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Observer Ward
Tango
Healing Salve
Ring of Protection
Clarity
Animal Courier
Magic Wand
Tranquil Boots
Headdress
Tranquil Boots
Town Portal Scroll
Observer Ward
Magic Wand
Mekansm
Urn of Shadows
Drum of Endurance
Force Staff
Heaven's Halberd
Heart of Tarrasque
Pipe of Insight
Rod of Atos
Eul's Scepter of Divinity
Shiva's Guard
Aghanim's Scepter
Town Portal Scroll
Observer Ward
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Hi guys! I recently made an in-game guide for those of you who don't want to keep alt tabbing to this page every so often. It's called Attack of the Murder Bird, and can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=247304598
Do subscribe if you liked it, and leave a comment if there's anything you wish to add. Ciao!
Hey guys! So Phoenix came out in Dota 2 recently and this guide EXPLODED in the number of views. Thank you for all the kind words! I have compiled here a list of what's currently missing (I will work on these soon!)
- Pictures
- More hero Matchups
- Assorted Tips and Tricks (This chapter will be added to slowly as Phoenix has an enormous skillcap depending on his items)
- Any other special section you guys would like me to explain. (Just leave me a comment and I'll get on to it ASAP)
Phoenix is a major bad *** and usually a very strong pick, but it's typically a bad idea to pick him first. He's got a number of counters and needs teammates that synergize with his unique daredevil playstyle.
When Do I Pick Phoenix?
You may pick Phoenix if:
Ravage, 
Reverse Polarity, 
Poison Nova, etc
Centaur Warrunner , 
Wraith King, 
Dragon Knight, etc Phoenix if: Wraith King?) Phoenix is a low-ping hero)
Silencer. Avoid at all costs!)Ok guys, so I'm going to be assuming you're the dota 2 player who's never had the misfortune of being razed by Phoenix's incredibly potent abilities. Now lemme write them down for ya real quick.
Icarus Dive
-Phoenix swoops forward in an arc in the direction you target, before returning to his original position. The distance is a fixed 1,400 units, and any enemy he collides with on the way is slowed and dealt damage over time.
Important things to know!
Fire Spirits Sun Ray Sun Ray when not hitting anything. You have to save on HP. Supernova
Assassinate? Supernova. Low HP and they're gonna tower dive you? Supernova. Extremely important teamfight going on and you need to be the biggest, juiciest distraction ever? Super-frigging-nova. Shiva's Guard, you will still slow down their attack speed. If you have a radiance (God knows why you would), they'll get the radiance burn alongside the Supernova burn.
Ursa, Windrunner, and worst of all... 
Troll Warlord. Mekansm and ID for instance)
Storm Spirit uses up mana
Weaver and Storm Spirit Troll Warlord and Ursa
Black King BarAbout to Leave the Fountain
Icarus Dive first though instead of Sun Ray if you're planning on doing this risky move.
Flying Courier's give flying vision. You may use them to deward the cliffs near the rune spots if you don't have any wards there!
Tranquil Boots which is core on Phoenix
and
Fire Spirits, use a Tango, and fire one spirit at the enemy hero and autoattack until it's time to throw another spirit. Very few offlaners will attempt to trade with that. If they attempt to run, don't forget to blow them a goodbye kiss with a Sun Ray
Phoenix is pretty slow) and soak up some sweet charges!
Mekansm which is fantastic for a support like Phoenix
Phoenix's Icarus Dive gives him a way to quickly approach an endangered ally and save him with a mek.
Urn of Shadows comes in very handy. Use it to heal up after a fight, or as a 150 damage nuke to an enemy when you need that extra tick!
Icarus Dive to quickly cover an enormous 2200 range
Phoenix to melt their face with a good Sun Ray
Icarus Dive to hit everything and the kitchen sink with the freezing blast! Not only will you slow everyone down and lay a 200 damage nuke for practically free, you're in the perfect position to use your Fire Spirits, Sun Ray, and even Supernova to wreak some serious havoc.
Vladmir's Offering, except more useful for you because you make your Fire Spirits that much more painful. It also gives HP regen! Fire Spirits. 3 out of 4 of Phoenix's spells are magic damage. An investment into one of these babies can make you deal a LOT of damage in a fight. If someone else is gonna get it though, don't stack two on one team.
Phoenix. Blade Mail, wait till you're low HP and activate Supernova to buy your teammates a ****load of time.
