Magnus vs Medusa

How this matchup plays

Deciding on a Magnus pick means considering if the enemy has cores you can actually burst. Medusa is a difficult target for him. The classic Magnus play is to isolate someone with Reverse Polarity and have the team delete them during the stun. Medusa's Mana Shield, however, makes her incredibly durable against that initial burst damage. She can often absorb the follow-up that would otherwise kill most heroes, surviving the combo that Magnus sets up.

Throughout a match, this forces the Magnus to play differently. Instead of simply blinking in for a solo kill on the carry, he often needs to catch multiple heroes or hope his team has enough sustained damage to finish Medusa after the stun ends. If they don't, she can easily turn the engagement with Stone Gaze. Magnus still provides a powerful BKB-piercing stun and displacement with Skewer, so he's not without options. But his core problem of not being able to reliably eliminate Medusa gives her a slight advantage in their matchups.