Puck
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 18%)Tidehunter
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* Kraken Shell and
Anchor Smash makes it very difficult for Phantom Lancer's illusions to damage to Tidehunter.
* Ravage will stun the real Phantom Lancer while clearing most of his illusions.
* Anchor Smash reduces base damage, which is the majority of Phantom Lancer's auto-attack damage.
* An Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Gush slows down and reduces all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Additional:
* A dozen of Phantom Lancer's illusions with all their might can barely hurt Tidehunter at all thanks to Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash. The only way Phantom Lancer can hurt Tidehunter is through the mana burn provided by Diffusal Blade.
* Even with high chasing power from Spirit Lance and
Phantom Rush (and even
Diffusal Blade), Tide Hunter can shrug it all off with Kraken Shell and escape by using a
Town Portal Scroll or just moving away.
* The AoE nukes from Ravage, Anchor Smash, and an Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded Gush can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions easily.
Chaos Knight
* Ravage damages and disables Chaos Knight's army.
* Anchor Smash deals respectable area damage at early levels and lowers Chaos Knight's damage.
* Kraken Shell dispels Chaos Bolt and Reality Rift while providing protection from damage.
Jakiro
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Phantom Lancer
* Dual Breath slows down Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
* Liquid Fire will not only deal AoE damage but also lowers Phantom Lancer's attack speed.
* An Ice Path and
Macropyre combo can easily clear all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Additional:
* Jakiro's spells inflict AoE damage, meaning he can take down Phantom Lancer's illusion army very quickly.
Chaos Knight
* With his AoE damage, Jakiro can easily kill Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions.
* Chaos Knight usually doesn't buy a Black King Bar, making him vulnerable to an Ice Path into Macropyre combination.
Additional:
* Ice Path and
Macropyre punish Reality Rift with a long stun and heavy damage across all illusions.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer's many illusions increase Echo Slam's damage.
Additional:
* Echo Slam deals tremendous damage when multiplied by Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Chaos Knight
* Echo Slam's damage potential increases due to Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions.
Additional:
* Echo Slam will deal a colossal amount of damage to your army, as will
Fissure at lower levels.
* The area stuns from Aftershock will always slow down your illusions, since they can't have spell immunity.
Dragon Knight
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Chaos Knight
* Dragon Blood's armor bonus greatly reduces the damage dealt by Phantasm.
* Breathe Fire and
Elder Dragon Form's splash damage quickly destroy illusions and reduces their damage output.
Phantom Lancer
* Breathe Fire and
Elder Dragon Form's splash damage takes out Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly.
* If Dragon Knight can Dragon Tail the real Phantom Lancer, he and his team can quickly kill him before he has a chance to escape.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Lancer
* All Timbersaw's abilities are AOE pure damage and can easily deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions
* Reactive Armor highly negates Phantom Lancer's physical damage, making him having a hard time killing Timbersaw.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's lack of burst damage and constant attacks will increase Reactive Armor to max level immediately. Coupled with Timber Chain making escaping from crowds easy, it is almost impossible for Timbersaw to be killed by Phantom Lancer.
* Whirling Death and Chakram can instantly destroy large groups of illusions, negating Phantom Lancer's advantage.Although Phantom Lancer usually builds diffusal blade.It is a problem in late game.
Chaos Knight
* Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw to endure the damage from Chaos Bolt and
Reality Rift combo.
* Timbersaw's large amount of pure damage AoE nukes clears Chaos Knight's illusions quickly, drastically reducing his damage.
Additional:
* Strong area damage, particularly from Whirling Death and
Chakram, lets Timbersaw clear out illusions quickly.
* Whirling Death directly reduces Strength from both Chaos Knight and his Phantasm illusions, reducing both the damage output and raw health that the hero relies on.
* Reactive Armor quickly builds stacks against Phantasm illusions, making Timbersaw hard to kill.
* Timber Chain allows Timbersaw to escape while surrounded.
Gyrocopter
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Lancer
* Flak Cannon and
Call Down destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions very quickly.
Additional:
* Flak Cannon destroys Phantom Lancer's illusions very quickly.
Chaos Knight
* Flak Cannon destroys Chaos Knight's illusions very quickly.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* Berserker's Call helps locks down Phantom Lancer in a group of illusions.
* Counter Helix combined with
Blade Mail clears Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly.
* Phantom Lancer's low health in the early game makes him a frequent target for Culling Blade.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call catches Phantom Lancer when he is hidden among his illusions.
* Counter Helix quickly destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army. The more illusions there are, the more often Counter Helix is triggered.
* Phantom Lancer's low early game health makes him an easy target for Culling Blade.
Chaos Knight
* Berserker's Call and Counter Helix makes short work of Chaos Knight's Phantasms.
Additional:
* Berserker's Call allows Axe to lock down Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* Counter Helix combined with
Blade Mail clears illusions out in no time.
Bristleback
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Chaos Knight
* Quill Spray quickly destroys Chaos Knight's Phantasms.
Phantom Lancer
* Bristleback's tankiness and damage reduction from the rear makes him very hard for Phantom Lancer to chase and finish off, due to his lack of burst damage.
* Quill Spray destroys Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Bristleback's passive costs no mana, meaning that it will continue to trigger even if Phantom Lancer drains Bristleback's mana with
Diffusal Blade.
Additional:
* Quill Spray cleans up Phantom Lancer's illusions in no time.
* Phantom Lancer's complete lack of burst damage makes it nearly impossible for him to kill Bristleback during chases.
Ember Spirit
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 9%)Chaos Knight
* Ember Spirit is evasive and can dodge close encounters with melee heroes like Chaos Knight. Ember Spirit can't be caught with the slow from Reality Rift, and Flame Guard and Sleight of Fist can bring
Phantasm's illusions down quickly.
