Pudge + Slardar

Why this works

Pairing these two heroes feels like a bet on landing their combined lockdown. Slardar's Slithereen Crush provides a reliable area-of-effect stun, which can give Pudge an easy target for Meat Hook. The reverse is also true, with a successful Hook pulling an enemy directly into Slardar's stun range for a follow-up. While Slardar can apply Corrosive Haze to the target, the armor reduction does nothing to amplify Pudge's primary damage spells like Rot and Dismember. The synergy is almost entirely based on setting up crowd control and letting Slardar do the physical damage, which can be limiting.

Early on, Pudge and Slardar can make for an effective ganking pair, roaming the map to find pickoffs. If they connect with their abilities, few heroes can survive the initial burst and chain stuns. The problem is that both heroes want to be in the very center of the fight and lack tools to deal with being kited. If their initial jump is dodged or fails to secure a quick kill, they can find themselves out of position and easily punished. Without a strong physical damage core to take full advantage of Corrosive Haze, their combined threat falls off significantly as the game progresses.