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Diffusal Blade 2
Silver Edge
Manta Style
Abyssal Blade
Boots of Travel
Butterfly
Tango
Quelling Blade
Ring of Protection
Iron Branch
Poor Man's Shield
Ring of Aquila
Power Treads
Diffusal Blade
Silver Edge
Manta Style
Sange and Yasha
Butterfly
Eye of Skadi
Abyssal Blade
Satanic
Boots of Travel
Heart of Tarrasque
Moon Shard
Assault Cuirass
Monkey King Bar
Bloodthorn
Scythe of Vyse
Linken's Sphere
Pipe of Insight
Mjollnir
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1 | 3 | 5 | 7 |  |
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2 | 4 | 8 | 11 |  |
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9 | 13 | 14 | 16 |  |
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6 | 12 | 18 |  |
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10 | 15 |
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Abilities
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Items
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Azwraith - Phantom Lancer Melee, Carry, Pusher, Escape Hey guys, oaj99 here. I have 1400 games on Phantom Lancer, and yes, I'm a filthy spammer. But I'm not ashamed of that. In fact, I started at 1.5k and now I'm at 3.4k. I'll let you know that the way I play this hero is quite different from what people usually play, treating Silver Edge to be near-core on him, but we'll get to that later. So, what exactly does this hero do? Well, Phantom Lancer is a hard carry primarily played in the safelane and midlane. He's very elusive, amazing at 1 vs 1 fights, pushes fairly well, and if you can figure out the right targets at the right times, also great in teamfights.
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Doppelganger and Juxtapose. Phantom Rush. Doppelganger, to dispel debuffs. Doppelganger can also be used to disjoint targeted spells if timed correctly. Diffusal Blade. Phantom Lancer's damage. Doppelganger.
Crimson Guard.|
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Type: Targets: |
Active Enemy Units |
Ability description: Sends a magical spirit lance to a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while summoning an illusory phantom to attack the unit. |
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Level Mana Cost Damage Cooldown Range Slow Duration Illusion Duration Movement Slow |
1 125 100 7 750 3.25 2 10% |
2 130 150 7 750 3.25 4 20% |
3 135 200 7 750 3.25 6 30% |
4 140 250 7 750 3.25 8 40% |
Aghanim's Scepter upgrade: This causes Spirit Lance to bounce on nearby enemies for a maximum of 5 times. It will only bounce if enemies are within 400 radius of each other and the lance won't bounce to an enemy that has already been hit once. This means it will not bounce several times between two units. Personally, I feel that this upgrade is pretty lackluster even though a lot of people consider it to be a farming item. Therefore, I do not recommend buying an Aghanim's Scepter. Spirit Lance is considered Magical damage. Phantom Lancer cast a fake Spirit Lance so casting it won't really give the real one away. Spirit Lance is maxed first because it is Phantom Lancer's main nuke so the increased in damage and slow can net you early kills in the lane.|
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Type: Targets: |
Active Self |
Ability description: Phantom Lancer briefly vanishes from the battlefield. After 1 second, Phantom Lancer and any of his nearby illusions reappear at a random position within the targeted location, along with two additional doppelgangers. The two added doppelgangers have different properties: one takes normal damage and deals none, while the other takes 600% bonus damage and deals 20% damage. |
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Level Mana Cost Cast Range Reappear Delay Illusion Duration Cooldown |
1 50 600 1 8 25 |
2 50 600 1 8 20 |
3 50 600 1 8 15 |
4 50 600 1 8 10 |
Doppelganger can be used to easily disjoint (avoid) targeted abilities because of its 1 second duration. Doppelganger is not instantaneous. It has a 0.1 second cast animation. Doppelganger is casted. However, their durations are not reset. Phantom Lancer before casting the ability, more trees will be destroyed.
Bloodseeker's 
Blood Rite by timing it correctly. Spirit Lance. Doppelganger is a basic dispel, similar to Manta Style's active. More on that later, Doppelganger can also be used as an effective way to initiate 1 vs 1 fights. Using the ability right over an enemy hero will cause them to be surrounded. Phantom Lancer to jump over Doppelganger is a 100% damage taking illusion, meaning it takes damage equal to the real Phantom Lancer. This illusion is visually brighter than the others. During escapes, this illusion can be sent in a different direction, making the enemy heroes follow it, and then the real Phantom Lancer can easily sneak out of harm's way. Doppelganger is the fact that it is a basic dispel. Therefore, I have made an exhaustive list of all the negative hero and item effects that can be removed by using the ability.