Supernovas and 4 each of your powerful spells in an extended teamfight will practically GUARANTEE you victory if you play it right. Phoenix's considerable skillcap and makes him a team fighter for the ages. Supernova still be on cooldown.
Blink Dagger no longer costs mana. That means that not only is it MUCH more useful for Phoenix, you now have a 2nd mobility option! Supernova! You may also use this to properly position yourself before a huge teamfight! Phoenix doesn't have any burst and relies on damage over-ZAP
Undying.Alright. So as stated many times before, Phoenix is a Support and a pretty damn powerful one at that. Start out with the items I've listed above and set out to ward the rune spot and the jungle. Don't forget, the name of the game is HP regeneration; you're going to be casting a lot of spells and will probably take some harass.
Note that we get Icarus Dive at level 1 just in case something dreadful (Like running into 5 enemies)happens, we got a good escape up our sleeves.
Now, as a babysitter, your main priority is carry safety. This means buying Observer Wards to scout out the map, as well as using Sentry Wards to deny your opponents vision. The last thing you want is for your carry to not get farm this early in the game.
Now, as Phoenix, you're not just a babysitter, you're a babysitter that kicks some serious ***. Reach level 4 as soon as possible by stacking and pulling creeps, double-pulling (if Radiant) or getting first blood. Once you hit level 4, it is time to raise hell. Use your level 2 Fire Spirits and level 1 Sun Ray to beat the ever loving **** out of the heroes in your lane. XP range was increased in 6.79, so you gotta force them back a LOOONNGG way. Your skills all have ginormous amounts of range, this shouldn't be too hard. just don't, you know, miss. the cooldown of all your skills are ridiculously long and thus not spammable. Careful aim and efficient use of your abilities is needed.
Venomancer? No matter. Phoenix kicks some serious *** roaming between lanes. All you need is a good partner with a stun or a slow, and Phoenix's great damage and range will make those kills happen. Icarus Dive to initiate leaves you vulnerable and unable to escape, ask your partner to initiate for you. Immediately use a Tango (You'll be needing the regen) and Sun Ray the **** out of your target (AVOID CREEPS). Activate Sun Ray's subability that gives you flying movement, and summon your Fire Spirits as well and blast your poor victim. Should you be fighting more than one target, focus your Sun Ray on the more valuable enemy, but try to catch as many heroes as you can with your Fire Spirits blasts (it's AOE isn't too bad). Should you find yourself on very low health (you probably will), use Icarus Dive to escape any reaction TP's from your enemies. If however, they're getting away with super low hp and you're feeling ballsy, use Icarus Dive's full swing to nail that last Fire Spirit while returning to safety. It doesn't always work but when it does, it feels freaking AWESOME. Sun Ray ends upon a silence or a stun. it's range is long enough to sit outside the reach of most stuns and silences, but if you can have your mate bait them out for you, all the better.
It is at this phase of the game that you should be finishing up with upgrading your Sun Ray to it's full potential. By now, you should also have your ultimate, Supernova. What happens next you might ask? Well, now we fight some more.
Your goal remains the same: Get your carry fatter than theirs, and be the biggest annoying moving target you can be. At this phase of the game, the ultimates will start flying, and skirmishes will involve more and more heroes. Phoenix is almost always not in the peak of health throughout this phase, as he will be very active and also be a prime target for attack. Don't be scared: Phoenix is a manly hero for manly men (and women), and manly people do not fear death (just feeding). If dying involves rescuing your carry, or buying your team that precious few seconds to set up a counterattack ( Supernova is great at doing this), then it was worth it.
As much as possible, try to not go alone. Although self sufficient, he lacks stuns, and his usefulness in combat really shines through when he has a partner to complement his skills.
