Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 1%)Grimstroke
* Heavenly Grace dispels the stun from Ink Swell, and greatly reduces Soulbind's duration.
* Purification can turn the tables on enemies trying to get close to stun with Ink Swell.
Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who rely strongly on melee physical damage will fare badly against Omniknight's Guardian Angel: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Juggernaut,
Dragon Knight,
Lycan,
Ursa,
Troll Warlord
Additional:
* Purification easily catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in to attack.
* Guardian Angel renders Phantom Assassin useless, as she depends entirely on physical attacks.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Assassin
* Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter, and hex abilities all prevent 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.
Grimstroke
* Disruption instantly removes Phantom Embrace, and can potentially save allies affected by Soulbind.
* Demonic Purge dispels Ink Swell.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Grimstroke
* Nether Swap breaks one ally out of Soulbind, and can be used to redistribute the shared damage to Vengeful Spirit herself.
Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Morphling
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 13%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Phantom Assassin
* Morphling's naturally high armor thanks to his high agility makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to take him down with Coup de Grace.
* Phantom Assassin is vulnerable to magical damage, falling easily to Adaptive Strike + Ethereal Blade combo.
Additional:
* 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 Ethereal Blade and
Adaptive Strike combo.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Grimstroke
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
Phantom Assassin
* 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
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who rely on physical damage will suffer from Laser: Phantom Assassin,
Wraith King,
Huskar.
Additional:
* The blind from Laser can render Phantom Assassin useless if she is not protected by
Black King Bar.
* Tinker is a natural Scythe of Vyse carrier and can permanently disable Phantom Assassin, not giving her chance to activate
Black King Bar if she has it.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Razor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Additional:
* Static Link greatly lowers the damage output from Coup de Grace, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of scaling.
* Eye of the Storm strikes cannot be evaded by Blur.
Puck
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 18%)Phantom Assassin
* Puck relies mainly on magical burst damage, which Phantom Assassin is most vulnerable against.
* Phase Shift and
Illusory Orb disjoint Stifling Dagger, also allowing to kite Phantom Assassin.
* Dream Coil will stun Phantom Assassin if she uses Phantom Strike to blink away.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Despite her high mobility, Hex or Earth Spike can lock Phantom Assassin down and make her vulnerable.
* Although she has high evasion through Blur, Phantom Assassin has a rather low health pool, making her weak to Lion's magical burst.
Additional:
* Hex and
Earth Spike's fast cast animations easily catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in to attack.
* Finger of Death often ends Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in the early to mid game.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Phantom Assassin
* Skywrath's pitiful defences also make him easy meat to heroes with high physical burst like Juggernaut or
Phantom Assassin, the latter occasionally downing a support Skywrath in a single
Stifling Dagger.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Sharpshooter breaks 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.
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Retaliate deals damage to Phantom Assassin for every attack and Stifling Dagger thrown at Centaur.
* Blur cannot evade Double Edge.
Additional:
* Retaliate turns Phantom Assassin's attacks against herself, as he deals damage with every hit taken, and his big health pool makes sure that a lot of hits will be needed.
* If Centaur Warrunner gets the jump on Phantom Assassin first, she will be unable to activate Black King Bar and might be burst down with the help of his
Double Edge.
* Stampede can save an ally under attack by Phantom Assassin, offsetting the slow from Stifling Dagger. If he owns an
Aghanim's Scepter, he can prevent a low-health ally from being killed in one crit.
Mars
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike's extra attack speed causes Phantom Assassin to proc Counter Helix more often. Using it on Axe also makes Phantom Assassin an 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.
Additional:
* Jumping in with Phantom Strike makes Phantom Assassin an exceptionally easy target for Berserker's Call.
* The bonus attack speed from Phantom Strike also means that Phantom Assassin will proc Counter Helix numerous times.
* Black King Bar is generally useless against Axe's abilities and item build, as Black King Bar doesn't prevent Axe from finishing Phantom Assassin off with
Culling Blade. It also doesn't work against Berserker's Call and Counter Helix.
* Blade Mail is an item that Axe purchases every game, and it can be used to turn Phantom Assassin's critical strikes against herself. The situation becomes even worse if she's affected by Berserker's Call, as she has no way to stop attacking.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Grimstroke
* Spell Steal allows Rubick to claim Grimstroke's powerful abilities for his own, all of which are valuable.