Abaddon - 
Curse of Avernus
Ancient Apparition - 
Cold Feet (initial debuff)
Arc Warden - 
Flux
Axe - 
Battle Hunger
Batrider - 
Sticky Napalm Bloodseeker - 
Bloodrage
Bounty Hunter - 
Jinada (slow) Bounty Hunter - 
Track
Brewmaster - Drunken Haze
Bristleback - 
Viscous Nasal Goo
Broodmother - 
Incapacitating Bite
Chen - 
Penitence
Crystal Maiden - 
Crystal Nova (slow) Crystal Maiden - 
Frostbite
Dark Seer - 
Ion Shell
Dazzle - 
Poison Touch
Disruptor - 
Thunder Strike
Drow Ranger - 
Frost Arrows
Earth Spirit - 
Magnetize
Ember Spirit - 
Searing Chains
Enchantress - Enchant (slow)
Enigma - 
Malefice
Faceless Void - 
Time Dilation
Invoker - 
Cold Snap Invoker - 
Chaos Meteor (burn damage)
Jakiro - 
Dual Breath Jakiro - 
Liquid Fire
Keeper of the Light - 
Blinding Light
Lifestealer - 
Open Wounds
Meepo - 
Earthbind
Naga Siren - 
Ensnare Naga Siren - 
Rip Tide
Night Stalker - 
Void
Ogre Magi - 
Ignite
Oracle - 
Fortune's End Oracle - 
Fate's Edict
Phantom Assassin - 
Stifling Dagger
Phoenix - 
Fire Spirits
Pugna - 
Decrepify
Queen of Pain - 
Shadow Strike
Rubick - 
Fade Bolt
Shadow Demon - Soul Catcher Shadow Demon - 
Shadow Poison
Silencer - 
Arcane Curse Silencer - 
Last Word
Slardar - 
Corrosive Haze
Templar Assassin - 
Meld Templar Assassin - 
Psionic Trap (slow)
Tinker - 
Laser (miss chance)
Treant Protector - 
Nature's Guise (root) Treant Protector - 
Leech Seed Treant Protector - 
Overgrowth
Troll Warlord - Whirling Axes
Underlord - 
Firestorm Underlord - 
Pit of Malice
Ursa - 
Earthshock
Vengeful Spirit - 
Wave of Terror
Viper - 
Poison Attack
Visage - 
Grave Chill
Warlock - 
Fatal Bonds Warlock - 
Shadow Word
Blight Stone (armor reduction)
Desolator (armor reduction) Diffusal Blade (slow)
Dust of Appearance
Ethereal Blade
Medallion of Courage (armor reduction)
Rod of Atos (root)
Solar Crest (armor reduction and accuracy)
Urn of Shadows
Veil of Discord|
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Type: Targets: |
Passive Self |
Ability description: When targetting an enemy for an attack, Phantom Lancer quickly charges into range, gaining a temporary agility boost upon reaching the target. Phantom Lancer's illusions also have this ability. |
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Level Min. Trigger Distance Max. Trigger Distance Rush Movement Speed Speed Buff Duration Cooldown Agility Bonus |
1 250 600 800 5 16 6 |
2 250 700 800 5 12 14 |
3 250 800 800 5 8 22 |
4 250 900 800 5 4 30 |
Phantom Rush has made last hitting the ranged creep a lot easier since you can close up on it instantly now. Phantom Rush can also be used a semi-reliant escape. For example, if you're escaping through the jungle, you can right-click on a neutral creep and rush towards it to make the escape faster and increase the distance between yourself and your pursuers. Phantom Lancer's advantage in any fight.
