* Abaddon can cast Aphotic Shield on any of his allies to immediately dispel Corrosive Haze and/or the stun and the slow components of Slithereen Crush.
* All of Slardar's debuffs are also removed if Abaddon's Borrowed Time triggers.
* Heroes that deal damage over time will also fail to bring down Abaddon and his allies, such as Huskar, Venomancer, or Phoenix.
* Illusion heroes like the aforementioned Phantom Lancer or Naga Siren, or heroes that tend to buy Manta Style, like Luna or Juggernaut, will give Slardar a hard time, as his damage is single-targeted.
* 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.
* Bloodseeker's Rupture forces Slardar to stay still during fights, preventing Slardar from using Guardian sprint to move in and out of fights. This takes away the ability to initiate and re-initiate with Slithereen Crush's low cooldown. Due to the increased move speed from Guardian Sprint, Slardar can lose health at about 160% the rate of normal heroes while under Rupture. Bloodseeker's Thirst also gives him enough move speed so that he's one of the few heroes who can outrun or catch up to a Slardar during Guardian Sprint.
* 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.
* Slardar does not do well against multiple targets, as his only way to damage multiple targets is Slithereen Crush.
* Meepo's Earthbind will root Slardar, making him unable to chase/escape for the time being. Also, Poof's low cooldown and high damage can burst Slardar down rather quickly.
* 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.
* Heroes who can stun multiple units at once: Dark Willow, Spirit Breaker, Slardar, Invoker, and Tidehunter.
* Silencer will most likely disrupt an initiation with his ultimate, Global Silence, prevent escape with his Last Word, and if Phoenix happens to die to him (or near him) enough times, he would sap enough of Phoenix's much needed Intelligence to make him a stronger foe and Phoenix with less mana than it already had.
* Phoenix's limit AoE, damage-over-time abilities give Io plenty of time to save allies with Relocate.
* 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.
* Slardar has high priority on building moblity items such as Blink Dagger rather than tank items. Zeus can easily deal large amount of damage to him if not caught out of position first.
* 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.
* 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 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Inner Beast helps Beastmaster's team destroy Supernova quickly.
* Illusion heroes like the aforementioned Phantom Lancer or Naga Siren, or heroes that tend to buy Manta Style, like Luna or Juggernaut, will give Slardar a hard time, as his damage is single-targeted.
* 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.
* Sand King and Phoenix have many tools to deal with multiple enemies at once, which will work well against a crowd of illusions.
* Lil' Shredder will make quick work of Supernova.
* Mortimer Kisses can easily hit a Phoenix using Sun Ray.
* Tidehunter's Kraken Shell dispels Corrosive Haze and Bash of the Deep's stun if enough damage is taken. Anchor Smash and Kraken Shell's damage block also reduces Slardar's damage.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Illusion heroes like the aforementioned Phantom Lancer or Naga Siren, or heroes that tend to buy Manta Style, like Luna or Juggernaut, will give Slardar a hard time, as his damage is single-targeted.
* 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.
* 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.
* Terrorblade starts out with and gains a lot of armor from his agility growth. His illusions also make it difficult for Slardar to focus down the real Terrorblade.
* 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 turns night to day, overriding Dark Ascension during Supernova.
* Heroes who can provide True Sight are always credible threats: Slardar, Bounty Hunter, especially Zeus since his Lightning Bolt provides True Sight without the need to detect her beforehand to apply the debuff. So even a late-coming Zeus can easily scout a large area to reveal her, and she cannot purge herself from his sight with the dispel talent.
* 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.
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to outrun Bristleback, even when slowed by Viscous Nasal Goo.
* Corrosive Haze's armor reduction makes Bristleback much less tanky.
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
* Shadow Fiend, a normal Shadow Blade builder often relies on its invisibility to escape fights. Corrosive Haze reveals Shadow Fiend and also weakens his already low armor.
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
* Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it hard for him to use Meat Hook from the fog of war on Slardar's teammates or Slardar himself.
* Slithereen Crush interrupts Pudge while he is using Dismember.
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to avoid Meat Hook.
Additional:
* While Slardar has Guardian Sprint activated, Rot cannot slow him and Meat Hook is easier to avoid.
* Slithereen Crush allows Slardar to interrupt Dismember at close range (when Slardar is not a target).
* Corrosive Haze reveals Pudge's location, making it very difficult for him to land hooks from the fog.
