Ever since the debut of the Netflix Dota 2 movie, fans were promised the release of a new hero, Marci. Valve fulfilled that promise on 28th October 2021 with the addition of Patch 7.30e. Marci in Dota 2 was introduced as a Melee Hero that could fill both the carry and the support role. Her abilities also include initiation, disable and escape.
Soon after her release, Marci became a community favorite and has been seen in almost every pub match ever since. It’s rare not to have players fighting over who gets to pick her first. With the core theme of her friendship with Princess Mirana being a focal point for her lore. Marci is here to serve her friends as an honest and fierce companion!
This guide aims to help you understand the hero so that she can be played to her maximum potential. As a new hero, there’s far too much about Marci that the Dota player base is not aware of. Starting off with her abilities.
Marci’s Abilities
Marci’s abilities are a mix of innovation and what was shown of her in the Dota Movie: Dragon’s Blood. These abilities add to her overall dual playstyles and strength.
Dispose
The very first Q ability is Dispose. This ability is the unit target and can affect allies and enemies alike. When used against enemies, it stuns them and anyone else in the AoE. This ability works great with other potential heroes like Enigma and Faceless Void. Marci can throw enemy heroes into their ultimate abilities adding to her team synergy.
This move can also be used to clear camps and creep waves allowing Marci to farm more efficiently. However, this ability does not work against Roshan. Marci can use it to help allies like Axe jump into the battle’s forefronts and use their abilities to initiate a successful team fight.
Rebound
Marci’s second ability is Rebound. Like her first ability, Marci uses this to bound forward into enemy units or escape from them. Upon landing, she deals damage and slows down units in the vicinity. This can be used to initiate team fights and also deal with large creeps waves.
As a Melee Hero, this grants Marci flexibility that other heroes in the category do not enjoy. With the right skill set upgrade, the range for this move can be released making Marci even more dangerous.
Sidekick
This is an ability that earns Marci the support playstyle. It affects both Marci and allies in her immediate radius. Imbuing them with greater attack speed and life steal for every hit dealt to enemy units.
This ability gives Marci a major boost to her damage output making her right-click attacks deadly for opponents. Later on, using the talent tree Marci can also give herself and allies spell immunity with this ability. When utilized correctly, Marci can take on three heroes at the same time.
Unleash
The final and ultimate ability for Marci is Unleash. This uncaps her maximum attack speed, increasing it even more. Additionally, with the added attack speed, she also releases a pulse after every flurry that silences and slows enemy units. Turning a face-to-face confrontation with Marci into a death sentence.
Using this move with Sidekick only adds to her insane attack speed while giving her life steal to sustain the battle even if the enemy hero is a strong nuker. If used right, Marci continues to get the flurry buff one after another until the enemy hero goes down.Â
Itemization
Since Marci in Dota 2 is a new hero, players are still experimenting with different items on her to see which ones work the best. However, you need not worry as this guide will help you understand what items to build when playing this hero.
Early Game
Early Game it best to start with some regen. Marci is a melee hero, which means that she’ll have to get close to creeps in order to hit last. This may bring her in range of enemy support’s attacks. And since she needs the Gold and XP, it’s not recommended to go back to the fountain to heal up.
Tangoes will help regenerate her health over time. A quelling blade can help her secure last hits better. Gauntlets of Strength will further aid her last hitting and can be converted into a soul ring which Marci could use later in the game.
Mid Game
During the Mid Game is when Marci needs to focus on getting several farms. She should go to jungle camps to farm more effectively.
In this phase of the game, items like Maelstorm would be best to help her cut down creep waves. Additionally, Blink Dagger grants her the mobility to position herself to cast Dispose. Skull Basher is also a good item as it synergizes well with her attack speed to lock down enemy heroes better.
Late Game
Late Game is where Marci truly begins to shine as a carry hero. During this stage, buying a Black King Bar is important as it gives her spell immunity. This helps Marci consistently attack enemy heroes during Unleash without getting interrupted.
Daedalus is also a good item as it helps Marci attack damage to her attacks. Coupled with the additional attack speed makes her truly dangerous for enemy heroes.
Eye of Skadi is another great item as it slows down enemy units rendering them incapable of escaping Marci’s assault.
Situational items
Players can also purchase Desolator to increase Marci’s overall damage output and ability to push towers. A Battle Fury is also a good item if you’re behind on-farm and need to catch up with the enemy cores.
Selection Draft
The selection Draft is a vital component of every Dota 2 match-up. Knowing which heroes Marci counters and which heroes counter her are important aspects to consider before drafting her.
Below we will discuss some heroes that Marchi should be picked against and heroes that should make you reconsider drafting her.
Good Against
Enchantress
Enchantress is a fragile hero if Untouchable can be bypassed. This is exactly what Marci can do. Since Unleash gives her +1000 attack speed, Untouchable does not work on her. She can use her high damage right-click attacks to take down Enchantress immediately.
For Impetus to deal the maximum damage, Enchantress needs to be as away from her target as possible. This is hard to do with Marci as she has a lot of mobility. Additionally, Marci can use one of Enchantress’s own creeps to get close to her and kill her.
Mars
Mars is also a melee strength hero, much like Marci. While he is able to defend against her attacks, Marci can easily reposition herself to attack Mars’s weak points. The life steal from Sidekick also allows her to continue fighting Mars until his health runs down.
Arena of Blood is Mars’s trump card. However, it fails against Marci. This is because she can use Rebound to get out of the Arena and save her allies by using Dispose, making this ability useless in front of her.
Nature’s Prophet
Nature’s Prophet relies on entrapping his enemies in Sprout and dealing high damage to them while they helplessly try to escape. This fails to work against Marci as she can use Rebound to get out of sprout and escape Nature’s Prophet.
Additionally, his Treants are useless against her as she can deal AoE damage and quickly get rid of them. They can also help her use Rebound or Dispose, which only hinders Nature Prophet himself.
Bad Against
Axe
Axe is a great counter to Marci as the high attack speed damages she deals out only help him gain an advantage over her. The more attacks she deals to Axe, the more Counter Helix procs. This works even as Axe is stunned by Dispose. Even Marci’s lifesteal is not enough to save her from the damage received by Counter Helix.
Marci’s Unleash has little effect on Axe if he uses Berserker’s call beforehand. This gives him additional armor which is enough to withstand Marci’s attacks. If he uses Blade Mail then he can turn the high attack speed and damage against her which could also kill her if Marci isn’t careful enough.
Bloodseeker
Bloodseeker is an agility hero who counters high mobility heroes with his ultimate ability, Rupture. Similarly, he is a threat to Marci, and her only high movement speed ability is Rebound. Using this ability while under the effects of Rupture will surely lead to her death.
If Bloodseeker purchases Aghanim’s Shard, his Blood rage will deal pure damage and life steal off Marci. This means that a head-to-head confrontation with Bloodseeker is bad due to Marci’s large HP pool as a strength hero. This will always ensure she receives more damage than Bloodseeker.
Playstyle
Marci is a relatively new hero in Dota 2, and so there are still playstyles being explored for her character. For now, she is best played as a Position 1 core. She does exceptionally well with the early XP advantage she receives in this playstyle and uses that to achieve objectives fairly quickly.
If her mana regen is managed properly, she can trash the enemy team by herself. Choosing the right items can help boost Marci’s stats even further, making her a true reckoning force to be dealt with.
Hopefully, this guide on How to Play Marci in Dota 2 will help you refine your playstyle with this hero and enjoy your matchups in Pub games.