Sniper's 
Headshot, and Drow Ranger's Frost Arrows won't slow you down. You will keep on rushing towards them at the speed of 800. Phantom Lancer does not stop rushing until he lands his attack. What this means if that if you're rushing at 
Windranger and she activates 
Windrun, your Phantom Rush will not end until you land a hit on her. You'll keep rushing at her for the full duration of Windrun. Doppelganger, it can really drive enemies crazy.|
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Type: Targets: |
Passive Self |
Ability description: Phantom Lancer has a chance to fracture his presence, creating an illusion of himself. Illusions also have a chance to fracture further. Illusions created from Phantom Lancer last for 8 seconds, while illusions created from other illusions last 4 seconds. |
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Level Hero Trigger Chance Illusion Trigger Chance Max. Illusions Illusion Damage Taken Illusion Damage Dealt |
1 40% 8% 6 500% 16% |
2 45% 8% 8 500% 16% |
3 50% 8% 10 500% 16% |
Juxtapose now has such a big illusion spawn rate, it should be maxed whenever it can be, that's at hero levels 6, 12, and 18. Juxtapose, enemy heroes can now be overwhelmed by illusions instantly. Phantom Lancer's illusions from sources other than his abilities can spawn illusions. These include Manta Style and Shadow Demon's 
Disruption. Juxtapose. Just slightly back away once an illusion spawns, so it starts tanking the damage. By the time that one dies, more illusions will probably have spawned. Phantom Lancer really is. All that he is, is because of this.
Spirit Lance damage. Phantom Lancer is right-clicking carry, so keeping that in mind, the Spirit Lance upgrade is essentially useless. Plus, the increased attack speed really helps with your farming speed, especially in taking jungle camps.
Phantom Lancer. That is why, going for more stats is a better choice. However, 15% cooldown reduction is not a bad talent either though. If you go for a split-pushing build with item choices like early Boots of Travel and Manta Style, then the cooldown reduction could be a very interesting choice. However, go for it only if you're sure you can fully exploit the reduced cooldowns. If not, then it's not worth it.
Phantom Lancer. It fully depends on the enemy lineup and what exactly you need for increased survival in that specific match. I mostly find myself going for increased magic resistance because AOE magical damage is what messes up Phantom Lancer in most games. However, if the enemy lineup primarily deals physical damage, then 15% evasion could end up being the better choice.
Phantom Lancer has no issues in closing gaps, especially if you go for the Silver Edge build I recommend. Even without that, it's not a big deal. However, increased tankiness is very important for an illusion hero, and that's why the strength talent is the one to go for. It makes you harder to kill, it makes your illusions harder to kill, and going for it means you don't need to devote a whole item slot to tank yourself up. Instead, you can buy something more aggressive.
These are the standard starting items I go for:
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Cost: 600 gold These are the starting items I now get keeping the latest side shop changes in mind. Tango is for the obvious sustain you will need. Quelling Blade is to make last hitting a lot easier. However, Phantom Lancer has pretty high base damage so if you're comfortable last hitting without a Quelling Blade, then you could instead opt for a  Stout Shield. Ring of Protection is so that you can complete a  Ring of Basilius from the side shop. We're going for this because you can no longer complete a Poor Man's Shield from the side shop. As for the two Iron Branches, they're useful for increased sustain by using your Tango on a planted tree.
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A Poor Man's Shield is essential in early game. Most heroes have about 60-80 damage at this point, and you will always block 20 damage from their hits. Nothing to laugh at.
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Next up are Power Treads. Power Treads are, by far, the best boots for Phantom Lancer. They provide a lot of Attack Speed and allow you to shift its stats. Keeping them on Agility will farming is the way to go, because more Damage and Attack Speed while result in faster farming. Tread Switching: Tread Switching is extremely important when playing as Phantom Lancer who is a really mana deprived hero in the early game. Whenever you're going to use Spirit Lance, switch the Power Treads to Intelligence, then back to Agility (or Strength if you want). This will increase your mana efficiency by a considerable margin.
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Ring of Aquila is one of the most cost-efficient early game items for Agility carries. The stats it provide are great for the early game, providing essentially everything you need, 18 Damage (9 from Agility), some Strength and Intelligence, 4 armor, and 0.65 mana regeneration.
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Diffusal Blade is, by far, the most important item for Phantom Lancer. It gives 20 Agility (30 when upgraded). However, the main aspect that makes it so impotant is its passive ability, Mana Break. It can also be used by illusions, allowing you to burn enemies' mana at an insane rate, and they won't be able to do a thing. The real Phantom Lancer burns 50 mana per hit, while illusions burn 16 mana per hit. Keeping that in mind, if you and all 10 illusions are attacking an enemy hero while you have an attack speed of 0.5s, you will burn a total of 420 mana per second. And if they try to run away, you have an amazing active in Purge. However, keep in mind to not upgrade it to level 2 right away. It should be upgraded when you run out of Purge charges so that you are essentially able to use a total of 16 charges of Purge.