Supernova isn't supposed to be an OMGWTFBBQ ulti (although it can) that makes clutch plays and wins 3 v 1's. It is an enormous, glowing, juicy distraction with a huge AOE that makes it tough to ignore. It is to be used after Phoenix has exhausted all of his offensive combat options (or he's about to die) and all he has left is maybe an Icarus Dive and 200 mana for an ult. Supernova will be much more useful than simply standing around autoattacking and pitifully squawking in your terrible attempt to look threatening. Find a spot (use Icarus Dive if pressed for time) where your enemies won't instantly be able to attack your nova form (Such as high ground, or from behind them to sandwich them between you and your team, behind some trees where they can't see you, etc)and let 'er rip. It's a big gamble yes, but one that you should be willing to take when necessary. If they kill you, well, at least hope your teammates used that precious few seconds to escape or do something useful. If you resurrect, you have full health, full mana, refreshed cooldowns, AND you just applied a 1.5-2.5 second stun to everyone within burning range. NOW who's the sitting duck? Icarus Dive to escape, or take advantage of your full HP and mana to rally your team and crush whatever is left. Fire Spirits vs Sun Ray Sun Ray or Fire Spirits? Fire Spirits first given that it's damage scales by flat numbers and will generally be far more effective early game due to it's ability to allow Phoenix regular movement as well as giving him a long ranged projectile with a ton of damage and - attack speed. Which is excellent on forcing enemies out of a lane or defending yourself when jumped on by enemies who rely on autoattacks (such as 
Slardar, 
Lifestealer, or 
Clinkz). Sun Ray provides an excellent heal as well as a much easier to aim attack and extraordinary amounts of AOE damage at the cost of mobility and quite a lot of HP. It's much more offensive in nature than Fire Spirits, and should be considered if one has slow moving, chunky targets, an allied carry who actually knwos that Sun Ray heals, and the player has difficulty aiming the spirits. Sun Ray is pretty high early on. Only use it when it reaches level 3 or higher, and eat a Tango first before using in lane. Until then, play passively. Phoenix is quite the vulnerable target when applying Sun Ray. Try to bait out the enemy's spells first before attacking. For example, Sun Ray while 
Pudge has 
Meat Hook off cooldown. Sun Ray while stuns and silences are up Sun Ray on a mobile target like Nightstalker where he can simply run towards you and beat your face in. Sun Ray after Pudge has used Meat Hook (and missed) Sun Ray disabled opponents for free damage Sun Ray injured allies when enemies are not aroundFrom here on out, Phoenix fades into the background as BKB's are popped and carries grow in power. Your job hasn't changed in the slightest. be an annoying bird (slow down the enemy carry's attack speed with your Fire Spirits!, cheat death, laser people you don't like, and combine your items and abilities to wreak as much havoc as you can! If you've done your job right, your carry should be fat as hell and ready for battle. If things went bad and you're behind, don't forget that there's always a next time.
Oh and remember: no matter how much HP that enemy carry is packing, if his BKB is down, a good Sun Ray should cut him/her down to size.
So despite talking about how Icarus Dive is a ridiculously overpowered skill when combined with Phoenix's other abilities and items, I still see 80% of players completely fail to use it at anything other than chickening out, which is really bad considering it's possibly one of the best combo making skills in the game. What am I talking about you ask? Well, let me introduce you to a commonly known (although often unused) Phoenix combo I like to call The Machine Gun Combo.
We all know a 
Morphling can shotgun a poor chap to death with an Etheral Blade and an adaptive strike, but Phoenix can actually deal a similar combo- He can combine his skills in a teamfight to provide a DPS storm that tears away at multiple enemy's HP bars until thye're awfully wounded, or 6 feet under. It's brutal, effective, and scales VERY well with a few good items thrown into the mix. So without further ado, I give you the Machine Gun Combo Chapter! *Toot*
Fire Spirits, and then diving the enemy and pelting them with the spirits and Supernova-ing in their faces. It's relatively cheap (only 300 mana!), brutally effective, and doesn't require any items! Supernova, so do bring backup to finish the job! Icarus Dive at level 4 over Sun Ray since it scales VERY well from level 1 to 2 (10 damage per second to 30 holy ****!) Icarus Dive and Fire Spirits and use your Sun Ray to add even more DPS! Icarus Dive allows you to use items freely while flying. This means that your basic combo could be improved with virtually any active item in the game, but i'm going to round up some of the best ones you can use to tear your enemies a brand new butt.
Veil of Discord
Fire Spirits and Icarus Dive, but BEFORE you touch them while diving and pelt them with spirits. This is to maximize the surprise factor, since enemies are likely to back off if they find their magic resistance being lowered early.
Shiva's Guard
Fire Spirits, but BEFORE you use Icarus Dive. This is so the AOE would have expanded to a decent size while you're diving and increases the odds of hitting multiple enemies. Supernova form by slowing their attack speed, as well as the Artic blast slow combining with the slow from Icarus Dive taking out quite a bit of movespeed. No running from the murder bird boys!
Scythe of Vyse
Phoenix like 
Tidehunter or 
Jakiro. Apply the hex right before you begin pelting them with spirits (around the same time as applying the Veil of Discord. Once you're in Supernova form, their AOE skills will be no help in taking you down. Supernova.
