Ancient Apparition/Counters

Bad against...

 * Anti-Mage can away from Cold Feet or build a  to dispel it.
 * minimizes the damage Anti-Mage takes from all of Ancient Apparition's abilities.
 * and deal a lot of damage to Ancient Apparition due to his high mana pool.


 * makes Brewmaster invulnerable for the duration, rendering effects of Cold Feet and Ice Blast useless.
 * can dispel Cold Feet from allies.
 * Brewmaster can easily run Ancient Apparition down with the slow from and.


 * increases Lycan's movement speed and renders him unslowable, allowing him to easily avoid and escape Ancient Apparition's abilities.
 * Lycan has fast summons, both his wolves from can do heavy damage to Ancient Apparition due to his immobility and low armor.


 * allows Mirana to easily escape the freezing range of Cold Feet. Mirana also tends to build which dispels Cold Feet.
 * During, the invisibility makes it hard to catch Mirana's team with Ice Blast.
 * Ancient Apparition's lack of mobility/escape capabilities makes him an easy target for Mirana at any stage of the game.


 * can dispel the stun from Cold Feet and can save an ally that's about to shatter from Ice Blast, even allowing healing with by delaying it until after the debuff expires.
 * allows Oracle to deny his allies if they're affected by Ice Blast. If he brings his allies' health to or below the shatter threshold, it will count as him denying the ally. However, this does not work on Oracle himself.
 * provides 100% magic resistance, making it good against all of Ancient Apparition's abilities at all stages of the game.
 * can dispel Cold Feet from allies.


 * Phantom Lancer can dispel or escape from Cold Feet with and, respectively. Phantom Lancer also frequently builds a  which dispels Cold Feet.
 * Ancient Apparition has trouble dealing with Phantom Lancer's illusions due to a lack of Area of Effect damage other than Ice Blast.
 * Phantom Lancer tends to build a, which greatly amplifies his damage against Ancient Apparition due to Ancient Apparition's high mana pool.
 * Ancient Apparition has no escape/mobility mechanisms, making him an easy target for Phantom Lancer at any stage of the game.


 * helps Phoenix escape from Cold Feet.
 * However, all of Pheonix's basic abilities do cost health, which can be harmful under the effects of Ice Blast.
 * can save Phoenix from Ice Blast.


 * allows Terrorblade (or an ally) to regain HP while affected by Ice Blast.
 * Terrorblade often buys which can dispel Cold Feet.


 * minimizes the damage Viper takes from all of Ancient Apparition's abilities.
 * Ancient Apparition's slow movement speed, squishy nature, and lack of escape abilities can easily be taken advantage of through and.


 * and allow Void Spirit to quickly escape from Cold Feet.
 * Void Spirit deals both magical and physical damage, which makes Ancient Apparition an easy target to ambush.
 * If Void Spirit purchases, the silence provided by can disrupt Ancient Apparition during fights, as he is entirely reliant upon spells  to contribute.


 * allows Weaver (or an ally if upgraded with ) to regain HP while affected by Ice Blast.
 * completely ignores the slow from Ice Vortex and helps him escape the freeze range of Cold Feet.

Others

 * Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities:, , , , , and etc.
 * Heroes with mobility/escape mechanisms to dodge Ancient Apparition abilites, or to easily jump on him:, , , , , , , , , etc.
 * Ancient Apparition has no escape or reliable control and is very fragile, which makes him an easy target for anyone who can get on top of him, like or.

Items

 * and its upgrades reduce damage from all of Ancient Apparition's abilities.
 * and both can prevent damage from Ice Blast with their active abilities, and passive magic resistance.
 * dispels Cold Feet and prevents damage from Ancient Apparition's abilities, with the exception of Ice Blast.
 * / can be used to escape Ancient Apparition abilities.
 * / makes it hard to catch the hero with Ice Blast.
 * dispels the Cold Feet debuff.
 * increases the hero's health above the shatter threshold.

Good against...

 * Ice Blast nullifies 's and 's healing.


 * Ice Blast nullifies the health regeneration granted by, which Alchemist greatly relies on to stay alive in battle.
 * Alchemist tends to build which can be deadly during Ice Blast.


 * Ice Blast prevents and  from healing his allies or himself.


 * Cold feet can be used to ensure that the full channel of doesn't go off.


