Dota 2

Phantom Lancer

● Agilitymeleephysical damageCarryEscapePusherNuker

Phantom Lancer storms enemy forces with an endless supply of clones. Leading his illusory army, he can cut foes apart in a breathtaking flurry of attacks, send clones to push into enemy territory, or use his doppelgangers to mislead and elude foes if cornered.

Pos 1 — Carry
Win rate
53.1%
Pick rate
10.8%
Armor / MS
4.3 / 285
Range
225
Plan matchupRole builds

Abilities

Official ability data from Valve
Spirit LanceQ⏱ 10 / 9 / 8 / 7s◆ 120
Sends a magical spirit lance to a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while summoning an illusory phantom to attack the unit.
Mechanics notes (1)
  • • Illusions within 675 range of Phantom Lancer will mimic the cast animation.
DoppelgangerW⏱ 22 / 18 / 14 / 10s◆ 70
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. Extends duration of all illusions. The two added doppelgangers have different properties: one takes normal damage and deals none, while the other takes 500% bonus damage and deals -80% less damage. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Mechanics notes (3)
  • • This ability can be used to dodge projectiles, and dispel debuffs.
  • • Trees near a reappearing unit will be destroyed.
  • • Phantom Lancer and his allies can see which illusion is the 100% damage illusion.
Phantom RushE⏱ 15 / 11 / 7 / 3s
When targeting an enemy for an attack, Phantom Lancer quickly charges into range, gaining increased movement speed and evasion.
Mechanics notes (2)
  • • If the attack order is cancelled, the movement speed bonus is lost.
  • • Rush movement speed is 800.
•
Illusory ArmamentsInnate
Whenever an illusion of Phantom Lancer is created, its outgoing damage cannot go below a fixed value for 3 seconds.
JuxtaposeR
Phantom Lancer has a chance to fracture his presence on an attack, 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.
Traits ours:IllusionsEvasionHigh mobilitySplit push

Our ratings

0–10, our judgement — every planner uses them
EarlyMidLateLaningWave clearTeamfightPickoffDisableDurabilityMobility

Aghanim's upgrades

Upgrade text from Valve · priority is ours Our recommendation
Aghanim's Scepterlow priority
Spirit Lance: Spirit Lance bounces once on enemies, prioritizing Heroes. Increases Spirit Lance illusion damage.
Phantom Rush: Increases Range. Whenever Phantom Lancer Rushes through enemies, he creates Juxtapose illusions that attack them. Additionally, every 600 units rushed creates a Juxtapose illusion that rushes to the target alongside Phantom Lancer.
Aghanim's Shardlow priority
Juxtapose: Adds an active ability to Juxtapose. Renders Phantom Lancer invisible for up to 8 seconds while generating a duplicate image to confuse enemies. His movement speed is increased by 15% during this invisibility.

Tips & counterplay

Playing as Phantom Lancer

Illusion carry that grows exponentially. Avoid AoE heroes; split push with Juxtapose.

Laning: Spirit Lance poke and Phantom Rush autos.

Kill combo: Spirit Lance → Phantom Rush → autos with illusions.

Staying alive: Doppelganger dodges projectiles and dispels.

From real games (OpenDota)
  • • Most games are in the safe lane (96%, 51.3% win rate).
  • • Power Treads: usually done by 8 min; finishing it by 12 min wins 55%.
  • • Manta Style: usually done by 20 min; finishing it by 15 min wins 71.4%.
  • • Aghanim's Scepter: usually done by 25 min; finishing it by 20 min wins 68.3%.
  • • Gets stronger the longer the game goes (39.3% before 20 min → 48.7% after 60 min).

Playing against Phantom Lancer

Generated from this hero's traits, counters and real matchups

Illusions Bring AoE: Mjollnir, Battle Fury or Shiva's Guard, and heroes like Earthshaker or Crystal Maiden wipe illusions. Hit the real hero; the illusions take extra damage.

Evasion Monkey King Bar or Bloodthorn makes evasion useless. Magic damage ignores evasion entirely.

High mobility Lock them down before they can jump away: Rod of Atos, Orchid, Scythe of Vyse or Abyssal Blade.

Split push Keep a hero with wave clear near home. Boots of Travel let you answer pushes quickly.

  • • Respect Phantom Lancer at Lvl 6: Juxtapose army starts to snowball.
  • • Respect Phantom Lancer at Diffusal Blade: Burns mana with every illusion.
  • • Respect Phantom Lancer at Manta + Heart: Unkillable with a huge illusion army.

Items that counter it

Abyssal Blade High mobility, EvasionBloodthorn High mobility, EvasionForce Staff High mobilityRod of Atos High mobilityBoots of Travel Split pushDiffusal Blade High mobility

Heroes that beat it

Talents

Current talents (Valve)
-4s Doppelganger Cooldown
25
+2s Illusory Armaments Duration
+100 Spirit Lance Damage
20
-70% Juxtapose Illusion Damage Taken
50% Illusion Spirit Lance Damage
15
+125 Doppelganger Cast Range
+1s Spirit Lance Slow Duration
10
+3% Juxtapose Illusion Trigger Chance

Best items

Position 1 build Our recommendation
Starting
Early
››
Core
›››
Luxury

Power spikes

Our recommendation
Lvl 6Juxtapose army starts to snowball.
Diffusal BladeBurns mana with every illusion.
Manta + HeartUnkillable with a huge illusion army.