* Arcane Supremacy increases the efficacy of stolen abilities.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Black King Bar is useless, since all of the Spectre's abilities go through spell immunity,
* Phantom Assassin's Blur cannot evade Desolate because its damage is a separate damage instance and is applied before the attack hits.
* Spectre's high durability provided by Dispersion and damage block items makes her one of the hardest carries to take down.
Additional:
* Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
* Desolate ignores the evasion from Blur.
* Black King Bar is useless against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
Slark
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Phantom Assassin
* Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with Phantom Strike.
* As a hero who always goes for the Silver Edge and
Abyssal Blade Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin and her
Blur and
Coup de Grace, drastically reducing her damage output and ability to evade attacks, and also preventing her from acting.
* Phantom Assassin's Coup de Grace requires Random Number Generation in order to proc, which gives Slark more than enough time to escape and recover himself.
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 14%)Phantom Assassin
* Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. Especially Pugna and any hero that is wielding
Ethereal Blade, such as
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin or
Morphling.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 17%)Phantom Assassin
* Any heroes with low mana pools will die quickly or even instantly to Sanity's Eclipse: Doom,
Phantom Assassin,
Troll Warlord.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. Especially Pugna and any hero that is wielding
Ethereal Blade, such as
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin or
Morphling.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. Especially Pugna and any hero that is wielding
Ethereal Blade, such as
Mirana,
Nyx Assassin or
Morphling.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Phantom Assassin etc.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain,
Phantom Assassin
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter, and hex abilities all prevent 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.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 11%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin,
Bloodseeker,
Lifestealer,
Troll Warlord
Additional:
* High armor thanks to Dragon Blood makes it difficult for Phantom Assassin to burst down Dragon Knight, as she deals 100% physical damage.
* Dragon Tail 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.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Gyrocopter
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Doom,
Disruptor with
Aghanim's Scepter, and hex abilities all prevent 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.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with low health or rely on evasion can easily be bursted down, like Phantom Assassin or
Terrorblade.
Additional:
* Light Strike Array catches Phantom Assassin when she jumps in.
* Laguna Blade kills Phantom Assassin's abysmal health before she can do anything in early to mid game and also pierces her spell immunity with an
Aghanim's Scepter.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful spammable abilities will prove problematic for Grimstroke as Ink Swell does not protect him from them: Zeus,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Lina
Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of spiderlings.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
* Aside from Spin Web, Incapacitating Bite can cripple her due to being reliant on physical attacks and critical strikes.
Additional:
* Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings.
* Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
* Incapacitating Bite cripples her due to reliant on physical attacks.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with area of effect abilities that increase in power based on the number of units struck: Legion Commander,
Grimstroke.
Additional:
* Stroke of Fate can deal heavy damage to Broodmother and her spiders, and with enough spiders it can kill her instantly.
* Phantom's Embrace provides vision on Broodmother when she's fleeing into the trees.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Additional:
* Whirling Axes (Melee) makes it hard to land a Coup de Grace.
* Troll Warlord often buys Silver Edge and Monkey King Bar, the items that greatly counters Phantom Assassin.
* 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.
Grimstroke
* Heroes who rely heavily on melee attacks and lack early spell immunity are easily blocked and interrupted by Ink Swell: Lycan,
Ursa,
Troll Warlord.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's burst damage.
* 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.
Additional:
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's damage output, crippling her damage with Coup de Grace.
* Brain Sap's deals high magical damage against Phantom Assassin in the early game. When upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter, it can pierce spell immunity.
* Fiend's Grip can disable Phantom Assassin, even through spell immunity.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Grimstroke
* Berserker's Blood can potentially out-heal the damage over time from Ink Swell and Phantom's Embrace.
* Life Break can break Soulbind if used correctly.
Phantom Assassin
* Carries that can out damage Huskar will do well against him: Legion Commander,
Faceless Void,
Troll Warlord,
Phantom Assassin.
Windranger
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Assassin's Blur will be useless if Windranger managed to get
Monkey King Bar or
Bloodthorn, and other than Stifling Dagger, Phantom Assassin has no abilities that can bypass Windrun.
* Focus Fire can still deal considerable damage despite Blur's evasion due to the increased attack speed.
Grimstroke
* Windranger heavily relies on her abilities for any form of tactical advantage and damage. A well timed silence will make her useless: Puck,
Silencer,
Death Prophet,
Skywrath Mage,
Drow Ranger,
Earth Spirit,
Grimstroke.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* Nethertoxin breaks Phantom Assassin's passive skills.