Phantom Lancer
* Sleight of Fist, allows Ember Spirit to destroy all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Flame Guard also deals significant damage to illusions, and protects against Spirit Lance.
* Phantom Rush is unable to catch Ember Spirit when he teleports to his Fire Remnants.
Additional:
* Sleight of Fist is the natural counter to Phantom Lancer's army of illusions, especially when combined with Battle Fury.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Lancer
* Empower helps Magnus' allies clear out illusions.
* Reverse Polarity and
Skewer will pull Phantom Lancer along with his illusions, and reposition them together for easy nuking.
Chaos Knight
* Using Reality Rift sets up a Reverse Polarity on Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* Shockwave and
Skewer kill Phantasm's illusions quickly, as can
Empower cast on a melee carry.
Additional:
* All Magnus abilities are very good against Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 4%)Chaos Knight
* Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Chaos Knight's Phantasm army all through the game.
Phantom Lancer
* Tidebringer, Torrent and Ghostship destroys Phantom Lancer's illusion army.
* Phantom Lancer can't escape with
Doppelganger under your X Marks the Spot, but can use it to dodge it.
Additional:
* Tidebringer and Kunkka's AoE abilities in general are effective in clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Sven
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 43% pickrate: 1%)Chaos Knight
* Great Cleave is very effective against Chaos Knight's illusions.
* Storm Hammer's radius can catch all of Chaos Knight's illusions at once, especially after Reality Rift.
* Warcry shields Sven and his teammates against Chaos Knight's burst physical damage.
Additional:
* Sven's shorter cast time allows him to use Storm Hammer on Chaos Knight and his illusions before he can cast Chaos Bolt.
* Warcry's armor bonus counteracts Reality Rift's slow and reduces Chaos Knight's damage output.
* Great Cleave and
God's Strength devastates Phantasm illusions.
Phantom Lancer
* Great Cleave and God's Strength cuts through Phantom Lancer's illusions in no time.
* Storm Hammer's AoE stun will hit Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
Additional:
* Great Cleave and
God's Strength destroys illusions in just a few hits.
* Storm Hammer's AoE stun will hit Phantom Lancer when he's grouped up with illusions.
* Sven's low mana causes him to take less damage from Diffusal Blade. This is further reduced by the armor bonus from
Warcry.
Sand King
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Chaos Knight
* Because of his massive AoE damage, Sand King is very effective against illusion heroes: Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,...
Additional:
* Sand King's massive area damage output, particularly Epicenter, allows him to quickly take down Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* He can apply Caustic Finale to illusions with attacks for extra damage.
Phantom Lancer
* All of Sand King's abilities deal AoE damage.
* Epicenter will usually eliminate all illusions in one cast. Phantom Lancer lacks any disables to stop the channelling.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Chaos Knight
* Cold Embrace protects targets of Reality Rift.
* Winter's Curse turns Phantasm illusions against Chaos Knight or a teammate.
* Splinter Blast deals decent area damage to Phantasm illusions.
* Arctic Burn's percentage-based damage quickly wears down Chaos Knight's health.
Additional:
* Winter Wyvern can make Chaos Knight's illusions attack the real one, provided the player knows who it is.
* Alternatively, Winter's Curse can make Chaos Knight and all his illusions attack one of his allies.
* Cold Embrace protects ally who is focused by Chaos Knight.
* Splinter Blast deals decent area damage to Chaos Knight's illusions.
Phantom Lancer
* Broodmother,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer by their nature offer very good target for Splinter Blast and Winter's Curse.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* 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.
Chaos Knight
* Illusion-based heroes such as Naga Siren or
Chaos Knight are vulnerable to Phoenix's DPS and attack speed slow, as their illusions, no matter how many, will be unable to deal enough damage to actually be a threat, and they will all be completely useless against the Supernova.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* Pangolier's AoE abilities especially Shield Crash, is very effective against Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Additional:
* Pangolier's skill has considerable damage and area of effect, allows him to quickly destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Pangolier's high mobility allows him to easily escape from Phantom Lancer, through both Phantom Rush and Diffusal Blade.
* Phantom Rush will cause Phantom Lancer to be stunned by Rolling Thunder, or set himself up for a Shield Crash.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes who are illusion based, or even heroes who frequently build Manta Style can be cleared quickly by Pangolier's high damage, or lose their damage ouput because of Lucky Shot: Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren
Centaur Warrunner
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Lancer
* Hoof Stomp and
Double Edge makes short work of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Retaliate together with
Blade Mail reflects Phanton Lancer's damage.
Additional:
* His illusions will kill themselves in a few hits because of Retaliate. The nukes from Hoof Stomp and Double-Edge should be enough to clear them for a large portion of the game
* Centaur Warrunner's small mana pool makes Diffusal Blade's damage much lower once Centaur doesn't have any more mana left to burn. Keep in mind that Double Edge does not cost mana.
* Be wary when chasing down Phantom Lancer. Hoof Stomp's terrible cast time makes it quite easy to dodge with Doppelganger.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes who are reliant on illusions: Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer,
Naga Siren.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Phantom Lancer
* Overwhelming Odds deals high damage to Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Duel's long duration prevents Phantom Lancer from using Doppelganger.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes who rely on illusions will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade,
Naga Siren
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 12%)Phantom Lancer
* 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.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes who are reliant on illusions or summons: Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren.
Snapfire
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Lancer
* Snapfire's AoE abilities in general are effective in clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes reliant on illusions or summons: Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 1%)Chaos Knight
* Illusion-based and multi-unit heroes can take advantage of Chaos Knight's lack of area damage: Naga Siren,
Phantom Lancer,
Meepo,
Broodmother
Phantom Lancer
* Poof from multiple Meepos will destroy illusions quickly.
