Lifestealer wins 51.6% of public ranked matches in patch 7.41, the 27th highest win rate of 127 heroes: 51.7% in Very High, 51.9% in High and 51.2% in Normal skill games. It is picked in 13.7% of matches, and over the last 7 days its win rate has gone down by 0.7 points.
Lifestealer does best in medium-length games (25 to 50 minutes), winning 52.2% of them, against 40.9% in short games (under 25 minutes). Lifestealer is strongest against Elder Titan, Kunkka and Centaur Warrunner, and struggles against Marci, Enigma and Slardar. The best teammates for Lifestealer are Sand King, Elder Titan and Void Spirit.
From public ranked All Pick matches of the current patch. Updated 4 October 2026. Compare with every other hero in the Dota 2 meta table, or pick against a full enemy draft in the Counter & Synergy Picker.
Advantage (Adv) - The difference between the actual winrate of the heroes and the expected winrate from their base winrates.
Example: Let's take two heroes, Superman, with a general winrate of 53%, and Lex Luthor, with a general winrate of 47%. When they meet on the battlefield they each have a statistical winrate of 50%.
In this case it's obvious that, even if they have the same winrate when they battle, there is some sort of innate statistical advantage that Lex Luthor (average winrate 47% but 50% against Superman) has over Superman (average winrate 53% but 50% against Lex Luthor). There are many theories about why this happens, but the most common one is related to Kryptonite.
Winrate (WR) - The winrate between the two heroes.
Skill level:
Each line in the graph represents the probability that Lifestealer brings an advantage to the total XP of a team
at a certain point in time (the probability to change the inclination of the xp graph).
Lifestealer is strongest in the midgame: around minute 25 its team gains the experience lead in 53.4% of games, against 46.3% at minute 5 and 51.2% at minute 45.
The chart shows, every 5 minutes and for each skill bracket, the share of games in which Lifestealer's team gains more experience than the enemy team (50% is neutral). All heroes compared: Hero XP Advantage by Minute.
Daily win rate and pick rate of Lifestealer for each skill bracket, overall and in short, medium and long games. All heroes side by side: Hero Win Rate and Pick Rate Trends.
Lifestealer is picked in 17.7% / 17.2% / 14.6% of matches (Very High / High / Normal) and wins 51.8–52.2% in every bracket. Feast heals him for a share of the target's maximum health, Rage makes him debuff immune, Open Wounds slows a target and heals his team, and Infest hides him inside another unit. He is a slow starter. He wins only 42% of games shorter than 25 minutes, 52.5% at 25–50 and 50.7% past 50 minutes, and his team's XP-gain share rises from 45.7% before minute 15 to 50.8% after minute 35.
Countered by WarlockWarlock's team gains more XP than Lifestealer's in 55.1% of games before minute 15. Shadow Word damages an enemy over time or heals an ally, so Warlock's lane wins the trades a melee carry has to take.
Warlock's lead is largest here: a 56.5% XP-gain share between minutes 15 and 35, and a 52.8% win rate in 25–50 minute games (1,333 of 1,688 games). Chaotic Offering stuns and drops a Golem with extra slow resistance. Upheaval slows a large area for as long as Warlock channels, and Lifestealer has to walk to his targets. Fatal Bonds shares damage between linked enemies, which punishes a team grouped around Lifestealer. Rage's debuff immunity can carry Lifestealer through some of this, so Warlock's team wants to catch him with Rage on cooldown.
This is a Very High and High counter: +13.12 and +10.24 advantage, against +1.68 in Normal. Warlock wins 54.2% / 52.5% / 50.4% (Very High / High / Normal) against Lifestealer, against his usual 49.5% / 49.5% / 51.4%. In Normal he wins slightly less than usual; the small +1.68 exists only because Lifestealer normally wins more than Warlock. Once games pass 50 minutes the matchup turns: Warlock wins 47.4% of those 323 games and his XP-gain share drops to 51.2%. The 59.4% win rate under 25 minutes comes from only 32 games.
Best teammate: RingmasterRingmaster doesn't fix Lifestealer's slow start. The pair's XP-gain share is 44.9% before minute 15, close to Lifestealer's own 45.7%.
Escape Act packs Lifestealer into a box with phased movement, slow resistance, bonus magic resistance and bonus movement speed, so he can reach his target through slows or get out when focused. Tame the Beasts makes whipped enemies flee in fear, and an enemy running away can't fight back against a hero who wins by attacking. Spotlight makes enemies in the light miss attacks. The pair wins 52.9% of 25–50 minute games, 1,235 of their 1,574.
The pairing works in Very High (+5.69) and High (+5.31) but hardly in Normal (+0.77). The pair wins 54.2% / 54.3% / 49.3% (Very High / High / Normal), with Ringmaster normally at 49.5% / 49.4% / 47.1%. Their XP-gain share climbs to 53.3% after minute 35, and they still win 51.4% of games past 50 minutes. The pair follows Lifestealer's own curve. The weighted advantage is +4.54, about 2.3 win-rate points above expectation.
Based on 365,489 public ranked matches of patch 7.41, played 27–30 September 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 in the lists and charts below update every few hours. More guides: Dota 2 counter guides.
