Medusa dominates the pro and pub scene in Dota 2 patch 7.33c. She is the 16th most-picked hero in the game, appearing in 15% of all games and winning 56%. She is one of the best carries to pick if you’re looking to grind MMR. Competitively she is the most contested carry in Western Europe and China, two of the strongest regions in Dota 2.

The Gorgon comes with a lot of strengths, she’s durable, farms quickly, hits multiple targets, and comes with a great teamfight ultimate. It’s no easy feat to bring down Medusa (just ask Perseus) but some heroes are up to the task.

The four best Medusa counters in Dota 2 patch 7.33c

Carry: Anti-Mage

Firstly, is anyone surprised that Anti-Mage (AM) is the best carry to bring down the Gorgon? Be honest. With his innate ability to burn mana, high mobility, and being one of the few heroes who can farm as fast as Medusa, it’s no surprise that Anti-Mage is the best carry to have when facing the snake-haired lady, winning the matchup 52% of the time.

Mana Break is the main reason AM is a terror for Medusa to deal with, as it can quickly burn through her mana and leave her vulnerable. All of the Gorgon’s durability comes from her Mana Shield and once it is depleted, it only takes a couple of blows to bring her down. Mana Break synergizes amazingly with Mana Void to punish the entire enemy team, turning their win condition against them.

Another point in favor of AM is the fact that Medusa can’t threaten him in return. Blink allows the hero to jump in and out of fights, easily eluding a slow cumbersome hero like Medusa who has no instant stuns and an ultimate that takes time to lock down opponents. Manta Style, Vanguard, and Butterfly are common items for AM and another hurdle for the Gorgon to overcome.

If you’re playing position one and you suspect the enemy is gonna pick Medusa or has already picked her, then your best bet to win the game is to take Anti-Mage, there is simply no better carry-to-carry matchup in the game.

Mid lane: Riki

Most mid-lane heroes do pretty well in the early game against Medusa, thanks to their high burst damage and mobility. However as the game drags on, heroes such as Puck and Queen of Pain struggle to bring down the carry queen, and even the Spirit brothers don’t have the damage to kill her.

That’s where Riki comes in

The Stealth Assassin is an unusual choice in the mid-lane but statistically, it is his best role, as all the solo gold and exp allows him to quickly come online and rotate around the map. Dota 2 patch 7.33 buffed Cloak and Dagger and the ultimate now grants bonus experience to every kill and assist for the hero, further encouraging this hero-killer playstyle.

Riki’s other skills are well suited for chasing down targets, Blink Strike has two charges and can target enemies and allies, allowing the hero to jump on fragile targets and escape to his allies after. Tricks of the Trade is another defensive layer to the hero, while Smoke Screen is fantastic at mitigating physical damage and forcing enemies to buy a Monkey King Bar, something Medusa decidedly does NOT want to buy.

But the best reason to pick the Stealth Assassin is that he is one of the few mid-heroes who buys a Diffusal blade, which is the best item to have against Medusa. Riki’s agility gain is pretty atrocious but with Power Treads, Diffusal, and several Wraith Bands, the hero is more than capable of sticking to enemies and landing a rain of blows on them, enough to burn down the Gorgon’s mana pool and leave her defenseless.

Offlane: Dark Seer

While Dark Seer doesn’t face off against the Gorgon often due to his abysmal pick rate (107th most popular hero in the game) when he does, he comes out on top 55% of the time, even higher than Anti-Mage.

There are a lot of good things going for Medusa but burst damage isn’t one of them. The team with Gorgon often takes a while to bring enemies down and that works in favor of Dark Seer, who can spam Ion Shell on himself and allies and stick to the enemy carry, dealing 140 damage per Shell with the proper talents.

Wall of Replica is another amazing ability against Gorgon, as the spell deals 120% of the original hero’s damage, making it fantastic on stat-heavy heroes who hit multiple targets. Players can also buy an Aghanim’s Shard to use Normal Punch, another ability that conjures illusions of enemy heroes while stunning them.

As mentioned earlier, Gorgon’s damage isn’t the highest in the game and items such as Guardian Greaves and Crimson Guard go a long way to mitigating physical damage. Guess which hero builds these items naturally as part of his item build? that’s right, Underlord!…..oh, and Dark Seer too I guess.

Dark Seer is a strong laning offlaner who can create powerful illusions and greatly reduce the damage from Medusa, making him one of the best heroes to have when facing the carry queen.

Roaming Support: Nyx Assassin

Astute readers may have noticed a trend with the heroes suggested so far. Anyone who can reduce the enemy’s mana pool tends to do well against Gorgon and Nyx Assassin is no exception.

Mind Flare deals five times a hero’s intelligence in damage and burns the same amount in mana. Since the carry queen buys multiple intelligence-boosting items such as Eye of Skadi, Manta Style, and Aghanim Scepter, that all adds to Mind Flare’s damage. It’s also not the only spell in Nyx’s arsenal that reduces mana, as Vandetta removes 50% of the target’s max mana on hit and that amount cannot be reduced by Mana Shield (unlike Mind Flare).

This makes Nyx well suited for hunting down Gorgons, as he can sneak up on them and unload his combo to solo kill the hero. He also comes with multiple disables that are nearly impossible for Medusa to avoid. Spiked Carapace will proc on attacks from Split Shot, while Impale is fairly easy to land on the slow-moving snake lady.

Nyx is one of the most annoying heroes to play against in Dota 2, he’s difficult to focus down, comes with multiple disables, and can zap enemy’s mana away. While he’s not enough by himself to shut down Medusa, he is the best roaming support to have against the Gorgon.

Now you might be thinking of a good hard support to counter the hero, but it’s very difficult for most position five players to do much against the carry queen, except pray that the rest of the team deals with her instead.

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