Duelist

Phoenix: abilities and tips

Phoenix is a British Duelist who thrives solo: he blinds, blocks vision and heals in his own flames before attacking.

Origin: United Kingdom
Release: June 2, 2020, patch 1.0

Playstyle

Phoenix sets up his own duel: you throw Curveball to blind the angle, peek right after and finish the fight with your gun. Blaze cuts a line of sight or splits two angles during an execute, and Hot Hands flushes out a defender or heals you between fights. Run it Back lets you enter a site almost risk-free, or even gather info. He manages without help, but his flashes blind your teammates too: call them out before you throw them.

Abilities

Key CBasic

Blaze

150 credits · 1 charge

You create a wall of fire that moves forward and can be curved by holding fire; the starting projectile passes through walls. The wall blocks vision, damages opponents who cross it and heals you if you stay inside.

Key numbers

Wall duration: 8 s
Damage: 30 per second

Place the wall to cut a crossfire during an execute, then advance in its shadow.
Curve it around an angle to hide your approach, but avoid stopping inside it if an opponent knows where you are.

Key QBasic

Hot Hands

200 credits · 1 charge

You throw a fireball that explodes after a short delay or on ground contact, creating a burning zone. The zone damages opponents and heals you. Alternate fire lobs it in an arc.

Key numbers

Zone duration: 3.25 s (minimum at full size)
Damage: 60 per second

Throw it on a defended position or on the Spike to force an opponent out of their angle.
Stay in your zone between fights to regain health, but only if the enemy can no longer see you.

Key ESignature

Curveball

250 credits · 1 free charge per round · 2 charges

You throw an orb that curves left (primary fire) or right (alternate fire), explodes shortly after and blinds anyone looking at it. Teammates are blinded too. The ability comes back every two kills.

Key numbers

Throw delay: 0.6 s
Blind duration: 1.5 s
One charge comes back every 2 kills

Throw it from behind an angle so the orb explodes in the opponent's field of view, not yours.
Peek as soon as it explodes: the blind only lasts 1.5 s, so you have no time to lose.

Key XUltimate

Run it Back

7 ultimate points

You place a marker on your position. For ten seconds, if you die or the time runs out, you return to that point with your original HP and armor. The ultimate is for entering a site without risk or gathering information.

Key numbers

Duration: 10 s

Place the marker out of enemy lines of sight: an opponent who spots it can wait for you.
Move toward the opponent as soon as you activate it: the duration is short, and every second without a fight is wasted.

Passive

Heating Up

When you stand in your own fire, you regain health instead of losing it. Blaze and Hot Hands both benefit, with healing that keeps applying for a short moment.

Key numbers

Healing: 50 HP maximum per ability

Use a fire ability to heal at the end of a round, before an upcoming duel.

Strengths

You blind the opponent then peek alone: Curveball gives you the first-shot advantage without waiting for a teammate.
Blaze and Hot Hands heal your agent: you can chain fights without falling back to find health.
Run it Back lets you enter a site, gather information, then come back without losing your life.
Blaze cuts a line of sight and its starting projectile passes through walls, which isolates a defender or an angle.
Not very team-dependent: well suited to solo queue.

Weaknesses

Curveball blinds your teammates too: a throw that wasn't called out ruins their duel.
The blind only lasts 1.5 s: if your peek comes late, the opponent has already regained sight.
Opponents who spot your Run it Back marker can camp it and punish you on your return.
The Blaze wall lasts 8 s and only covers one angle: less versatile than a Controller smoke.
Blaze also blocks your own vision: badly placed, it hinders you as much as the enemy.

Tips

Call out every flash to the team before you throw it, especially behind a teammate who is entering.
Throw Curveball from behind an angle so the orb explodes in the enemy's view, not yours.
After a flash, peek with a clean counter-strafe: you need to land one precise shot within the next second.
Place Run it Back out of lines of sight, and change the spot from round to round at high ranks.
Use Blaze to isolate a defender during an execute, not to hide a single angle.
Train short tracking on blinded targets: a blinded opponent still moves, and your aim must follow.

The aim to train

The Road2Radiant benchmark subcategories that matter most here.

Static
Clicking on static targets
You peek blinded opponents who are nearly still: a precise flick to the head turns the flash into a kill.
Drills to improve
Strafe Click
Clicking while strafing
Peeking after a flash demands a crisp counter-strafe to shoot accurately within the 1.5 s window.
Drills to improve