Murad — Patch 1.62 Verdict
[Liquipedia RPL: S] Pro play (RPL 2026): 41 picks, 46.3% WR, 50.5% pick/ban rate. Note: pro meta may differ from ranked.
Murad — Assassin Guide
Murad kills you while you are actively clicking on him and missing. He gets untargetable windows during both his W and his ultimate, which lets him punish mispositioned carries in ways most assassins cannot. You can't CC him out of R, you can't burst him while W runs, and if you overcommit the chase his Q third-cast yanks him back before you react. Diving in, taking a kill, and vanishing is a real pattern at high rank, but only when you manage the Rift passive loop. Landing four autos to unlock Dimension Slash before you gap-close is the discipline that separates competent Murads from great ones. This patch he sits at A tier on a 46.3% win rate with a 36.1% ban rate that undersells how oppressive he is for a one-trick. That sub-50 win rate is instalock tax from players who never put in the reps. At Diamond and above, pocket Murads post positive stats routinely. Pick him when your team has an initiator to create the chaos he feeds on, and when the enemy carry has no point-and-click hard CC to interrupt his stacking phase.
Strengths
- +Murad's R and W both grant full untargetability during their animations, making him functionally immune to burst damage and CC at the precise moments he is dealing the most damage.
- +The Q third-cast return mechanic gives him a built-in escape that most assassins lack, allowing aggressive dives under turret or into grouped enemies with a guaranteed exit route if positioned correctly.
- +The 100-armor reduction from Time Surge amplifies every physical damage source on the team, making Murad's presence in a teamfight disproportionately valuable beyond just his personal kill threat.
- +Once Rift stacks are pre-loaded on jungle camps, Murad arrives at ganks with his full combo instantly available, giving him one of the fastest kill-confirm windows among jungle assassins on the Thai server.
Weaknesses
- −Pre-stacking Rift on auto-attacks before a gank creates a predictable timing window where Murad is visible on the minimap and experienced enemies will retreat or re-position before he arrives.
- −Hard point-and-click crowd control, especially stuns and suppressions, applied before he activates W or R completely shuts down his combo, since Rift stacks decay and the ability sequence collapses.
- −Murad has virtually no wave-clear utility and depends entirely on the jungle for income, meaning that if the enemy jungler out-paths him early or steals his camps, his item spikes are severely delayed.
- −Dimension Slash is sealed after each use and requires rebuilding four Rift stacks to unlock again, so a failed engage leaves him in a long, exposed vulnerability window with only Q and W for follow-up.
Abilities
PRift
Murad's auto attacks grant him 1 Energy point (does not apply to structures). Energy points decay after 3 seconds. After accumulating 4 Energy points, he gains 5% increased attack damage and unlocks Dimension Slash for 5 seconds.
1Thorn of Time
Murad dashes in a designated direction, dealing physical damage and stunning enemies. This skill can be recast within 5 seconds. On the 3rd cast, he blinks back to his starting position.
2Time Surge
Murad unleashes temporal power, dealing physical damage to enemies and extra physical damage to those in his path. Enemies hit are slowed by 90% for 2 seconds and have their armor reduced by 100 for 3 seconds. Murad cannot be targeted while this skill is active.
RDimension Slash
Murad performs 5 consecutive dashes in a designated area, dealing physical damage with each strike and leeching from enemies in the area. Murad cannot be targeted during this skill. Dimension Slash can only be used when unlocked by Rift and is locked again after use.
How to Use Murad's Kit
Rift is the engine that gatekeeps your entire damage output, you cannot use Dimension Slash without four stacks, full stop. In jungle, always auto the camp at least four times before you arrive at a gank so R is immediately available on approach; dying with a sealed R is one of the most punishing resource-wasting mistakes you can make on this hero. The 3-second decay timer is short enough that you should never try to pre-stack in base and run to lane, build your stacks on the first objective or camp you pass en route.
The third cast of Thorn of Time returning Murad to his original position is not a panic button, it is a calculated escape and a bait tool, and you should place your first Q with the return trajectory in mind every single time. A common high-rank mistake is burning all three casts purely for gap-closing, which leaves zero repositioning tool and exposes Murad to counterattack after R ends. In trades, treat the first two casts as damage and stun delivery, then hold the third until the enemy blows their CC or gap-closer before snapping back.