* Viper Strike goes through
Black King Bar.
Phantom Assassin
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack dependent heroes such as Viper,
Ursa or
Clinkz can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 1%)Phantom Assassin
* Blur allows Phantom Assassin to escape from Lone Druid and the spirit bear. Additionally, it provides evasion which effectively reduce the damage output from the Spirit Bear and reduce the chances to root her, forcing him to invest in
Monkey King Bar
* At late game, Phantom Assassin will out carry Lone Druid.
Grimstroke
* Grimstroke's Soulbind will always reliably connect onto both of them if they are close together.
Io
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Grimstroke
* Grimstroke can catch Io and his ally easily with SoulBind as Io has a tendency to tether himself with an ally frequently.
* Io is highly vulnerable to disables. Hence, Grimstroke's Phantom's Embrace is a great ability to hinder Io's potential.
Additional:
* Soulbind can target both Io and its Tethered ally, allowing Grimstroke and his team to target both with single target spells. Should Io try to
Relocate, Phantom's Embrace can stop its channel to prevent escape.
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin jump directly to Io.
* Coup de Grace makes short work of Io's low health and armor.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 14%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with mobility spells can quickly escape from Stroke of Fate or break out of Soulbind: Anti-Mage,
Queen of Pain,
Morphling,
Storm Spirit
Phantom Assassin
* Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical burst 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.
* Phantom Assassin has an abysmal mana pool and intelligence gain, making Mana Break and
Mana Void deal minimal damage.
Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace stops Anti-Mage from Blinking away.
* Soulbind stops Blink and lets allies cast abilities on the tethered target to avoid Counterspell. It cannot be reflected by Counterspell.
Lycan
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
Grimstroke
* Stroke of Fate deals more damage when it hits more targets which makes it very effective in dealing with Lycan and his units.
* Soulbind prevents lycan from running away and makes him very easy to deal with.
Phantom Assassin
* Blur is a real problem for Lycan, while she deals critical hits.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 13%)Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
Phantom Assassin
* Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore Windranger and
Phantom Assassin are poor choices to use it on.
* However, once the first hit landed, the bounces can no longer miss. Don't forget to manually aim for a target with no evasion !
Luna
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* All assassin-type carries in a one against one situation: Meepo,
Phantom Assassin,
Riki,
Ursa.
Grimstroke
* Hard-hitters who relies mostly on raw stats or good passive and therefore make a perfect target for Dark Portrait:
Naga Siren,
Faceless Void,
Terrorblade,
Luna,
Anti-Mage
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Grimstroke
* Heroes who are reliant on illusions or summons: Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren.
Phantom Assassin
* Cleave heroes will clear her illusions. Such heroes include Sven,
Magnus,
Dragon Knight in Elder Dragon Form,
Ember Spirit (via item),
Phantom Assassin (via talent or item), etc.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Assassin
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack dependent heroes such as Viper,
Ursa or
Clinkz can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Grimstroke
* Heroes who rely heavily on melee attacks and lack early spell immunity are easily blocked and interrupted by Ink Swell: Lycan,
Ursa,
Troll Warlord.
Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 41% pickrate: 4%)Grimstroke
* Soulbind pierces spell immunity and prevents Faceless Void from escaping with Time Walk.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Assassin
* 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 Sprout, provided she has vision.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace silences Viscous Nasal Goo and Quill Spray.
* Ink Swell stuns Bristleback and gets allies in position faster with increased movement speed to attack his front, countering his passive ability.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Grimstroke
* Soulbind ignores spell immunity, forcing Pangolier to roll in place during his ultimate as well as anchoring the other victim to his vicinity.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
* 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.
Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace can silence Crystal Maiden and disrupt Freezing Field's channeling. Her slow movement speed and fragile nature will also make her an easy target for Stroke of Fate and Ink Swell.
Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Grimstroke
* Phantom's Embrace and Soulbind prevent Weaver from using Shukuchi or
Time Lapse to escape.
* Ink Swell discourages Weaver from moving through and damaging allies with Shukuchi.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with teleports to escape Will-O-Wisp: Phantom Assassin,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Storm Spirit
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 18%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Phantom Assassin if they are not careful. Look for Luna,
Venomancer and
Shadow Fiend and try to catch them off guard.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes who lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Phantom Assassin if they are not careful. Look for Luna,
Venomancer and
Shadow Fiend and try to catch them off guard.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with high burst damage and Black King Bar can take down Dark Willow quickly:
Phantom Assassin,
Sven,
Wraith King
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Phantom Assassin
* 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
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to jump on his clones.
