Do you want to know the Best Phoenix Counters in Dota 2?
Originally a star that collapsed into existence, Phoenix is a strength-based support hero who shines as bright as the sun. This hero’s versatile arsenal of abilities makes it excruciating to face in combat, and its vast scaling potential makes it even more terrifying in the late game. This is why it is a must to know how to counter Phoenix in Dota 2.
This popular hero is capable of harming multiple enemies at once and is hard to bring down with its durability. Phoenix can split the fight by using its massive AOE spells and making an area unplayable. Similarly, Phoenix can use its skills to make risky maneuvers and flee the battlefield at the same time.
Although its abilities can be overwhelming, Phoenix’s limited mana pool can restrict its fighting potential. Low armor and reliance on gold and XP to have an impact reduces what the Phoenix can do in difficult matches. In addition to this, Phoenix, like most supports, has no spell-immunity piercing abilities, making it hard for this hero to catch enemies.
Phoenix also suffers from long cooldowns, which gives it a hard time against continuous aggression, crippling its ability to escape or initiate battles. Moreover, Phoenix’s spells require an exceptional sense of aim and map awareness. Because of these demands, low MMR bracket players can face trouble using this hero.
Phoenix
Phoenix shines in the early game and has a heavy presence in the mid-game due to its damage over time. Snowballing with items and its compatibility in several roles makes this hero very versatile in ranked gameplay.
Phoenix’s Abilities
With its first ability, Icarus Dive, it advances in a circular motion slowing and hurting enemy units in its path. Traveling in a set distance before circling back to its original position, Phoenix’s ability to stop the dive in its track makes it a good means for escape. However, this ability consumes 15% of its health to deal 70 DPS to enemies in its path.
Phoenix’s second ability Fire Spirits allows it to hurl spirit birds onto a target area. With four spirits available, Phoenix can launch them at its own discretion within 20 seconds dealing a max of 75 DPS. The spell also slows down attack speed for up to four seconds. And although it grants a devastating debuff, it costs 20% of Phoenix’s health as a sacrifice.
Sun Ray is an AoE magic damage spell that slows and damages enemies while healing allies. This ability makes Phoenix fire a light ray that consumes 6% of its health to output massive damage. The max health of the targets also determines the effects of this spell. Considering it deals 6.25% of max health as DPS and 2% of an ally’s max health as a heal.
Phoenix’s ultimate ability is Supernova. By sacrificing its life to be reborn as new, it turns into a glowing sun that burns and slows enemies near it. If not destroyed within six seconds, the sun explodes, and Phoenix is revived with full HP and Mana. The explosion also stuns hostiles for up to three seconds, allowing Phoenix’s team to win the fight.
Counters
Dealing damage over extended periods of time with a minor drawback of consuming current health makes Phoenix quite the predicament in battle. These attributes and game-winning spells are why it is crucial to know the Best Phoenix Counters in Dota 2.
Bloodseeker
Bloodseeker is an agility core hero that gets faster and more devastating as his enemies lose health. As a result, using him puts Phoenix feels at a disadvantage as Phoenix has to consume its own health to execute its abilities. Consequently, Phoenix has to use its abilities conservatively to endure over-time damage and massive hits.
With a silence to disable Phoenix’s abilities, Bloodseeker makes it impossible for Phoenix to output any damage. Bloodrite also deals magic damage up to a total of 500 by upgrading the move with his talents. Coupled with his Rupture, Bloodrite enables him to provide a complete source of lockdown.
Apart from this, the inability to move makes Phoenix’s escape through Icarus Dive impossible. Usually played as a core, Bloodseeker also has great attack speed making it easy for him to destroy Phoenix when using Supernova. With items such as Blademail, Bloodseeker also turns Phoenix’s large amounts of damage against itself.
Silencer
Long duration silences and the tendency to dish out massive amounts of damage make Silencer the ultimate counter to Phoenix. With his Glaives of Wisdom, Silencer can deal pure damage and reduce mana from Phoenix’s already limited mana pool. This ability also steals permanent damage, decreasing Phoenix’s mana throughout the game.
Where Phoenix really suffers from the presence of Silencer is with his multitude of silences. Last Word and Global Silence provide a silence for a total of 12 seconds which is more than enough time to render Phoenix useless. In addition to this, these spells also extinguish all chances for initiation or re-engagement by Phoenix or his allies.
By adding on his silences on top of Arcane Curse, the possibility of Phoenix escaping is dissipated as enemies are slowed down as they take damage. Moreover, Silencer also builds items like Force Staff or Hurricane Pike. Using these items to reduce or increase the distance between his targets gives Silencer the chance to make versatile moves.
Snapfire
Lil’ Shredder has a count of six attacks—granting Snapfire the power to annihilate Phoenix’s egg effortlessly. This ability is not affected by any slows, which when applied with the right positioning can destroy Supernova with ease. Increasing the number of attacks to eight by choosing the right talent enables Snapfire to kill the egg at any time.
More disables like Scatterblast and Firesnap Cookie can quickly output magic damage. This stun and slow make it unbearable for Phoenix to participate in team fights or escape when caught. Furthermore, Firesnap Cookie can also act as an escape from the radius of Phoenix’s slows and debuffs.
Snapfires ultimate ability Mortimer Kisses is a long-range burst magic damage ability that enhances her ability to kill enemies. This extremely long-range skill grants Snapfire the comfort of eliminating Phoenix from a distance with ease. The spell’s slow also deals a huge blow on Phoenix, who cannot escape due to Snapfire’s control over the playing field.
Ursa
With a flurry of physical attacks, Ursa uses Overpower to destroy Supernova in no time. He can immensely reduce Phoenix’s team fight potential by not giving it a chance to control the battlefield. He also deals a huge amount of physical damage, which can burst down Phoenix who has very low armor.
Ursa also prides himself on his tanking abilities through his ultimate skill Enrage. This ability grants him a 50% status resistance bonus as well as removing the debuffs that Phoenix applies to him. With an incoming damage reduction of 80%, slows and over-time damage have no effect on Ursa who tears through enemies.
Phoenix is incredibly popular in high MMR gameplay which is easy to see due to its often overpowered abilities. In the right hands and with the correct draft, Phoenix is daunting to play against, even as a support. We hope this article containing all of the Best Phoenix Counters in Dota 2 will aid you in beating this mythical creature in-game.
