Phantom Assassin/Counters

Bad against...

 * 's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin in the early game. Jumping on Axe with  is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously easy target for a counter-initiation with  and.
 * Most of Axe's abilities pierce, 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 . can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has  active as  can fully pierce spell immunity, making  one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
 * can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time  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, ,  and  can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
 * is an item that Axe purchases every game, and which can be used to turn Phantom Assassin's critical strikes from against herself. This can become even worse if she's affected by Berserker's Call, as she has no way to stop attacking.
 * upgraded can weaken Phantom Assassin's damage output, and if her attack damage is weak,  will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well.
 * Axe just has to be careful about from  and, as  can disable , even if Axe is spell immune.


 * Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak, 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  and to use  at longer distances.
 * Nightmare and Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with, 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.


 * Phantom Assassin does not deal with early aggression very easily (especially when magical damage). A competent Batrider can make life very difficult with followed by any other spell.


 * Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings without.
 * Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
 * can cripple Phantom Assassin greatly due to her being 100% reliant on physical attacks.


 * and can often burst down Phantom Assassin from early to mid game.
 * makes it very unlikely for Phantom Assassin to win the lane against Warrunner. can also be used to wear her down, as she has a much smaller health pool than that of Centaur Warrunner until purchasing a .  will also trigger  and  cannot evade.
 * Centaur Warrunner's tankiness in combination with armour items that Axe often purchases like, , and  can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Centaur Warrunner.
 * Centaur Warrunner just has to be careful about from  and, as  can disable  even if Centaur Warrunner is spell immune.


 * disables both and, 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.


 * 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 damage is Pure and pierces Spell Immunity talent) burst damage.
 * offers no protection against Lina's abilities. Likewise, Lina can counter 's evasion by buying either or.
 * Lina just has to be careful about from  and, as  can deal pure damage to Lina and disable  awhile  can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, which may force Lina to buy  to deal with Phantom Assassin.


 * 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 will make Phantom Assassin an easy target for counter-attack with  if she does not have  available to use and if Phantom Assassin cannot kill Luna fast enough. This can be even worse if Luna buys.
 * can ignore 's evasion if Luna attacks an enemy near Phantom Assassin.
 * Luna can counter 's evasion by buying either, or , which are common items on Luna.
 * Luna just has to be careful about from  and, as  can deal pure damage to Luna and disable  and  while  can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, though this issue can be partially solved by buying , which is a situational item on Luna.


 * and can easily catch Phantom Assassin once she jumps with  in to attack.
 * can be used to dispel slow from, 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, and ,  will render her completely useless.
 * , and  can be used to save an allied hero before Phantom Assassin can finish them off with.


 * applies a severe attack speed slow, severely hindering Phantom Assassin's damage output.
 * Phantom Assassin cannot cast Phantom Strike on Phoenix during.


 * Puck relies mainly on magical burst damage, which Phantom Assassin is most vulnerable against.
 * and disjoint Stifling Dagger, also allowing to kite Phantom Assassin.
 * will stun Phantom Assassin if she uses to blink away.


 * can lower the damage output from procs, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage. And Phantom Assassin is not a common  wielder to counter this problem.
 * strikes cannot be evaded by.
 * Both and  pierces spell immunity, as Phantom Assassin is often reliant on Black King Bar.


 * Slark's allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with.
 * As a hero who typically builds, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's and , 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, and  (provided that he purchased it already).
 * from will allow Slark to save both, himself and his allies from Phantom Assassin with, and to freely fightback against her without removing invisibility upon attacking.
 * 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 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.


 * 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.
 * 's long range and low cooldowns allows Skywrath Mage to severely harass Phantom Assassin in lane.
 * prevents Phantom Assassin from escaping or engaging with.
 * 's heavy magical damage nukes Phantom Assassin down quickly during the early to mid game.


 * makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
 * is useless for Phantom Assassin against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
 * Spectre only needs to be careful against from, as it can disable  and , though this issue can be solved by buying , which is a common item on Spectre.


