What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
178 buys
2ndSecond most
79 buys
3rdThird most
75 buys
4thFourth most
67 buys
5thFifth most
60 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Phantom Lancer
Melee · Agility
- Win rate
- 52.7%
- Pick share
- 1.2%
- Matches
- 546,912
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsCarryEscapePusherNuker
NeedsSupportInitiatorDisablerFrontline
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 40–50 min — that is where this hero measures best, at 50.1% over 1,469 matches.
Avoid
- Queen of Pain is on their side — this hero wins 34.8% of 66 matches against it.
- Snapfire is on their side — this hero wins 40.2% of 97 matches against it.
- Rubick is on their side — this hero wins 39.4% of 66 matches against it.
178 buys79 buys75 buys67 buys60 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Phantom Lancer took at each level.
QSpirit Lance
Sends a magical spirit lance to a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while summoning an illusory phantom to attack the unit.
Unit Target · Magical damage
WDoppelganger
Phantom Lancer briefly vanishes from the battlefield.
Point Target · AOE
EPhantom Rush
When targeting an enemy for an attack, Phantom Lancer quickly charges into range, gaining increased movement speed and evasion.
Instant Cast · No Target · Physical damage
RJuxtapose
Phantom Lancer has a chance to fracture his presence on an attack, creating an illusion of himself.
PassiveMax Order
QEW
Max Q first, then E, then W. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QSpirit Lance
- WDoppelganger
- EPhantom Rush
- RJuxtapose
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QSpirit Lance | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WDoppelganger | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| EPhantom Rush | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RJuxtapose | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Phantom Lancer performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
54 opponents · public matches40%60%Phantom Lancer's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard
If this happens, use this
- They are running away
Something that holds them still, or closes the gap yourself. Matched on “slow”.
- I am being jumped
A way out, a way to shrug the debuff, or something to eat the burst. Matched on “dispel”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “magical”.
- Clear or push the wave
Creeps, summons and anything that hits a building. Matched on “summon”.
By medal
- Herald53.0%15,275
- Guardian52.3%50,365
- Crusader52.5%84,730
- Archon52.9%110,757
- Legend53.0%111,189
- Ancient53.0%73,789
- Divine52.6%53,922
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min42.4%1,884
- 20–30 min47.6%4,532
- 30–40 min49.2%3,335
- 40–50 min50.1%1,469
- 50 min +49.5%693
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Phantom Lancer
Abilities
Spirit Lance
Unit Target · Magical damageSends a magical spirit lance to a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while summoning an illusory phantom to attack the unit.
Doppelganger
Point Target · AOEPhantom 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
Phantom Rush
Instant Cast · No Target · Physical damageWhen targeting an enemy for an attack, Phantom Lancer quickly charges into range, gaining increased movement speed and evasion.
Illusory Armaments
Hidden · PassiveWhenever an illusion of Phantom Lancer is created, its outgoing damage cannot go below a fixed value for 3 seconds.
Juxtapose
PassivePhantom 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.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 21 +2.2
- Agility
- 26 +3.4
- Intelligence
- 21 +1.8
- Move · range
- 285 · 225
Talents
- 4Doppelganger CooldownIllusory Armaments Duration
- 3Spirit Lance DamageJuxtapose Illusion Damage Taken
- 2Illusion Spirit Lance DamageDoppelganger Cast Range
- 1Spirit Lance Slow DurationJuxtapose Illusion Trigger Chance
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes 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 Shard
Changes 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.
Sources
- Kit, talents and upgrades · mechanicalread 22 Sept 2026
Ability names, icons, behaviour, damage type and text, plus the Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard descriptions — as the game itself ships them. Nothing here was counted over matches.
- Win rate by medal · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The same hero at each of Valve’s eight medals, over 4,610,063 public matches. Each medal carries its own sample, because the eight buckets are nothing like the same size.
- Matchups and match length · counted, on a narrower windowread 16 Sept 2026
Win rate against each opponent and across five match-length bands. This channel reports far fewer games than the medal figures above: the median hero pairing is 51 matches and the largest on the whole roster is 707. Rows under 30 games are absent rather than shown small, and the ones that remain are ORDERED by a figure shrunk toward even by its own sample — the rate you see is the real one, the ranking is the careful one.
- What players build · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The five most common items in each of Valve’s four game stages, with each row’s own pick count.
- Skill order · counted, in league matchesread 3 Oct 2026
Where skill points go, read off every player's own learning order in premium and professional league matches on patches 7.41 and 7.40. Each level shows the ability most players took there and the share that did — a column only a third agree on is printed as a third, not as the rule. Heroes under 30 counted games show no path.
- Situation index · derived, and checkableread 22 Sept 2026
Each situation is a phrase match against Valve’s own ability text, and every row shows the phrases that matched. No win rate is attached, because nobody counts one per situation.
Mechanics are the ones Valve publishes for patch 7.41f. GamGem is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.