Bad against...[]
- Phantom Strike's extra attack speed will cause Phantom Assassin to trigger Counter Helix more often, which can be fatal for Phantom Assassin in the early game. Jumping on Axe with Phantom Strike is not a good idea for Phantom Assassin at all as it makes her a seriously 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. Berserker's Call can also affect Phantom Assassin even if she has Black King Bar active as Berserker's Call can fully pierce spell immunity, making Berserker's Call one of the best abilities in the game against heroes like Phantom Assassin who wants to kill opponents quickly without being interrupted.
- Culling Blade can often kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything due to her low health and strength gain. And every time Culling Blade successfully kills Phantom Assassin or any of her teammates, Axe gains permanent armor from it, which in combination with armour items that Axe often purchases like Blade Mail, Crimson Guard, Assault Cuirass and Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Axe.
- Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak, Coup de Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well. Enfeeble also reduces any healing Phantom Assassin receives, making her unable to heal herself with Phantom Strike, and it also reduces cast range of Phantom Assassin's abilities, making her unable to harass with Stifling Dagger and to use Phantom Strike at longer distances.
- 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.
- Phantom Assassin does not deal with early aggression very easily (especially when magical damage). A competent Batrider can make life very difficult with Sticky Napalm followed by any other spell.
- Phantom Assassin's single target abilities make her very helpless against swarms of Spiderlings without Battle Fury.
- Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Broodmother will usually have enough time to use Spin Web to save herself.
- Silken Bola can cripple Phantom Assassin greatly due to her being 100% reliant on physical attacks.
- Aghanim's Scepter gives Broodmother access to Spinner's Snare, which allows her to create invisible lines on her webs from Spin Web that will root Phantom Assassin, deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin and reveal Phantom Assassin if she unwittingly steps on them, disrupting her attempts to initiate or escape with with Phantom Strike while also alerting Broodmother on her attempts to ambush her and her allies.
- Hoof Stomp and Double Edge can often burst down Phantom Assassin from early to mid game.
- Retaliate makes it very unlikely for Phantom Assassin to win the lane against Warrunner. Double Edge can also be used to wear her down, as she has a much smaller health pool than that of Centaur Warrunner until purchasing a Ring of Health. Stifling Dagger will also trigger Retaliate and Blur cannot evade Retaliate.
- Centaur Warrunner's tankiness in combination with armour items that Centaur Warrunner often purchases like Blade Mail, Crimson Guard, Assault Cuirass and Shiva's Guard can make Phantom Assassin's attacks only tickle Centaur Warrunner.
- Centaur Warrunner just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup de Grace, as Fan of Knives can disable Retaliate even if Centaur Warrunner is spell immune.
- Sharpshooter disables both Blur and Coup de Grace, weakening her damage and survivability.
- Because Phantom Assassin is often reliant on critical strikes, Hoodwink can have enough time to simply move near a tree and escape with Scurry.
- Laguna Blade is one of the best tools to kill Phantom Assassin before she can do anything in early-to-mid game due to its high magical (pure with Laguna Blade damage is Pure and pierces Spell Immunity talent) burst damage.
- Blur offers no protection against Lina's abilities. Likewise, Lina can counter Blur's evasion by buying either Silver Edge or Monkey King Bar.
- Lina just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup de Grace, as Fan of Knives can deal pure damage to Lina and disable Fiery Soul awhile Coup de Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, which may force Lina to buy Ethereal Blade to deal with Phantom Assassin.
- Even though Phantom Assassin can easily kill Luna in few strikes, Luna can also do the same to Phantom Assassin if she is not careful.
- An ill-timed and ill-positioned Phantom Strike will make Phantom Assassin an easy target for counter-attack with Eclipse if she does not have Black King Bar available to use and if Phantom Assassin cannot kill Luna fast enough. This can be even worse if Luna buys Aghanim's Scepter.
- Moon Glaives can ignore Blur's evasion if Luna attacks an enemy near Phantom Assassin. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives can also reduce damage from Coup de Grace and Moon Glaives Phantom Assassin inflicts on Luna and damage Spirit Phantom Assassin she is close to her. And the Aghanim's Shard upgraded Moon Glaives have true strike for their duration, which renders Blur's evasion insignificant.
