Head-to-head Dota 2 7.41e win rate from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Axe wins the Axe vs Shadow Demon matchup: Axe beats Shadow Demon in 54.90% of 5,235 ranked matches.
Saving an ally from Berserker's Call with Disruption is a huge problem. The illusions Shadow Demon creates will attack Axe, giving him a ton of free Counter Helix spins and often killing the saved target anyway. This makes Shadow Demon's primary defensive spell a liability. Outside of that specific interaction, Axe is a natural Blink initiator who preys on slow, fragile supports. Once he jumps on Shadow Demon, there's very little chance of survival. I haven't seen this matchup in a while, so it's possible the laning phase plays out differently now.
How the matchup shifts across skill brackets — Axe's win rate against Shadow Demon in recent ranked matches, split by average match rank. Ranks with too few recent matches are omitted. These rows use the last 30 days of quality-filtered ranked matches, all patches in that span combined — a wider window than the patch-scoped count above, so the per-rank match totals can exceed it.
| Rank | Axe win rate | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Herald & Guardian | 63.92% | 255 |
| Crusader & Archon | 57.16% | 761 |
| Legend & Ancient | 54.70% | 724 |
| Divine & Immortal | 49.01% | 253 |
Axe's win rate against Shadow Demon in each recent balance patch — whether this matchup is trending up or down. Patches without enough matches are omitted.
| Patch | Axe win rate | Change | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.41e | 54.90% | ▼ -1.8pp | 5,235 |
| 7.41d | 56.70% | ▼ -1.4pp | 65,205 |
| 7.41c | 58.05% | ▲ +0.6pp | 28,813 |
| 7.41b | 57.49% | — | 30,859 |
Move this data into a draft
Axe starts on Radiant and Shadow Demon on Dire. Add the other eight picks to see whether this head-to-head edge survives the full draft.
Data updated Aug 17, 2026.