Slark wins 49.7% of public ranked matches in patch 7.41, the 62nd highest win rate of 127 heroes: 49.4% in Very High, 49.4% in High and 50.3% in Normal skill games. It is picked in 11.9% of matches, and over the last 9 days its win rate has gone down by 0.6 points.
Slark does best in short games (under 25 minutes), winning 52.8% of them, against 49.4% in medium-length games (25 to 50 minutes). Slark is strongest against Bristleback, Ember Spirit and Bane, and struggles against Grimstroke, Techies and Naga Siren. The best teammates for Slark are Naga Siren, Alchemist and Sven.
From public ranked All Pick matches of the current patch. Updated 6 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:
Guide by: BSJ | MMR 6600+
More guides on:
Each line in the graph represents the probability that Slark 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).
Slark is strongest in the midgame: around minute 20 its team gains the experience lead in 52.7% of games, against 51.9% at minute 5 and 48.2% at minute 45. Skill changes the timing: the peak is at minute 5 in Very High games and at minute 20 in Normal games.
The chart shows, every 5 minutes and for each skill bracket, the share of games in which Slark'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 Slark for each skill bracket, overall and in short, medium and long games. All heroes side by side: Hero Win Rate and Pick Rate Trends.
Slark is picked in 10.7–12.8% of matches and wins 49% / 49.9% / 50.8% (Very High / High / Normal). He is a slippery carry: Pounce leashes a target, Essence Shift steals attributes with every hit, Dark Pact purges most debuffs, and Shadow Dance hides and heals him. Saltwater Shiv steals movement speed and regeneration from the target. He wins 55% of games under 25 minutes and about 50% of longer ones. His team gains more XP in 48% of games before minute 15, 52% between minutes 15 and 35, and 47% after that.
Countered by TechiesTechies are ahead from the start: their team gains more XP than Slark's in 56% of games before minute 15. Sticky Bomb slows Slark, and Proximity Mines punish him for walking into the wrong spot. That makes it costly for him to trade hits and build Essence Shift stacks.
Techies' XP lead peaks at 59% between minutes 15 and 35. Reactive Tazer hits Slark's main tool: an enemy who attacks the charged ally takes damage and is disarmed, so a Pounce onto that ally can end with Slark unable to attack. Proximity Mines can't be detected by True Sight, so Slark can walk into them while hunting through the jungle. Blast Off! gives Techies an area stun to start or finish a fight on him.
This counter works in the higher brackets. The advantage is +17.36 in Very High and +15.12 in High, but only +1.28 in Normal, where the matchup is almost even. Techies win 61% / 58.9% / 50.8% (Very High / High / Normal) against their usual 51.3% / 51.2% / 50.9%. The edge also fades with game length: 58.9% at 25–50 minutes and 45.3% past 50 minutes, where Slark's stolen stats take over. The 61.7% for short games comes from only 47 games. At +13.1 weighted over 2,192 games, Techies are by far Slark's strongest counter.
Best teammate: SilencerThe pair is even early: their team gains more XP in 50% of games before minute 15 and 49% up to minute 35. Arcane Curse slows and damages enemies in an area, which gives Slark time to reach them, and Glaives of Wisdom add harass from range.
Silencer takes away the tools enemies use to catch Slark. Global Silence stops every enemy hero from casting spells, so Slark can Pounce and attack without being stunned in return. Last Word gives vision of its target and silences it when it casts a spell or when the timer runs out. Arcane Curse also slows enemies trying to run out of a Pounce leash. Suffer In Silence makes Silencer deal more damage to silenced targets, so both heroes want to focus the same silenced enemy.
The XP data doesn't show a late-game lead: the pair's share drops to 45% after minute 35. Yet the pair wins 56% of games past 50 minutes, against 52.1% at 25–50 minutes. The 56.9% for short games comes from only 51 games. Overall they win 53.7% / 52.5% / 52.9% (Very High / High / Normal), with Silencer alone at 50–51.2%. The synergy is strongest in Very High (+8.63), smaller in High (+5.02) and slight in Normal (+1.84), for +5.65 weighted over 2,208 games. Only four heroes met the teammate rule for Slark, so three others are listed below.
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.
