she will be unable to blink out.
* Heroes who are strong against mobile heroes: Disruptor,
Bloodseeker,
Kunkka,
Keeper of the Light.
* Heroes which rely exclusively on right clicks will struggle somewhat against Blinding Light: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Medusa
* Heroes with silences: Puck,
Doom,
Riki.
* Heroes with teleports to escape Solar Blind and Will-O-Wisp: Phantom Assassin,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
* In early to mid stage, Silence is also a great way to counter escape oriented heroes such as Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain, and
Phantom Assassin to prevent them from escaping, provided that they don't have any basic dispels.
* Heroes that can kill Death Prophet with nukes can prevent her from using Exorcism to its full duration or using it at all: Lina,
Lion,
Puck,
Morphling.
* With Bloodthorn, Clinkz becomes a strong counter to heroes who rely on evasion and blind such as
Windranger,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord and
Keeper of the Light.
* Heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight, or with abilities to cause attacks to miss like
Phantom Assassin,
Riki and
Tinker will be hard to deal with, as Clinkz relies almost entirely on physical attacks.
* Heroes 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.
* Because all of Warlock's abilities are active abilities, silences can make his impact in fights minimal. Be cautious of heroes that carry silences like Death Prophet,
Puck, and the aforementioned
Silencer.
* Earth Spirit Eliminates the possibility of the Puck to hide in Phase Shift and avoid an attack by
Geomagnetic Grip with its AOE-silence, which is why it can help the team kill him
* Puck can't throw off the effect of Magnetize any of his abilities, which is why he will constantly receive damage if Earth Spirit extends this ability with his
Stone Remnant
Additional:
* Earth Spirit eliminates the possibility of Puck to hide with Phase Shift and avoid an attack by Geomagnetic Grip with its AoE silence, which is why it can help the team kill it.
* Puck can't throw off the effects of Magnetize with any of its abilities, making it constantly receive damage if Earth Spirit extends this ability with his
Stone Remnant.
* Puck can forbid the opportunity to avoid trouble for Earth Spirit on his own Rolling Boulder, using abilities:
Dream Coil,
Waning Rift
Additional:
* Puck can forbid the opportunity to avoid trouble for Earth Spirit on his own Rolling Boulder, using
Dream Coil and
Waning Rift.
* 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).
* 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.
* Generally strong against lots of spellcaster-themed heroes, Puck fully relies on its skill set and cannot do almost anything when silenced.
* Arcane Curse disables Blink Dagger for quite some time, and is also effective against Puck as it tends to use its spells a lot.
* Glaives of Wisdom can do a lot of damage against Puck due to Puck's low agility gain and armor.
* Last Word can prevent Puck from getting a full combo off, limiting its effectiveness in team fights or ganks.
* Global Silence can take Puck out of fights entirely because of its long-duration silence.
* Phantom Assassin doesn't care about Silencer's spells as she relies on right-clicks more than spells.
* Phantom Assassin often builds Black King Bar, which allows her to remove Global Silence before engaging.
* A Lycan with Shapeshift can always run down Puck for a very quick kill due to its low armor. It is important to abuse as many cliffs and trees as possible to escape from a Lycan.
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
* Any Hero with high mobility will be neutralized by dream coil: Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Lycan,
Bloodseeker,
Anti-Mage,
Timbersaw.
* Phantom Assassin's Blur is a real problem for Lycan, as he relies entirely on direct attacks to deal damage.
* Heroes with spell immunity or pseudo-blinks which provide invulnerability: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Omniknight,
Huskar, and
Tusk have spells which allow them to easily escape Dream Coil.
* Heroes with escaping and disjointing abilities can be good against Juggernaut:Anti-Mage
Riki,
Queen of Pain,
Puck,
Storm Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Slark etc.
* Axe,
Bristleback,
Centaur Warrunner,
Spirit Breaker,
Pudge,
Huskar,
Wraith King,
Doom: These heroes are too tanky for Puck to burst down. Also, all of them have spells which can deal with and shut Puck down reliably.
* Carries that can out damage Huskar will do well against him: Legion Commander,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Phantom Assassin.
* Heroes with spell immunity or pseudo-blinks which provide invulnerability: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Omniknight,
Huskar, and
Tusk have spells which allow them to easily escape Dream Coil.
* With Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Infest, Lifestealer can use it on enemy heroes to attack them and disarm them from inside, even if they are spell immune, which can give him the edge over the heroes he's weak against like
Ursa,
Phantom Assassin,
Terrorblade or
Troll Warlord.
* Melee heroes that get kited easily have hard times dealing with Puck without any lockdowns, as Puck is one of the most mobile heroes. Heroes like Sven,
Lifestealer,
Ursa and
Alchemist may have problems to get to Puck without proper initiation items. They also lack reliable lockdowns, as their disables are easily avoidable for Puck, or are just a soft disable.
* Lifestealer, at even farm levels, will often fall against other man-fighting non-Strength cores like Ursa,
Phantom Assassin or
Troll Warlord as he cannot truly rely on sustain from
Feast.
Additional:
* Rage does absolutely nothing against Phantom Strike with items.
* Feast and
Ghoul Frenzy are very difficult to utilise thanks to Blur.
* Lifestealer generally wants to buy items that make him hard to kill, not an Monkey King Bar which only offers damage.
* Heroes with high mobility can be prevented from using it to their advantage with Earthbind, even if they pack a dangerous arsenal: Earth Spirit,
Ember Spirit,
Storm Spirit,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Anti-Mage,
Weaver.
* See items and abilities disabled by roots
* Heroes with powerful area-of-effect disables can initiate on Meepo and his clones and shut him down, such as Enigma,
Invoker,
Magnus,
Puck, and
Sand King.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
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You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
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may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
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Puck
* Waning Rift's silence is almost completely worthless against Wraith King, due to him having only 1 active ability.
Wraithfire Blast, is strong against Puck if it hits, because it applies a damage over time on top of stunning and doing impact damage, disabling Puck for a while, and Blink Dagger for even longer. It is very important to avoid getting hit by this spell when playing against Wraith King.
Reincarnation will ensure that Wraith King can fight back against him while leaving Puck exhausted and nearly unable to defend itself against Wraith King. And to make things worse, Puck is not a common
Diffusal Blade nor
Disperser wielder to counter this problem at all.
* Wraith King's only active ability,
* Even if Puck succeeds to burst down Wraith King,
Phantom Assassin
* 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.