Monkey King vs Phantom Lancer

How this matchup plays

Fighting inside Wukong's Command feels awful when Phantom Lancer is on the other team. The soldiers from Monkey King's ultimate get their attacks soaked up by countless illusions, rendering the spell almost useless against real heroes. Phantom Lancer's abilities create a wall of bodies that absorb all the damage, while Monkey King's own kit lacks the area-of-effect spells needed to clear them out. Boundless Strike and Primal Spring are poor tools for finding and killing the real Phantom Lancer hiding among his copies.

This problem defines the entire flow of the game. Monkey King might have a decent laning phase, but his first major power spike with his ultimate is completely nullified if Phantom Lancer is present. In mid-game fights, Monkey King is often forced to either abandon his own ultimate or die inside it as illusions overwhelm him. To have a chance, the Monkey King player needs to get a massive early lead and rely on his team to provide the wave clear and control needed to deal with the illusion army.