* Meepo's low health pool can burst down by Coup de Grace critical strike.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Assassin
* Terrorblade is one of the strongest carries in the late game, due to his resilience against physical damage, which can be a problem for almost every strong burst physical damage carries, such as Phantom Assassin and
Templar Assassin.
Grimstroke
* Terrorblade's lack of escape mechanisms makes it hard for him to escape both Ink Swell and Stroke of Fate.
* Phantom's Embrace's silence will also prevent him from casting Sunder to save himself.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with no AoE abilities will struggle against Phantom Lancer: Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Broodmother
Grimstroke
* Stroke of Fate clears Phantom Lancer's illusion easily as it deals bonus damage to more targets.
* Ink Swell can be used on an allied hero or Grimstoke himself to stun Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Phantom's Embrace and
Soulbind have an undispellable debuff that can be used to mark the real Phantom Lancer.
Additional:
* Stroke of Fate's damage increases the more units are hit by it, making it effective against Phantom Lancer's army of illusions.
* Phantom's Embrace and Ink Swell's stun can prevent Phantom Lancer from escaping with Doppelganger if properly timed.
* If he has already used Doppelganger, Soulbind can tie Phantom Lancer to one of his own illusions to keep him in place, or to ensure a kill if Grimstroke's team is unsure which one is the real hero.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos,
Nyx Assassin,
Gyrocopter.
Grimstroke
* Ghost Shroud amplifies damage taken from all of Grimstroke's abilities. Necrophos is particularly vulnerable to Ink Swell and Phantom's Embrace while in Ghost Shroud.
* Death Pulse works against Necrophos in lane by keeping his creeps alive and add damage to Stroke of Fate.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Melee carries will have a hard time against Tiny's Craggy Exterior: Phantom Assassin,
Chaos Knight,
Juggernaut.
Phantom Assassin
* Due to Tiny's non-existent agility gain, high physical damage heroes are more effective against him (Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Templar Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King etc).
Pudge
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 19%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Grimstroke
* Sniper's position in the far back line makes him unlikely to be hit by any of Grimstroke's abilities during teamfights.
* Sniper is relatively unaffected by the silence from Phantom's Embrace.
* Sniper's long range and fast projectile speed allows him quickly to destroy any Phantoms attacking his allies.
Phantom Assassin
* Phantom Strike allows her to jump on Sniper with increased attack speed.
* Coup de Grace and
Desolator shreds Sniper's low health and armor.
* Blur can be activated to get within Phantom Strike's range, surprising Sniper before he has a chance to react. Its passive also reduces Sniper's overall effectiveness against Phantom Assassin, provided he hasn't purchased a
Monkey King Bar.
Additional:
* Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Grimstroke
* Arcane Curse punishes Grimstroke for spamming Stroke of Fate.
* Global Silence takes Grimstroke out of team fights entirely.
Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Additional:
* 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 magic burst.
* Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
Grimstroke
* Timbersaw relies heavily on his abilities so Phantom's Embrace's silence makes it more difficult for him.
* Timbersaw cannot use Return Chakram or attack the phantom during Phantom's Embrace, forcing him to take full damage and refreshes Phantom's Embrace's cooldown.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)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: Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight.
Grimstroke
* Heroes who are reliant on illusions or summons: Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Grimstroke
* Cloak and Dagger's passive invisibility destroys Phantom's Embrace even when Riki is silenced.
* Smoke Screen prevents Grimstroke from shielding himself with Ink Swell.
Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Assassin
* 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.
Phantom Assassin
* Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack dependent heroes such as Viper,
Ursa or
Clinkz can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Assassin
* Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin quite useless in teamfights throughout the game: Enigma,
Vengeful Spirit,
Doom,
Bane,
Beastmaster,
Pudge.
Grimstroke
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
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.
About
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 winrate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
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:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assasin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (dotabuff most played)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal winrate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest winrate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
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Phantom Assassin
* 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).
Fire Spirits applies a severe attack speed slow, severely hindering Phantom Assassin's damage output. While Phantom Strike may be able to slightly remedy the problem, Phoenix' magical and pure damage output completely ignore Blur's evasion, resulting in severe damage to her low health pool.
Additional:
*
Grimstroke
*
Icarus Dive helps Phoenix escape the slow from Stroke of Fate's and Soulbind.
Supernova protects Phoenix from spell damage during Soulbind.
*