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I know what you're thinking right now. Just hear me out, I'll try my best to convince you about how amazing Silver Edge is on Phantom Lancer. However, if you're not convinced, you could just skip it and move on.
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The stats provided by Silver Edge are pretty respectable. +15 Agility, Strength, and Intelligence. In addition, a total of 45 damage and 45 attack speed. Even though, illusions don't get 30 of that damage, they do get the full attack speed, so there's actually very little that's lost. So, let's get to main points that make it so good on Phantom Lancer.
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Deciding which one of these two items is better for Phantom Lancer has been a controversial topic since the dawn of time. Most veterans say that Manta Style is simply and obviously the better choice yet you see a lot of people making Sange and Yasha. The thing is, they're both great on Phantom Lancer. One of these items NEEDS to be built on him, but never both, so how does one decide? First, let me tell you my stance on this topic. Personally, I prefer Matna Style. This meta is all about putting pressure and then maintaining it, and Manta Style is great for that.
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Manta Style has always been an amazing item for Phantom Lancer. In conjunction with Doppelganger, you can do some amazing double dispels and disjoints. Moreover, it's amazing for ganking, pushing, and even jungling. Giving a 66% damage increase because of its two illusions, it is almost over-powered on Agility carries.
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Sange and Yasha is pretty good for a hero like Phantom Lancer but Manta Style is a whole lot better for him. The 16% movement speed bonus gives you an above average movement speed. Plus, it gives you 16 more of almost everything you need (16 Agility, 16 Strength, 16 Damage, 16 Attack Speed, 40% Greater Maim chance), that's a lot of perks. Most of the time, you should opt for Manta Style. However, in some situations, Sange and Yasha proves to be more beneficial.
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These items are all very effective and useful for Phantom Lancer. Which of these you buy is dependent on your own preference and the situation.
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Butterfly is considered to be the best late-game item for Agility carries, and for good reason. It give 35 Agility, 30 damage, 30 attack speed, and 35% evasion. It's a very balanced item in the sense that it gives a big damage boost through the Agility, damage, and attack speed, but it also has a defensive role through evasion. The best part for Phantom Lancer is that illusions gain the evasion too. As a result, enemy carries will essentially be forced to get a Monkey King Bar to be able to deal with you. And even if they do end up getting it, the rest of the stats from Butterfly are still amazing.
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Eye of Skadi is amazing, just underused. It gives 25 of all stats, making it extremely cost efficient. You get 25 Strength, 25 Agility and 25 Intelligence. For a moderately mana-dependent carry like Phantom Lancer, the 525 mana it gives is very useful. Moreover, Eye of Skadi is a great item for tanking up, giving you a total of 725 health. The best part is its passive ability, which slows enemies' movement speed by 35%, and decreases their attack speed by 45; the effect lasts for 5 seconds. So if you just reach the enemy (which is extremely easy due to Phantom Rush and Silver Edge), the odds of them making it out become very low.
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If you want to tank up, and feel you need regen during teamfights, Satanic is the way to go. Even though you shouldn't normally need it because of the shrines and buff to regen per point of Srength. Satanic gives the highest lifesteal in the game (25%) and its active, Unholy Rage, increases it to 200% for 4.5s. It's like having an Aegis during a teamfight. When low on health during manfighting, activate it. Combine that with the fact that you also get +25 Strength and +50 damage from it, giving your survivability a considerable boost. However, remember not to get too greedy by delaying the usage of the active too much. That could prove to be fatal.
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Heart of Tarrasque is the ultimate tanking item for any carry, and thus, it is still extremely effective on Phantom Lancer. Giving you fountain-like healing (7% per second) after a delay of just 5 seconds of hero damage, it is simply amazing. You never need to go to the fountain again. However, I'd recommend getting an Eye of Skadi or Satanic over this. Nevertheless, it is a really good pick-up if it's the type of game where you can't go to the base at all, and all you need is more tanking up to do. Otherwise, Satanic is a better choice for regen, because that works in teamfights and you can also go back to full health by using the active while taking a jungle camp or creep wave.
