Follow Summoners, have you ever experienced shock, when you are just casually watching a competitive League of Legends game. Seemingly out of nowhere, a champion you have never thought would be picked shows up on the rift. Leaving you with a bunch of question marks floating above your head. “Why is THIS champion picked, how does it work, does it work in my soloq games as well?” Worry not, all the questions shall receive an answer. Today we will be looking at the Revered Inventor– Heimerdinger in professional plays.
Heimerdinger in Professional Plays
Heimerdinger pick in EULCS, photo via LoLesports
Previously only seen as a cheese pick or a niche champion for one-tricks. Through many patches of buffing and ADC itemization changes, Heimerdinger was finally brought to the stage by Vitality’s Attila. After its successful premier, Heimerdinger was picked two more times while being banned twice in the first week of EULCS.
What’s more intriguing about the pick is the fact that it’s actually OP! Heimerdinger was not only undefeated during the three games, but also snatched an average KDA (Kill-Death Ratio) of 25.0. Which is by-far the highest of any champion picked in week one of EULCS. Three games are indeed not enough of a sample size. However judging by how consistently dominant and impactful Heimerdinger was in all three games, regardless of its opposing composition.
It is safe to say that, Heimerdinger should not be considered as a cheese pick but rather a power pick in the current meta.
The Reasons Why Heimerdinger works
Photo via League of Legends Wikia
The prominent reason why picks like Heimerdinger works right now, is due to the state of game that we are currently in. Ever since the patch 8.11 critical strike itemization changes, the early to mid-game damage of critical strike reliant adcs received a significant nerf.
On top of that, they can no longer get their double zeal items plus Infinity Edge combo as early as 27 minutes. Alongside of Riot’s push of heavy snowballing game, nowadays games do not last long enough for those champions to scale into their late game state.
On the other hand, bruisers and mages all excel at early to mid-game. Heimerdinger as the prime example of a lane bully, has immense pressure during the laning phase with his turrets, which allows him to take early turrets and roam to other lanes. Additionally, Heimerdinger counters a lot of hot picks that are being played, such as Vladimir. Furthermore, in the professional games everyone on the team is good at communicating, therefore Heimer is not as easily exploitable as he is in soloq games.
Heimerdinger’s early game prowess and mid game pressure is mostly why pro teams favor him over traditional adcs right now. Generally pro teams are good at capitalizing their early game leads generated from Heimerdinger and pressure the entire map for an early win.
Heimerdinger in Soloq
Photo via Riot Games
Compared to other powerful champions, Heimerdinger has never seen a ton of play in soloq. However, Heimerdinger has always been decently stronger in most meta games. In the current meta, Heimerdinger can obviously go bot lane as it is in pro play. Due to the immense pressure he can put on and how little counter play there is when the vision control is on point.
Yet bot lane is not the only place the inventor can go. Middle lane Heimerdinger is also rocking an average of over 50% win rate. Additionally, middle lane has the shortest lane, thus ganking a Heimerdinger is nearly impossible. In most cases, a good Heimerdinger can easily turn on the gank and get himself a kill or two.
Nonetheless, as crazy as it might sound, Heimer isn’t particularly an easy champion to play. You may be laughing “What is hard about setting up the turrets?”. The fact is, there is way more mechanics to Heimer than just putting down his turrets and push. For more in detailed guide on how to improve on Heimerdinger and win with him, I would recommend checking out the Challenger Heimerdinger One-trick ‘Heisendong’.
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