 * prevents Ice Blast's shatter for up to 5 seconds, but can mostly only delay it as Ice Blast's debuff lasts 10 seconds and prevents from healing them.


 * Ice Blast prevents Death Prophet from gaining health from and.


 * Ice Blast prevents Huskar from healing with and negates any lifesteal, making him significantly weaker in battle.
 * and cost Huskar his own health, killing him under the effects from Ice Blast.
 * Huskar often builds which can be deadly during Ice Blast.


 * Ice Blast prevents Io from healing an ally with and prevents healing from
 * Io is a common builder which is useless if he is affected by Ice Blast.


 * Ice Blast stops Morphling from gaining additional health with.
 * Using would even bring Morphling closer to the shatter threshold.
 * In the lane, Ice Vortex slows Morphling's already poor movement speed to a crawl; this, coupled with the amplification of magic damage, can set up an early kill on Morphling if Ancient Apparition has a suitable lane partner.


 * Snapfire is vulnerable while she is casting making her an easy target for the effects of Cold Feet and Ice Blast.


 * makes its target immovable, allowing Ancient Apparition to easily land Ice Blast, or a Cold Feet stun.
 * Ice Blast also negates healing from.

Others

 * Ice Blast negates all regeneration, healing and lifesteal, making some heroes and heal-strategies risky.
 * Heroes like, and others also tend to suffer in Ice Blast's heal denial.
 * Heroes that withstand damage like, , and others will have their durability largely reduced when hit by an Ice Blast due to the risk of shattering.
 * Ice Blast does not debuff illusions, so it can be used to detect the real hero out of his illusions, since the real hero gets debuffed, while the illusions do not. This does not work against Meepo however, since the clones and the main Meepo are debuffed.

Items

 * Ice Blast's ability to nullify health regeneration makes it effective against health regeneration items like, , /, and  etc.
 * Ice Blast's damage per second also disables items like.
 * Ice Blast is devastating against as users cannot activate it to gain HP and toggling it off can result in health immediately dropping below shatter threshold. However, keeping the Armlet toggled on is dangerous as the damage over time from the Armlet can bring a hero down to shatter threshold.
 * The Ice Blast debuff still applies even while cycloned by.

Works well with...

 * discourages the target from moving out of Ice Blast's impact radius.
 * gives Ancient Apparition vision to accurately target Ice Blast on retreating enemies, especially before they reach the fountain.


 * is the perfect setup for Ice Blast and can be followed by Cold Feet to stun enemies for an additional amount of time.
 * and both help Cold Feet for a successful stun on enemies.


 * Successive casts of lock the enemy in place long enough for both Cold Feet and Ice Blast to hit.
 * Ice Vortex amplifies damage from.


 * Ice Vortex amplifies damage for, and.
 * The slow from can help secure stuns from Cold Feet.
 * deals damage based on maximum health, which brings enemies close to Ice Blast's kill threshold while they are under the effect.


 * Oracle can use to damage enemies under the effects of Ice Blast without healing them.
 * Oracle's root can set up a Cold Feet stun or Ice Blast.


 * You can almost always ensure a stun by casting Cold Feet followed by.
 * Ice Vortex stacks with to amplify damage output of allies, especially magical damage.


 * is perfect setup for Cold Feet and Ice Blast.
 * may bring enemies closer to the threshold for Ice Blast.
 * Ice Vortex amplifies damage from.


 * deals a large amount of damage but cannot kill anyone by itself. Ice Blast can be used to finish already weakened enemies.
 * The slow from can help trigger Cold Feet.
 * Ancient Apparition can amplify most of Venomancer's damage with a well-positioned Ice Vortex.


 * can group enemies for an Ice Blast.
 * deals damage based on current health, bringing enemies closer to Ice Blast's Kill Threshold.

Others

 * Any long-duration disable can make a good setup for a long-distance Ice Blast, such as 's, 's , or 's.

Items

 * can help burst enemies that are under the effects of Ice Vortex and Ice Blast.
 * reduces magic resistance, amplifying all of Ancient Apparition's abilities.
 * deals damage over time in an area, bringing enemies close to Ice Blast's kill Threshold.
 * can assist in setting up a stun with Cold Feet.
 * active ability deals damage based on current health, which compliments Ice Blast.

List of heroes that counter Ancient Apparition, and list of heroes that work well with Ancient Apparition.

Ancient Apparition/Combinações Ancient Apparition/Противостоящие