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Trust me when I say that you should absolutely get Boots of Travel as your 4th or 5th core item. The ability to go to the other side of the map at a 45 second cooldown is very underrated. Moreover, they are the shoes with the highest movement speed bonus, perfect for any carry. If you keep bouncing between opposite sides of the map every minute but stay unpredictable at the same time (which is pretty easy with Silver Edge and Manta Style, the enemy players' frustration will start showing quite quickly.
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Abyssal Blade is an amazing item for any hard carry. Even though the only benefit it provides to illusions is damage block, its passive, Bash, and active, Overwhelm, are amazing. Sure, your illusions don't Bash, but the real Phantom Lancer does, and that's quite enough, isn't it? Moreover, both stuns go through Spell Immunity. To be fair, this is the item I'd get for tanking up. Why? It provides BKB-piercing crowd control, gives damage block (which illusions also benefit from), and provides 450 health and +15 health regen. Keep in mind that, at level 25, you'll end up getting +20 Strength too.
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Moon Shard will always be your 7th slot item. Buy it and consume it, to get +60 attack speed. That might sound lackluster for a price of 4000 gold but the fact is that there's nothing else to buy, and it doesn't even use an item slot. Once you have your consumed Moon Shard, you can keep making more to give them to your allies. This way, you can maintain their effectiveness into the ultra late-game too.
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Assault Cuirass is an extremely effective attack speed and armor item. It's most effectiveness is seen in team fights, when its aura will be giving your allies 25 attack speed and 5 armor and taking 5 armor from enemies. That's a 10 armor difference between the teams. This may not seem like much, but it's huge. Lastly, the armor reduction also affects buildings, so destroying towers will be pretty easy. Keeping in mind that illusions are now affected from raw attack speed too, this is a wonderful item for Phantom Lancer even if you find yourself split-pushing more than participating in teamfights. Illusions also carry the aura, so the presence of the real Phantom Lancer is not required to decrease the armor of buildings, and essentially, cause them to fall faster.
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Out of all the items in this section, this is the item you'll find yourself buying the most and the reason for that is True Strike. And no, Phantom Assassin is not the only main hero to buy it against. There are simply way too many sources of evasion in the game and there's no other reliable way to deal with that. The best part is that illusions get True Strike too, so they won't miss attacks either. Anyhow, you'll be needing a Monkey King Bar against the following heroes due to their abilities:
However, you won't be needing it against heroes who gain evasion or cause a miss chance through abilities only. You'll need it against heroes who go for evasion items too. These items are:
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Next is Bloodthorn, the item that gives you the ability to silence enemy heroes. I know this is the most expensive item in the game, and that's why it's usually better to leave it at  Orchid Malevolence for a considerable portion of the game, and upgrade it when you need a considerable damage boost towards the late-game. It should only be bought when there is a powerful enemy heroes dependent on their abilities, such as  Storm Spirit,  Earthshaker,Outworld Devourer,  Timbersaw,  Lina or even  Zeus. In most scenarios, this much time should be enough to kill the enemy hero (considering that it gives a 100% chance to crit at 140% and also increases the total damage dealt by 30%). If it isn't enough to get the kill, there probably won't be any mana left because of your Diffusal Blade.
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Scythe of Vyse is a great crowd-control item. Even though its an Intelligence item, its active is way too good for it to be ignored by other carries as well. Hex is an amazing active which does the same thing as the abilities of  Shadow Shaman and  Lion. It's great as a second disable along with Abyssal Blade against heroes that have a  Black King Bar. Yes, the active doesn't pierce Spell Immunity but it does prevent heroes from using any of their items once casted. However, remember, don't end up buying it in every game. There are much better items to improve Phantom Lancer himself. If you're not having problems killing the enemy carry, don't get it.
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Linken's Sphere is an item that blocks one targeted ability every 13 seconds. The most important thing is that it even blocks spells that are meant to pierce Spell Immunity. This means that this is a very good item against the likes of  Necrophos (for  Reaper's Scythe),  Doom (for  Doom),  Legion Commander (for  Duel), and  Bane (for  Fiend's Grip). Obviously, if you get it, you'll end up blocking way more spells and buying it will be fully it's worth. Moreover, the stats it provides are pretty decent too, along with noticeable health and mana regen.
