How Dark Willow and Spirit Breaker perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Dark Willow and Spirit Breaker win 50.39% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 6,856 matches.
Setting up ganks with Charge of Darkness into Cursed Crown seems like a natural fit. Spirit Breaker arrives with a guaranteed stun, giving Dark Willow what should be an easy target for her entire combo. The problem is often one of positioning and timing. If Spirit Breaker charges from far away, Dark Willow may not be close enough to cast her spells before the initial stun ends. Cursed Crown’s own delay can also give enemies a brief window to react with a defensive spell or item, which can disrupt the whole gank attempt.
This dynamic means their success is very conditional. Early on, if they can roam together, they can secure kills. But in larger teamfights, their roles conflict. Spirit Breaker wants to dive deep on a priority target, often a backliner. Dark Willow is fragile and prefers to skirt the edges of the fight, using Shadow Realm to stay alive while controlling enemies who dive her team. This often results in them fighting separate battles within the same teamfight. Spirit Breaker gets isolated without follow-up damage, and Dark Willow lacks a dedicated frontliner to protect her, making their combined impact feel fairly neutral.
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 | 50.11% | 471 |
| Crusader & Archon | 48.71% | 969 |
| Legend & Ancient | 52.31% | 864 |
| Divine & Immortal | 50.31% | 320 |
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 | 50.39% | ▲ +1.3pp | 6,856 |
| 7.41d | 49.10% | ▼ -0.4pp | 75,035 |
| 7.41c | 49.52% | ▲ +1.0pp | 32,102 |
| 7.41b | 48.52% | — | 37,977 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.