- Luna can counter Blur's evasion by buying either Silver Edge, or Monkey King Bar, which are common items on Luna.
- Luna just has to be careful about Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard and Coup de Grace, as Fan of Knives can deal health-based damage to Luna and disable Moon Glaives and Lunar Blessing while Coup de Grace can deal serious damage to her even if she is spell immune, though this issue can be partially solved by buying Ethereal Blade, which is a situational item on Luna.
- Purification and Hammer of Purity can easily catch Phantom Assassin once she jumps with Phantom Strike in to attack.
- Heavenly Grace can be used to dispel slow from Stifling Dagger, and disables from the items Phantom Assassin relies on.
- Phantom Assassin depends entirely on physical attacks and her damage output is 100% physical. Therefore, since she has no any sources of magical damage output and hates going for items that deal magical damage like Dagon, Ethereal Blade and Revenant's Brooch, Guardian Angel will render her completely useless.
- Purification, Heavenly Grace and Guardian Angel can be used to save an allied hero before Phantom Assassin can finish them off with Coup de Grace.
- Fire Spirits applies a severe attack speed slow, severely hindering Phantom Assassin's damage output.
- Phantom Assassin cannot cast Phantom Strike on Phoenix during Supernova.
- 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.
- Static Link can lower the damage output from Coup de Grace procs, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage. And Phantom Assassin is not a common Linken's Sphere wielder to counter this problem.
- 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.
- Slark's Pounce allows him to close the gap on Phantom Assassin and prevent her from escaping with Phantom Strike.
- As a hero who typically builds Silver Edge, Slark can use it to disable Phantom Assassin's Blur and Coup de Grace, thus taking down her attack evasion and drastically reducing her damage output.
- Because Phantom Assassin is always reliant on critical strikes, Slark will have plenty of time to escape with Pounce, Shadow Dance and Silver Edge (provided that he purchased it already).
- Depth Shroud from Aghanim's Shard will allow Slark to save both, himself and his allies from Phantom Assassin with Shadow Dance, and to freely fightback against her without removing invisibility upon attacking.
- Essence Shift is much more harmful for Phantom Assassin than for other heroes, as losing the agility means that her physical damage will be also reduced, which can also weaken Coup de Grace if Slark manages to steal lots of agility from her.
- Overall, any attempt for Phantom Assassin to take down Slark will hurt her more than Slark.
- While Phantom Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage in a few strikes, Skywrath Mage can also do the same to her if she is not careful.
- 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.
- Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
- Black King Bar is useless for Phantom Assassin against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
- Spectre only needs to be careful against Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard, as it can disable Desolate and Dispersion, though this issue can be solved by buying Blade Mail, which is a common item on Spectre.
- 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 pure burst damage output.
- Timbersaw can easily escape from Phantom Assassin thanks to his Timber Chain.
- Whirling Axes (Melee) makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to land a Coup de Grace.
- Troll Warlord often buys Silver Edge and Monkey King Bar, the items that greatly help against Phantom Assassin's Blur ability.
- 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.
- Firestorm can deal serious damage to Phantom Assassin during laning.
- Pit of Malice prevents Phantom Assassin from either escaping or engaging with Phantom Strike.
- Phantom Assassin's damage output is entirely physical, therefore Atrophy Aura is very hazardous for her in most of the stages, particularly since it also affects Coup de Grace, hindering Phantom Assassin's main source of damage.
- Without proper items and any area-of-effect ability/item, Phantom Assassin cannot stop Underlord and his team to escape with Fiend's Gate, and she has nothing to intercept Underlord and his team when they use Fiend's Gate to teleport on any area of the map outside of Fan of Knives from Aghanim's Shard.
- Phantom Assassin's Blur is useless against Windranger as she commonly buys items that require Javelin like Maelstrom, Monkey King Bar or Bloodthorn, and other than Stifling Dagger, Phantom Assassin has nothing else that can bypass Windrun.
- Additionally, Phantom Assassin doesn't like building Monkey King Bar because her crits are reliant on attack damage.
- Focus Fire can still deal considerable damage despite Blur's evasion due to the increased attack speed.