Best skill build

Position 1 Our recommendation
123456789101112131415161718
Q Spirit LanceQQQQ
W DoppelgangerWWWW
E Phantom RushEEEE
R JuxtaposeRRR
T Talent★★

Counters

Strong against ours

Countered by

Weak against ours

Synergies

Great with ours

Best lane partners

Toughest lane opponents

From our matchup model, adjusted by each opponent's laning rating Our recommendation
Axe−25
Earthshaker−19
Crystal Maiden−19
Witch Doctor−19
Shadow Fiend−18

Live stats OpenDota · 2026-10-14

Public match stats

Win rate (all ranks)
53.1%
Win rate (Divine+)
52.7%
Pick rate
10.8% of matches
Sample
446,047 picks
Pro
13 picks · 23.1% WR · 12.2% ban

Lane presence

safe96% · 51.3% WR
mid2.4% · 63.9% WR
off1.5% · 56.5% WR

Win rate by rank

Public matches per medal bracket
53.3%Herald52.9%Guardian52.8%Crusader53.1%Archon53.4%Legend53.3%Ancient52.7%Divine

Win rate by game length

Minutes · OpenDota parsed games
39.3%10′45.8%20′48.3%30′50.7%40′47.8%50′48.7%60′

Item timings

When the item is finished, and the timing that wins most (≥15 games)
ItemGamesUsualWin %Best timing
Power Treads1,4668′51.6%≤12′ · 55%
Manta Style1,34220′53.7%≤15′ · 71.4%
Aghanim's Scepter1,26025′55.5%≤20′ · 68.3%
Orchid Malevolence39530′62.3%≤25′ · 66.7%
Eye of Skadi38030′76.6%≤25′ · 81%
Aghanim's Shard31730′55.8%≤30′ · 55.6%
Bloodthorn11730′70.9%≤30′ · 72.5%
Heart of Tarrasque6930′79.7%≤30′ · 78.4%
Diffusal Blade5115′51%—
Butterfly4330′79.1%≤30′ · 77.3%

What players actually buy

Most purchased items by game phase
Start
Early
Mid
Late

Best real matchups

Head-to-head win rate, ≥40 games
Mars68 games57.4%
Storm Spirit40 games55%
Lion52 games53.8%
Invoker55 games50.9%
Shadow Fiend89 games44.9%

Worst real matchups

Head-to-head win rate, ≥40 games
Queen of Pain61 games32.8%
Shadow Fiend89 games44.9%
Invoker55 games50.9%
Lion52 games53.8%
Storm Spirit40 games55%

Recent pro & league games

Most recent league matches featuring this hero
LeagueResultK / D / ALengthDate
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersWin3 / 4 / 232′2026-10-13
1win Streamers League #3Win1 / 7 / 337′2026-10-13
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersWin12 / 1 / 749′2026-10-13
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersWin0 / 3 / 018′2026-10-13
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersLoss0 / 2 / 017′2026-10-12
1win Streamers League #3Loss8 / 5 / 1346′2026-10-12
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersLoss6 / 7 / 332′2026-10-11
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersLoss4 / 4 / 243′2026-10-11

Lore

The remote village of Pole had no knowledge of the wars raging in the heart of the kingdom. For them, the quiet of spear fishing, and a family meal were all that a full life required. Yet war came for them nonetheless. Joining the able-bodied conscripts as they filed passed their homes, the humble lancer Azwraith vowed to bring peace to his kingdom, and in so doing, his people. Placed with his kin in the vanguard of the final assault against the Dread Magus Vorn, the cost to his fellows was absolute. As the charging force battled toward the fortress, Azwraith alone among his kind remained standing, and he alone was able to infiltrate the keep. Focused and infuriated by the slaughter of his brothers, Azwraith bested each of the wizard's deadly traps and conjured guardians. Soon the simple fisherman arrived at Vorn's tower sanctum. The pair dueled through the night, pike to staff, as chaos raged below, and with a deafening cry Azwraith pierced his enemy. But the wizard did not simply expire; he exploded into uncountable shards of light, penetrating his killer with power. As the dust settled and the smoke of combat began to clear, Azwraith found himself standing among a throng of his kin. Each seemed to be dressed as he was, each seemed armed as he was, and he could sense that each thought as he did. Aware that his allies were approaching, he willed these phantoms to hide themselves, and one by one they began to vanish into nothingness. As the soldiers came upon the sanctum, they found the warrior that had bested the wizard. When they approached their champion, the lancer vanished. The pikeman who had stood before them was no more than another phantom.