Raise ‘Em: Heimerdinger in the LCS
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For a long time, Heimerdinger was that champion that pros moused over as a bit of a joke. They’d click on him, the crowd would cheer, but then they’d move on to who they were really going to play in that particular instance.
Now that he's received a rework, players are pulling him out to lay down some turrets and do some serious damage; the LCS is no exception.
Due to his lack of mobility, one would think that Heimerdinger would have to play safe during the early game to avoid ganks. Youngbuck proved otherwise; his H-28G Evolution Turrets naturally pushed the wave up to his opponent's (Darien's Ryze) tower, forcing him to extend well past the halfway mark in the lane to farm effectively. Normally, that would make such a champion vulnerable from ganks, but not Heimer. With a line of turrets behind him, Diamond’s Udyr would either have to take a good amount of damage just go get near him or take a much less advantageous route to get to him, allowing Heimer to escape. Not terribly tempting for a jungler.
From there, thanks to the long range on his Hextech Micro Rockets, he’s free to pressure his lane enemy under their own tower, safely extending his lead.
At right about the 22 minute mark, both teams began making their way over to the Dragon, which had recently spawned. As the Wolves arrived there first, Youngbuck had the opportunity to drop a few of his turrets around the pit, forcing his opponents to take a more roundabout path to their objective or else take free damage on the way to the engagement.
Once Migxa's Thresh grabbed him with a Death Sentence, the chaos began. Turrets fired, missiles flew, and an Electron Smoke Grenade stunned the support. Rather than be locked down for the duration of the hook, he was still able to do damage with his autonomous creations, surprising Migxa with damage and forcing the rest of SHC away from the pit.
Good luck if you try to flank him while he’s sieging your base, too. Youngbuck’s stuns were on point in both games, so no one wanted to risk coming around to try and gain an advantageous position. Just about every time Youngbuck and the rest of the Wolves packed up to take down a tower, they succeeded.
Thanks to his unorthodox play style, Heimerdinger is open to some weird item choices when it comes to shoving the opponents’ base. In the matchup between Copenhagen Wolves and Gambit, he even nabbed the rarely seen Banner of Command to buff surrounding minions (and his own turrets) to power down the Gambit’s base swiftly.
In Supa Hot Crew vs. Copenhagen Wolves, the Wolves initiated a lane swap, forcing Youngbuck into a 1v2 situation against MrRalleZ’s Lucian and Migxa’s Thresh. The pair pushed hard, killing minions quickly, keeping Heimer under his own tower, and capping it off with a successful dive from Impaler's Elise.
At that moment, they showed that Heimer can be taken down. He can hold off a pair of champions in siege situations, but overwhelm him early and he’ll have trouble keeping more than that at bay. From there, it’s a matter of keeping the little guy down. We’ll have to see if anyone can pull it off as the LCS playoffs heat up.
The Story of the Early Game
Heimer hasn’t exactly seen a ton of play. In fact, he’s been banned three times as often as he’s made it to the Rift (banned six times, picked twice). However, when he has made it through the banning phase, he’s more than done his job and led the Copenhagen Wolves to victory. Youngbuck is the only person across both LCS regions to actually play him on a professional stage and won both games. Let's look at his face-off against Gambit Gaming.
Due to his lack of mobility, one would think that Heimerdinger would have to play safe during the early game to avoid ganks. Youngbuck proved otherwise; his H-28G Evolution Turrets naturally pushed the wave up to his opponent's (Darien's Ryze) tower, forcing him to extend well past the halfway mark in the lane to farm effectively. Normally, that would make such a champion vulnerable from ganks, but not Heimer. With a line of turrets behind him, Diamond’s Udyr would either have to take a good amount of damage just go get near him or take a much less advantageous route to get to him, allowing Heimer to escape. Not terribly tempting for a jungler.
From there, thanks to the long range on his Hextech Micro Rockets, he’s free to pressure his lane enemy under their own tower, safely extending his lead.
Preparing for the Fight
Once he joins up with his team, Heimerdinger revels in controlled chaos. To really see his power, we’ll have to look at the second game in which Heimer made an appearance under Youngbuck’s control: Copenhagen Wolves vs. Supa Hot Crew.
At right about the 22 minute mark, both teams began making their way over to the Dragon, which had recently spawned. As the Wolves arrived there first, Youngbuck had the opportunity to drop a few of his turrets around the pit, forcing his opponents to take a more roundabout path to their objective or else take free damage on the way to the engagement.
Once Migxa's Thresh grabbed him with a Death Sentence, the chaos began. Turrets fired, missiles flew, and an Electron Smoke Grenade stunned the support. Rather than be locked down for the duration of the hook, he was still able to do damage with his autonomous creations, surprising Migxa with damage and forcing the rest of SHC away from the pit.
Siege Potential
Remember how Youngbuck was able to keep Darien under tower by way of long range missiles and turret backup? That pressure only gets more intense once Heimerdinger gets a few items under his belt. He can drop turrets just out of range of tower shots, forcing his opponents to stay far enough away to avoid getting shot, all the while allowing his teammates to blast away at the buildings.
Good luck if you try to flank him while he’s sieging your base, too. Youngbuck’s stuns were on point in both games, so no one wanted to risk coming around to try and gain an advantageous position. Just about every time Youngbuck and the rest of the Wolves packed up to take down a tower, they succeeded.
Thanks to his unorthodox play style, Heimerdinger is open to some weird item choices when it comes to shoving the opponents’ base. In the matchup between Copenhagen Wolves and Gambit, he even nabbed the rarely seen Banner of Command to buff surrounding minions (and his own turrets) to power down the Gambit’s base swiftly.
Dropping the Donger
We haven’t seen how LCS players can manage to win games against Heimerdinger yet. But, we have seen him controlled early.
In Supa Hot Crew vs. Copenhagen Wolves, the Wolves initiated a lane swap, forcing Youngbuck into a 1v2 situation against MrRalleZ’s Lucian and Migxa’s Thresh. The pair pushed hard, killing minions quickly, keeping Heimer under his own tower, and capping it off with a successful dive from Impaler's Elise.
At that moment, they showed that Heimer can be taken down. He can hold off a pair of champions in siege situations, but overwhelm him early and he’ll have trouble keeping more than that at bay. From there, it’s a matter of keeping the little guy down. We’ll have to see if anyone can pull it off as the LCS playoffs heat up.
er. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
