How Skywrath Mage and Slark perform as teammates in Dota 2 7.41e, from ranked matches.
In Dota 2 7.41e, Skywrath Mage and Slark win 49.95% of ranked matches when playing on the same team, over 16,821 matches.
Setting up a kill with Ancient Seal for a Slark Pounce sounds good on paper, but their offensive styles don't quite mesh. Skywrath Mage is all about unloading his entire kit, including Mystic Flare, to instantly delete one disabled target. Slark, on the other hand, is not a pure burst hero; he excels at sustained fights, building up Essence Shift stacks while using Dark Pact and his ultimate to stay alive. He often prefers to weave in and out of combat rather than committing to a stationary target inside Skywrath's ultimate, which can leave the damage incomplete.
This disconnect becomes more obvious as the game progresses. In early ganks, they might find a clean pickoff. Later, however, Slark wants to use Shadow Dance to hunt for his own targets deep in the enemy's backline. This frequently leaves the fragile Skywrath Mage completely exposed with no protection. Slark is a self-sufficient hero who offers no defensive utility for his teammates. They end up playing two separate games within the same fight, leading to an inconsistent pairing that doesn't reliably secure teamfight victories.
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 | 52.77% | 955 |
| Crusader & Archon | 49.63% | 2,694 |
| Legend & Ancient | 49.72% | 2,162 |
| Divine & Immortal | 47.32% | 653 |
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 | 49.95% | ▲ +0.6pp | 16,821 |
| 7.41d | 49.31% | ▼ -0.2pp | 196,764 |
| 7.41c | 49.54% | ▼ -0.6pp | 107,536 |
| 7.41b | 50.11% | — | 124,592 |
Move this data into a draft
Both heroes start on Radiant. Fill the remaining slots to test this pairing inside a complete draft and get next-pick recommendations.
Data updated Aug 17, 2026.