* Earthbind's area root can catch Phantom Lancer in a group of illusions and prevent him from using Doppelganger for a long time.
Additional:
* Poof will destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions within a short time.
* Earthbind prevents Phantom Lancer from using Doppelganger.
Dark Seer
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Chaos Knight
* Heroes that rely on illusions will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Meepo.
* Heroes that rely on illusions typically spawn very strong illusions inside your Wall of Replica that you should use against them or their team.
Phantom Lancer
* Heroes that rely on illusions will suffer against Ion Shell, which kills them very quickly: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Meepo.
* Heroes that rely on illusions typically spawn very strong illusions inside your Wall of Replica that you should use against them or their team.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Chaos Knight
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
* Mana Drain and Hex instantly kill any illusions. Finger of Death upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter also shreds most illusions.
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
Additional:
* Mana Drain is a real problem to Chaos Knight early game, considering his already low mana pool.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Finger of Death is an AoE ability, which can deal a tremendous amount of damage to his illusions.
Phantom Lancer
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
* Mana Drain and Hex instantly kill any illusions. Finger of Death upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter also shreds most illusions.
* One of Lion's level 20 talents lets Mana Drain affect 2 secondary targets. This can make things difficult for heroes like Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight, and
Terrorblade who rely on illusion armies.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 6%)Chaos Knight
* The area of effect damage from Midnight Pulse and Black Hole help deal with Chaos Knight's illusions.
Additional:
* Black Hole usually catches Chaos Knight with all his illusions.
* Midnight Pulse deals damage based on max health, quickly killing Phantasm illusions.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Chaos Knight
* Abaddon could punish Chaos Knight for using Phantasm and Reality Rift combo on him with his Aphotic Shield. Additionally, it provides extra protection against Chaos Knight's potential to take Abaddon down quickly.
* Furthermore, Abaddon's Borrowed Time makes it utterly impossible to burst Abaddon down.
Elder Titan
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 1%)Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer's lack of disables makes it hard for him to stop Echo Stomp's channelling.
* However, due to the long cast time of his abilities, a good Phantom Lancer can use Manta Style and/or
Doppelganger to dodge the abilities.
* Phantom Lancer's high agility and relatively low strength make him very vulnerable to Natural Order.
* Additionally, Echo Stomp and Earth Splitter can clear his wave of illusions.
* Should Phantom Lancer tries to increase his health by investing for Heart of Tarrasque, Earth Splitter does more damage to him and his illusions.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Phantom Lancer
* Monkey King's
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's
Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences him.
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Chaos Knight
* Wukong's Command and
Boundless Strike combo can easily cause havoc on Chaos Knight by destroying all of his powerful illusions.
* Chaos Knight without Phantasm cannot deal with Jingu Mastery at all.
Phantom Lancer
* Heroes that can destroy trees will deny Monkey King spots to jump on, or cause him to fall: Windranger,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer
Void Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 12%)Phantom Lancer
* Astral Step and
Dissimilate makes a quick work of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Resonant Pulse helps clear illusions and protects Void Spirit from Phantom Lancer's physical damage and with the
Aghanim's Scepter upgrade, it prevents Phantom Lancer from casting his abilities.
* Void's Spirit mobility makes it hard for him to chase down with Phantom Rush.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 1%)Chaos Knight
* Phantasms can be easily killed with Purification.
* Heavenly Grace dispels the stun from Chaos Bolt and the armor reduction from
Reality Rift.
* Guardian Angel works well against Chaos Knight's overwhelming reliance on physical burst damage.
Additional:
* Purification heals a teammate targeted by Reality Rift and heavily damages Chaos Knight and his illusions in the process.
* Guardian Angel blocks all of Chaos Knight's damage for a duration.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Lancer
* Acorn Shot combined with attack modifiers such as
Maelstrom or
Daedalus makes a quick work of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Bushwhack will stun Phantom Lancer and his illusions if they're near a tree.
Additional:
* Bushwhack will stun and make a quick work of Phantom Lancer and his illusion when he's near a tree.
* Sharpshooter breaks Juxtapose and deals hefty damage.
Lich
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 11%)Chaos Knight
* Chain Frost can eliminate Chaos Knight's Phantasm army, especially after he clumped up using
Reality Rift.
* Frost Shield will heavily reduce his army's effectiveness.
Additional:
* Lich's Chain Frost, especially after obtaining its respective talent that provides unlimited bounces, can take out all of Chaos Knight's illusions quickly.
* An Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded
Sinister Gaze can hypnotize Chaos Knight and his illusions while also draining his already low mana pool.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Lancer
* Leshrac's AoE abilities destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Diabolic Edict and
Pulse Nova require no targeting, thus hitting Phantom Lancer whenever he's nearby.
Additional:
* Leshrac can easily clear Phantom Lancer's illusions with his huge area of effect damage.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 11%)Phantom Lancer
* Ball Lightning with or without the Static Remnant talent allows Storm Spirit to destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions quickly. It is also easy to dodge Spirit Lance with Ball Lightning and makes Spirit Storm very hard to catch even with
Phantom Rush.
Additional:
* Ball Lightning destroys illusions, avoids Spirit Lance, and makes Storm Spirit very hard to catch, even with Phantom Rush.
Brewmaster
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Chaos Knight
* Storm's Dispel Magic combined with Thunder Clap deals high damage against Chaos Knight's illusions even in the late game.
* Chaos Knight's reliance on physical damage is easily hindered by Drunken Brawler.
* Chaos Knight's lack of area effect and mobility makes him easily overwhelmed by Primal Split.
Additional:
* Dispel Magic from {U:Storm} can instantly kill the Phantasm army early game and can still deal a lot of damage to them late game, revealing the real Chaos Knight.