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Yes, I know this is a very weird item to include for Phantom Lancer. But here's the thing, sometimes the enemy team has sustained continuous magical damage output, and you simply can't survive drawn out teamfights. And no, a Black King Bar is not a good choice for these scenarios. If you get a Pipe of Insight and also go for the 15% magic resistance talent, you total magic resistance will go to 59%. That's a massive amount. You will only be receive 41% of the magical damage dealt to you, compared to the 75% you receive with only your base magical resistance. Additionally, the item even has an are of effect active which blocks 400 magical damage dealt to you and your allies. The item costs only 3500 gold too, so it isn't even hard to farm, but in the right circumstances, it could be a game winning item. |
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Mjollnir is a great item for attack speed (which illusions also benefit from), but the thing is that buying it also gives you decent area of effect damage through its passive, Chain Lightning. Even though the passive can only be used by the real Phantom Lancer, it's still a pretty nice bonus, also keeping in mind that you'll have pretty high attack speed with this. Not only that, it also has a very interesting active in Static Charge. I wouldn't recommend using this on yourself as that would give the real Phantom Lancer away. I'd recommend casting it on your team's tank or initiator. Even though there are usually better item choices for Phantom Lancer, Mjollnir is actually pretty good.
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In order to play as Phantom Lancer, you need to know Dota's illusion mechanics. There's a reason for Diffusal Blade being so good for him.
Illusions can't use any active ability. However, they do benefit from a lot of passive abilities. Passive abilities that illusions can use:
Diffusal Blade
Yasha) Moon Shard and Mjollnir)
Radiance's burn aura (however, the burn damage will not stack from multiple illusions)
Vanguard and Poor Man's Shield) Quelling Blade Phantom Lancer)
Skull Basher, Abyssal Blade, and Monkey King Bar)
Hood of Defiance or Pipe of Insight) Sange and Yasha, 
Sange, and 
Heaven's Halberd)
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Earthshaker is one of the biggest counters to Phantom Lancer. It is almost as if his ultimate was specifically designed for this purpose. He has a long range stun in  Fissure, and his ultimate,  Echo Slam, completely wipes you out. The number of echoes in Echo Slam are increased due to illusions too. That means if you're attacking him with all 9 illusions and yourself, you can't really hope to survive. The worst part about Echo Slam is that its animation time is 0 seconds. Good luck trying to juke it with Doppelganger.
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Earthshaker, their usual reaction is to use 
Enchant Totem to stun you using 
Aftershock. Thus, if you initiate on him with a Silver Edge hit, you won't get stunned. Obviously, you'll have to follow up with something to avoid the Fissure. During the mid-game, you need to time your Doppelganger correctly to deal with that. Later into the game, you can use items like Abyssal Blade, Bloodthorn, and Scythe of Vyse to not let him do anything. You'll probably end up getting the kill in during the time he's disabled, but even if you don't, his mana will probably will probably have been finished. During teamfights, always be conscious of his positioning. Don't give him a free Echo Slam right in the middle of 10 illusions and your whole team.
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A well-farmed and well-played Ember Spirit might just be the biggest counter to Phantom Lancer. If you're with multiple illusions, an Ember Spirit who went with  Battle Fury and  Daedalus can easily kill you with a single  Sleight of Fist. So much so, he can kill the whole enemy team with just one Sleight of Fist. The issue is that he's extremely elusive too, and so very hard to lock down and kill.
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Ember Spirit is very weak early game, so early ganks are easy and can completely break his game, but that's something the rest of your team needs to. However, a well-farmed Ember Spirit is very difficult to shut down. If you initiate on him with a Silver Edge hit, you'll need to follow-up with some sort of disable to be able to kill him. You'll have to be quick with your hands as he can vanish in the blink of an eye using his remnants. A Bloodthorn is recommended against him as he's pretty weak to physical damage, and a Bloodthorn amplifies that while silencing him at the same time.
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Sven is considered one of the biggest counters to Phantom Lancer. He has an AOE ranged stun,  Storm Hammer, a passive 65% cleave,  Great Cleave, and an ultimate,  God's Strength, that gives him incredible damage (which also increases the cleave damage). Sounds like his whole kit just wrecks Phantom Lancer, doesn't it. Interestingly, this is the counter I'm most comfortable playing against.
