League Of Legends: Heimerdinger Is More Than A Meme Pick

"League of Legends" has over 150 Champions to pick from. With so many different Champions to play, they all tend to get lumped into several different categories, with some not being taken quite as seriously as others. Heimerdinger, the Revered Inventor yordle who appeared in Netflix's "Arcane," is one that generally is seen as a meme pick among fans, some of whom see him as a bit of joke. His short, fluffy appearance makes him seem harmless, and his kit has historically made him look like a troll pick to many players, no matter how good his stats are.

Heimerdinger's abilities include a stun, a barrage of missiles, and three turrets that can be placed to damage enemies within range. This differs wildly from the playstyles  of most other Legends, which sort of exacerbated the feeling among fans that picking Heimerdinger isn't a serious choice. He's also fairly easy to play against in theory, since taking out Heimerdinger's turrets removes most of his damage.

However, recently Heim's been seen more and more on the Rift, and he's become more than just a meme pick. In fact, he made an appearance at Worlds 2022 as a Support – a role in which players have been seeing more success when compared to his main role in the Middle lane.

Heimerdinger was seen multiple times in Worlds 2022 as a Support and netted several wins. He's not just great at a pro level, either – his win rate as a Support in general is nearly 51%. With success like that, he's not just a troll choice.

Part of the reason why Heimerdinger's win rate is so good is because he's pretty great at bullying the enemy attack-damage-carry (ADC). As long as he can set his towers up in a way that doesn't steal his own ADC's minions, then he can put an incredible amount of pressure on the enemy team, especially in the early game. Plus, his missiles have a high range and can further bully the enemy Bottom lane.

His stun is also a multipurpose tool that can provide a way for his teammates to fight or keep his ADC safe by stunning any oncoming enemies. It's worth noting that he can be a bit difficult to play correctly in the Support role, though. Heimerdinger Supports want to make sure that they're not taking too much farm away from their ADC or else the balance of the team will be thrown off. While having a fed damage-dealing Support can still win the game, it also makes everything more unpredictable and disrupts the team's dynamics.

However, these factors also make him a pretty great Middle-laner.

While Heimerdinger's abilities work well at keeping an ADC safe, they also excel at keeping hims safe in-lane. Heimerdinger's damage largely comes from his turrets, and they can be pretty hard to deal with for players who don't know what to do or can't get close enough to destroy them. The main way to counterplay Heim is by destroying his towers. However, if Heimerdinger is attacking every time a Champion tries to go after his turrets, then it ends up costing a lot of health just to take one out. Plus, after the early laning phase of the game, Heimerdinger can place down a new turret fairly quickly in most situations.

This makes him rather oppressive to play against. It's hard to go in on him because his stun can get him out of tricky situations, after which he can focus on whittling down his opponent's health while his turrets farm minions for him. This is reflected in his impressive 53% win rate in the Middle lane. 

Heimerdinger definitely more than just a meme pick in the current state of "League of Legends," and patient players may find that he's incredibly fun to play at the same time.