Phantom Lancer

Phantom Lancer, sometimes known as the “Cheese Carry” is a hero whose skill set revolves around making illusions and tricking his opponents into pursuing images of himself. The hero can get out of hand rather quickly, overwhelming enemy positions with sheer numbers over power. Enemy teams without appropriate Area of Effect abilities to distinguish Phantom Lancer from his illusions can quickly find themselves drowning amidst a wave of illusions, sometimes resulting in a victory even before the game has a chance to pick up. Here we will see how some professionals use Phantom Lancer who is seen exclusively in the Safelane position 1 carry role. 

5. Ame’s Hard Carry Phantom Lancer Build

 

We start the list off with PSG.LGD’s very own Wang “Ame” Chunyu who goes into the Safelane carry role. The game is fairly even for most of the game’s entirety, with appropriate counter picks from the enemy Dire team making it especially hard for Ame to seal off the game.

We shall see in this game, how Ame makes the most out of a hard matchup, with Death Prophet, Crystal Maiden and Outworld Devourer having a huge arsenal of AOE weaponry to deal with Phantom Lancer’s illusions, making it especially difficult to push up the high ground. Ame also has an especially hard lane matchup allowing us to observe how he makes the best out of a bad situation. 

Ame’s Skill Allocation: 

Level 1 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 2 - W - Doppelganger

Level 3 - E - Phantom Rush 

Level 4 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 5 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 6 - R - Juxtapose

Level 7- E - Phantom Rush 

Level 8 - W - Doppelganger

Level 9 - W - Doppelganger

Level 10 - Left Talent

Level 11 - W - Doppelganger

Level 12 - R - Juxtapose

Level 13 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 14 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 15 - Right Talent 

Level 16 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 18 - R - Juxtapose

Ame’s Item Build: 

First Buy: Tangoes, Magic Stick, Quelling Blade, Circlet 

A Quelling Blade is almost always picked up on Phantom Lancer, giving him an edge when it comes to last hitting, and increasing his farming speed. 

2 Minutes: Band of Elvenskin 

Phantom Lancer is a hero that benefits greatly from agility and strength items. A Band of Elvenskin helps Ame gain some powerful early game agility stats which help him last hit and later build into Power Treads.

4 Minutes: Gloves of Haste

Gloves of Haste is a core item needed in the build up towards Power Treads. 

6 Minutes: Power Treads

Treads are probably the best boots you can purchase on Phantom Lancer as it gives valuable attributes which not only directly affect Phantom Lancer, but his illusions as well. Treads give the best value when it comes to farming, sustain as well as overall damage output. 

10 Minutes: Hand of Midas

The game is fairly even at this point. Ame has decided to go for the late game as he does not want to take any early fight especially with the enemy team’s relatively high AOE crowd controlling abilities. Midas not only gives him the potential to convert creeps into gold, but increases the proccing of illusions due to the attack speed bonus it gives, making him farm a lot faster than if he opted for a diffusal blade first.  

14 Minutes: Diffusal Blade

Diffusal Blade is the best item to pickup on Phantom Lancer as the mana burn passive also works with his illusions. This makes him a very potent and annoying carry, burning the enemy’s mana pool and doing a lot of damage in the early to mid-game. Notice how Diffusal Blade is an incredible power spike for Phantom Lancer. Ame does not even join a single fight until he has farmed up his Diffusal Blade. As soon as he does, he farms aggressively near his team, taking a team fight at 14:09 which lands his team a triple kill. 

16 Minutes: Yasha

Yasha is a very cheap and valuable item for what it gives. It gives movement speed and agility which allow Phantom Lancer to farm faster and build towards a Manta Style, which is a core item for the hero. 

22 Minutes: Manta Style

Manta Style is a powerful item that you would eventually want to build on the hero, especially if you need to dispel some crucial spells off the enemy team. In this game, it is crucial for Ame to dispel Death Prophet’s silence and Crystal Maidens nuking abilities so that he can continue to fight. The stats and the active also allow Phantom Lancer to tank up a little as well as summon two extra illusions that also are able to generate more illusions of themselves. 

