Introduction of a new Dota 2 hero is perfectly timed

Muerta will be the 124th hero in the game.

The International, Dota 2's annual tournament, concluded this weekend in Singapore, and Valve took advantage of the occasion to reveal Dota 2's 124th hero: Muerta.

Muerta's trailer is only 47 seconds long and depicts a woman walking beneath a tree. As she walks past various statues and relics, nearby candles light up. Muerta, the woman, speaks of suffering from both the living and the dead, and how everyone fears her far more than death.

Muerta looks at the camera at the end of the teaser and erupts, for lack of a better word, covering her body in teal-painted skeletal markings. Muerta draws obvious aesthetic inspiration from traditional Mexican Da de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) decorations — which, coincidentally, fall on Tuesday.

Valve made no mention of Muerta's abilities or stats. However, based on her weapons – two glowing pistols dangling from her belt – she appears to be an agility-focused ranged carry. Players won't know for certain until Valve releases Muerta in early 2023.

Prior to Muerta, the most recent hero to be added to Dota 2 was Primal Beast, who debuted on the lanes on February 23 of this year. With Muerta not coming out until next year, the gap between hero releases will be about a year. This isn't unusual for Dota 2, which regularly goes nearly a year between new heroes. Hoodwink, who didn't debut until the middle of December, was the only new hero in 2020. However, three new heroes were added to the game in 2019, indicating that Valve appears to release heroes when they're ready, as opposed to League of Legends' strategy of releasing a new Champion every few months

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