Muerta was first picked in a premier tournament by Shopify Rebellion in the deciding game of their 2-1 win against Tundra Esports in DreamLeague Season 19.
It’s always exciting when Dota 2’s newest hero has their first official Captains Mode game in a premier tournament because everyone is curious to see how the best in the business can make use of the hero when the stakes are high. In the case of death’s second in command – Muerta – that opportunity came quicker than most heroes, as she was introduced to Captains Mode in less than two months of her release.
Dota 2 patch 7.33 not only changed the game from the ground up, but it also allowed professional teams to make Muerta a part of their plans. DreamLeague Season 19 came back after a day’s break, and the first series of the four team playoffs was between TI11 winners Tundra Esports and the only team in the top four not from Western Europe, Shopify Rebellion. The series was a lower bracket series, meaning the losing team would be eliminated from the tournament.
In the first two games, Muerta was ignored completely – neither picked nor banned. Shopify Rebellion made short work of Tundra in the first game with a 25-minute victory, but Tundra held on to their nerves while being a game away from being eliminated and won the second game with their trademark Naga Siren in 57 minutes.
It all came down to the third game, and Shopify Rebellion decided to take a chance with a last pick Muerta (last pick for them, second last pick overall in the draft). It was a position 1 Muerta to be played by their talisman, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev.
The game was back and forth for the first 40 minutes, but Tundra ramped up with an 18000 gold lead in the next few minutes. But Arteezy got a Divine Rapier at the 48th minute mark, and with Gunslinger, absolutely annihilated the enemy heroes. The game eventually turned and Arteezy ended up with two Rapiers after Oliver “Skiter” Lepko dropped his Rapier on the Terrorblade. Shopify Rebellion defeated Tundra 2-1 to make it to the top 3 of DreamLeague Season 19.
Arteezy’s Muerta ended up being the hero with the highest damage in the game, not just in terms of hero damage, but also for building damage. Gunslinger works on buildings as well!
So how did Arteezy choose to progress on Muerta in terms of skills and items? There was one small caveat in his skill build for a carry Muerta as compared to what is typically seen in pubs. He stopped Dead Shot at level 3 and maxed out Gunslinger instead. That can have its benefits, especially if you have finished Maelstrom early. In his case, he got it at 12:34, which is a very good timing.
But looking at his items, he did not choose to keep the Maelstrom or upgrade it to a Mjolnir or Glepnir. Later in the game, he sold it to replace it with Eye of Skadi. He could have consumed his Moon Shard, but chose to keep it, showing the prioritization of attack speed over the Maelstrom procs.
(taken from Dotabuff)
Muerta also got a huge indirect buff with the release of Dota 2 patch 7.33. BKB no longer blocks all magic damage – just 50% of it. So while it was a complete counter to Pierce the Veil before patch 7.33, Muerta can now hit a target with an active BKB, even though her attacks will do less damage.
The second major buff, which Arteezy made use of, was the introduction of an Aghanim’s Shard upgrade. Muerta’s Shard upgrade gives her spell lifesteal during Pierce the Veil, and gives her permanent spell amplification with each kill using her ultimate (or when a hero dies near her with her ultimate active).
Of the total damage done, the maximum (over 28,000) was with Pierce the Veil active, and a near astounding 22,000 was with Gunslinger! That is around 28% of the total damage dealt. Of course, for that, you do need to play as a team and position yourself perfectly, which Arteezy might be better at than most carries.
It’s exciting times in Dota 2 with the release of Dota 2 patch 7.33, and Muerta’s introduction in Captains Mode is adding to the excitement. She is bound to be a part of the final day of DreamLeague Season 19, but more importantly, it will be interesting to see how teams make use of her or counter her at the Berlin Major.