25 Minutes: Eye of Skadi

The Eye of Skadi is an all in one item that serves as a decent source of stats, damage and counter to carries. The passive of the Skadi allows your illusions to stay on crucial targets and support your team in providing an extra source of slow. Ame has picked up Skadi this game as an extra way to deal with the Death Prophet’s siphon ability.

28 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard 

The Aghanim’s Shard is a great and cheap pick up on Phantom Lancer once you have a few items that make it so your illusions are able to hold up their own against the enemy. The Shard gives Ame the potential to poke and prod, not committing to enemies and eventually whittling them down. 

36 Minutes: Octarine Core

With the Aghanim’s Shard, an Octarine Core is a nice and unique choice for Ame, who doesn’t want to commit too hard into engagements due to the enemy’s incredible amounts of AOE. Instead, Octarine gives some great stats which help his illusions tank up a little, as well as increases the amount of damage that he is able to dish out casting Spirit Lance from afar. Octarine Core is a situational item that is best used in games where you do not want to rush into the front line of the enemy team. 

43 Minutes: Bloodthorn

Selling his Midas, Ame has opted for a Bloodthorn in this game to not only increase his damage, but increase the tankiness of his illusions. Bloodthorn provides some magic resistance which helps his illusions stay alive for longer to deal damage. This is usually a late game purchase and is situational. Sometimes a Heart of Tarrasque or an Abyssal Blade are better choices when the source of damage from the enemy team comes from more physical damage dealers. 

4. 23Savage’s Hard Carry Phantom Lancer Build

23savage from Fnatic gives some insight into a ‘standard’ professional match and how the hero should be played and built in a fairly evenly matched game. When 23savage reaches the late game, we can see how the hero is able to carry and destroy an entire enemy team that is not rightly equipped with the necessary ammunition to deal with the hero, making it a somewhat breezy game for 23savage to wrap up. 

23savage’s Skill Allocation: 

Level 1 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 2 - W - Doppelganger

Level 3 - E - Phantom Rush 

Level 4 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 5 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 6 - R - Juxtapose

Level 7- E - Phantom Rush 

Level 8 - W - Doppelganger

Level 9 - W - Doppelganger

Level 10 - Right Talent

Level 11 - W - Doppelganger

Level 12 - R - Juxtapose

Level 13 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 14 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 15 - Left Talent 

Level 16 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 18 - R - Juxtapose

23savage’s Item Build: 

First Buy: Tangoes, Quelling Blade, Circlet, 2 Branches and a Faerie Fire

23savage goes for a similar build to Ame, but instead, trades the magic stick for 2 extra branches and a Faerie Fire. This is 23savage recognising that the enemy offlaners do not cast too many spells compared to the Death Prophet and Marci in Ame’s game. 

5 Minutes: Gloves of Haste, Boots and Magic Wand 

23savage has picked up some early boots this game to combat the Razor’s static link. The Wand is also a core pickup on the hero for some extra heal and mana regeneration from stick charges. 

6 Minutes: Power Treads

Once again Treads are probably the best boots you can purchase on Phantom Lancer as it gives valuable attributes which not only directly affect Phantom Lancer, but his illusions as well. Treads give the best value when it comes to farming, sustain as well as overall damage output. 

14 Minutes: Diffusal Blade

Diffusal Blade is once again the best item to pickup on Phantom Lancer as the mana burn passive also works with his illusions, increasing his damage output by a huge margin in the early to mid game. 23savage forgoes a Midas as opposed to Ame’s build. This is due to the enemy team’s relatively early power spike with the Drow and Undying able to siege towers relatively early into the game. As such, 23savage needs to delay the push and come online faster to ensure that the enemy team does not take too much of the map and run over his team. 

16 Minutes: Yasha

Once again, Yasha is a strong pickup on Phantom Lancer as it gives him some very strong stats for its cost. 