Blink Dagger
Radiance
Radiance on top of it. It gives a mighty fine 300 damage upgrade to Supernova's burn alone, and is excellent for chases after your resurrection.
Refresher Orb
Supernova, and then only after you've already spent the refreshed Icarus Dive and Fire Spirits the Supernova gave you. You'll also be full mana upon a successful resurrection, so you should always have enough to activate the orb. Radiance, buying this means you want a helluva LOT of buttons to press, and are quite ready to bet your life on a succesful Supernova twice. Shiva's Guard. Adding this makes your now-stupidly-long combo VERY mana intensive, and you'll need the int the Shiva's gives you to even attempt the orb. Phoenix this morning. I had a Veil of Discord, Shiva's Guard, and a Refresher Orb to top it off. Here is what it looked like, Step by step. Fire Spirits and Shiva's Guard Supernova, rely on my allies to keep me alive. Sun Ray to pick off stragglers or lay down heavy damage to especially tanky or magic resistant enemies!This chapter is currently undergoing construction
Let's get this out of the way, I am one of the few Phoenix players on earth who prefer to play him as a support rather than as a mid. Nevertheless, with his unparalleled range, attack speed slow, Icarus Dive and amazing damage, Phoenix can flat out destroy midlane if given even half a chance. However, his HP will always be constantly low from having to wage war against another mid hero (who are usually powerful, ranged nukers themselves), so extra caution and some special tactics will be needed.
In this special chapter, I will be once again displaying each of Phoenix's skills, and showing how you can use them to win mid. I will assume you already know what each skill does, this is only some tips on how to utilize their effects to win mid.
Phoenix has a 500 range attack, ****ty base HP but with a high natural str gain, and is extremely slow moving. Icarus Dive Phoenix to the rune. This is however, VERY difficult to do without practice. Remember that Phoenix flies in an arc, so try not to point the dive right on top of the rune spot. Adjust your aim so his flight path goes through it. Flying Courier. Icarus Dive up the cliff when they enter the river to chase you. Easy escape. Fire Spirits Fire Spirits' superior range and shove them out of the xp range! Icarus Dive with Fire Spirits to perform an aerial bombing combo and make him feel like London under WW2. Sun Ray Sun Ray can shoot through the river and hit someone on the other side. If you can use Sun Ray to push the enemy away, I would approve of the huge risk you're taking. Supernova Supernova. Once you have this baby, their tower is no longer a safe zone. Pudge will score a lucky hook. Supernova is there to cover your sorry, armor-less *** from death by tower poo-poo. Supernova makes for an excellent panic button vs other mids. For example, a Storm Spirit on their side just hit 6. he zips up to you, and is about to perform his deadly combo. What do you do? Well. If you're confident you can survive the combo, wait for him to carry it out, then ult in his face. If you don't think you can, ult immediately and give him the finger.This chapter is currently undergoing construction
Author's note - I recently asked a friend for some extra input regarding offlane Phoenix, and have added it to this chapter. He's also written everything in (in my opinion at least) rather crudish capslock humor, but who am I to jude what you guys might like to read? His section is right after mine.
Squishy, slow, no armor, and an escape with a ridiculously long cooldown. Why would anyone ever think of putting Phoenix in the offlane?
Answer: his ridiculously long range on his spells. With the recent changes to the offlane, not only is it easier for Phoenix to survive, he could actually thrive, getting oozles of experience and gold where most heroes would balk. Just remember to exercise great amounts of caution!
Sun Ray. Stay in xp range as much as you can to get a level advantage. Icarus Dive
Disruptor using 
Glimpse and 
Kinetic Field to trap you. If possible, run to covered areas such as the side shop where you can use your Icarus Dive under the cover of fog of war.
