Phantom Assassin vs Sand King

How this matchup plays

Trying to burst Sand King often goes wrong for Phantom Assassin. She can close the distance instantly with Phantom Strike, but his response is equally fast. Burrowstrike provides an unavoidable stun that completely ignores her Blur, and Sand Storm makes him invisible while dealing magic damage. This forces PA to either run or have detection and a way to deal with his stun, turning what should be a simple gank into a risky engagement. He doesn't have the damage to kill her himself, but he has all the tools to survive her initial jump and set up a counter-kill for his own team.

The matchup changes a lot based on item timings. Before Phantom Assassin gets a Black King Bar, Sand King is a major threat, able to lock her down and control teamfights. Once she has spell immunity, she can often ignore him and go for more important targets, or even run him over if he's caught out. It comes down to which hero gets the jump. Sand King wants to initiate on PA with his team nearby, while PA wants to wait for him to use his spells before she commits to a fight.