Dota 2 Patch 7.32e introduced us to Muerta with a host of other minor balance changes as part of its Dead Reckoning update. The hero is quite powerful in its own regard, although her damage output is difficult to understand for newer players. She is highly reliant on positioning as well. If you want to know more about how to best play Muerta, we have you covered.
Now that you know how to play Muerta, you know how powerful she truly is. So what if you see her on the opposing team? How do you defeat her? We have you covered there as well. Listed below are our picks for best heroes and items that can counter the ghostly markswoman of death.
Best heroes to counter Muerta
While we’re still learning about Muerta’s strengths and weaknesses, there are a few heroes that stand out in direct defiance of this spectral headhunter.
Axe
As a magic damage-dealing core, Muerta does not care much for high-armor heroes. Although Axe does fit the bill, he is also a hero with a high HP pool that builds Pipe of Insight. The magic barrier negates most of Muerta’s burst damage potential onto Axe and his teammates. Not to mention, Axe eventually builds Black King Bar, which entirely shuts down Muerta.
On the offensive end, all of Axe’s spells go through any protection Muerta might have. A Berserker’s Call into Blade Mail will kill her quickly if she has Pierce The Veil active thanks to her low HP pool. By the time she gets control of herself, a swift Culling Blade should end her menace.
Jakiro
Muerta is a magic damage dealer that relies on getting a good amount of auto-attack damage in. Jakiro does not allow that thanks to his Liquid Fire massively slowing her attack speed. Her lack of mobility skills also allows for an easy Ice Path to keep her in place while Macropyre burns her down.
Worst of all, when Muerta goes ethereal, each of Jakiro’s spells does more damage to her. Jakiro can also keep a safe distance while dishing out Dual Breath and Ice Path to chip her down before she can get close to your core heroes.
Juggernaut
Magic immunity during Blade Fury is the answer. With Aghanim’s Shard, Juggernaut can spin down Muerta and her low HP pool while not letting her kite out. She can’t deal any damage or control Juggernaut while he spins, making all of her spells ineffective. If she uses Pierce The Veil, she will not be able to hit a spinning Juggernaut and instead die faster to his Blade Fury.
If Juggernaut builds a Nullifier, once his Blade Fury is down, he can still Nullify her and finish her off quickly with Omnislash despite her being ethereal in Pierce The Veil.
Lifestealer
Similar to Juggernaut, Lifestealer’s Rage is a perfect counter to everything Muerta does. Lifestealer also builds similar items to Juggernaut, meaning one Nullifier should be able to punish Muerta during his Rage duration. With the sustain that Lifestealer gains from Feast and the bonus attack speed from Ghoul Frenzy, he should have no trouble standing toe to toe with her.
Lifestealer’s Open Wounds also gives his teammates the perfect opening to burst her down once she’s been nullified or hexed.
Nyx Assassin
Nyx Assassin is a natural counter to any low Strength, high Intelligence hero. This is down to his Mana Burn which deals more damage the more Intelligence a hero has. Muerta’s high Intelligence gain will lead to more mana and HP being burned by Nyx, especially with the spell being on a five-second cooldown.
If Nyx is ever in a pinch, he can just Vendetta to escape. He can also use Vendetta to initiate, making him an unseen threat without true sight. Add in Spiked Carapace which allows him to stun Muerta through Dead Shot or The Calling without her even seeing him through Vendetta to really make him a dangerous foe to contend with.
Best items to counter Muerta
While these heroes can handle the job against Muerta, what if they aren’t available and you need to make do with other heroes instead? That’s when these items come into play.
- Black King Bar – A straightforward counter item to Muerta. Every spell of hers deals magical damage and her control effects do not pierce spell immunity. In addition, Muerta’s ultimate ability, Pierce The Veil, does no damage to magic immune units, rendering the spell completely ineffective for its duration.
- Bloodthorn – Muerta’s entire kit relies on dealing damage by casting spells, save for her Gunslinger passive. Silencing her before she can get her spells off leaves her unable to react to any follow-up damage because of her lack of defensive passive abilities. Bloodthorn’s active ability also lets your entire team pile on crit damage on Muerta for its duration.
- Nullifier – Muerta’s Pierce The Veil puts her in a unique ethereal state, one where she can attack ethereal units but cannot be attacked by them. She also does not take amplified spell damage. Using Nullifier will shut down her entire ultimate, leaving her vulnerable to strong physical damage from raw damage cores.
- Pipe of Insight – This one is pretty straightforward as well. Pipe of Insight negates all incoming magic damage and Muerta deals primarily magic damage. Most of her burst potential is nullified by a good Pipe builder. Throw in an Eternal Shroud as well and Muerta might need to upgrade her guns to be able to kill you.
- Revenant’s Brooch – Muerta’s own signature item can be used against her. When she goes into her ethereal state, activating Revenant’s Brooch will give you bonus attack speed and magical damage, which increases even further since she is in an ethereal state. This item makes short work of Muerta through her ultimate.
- Scythe of Vyse – The ultimate counter to almost any hero in the game. Scythe of Vyse is a better Bloodthorn, leaving Muerta in a completely vulnerable state. Her low HP pool and Strength gain will result in her getting burst down quickly by either physical or magical damage once she gets hexed.
There might be other items out there powerful enough to counter Muerta that we just have not discovered yet. With the infinite number of hero and item combinations that exist, it is possible that some synergies out there could easily destroy Muerta’s game and make her ineffective.