21 Minutes: Manta Style

The timing of the Manta Style in 23savage’s game is a minute quicker than Ame’s. However, Ame does have an extra Midas on top of 23savage. Despite this, 23savage has been participating more in engagements and did not have the luxury of free farming for the first 15 or so minutes of the early to mid-game. Noticeably, 23savage uses Manta Style in this game less for its dispel, and rather to create quicker illusions of himself in battle and to deal more damage. 

22 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard 

23savage has opted for an earlier Aghanim’s Shard as he has a couple of allies who are able to already initiate for him. This enables him to stay at the backline more and choose more wisely which engagements partake in. 

25 Minutes: Linken's Sphere

23savage has decided to go for a Linken’s Sphere in this game rather than a Skadi as the item is extremely valuable against three of the enemy’s core heroes. It is able to stop Storm Spirit initiating upon him, Spirit Breaker’s Charge or Ultimate ability, and Razor’s Static link which can uncover him amongst his mass of illusions. Linken’s Sphere also provides some decent stats as well as mana regeneration which helps him spam his upgraded Spirit Lance. 

28 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard 

The Aghanim’s Shard is a great and cheap pick up on Phantom Lancer once you have a few items that make it so your illusions are able to hold up their own against the enemy. The Shard gives Ame the potential to poke and prod, not committing to enemies and eventually whittling them down. 

33 Minutes: Heart of Tarrasque

Heart of Tarrasque is an amazing to pick up on Phantom Lancer in the late game as it makes his illusions significantly harder to deal with. As the enemy team does not have a lot of AOE damage, the Heart allows him to more effectively siege towers and pick and prod at the enemy heroes. 

35 Minutes: Eye of Skadi

As the enemy team is already having trouble dealing with 23savage’s Phantom illusions, the Eye of Skadi is pretty much the nail in the coffin, making it nigh impossible for the Dire team to burst down his illusions, let alone himself, without the entire enemy team’s focus and coordination. The Eye of Skadi makes Phantom Lancer a lot tankier and do significantly more damage as well. 

3. Topson’s Hard Carry Phantom Lancer Build

Topson brings a new light to the definition of Hard Carry, offering some very dominant gameplay in lane and going for high impact, aggressive item choices to compliment his team’s aggression. 

Topson’s Skill Allocation: 

Level 1 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 2 - E - Phantom Rush 

Level 3 - E - Phantom Rush 

Level 4 - W - Doppelganger

Level 5 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 6 - R - Juxtapose

Level 7- E - Phantom Rush 

Level 8 - W - Doppelganger

Level 9 - W - Doppelganger

Level 10 - Left Talent

Level 11 - W - Doppelganger

Level 12 - R - Juxtapose

Level 13 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 14 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 15 - Right Talent 

Level 16 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 18 - R - Juxtapose

Topson’s Item Build: 

First Buy: Tangoes, Quelling Blade, Magic Stick, 2 Branches and a Faerie Fire

Similar to 23savage’s build, Topson instead swaps out the Circlet for a Magic Stick to counteract the enemy offlaners’ highly spammable modes of aggression. 

2 Minutes: Wraith Band

Topson has chosen to go for some earlier stats in game 

4 Minutes: Boots of Speed

Boots of Speed are a necessary pick for any hero.  

8 Minutes: Power Treads, Magic Wand

Treads are once again the boots of choice for Phantom Lancer, giving valuable attributes which not only directly affect Phantom Lancer, but his illusions as well.

15 Minutes: Diffusal Blade, Point Booster, Blade of Alacrity 

Topson goes for a Diffusal Blade in this game to deter enemies from obtaining too much ground too early on. It also gives him an extra ability to slow enemy heroes and control team fights. 

17 Minutes: Aghanim’s Scepter 

Aghanim’s Scepter is an interesting choice to pick up on Phantom Lancer early into the game. It gives Topson some extra survivability as well as damage. The fight at 19:50 shows us the underrated power of the item, turning a gank around in a very one sided fight. 

24 Minutes: Sange and Yasha and Hyperstone

Instead of going for the usual Manta Style build Phantom Lancer player’s usually go for, Topson notices the lack of debuffs the enemy team has. Instead Topson goes for a Sange and Yasha, which makes him more durable in team fights and allows him to brute force through enemy positions. Topson is keen to close off the game as soon as possible and opts to go for a Hyperstone to increase his attack speed and hence, illusion generation. 

