Shadow Fiend is a high-tempo core who has resurged in the meta as a physical damage powerhouse in Patch 7.39c. With the Lasting Presence aspect, minus armor talents, and fast-farming item builds, he thrives in long fights and objective pushes. His viability was on full display when Yatoro picked him in Game 3 of the EWC 2025 Grand Final — and dominated with a MoM–Silver Edge–Manta build.

Pros and Cons of Shadow Fiend

Pros:

• Fast farming with high scaling potential
• Exceptional physical burst with Silver Edge and MoM
• Can shred tanky and high-armor heroes
• High objective pressure with sustained presence
• Effective with minimal disable support

Cons:

• Susceptible to crowd control and burst
• Needs good positioning and timing
• Struggles against illusion-based heroes
• Falls off if tempo is lost
• Requires early item timings to snowball

Shadow Fiend Abilities

Shadowraze

Deals magical AoE damage at three distances. Used for farming, stacking damage, and harass.

Feast of Souls

The hero speeds up his movement and attack for 8 sec. During the duration of this effect, the Necromastery ability's maximum souls are increased by 5, but when the effect ends, the wielder loses the same number of souls.

Presence of the Dark Lord

Reduces enemy armor passively. Strong with the Lasting Presence aspect and armor reduction talents.

Requiem of Souls

Releases damaging waves based on soul count. Applies Fear and amplifies burst potential in teamfights.

Aspect: Lasting Presence

Enemies near Shadow Fiend suffer increasingly reduced armor over time. Perfect for extended fights and synergizes with Silver Edge and armor reduction talents. Key for physical builds.

Ability Build

• Level 1: Shadowraze
• Level 2: Presence of the Dark Lord
• Level 3: Shadowraze
• Level 4: Presence of the Dark Lord
• Level 5: Shadowraze
• Level 6: Requiem of Souls

Max priority: Shadowraze → Presence → Feast of Souls

Take ultimate: whenever available

Talent Tree

• Level 10: +30 Shadowraze Stack Damage
• Level 15: +2 Presence Armor Reduction
• Level 20: +0.2s Requiem Fear per line
• Level 25: Feast of Souls Grants +30% Cast Speed

These talents focus on sustained right-click DPS with improved cast speed and stacking minus armor from Presence. The early Shadowraze talent boosts lane control and farming speed.

Item Build

Starting Items

• Tango
• Iron Branch x2
• Faerie Fire
• Circlet

Boots

• Power Treads — provides attack speed and flexible stat shifting

Core Items

• Mask of Madness — speeds up farming and DPS
• Silver Edge — burst, invisibility, and Break
• Manta Style — dispels silence and adds survivability
• Linken’s Sphere — protects against targeted disables like Doom or Hex

Situational Items

• Satanic — for lifesteal and sustain
• Butterfly — evasion and agility scaling
• Daedalus — for critical damage
• Eye of Skadi — anti-healing and slow
• Nullifier — disables Glimmer Cape and defensive items
• Black King Bar — when early spell immunity is needed

How to Play Shadow Fiend

Shadow Fiend is played as a safe lane carry in this build. His early-game goal is to secure farm and build up souls using Shadowraze, which allows him to quickly clear creep waves and jungle camps. This gives him a powerful tempo advantage over most position 1 heroes.

Start with Power Treads and Mask of Madness to rapidly farm both the lane and nearby jungle. With proper stacking or support assistance, you can hit key item timings such as Silver Edge and Manta Style ahead of the enemy core. Use Shadowraze to secure last hits, push waves, and control the tempo.

After the laning stage, focus on playing with your team. Look for opportunities to burst targets with Silver Edge, then transition into sustained damage using Lasting Presence. Once you reach level 25 and unlock the +30% Cast Speed talent, you become a late-game powerhouse capable of winning fights on positioning alone.

Matchups

Strong Against

• Meepo — melts under AoE damage and minus armor
• Anti-Mage — can’t Blink or Manta out of full burst
• Ember Spirit — punished if caught without Remnant
• Legion Commander — survives Duel and kills in return

Weak Against

• Visage — hard to burst through high armor and familiars
• Zeus — punishes low HP pool and positioning
• Terrorblade — high armor, illusions, and Sunder turnaround potential

Counter Items

Shadow Fiend is countered by:

• Black King Bar — blocks your disables and reduces your presence
• Ghost Scepter / Eul’s — prevents right-click burst
• Force Staff / Glimmer Cape — repositioning and save tools
• Abyssal Blade — disables you through BKB
• Scythe of Vyse — punishes poor positioning

Shadow Fiend is a high-impact core in Patch 7.39c. With the Lasting Presence aspect and a well-executed right-click build, he offers snowball potential, tower pressure, and late-game dominance — just as Yatoro showed on the biggest stage.