Magic Missile and 
Last Word. Fire Spirits Sun Ray Sun Ray during a (hopefully multi-man) dive. You may also use the ray to heal up allies fighting under the tower. Phoenix ****py base armor means no diving for him. Unless.... Supernova Pudge will score a lucky hook. Phoenix. Should your enemies wish to dive you, quickly apply Fire Spirits on all of them and Supernova next to the tower. If they still are going for you, you're either vastly outnumbered, or they're really really brave. or stupid. Sometimes it's one or the other, or all damn three. Fire Spirits LETS HIM MANFIGHT ANYONE LIKE A ******* BOSS. YOUR STARTING HP IS PRETTY ****, SO REMEMBER TO BUY SOME STR. YOU ALSO MURDER JUST ABOUT ANYONE BY THE TIME YOU HIT LEVEL 3, SO BE A MAN AND GET THAT FIRST BLOOD. JUST WHACK AWAY WITH LEVEL 2 Fire Spirits AND A LEVEL 1 Icarus Dive. WHY DENY THEM CREEPS WHEN YOU CAN DENY THEM THEIR LIVES? NOW HERE'S SOME TIPS THE AUTHOR PROLLY DIDN'T TELL YOU ABOUT Sun Ray AT LEVEL 4, THE AUTHOR IS ******ED. GET ANOTHER LEVEL IN Icarus Dive BECAUSE THAT **** SCALES IN DAMAGE BY LIKE, 3 TIMES HOLY BALLS. IT DOESN'T SCALE VERY WELL AFTERWARDS SO FEEL FREE TO PICK UP LASER AFTER YO SPIRITS ARE MAXED. REMEMBER TO USE IT TO CHASE FLEEING ENEMIES. IT JUST MIGHT DEAL ENOUGH DAMAGE TO SECURE THE KILL
Buckler FIRST *******IT YOU START WITH 0 ARMOR. Pudge SPOT IN THE WHOLE WORLD, AS WELL AS THE MOST WORTHLESS TOWER LOCATION-WISE COZ THERE'S NO ROSH NEARBY AND ****, SO THEY WON'T BE AS MAD IF YOU **** UP AND IT DIES. YOU BETTER NOT LOSE THIS LANE.
Bottle FOR DIRE OFFLANE Phoenix AN OKAY IDEA. REGEN RUNES AND DD RUNES ARE GIFTS FROM ICEFROG.This chapter is currently undergoing construction
Has an offlane Phoenix been ruining your trilane? Has a mid Phoenix been making your middle lane hell? Did you just wish you could just make these dirty Phoenix pickers cry like little babies?
Well then you've come to the right place.
Silencer Last Word on Phoenix right before he'll use Icarus Dive. He'll get silenced midflight, and will swoop right on back to your waiting arms. Phoenix has ridiculously long cooldowns. Put that Curse of the Silent to great use in lane! Phoenix has 0 armor. Your autoattacks (especially if you orb walk) will be highly effective against him in lane!
Skywrath Mage
Arcane Bolt. EZ GAME. Phoenix has very low movement speed. One good slow (Which you have) makes for a very easy 
Mystic Flare. Just be sure the Phoenix is silenced though!
The diet version of Necro Necrophos is capable of massive amounts of regeneration, as well as rotting down his foes HP and smiting them as soon as they reach a certain amount. Though he doesn't have the range or CC to crush Phoenix in lane, he is amazing at nullifying his presence, as well as obliterating him with 
Reaper's Scythe.
Heartstopper Aura and watch Phoenix have to chug down regen like I chug down caffeine! Fire Spirits, the regen from your passive and nuke should allow you to stay in lane for as long as you want. Reaper's Scythe! Not only will you find many times to use this on Phoenix, but you'll force him to use Supernova extremely early in fights. Maybe too early. Phoenix. Should be easy right? Well, it should be. However instead I see Phoenix destroying trilanes all by himself, which to be honest, is pretty cool, but shouldn't normally be happening once you get a few basics down. Phoenix!
Icarus Dive. An interrupted dive makes for an easy kill on Phoenix. Jakiro and his 
Ice Path are particularly excellent at interrupting the dive.
Medallion of Courage works wonders. Try to pick one up ASAP! Supernova. A level 1 nova is an easy kill! Phoenix is a particularly friendly character, with plenty of heroes he works well with. I'll be updating this list over time.
Crystal Maiden
Arcane Aura combined with your Tranquil Boots makes for a lot less trips back to the fountain
Freezing Field, and your Supernova go hand in hand. bait out the enemy's stuns and activate both ultis for some MASSIVE amounts of hurt.
Tidehunter
Phoenix wants to be the one who initiates with this duo. Tidehunter's Ravage is perfect for allowing you to successfully resurrect. This is why Phoenix must initiate first, then Supernova and Tidehunter follows up with a Ravage
Witch Doctor
Witch Doctor hilarious. His 
Maledict is also extremely potent when combined with Sun Ray's immense nuking power.
Voodoo Restoration is a boon to the HP consuming Phoenix
Warlock
Phoenix has amazing AOE and single target damage. Warlock has a huge slow, his infamous ulti, a heal in 
Shadow Word, and he's got 
Fatal Bonds. You do the math here. Phoenix and Warlock in a teamfight is devastating. The worst part is, Phoenix does not even need to use his other spells. Just target the tankiest enemy with a Sun Ray, and if he's under Fatal Bonds, any allies he's attached to will suffer some serious hurt. Of course, you also have Fire Spirits if you want to make it faster...