Others[]
- Heroes such as Lone Druid, Tidehunter and Viper can be very problematic for Phantom Assassin because they give her very little time to farm and become scary.
- Heroes capable of perofrming interceptions who can anticipate and counter-initiate after Phantom Assassin blinks on them with Phantom Strike will often kill her than the other way around: Axe, Bane, Dawnbreaker, Centaur Warrunner, Luna, Medusa, Omniknight, Pudge, Razor, Terrorblade, Underlord.
- Heroes with heavy early and mid-game magical damage are also problematic for Phantom Assassin due to being able to easily kill her before she can gain an item advantage over them: Lina, Necrophos, Nyx Assassin, Gyrocopter, Jakiro, Death Prophet.
- Heroes that can apply early pressure before Phantom Assassin has farm are massive threats: Axe, Viper, Meepo, Jakiro, Pugna, Slark, Venomancer etc.
- Heroes with disables that ignore spell immunity will render Phantom Assassin completely useless in teamfights throughout the game: Axe, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Doom, Bane, Beastmaster, Pudge, Medusa, Warlock.
- Hex abilities prevent attacking, ability and 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: Doom, Disruptor with Aghanim's Scepter, Dazzle with Aghanim's Shard
- Ethereal state disarms the target and makes them more vulnerable to magic damage, both of which Phantom Assassin despises. In addition, Phantom Assassin hates to buy Revenant's Brooch, which is one of the two items (other being Nullifier) that helps her deal with Ethereal state.
- Heroes with illusions and summons can be hard for Phantom Assassin to deal with, as she lacks any AoE abilities to deal with them without items: Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Lycan, Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Terrorblade, Warlock, Wraith King.
- Abilities with Break can disable Phantom Assassin's passives: Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Demonic Purge, Viper Strike, Hex with Hex breaks talent.
- Abilities with blind: Smoke Screen, Blinding Light, Laser.
Items[]
- Monkey King Bar grants accuracy to counter Blur.
- Witch Blade and its upgrade Parasma can deal damage over time to Phantom Assassin every 9 seconds, and attacks from both items have True Strike. Parasma can also weaken Phantom Assassin's magic resistance by 20% for 3 seconds, rendering her more vulnerable to abilities that deal magical damage.
- Revenant's Brooch's attacks can damage Phantom Assassin even while she has Black King Bar active, though it's damage output will be reduced for Black King Bar's duration.
- Maelstrom's, Gleipnir's and Mjollnir's Chain Lightning can pierce through Blur.
- Blade Mail turns Phantom Assassin's massive burst damage against her, discouraging her from attacking.
- Bloodthorn makes her a more vulnerable target thanks to its ability to make every attack have true strike, damage amplification, and critical strikes. In addition, the silence prevents her from initiating effectively, being unable to use her 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 before she even gets a chance to retaliate.
- Nullifier can be used to dispel Phantom Strike's attack speed buff from Phantom Assassin, and to continuously dispel Phantom Assassin even if she is spell immune.
- Abyssal Blade makes Phantom Assassin a very easy target to disable if she uses Phantom Strike on a hero who wields it. And to make thins worse, Abyssal Blade can disable Phantom Assassin even if she is spell immune.
- Butterfly provides evasion against Phantom Assassin's direct attacks, minimalizing chances for her to inflict damage on it's owner with Coup de Grace. Additionally, Phantom Assassin doesn't like building Monkey King Bar because her crits are reliant on attack damage.
- Silver Edge's breaks Blur and Coup de Grace, severely crippling her damage and survivability while also making her weak even against heroes she naturally counters.
- Gleipnir can be used to root Phantom Assassin, preventing her from using Phantom Strike while also providing a passive chance to have it's owner's attacks release a Chain Lightning that can pierce through Blur.
- Ghost Scepter prevents Phantom Assassin from attacking, making it a 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. In addition, Phantom Assassin hates to buy Revenant's Brooch, which is one of the two items (other being Nullifier) that helps her deal with Ethereal state or buying items that let her deal magical damage like Revenant's Brooch, Dagon and Ethereal Blade.
- 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.
- Lotus Orb will reflect Stifling Dagger back at Phantom Assassin, discouraging her from harassing an enemy hero protected by it.
