Phoenix just got released and, naturally, people are excited about him. From amazing visuals to an exciting theme and a flashy ultimate, Icarus is definitely a tempting pick. However, many people don’t seem to understand how to effectively use Phoenix’s tools as a team player. I hope that this guide will help clear some misconceptions about the hero as well as give readers the knowledge necessary to make Phoenix a scary pick in any team.



First off - Phoenix is not a support hero. I don’t know if Valve is to blame for this one, or if people just see the fact that he has a bit of CC and a small heal and immediately make assumptions, but he is terrible as a support. Combine the fact that he is incredibly fragile with his poor burst damage and CC ability and he won’t be a pivotal hero in your tri-lanes for very long. There are plenty of better choices for support roles than Phoenix, and picking him for it is setting yourself up for disappointment.

Not being a support doesn’t make Phoenix a carry, either. A lack of high damage output and the ability to be shut down fairly easily by even a minor silence leaves many people believing this hero to be overall weak and in need of major changes to be viable. This assessment is incorrect, however, and proper use of Phoenix can make him a deadly assassin and one of the best turn-heroes in the game (turn: flipping the odds of an engagement around so that what appeared to be an immediate defeat turns into a heroic victory).

To best understand how to play Phoenix well, we will start with his abilities:



1) Icarus Dive

Phoenix’s first ability is his Dive. Take a blink, attach a movespeed slow and a nuke, then finish off with the ability to return to where you started if you mess up and dive into a bad situation - all around this ability is fantastic. While it received a (likely much needed) nerf in that it can now be interrupted at any point during travel, it is still an amazing movement ability and is a huge part of what makes Phoenix such a great predator. While the scaling is fairly bad, this ability absolutely warrants an early point in every game.

2) Fire Spirits

Phoenix’s second ability, Fire Spirits, has a deceptive amount of damage and an incredible attack speed slow. This ability is the other main piece of Phoenix’s ability to hunt down and eliminate targets, and makes him incredibly difficult to fight against. Proper timing of this ability can be up to 16 seconds of 80 DPS, an incredible amount of damage for a non-ultimate, as well as a remarkable 150 attack speed slow, rendering most heroes completely unable to auto attack at all. This ability is Phoenix’s most powerful tool in a fight and should likely always be maxed first.

Remember that the damage from Spirits does not stack, so firing them all at the same time on one hero is a waste.

3) Sun Ray

Phoenix’s third ability, Sun Ray, fires a long range beam that does damage to enemies and heals allies. While this ability does do pure damage and is great on paper, it is incredibly slow to aim, expensive to channel, and just does not make enough of an impact to make enemies run in fear. At this iteration of the game, Sun Ray is, frankly, a terrible ability that won’t be effective in the vast majority of situations. With that said, if your team composition has the ability to gather enemy heroes, such as Reverse Polarity, Black Hole, or Vacuum, the damage from this ability can add up very quickly if done to multiple heroes at once. While it is unlikely to even outpace auto attacking in a 1v1 situation, we should still consider it in regards to team fights on a game to game basis. Sun Ray can be used to finish off runners, but in most situations where it would be effective in a team fight, Supernova should be used instead.

4) Supernova

Phoenix’s ultimate, Supernova, does AoE damage over time and culminates in a powerful stun with a downright huge radius. Furthermore, Phoenix is reborn with full health and mana, as well as no cooldown on his primary three abilities. However, the “egg” is extremely easy to kill and even two heroes focusing on it during the insanely long 6 second channel will break it open. This ultimate is a fantastic tool for Phoenix, and it makes him a very scary dueler, although it can be difficult to use effectively in team fights where there are more heroes present to attack the egg. This ability always warrants immediate points, even if only as a free heal - not only can it save your life in a pinch, it is a great distraction for your teammates and a great way to seal the deal on a close duel.

Understanding Phoenix’s abilities is a key step to realizing his potential as a hero killer. Between a decent movespeed slow, an amazing attack speed slow, and an incredible amount of damage over time, Phoenix is very difficult to fight and even more difficult to escape. While in the early stages of the game, Phoenix far outpaces almost every other hero in his damage and mobility, as well as preventing auto attacks, which is the primary source of damage while spells are still at low ranks. Because of this, Phoenix is a remarkable laner and can pretty much survive anywhere. However, I feel he excels in one of two ways: middle or dual offlane. I tend to prefer running an aggressive offlane to punish enemy teams for sending their weaker heroes, such as hyper-carrys, to their safe lane. Doing this also keeps the middle lane open for a hero who needs the experience boost more than Phoenix, such as a primary carry pick or a ganker.

With that said, a great combination for Phoenix is other aggressive heroes such as Lich. Between the raw nuke and ranged auto attack power, these heroes can easily score first blood as early as level 2 on a variety of enemy lanes.



Here, Lich tags a Slark unlucky enough to be soloing us with Frost Blast, and with Phoenix’s ability to chase and do damage, he doesn’t stand a chance at surviving even at level two. This is a prime example of how Phoenix should be played - extreme aggression. Phoenix can easily push almost any hero out of a lane, and even heroes with great escapes can be run down and trampled. Situations like this are almost poetic, really.