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 13%)Chaos Knight
* Maledict cannot be dispelled by Phantasm, and can be used to tag the real Chaos Knight hiding within his illusions.
* If Witch Doctor has an Aghanim's Scepter,
Death Ward will bounce between Chaos Knight's illusions, destroying them quickly.
* However, Death Ward is easily interrupted by Chaos Bolt until Witch Doctor buys
Glimmer Cape or
Black King Bar.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes that require burst damage to kill will be difficult for Phantom Lancer to take down: Timbersaw,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Alchemist and
Underlord
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 17%)Chaos Knight
* Illusion based heroes (like Chaos Knight and
Terrorblade) can't use their illusion beneficially against Sanity's Eclipse's high AoE burst damage.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 4%)Chaos Knight
* Decrepify turns the target ethereal, protecting them from Chaos Knight's and his illusions' attacks.
* Life Drain instantly destroys illusions. It can effectively negate Phantasm when upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Nether Blast quickly clears out illusions and can harass Chaos Knight in lane.
Phantom Lancer
* Since Life drain takes out illusions instantly, Pugna with a scepter is decent versus plenty of illusion heroes, most notably Naga Siren and
Terrorblade and the aforementioned
Chaos Knight.
Phantom Lancer is an exception.
Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer creates way too many illusion for Pugna's Life Drain to destroy, overwhelming him easily.
Additional:
* Though Life Drain instantly destroys illusions, Phantom Lancer creates way too many for Pugna to handle.
* A good Phantom Lancer will also dodge your Nether Blast with Doppelganger.
* Phantom Lancer is the most natural Diffusal Blade carrier to burn Pugna's very large pool of mana away and deal a large amount of damage in the process.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 8%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes that require burst damage to kill will be difficult for Phantom Lancer to take down: Timbersaw,
Axe,
Bristleback,
Alchemist and
Underlord
Additional:
* Firestorm is very useful for clearing multiple illusions swiftly.
* Pit of Malice will continuously disrupt many illusions, drastically reducing their damage and potency.
* Athropy Aura reduces damage of both Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 2%)Chaos Knight
* Illusion-based and multi-unit heroes can take advantage of Chaos Knight's lack of area damage: Naga Siren,
Phantom Lancer,
Meepo,
Broodmother
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Phantom Lancer
* Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki,
Broodmother,
Phantom Lancer
Windranger
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Chaos Knight
* Heroes who rely on illusions can be tagged by Focus Fire: Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade.
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 14%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes the make heavy use of illusions, like Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer, or
Spectre can suffer from Crystal Maiden, as Freezing Field can quickly kill off the entire horde if not stopped.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes the make heavy use of illusions, like Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer, or
Spectre can suffer from Crystal Maiden, as Freezing Field can quickly kill off the entire horde if not stopped.
Chaos Knight
* Innately fragile heroes will die almost instantly to Reality Rift while Chaos Knight has illusions active: Drow Ranger,
Bane,
Necrophos,
Crystal Maiden.
Mars
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Tiny
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 6%)Chaos Knight
* Melee carries will have a hard time against Tiny's Craggy Exterior: Phantom Assassin,
Chaos Knight,
Juggernaut.
Slark
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Phantom Lancer
* Slark has no sustained AoE to fight off Phantom Lancer's illusions as they continually spawn.
* Spirit Lance can give vision of Slark by spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from Shadow Dance.
* Phantom Rush helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark if he tries to escape with Pounce.
Additional:
* Slark has no sustained AoE to deal with Phantom Lancer's many illusions.
* Doppelganger lets Phantom Lancer dodge Dark Pact and Pounce, and partially wastes the duration of Shadow Dance.
* Spirit Lance can give vision of Slark via spawning an illusion, making it harder for him to juke and gain the passive bonus from Shadow Dance.
* Phantom Rush helps Phantom Lancer chase down Slark when he jumps away with Pounce.
Chaos Knight
* Dark Pact is minimally effective against Phantasm illusions, and Slark lacks area damage otherwise.
* Pounce can be counteracted by Reality Rift.
* Slark is naturally frail and dies quickly to Chaos Knight's burst damage before he can build Essence Shift stacks.
* Be aware, however, that Shadow Dance can make Slark hard to kill as he can't be targeted during its duration.
Additional:
* Phantasms have enough health to survive Dark Pact, and Slark has no other source of AoE damage to deal with them.
Rubick
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 17%)Chaos Knight
* While Chaos Knight can land far away from Rubick due to Telekinesis, it can be counteracted by Reality Rift.
* Phantasm dispels Fade Bolt's damage reduction debuff.
* Rubick is fragile and can easily be killed by Chaos Knight and Phantasm's illusions, before he retaliates.
Phantom Lancer
* Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge and dispel Fade Bolt's damage reduction debuff.
* Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge the stun from an incoming Telekenesis when he is not the primary target.
* Phantom Lancer is a common Diffusal Blade carrier leaving Rubick no mana to spam abilities from Spell Steal.
Viper
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Lancer
* Although Viper Strike cannot be dispelled by Doppelganger, Viper's lack of mobility and AoE damage makes him an easy target for Phantom Lancer.
* Viper's various slows do not work against Phantom Rush.
* Although Phantom Lancer should be wary due to Nethertoxin applying a break.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer can overwhelm Viper with spawned illusions from Spirit Lance and
Doppelganger.
* Viper's various slows do not work against Phantom Rush. Additionally, it is almost impossible to keep Lancer inside Nethertoxin's radius in order to disable the passive.
Chaos Knight
* Viper has no response to the standard initiation combo of Reality Rift into
Chaos Bolt.
* Phantasm can eliminate Viper almost instantly with its damage output.
Additional:
* As Viper focuses on single-target damage, he has trouble fighting off Phantasm illusions.
