Phoenix is the Best Support on Patch 7.41b

Patch 7.41 has been out for a while now, and Phoenix has emerged as the most reliable support in the last week. Phoenix is a versatile hero and had a brief spike of popularity as an offlaner before 7.41.

Now, the immortal bird returns to its roots and takes full advantage of its new iteration to become the most performant support, winning 52.96% of all matches in the last week.

Phoenix: Consistently Performant

Phoenix has faced little to no alterations since Patch 7.41. The Dying Light facet was converted into an innate ability and received a small nerf to its missing health magic damage and radius.

A significant change was the removal of the stackable miss from Blinding Sun. If that were not the case, Phoenix would be an even stronger hero, especially with the current meta focus on physical damage and right-clicking carries.

Despite this string of nerfs, Phoenix has somehow found a way to thrive in a meta where it should be surrounded by natural counters in the carry role: heroes with fast attack speed and built-in magic immunity.

Itemization: Follow the Pattern

The five best performant items on Phoenix are late-game items that either address its much-needed health pool and regeneration or synergize with its abilities and increase pushing capabilities:

• Meteor Hammer (68.07% win rate)

• Boots of Bearing (65.18% win rate)

• Bloodstone (64.97% win rate)

• Heart of Tarrasque (64.93% win rate)

• Refresher Orb (64.76% win rate)

For starting items, focus on those that boost your health regeneration and attributes, such as a Magic Wand or Bracers. In the mid-game, prioritize both Aghanim’s items and Shiva’s Guard.

Counters: Most of the Meta

With Patch 7.41 heavily favoring right-clicking carries, Phoenix is a strong early pick that counters many popular core options. As a result, Phoenix is frequently banned or picked in the first phase of drafting.

Notable heroes countered by Phoenix include meta cores such as Wraith King, Night Stalker and Slardar. Abusing Fire Spirits will slow these heroes down significantly during the laning phase.

Heroes that counter Phoenix effectively are those that attack very quickly or possess built-in magic immunity such as Snapfire, Lifestealer, Juggernaut or Morphling.

Phoenix’s most vulnerable state is when Icarus Dive is on cooldown and it is forced to use Supernova. Try to keep track of the 25-second cooldown and position yourself for maximum impact against it.

Tips and Overview

If you’re playing Phoenix, Fire Spirits are your main source of damage. Use them in lane to harass the enemy core, give your own core an advantage in trades and keep enemy supports at a distance.

Another important tip is to remember that you can use items during Icarus Dive. This allows you to snipe enemy heroes and buildings depending on your itemization.

With a Meteor Hammer, you can dive at maximum range near the enemy tower, use the Hammer, and land back at a safe distance. If your team needs burst damage, you can dive in and use Ethereal Blade and Dagon to burst supports or force cores back to the fountain.

Closing Thoughts

Phoenix is a versatile hero that, contrary to expectations, received a boost in win rate after the nerfs in Patch 7.41 and 7.41b. Right now, Phoenix is one of the Top 10 most picked heroes in PGL Wallachia Season 8 and was contested in 100% of the matches.

If you want to stay informed on the latest developments from PGL Wallachia Season 8 and receive more information on the metagame, check the news section on the Strafe website!

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Featured Image Source: Valve