Ancient Apparition vs Dragon Knight

How this matchup plays

Fighting into a Dragon Knight can feel like hitting a brick wall, since he's designed to tank damage and regenerate through it all. Ancient Apparition's entire kit works against this plan. Ice Blast is the main problem for Dragon Knight, as it completely negates his health regeneration, which is a core part of his survivability. A DK hit by that ultimate can't tank nearly as long as he normally would. AA's other spells also slow Dragon Knight down and increase the magic damage he takes, making him easier to kite and burst before he can get on top of your team's back line.

This dynamic really defines mid-game teamfights. Before that, Dragon Knight is usually fine in his lane and can farm without much trouble from an Ancient Apparition. Once teams group up, however, DK has to play with a lot more respect. He can’t simply walk at the enemy team if Ice Blast is available. His main counter-play is buying a Black King Bar to shrug off the slows and magic amplification, but even BKB won't remove the healing prevention from Ice Blast. This forces him to play around a major cooldown or rely on his team to find and kill AA first.