* Reality Rift counteracts Viper's slows and reduces his durability.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Chaos Knight
* Casting Phantasm before a fight minimizes the disruption from Global Silence.
* Because Chaos Knight generally relies on attack damage, Silencer's spells won't be as effective against him.
Phantom Lancer
* Due to Phantom Rush and
Juxtapose being passives and not affected by silence, a Phantom Lancer with a
Diffusal Blade can easily kill Silencer.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 1%)Phantom Lancer
* Lone Druid and his Spirit Bear lack mobility, and are easy overwhelmed after being slowed by Diffusal Blade.
Chaos Knight
* Reality Rift lets Chaos Knight bypass the Spirit Bear and jump onto Lone Druid.
* The Spirit Bear's lack of scaling means it dies quickly to Chaos Knight during the late-game.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Chaos Knight
* Chaos Knight's Level 20 Talent: Reality Rift Pierces Spell Immunity allows for quick bursting down of Lifestealer during his Rage.
* Phantasm dispels Open Wounds.
* Lifestealer has no way of dealing with Chaos Knight's illusions.
Phantom Lancer
* Aside from his ultimate, Lifestealer has no AoE abilities to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions, nor does he have the mobility to escape Phantom Rush.
* Doppelganger dispels Open Wounds.
Additional:
* Doppelganger dispels Open Wounds.
* Lifestealer has no way of dealing with Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Phantom Lancer also commonly builds Diffusal Blade, which poses a large problem to Lifestealer and his low mana pool.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Chaos Knight
* Reality Rift will disable Drow Ranger's Marksmanship, along with
Chaos Bolt he can keep her locked for enough time to be killed.
* Phantasm's illusions are hard for Drow Ranger to deal with as she lacks of AoE damage.
Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Rush lets Phantom Lancer get close quickly and disable Marksmanship.
* Juxtapose's illusions are hard for Drow Ranger to deal with as she has no AoE damage naturally.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 15%)Phantom Lancer
* Ogre Magi has no AoE damage or disables and has nothing to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Doppelganger disjoints and dispels Ignite.
Chaos Knight
* Phantasm dispels Ignite and makes targeting the real Chaos Knight much harder.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 18%)Phantom Lancer
* Diffusal Blade lets Phantom Lancer drain Wraith King's mana, preventing
Reincarnation from triggering until he buys an aghanim shard.
Additional:
* Doppelganger disjoints Wraithfire Blast.
* Wraith King is not good at handling illusion-based heroes, as his only disable is single-target.
* Phantom Lancer tends to get Diffusal Blade, leaving Wraith King no mana to reincarnate.
Chaos Knight
* Wraith King has no form of AoE to clear Chaos Knight's illusions from Phantasm.
* Wraith King is very vulnerable if he reincarnates in the middle of his illusions.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Chaos Knight
* Reality Rift pulls out Night Stalker while he tries to escape or chase.
* Night Stalker doesn't have a lot of ways to deal with multiple targets, which makes him vulnerable to Phantasm illusions from early to mid game, until Night Stalker buys
Aghanim's Scepter.
Phantom Lancer
* Void's slow is dispelled by Doppelganger or counteracted by
Phantom Rush.
* Spirit Lance's and
Diffusal Blade's slow reduces Night Stalker's mobility and helps him or his ally escape if they're inflicted by Void or Crippling Fear.
* Night Stalker has no AoE abilites to take out Phantom Lancer's illusions. Even if Night Stalker gets an Aghanim's Scepter, there will be way too many illusions for Night Stalker to handle.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Chaos Knight
* Chaos Knight can dispel Flux with Phantasm.
* Chaos Knight can use Reality Rift to pull Arc Warden out of Magnetic Field.
* Once Chaos Knight jumps on Arc Warden with Reality Rift, Arc Warden struggles to escape due to low mobility.
Phantom Lancer
* Flux is paused if even one illusion remains near Phantom Lancer. It can also be dispelled with Doppelganger.
* Phantom Lancer can also easily dodge an activated Spark Wraith, or use his illusions to trigger it safely.
* Phantom Rush allows Lancer to quickly get inside of Arc Warden's Magnetic Field.
* Phantom Lancer and his clones are able to quickly drain Arc Warden of his mana with a Diffusal Blade. This means Warden's
Tempest Double will also be summoned without mana.
Additional:
* Doppelganger dispels Flux.
* Phantom Rush closes the distance between Phantom Lancer and Arc Warden.
* Juxtapose overwhelms Arc Warden and nullifies his kit which is only effective against isolated opponents.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 9%)Chaos Knight
* Phantasm dispels Track, and the illusions make it difficult to Track the real Chaos Knight.
* Bounty Hunter is fragile and can easily be killed by Chaos Knight and Phantasm's illusions.
Phantom Lancer
* Doppelganger dispels Track.
* Bounty Hunter also has no area of effect abilities to help with the illusions.
Pudge
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 19%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with many summons or illusions are much harder to catch with Meat Hook: Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Chen.
Chaos Knight
* Phantasm's illusions make it difficult to land Meat Hook and
Dismember.
* Chaos Bolt is a comparatively low cooldown tool to interrupt Dismember.
* Chaos Strike's lifesteal offsets Rot's damage.
Vengeful Spirit
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Chaos Knight
* Heroes who relies on illusions and summons (Beastmaster,
Chaos Knight, etc.).
Phantom Lancer
* Vengeful Spirit has no strong AoE nuke or disable against Phantom Lancer's Illusions.
* Phantom Lancer is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier, which reduces Vengeful Spirit's low mana pool very quickly, leaving her defenseless.
* Doppelganger can dodge Vengeful Spirit's abilites.
* Phantom Rush with his illusions can chase Vengeful Spirit efficiently.
Techies
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Chaos Knight
* Phantasm's illusions can be used to push towers and force Techies to detonate Remote Mines.
