Phantom Assassin/Counters

Bad against…[]

Others[]

• Heroes with magical burst damage can often kill Phantom Assassin before she gets to do much: Necrophos, Nyx Assassin, Gyrocopter.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Abilities with Break can disable Phantom Assassin’s passives: Aghanim’s Scepter-upgraded Demonic Purge, Nethertoxin.
• Abilities with blind: Smoke Screen, Blinding Light, Laser.

Items[]

• Monkey King Bar grants accuracy to counter Blur.
• Maelstrom and Mjollnir‘s Chain Lightning can pierce through Blur.
• Blade Mail turns Phantom Assassin’s massive burst damage against her, dissuading her from attacking.
• Bloodthorn makes her a more vulnerable target thanks to its accuracy, damage amplification, and critical strikes. In addition, the silence prevents her from initiating effectively, being unable to use her Stifling Dagger and Phantom Strike, making her susceptible to kiting.
• Scythe of Vyse completely removes Phantom Assassin’s chances of escape. As Hex also disables item usage, even if she purchases Black King Bar, if the Hex is applied before she can activate it, she may fall down very easily once further disabled and nuked down.
• Silver Edge breaks Blur. and Coup de Grace, severely crippling her damage and survivability.
• Ghost Scepter prevents Phantom Assassin from attacking, making it good protection item for casters. It can be upgraded to Ethereal Blade later, which can be used on allies, or to nuke and disarm Phantom Assassin.
• Glimmer Cape can be used to save targets hit by Phantom Assassin’s crits. However, it is not advised if your team already has invisible heroes as enemies will then most likely carry Dust of Appearance all the time.
• Solar Crest not only melts Phantom Assassin’s armor, it also reduces her attack speed from Phantom Strike.
• Heaven’s Halberd disarms Phantom Assassin, preventing her from proccing Coup de Grace.. Its evasion also provides reliable protection against her physical attacks.

Good against…[]

• 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.

• 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.

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

Others[]

Works well with…[]

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

Others[]

Items[]

Works poorly with…[]

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

Others[]

• Heroes who can unintentionally save enemy heroes from ganks work very poorly with Phantom Assassin, such as Bane, Pudge, Oracle, Pugna, Terrorblade, Winter Wyvern.
• Heroes dependent on farming to become effective make a really bad team with Phantom Assassin, such as Alchemist, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Bloodseeker, Broodmother, Bane, Clinkz, Dragon Knight, Enigma, Faceless Void, Gyrocopter, Huskar, Legion Commander, Lifestealer, Lina, Lone Druid, Luna, Lycan, Medusa, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Naga Siren, Pangolier, Phantom Lancer, Razor, Riki, Slardar, Slark, Templar Assassin, Terrorblade, Troll Warlord, Weaver, Wraith King.

Items[]