Ancient Apparition counter and synergy picks
Pick Ancient Apparition with Wraith King to increase win-rate from 53.2% to 62.2% or against Monkey King to increase win-rate to 58.8% in Patch 7.38c.
Good with...
...based on stats [7.38c]
Hero | Change in Win Rate ▼ |
|---|---|
9.0% | |
5.3% | |
4.0% | |
3.8% | |
3.7% | |
3.6% | |
3.1% | |
2.9% | |
2.8% | |
2.7% | |
2.6% | |
2.3% | |
2.3% | |
2.2% | |
2.1% |
...based on gameplay [up-to-date]
Pit of Malice is good for setting up both Ice Blast and Cold Feet. In general the global presence of both heroes compliment each other allowing their team to play a lot more greedy, while staying active on the map. Aghanim's Scepter further provides a global Pit of Malice for Ice Blast.
Chronosphere is absolutely amazing for setting up both Ice Blast and Cold Feet due to it's long duration and AOE property. They pair well together in lane being Melee/Ranged as Void's built in sustain trough Time Walk allows him to frontline for AA so he can make use of his long attack range and harass.
Dream Coil is amazing for setting up Ice Blast and Cold Feet due to it's long duration and AOE property. It creates a situation where it's significantly less likely for whoever got caught to be able to stand their ground and fight back. Furthermore, Puck is able to stick to any affected targets with Illusory Orb and Waning Rift to finish them off.
Winter's Curse is amazing for setting up Ice Blast and Cold Feet due to it's long duration and AOE property. Arctic Burn and Ice Blast complement each other perfectly as Arctic Burn is great at getting heroes to low HP quickly, while Ice Blast is great for finishing off low HP targets.
Ember has a low cooldown but high duration root with Searing Chains, that can be applied to multiple targets - this gives AA the perfect opportunity to connect his Ice Blast and Cold Feet. Additionally, due to Ice Blast being global it allows Ember to roam the map by himself with much greater potency as he can easily stick to any affected targets with Fire Remnant and finish them off.
Ice Blast's debuff can affect heroes through Song of the Siren's invulnerability. Song Of The Siren's absolutely huge AOE and lockdown duration allows AA to cast Ice Blast reliably from a long range in order to scale it's own AOE or to lay down multiple Ice Vortexes.
...core items [up-to-date] [E]
A core Boots upgrade for mana sustain to spam your spells for fighting and farming. Can be upgraded to Guardian Greaves later in the game.
Provides you with aoe setup for your Ice Blast and Cold Feet. Further increases the area of Ice Blast, Ice Vortex and even Cold Feet's stun aoe range.
A core item to have an instant long range disable against elusive enemy heroes to follow up with Cold Feet to chain stun and burst them down with your damage spells. Also gives you mana regen to spam Chilling Touch with Aghanims Scepter.
A core item that maintains your pickoff and teamfight potential on the map more often by reducing the cooldown of your spells and items.
A late game pick up that allows to setup your Cold Feet and Ice Blast. Additionally you can use to defensively for the dispell, immunity and repositioning for you AND your allies. NOTE: Ice Blast's debuff applies even during the Cyclone.
Good against...
...based on stats [7.38c]
Hero | Change in Win Rate ▼ |
|---|---|
5.6% | |
4.3% | |
3.8% | |
3.8% | |
3.7% | |
3.5% | |
3.3% | |
3.3% | |
3.1% | |
2.9% | |
2.8% | |
2.6% | |
2.5% | |
2.4% | |
2.3% |
...based on gameplay [up-to-date]
Ice Blast negates Chemical Rage's healing completely, which is Alch's main defensive tool. This usually forces Alch to flee from the fight entirely and wait it out. Additionally, his facet Bone Chill reduces strenght, which further impacts his overall potency.
Ice Blast is one of, if not the best spell against Huskar as he is the only hero in DOTA that does not have a Mana pool and utilizes HP to cast his spells and items. It prevents his Berserker's Rage healing and the lack of mobility in Huskar's kit makes it difficult for him to disengage easily and wait out the duration safely. Even if he just gets clipped by Ice Blast's debuff he usually dies to Armlet as he generally runs around at already low HP.
Leshrac outputs more than enough damage with his spells alone so he generally itemizes for sustain and tankiness. Ice Blast prevents him from healing with Bloodstone or other sources of Spell Lifesteal and since Leshrac has no innate mobility spells it's difficult for him to disengage easily and wait out the duration in safety.
Ice Blast prevents Necro from healing trough Sadist and Death Pulse, while having Ghost Shroud amplify it's damage as it reduces Magic Resistance. Necro has no innate mobility spells and is quite slow and stationery, making it difficult for him to disengage easily and wait out the duration of Ice Blast in safety.