* Phantasm's illusions can be used to sweep Proximity Mines and
Stasis Traps.
* Chaos Knight can easily kill a lone Techies before they Blast Off!.
Phantom Lancer
* Illusions can be sent out to destroy Techies' mines.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* Doppelganger lets Phantom Lancer instantly escape from Kinetic Field.
* Doppelganger is one of the most reliable ways to dodge Glimpse, other than spell immunity.
* Doppelganger dispels Thunder Strike.
Additional:
* Doppelganger is a very reliable tool against Glimpse, enabling him to dodge it consistently.
* Doppelganger also allows Phantom Lancer to escape from Kinetic Field so long as there isn't a Static Storm on top of him.
Chaos Knight
* Chaos Knight with
Phantasm
* 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
Additional:
* Phantasm removes Glimpse and dispels
Thunder Strike. Additionally, the Phantasm illusions make it difficult to use Glimpse and Thunder Strike on the real Chaos Knight.
* Disruptor's lack of mobility, combined with his lack of innate defense, sets him up for a Reality Rift and a beatdown by Chaos Knight and his illusions.
Undying
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer's many illusions will easily destroy Tombstone, provided he has sufficient farm.
Chaos Knight
* Chaos Knight's multiple illusions from
Phantasm can destroy Undying, as Soul Rip can't offset the damage from the high amount of damage from his illusions.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer creates many illusions to tank Luna's Eclipse.
* Doppelganger can be used to dodge a number of Lucent Beams during Eclipse.
* Phantom Lancer can chase Luna effectively regardless of her high movement speed thanks to Phantom Rush and
Spirit Lance.
* Although her Moon Glaives kill his illusions quickly, Luna's low health pool is easily exploited by the sheer damage output from his illusions.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes that create illusions (such as Spectre,
Shadow Demon,
Phantom Lancer,
Naga Siren,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as
Nature's Prophet,
Lone Druid,
Chen,
Enchantress and the aforementioned
Meepo and
Arc Warden) can cause Eclipse to strike the illusions/summons unintentionally. (However, in many cases Moon Glaives can resolve this issue and eliminate them before activating Eclipse).
Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Lancer
* Battery Assault's damage is dispersed against Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Phantom Lancer can blink out of Power Cogs with Doppelganger.
* When chasing, a Phantom Lancer can close in with Phantom Rush and burn down Clockwerk's mana with
Diffusal Blade, rendering him helpless before he has a chance to erect a defensive Power Cogs.
Additional:
* Doppelganger lets Phantom Lancer jump in and out of Power Cogs.
* Clockwerk's low mobility makes him an easy target for Phantom Lancer to rush on, and overwhelm with clones.
Chaos Knight
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active: Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Chaos Knight
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Pugna
Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
Visage
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 1%)Chaos Knight
* Heroes that can overwhelm Visage by sheer number like Chaos Knight,
Meepo,
Terrorblade and
Phantom Lancer.
Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer's illusions will quickly destroy multiple layers of Gravekeeper's Cloak.
* Visage has no mobility mechanisms, making him a prime target for Phantom Rush.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 18%)Chaos Knight
* While Blade Fury is on cooldown, Juggernaut can easily killed by a standard Chaos Bolt &
Reality Rift combo.
* Phantasm illusions can tank Omnislash.
Phantom Lancer
* Illusion-based heroes are effective against Omnislash and Juggernaut's single-targeted damage: Naga Siren,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade,
Phantom Lancer.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 15%)Chaos Knight
* 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.
Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with no AoE abilities will struggle against Phantom Lancer: Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Broodmother
Chen
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 0%)Phantom Lancer
* Illusion and heroes with summons are difficult to kill with Chen's single-target offensive spells: Terrorblade,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren,
Lycan,
Visage. However, Chen can convert enemy summons with Holy Persuasion, as long as they don't bunch up.
Chaos Knight
* Illusion and heroes with summons are difficult to kill with Chen's single-target offensive spells: Terrorblade,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Broodmother,
Naga Siren,
Lycan,
Visage. However, Chen can convert enemy summons with Holy Persuasion, as long as they don't bunch up.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Lancer
* Skywrath mage also has a terrible time fighting against anything that isn't a hero. As Mystic Flare only affects heroes, his skills are mostly target-based and he has terrible strength and agility, he can easily be kited or harassed by illusion-based heroes like Chaos Knight and
Phantom Lancer, or by Heroes that summon other units like
Lone Druid,
Lycan and
Beastmaster.
Chaos Knight
* Skywrath mage also has a terrible time fighting against anything that isn't a hero. As Mystic Flare only affects heroes, his skills are mostly target-based and he has terrible strength and agility, he can easily be kited or harassed by illusion-based heroes like Chaos Knight and
Phantom Lancer, or by Heroes that summon other units like
Lone Druid,
Lycan and
Beastmaster.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Chaos Knight
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar, as he has no AoE abilities: Phantom Lancer,
Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Chaos Knight.
Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar, as he has no AoE abilities: Phantom Lancer,
Anti-Mage,
Arc Warden,
Chaos Knight.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Lancer
* Ursa struggles against illusion heroes like Chaos Knight and
Phantom Lancer.
Chaos Knight
* Ursa struggles against illusion heroes like Chaos Knight and
Phantom Lancer.
Additional:
* Ursa cannot effectively fight against Phantasm's illusions with his single-target damage.
* Chaos Bolt's potentially long stun with Chaos Bolt gives Ursa little opportunity to Enrage.
Lina
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Phantom Lancer
* Doppelganger can be used to easily dodge Light Strike Array if timed correctly.
* Phantom Lancer can quickly deplete Lina's mana pool with his illusions and deal massive damage from it simultaneously since Phantom Lancer is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer with Diffusal Blade will very quickly burn Medusa's mana, making Mana Shield significantly less effective.
