Phantom Assassin/Counters

Bad against...

 * 's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin. 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 armor 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.


 * 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.
 * cripples Phantom Assassin greatly due to her being 100% reliant on physical attacks.


 * makes it very unlikely for Phantom Assassin to win the lane against Warrunner. can also be used to wore her down, as she has a much smaller health pool than that of Centaur Warrunner.


 * High armor thanks to makes it difficult for Phantom Assassin to burst down Dragon Knight, as she deals 100% physical damage.
 * stuns Phantom Assassin as soon as she initiates, preventing her from gaining bonus attack speed.
 * Dragon Knight is one of the few heroes who can safely solo lane against Phantom Assassin alongside a support.


 * catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in.
 * kills Phantom Assassin's abysmal health before she can do anything in early to mid game and also pierces her spell immunity when upgraded with.


 * and 's fast cast animations easily catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in to attack.
 * often ends Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in the early to mid game.


 * Morphling's high armor serves as a direct counter to Phantom Assassin, causing her attacks to do far less damage. She is also very vulnerable to burst damage, and can be brought down quickly using his and  combo.


 * 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. While may be able to slightly remedy the problem, Phoenix's high magical damage output completely ignore 's evasion, resulting in severe damage to her low health pool.


 * 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.


 * greatly lowers the damage output from, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
 * strikes cannot be evaded by.


 * While Phantom Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage in 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.


 * Slark's allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with.
 * As a hero who typically builds and, Slark can use them to disable Phantom Assassin's  and , thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output and to completely disable her.
 * 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).
 * can be very harmful for Phantom Assassin 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.


 * is useless for Phantom Assassin against Spectre, since all of the Spectre's abilities go through spell immunity,
 * cannot evade because its damage is a separate damage instance and is applied before the attack hits.
 * Spectre's high durability provided by and damage block items makes her one of the hardest carries to take down.


 * 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.


 * The blind from can render Phantom Assassin useless if she is not protected by.
 * Tinker is a natural carrier and can permanently disable Phantom Assassin, not giving her chance to activate  if she has it.


 * makes it hard to land a.
 * Troll Warlord often buys and, the items that greatly counters Phantom Assassin.
 * 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.


 * Hoodwink can easily away from a, make her difficult to be chased through trees, as well as provide passive evasion, effectively stalling Phantom Assassin from a quick kill.
 * Landing a arrow applies Break and a burst of magic damage, disabling Phantom Assassin's crucial passive skills and dealing huge damage to her.

Others

 * Heroes such as, and  can be very prolematic for Phantom Assassin because they give her very little time to farm and become scary.
 * Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much:, , , ,.
 * Heroes who can anticipate, intercept and counter attack against Phantom Assassin once she jumps on them with provided that they are able to do so in time:, , , , , , , , , ,  etc.
 * Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game:, , , , , , ,.
 * , 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. Especially and any hero that is wielding, such as ,  or . 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,.
 * Abilities with blind:, ,.

Items

 * grants accuracy to counter.
 * and it's upgrade can deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin every 8 seconds, and attacks from both items 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.
 * 's breaks (backstab from cannot miss at all!) . and, severely crippling her damage and survivability while also making her weak even against heroes she naturally counters.
 * prevents Phantom Assassin from attacking, making it 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 a reliable protection against her physical attacks.

Good against...

 * Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical burst 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.
 * 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.


 * Nature's Prophet's low mobility and health pool allows 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. Look for, and  and try to catch them off guard.
 * 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.

Works well with...

 * Combining Ancient Apparition and Phantom Assassin's slows to stun an enemy with can easily force an enemy 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 helps 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 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 teamfights, 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 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