 * helps Timbersaw sustain harassment from.
 * Phantom Assassin has a moderate health pool and usually appears in the front line of battle, making her vulnerable to Timbersaw's magic burst.
 * Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his.


 * makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to land a.
 * Troll Warlord often buys and, the items that greatly help against Phantom Assassin's Blur ability.
 * 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.


 * can deal serious damage to Phantom Assassin during laning.
 * prevents Phantom Assassin from either escaping or engaging with.
 * Phantom Assassin's damage output is entirely physical, therefore is very hazardous for her in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects, 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, and she has nothing to intercept Underlord and his team when they use to teleport on any area of the map outside of  from.

Others

 * Heroes such as, and  can be very problematic for Phantom Assassin because they give her very little time to farm and become scary.
 * Heroes who can anticipate and counter-initiate after Phantom Assassin blinks on them with Phantom Strike will often kill her than the other way around:, , , , , , , , ,.
 * 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:, , ,.
 * Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats:, , , , etc.
 * Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game:, , , , , , , ,.
 * , with,  with , and hex abilities all prevent item usage, which is a severe problem for Phantom Assassin as it prevents her from using , the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.  and  with  also disables Phantom Assassin's Evasion and Critical Strike, removing much of her damage and survivabaility.
 * Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. In addition, Phantom Assassin hates to buy, which is one of the two items (other being ) that helps her deal with Ethereal state.
 * 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:, , , , , , , , , ,.
 * Abilities with Break can disable Phantom Assassin's passives: upgraded, ,  with  breaks talent.
 * Abilities with blind:, ,.

Items

 * grants accuracy to counter.
 * and its upgrade can deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin every 9 seconds, and attacks from both items have True Strike.  can also be activated to have it's owner's next five attacks have True Strike.
 * and 's Chain Lightning can pierce through.
 * turns Phantom Assassin's massive burst damage against her, discouraging her from attacking.
 * makes her a more vulnerable target thanks to its ability to make every attack have true strike, damage amplification, and critical strikes. In addition, the silence prevents her from initiating effectively, being unable to use her and, making her susceptible to kiting.
 * completely removes Phantom Assassin's chances of escape. As Hex also disables item usage, even if she purchases, if the Hex is applied before she can activate it, she may fall down very easily once further disabled and nuked down before she even gets a chance to retaliate.
 * can be used to dispel 's attack speed buff from Phantom Assassin, and to continuously dispel Phantom Assassin even if she is spell immune.
 * makes Phantom Assassin a very easy target to disable if she uses on a hero who wields it. And to make thins worse,  can disable Phantom Assassin even if she is spell immune.
 * 's breaks and, severely crippling her damage and survivability while also making her weak even against heroes she naturally counters.
 * can be used to root Phantom Assassin, preventing her from using while also providing a passive chance to have it's owner's attacks release a Chain Lightning that can pierce through.
 * prevents Phantom Assassin from attacking, making it a good protection item for casters. It can be upgraded to later, which can be used on allies or to nuke and disarm Phantom Assassin. In addition, Phantom Assassin hates to buy, which is one of the two items (other being ) that helps her deal with Ethereal state or buying items that let her deal magical damage like ,  and.
 * can be used to save targets hit by Phantom Assassin's crits. However, it is not advised if your team already has invisible heroes as enemies will then most likely carry all the time.
 * not only melts Phantom Assassin's armor, it also reduces her attack speed from.
 * disarms Phantom Assassin, preventing her from proccing . Its evasion also provides reliable protection against her physical attacks.
 * will reflect back at Phantom Assassin, discouraging her from harassing an enemy hero protected by it.

Good against...

 * Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical bursts due to, but he is still somewhat vulnerable to physical damage. Phantom Assassin's burst physical damage can destroy Anti-Mage while is on cooldown or while he is stunned or hexed.
 * Blur makes Anti-Mage unable to deal significant damage to her without buying, which means he cannot buy items to benefit his.
 * Phantom Assassin has an abysmal mana pool and intelligence gain, making and  deal minimal damage.