The 90% slow combined with a 100-armor shred for three seconds is an obscene debuff package, and the fact that Murad becomes untargetable while it pulses means you can use it as a pseudo-dodge against high-damage skill shots mid-combo. The optimal placement is directly on top of the target so they take the extra "running through" damage tick immediately, most players treat it like a ground-target slow and miss the bonus damage entirely. Use it after the first Q stun lands so the enemy is already CC'd and cannot walk out of the field.
Five sequential strikes, each with lifesteal, all delivered while completely untargetable, this is one of the most binary ultimates in ROV because it either deletes a carry or whiffs entirely if the target has a dash or a displacement ally nearby. The lifesteal scaling means that at full build, landing all five hits on a single target is effectively a self-sustain reset, making Murad dangerous even when he's behind. Never cast R immediately after Q1 into an enemy who still has their own dash or blink spell available; bait it first with your W, then commit.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Thorn of Time | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | · | · | · |
2Time Surge | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | · | · |
RDimension Slash | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Awake
Spirit
Essense Reaver
Dragon's ClawStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard All-In
P12R11Pre-stack Rift on a jungle camp before engaging, then Q in to stun the target, immediately drop W on them for the armor shred and slow, fire R while they're rooted in the field, and hold Q casts 2 and 3 as an escape or extended chase tool.
Turret Dive & Return
P12R11Identical sequence to the standard all-in but the first Q is placed so that the return anchor point lands just outside turret range, guaranteeing a clean exit after R completes, always visualize the return trajectory before committing the first cast.
Bait & Punish
121PRWhen Rift stacks are not yet ready, open with Q1 stun and W to bait the enemy's defensive spell or CC, then rapidly auto four times to unlock R and clean up, use this when the target has a dash that needs to be burned first.
Gameplan
Murad's first big spike is level 4, when Thorn of Time hits its full three-cast form. Before that he genuinely cannot run the full combo safely, so force nothing. Soulreaver is his most important item breakpoint: the jungle passive plus his untargetability lets him solo-secure Dark Slayer skirmishes that any other jungler would have to contest. Broken Spear into Omni Arms is the second spike, in the mid-game teamfight window. His late game is real but conditional. If enemies stack armor past 400, Fenrir's Tooth becomes mandatory to break the threshold. He is weakest at levels 1 to 3 and whenever Rift stacks are on cooldown mid-fight.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Run a fast full clear starting from the buff that lets you arrive at the enemy's scuttle crab or a side-lane gank at level 3 — prioritize the path that pre-stacks Rift on the last camp before the gank.
- →Contest the enemy jungler's red or blue buff at the 1:30 invasion window only if your team has a strong level-1 fighter; otherwise skip the risk and focus on clean personal clear speed to hit level 4 before them.
- →Your first gank should target a lane with hard engage or a setup ally — Murad's stun from Q is short and his damage window is only as good as the enemy's inability to dash out; pick the lane where the carry is already pushed up.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →After Soulreaver and War Boots complete, rotate to every Dark Slayer spawn — your untargetability during R makes you the safest Dark Slayer soloer in the game and you should weaponize this every single time the objective is alive.
- →In 5v5 teamfights, do not dive the frontline; identify the enemy carry's position before the fight breaks, then flank from the side so your Q1 lands on them while the rest of the enemy team is distracted by your frontliners.
- →When behind on items, avoid extended skirmishes and instead hard-focus sidelane split pressure to generate gold — your Q return mechanic makes 1v1 split scenarios reasonably safe even when you're one item down.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →At full build with Death Sickle, you become a legitimate teamfight presence rather than a pure pick assassin; Death Sickle's shield synergizes with your already-untargetable windows to make you nearly impossible to kill during the full combo.
- →Prioritize assassinating the enemy mage or marksman before every teamfight initiates — a successful pick that removes one squishy before 5v5 contact turns into an effective 5v4 and compensates for Murad's weaker teamfight AoE.
- →Late-game vision control around the Dark Slayer pit is your personal responsibility as jungler; place wards on both flanks and be prepared to solo-contest or 2v2 the objective using your untargetability as the deciding advantage.
Matchups
At a 36.1% ban rate he is gone often in Diamond lobbies. When he isn't, the whole draft question is whether the enemy has point-and-click hard CC. Grakk and Baldum should make you reconsider on the spot. Playing Murad into either in a serious match is signing up to be the weakest player on the map. If they show, have a backup AD assassin ready. If the lobby has zero reliable suppression or grabs, he is a strong pick after ban phase. Build around one engage initiator, Ormarr or Enzo are the gold standard, and let them make your flanks invisible until it is too late.