* Doppelganger's 1 second invulnerability can be used to dodge Medusa's petrification from Stone Gaze, as well as Mystic Snake.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions outnumber Medusa's targets from Split Shot, likely shielding your team in the process.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Lancer
* Doom's
Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences him.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's
Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences him.
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Chaos Knight
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active: Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer's illusions can make it difficult to Doom the original. Should Doom figure out the original hero, the illusions can make it difficult to cast any abilities, as their hitboxes can be used to body-block the Phantom Lancer.
* Phantom Lancer is an ideal Diffusal Blade carrier. With it, he can quite easily deplete Doom's already poor mana pool, potentially making him unable to cast his abilities to escape, retaliate or heal.
* Doom lacks any effective ability to clear waves of creeps and illusions, as the vast majority of his abilities are single-target. Without an answer, Doom may find it difficult to deal with Phantom Lancer's presence.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 14%)Phantom Lancer
* While Anti-Mage does build a {Item ID:Battle Fury} he cannot manfight Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer commonly builds a {Item ID:Diffusal Blade} which can drain Anti-Mage's mana coupled with Juxtapose's illusions
* Phantom rush can be used to chase Anti-Mage after he Blinks away
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Phantom Lancer
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's
Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences him.
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Chaos Knight
* Chaos Knight,
Lone Druid,
Meepo and
Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
Phantom Lancer
* Doppelganger dispels Soul Catcher and
Shadow Poison.
* Demonic Purge slow is very ineffective against Phantom Rush.
* If Shadow Demon buys Aghanim's Scepter, Demonic Purge can disable Juxtapose, so check his inventory whenever possible.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Disruption's illusions very quickly.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Rush grants Phantom Lancer the mobility to close in the distance between Sniper.
* Phantom Lancer can dispel Sniper's Assassinate easily with Doppelganger and causes confusion to Sniper with the latter effect of creating an additional of 2 illusions.
* Phantom Lancer's Juxtapose easily can overwhelm Sniper, as his damage is mostly single-targeted.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 6%)Phantom Lancer
* 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.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Lancer
* Juxtapose and
Doppelganger conjures too many illusions for Dazzle to deal with, given he has no inherent movement- or AoE-abilities.
* Phantom Rush and
Spirit Lance allow Phantom Lancer to trivially catch Dazzle even in the back line of a fight.
* Phantom Lancer has high base armor which counters Dazzle's physcial damage based spells in lane.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Phantom Lancer
* Doppelganger allows Phantom Lancer to dodge an incoming snowball.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys a Diffusal Blade, which is very effective against Tusk's low mana pool.
* Phantom Lancer usually buys Manta Style which can also dodge an incoming snowball, much like
Doppelganger.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Chaos Knight
* Heroes that have high health but little to no magic resistance are easy prey for Necrophos, as no matter how high they build their health up, Reaper's Scythe will kill them outright as long as they fall under a certain threshold, and Heartstopper Aura will deal the same amount of damage regardless, decaying their health the longer they stay within range. As such, Strength heroes like Chaos Knight,
Centaur Warrunner or
Magnus are good targets for his ultimate.
Chaos Knight
* Illusions make it difficult for Necrophos to target his Reaper's Scythe correctly, thus giving illusion heroes like Chaos Knight or
Naga Siren an edge against Necrophos.
Phantom Lancer
* Diffusal Blade is a core item on Phantom Lancer. Should it be purchased, combined with his numerous illusions, it allows him to rapidly deplete Necrophos' mana, rendering Necrophos incapable of casting anything.
* It can be difficult to single out the true Phantom Lancer among his army, giving Necrophos a hard time with aiming his ultimate.
* Even if his illusions are defeated, Phantom Lancer is capable of creating more at his disposal with almost no issues.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Lancer
* Doppelganger can dispel Leech Seed. It can also destroy large amounts of trees, counteracting Nature's Guise and Eyes in the Forest.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Chaos Knight
* Chaos Knight's tanky illusions easily take advantage of Troll Warlord's lack of AoE damage.
* Chaos Bolt can stun Troll for up to 4 seconds and
Reality Rift prevents Troll Warlord from chasing down foes.
* Phantasm increases Chaos Knight's physical damage output up to 4 times and can easily kill Troll Warlord before he has a chance to use Battle Trance or a
Black King Bar.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with single-target abilities and low-mobility are all an exceptionally easy targets for Phantom Rush: Terrorblade,
Chaos Knight
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Axe,
Death Prophet,
Phantom Lancer
Oracle
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes who are not easily crippled by Fate's Edict or Fortune's End, such as Timbersaw, or those who can dispel them, such as
Phantom Lancer, can kill Oracle unhindered.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Lancer
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's
Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences him.
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with illusion and clone abilities may confuse Bloodseeker, causing him to waste time in fights: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Arc Warden
Chaos Knight
* Heroes with illusion and clone abilities may confuse Bloodseeker, causing him to waste time in fights: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Arc Warden
Bane
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Phantom Lancer
* Low-health, normally mobile carries with a lot of damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Luna,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
Chaos Knight
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm Bane, who has no area abilities: Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade
Additional:
* Phantasm's illusions make it difficult for Bane to target Chaos Knight with Nightmare,
Brain Sap and
Fiend's Grip.
* Chaos Bolt is a comparatively low cooldown tool to interrupt Fiend's Grip.
* Nightmare can be transferred by Phantasm illusions.
Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm Bane, who has no area abilities: Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade
Warlock
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 5%)Chaos Knight
* Warlock is a very strong hero when positioned correctly, and his long cast range helps him with this. However, some Heroes might disrupt or sneakily pass through your allies and deal with you, preventing you from doing your job. Such heroes include Chaos Knight,
Spirit Breaker,
Riki, and some others.