Pure lane power isn’t where the fun ends with this hero, though. Perhaps his best utility early game is the ability for him to swap lanes and countergank in a flash. Imagine him to be like Storm Spirit, except he doesn’t need level 6 to fly. In the below scenario, I teleport to the bottom lane just in time to see my bestie, Ogre Magi, brutally murdered by the enemy team.

This grieves me deeply, and in response I am forced to end the lives of all three of these gankers. With one Dive and four Spirits, Phoenix easily takes out three heroes early game - an incredible amount of power that few other heroes in the game can boast about as early as level 8 with no other items than Treads. In combination with his ultimate, this makes Phoenix one of the best countergankers and hero slayers in the game. You think you’re safe under a tower just because you’re at full health and I’m at 30%?

Don’t be ridiculous! Dive, one Spirit, and Supernova alone are plenty to end the life of most heroes at this point in the game, and with the addition of a 150 attack speed slow on Gyro, he has no chance of killing the egg before he dies, let alone before the ultimate finishes channeling. Even if Gyro’s team teleported in to try to save him, the cooldown reset on Dive after Supernova finishes allows me to fly away to safety.

Some might say that being strong early doesn’t make Phoenix a good hero late game. This can be somewhat true, and Phoenix does not scale very well into the late game as his ultimate is more and more difficult to use as team fights get bigger. However, he still brings potent crowd control to his team, and his ultimate can definitely be a game changer if used at the right time. The egg is a huge distraction for enemy carries, and the damage over time and stun combination rival the power of other popular team fight ultimates (Ravage, Reverse Polarity, etc.).

For example, in this fight the enemy Clinkz tries to destroy my ultimate, rather than focusing on my teammates. The enemy Slark opts to simply run away, a mistake that costs their team the fight. Most of my team is very close to death and this distraction, in addition to the stun, likely saved their lives. Even if Phoenix dies during his ultimate, a full 11 attacks redirected from teammates is nothing to laugh at. Furthermore, a huge AoE 2.5 second stun that pierces magic immunity is an amazing addition to any team fight if enemies choose to ignore the Phoenix.

While Phoenix does drop off in damage late game, the attack slow from his fire spirits is always strong and a well timed ultimate can make the difference between a win and a loss. If you can, try to combine Supernova with ultimates that can help ensure the egg’s survival. Other AoE stuns are always useful, but even a spell like Chain Frost can prevent the enemy team from grouping up and focusing on the egg.

In this example, Supernova is used right as Kunkka launches his ultimate, and when the enemy team comes in to try to destroy the egg they are destroyed by Ghost Ship. A few seconds later, Supernova stuns both enemy carrys during their BKBs, which allows my team to clean them up with ease.

Phoenix might not be the rampaging monster that makes the highlight reels every game, but he is certainly no pushover. An amazing team fight ultimate combined with huge early game killing power makes Phoenix a very scary hero in the right hands. He should be played with extreme aggression early on and transition into more of a supportive role as his carrys get strong and the damage of his spells starts to burn out. With that said, here is some final advice on how I, personally, prefer to play this hero:

Phoenix can be played as a support from the beginning, but I feel it is a huge waste of his potential. He should spend his gold on getting as much early power as possible and let someone else do the hard supporting. This hero can absolutely slaughter most other heroes in the game during the first thirty minutes or so, and there is no reason not to be doing that.

With that said, choose items that focus on survivability and offensive utility. Strength Treads are my most popular choice of boots, with the next item often being Rod of Atos or Veil of Discord. If you choose not to get Veil, a casual Platemail will likely be needed at some point mid-game, as this hero’s armor is just pitiful. Heaven’s Halberd is an awesome item for Phoenix, the stats are amazing for a tank like him and the disarm is just perfect in combination with Supernova. For end game, Shiva’s Guard, Scythe of Vyse, and Radiance are all great choices.

Just remember, without proper damage boosts from skills and a fully magical kit, you are virtually completely stopped by magic immunity, so you should be buying items that support your team in some way. Always play to what your team needs, if the enemy has a strong melee carry that needs to be kited, buy Eye of Skadi if nobody else can. If the enemy team has a ton of AoE magic damage, be the guy that buys Pipe of Insight if nobody else will. While Phoenix can snowball off early game kills and buy pure damage and carry a team, it is a risky move when he will inevitably be out-paced by most other popular carry picks. In the examples above, I opted for a 15 minute Radiance and ended up dying six times in a row shortly after. Worth it!

As far as skills go, Icarus Dive and Fire Spirits should quite nearly always be leveled up first, with preference for Spirits. A point in Sun Ray can be useful to fly over terrain, however, the damage just does not warrant extra skill points in most cases. Just keep in mind that every game is different, and if your team can set up reliable CC and you can channel full duration Sun Rays on multiple heroes, it can add up quickly. Sun Ray can also be useful if your team has very little initiation, as it can allow you to harass the enemy from a long range and force them to come to you (think firing into Roshan’s pit to disrupt an enemy team trying to kill him).