Dazzle
Shadow Wave, a slow to combine with your Sun Ray, and 
Shallow Grave allows Phoenix to go all-in with his spells without fear of death. What's not to love? Phoenix has Shallow Grave on himself, go all-in and empty your guns, using Supernova if Shallow Grave is about to end and there are still some people standing.
Axe
Axe could really use the heal from your Sun Ray to keep him beefed up and ready for ***-kicking Supernova
Lifestealer
Icarus Dive is a great way to move around an infested Lifestealer, especially if the goal is to come out of the blue and kill someone.
Open Wounds slow an enemy for a massive amount, you can lifesteal with your spells off of them! What's that the kids say nowadays? Easy Sun Ray easy life?
Shadow Shaman
Sun Ray and Fire Spirits Silencer or Necrolyte. Often, he will be glad to oblige.
Clockwerk
Power Cogs are just perfect for nailing your spells. Sun Ray to keep him topped up every now and then. Clockwerk loves to brawl, and that means a lot of scratches.
Legion Commander
Legion Commander is equipped with an ability to increase the attack speed and HP regen of an ally. You don't care about auto attacks, but the HP regen sounds right up your ally! Legion Commander cares about one thing and one thing only. Winning. Winning 
Duel's that is! use your Fire Spirits to slow the attack speed of her enemy duelist, and do apply Sun Ray liberally to make sure she always wins! You'll be thankful for it later when she begins oneshotting heroes from all that bonus damage!
Invoker
Sun Ray a hero Invoker uses 
Cold Snap on. The poor victim will be locked in place, taking tremendous amounts of damage.
Faceless Void
Supernova in one just fine (just be sure you Nova up first), making Void still a powerful ally for our fiery bird. Phoenix can fix this. The gold source is called an "enemy hero", and they're oh so delicious.
Brewmaster
Fire Spirits! You need them to protect the Brewmaster's 
Primal Split Brewlings. After peppering the enemy with them and using Sun Ray on the tankiest threat, use your Supernova. The Brewlings have just about every skill it takes to stop an entire team from killing you. All that teamfight and not counting the other 3 heroes on your team! Phoenix may be a friendly hero, but he is a powerful foe and is considered to be very dangerous to a good portion of Dota 2's large cast. Because of this, it is extremely likely that the enemy will counterpick him, with the ones listed below to be very likely to appear.
Silencer
Silencer's arsenal can and WILL make Phoenix cry like a little girl. Phoenix's Icarus Dive does not cost any mana, allowing him to use it to quickly dispel Curse of the Silent and Last Word though be warned, it DOES cost HP (which could potentially kill Phoenix since Last Word nukes enemies after they cast a spell.
Necrophos
Reaper's Scythe, Necrophos is a hero to be feared. Phoenix outranges him, allowing you to battle a weakened Necrophos from relative safety.
Troll Warlord
Fire Spirits and will brutally and quickly destroy your Supernova.
Windranger
Powershot, 
Shackleshot, and 
Focus Fire will give you some terrible headaches, consider her a potentially dangerous target. Fire Spirits. Apply them liberally and with as much hatred as you can muster; shutting her down early will delay her Powershot and Shackleshot and save your allies a lot of grief.
Timbersaw
Fire Spirits in the laning phase will make his life hell. You may also want to drop a Sun Ray on him should your allies lock him down.
Skywrath Mage
Skywrath Mage gets special mention for his wickedly strong magic damage that will instantly vaporize Phoenix.
Sniper
Phoenix very unhappy. Sniper hardly has any HP and is almost entirely reliant on autoattacks. Land a Fire Spirit on him, use 
Dust of Appearance, and squish his little dwarf body.
Clinkz
Orchid Malevolence. Consider him a Phoenix hunter and avoid at all costs. Phoenix alone in order to kill him. Bring a friend around and always carry Sentry Wards or a 
Gem of True Sight to avoid him. Don't forget, Fire Spirits' attack speed slow screws him over in a teamfight!
Doom be down, empty your guns on that fat bastard. Phoenix does an excellent job of countering certain heroes and making their life hell. Like most counterpicks however, he only has a certain period of time within the game to shut them down before they will eventually outgrow his ability to overpower them. This section is for showing who Phoenix can bully, how he can bully them, and when he should back off a little.