29 Minutes: Assault Cuirass

Assault Cuirass is not a common pick amongst Phantom Lancer players, but is often overlooked as it does not offer up many stats. However, as Topson has already built his hero to be more tanky, an Assault Cuirass is an amazing pick up as it strengthens his illusions against a primarily physical damage based team. The armor reduction from the Assault Cuirass also increases the amount of damage his illusions do. 

33 Minutes: Butterfly

Once again, the enemy team relies on a lot of auto-attacking physical damage. Topson makes his illusions and himself even harder to hit, much less kill, with this brute force tanky build that is often overlooked with the usual Manta Style into Heart of Tarrasque build that we see more commonly. Topson shows us that this brute force itemization is the way to go against physical damage dealers that rely on their auto-attacks for AOE damage. 

2. Miracle’s Hard Carry Phantom Lancer Build

Miracle is recognised as one of the best players in Dota. He will show us why he is in this rather even match up. Even with some very prevalent AOE damage coming from the enemy Leshrac and Death Prophet, Miracles item choices ensure that he has the upper hand in every fight. 

Miracle’s Skill Allocation: 

Level 1 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 2 - W - Doppelganger 

Level 3 - E - Phantom Rush 

Level 4 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 5 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 6 - R - Juxtapose

Level 7- E - Phantom Rush 

Level 8 - W - Doppelganger

Level 9 - W - Doppelganger

Level 10 - W - Doppelganger

Level 11 - Left Talent

Level 12 - R - Juxtapose

Level 13 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 14 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 15 - Right Talent 

Level 16 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 18 - R - Juxtapose

Miracle’s Item Build: 

First Buy: Tangoes, Magic Stick, Quelling Blade, Circlet and Branch

Miracle’s lane up is almost exactly the same to the lane Ame had. As such, Miracle’s item choice is one of the same, opting for more consumables and a stick to ensure that he does not get bullied out of the lane. 

2 Minutes: Band of Elvenskin 

Once again, Miracle mirrors Ame’s build, opting for a Band of Elvenskin to secure creeps better against a ranged opponent.

5 Minutes: Gloves of Haste

Miracle obtains his Gloves of Haste a minute slower than Ame due to an earlier death.

6 Minutes: Power Treads

Agility Power Treads are the way to go, allowing for some nice Tread switching plays as required. 

12 Minutes: Hand of Midas

Like Ame, Miracle obtains a Hand of Midas in this game as a sort of catch up mechanism, with the enemy team putting a lot of pressure onto him, he obtains his Midas 2 minutes slower than Ame. 

15 Minutes: Diffusal Blade

Once again, Diffusal is a core item for the early game, with no other item providing the same level of utility and damage as the Diffusal. Here, the enemy applies a staggering amount of pressure against the Dire team. However, due to the tight item timing of the Diffusal, Miracle is able to push back the enemy at the 15 minute mark, securing him some much needed extra time to farm up his next item. 

19 Minutes: Mage Slayer

This is the first noticeable difference between Ame’s build, opting for a Mage Slayer instead of a Yasha. Miracle notices that a Manta Style does nothing against the enemy Leshrac, and instead aims to go for a Mage Slayer to tank up a bit more against the enemy team’s high magic damage. The attack modifier on the Mage Slayer further helps reduce the enemy team’s magic damage, which indirectly makes Miracle’s Phantom Lancer more tanky. 

25 Minutes: Heart of Tarrasque

Due to the immense amount of damage coming in from the enemy Radiant team, noticeably the Leshrac, Miracle notices that he is extremely susceptible to getting bursted down. As there are no other strong front liners in his team, Miracle has chosen to go for more tankiness in the form of a Heart of Tarrasque. This item is generally the best item you can go on Phantom Lancer for tankiness. 

26 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard 

Once again, the Aghanim’s Shard is a great and cheap pick up on Phantom Lancer once you have a few items, allowing Miracle to not fully commit to fights and have another source to generate illusions. 