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
* With armor items like Solar Crest or Assault Cuirass combined with Bash of the Deep, Slardar can easily tank the Duel, If not dueled himself, he can drop Legion Commander's armor during duel and/or buff his teammate and save them, leaving her only the choice of dueling supports which can also be saved with fast Blink into Slithereen Crush.
* 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.
* Heroes with armor reducing abilities greatly hinder Visage's defense like Slardar and Dazzle.
* 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.
* Crystal Maiden's already low armor and easily interruptible ultimate, Freezing Field can make Slardar her worst nightmare. Crystal Maiden also often builds Glimmer Cape which is revealed by Corrosive Haze.
* 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.
* While Slardar has Guardian's Sprint activated, Powershot cannot slow him and is easier to avoid.
* Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep help Slardar put Windranger in place, even when she uses Windrun to escape.
* Corrosive Haze from Slardar is very effective against Windranger's already low armor. This becomes even worse if she has Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded Windrun, because it also reveals her position and allowing his allies to use their abilities on Windranger.
* Note that the invisibility provided by Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded Windrun is not broken upon attacking, casting abilities or using items, so it's vital to cast Corrosive Haze beforehand.
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* Slardar can use Guardian Sprint with Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade to get close, and Slithereen Crush will stun Sniper and slow him, making him vulnerable to Slardar's teammates.
* Corrosive Haze lowers Sniper's armor and makes Sniper's Shadow Blade useless, easily killing him with a few attacks.
* Weaver relies on Shukuchi to escape and kite enemy heroes. Slardar's Corrosive Haze lowers armor and reveals Weaver, who is already a very frail target.
* Weaver usually builds Linken's Sphere, Corrosive Haze can be used to pop the spell block, additionally the level 25 undispellable talent will prevent Weaver from removing Corrosive Haze with Time Lapse, allowing allied heroes to use their abilities on Weaver.
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze lowers armor and reveals Weaver during Shukuchi, who is already a frail target. In addition, Weaver usually builds Linken's Sphere, and Corrosive Haze can be used to "pop" the spell block. His level 25 talent can also make Corrosive Haze undispellable by Time Lapse, which puts Weaver in an even worse situation.
* Guardian Sprint can dodge Weaver's bugs with the movement speed bonus.
* 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.
* 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 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.
* Corrosive Haze works much like Track, giving the enemy team vision over Riki. While it doesn't give a movement speed or gold bonus, it instead can melt Riki's armor and Slardar can use Guardian Sprint to catch up to him.
* Slardar's Aghanim's Shard, causes Slithereen Crush to apply Corrosive Haze even if Slardar does not have vision over him.
Additional:
* Corrosive Haze makes Riki completely vulnerable to Slardar and his allies, as Riki has no easy way of dispelling it.
* Slardar's physical damage with Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep amplified by Corrosive Haze can easily kill Riki.
* Corrosive Haze will reveal Treant Protector even when he is under the effects of Nature's Guise.
* 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).
* Icarus Dive quickly escapes from Shadow Demon abilities, especially Demonic Purge.
* Phoenix AoE abilities remove Shadow Demon's illusions created by Disruption.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* The brutal physical damage of Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep can quickly remove Void Spirit's shield and stun him for a while.
* Corrosive Haze provides vision of Void Spirit while he is running away and Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to quickly close the gap
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Corrosive Haze provides True Sight on its target, exposing Bounty Hunter's position regardless of Shadow Walk.
* Guardian Sprint gives a very high movement speed bonus, allowing him to chase Bounty Hunter even if Slardar is tracked.
Additional:
* Bounty Hunter's Shadow Walk is rendered useless with Corrosive Haze and makes Bounty Hunter an easy target for Slardar and his team.
* Heroes with spells that negate invisibility such as Bounty Hunter, Zeus and Slardar prevent her from saving her allies with Moonlight Shadow.
* Heroes who can provide True Sight or semi-reveal enemy heroes as Nature's Prophet is prone to buying Shadow Blade: Bounty Hunter, Slardar, Spectre, Zeus, Spirit Breaker.
* Heroes with strong area damage to destroy Phantasm illusions: Axe, Ember Spirit, Legion Commander, Phoenix
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe, Pudge, Bristleback, Mars.
