How Kez and Lion perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Kez and Lion win 43.60% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 13,951 matches.
Facing Kez and Lion feels manageable because their strengths overlap instead of covering weaknesses. Both heroes excel at locking down and eliminating a single target. Lion provides Hex and Impale, but this is the kind of single-target control a duelist like Kez is already built to handle on his own. He doesn't gain much from more of it; he needs help surviving or sticking to targets once a fight gets chaotic. Without a way to protect him or control a wider area, Lion leaves his melee carry exposed after the initial stun wears off.
Early on, they might secure a kill on an overextended enemy, but the plan is one-dimensional. As soon as teams start grouping, opponents can bait out Lion's spells and then immediately turn on Kez. The win condition for the Kez and Lion side becomes finding constant, isolated picks, which gets harder as the game goes on. In larger teamfights, Kez is left to fend for himself after the initial burst from Finger of Death, which isn't the kind of sustained support a melee carry needs to operate.
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 | 43.72% | 741 |
| Crusader & Archon | 44.89% | 1,949 |
| Legend & Ancient | 44.64% | 1,781 |
| Divine & Immortal | 44.63% | 652 |
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 | 43.60% | ▼ -0.4pp | 13,951 |
| 7.41d | 44.03% | ▼ -2.9pp | 159,308 |
| 7.41c | 46.98% | ▼ -1.3pp | 109,380 |
| 7.41b | 48.29% | — | 72,591 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.