Muerta, the latest addition to the Dota 2 roster, is a master of death, and she also looks to be an enjoyer of playing dead games like Artifact, Valve’s abandoned card game project based on Dota lore.
When players load into Dota 2 after downloading patch 7.32e, they will see an altar filled with items from Muerta’s past, and there’s also an Artifact board there, which she apparently tried to teach Death how to play.
To understand the relationship between Death and Muerta, fans may need a quick trip down the lore lane. When Muerta was killed, she was so full of hatred that she refused to die. Death was rather impressed by the stubborn Muerta and handed her two weapons while making her his second in command.
They must have found some free time from collecting the souls of those who ran out of sand in their hourglasses, as Muerta almost spends an entire day teaching Death how to play Artifact.
In the poem, Death sounds confused about Artifact’s three-lane gameplay and also the card restrictions that require players to match colors and have heroes present. Despite a slow start to the game, Death quickly got hooked to the game after getting up to speed with the “phone book full of rules.”
Artifact was Valve’s first attempt at growing Dota 2’s lore. The card game had a largely-anticipated release, but it failed to retain players due to fatal design flaws that made it “pay to pay to play.” With a shrinking player base, Valve also canceled all the plans for a potential competitive scene, officially ceased development of the game in 2021.
