Muerta vs Shadow Shaman

How this matchup plays

Drafting Muerta into a game against Shadow Shaman forces her to play around his specific threats from the very beginning. His entire kit is built to lock down a single target, and Muerta is the perfect hero to be that target. Shadow Shaman's near-instant Hex followed by his channeled Shackles can hold her in place long enough for his team to bring her down. This problem gets worse when she uses Pierce the Veil. Even though she's ethereal, she can still be targeted by his spells, completely wasting her ultimate as she gets chain-disabled through its duration.

This interaction defines how fights play out. A Shadow Shaman with a Blink Dagger can make it his sole mission to jump on Muerta the second she shows herself. Her teammates have to be ready to save her, or she has to buy items like Black King Bar much earlier than she'd like, slowing down her damage progression. Meanwhile, Shadow Shaman forces her to play reactively. She has to constantly be aware of his position, because if he gets the jump, she is almost certainly dead without contributing to the fight.