Sand King — Dota 2 7.41f Counters, Synergies & Win Rate
Also known as: SK, Crixalis
Sand King (SK) in Dota 2 7.41f: win rate, pick rate, top counters and best teammates, from Batru's ranked-match pipeline.
Early vs late game: in ranked games that end before 34 minutes, Sand King's team wins 42.8%; in games of 47+ minutes, 52.0% (+9.3 pp, #13 of 127 by late-game edge; 29% of Sand King games last 47+ minutes; model estimate). Late & early game heroes →
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Sand King by rank bracket
Sand King is strongest in Herald & Guardian games, winning 49.56% (#58 of 126 heroes), but drops to 47.61% (#99) in Divine & Immortal.
| Bracket | Tier Rank | Win Rate | Pick Rate | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald & Guardian | #58 of 126 | 49.56% | 4.96% | 1,588 |
| Crusader & Archon | #71 of 127 | 49.17% | 4.24% | 5,745 |
| Legend & Ancient | #86 of 127 | 48.19% | 3.76% | 6,593 |
| Divine & Immortal | #99 of 127 | 47.61% | 3.05% | 1,590 |
Recent ranked matches split by average match rank — the same data behind the per-rank tier lists each bracket links to.
Sand King win rate by patch
Sand King is winning 49.41% of 1,123,276 ranked matches in patch 7.41f, up 0.2pp from 7.41e.
| Patch | Win Rate | Change | Pick Rate | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.41f | 49.41% | ▲ +0.2pp | 4.23% | 1,123,276 |
| 7.41e | 49.17% | ▲ +0.4pp | 4.52% | 1,346,308 |
| 7.41d | 48.76% | ▲ +1.0pp | 4.50% | 1,335,218 |
| 7.41c | 47.71% | ▼ -1.8pp | 4.77% | 654,125 |
| 7.41b | 49.54% | ▼ -0.9pp | 6.41% | 903,188 |
| 7.41a | 50.45% | — | 7.33% | 419,423 |
Win rate and pick rate per patch window over all quality-filtered ranked matches; the newest patch accumulates matches for days after release — its row shows the current sample size.
Sand King counters & matchups
Sand King is an AoE initiator whose Burrowstrike stuns a line, Sand Storm provides invisibility and damage, and Epicenter unleashes a massive pulsing nuke. He's strong into immobile, clumpable heroes his combo catches: Templar Assassin, Tinker and Nature's Prophet get Blink-stunned and bursted. Sand King is countered by sustain and burst that beat his combo: Spectre out-scales, Phoenix out-fights, and Lifestealer or Zeus survive or out-trade. Draft tip: Sand King is a premier AoE-burst initiator into grouped, squishy drafts; he's weaker into spread-out, sustain, and BKB-heavy line-ups.
Strong against
 Terrorblade | 56.58% | 28,673 |
 Shadow Demon | 55.88% | 13,866 |
 Beastmaster | 55.80% | 16,035 |
 Chen | 55.68% | 3,829 |
 Shadow Fiend | 55.54% | 63,359 |
 Nature's Prophet | 55.53% | 56,934 |
 Templar Assassin | 55.05% | 30,000 |
 Naga Siren | 54.83% | 12,776 |
Struggles against
 Lifestealer | 45.05% | 75,448 |
 Juggernaut | 45.21% | 100,893 |
 Spectre | 45.42% | 53,212 |
 Wraith King | 45.50% | 71,009 |
 Phoenix | 45.75% | 25,672 |
 Zeus | 45.85% | 70,882 |
 Troll Warlord | 46.25% | 22,376 |
 Legion Commander | 46.26% | 84,902 |
Sand King synergies
Sand King's Blink-Burrowstrike-Epicenter is a self-contained teamfight wombo, and his AoE rewards a clumped enemy. He pairs best with follow-up and durable cores: Spectre Haunts onto his Epicenter clump, while Wraith King and Lifestealer clean up everything caught in the storm. Give Sand King a cleave or burst follow-up and one Blink-Epicenter erases the enemy team.
Best teammates
| Wraith King | 55.61% | 44,917 |
 Chaos Knight | 52.97% | 19,199 |
 Phantom Lancer | 52.78% | 64,259 |
| Lifestealer | 52.77% | 68,205 |
 Vengeful Spirit | 52.75% | 47,459 |
| Spectre | 52.73% | 49,971 |
| Juggernaut | 52.68% | 96,730 |
| Legion Commander | 52.67% | 41,201 |
Data updated Nov 10, 2026.