 * Crystal Maiden's low health pool and slow movement speed make her a tempting and easy target.
 * However, it may be wise to build first before attempting to fight her alone, as she can disable you and retaliate with.


 * 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.


 * does absolutely nothing against Phantom Strike with items.
 * and are very difficult to utilise thanks to Blur.
 * Lifestealer generally wants to buy items that make him hard to kill, not an which only offers damage.


 * 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, provided she has vision.


 * 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 or  are unfavourable item picks for him (or, even more unlikely, a ).
 * A is a very common pick for Phantom Assassin, fully countering  and  while activated.


 * Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.

Others

 * Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as and  are all prime targets that may not be able to react quickly and fight back due to Phantom Assassin's sudden appearance.
 * Heroes who lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Phantom Assassin if they are not careful.
 * Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack-dependent heroes such as, or  can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.

Items

 * does not stop Phantom Assassin from using her abilities on the hero who is protected by it as all of her abilities pierce spell immunity.
 * can be put on a cooldown with.

Works well with...

 * Combining Ancient Apparition and Phantom Assassin's slows to stun an enemy with can easily force an enemy to succumb to this pair during the laning phase.
 * makes one-shot crits even more likely for Phantom Assassin.


 * gives Phantom Assassin greater attack speed, increasing her chances of landing a Coup de Grace.
 * long stun duration lets Phantom Assassin beat down enemies.
 * Beastmaster's Boar and Hawk help Phantom Assassin chase down targets, and can be used as targets for her to jump to.


 * greatly enhances Phantom Assassin's crit damage, as well as giving her a cleaving attack. It also speeds up Phantom Assassin's ability to farm.
 * groups up enemies into one spot, combined with Magnus's and Phantom Assassin's tendency to buy, Phantom Assassin will shred through multiple heroes in a blink of an eye.


 * Casting on Phantom Assassin after she uses Phantom Strike will guarantee a huge damage burst, especially during the early game when 's damage is significant.
 * Phantom Assassin's Stifling Dagger allows Omniknight to catch up with the target and slows them with.
 * Blur makes Phantom Assassin more resistant to physical attacks and makes her much more resistant against disables.


 * not only keeps track of a target but also highly reduces their armor, enabling Phantom Assassin to cut them down much quicker. His stun and follow-up slow can also prove useful in a clash, preventing retaliation and/or escape.


 * can bring an enemy into Phantom Assassin's clutches, then prevent their escape with her.
 * and also allows Phantom Assassin to deal more damage, helping her one-shot enemies.

Others

 * Heroes who amplify physical damage or reduce armor all work well with the Phantom Assassin in team fights, such as or.
 * Slows and disables let her catch up to fleeing enemies. Heroes like, , or are useful to have in a chase in that they might be able to help pin down their target for her.

Items

 * and reduce enemy armor, allowing Coup de Grace to inflict tremendous critical damage.

Works poorly with...

 * If Phantom Assassin uses before Pudge uses  on a hero he's about to hook, then it will be Phantom Assassin who is going to be hooked, rendering both, Pudge and Phantom Assassin's ganking attempts wasted while alerting enemy hero on their presence.


 * Pugna's will render the enemy hero immune to all kinds of Physical damage output and will prevent Phantom Assassin from engaging the affected hero.

Others

 * Heroes who can unintentionally save enemy heroes from ganks work very poorly with Phantom Assassin, such as, , , , ,.
 * Heroes dependent on farming to become effective make a really bad team with Phantom Assassin, such as, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,.

Items

 * Any hero who buys and wields will render an enemy hero immune to all kinds of physical damage, potentially denying Phantom Assassin to kill an enemy hero.
 * Badly-timed and ill-positioned will save the enemy hero from Phantom Assassin during the ganks.

List of heroes that counter Phantom Assassin, and list of heroes that work well and poorly with Phantom Assassin.

Phantom Assassin/Противостоящие