Shadow Fiend is picked in 8.6% of Very High matches, 10.1% of High and 11.6% of Normal, and he is the weakest hero of the patch: 40.6% / 42.2% / 43.8%. Shadowraze hits the ground at three distances in front of him, Necromastery adds damage for every soul he collects, Feast of Souls gives speed, Presence of the Dark Lord lowers the armor of nearby enemies, and Requiem of Souls releases his souls as lines of damage. His team gains more XP in 51.3% of games before minute 15 but only 45.5% and 45.7% afterwards, and he wins 45.5% of games under 25 minutes, 41.7% at 25–50 and 46.4% past 50.
Countered by VisageVisage starts ahead: his team gains more XP in 52.5% of games before minute 15. Grave Chill drains Shadow Fiend's movement and attack speed and gives it to Visage.
Gravekeeper's Cloak loses a layer each time a player damages Visage, so Shadowraze's separate hits are spent on layers, not health. The Familiars' Stone Form stuns Shadow Fiend, who has no escape besides Feast of Souls' speed, and Soul Assumption builds charges from the damage around it. Visage's team gains more XP in 57.1% of games between minutes 15 and 35.
Visage wins 70.1% of games under 25 minutes (87 games), 65.6% at 25–50 (1,370 games) and 55% past 50 (240 games): 66.8% / 65% / 63% (Very High / High / Normal) against Shadow Fiend, against his usual 55.2% / 53.9% / 51.8%. The edge is +5.17 in Very High, +7.02 in High and +9.89 in Normal. Visage is a rare pick, so this comes from 1,697 games.
Best teammate: Chaos KnightThe pair wins the lane: their team gains more XP in 55.5% of games before minute 15. Chaos Bolt stuns a target in Shadowraze range.
Presence of the Dark Lord lowers the armor of every enemy near Shadow Fiend, so Chaos Strike's critical hits, from Chaos Knight and from his Phantasm illusions, land harder. Reality Rift pulls a target to Chaos Knight and lowers its armor further, right into Shadowraze. The XP-gain share is 48.9% between minutes 15 and 35.
Even this pair loses more than it wins: 45.5% / 46.8% / 47.3% (Very High / High / Normal). But that is well above what Shadow Fiend wins with anyone else, and the advantage is +7.54 in Very High, +6.9 in High and +4.05 in Normal. The pair wins 58% of games under 25 minutes (131 games), 45.7% at 25–50 (3,602 games) and 51.1% past 50 (757 games), with Chaos Knight normally at 51.1% / 51.1% / 51.5%.
Based on 2,111,000 public ranked matches of patch 7.41, played 30 September – 14 October 2026. Advantage is the win-rate difference from what the two heroes' own win rates predict, times two (+6 is about 3 win-rate points), weighted over the skill brackets. The live numbers on the Shadow Fiend page update every few hours. More guides: Dota 2 counter guides.
