How Lion and Phantom Assassin perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Lion and Phantom Assassin win 49.54% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 49,262 matches.
Choosing a support to enable a carry Phantom Assassin often lands on a hero like Lion. The logic is straightforward: Lion provides the instant, reliable lockdown that PA needs to get on top of a target and land her crits. An Earth Spike into a Hex is usually enough time for Phantom Assassin to delete a squishy hero before they can use defensive items or abilities. If the target somehow survives the initial burst, Finger of Death can finish the job, preventing any chance of escape.
This pairing is far from a guaranteed win, though. Both heroes are quite dependent on their own item timings to be effective. A Lion without a Blink Dagger can't initiate surprise ganks, and a Phantom Assassin who is behind on farm won't have the damage to capitalize on the lockdown. The combo is strongest in the mid-game, but if the enemy team groups up early or has multiple saves, it becomes much harder to execute a clean pickoff. It's a classic setup, but one that relies heavily on good execution and staying even on farm.
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 | 49.77% | 3,980 |
| Crusader & Archon | 47.32% | 8,696 |
| Legend & Ancient | 46.10% | 5,427 |
| Divine & Immortal | 43.66% | 1,127 |
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 | 49.54% | ▼ -0.6pp | 49,262 |
| 7.41d | 50.14% | ▼ -1.2pp | 553,585 |
| 7.41c | 51.35% | ▲ +1.4pp | 276,110 |
| 7.41b | 49.99% | — | 252,075 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.