Pudge + Sven

Why this works

Setting up a kill is pretty straightforward with this duo. Pudge's Meat Hook can pull an enemy out of position, creating a perfect target for Sven's Storm Hammer and follow-up damage. If the target is durable, Dismember offers enough lockdown for Sven to finish the job, especially once he has God's Strength. It's a very direct, single-target ganking plan. The main condition is simply that Pudge needs to land his hook; if he misses, the two heroes don't offer each other much in terms of coordinated setup.

This pickoff potential is strongest during the mid-game, where a successful gank can accelerate Sven's farm and help secure objectives. As the game goes late and teams group up, the synergy can become less reliable. Sven wants to blink into the enemy team and cleave multiple heroes, while Pudge is still looking for one-man pickoffs. A bad hook can even be a liability, pulling a tough frontliner with initiation right on top of Sven and the rest of his team, which is the last thing he wants to deal with.