How Shadow Fiend and Sand King perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Shadow Fiend and Sand King win 45.79% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 8,541 matches.
Teamfights become awkward when both these heroes want to be the star initiator. Sand King's Epicenter and Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls are both massive, fight-winning spells that require being in the middle of the enemy. The core issue is that their kits don't provide enough lockdown to hold enemies in place for both ultimates. Sand King's Burrowstrike is the primary setup tool, but it's not enough to guarantee a clean combo. Enemies can often just walk away after the stun wears off, leaving at least one of the big ultimates wasted while both heroes are left in a vulnerable position.
This conflict plays out during the mid-game, where both heroes typically get a Blink Dagger and want to start making plays. They end up competing for the same job. One hero jumps in, and the other is often too far away or forced into a dangerous spot to follow up effectively. The lineup lacks the layered control or a durable front line needed to support this kind of double-dive strategy. Instead of enabling each other, they often expose each other's weaknesses, making it easy for the enemy team to split their focus and pick off whichever hero commits first.
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 | 50.28% | 533 |
| Crusader & Archon | 45.98% | 1,344 |
| Legend & Ancient | 46.64% | 997 |
| Divine & Immortal | 42.86% | 308 |
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 | 45.79% | ▼ -0.7pp | 8,541 |
| 7.41d | 46.53% | ▲ +1.0pp | 89,736 |
| 7.41c | 45.51% | ▼ -0.9pp | 35,128 |
| 7.41b | 46.43% | — | 44,006 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.