Phantom Assassin/Counters

Bad against...

 * applies a severe attack speed slow, severely hindering Mortred's damage output. While Phantom Strike may be able to slightly remedy the problem, Phoenix' magical (and pure) damage output completely ignore her 's evasion, resulting in severe damage to her low health pool.


 * Lion's powerful magical nuke damage can easily tear away at Mortred's low health pool, his stun can let him and his teammates catch up and surround her, and his Hex is a powerful disable that renders her unable to escape, relying entirely on her evasion to help her survive.


 * Bane's powerful disables can either make Mortred an easily foe to escape from or a very vulnerable target, especially with his spell immunity piercing . His deals pure damage while simultaneously healing him, and his  dramatically reduces her damage output.


 * makes catching up to him difficult as it applies a slow each time a targeted spell is cast on him, which is unfortunately all of Mortred's active spells. He can steal all her damage for himself, turn it against her, and make facing him a huge threat if his reduces her armor enough that one lucky hit is all it takes to severely injure her, or kill her outright.


 * While himself is an easy target for, he can burst  swiftly through his magical nukes before she gets her .  can be effective even post-BKB, if he gets  to deny  an opportunity to use.
 * buys quite often, which prevents  attacking him, while he can still use his  in ghost form. He will likely also upgrade it to  later.


 * High armor thanks to makes it difficult for Phantom Assassin to burst down Dragon Knight, as she deals 100% physical damage. Dragon Knight is one of the few heroes who can safely solo lane against Phantom Assassin along side a support.
 * stuns Phantom Assassin as soon as she initiates, preventing her from gaining bonus attack rate.
 * Splash damage from level 2 and 3 inflicts 50% damage when missing. In other words, Dragon Knight will deal 75% damage to Phantom Assassin when attacking directly without Monkey King Bar.


 * Although Phantom Assassin can negate Marksmanship with her, battle between Drow Ranger and Phantom Assassin will always end with Drow Ranger as winner because Phantom Assassin will fall off late game against Drow Ranger.
 * is highly recommended against her.


 * Normally, Phantom Assassin enjoys attacking enemies with her, however, that is not good idea against Axe because that is exactly what he is expecting because she will be easy target for.
 * is completely useless against axe and his build of abilities and items, and can give Phantom Assassin a taste of her own critical strikes.
 * All in all, fighting Axe as Phantom Assassin is suicide.

Others

 * Any Hero with burst damage (that is not related to auto-attacks) is a big threat for Mortred. As such, Heroes like, , and  should be watched over carefully and treated with caution.
 * Disables prevent Mortred from using her full potential in a teamfight. Be wary of Heroes with such abilities, especially spell-immunity piercing ones, like, , and.
 * , with, and hex abilities all prevent item usage, which is a severe problem for Mortred as it prevents her from using , the one item that helps protect her against the aforementioned dangers.
 * Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Mortred dreads. Especially and any Hero that is wielding, such as  or.

Items

 * is a very obvious counter for her as it completely nullifies her evasion, even if she stacks it up with.
 * is in a similar vein as Monkey King Bar, but also makes her an even more vulnerable target thanks to its damage amplification and critical strikes, making Mortred an even more fragile target.
 * completely removes Mortred'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.
 * temporarily disables her evasion and critical strike, as well as applying a damage reduction onto her, making entering teamfights very risky for her.
 * prevents Phantom Assassin attacking you (but you can't use auto-attack either for the duration), making it good protection item for casters. It can be upgraded to later, which can be used on allies too, or to nuke and disarm Phantom Assassin.
 * Supports should consider buying as it can be used to save targets hit by Phantom Assassin's crits. However, It is not advised if your team already has invisble heroes as enemies will then most likely carry  all the time.

Good against...

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

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 Mortred's sudden appearance.
 * Heroes that lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Mortred if they are not careful. Look for, and  and try to catch them off guard.
 * Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, auto-attack dependent Heroes such as, or  can be a minor threat for Mortred early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.

Works well with...

 * His gives Mortred more damage, even amplifies her 's damage. Combining his and Mortred's slows to stun an enemy with his  can easily make an enemy succumb to this pair during the laning phase.


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


 * Vengeful Spirit can swap an enemy into Mortred's clutches, then prevent their escape with her . Her and  also allows Mortred to deal more damage, giving her an edge in teamfights.


 * Casting on Mortred after she had used  together will guarantee a huge damage burst, especially during the early game when 's damage is significant.
 * Mortred's allows Omniknight to catch up with the target and slows them with.
 * makes Mortred more resistant to physical attacks and makes her immune to most magical spells. When combined, Mortred becomes very hard to kill.


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

Others

 * Heroes that amplify physical damage or reduce armor all work well with the Phantom Assassin in teamfights, such as or . Items such as  and  both also compliment Mortred's abilities well.
 * Slows and disables let her catch up to fleeing enemies. As such, Heroes like, or  are useful to have in a chase in that they might be able to help pin down their target for her.

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