Shadow Fiend (Mid-Lane battle)
Necromastery to gain damage. It is extremely important that you slow down his soul gain by taking advantage of his low HP and low base damage. Harass him with Fire Spirits constantly in the mid lane! Fire Spirits harass, and CONTROL THE RUNES. Your rune control outmatches even the great 
Queen of Pain. Starve him of resources! Shadow Fiend needs to snowball badly to maintain control. Slow him down long enough early on, and your team will be rid of a powerful threat.
Centaur Warrunner (Side-lane battle)
Phoenix is, his 
Return makes it very hard for ranged supports to zone him out. Phoenix however, couldn't give a **** about not being able to autoattack. You probably won't kill him, but Fire Spirits will make sure he won't even dare to take a last hit. Blink Dagger, allowing him to jump on you from a long way out and run you to the ground. My advice? Buy your own. His 
Hoof Stomp gives you plenty of time to blink away and escape without needing to waste Icarus Dive. Centaur Warrunner is usually difficult to kill as he builds 
Hood of Defiance and has an enormous strength gain. Your Sun Ray however, doesn't care. Not so tanky now, are you, you big, stupid, donkey? Sun Ray him while he has it activated, or it would be YOU taking colossal amounts of damage.
Stampede gives his entire team indigestion and makes diablo come out of their butts (They end up running really, really fast). This makes for a very annoying global team haste rune he and his allies can use in a multitude of ways. Always be wary of this ability!
Oscar. I mean uh, Huskar. (Side-lane battle. Unless mid Huskar)
Fire Spirits' enormous attack speed slow and Sun Ray's pure damage counter him perfectly. To add to this, Icarus Dive gives you an easy escape when he jumps on you (Make sure to fly AFTER he lands on you.), and Supernova means that rarely can he rely on the afterburn of 
Burning Spear to bring you down. Fire Spirits, then use your Sun Ray to kill him and keep your ally alive! Heaven's Halberd or a Shiva's Guard would be wonderful. Shiva's aura is not blocked by magic immunity, and becoming magic immune will NOT remove the disarm from HH should you disarm him before he activates bkb
Night stalker (Mid-lane battle)
Night Stalker relies greatly on getting a good start so he can go on a rampage when the first night beckons. You are going to remind him of why he fears daylight. Fire Spirits will both mess up his last hits and force him to consume regen supplies (which he desperately needs for the first night). Use your superior range, rune control, and damage to make his first day a living, burning hell, leaving him a traumatized husk when the War Moon beckons.
Crippling Fear to use during the night, most likely to kill you. Fear not, both 
Void and Crippling Fear have only decent range, 525 and 500 respectively. If your team has wards up and you can see he comes to kill you, flee to the trees near your tower and hide. You will get your chance to kill him later. Crippling Fear's silence, allowing you to fight or flee. You can also just woosh up the Balanar and make fun of him, but using it on yourself is more recommended. Aghanim's Scepter, AC, or Basher, or you will know why people are afraid of the dark.
Lard-*** (Mid-lane battle)
Spirit Breaker (side-lane battle)
Mask of Madness he's wearing will lead him to his doom. Make sure you aren't alone (he thrives in 1 v 1 bashups), and if you see him activate MoM, lay the smackdown upon him. That +100 atk speed is nothing to your -140, and the increased damage he takes means your spells are going to hurt. A lot. Shiva's Guard and Heaven's Halberd are recommended, while Eul's Scepter is great for wooshing him up in the air before his 
Charge of Darkness hits and flying away to safety.
Ghost Scepter is also a fine choice against him. You can't punch a ghost! You can however, cast magic while being a ghost, and here is where the scepter on you and the MoM on him can give you a combat advantage.
Tiny (Side-lane, rarely mid-lane battle)
Avalanche when you two are facing each other is to Icarus Dive past him instead of diving away from him. Diving away from him will force Phoenix to turn and be chased by the avalanche, increasing the odds that the avalanche will catch and stun him. Diving past Tiny on the other hand, will be much faster, and you will often fly past Tiny before the stun effect begins. You may now spit Fire Spirits at him while zooming around, cast Supernova and taunt his poor attack speed, maybe attack his courier if it happens to be sitting behind him.
Hot Mama (Sidelane battle)
Dust of Appearance. Fire Spirits.This chapter is currently under construction
Hi there! This chapter is for various itty bitty tips and tricks that are too small to have their own chapter. You may contribute by commenting on my guide!
Sun Ray affects everyone struck by the beam. Try o catch as many allies and enemies as possible! A (situational) Blink Dagger could assist with this.
