WhyWhile the laning stage between them is roughly even, Axe bypasses Muerta's physical damage immunity during Pierce the Veil because Counter Helix and Culling Blade both deal pure damage. Additionally, Muerta's extra attack procs from Gunslinger rapidly trigger Counter Helix, punishing her with frequent bursts of damage whenever she is taunted by Berserker's Call.
Muerta Counters & Build
Muerta is countered by Axe, Rubick and Medusa, and performs best against Necrophos, Slark and Monkey King — patch 7.41e, legend–ancient.
Countered by
5These heroes beat Muerta more often than their general strength explains.
WhyWhile the laning phase is roughly even, Rubick excels later by using Fade Bolt to reduce Muerta's attack damage and relying on Might and Magus to boost his magic resistance against her magical attacks during Pierce the Veil. Furthermore, Spell Steal allows Rubick to turn high-impact spells like Dead Shot or The Calling back against Muerta with extended range via Arcane Supremacy and increased debuff duration.
WhyMedusa's Mana Shield absorbs 98% of incoming damage regardless of damage type, effectively neutralizing the massive magical damage output Muerta relies on during Pierce the Veil. Furthermore, Stone Gaze disrupts Muerta's ultimate duration by forcing her to turn away or risk being petrified and stunned, while Mystic Snake siphons Muerta's mana to continuously replenish Medusa's defensive pool.
WhyPhantom Assassin can initiate from stealth with Blur and rapidly close the distance on Muerta using Phantom Strike's bonus attack speed. This gap-close allows her to threaten Muerta with massive physical burst from Coup de Grace before Muerta can set up The Calling or land Dead Shot, while Fan of Knives can apply Break to disable Gunslinger.
WhyLegion Commander likely troubles Muerta by using Duel to lock her down and silence her before she can activate Pierce the Veil for physical damage immunity. Without her ultimate active, the fragile ranged carry is forced into melee combat, where Legion Commander can cast Overwhelming Odds for bonus attack speed and sustain through Moment of Courage counterattacks.
Strong against
5Muerta outperforms against these.
WhyNecrophos relies on Ghost Shroud for defense, but it actually makes him vulnerable to Muerta. Her Supernatural ability allows her to attack ethereal targets directly, converting her attack damage to magical damage that is further amplified by Ghost Shroud's increased magic damage taken.
WhyAlthough the matchup is roughly even during the laning stage, Muerta counters Slark in mid-to-late game engagements with Pierce the Veil, which grants physical damage immunity to completely shut down his attacks and Essence Shift stacking. The ultimate also converts all of Muerta's attacks into magical damage, allowing her to bypass any high armor Slark acquires from stolen Agility. Additionally, The Calling and Dead Shot provide area control and silence to repeatedly disrupt Slark in teamfights.
WhyMuerta's Pierce the Veil grants complete immunity to physical damage, neutralizing Monkey King's main damage sources from Jingu Mastery and his Wukong's Command soldiers. Furthermore, her attacks deal magical damage during her ultimate, entirely bypassing the bonus armor Monkey King gains inside his soldier ring. Muerta can also disrupt his positioning and ability to build Jingu stacks using the fear from Dead Shot and the silence from The Calling.
WhyWhile the laning stage is roughly even, Muerta likely gains an advantage in teamfights because Pierce the Veil makes her immune to physical damage and converts her attack damage to magical, bypassing the armor reduction of Wave of Terror. The transformation also provides a basic dispel and dodges projectiles to mitigate Magic Missile. If initiated on via Nether Swap, Muerta can quickly counter-engage by locking down the area with The Calling and returning high magical damage through Gunslinger.
WhyMuerta controls the matchup early in lane as a ranged attacker and scales into a potent threat against Timbersaw's defenses. Her ultimate, Pierce the Veil, converts all of her attack damage into magical damage, entirely bypassing the high armor gained from Reactive Armor. Additionally, the silence and slow from The Calling can disrupt Timbersaw's ability to maneuver and escape with Timber Chain.
Best allies
5Pairs that win more together than apart.
Popular build
legend–ancientThe eight most-bought items, in the order they are usually finished. Chosen by purchase frequency rather than win rate — an item's win rate reflects how the game was going, not what the item did. The minute is the median completion time: what to aim for.
-
Falcon Blade 4min 6,922 builds -
Maelstrom 15min 10,757 builds -
Mjollnir 20min 8,083 builds -
Force Staff 26min 5,154 builds -
Hurricane Pike 26min 5,025 builds -
Black King Bar 30min 6,945 builds -
Crystalys 32min 5,416 builds -
Daedalus 35min 3,487 builds
Patch 7.41e · legend–ancient · updated 2026-08-24. Figures are shrunk toward the expected result by sample size, so a large number on thin data is deliberately damped rather than shown raw.