How Sand King and Io perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Sand King and Io win 49.55% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 2,230 matches.
Relocating in with a fully channeled Epicenter is the main idea behind this pairing. Io allows Sand King to deliver his ultimate without a Blink Dagger, placing him perfectly for a follow-up Burrowstrike. Tether then provides the sustain and movement speed for Sand King to stay in the fight and chase targets down. The whole plan, however, relies heavily on that one big combo. If the enemy sees the Relocate coming or has an instant disable ready, they can easily interrupt the channel and punish the commitment. This makes the duo very execution-dependent; a successful gank can win a fight, but a failed one leaves both heroes vulnerable and out of position.
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 | 54.17% | 168 |
| Crusader & Archon | 45.78% | 415 |
| Legend & Ancient | 46.56% | 247 |
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 | 49.55% | ▲ +1.0pp | 2,230 |
| 7.41d | 48.55% | ▲ +1.2pp | 22,281 |
| 7.41c | 47.36% | ▼ -3.4pp | 9,466 |
| 7.41b | 50.75% | — | 13,920 |
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Data updated Aug 17, 2026.