Ice Blast prevents Bristleback from healing with Bloodstone or any other sources of sustain, making it difficult for him to play fights in a manner which he wants to - by trading his HP in order to get Bristleback procs and do damage in order to heal back up and keep repeating the cycle.
Io's entire kit is tailored towards healing, with his Tether, Overcharge and even Relocate that can be used to go back to the fountain for regen - Ice Blast shuts all of that down entirely. Since Io tends to stay close to his Tethered ally it makes it easy for Ice Blast to connect with multiple targets.
Ice Blast prevents Morphling from using Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) to increase his HP pool and 'heal' up. To farm optimally Morphlings keep their HP low in order to have as much Agility as possible, which allows AA to snipe him across the map with Ice Blast.
Bad against...
...based on stats [7.38c]
Hero | Change in Win Rate ▲ |
|---|---|
-14.1% | |
-11.8% | |
-11.8% | |
-10.5% | |
-10.4% | |
-10.3% | |
-10.0% | |
-10.0% | |
-9.5% | |
-9.3% | |
-9.2% | |
-9.2% | |
-8.8% | |
-8.6% | |
-8.5% |
...based on gameplay [up-to-date]
Pudge Support can pickup an early Aghanim's Shard in order to save his allies from Frost Blast - Dismembered allies do not heal but also do not have their health reduced in any way allowing them to wait out the Frost Blast debuff duration in safety. Meat Hook is effective at pulling teammates away from Cold Feet's stun radius.
Storm's mobility allows him to easily get on top of AA and has enough damage to kill him reliably. Ball of Lightning allows him to easily dodge Ice Blast and get away from Cold Feet in order to dispel it. Ball of Lihgtning can also disjoint any Chilling Touch hits and makes retreating back to safety easy for Storm.
Lycan's mobility allows him to easily get on top of AA and has enough damage to kill him reliably. Shapeshift essentially provides him with Haste making it difficult for AA to connect his Ice Blast and easy for Lycan to leave Cold Feet's stun radius. Summon Wolves on their own are able to apply enough pressure for AA and force him to kite them.
AA's quite mana intensive due to the low cooldowns of his spells, which makes him a great target for Mana Void. Blink is amazing for both closing the gap and dodging/disengaging Ice Blast or Cold Feet. Counterspell can block/reflect Cold Feet and provides Magic Resistance to significantly mitigate AA's exclusive magic damage output.
Medusa's Mana Shield is essentially her HP bar, which makes her the perfect counter to Ice Blast as it does not affect mana regeneration in any way, completely rendering the impact of the spell to only a fraction of it. Manta and Butterly are staple items for Medusa, with which she can Dispel Cold Feet and Evade Chilling Touch hits.
Shukuchi allows Weaver to easily get on top of AA or to disengage from Cold Feet or Ice Blast. Time Lapse is able to restore HP during Ice Blast as it does not function as a heal and can be further upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter to save allies. Additionally, Time Lapse can dispel Cold Feet and Shukuchi can disjoint the occasional Chilling Touch hit.
...counter items [up-to-date]
Lets you absorb a massive instance of damage from Chilling Touch and Ice Blast.
Gives you movement speed to close the gap on Ancient Apparition and walk out of Cold Feet proc range. Also counters the movement slow from his spells.
Gives you movement speed to close the gap on Ancient Apparition and walk out of Cold Feet proc range. Also counters the movement slow from his spells.
Gives you magic resistance to significantly reduce the damage taken from Ancient Apparition's magic heavy toolkit.
Gives you and your laning partner HP sustain against Ancient Apparition's damage over time. Builds into Pipe of Insight later on which is incredible against him.
The status resist reduces the duration of Ice Blast as well as mitigating the effects and durations of AA's other spells.
Gives you and your team magic resistance and barrier to significantly reduce the damage taken from Ancient Apparition's magic heavy toolkit.
Gives you magic resistance to significantly reduce the damage taken from Ancient Apparition's magic heavy toolkit
Gives you debuff immunity and magic resistance to not get stunned by Cold Feet and reduce the damage taken from Ancient Apparition's magic heavy toolkit.
Gives you magic resistance and barrier to significantly reduce the damage taken from Ancient Apparition's magic heavy toolkit as well as save yourself or an ally from Ice Blast.
Lets you push yourself or an ally out of Cold Feet proc range.
Lets you dodge the Cold Feet stun with Cyclone if you cannot walk outside its proc range in time.
Bad with...
...based on stats [7.38c]
Hero | Change in Win Rate ▲ |
|---|---|
-6.9% | |
-6.6% | |
-5.5% | |
-4.9% | |
-4.7% | |
-4.5% | |
-4.5% | |
-4.5% | |
-4.1% | |
-4.0% | |
-3.9% | |
-3.8% | |
-3.5% | |
-3.3% | |
-3.3% |
