The most recent League of Legends patch 11.9 included an unexpected nerf to Heimerdinger, and popular streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp isn’t happy about it.
Tyler1 made his name as a Draven player but has picked up several unorthodox champions in recent years. One of them is Heimerdinger, who Tyler1 has been playing both on and off stream, but now a recent nerf might affect Heimerdinger’s viability. In patch 11.9, Riot released a nerf to Heimerdinger that might force him out of solo queue games where he is already a rare pick.
On a recent live stream, Tyler1 shared his frustrations about the nerfs and how Riot is targeting a champion that is already very rare in both solo queue and professional play. The nerf is specifically targeted at Heimerdinger’s Hextech Micro-Rockets (W), giving the spell less damage on both the initial rocket blast and its maximum potential. The nerf is likely going to affect Heimerdinger’s poke, which is very important for the champion.
The main reason why Tyler1 doesn’t like the nerfs is because of the fact that Heimerdinger is rarely picked in solo queue. For a long time, Heimerdinger has been a niche pick in the game and his statistics show that. On patch 11.8, Heimerdinger was only picked in 0.7% of all games in Platinum rank and above in either top or mid lane. His win rates were over 50% in both positions, but the low pick rate indicates that he is only picked in very specific matchups or by champion specialists.
For patch 11.9, these numbers will likely drop even more considering the recent nerfs. Whether Tyler1 will keep playing Heimerdinger is hard to know, but the Revered Inventor might be even harder to pull off in solo queue games in the patches to come.
The reason why Heimerdinger is rarely seen in both solo queue games and on the professional stage is that he is fairly easy to counter. Heimerdinger is one of the champions with the least mobility in the game, making him vulnerable to bruisers, tanks, and assassins with any sort of gap closing ability. Heimerdinger also struggles against champions like Ziggs and Xerath in solo queue, mainly because they can better his range and take down his H-28 G Evolution Turret’s (Q) from afar.
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