* Slardar can chase Dragon Knight down with Guardian Sprint and stun him with both Slithereen Crush and his passive Bash of the Deep. He can also use Corrosive Haze to whittle Dragon Knight's armor.
* 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.
* Heroes that are able to slow Tiny's attack speed, like Tusk and Phoenix, will greatly limit his Physical damage output.
* Bounty Hunter and Slardar both have ultimates (Corrosive Haze and Track) that reveal Invoker through Ghost Walk.
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain Bash of the Deep charges, and Templar Assassin can spill Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
* 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
* Slardar's Slithereen Crush allows him to stun Spectre and illusions, and Corrosive Haze prevents her from juking with Spectral Dagger.
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
* 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.
* Slardar can reveal Clinkz with Corrosive Haze and make him easy to kill, and his Bash of the Deep also hits hard against Clinkz's naturally low health pool.
* Slardar's Guardian Sprint can catch up with Clinkz's Skeleton Walk.
* The stun and slow from Slardar's Slithereen Crush can hold Clinkz in place.
Additional:
* Clinkz survivability depends entirely on Skeleton Walk. Corrosive Haze not only makes its invisibility useless, but also makes Clinkz even more vulnerable to physical damage.
* 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.
* 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.
* Phantom Lancer's Doppelganger has a low cooldown and applies a basic dispel on PL, making it hard to keep Corrosive Haze on him.
* Phantom Lancer usually purchases Manta Style which provides another basic dispel to remove Corrosive Haze with.
* Besides Slithereen Crush, Slardar does not have another way to deal with illusions and has a low mana pool, which allows Phantom Lancer with Diffusal Blade to quickly build up illusions while draining Slardar's mana.
* Phantom Rush outruns Guardian Sprint, forcing Slardar to Blink away or use Slithereen Crush defensively to avoid being killed.
* 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.
* 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.
* Slardar's level 25 talent makes Corrosive Haze undispellable, thus providing his allies vision of Slark.
* 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.
* Slardar deals entirely physical damage. He does not have to worry about Counterspell.
* Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep prevent Anti-Mage from using Blink, the latter even if Anti-Mage activates Black King Bar.
* Corrosive Haze allows allies to take down Anti-Mage before he has a chance to Blink, and maintains vision over him even if he does Blink away.
Additional:
* Slithereen Crush and Bash of the Deep deals physical damage, bypassing the magic resistance bonus from Counterspell
* Corrosize Haze significantly increases the damage dealt against Anti-Mage, and makes it harder for him to flee with Blink, although Anti-mage can block its casting with with Counterspell
* Chemical Rage kills Phoenix very quickly in Supernova.
* Corrosive Haze followed by Slithereen Crush takes advantage of Alchemist's main weakness, being physical damage before he has the change to improve his surviability with items.
* Bash of the Deep will deal lots of damage during the laning phase.
* 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
* Corrosive Haze and Bash of the Deep will make short work of Huskar's low armor, even if Slardar is alone.
* 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.
* Slardar is one of the few meele heroes who can lane against Ursa in the early game, out harassing him with Bash of the Deep, and running away from a bad engagement with Guardian Sprint
* Corrosize Haze can force Ursa to cast Enrage defensively instead of offensively
* With Corrosize Haze, Slardar's team can quickly dispatch of Roshan, denying one of Ursa's greatest advantages
* Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt Sun Ray and Icarus Dive.
* Corrosive Haze hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with Vendetta, as well as reducing his armor and make him very vulnerable due to his low health pool.
* Guardian Sprint allows Slardar to catch up with Nyx Asssassin and finish him off if he has vision over him.
* 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.
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Tusk, Phoenix with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Medusa cares less than other heroes about armor reduction, since Mana Shield blocks 70% of all damage without taking armor/magic resistance into consideration. This makes 60% of your Corrosive Haze ineffective until Medusa's mana is drained.
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: Tidehunter, Bristleback, Slardar.
* 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.
* Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback, Clinkz, Luna,Shadow Fiend, Slardar, Terrorblade
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
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Slardar
* Fortune's End applies a basic dispel which can be used to dispel Corrosive Haze, or even Slardar's own Guardian Sprint.
* False Promise is able to dispel Corrosive Haze and Slithereen Crush stun/slow from any allies Oracle chooses to cast it on.
* Fate's Edict can also be cast on Slardar to prevent him from proccing his Bash of the Deep.
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.