Mirana
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 16%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with summons or illusions makes Sacred Arrow harder to land: Shadow Demon,
Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet.
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 16%)Chaos Knight
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active: Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 5%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with no AoE abilities will struggle against Phantom Lancer: Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Broodmother
Beastmaster
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 7%)Chaos Knight
* Single-target disablers will have difficulty locking down a Chaos Knight with Phantasm active: Bane,
Beastmaster,
Bloodseeker,
Clockwerk,
Doom,
Shadow Shaman.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with global nukes will target and hit Phantom Lancer regardless of his illusions: Zeus
Chaos Knight
* Chaos Knight's high health pool makes him resistant to Zeus' burst damage. Phantasm can dispel
Veil of Discord, a typical item purchased by Zeus.
* Zeus is easily overwhelmed by Chaos Knight's strong illusions, as Arc Lightning is not enough to kill them fast enough to have any impact.
* Zeus' low base armor makes him extremely vulnerable to Chaos Knight's high damage output and armor reduction.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Phantom Lancer
* Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Heroes with undispellable debuffs will help identify the real Phantom Lancer through visual effects or debuff indicators, provided that it was cast on the real Phantom Lancer to begin with:
* Doom's
Doom marks Phantom Lancer with a highly visible effect, and also silences him.
* Bloodseeker's
Rupture shows a clear red trail effect on the real Phantom Lancer.
* Ancient Apparition's
Ice Blast will only debuff Phantom Lancer and not his illusions.
* Grimstroke's
Soulbind is undispellable.
* Shadow Demon's
Demonic Purge is undispellable.
* Monkey King's
Jingu Mastery is undispellable and puts a big yellow Mark over his head.
Phantom Lancer
* Phantom Lancer can dispel or escape from Cold Feet with Doppelganger and
Phantom Rush respectively. Phantom Lancer also builds a
Manta Style which dispels Cold Feet.
* Ancient Apparition has trouble dealing with Phantom Lancer's illusions due to a lack of Area of Effect damage other than Ice Blast.
* Phantom Lancer tends to build a Diffusal Blade, which greatly amplifies his damage against Ancient Apparition due to Ancient Apparition's high mana pool.
* Ancient Apparition has no escape/mobility mechanisms, making him an easy target for Phantom Lancer at any stage of the game.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: -0.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 7%)Chaos Knight
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Tinker's Laser completely stops Chaos Knight's damage, forcing him to buy either a Black King Bar for his own survivability while leaving his illusions still vulnerable, or a Monkey King Bar leaving him still vulnerable to Tinker's nukes, though improving his damage.
* Tinker rarely finds himself in the middle of a fight, which is where Chaos Knight typically thrives, and even in the rare cases of being so, at level 3 Tinker's constant rearm and blink away can kite and dodge Chaos Knight's spells reliably, so Chaos Knight has very little catch against Tinker's mobility. This gives Tinker impunity to create more chaos in a teamfight than Chaos Knight can control, laying down the field with March of the Machines and constantly being hit by rockets and lasers.
Additional:
* Tinker's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Laser can blind him and all of his Phantasm illusions.
Chaos Knight
* Illusion heroes, such as Naga Siren,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade will become strong against Tinker in the late game when Tinker's only area of effect damage, March of the Machines, ceases to kill illusions quickly. Without
Aghanim's Scepter Tinker is forced to defensively disarm heroes with Laser, leaving illusions free to deal physical damage which Tinker's low armor makes highly effective. In addition,
Mjollnir or
Battle Fury, two common pickups against illusion heroes, don't work well on Tinker at all.
Phantom Lancer
* Illusion heroes, such as Naga Siren,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Terrorblade will become strong against Tinker in the late game when Tinker's only area of effect damage, March of the Machines, ceases to kill illusions quickly. Without
Aghanim's Scepter Tinker is forced to defensively disarm heroes with Laser, leaving illusions free to deal physical damage which Tinker's low armor makes highly effective. In addition,
Mjollnir or
Battle Fury, two common pickups against illusion heroes, don't work well on Tinker at all.
Razor
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 4%)Phantom Lancer
* Plasma Field can destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions or damage them heavily.
* Static Link cannot be broken even with Doppelganger, serving as a marker for the real Phantom Lancer.
* Storm Surge gives Razor's high mobility to chase down Phantom Lancer making Spirit Lance and
Diffusal Blade slow useless.
* Eye of the Storm along with
Aghanim's Scepter can quickly reduce Phantom Lancer's armor.
Additional:
* Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm clears most of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
* Static Link is not dispelled by Doppelganger or
Manta Style which can be used to mark the real Phantom Lancer while also draining his base damage.
* Razor's high mobility with Storm Surge makes it hard for Phantom Lancer to chase down with Phantom Rush. When upgraded with Aghanim's Shard, it makes a quick work of his illusions.
Chaos Knight
* Razor has no way to deal with Chaos Knight's multiple illusions from Phantasm.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 2%)Chaos Knight
* Illusion-based and multi-unit heroes can take advantage of Chaos Knight's lack of area damage: Naga Siren,
Phantom Lancer,
Meepo,
Broodmother
Phantom Lancer
* Heroes with no AoE abilities will struggle against Phantom Lancer: Clinkz,
Phantom Assassin,
Broodmother
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.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
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Phantom Lancer
*
Illusory Orb and
Waning Rift are effective nukes against Phantom Lancer's illusions, especially in the early game.
Dream Coil limits Phantom Rush's mobility during teamfights.
*
Chaos Knight
* Puck's area of effect nukes in the form of
Illusory Orb and
Waning Rift clears Phantasm illusions from the early game to mid game.
Phase Shift can be used to disjoint Chaos Bolt.
*