Bad against...[]
- Berserker's Call helps locking 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.
- 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.
- Hoof Stomp and Double Edge makes short work of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Retaliate together with Blade Mail reflects Phanton Lancer's damage and quickly destroys his illusions.
- Ion Shell helps taking down illusions quickly, making it easy to identify the real Phantom Lancer.
- Surge allows Dark Seer and his teammates to run away from Phantom Lancer, who relies on his Phantom Rush to chase enemies.
- 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.
- Echo Slam deals tremendous damage when multiplied by Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Earthshaker's AoE abilities can quickly kill Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Enchant Totem with Aghanim's Scepter gives Cleave to help destroy illusions.
- 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.
- 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.
- Soulbind has an undispellable debuff that can be used to mark the real Phantom Lancer. It also prevents him from using Doppelganger.
- Flak Cannon and Call Down destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions very quickly.
- 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.
- Jakiro's AoE abilities are great against Phantom Lancer:
- Dual Breath slows down and damages Phantom Lancer and his illusions.
- Liquid Fire will not only deal AoE damage but also lowers Phantom Lancer's attack speed.
- Ice Path and Macropyre combo can easily clear all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Jakiro can predict Doppelganger and Ice Path on top.
- Tidebringer and Kunkka's AoE abilities in general are effective in clearing Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Overwhelming Odds deals high damage to Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Duel's long duration prevents Phantom Lancer from using Doppelganger.
- 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.
- 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.
- Meepo aims to end the game as early as possible, while Phantom Lancer is a lategame hero.
- This also means that, in the late game, Meepo stands no chance against 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.
- Shockwave deals significant area damage in the early game,destroys phantoms and may even indicate the real Phantom Lancer.
- Pangolier's AoE abilities especially Shield Crash, are very effective against Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- 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.
- Illusory Orb and Waning Rift are effective nukes against Phantom Lancer's illusions, especially in the early game.
- Dream Coil limits Phantom Rush and Doppelganger's mobility during teamfights.
- 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.
- All of Sand King's abilities deal AoE damage.
- However, Epicenter is usually a non-issue against Doppelganger.
- Storm Spirit has multiple AoE abilities to deal with Phantom Lancer, especially with Aghanim's Scepter.
- Ball Lightning destroys illusions, avoids Spirit Lance, and makes Storm Spirit very hard to catch, even with Phantom Rush.
- 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.
- 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.
- All Timbersaw's abilities deal 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.
- 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.
- Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Death Ward kills Phantom Lancer's illusions very quickly.
- Phantom Lancer's lack of burst damage and disables makes it hard for him to stop Death Ward's channel.
- Maledict cannot be dispelled by Manta Style or Doppelganger, and can be used to mark the real Phantom Lancer.
Others[]
- 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 and mutes 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.
- Heroes that require burst damage to kill will be difficult for Phantom Lancer to take down: Timbersaw, Axe, Bristleback, Alchemist and Underlord
- Heroes with global nukes will target and hit Phantom Lancer regardless of his illusions: Zeus
Items[]
- Both Aeon Disk and Crimson Guard will completely negate the damage of Phantom Lancer's illusions, even when Phantom Lancer has a considerable farm.
- Battle Fury's cleave damage helps destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Heaven's Halberd prevents Phantom Lancer from proccing Juxtapose places an undispellable debuff which helps identify the real Phantom Lancer.
- Radiance's burn aura helps destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions, and its blind chance provides some protection from his right clicks.
- Silver Edge breaks Juxtapose and Phantom Rush and places undispellable debuff which helps identify the real Phantom Lancer.
- Maelstrom and Mjollnir's chain lightning helps clear Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Orchid Malevolence and Bloodthorn indirectly locks down Phantom Lancer by preventing him from using Doppelganger to disjoint or dispel.
- Shiva's Guard helps clear out Phantom Lancer's illusions. The passive aura and active slow reduce Phantom Lancer's attack speed and regeneration.
- Magic Wand helps his victims get off an escape ability.
- Nullifier reveals the real hero as it is not dispellable and negates the safety of his many illusions, so the enemy can focus him down.
- Gleipnir's AoE root prevents Phantom Lancer and his illusions from using Doppelganger.
- Lotus Orb can reflects Spirit Lance and illusions from Spirit Lance target back to Phantom Lancer's
Good against...[]
- One of Arc Warden's hardest counters, Arc Warden, who has primarily single target damage, will struggle tremendously against 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 close gap to 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.
- Doppelganger dispels Sticky Napalm and Flamebreak.
- There are usually way too many illusions for Batrider to lasso the real Phantom Lancer, since the illusions' hitboxes also body block the real Phantom Lancer.
- Doppelganger dispels Track.
- Bounty Hunter also has no area of effect abilities to help with the illusions.