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Doppelganger is quite easy. If you initiate on him with a Silver Edge hit, that right there disables his Great Cleave for 5 seconds, which, in conjunction with his ultimate, is his main ability to kill you. However, you need to quickly disable him with an Abyssal Blade or a Scythe of Vyse as soon as you initiate. This is so that he's unable to activate his Black King Bar. He has a pretty small mana pool so that duration should be enough to finish his mana. Once he's out of mana, it doesn't matter even if he does activate his Black King Bar, because he won't be able to use Storm Hammer nor God's Strength. Without those two, he can't really kill you, and he's an easy kill for you.
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Axe is a big counter to Phantom Lancer because of  Counter Helix and  Berserker's Call. He can kill you in all stages of the game, because of the  Blink Dagger into Berserker's Call combo. An Axe with a  Blade Mail that activates Berserker's Call on you is extremely annoying, the worst part being that you can't even use Doppelganger while under its effect.
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Axe is pretty similar to dealing with Earthshaker. You need to initiate on him with a Silver Edge hit to disable Counter Helix, and then disable him using Abyssal Blade, Scythe of Vyse, or Bloodthorn. This is so that he can't use Berserker's Call and increase his survivability by a massive margin. Axe, too, has a small mana pool so you can hope to finish his mana during the time he's disabled. Even if he does survive for that duration, you can end up killing him easily when he can't use any of his abilities.
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Timbersaw can be really annoying for Phantom Lancer, just like Axe. His  Reactive Armor gives him 1 armor and 1 HP regeneration per hit. With you and your illusions attacking him, the stacks will reach max quite quickly, while he'll steal your agility with  Whirling Death and kill you with  Chakram.
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Timbersaw is extremely dependent on his abilities to do anything. His Reactive Armor can be disabled with Silver Edge and the rest can be countered by getting a Bloodthorn. Initiate on him a Silver Edge hit, then silence him and kill him quickly. Also, don't stay inside his Chakram. Even use Doppelganger to get out if you have to.
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Tiny has an ability set that can easily destroy Phantom Lancer. Even though  Toss can be dodged using Doppelganger, what makes Tiny a pain is  Craggy Exterior. You get stunned for just attacking him. Moreover, with Aghanim's Scepter, Tiny gets 50% cleave, and cleave counters Phantom Lancer hard. Plus, getting Aghanim's Scepter makes him a deadly pusher. Tiny can easily out push you.
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Tiny is one of those carries who has a pretty good early-game presence and can completely own the enemy in the late-game too. You are going to have a hard time against him. What you need to do is initiate on him using Silver Edge to disable Craggy Exterior. Then disable him using Abyssal Blade or Scythe of Vyse. By the time the disable duration ends, his mana should be finished due to Diffusal Blade, and without his abilities, he can't really deal with you.
In lane, your number one priority should be getting last hits and staying alive. Phantom Lancer's attack animation is quite nice, and last hitting shouldn't be difficult, considering he has pretty decent base damage, and your starting items grant you 3 agility while the Quelling Blade provides 24 additional damage against creeps. At an average, you should be getting at least 5 last hits per minute, 7 is optimal of course.
Don't forget to keep harassing your enemy, that is very essential. If the enemy hero is ranged, you should harass them using Spirit Lance. However, this harassing should be very calculated. You should try to keep your mana above 50% most the time, in case you need to use Doppelganger or get an actual chance for a kill, but if the enemy hero has less than 500 health, it's better to use Spirit Lance even if little remains afterwards. It's essentially a matter of psychological and systematic harassing. If the enemy hero is melee, harassing is even easier, but you are also more prone to harassing yourself. Therefore, with melee heroes, you should use both, Spirit Lance, and normal attacks, to harass.
While laning, it is not really necessary to get a kill, but if you get a good chance, don't miss it. A good way to get a kill is to keep on harassing. When the enemy hero has around 400-500 health, hit him with a Spirit Lance and then Phantom Rush up to him. 2-3 hits should finish him off, but, preferably, you should have mana for another follow-up Spirit Lance if needed.