Good against...[]
- Anti-Mage can easily withstand heavy magical bursts 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 without buying Monkey King Bar, which means he cannot buy items to benefit his Mana Break.
- Phantom Assassin has an abysmal mana pool and intelligence gain, making Mana Break and Mana Void deal minimal damage.
- Crystal Maiden's low health pool and slow movement speed make her a tempting and easy target.
- However, it may be wise to build Black King Bar first before attempting to fight her alone, as she can disable you and retaliate with Freezing Field.
- 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.
- Rage does absolutely nothing against Phantom Strike with items.
- Feast and Ghoul Frenzy are very difficult to utilise thanks to Blur.
- Lifestealer generally wants to buy items that make him hard to kill, not an Monkey King Bar which only offers damage.
- Nature's Prophet's low mobility and health pool allow 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.
- 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.
- Sniper's lack of mobility and reliance on attack range makes him an easy target for Phantom Assassin to jump on.
Others[]
- Fragile support heroes are all ideal targets for the Phantom Assassin. Heroes such as 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.
- Heroes who lack escape mechanisms or disables are all easy targets for Phantom Assassin if they are not careful.
- Assuming they have not bought anti-evasion items, attack-dependent heroes such as Ursa, Terrorblade or Lifestealer can be a minor threat for Phantom Assassin early in the game, and may even be completely dominated by her thanks to her evasion.
Items[]
- Black King Bar does not stop Phantom Assassin from using her abilities on the hero who is protected by it as all of her abilities pierce spell immunity.
- Linken's Sphere can be put on a cooldown with Stifling Dagger.
Works well with...[]
- Combining Ancient Apparition and Phantom Assassin's slows to stun an enemy with Cold Feet can easily force an enemy to succumb to this pair during the laning phase.
- Ice Blast makes one-shot crits even more likely for Phantom Assassin.
- Inner Beast gives Phantom Assassin greater attack speed, increasing her chances of landing a Coup de Grace.
- Primal Roar long stun duration lets Phantom Assassin beat down enemies.
- Beastmaster's Boar and Hawk help Phantom Assassin chase down targets, and can be used as targets for her to jump to.
- Empower greatly enhances Phantom Assassin's crit damage, as well as giving her a cleaving attack. It also speeds up Phantom Assassin's ability to farm.
- Reverse Polarity groups up enemies into one spot, combined with Magnus's Empower and Phantom Assassin's tendency to buy Battle Fury, Phantom Assassin will shred through multiple heroes in a blink of an eye.
- Casting Purification on Phantom Assassin after she uses Phantom Strike will guarantee a huge damage burst, especially during the early game when Purification's damage is significant.
- Phantom Assassin's Stifling Dagger allows Omniknight to catch up with the target and slows them with Degen Aura.
- Blur makes Phantom Assassin more resistant to physical attacks and Heavenly Grace makes her much more resistant against disables.
- 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.
- Nether Swap can bring an enemy into Phantom Assassin's clutches, then prevent their escape with her Magic Missile.
- Vengeance Aura and Wave of Terror also allows Phantom Assassin to deal more damage, helping her one-shot enemies.
Others[]
- Heroes who amplify physical damage or reduce armor all work well with the Phantom Assassin in team fights, such as Shadow Fiend or Dazzle.
- Slows and disables let her catch up to fleeing enemies. Heroes like Lion, Bane, or Pudge are useful to have in a chase in that they might be able to help pin down their target for her.
Items[]
- Assault Cuirass and Solar Crest reduce enemy armor, allowing Coup de Grace to inflict tremendous critical damage.
Works poorly with...[]
- If Phantom Assassin uses Phantom Strike before Pudge uses Meat Hook on a hero he's about to hook, then it will be Phantom Assassin who is going to be hooked, rendering both, Pudge and Phantom Assassin's ganking attempts wasted while alerting enemy hero on their presence.
- Pugna's Decrepify will render the 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[]
- Any hero who buys and wields Ethereal Blade will render an enemy hero immune to all kinds of physical damage, potentially denying Phantom Assassin to kill an enemy hero.
- Badly-timed and ill-positioned Force Staff will save the enemy hero from Phantom Assassin during the ganks.