- Chaos Knight's single target abilities are difficult to target against Phantom Lancer's illusions.
- Chaos Knight's lack of mobility makes him an easy target for Phantom Lancer to Phantom Rush and drain his already low mana pool.
- 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.
- 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.
- However, even with the negation of the rest of his kit, Static Storm (especially when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter) remains as one of the strongest lockdowns against Phantom Lancer, and as such Disruptor must never be underestimated.
- 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.
- Phantom Lancer usually builds Diffusal Blade, which a problem for a low already mana hero like Lifestealer.
- Lone Druid and his Spirit Bear lack mobility, and are easy overwhelmed after being slowed by Diffusal Blade.
- Savage Roar is useless since Phantom Lancer can return to fight him again with his Phantom Rush.
- Although Outworld Destroyer will typically destroy Phantom Lancer's illusions in one shot, Phantom Lancer spawns too many of them for Outworld Destroyer to deal with. However, be careful about initating on Outworld, as Sanity's Eclipse will erase your illusions and deal massive damage to you. He can then follow up with Astral Imprisonment and Meteor Hammer.
- Phantom Lancer creates way too many illusions for Pugna's Life Drain to destroy, overwhelming him easily.
- Doppelganger can dodge Nether Blast or dispel Decrepify.
- Diffusal Blade is a common item for Phantom Lancer to burn Pugna's large mana pool and deals a large amount of damage in the process.
- 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.
- Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
- Phantom Lancer's many illusions will easily destroy Tombstone, provided he has sufficient farm.
- He also has no ways of dealing with the illusions, since Decay doesn't steal strength from illusions.
- 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 Break.
- 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.
- Diffusal Blade lets Phantom Lancer drain Wraith King's mana, preventing Reincarnation from triggering until he buys an Aghanim's Shard.
- Wraith King is bad against illusions-based heroes, as Wraithfire Blast is his only single-target disable and can get overwhelmed easily.
- Doppelganger can disjoint Wraithfire Blast.
Others[]
- Heroes with no AoE abilities will struggle against Phantom Lancer: Phantom Assassin, Broodmother
- Heroes with single-target abilities and low-mobility are all an exceptionally easy targets for Phantom Rush: Terrorblade, Chaos Knight, Wraith King
- Illusions can be sent out to destroy Techies mines.
Items[]
- Some items with dispellable debuffs such as Spirit Vessel, Medallion of Courage, or Shiva's Guard can be dispelled by Doppelganger.
Works well with...[]
- Bane's long disable with Fiend's Grip gives Phantom Lancer plenty of time to spawn several illusions.
- Arcane Aura allows Phantom Lancer to spam Spirit Lance in the early game.
- Frostbite and Crystal Maiden's slows helps Phantom Lancer chase down enemies.
- Phantom Lancer and his many illusions multiply the damage from Shadow Wave, allowing Dazzle to deal lots of physical damage to adjacent foes.
- A timely Shallow Grave can allow Phantom Lancer to get off a Doppelganger, run to safety, then return to the fight after a few heals. Due to his chaotic nature, it can be very hard to finish off Phantom Lancer if the enemy has already used their AoE abilities.
- Ice Path lets Phantom Lancer charge enemies without fear, from a great distance.
- The slow from Diffusal Blade helps Jakiro aim his abilities.
- Chakra Magic allows liberal use of Spirit Lance and Doppelganger in the early game, especially in lane.
- Timed correctly, the cooldown reduction lets Phantom Lancer use Spirit Lance twice in quick succession. To do so, be sure to have Keeper of the Light cast Chakra Magic after using Spirit Lance.
- Casting Doppelganger twice also allows Phantom Lancer to create 4 illusions immediately.
- Fortune's End's long range root and short cooldown time helps Phantom Lancer run down enemies.
- False Promise, similar to Shallow Grave, allows Phantom Lancer to escape with Doppelganger and heal up with Heart of Tarrasque and Purifying Flames.
- Corrosive Haze's armor reduction helps Phantom Lancer and his illusions hit harder, compensating for his lack of burst damage.
- Spirit Breaker's hectic initiation with Charge of Darkness and stuns from Greater Bash give Phantom Lancer space to attack the enemy at will.
- Decay lowers enemy health, allowing Phantom Lancer to kill them easier without burst damage.
- Tombstone's slowing zombies create havoc on the battlefield, giving Phantom Lancer the opportunity to beat down an opponent and spawn illusions while they attempt to destroy the Tombstone.
- Venomancer's slows help Phantom Lancer stay on top of his target without pausing between attacks to move or Phantom Rush.
Others[]
- Heroes who can create chaotic, prolonged fights will give Phantom Lancer enough time to generate illusions and drain the enemy team of mana: Warlock, Earth Spirit, Brewmaster