Thus, the Quarterfinals of the largest League of Legends tournament of the year, known as the World Championship (Worlds), is nearing its end. We have identified 4 representatives advancing to the semifinals of Worlds 2022. This year, the meta game is incredibly exciting, with teams competing to use a group of aggressive champions, causing the pace of the matches to skyrocket. As a result, the League of Legends community worldwide has been fully engaged for nearly a month now.
In the matches that have taken place, several interesting champions have been used, such as: Teemo, Zilean, Heimerdinger, Singed, Nasus, etc. Among them, Heimerdinger has been evaluated as the most successful, performing very effectively in the support position. Particularly, support players from the Korean region have shown a strong preference for the Revered Inventor. So why is Heimerdinger being used at this year’s World Championship?
Although not favored by the community, Heimerdinger is very strong in solo queue. However, it is not easy for professional players to operate the esteemed professor effectively. The reason lies in the fact that the Revered Inventor has very low defensive stats, making him susceptible to pressure from opponents during the laning phase and team fights.
When laning, Heimerdinger players will face numerous challenges if the opponents use both aggressive marksmen and support champions, such as Kalista paired with Leona, Nautilus, etc. In team fights, Heimerdinger lacks escape skills and can easily be targeted by opponents, forcing players to use skills from a distance. When teammates are separated, the Revered Inventor becomes nearly ineffective.
However, Heimerdinger possesses excellent lane control and very effective skill-shot blocking thanks to his turrets. Additionally, this champion can poke well, giving an advantage in the laning phase for the marksman. Therefore, Heimerdinger will be most effective under conditions where: “the enemy duo in the bot lane is not composed of two aggressive champions, and the opponent possesses skill shots that can be blocked by turrets.”
After that, players will leverage their stronger financial situation compared to opponents and set up plays against the enemy. Moreover, Heimerdinger is very powerful due to his full set of skills that include damage output, versatility, and crowd control effects at the mid-game. Thus, when players perform well during the laning phase, the Revered Inventor will shine in the period before the 30-minute mark of the game. After 30 minutes, this champion’s power significantly diminishes.
Koreans understand Heimerdinger’s character well, choosing the right timing to use him during the ban/pick phase, gradually establishing lane dominance in the bot lane. After that, teams slowly suffocate the opponents with the gold from item bonuses and turret shields, unleashing their strength in the subsequent phases of the game.
In the group stage and Quarterfinals of Worlds 2022, Heimerdinger was used 6 times, winning 3 matches and losing 3 matches. In the 3 winning matches, Beryl used him 2 times and Keria used him 1 time. They often selected Ashe as the marksman to synergize, taking advantage of crowd control effects to interact with each other while poking effectively during the laning phase. When Ashe and Heimerdinger duo together, they tend to support their teammates, while the remaining players primarily operate on the upper side of Summoner’s Rift.
Therefore, Beryl’s KDA with Heimerdinger is 2.5, while Keria’s corresponding number is 4.5. The question arises: “Is Heimerdinger a signature champion for the Korean region, and will he continue to be used in the upcoming matches?” In any case, players from the Korean region must carefully choose the timing to use the Revered Inventor and not haphazardly during the ban/pick phase.