Phoenix vs Puck

How this matchup plays

Controlling the pace of the game with quick kills is how Puck expects to win, but Phoenix makes this nearly impossible. Puck relies on short bursts of invulnerability from Phase Shift to dodge spells, which does very little against the sustained damage of Sun Ray. Phoenix can apply this pressure from a safe distance, forcing Puck to use Illusory Orb to flee rather than to fight. On top of that, the attack slow from Fire Spirits makes it very difficult for Puck's team to focus down a Supernova, meaning Phoenix's biggest defensive tool is almost always a guaranteed fight-turner.

This allows Phoenix to consistently shut down Puck's attempts to create pressure. Any gank Puck tries to set up can be turned around by a well-timed Icarus Dive and Supernova, often catching Puck out of position. Instead of snowballing from successful pickoffs, Puck gets stuck trying to deal with a hero who negates their burst and punishes their commitment. This stalls Puck's item progression and prevents them from taking control of the map during the mid-game, which is where they need to be strongest.