Bad against...[]
- Cold Feet and Ice Vortex both hinder Dragon Knight's movement greatly during teamfights.
- Ice Blast ignores Dragon Knight's armor, disables his health regeneration, and kills him prematurely.
- Viscous Nasal Goo slows down Dragon Knight and lowers armor, locking him down and making him more vulnerable.
- Dragon Knight has no built-in disengage from Frost Arrows, and Marksmanship procs ignore base armor, bypassing Dragon Knight’s durability for the most part, making Drow one of the few heroes that can deal enough sustained damage to solo kill Dragon Knight.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Frost Arrows also apply hypothermia stacks, reducing her target’s regen, which is especially potent against tanks like Dragon Knight. (A similar effect can also be achieved with an Eye of Skadi).
- Counterspell makes Anti-Mage exceptionally resistant to Breathe Fire, Dragon Tail, Fireball (requires Aghanim's Shard) and Elder Dragon Form's attacks. Its active component also blocks and reflects Dragon Tail back at Dragon Knight.
- Mana Break drains Dragon Knight's small mana pool, although it won't affect Dragon Knight much if he is in his Elder Dragon Form.
- Lich's constant slows with Frost Blast and Chain Frost will slow Dragon Knight to a crawl, especially in a crowded teamfight.
- Heartstopper Aura and Reaper's Scythe go right through Dragon Knight's armor.
- Fury Swipes can tear Dragon knight down as it stacks infinitely.
- Arcane Orb's constant pure damage output is devastating to Dragon Knight.
- Dragon Knight's relatively low mana pool leads to heavy damage from Sanity's Eclipse, which also bypasses his armor.
- Static Link saps Dragon Knight of his already low base damage, making him even more useless in a fight if he gets kited.
- Storm Surge makes Razor much faster than Dragon Knight, and hard to catch.
- Eye of the Storm melts Dragon Knight's armor and bypasses Black King Bar, his core item.
- Timbersaw's pure damage will kill Dragon Knight surprisingly fast, especially if he gets caught in a bad position while laning.
- In the early game, a Dragon Knight without Black King Bar is basically defenseless against Viper.
- Viper can harass Dragon Knight at any time with his Poison Attack and Nethertoxin.
- Corrosive Skin reduces damage from Dragon Fire and inflicts damage to him.
- Viper Strike disables Dragon Blood, negating his main survivability.
- Viper Strike and Poison Attack can severely slow him down even with his Elder Dragon Form.
Others[]
- In general, heroes that can slow down Dragon Knight's movement speed will do well against him. This includes Venomancer and others in addition to the heroes mentioned above.
- Slardar can chase Dragon Knight down with Guardian Sprint and stun him with both Slithereen Crush and his passive Bash of the Deep. He can also use Corrosive Haze to whittle Dragon Knight's armor.
- Shadow Fiend's Presence of the Dark Lord reduces Dragon Knight's armor considerably, and his strong base attacks are augmented by his Necromastery.
- Huskar can burn down Dragon Knight's health quickly during the early to mid game, but is not as effective during the late game. However, Life Break remains a constant threat due to the slow and percentage-based damage.
- Abilities that deal pure damage: Impetus, Doom, Rupture.
- Elder Titan's Natural Order completely nullifies Dragon Knight's high armor.
Items[]
- Shiva's Guard is the primary counter against Dragon Knight, reducing his damage, move speed, and attack speed significantly.
- Mekansm negates much of Dragon Knight's damage in the early to mid game.
- Desolator, Medallion of Courage, and Solar Crest reduces much of Dragon Knight's armor.
- Lotus Orb reflects Dragon Tail back at Dragon Knight if he impulsively uses it on a hero affected by it.
- Linken's Sphere blocks Dragon Tail.
Good against...[]
- Bloodseeker's physical damage is unlikely to kill Dragon Knight, and therefore rarely get a chance to recover the large amount of HP from Bloodrage.
- The extra damage from Searing Arrows is largely blocked by Dragon Knight's armor.
- Clinkz has too low health to survive a gank.Getting stunned keeps him down long enough for a reaction.
- Breathe Fire reduces his damage, as he almost exclusively deals physical damage.
- Dragon Knight's heavy armor negates Vendetta's burst physical damage. His large HP pool also gives him a good chance of surviving Nyx Assassin's follow-up nuke damage.
- Riki does little damage to Dragon Knight, as he relies only on physical damage with modest attack speed and lack of burst.
- Spirit Breaker's slow attack speed and moderate damage do very little to harm Dragon Knight, even if ganked with Charge of Darkness.
- Despite the armor reduction from Meld, Templar Assassin's reliance on physical damage and medium attack speed is unlikely to harm Dragon Knight.
- Templar Assassin's Refraction charges also get quickly removed by the damage over time from Dragon Knight's ultimate.
- The dragon's splash damage wears down his illusions.
- Early harassment with Breath of Fire hinders his farming.
- Fireball stops his pushes and allows for a defence.
- Death Ward does little damage against Dragon Knight's armor, and Dragon Knight's high health regeneration minimizes damage from Maledict.
Others[]
- Dragon Knight is a cleave ranged carry, with one of the strongest splash damage and, with the right items, one of the strongest damage output,if farmed enough items for late game. He excels greatly against any crowd.
- In general, heroes that fare badly against Dragon Knight are heroes that rely only on physical attack damage, with no crit or attack speed bonuses.
- Broodmother's spiderlings and spiderites do almost nothing against Dragon Knight.
- Heroes that depend on illusions will fare badly against Dragon Knight's splash damage and Dragon breath.
- Heroes with evasion will still be hit by Elder Dragon Form's splash damage.
- Heroes that rely on physical damage are ineffective against Dragon Knight due to his high armor: Phantom Assassin, Bloodseeker, Lifestealer, Troll Warlord, Sven
Items[]
- Strong AoE makes it unlikely someone will buy a Manta Style, especially a sustained one. Hitting a illusion will probably cause more damage to anyone near it than to the illusion itself.
- Orchid Malevolence might not be as effective as it should be against the Knight.
Works well with...[]
- Hand of God is especially useful on Dragon Knight, as it keeps him alive as both carry and tank.
- Arcane Aura is especially useful for Dragon Knight. Coupled with his naturally high health regeneration, it ensures that Dragon Knight rarely needs to return to the base.
- Frostbite and her slows make it much easier for Dragon Knight to deal damage.
- A well-placed Black Hole gives Dragon Knight ample opportunity to ravage the enemy team with Elder Dragon Form's splash damage. Additionally, Dragon Knight can use Dragon Tail and the level 3 Elder Dragon's frost attack to trap enemies inside Midnight Pulse for heavy damage.
- A good Reverse Polarity sets Dragon Knight up to deal much splash damage in Elder Dragon Form. Empower also grants extra splash damage to Elder Dragon Form, while allowing Dragon Knight to cleave in melee form and farm up more quickly.
- Medusa's tankiness combined with that of Dragon Knight's can be enough to overwhelm a disadvantaged enemy team.
- Living Armor makes it very hard for enemy carries to take down Dragon Knight.
- Overgrowth holds enemies down for Dragon Knight to destroy en masse with Elder Dragon Form.
- Wave of Terror, along with Vengeful Spirit's common item pickups like Medallion of Courage reduces enemy armor greatly, allowing Dragon Knight to destroy them.
Others[]