Necrophos + Venomancer

Why this works

Wearing enemies down over time is the main goal for this duo. Venomancer's poisons and Necrophos's Heartstopper Aura create a dangerous zone for any enemy team to fight into. This consistent damage-over-time pressure is great at softening up multiple heroes at once, making them all potential targets for a Reaper's Scythe execution. The main problem is that neither hero brings a stun or any kind of hard lockdown. Mobile heroes can often disengage before the damage becomes lethal, and enemies have plenty of time to use defensive items or abilities to survive the slow drain on their health.

This pair can choke the map out if they get ahead. Venomancer's Plague Wards provide vision and push lanes, while Necrophos creates a moving threat that discourages enemies from grouping up. They can slowly grind down objectives and win long, drawn-out fights. However, this strategy is very vulnerable to coordinated ganks and burst damage. An enemy team with good initiation can jump on either hero and delete them before their sustained damage matters. Cores who build an early Black King Bar can also ignore much of their threat, turning a slow grind into a one-sided fight.