Murad gets countered by
AnnetteHer ultimate's persistent knockback field displaces Murad out of his R prematurely and applies CC before he can activate W, completely dismantling his untargetability windows.
GrakkGrakk's chain pull is a hard point-and-click CC that grabs Murad during his pre-stack phase or immediately after Q1 lands, breaking his entire combo sequence before R can be activated.
BaldumBaldum's suppression ultimate is untargetable by definition, it grabs Murad regardless of his W or between his untargetable windows and repositions him into the enemy team, nullifying his escape toolkit entirely.
AliceAlice's sustained healing and high magic-damage poke chip away at Murad's HP during his obligatory auto-attack stacking phase, forcing him to back off before he can complete four Rift stacks and engage.
Murad synergizes with
OrmarrOrmarr's ground slam locks enemies in place for the precise duration Murad needs to land all five R hits, and the armor reduction stacks multiplicatively with Time Surge's 100-armor shred.
EnzoEnzo's AOE root from his ultimate prevents enemies from dashing out of Dimension Slash and provides the front-to-back threat that lets Murad freely flank without being ignored.
LaurielLauriel creates prolonged teamfight chaos and her AOE CC in her ult gives Murad a reliable setup window to dive the backline while the enemy front is too distracted to peel.
Tel'AnnasTel'Annas's ultimate provides a long-range slow field that clusters enemies together, making it trivial for Murad to position R on multiple targets and chain-lifesteal back to full health.
Pro Tips
- →Always mentally note the exact ground position where your first Q cast lands, the third-cast return snaps you back there, and in fog-of-war engagements this anchor point is your only guaranteed escape; if you moved with Q1 into a bad angle, casts 2 and 3 cannot correct it.
- →You can use Time Surge as a deliberate animation interrupt against telegraphed skill shots, if you see Violet charging her ultimate or Laville locking on, activating W makes you untargetable for just long enough to let the projectile pass without damage.
- →In the jungle, do not finish your fourth Rift auto-attack on a camp that's nearly dead; instead, let the camp drop to low HP, pause, confirm the fourth stack, then immediately leave for your gank with R unlocked and the camp still alive to reset on if the gank fails.
- →Death Sickle should be purchased before Dark Slayer spawns rather than after, the shield it provides activates between your untargetable windows and gives you a survival buffer if you miscalculate and enemies burst you the instant R ends.
Murad is high-ceiling and high-commitment, for players willing to drill the Rift pre-stack until it is automatic under pressure. His untargetability windows are game-breaking against the right lineup, and his A-tier tag hides a hero whose real power the raw win rate consistently undervalues. If you are a Diamond-plus jungler who already has pathing and macro down, he is one of the most rewarding one-tricks on the server. The thing to master is Q anchor-point discipline: know exactly where cast one lands before you press it, every time.
Murad — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Murad good in the current ROV patch?+
Yes. Murad is A tier this patch, and the 36.1% ban rate confirms enemies respect him at the top of Thai-server play. His 46.3% win rate looks modest but is dragged down by instalockers who don't know the Rift loop. Dedicated one-tricks beat that average comfortably. With the practice in, he is among the most oppressive junglers available.
What is the best build for Murad?+
The Thai-server standard is Soulreaver into War Boots, then Broken Spear for armor pen, Omni Arms to extend his physical damage through auto resets, Fenrir's Tooth to execute low targets, and Death Sickle as a late-game survivability anchor. Do not skip Broken Spear. The armor pen is essential against the tanky frontlines that show up at Diamond and above. Soulreaver is always the first jungle item, no substitutes.
How do you counter Murad?+
Use hard point-and-click CC that interrupts him before or between his untargetable windows. Grakk's chain pull and Baldum's suppression are the textbook answers. Medallion of Troy on your carry gives a CC-immune shield that can break his combo if he engages before you pop it. Positionally, deny him jungle camps early; he has no reliable lane income, so it delays his spikes hard.
Is Murad hard to play / good for beginners?+
Hard, and earned. Landing four autos (Rift) before every serious engage is a discipline loop beginners break under pressure, and the Q third-cast return trajectory needs spatial awareness that takes dozens of games. Start on a simpler jungler. Murad is for players who already have pathing down and just need to layer his combo timing on top.