The key to maintaining good farm is to keep lane equilibrium for the first 7-8 minutes of the game and try to get every last hit and some denies too. At that point, you should have your Ring of Aquila and Power Treads and you're level 6 too. After that, you accelerate your farm by cycling between the lane and jungle camps next to it. You farm one or two creep waves in the lane and push your own creeps into the enemy tower, then take the two jungle camps next to the lane and then come back into the lane to get creep waves. This should be the cycle you repeat during the early game. When the enemy tower's health eventually gets low, go and push with your creep wave, finish it off quickly and then move on. Around the 14-15 minute mark, you should be done with your Diffusal Blade and all of your early game items.
Once you're ready to move on, please do, don't waste time in lane when you can spend the time better. Now, you have two aims. The first is to maintain your farm, while the second is to look for pushing chances and pick-offs. For this reason, try to keep a teleport scroll.
Jungling is pretty easy. Just use Doppelganger to go into a creep camp and start attacking. In a creep camp, when there are 4-7 illusions, and only one creep remains, you should take the real Phantom Lancer out of there and start going towards the next camp. This way, you'll be able to save valuable time and be able to farm the maximum amount of creeps per minute. Again, Doppelganger into the creep camp and start attacking.
One important thing to remember about jungling is that you should be aware of what's going on throughout the whole map. If you can help your team out somewhere, you really should, so keep a teleport scroll.
By around the 20-21 minute mark, you should have your 
Shadow Blade. With that, you can start playing a bit more aggressively. You can push deeper into enemy territory before retreating and even take neutral camps from their jungle. By doing this, you'll be accomplishing a number of things. First of all, the enemy team will have to divert some of their resources to deal with your pushes. Alongside that, you'll be able to get kills on unexpecting supports or maybe even their carry.
Please do not forget to take part in team fights. Diffusal Blade makes the most impact at this point, and the power you'll be providing to your team will be decisive. Winning a team fight can mean the difference between losing and winning, so make sure you're there when it happens.
Being a hard carry, Phantom Lancer shines in the late game. By this time, you should be the most powerful hero in the game.
At this point your priority should be teamfighting and pushing. Even though you are no longer a split pusher, you can still do it, and you should do it once have [Boots of Travel]]. If you have farmed effectively and made good item choices, you should be able to deal with most heroes decently. However, this is the most crucial time of the game and one mistake could cost you the game, especially because you're the carry.
Late-game teamfights dictate which team gets to break high ground first. So it is absolutely mandatory that you take part in them. Once you win a teamfight, push as soon as possible with your team and break high ground. Phantom Lancer is a good pusher late-game so you should be able to take at least two lanes' tier 3 towers and barracks. Go for the third lane too if you can. If you end up retreating without getting to mega creeps, remember to take the enemy shrines, that is very important.
Winning at this point is not a very difficult task at all. Just remember to not let go of the pressure, and to be please be on the same page as your team. At this time, knowing what everyone plans to do is very important. Pick-offs on either team will be deadly at this point, so even though you'll be at your strongest, be more aware than ever.
Thank you for taking out the time to read my guide. I hope it improves your gameplay and knowledge not only with Phantom Lancer, but with other heroes as well. Please upvote if you found my guide to be useful and informative. If you have any suggestions or questions, please do tell me in the comments. I will always be willing to answer and have a discussion.
v 1.01:
Manta Style and Abyssal Blade as Optional/Situational Items Heart of Tarrasque as an Optional/Situational Item Orchid Malevolence Phantom Lancer" that shows heroes and items that counter him Abyssal Blade from "Optional/Situational Extensions" to "Luxury Core Extensions"
Vladmir's Offering from "Luxury Core Extensions" and replaced it with Satanic Black King Bar to "Optional/Situational Extensions" Scythe of Vyse and Heaven's Halberd in "Optional/Situational Extensions"
Bloodstone in "Please Do Not Get" Phantom Lancer is finally is Captain's Mode! Battle Fury as a counter to Phantom Lancer Sange and Yasha from "Luxury Core Extensions" to "Optional/Situational Extensions" Power Treads in "Items" Yasha and 
Drum of Endurance Tiny as a counter to Phantom Lancer
Bottle to Early-Game items if you're going Mid Blink Dagger in "Luxury Core Extensions" Daedalus from "Luxury Core Extensions" to "Optional/Situational Extensions" Sange and Yasha and Manta Style Vladmir's Offering and 
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