How Shadow Demon and Slark perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Shadow Demon and Slark win 43.33% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 270 matches.
Setting up a kill with Disruption sounds like a good plan, but it actively works against what Slark needs to do. Slark's entire fighting style is built around Pouncing a target and hitting them continuously to build Essence Shift stacks. When Shadow Demon banishes that same target, Slark is left standing there, unable to attack while his leash ticks down. The illusions that spawn are mostly irrelevant because he can't steal stats from them. This stalls his damage ramp-up and breaks the momentum he needs to secure a solo kill, turning a good setup into a frustrating pause.
This awkward timing creates problems all game. In lane, they lack cohesive pressure; Shadow Demon's primary spell stops the trades Slark wants to take. During mid-game ganks, a well-meaning Disruption on Slark’s target often ends up saving them, buying crucial time for their teammates to arrive or for an escape cooldown to come back up. For this duo to work, the enemy has to be so out of position that the flawed setup doesn't matter, which isn't a reliable way to win. The two heroes want to accomplish different things at the exact same moment.
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 | 39.29% | 112 |
| Crusader & Archon | 42.47% | 332 |
| Legend & Ancient | 48.94% | 284 |
| Divine & Immortal | 45.79% | 107 |
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 | 43.33% | ▼ -0.5pp | 270 |
| 7.41d | 43.78% | ▲ +0.3pp | 30,384 |
| 7.41c | 43.45% | ▼ -1.6pp | 18,103 |
| 7.41b | 45.07% | — | 25,283 |
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Data updated Aug 11, 2026.