Veil of Discord can easily be built from the sidelanes. Get the 
Null Talisman first as it's harder to obtain (since you need to wrestle the courier), and get the 
Helm of Iron Will from the sideshop. If you manage to build one before the laning phase is over, apply liberally to enemy lane mates.
A Dagon is an extremely funny, (if extremely bad) item to get on Phoenix. You may use one while flying via Icarus Dive to nail some pretty sweet kills. Trust me, you'll want to try it out at least once.
Battling a 
Rubick may be very tricky as your spells are so ridiculously good. Just be sure what he gets isn't Icarus Dive, as Rubick can use his own powerful spells like 
Telekinesis and 
Fade Bolt mid flight. If you can, bait him into getting Supernova as his lack of Fire Spirits and Shiva's Guard will mean he lacks self-protection against heroes who could simply beat his sun to death.
Many foolish Huskars believe they are invincible to spells when at super low HP. This makes them dive a lot of casters like Phoenix with glee and impunity. Most of the time, they'd be right too.... if Sun Ray wasn't pure damage. Should he jump you, Icarus Dive out of his immediate attack range and Sun Ray his face off. He'll be very confused at how fast he melts.
Clockwork can be a very dangerous opponent, as his 
Battery Assault can prevent you from flying away. This is where it's often advisable to build a Force Staff to zip over his cogs and into safety. He will also be unable to kill your Supernova alone, especially after his attack speed has been slowed to a crawl.
Remember to use Icarus Dive to snatch objectives! Deny towers, steal aegis, deny aegis, steal runes, deny runes, Last hit enemy towers about to be denied, even deny doomed (literally and figuratively) teammates from a position of relative safety. It's hard as **** to do most of the time, but Phoenix has a swell autoattack and CAN do it. You just need to practice.
Remember, unless an enemy is about to die, ALWAYS FIGHT FROM RANGE. Your range on your spells is ridiculous. Take advantage and fight from the sidelines.
A very dumb, very fun thing to do is combining 
Shadow Amulet with your Icarus Dive for some truly obnoxious mindgames. cast it on allies form far off, cast it on yourself mid flight, build a 
Shadow Blade and a Radiance because why the hell not?
Hi! Here I list a few videos showing off what Phoenix is capable of. I don't have any recording software (boohoo) so these won't be mine, but I make sure they're of A++ quality!
Remember that if you find a video (or make one. Good for you!) Please do send them to this guide!
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oATaNhWuGkk
You guys want to be looking at #3. Here, the Phoenix pulls off an amazing Aegis and Roshan steal using Sun Ray and Icarus Dive. I mention this several times in he guide. Remember that Phoenix has full capabilities in item and ability usage, as well as picking stuff up and attacking while in mid-flight!
If you've gone this far, CONGRATULATIONS! You've read my first ever guide without suffering an aneurysm! Thank you so much for taking the time, and please do leave a comment of constructive criticism if you think I can improve!
Oh and don't forget to have fun. No matter how much the average Phoenix player gets teased for feeding,
He is not just
Nov 18 2013 - Created
Nov 19 2013 - Updated with Why Pick Phoenix and Phoenix's Allies chapters.
Jan 26 2014 - Updated with Phoenix's Enemies chapter.
Jan 28 2014 - Updated with Mid Phoenix build, added Legion Commander to the list of friends.
Jan 31 2014 - Updated with Refresher Orb, added Invoker to the list of friends.
Feb 5 2014 - Added Sniper to the list of enemies, removed Tranquil Boots from the mid build (Jesus christ that was stupid), added Shiva's Guard to and removed Mekansm from core on the mid build, added Alternative, EFFECTIVE skill build.
Feb 15 2014 - Added Faceless Void to friends, put out a Tips and Tricks chapter.
Feb 17 2014 - Added a video section!
Feb 24 2014 - Added an offlane Phoenix section!
March 2 2014 - Added Dagon and Blink Dagger to items!
March 12 2014 - Minor corrections made.
March 23 2014 - Added a tiny section on Fire Spirits vs Sun Ray
April 9 2014 - Added in-game guide!
April 16 2014 - Added Brewmaster to the list of friends!
April 25 2014 - Added a section for Phoenix's Prey
June 15 2014 - Happy Father's day! Just cleaning up a few mistakes
July 15 2014 - Updated Phoenix offlane section
August 9 2014 - Added a section for the Machine Gun Combo!
September 24 2014 - Added Aghanim's Scepter to situational items
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