How Ancient Apparition and Shadow Fiend perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Ancient Apparition and Shadow Fiend win 49.23% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 1,436 matches.
Pairing these two heroes seems good on paper, with Ice Vortex amplifying the burst from Requiem of Souls. The reality is often less clean. This synergy really only works if Shadow Fiend commits to a full magic damage build, as Ancient Apparition offers very little for a physical, right-clicking core. Even when their kits do align, their ultimates can feel clunky together. Ice Blast and Requiem both excel at finishing off targets, which can lead to one spell being wasted or used at a non-ideal time.
Throughout the game, the lack of direct synergy becomes more apparent. Cold Feet is a poor setup for landing Shadowrazes compared to a simple, reliable stun. In teamfights, Shadow Fiend benefits most from lockdown that holds an enemy in place for his full combo. Ancient Apparition provides slows and damage amplification, but not the hard control SF needs to feel secure. The pairing isn't actively bad, but it feels like two powerful heroes doing their own thing rather than working together.
How this pairing performs across skill brackets — the duo's team win rate 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 | Team win rate | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Herald & Guardian | 51.05% | 523 |
| Crusader & Archon | 51.27% | 1,455 |
| Legend & Ancient | 46.37% | 1,255 |
| Divine & Immortal | 44.25% | 391 |
This duo's team win rate in each recent balance patch — whether the pairing is trending up or down. Patches without enough matches are omitted.
| Patch | Team win rate | Change | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.41e | 49.23% | ▲ +0.7pp | 1,436 |
| 7.41d | 48.57% | ▲ +0.8pp | 119,707 |
| 7.41c | 47.82% | ▲ +1.7pp | 47,345 |
| 7.41b | 46.13% | — | 46,298 |
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Data updated Aug 11, 2026.