31 Minutes: Eye of Skadi

The Eye of Skadi is probably the second best tanky item to build on Phantom Lancer due to its impressive value for stats. It further reduces the healing of both the Death Prophet and Morphling who rely heavily on their healing abilities to stay impactful in team fights. As the Dire team needed to siege, Miracle needed an item to do so to which the Skadi was the best choice for. 

1. Yatoro’s Hard Carry Phantom Lancer Build

Yatoro is one of the best Dota 2 carry players as of recent, serving as the spearhead of Team Spirit. In this game, we can see how Yatoro secures an incredible gold lead, making it all but impossible for the enemy team to ever bring down. Long story short, Yatoro becomes an absolute raid boss by the late game who could literally hold up his own in a 1 v 5 with the enemy team if required. 

Yatoro’s Skill Allocation: 

Level 1 - W - Doppelganger  

Level 2 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 3 - E - Phantom Rush 

Level 4 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 5 - E - Phantom Rush

Level 6 - R - Juxtapose

Level 7- E - Phantom Rush 

Level 8 - W - Doppelganger

Level 9 - W - Doppelganger

Level 10 - Left Talent

Level 11 - W - Doppelganger

Level 12 - R - Juxtapose

Level 13 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 14 - Q - Spirit Lance 

Level 15 - Right Talent 

Level 16 - Q - Spirit Lance

Level 18 - R - Juxtapose

Yatoro’s Item Build: 

First Buy: Tangoes, Magic Stick, Quelling Blade, Circlet and Branch

Yatoro starts up in the safe lane with the exact same build as Miracle, giving him the ability to build up early stick charges from the enemy offlaners’ high ability uses.  

2 Minutes: Band of Elvenskin 

Yatoro, like Miracle, also obtains a 2 minute Band of Elvenskin, to secure creep kills easier. 

4 Minutes: Gloves of Haste

Yatoro, like Miracle and Ame, obtains a glove of haste as the Power Treads is a must buy on Phantom Lancer. Funnily enough, Yatoro also dies in lane, slowing down the timing of his Power Treads. 

5 Minutes: Power Treads

By the end of this article, Power Treads have been the consistent choice for Phantom Lancer. Other boots should almost never be obtained. 

12 Minutes: Hand of Midas

Like Ame and Miracle, Yatoro cannot refrain from a Hand of Midas as it gives some good attack speed to increase the amount of illusions he can create, which marginally increases his farming speed. 

16 Minutes: Diffusal Blade

As you can see in most if not all of these professional builds, the Diffusal Blade is an almost non-skippable item. It offers too much value for the hero and is hence why the item is best used on Phantom Lancer compared to any other hero in the game.  

19 Minutes: Yasha

In this game, Yatoro goes for the conventional Yasha build as the item is a better farming tool for the hero compared to Miracle’s Mage Slayer. There is also more space to farm this game, allowing for his greedier pickup. 

26 Minutes: Heart of Tarrasque

As Yatora has to be essentially the frontliner in this game, he has opted for a Heart of Tarrasque even before finishing his Manta Style to go in and out of battle. At 26:00, Yatoro leaps fearlessly into the middle of the enemy team, focusing the enemy Witch Doctor. Even though he was unsuccessful at first and almost dies, he goes back in with a healthy HP pool to continue the fight. The fight at 26:40 showcases the immense value of the heart, that if he had started building his Manta Style instead, he would have died and most likely have lost the team fight. 

29 Minutes: Manta Style

  By now, Yatoro is incredibly farmed, being 2000 gold richer than the richest enemy core. Manta Style offers an extra way to dispel and reduce damage and gives him more damage. 

26 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard 

Once again, the Aghanim’s Shard is a great and cheap pick up on Phantom Lancer once you have a few items, allowing Miracle to not fully commit to fights and have another source to generate illusions. 

33 Minutes: Eye of Skadi

Once again, the Eye of Skadi is a valuable pick up on Phantom Lancer, giving him the most balanced benefits between damage, tankiness and utility.