Heimerdinger
Matchup Summary
The Heimerdinger match up is a pretty uninteractive match up till level 6, although Renekton can find kill windows post level 3, he should simply work up to that by waiting for Heimerdinger to miss his E. Renekton can easily force Heimerdinger to play in his way, as he can use his E to quickly dash in and out to bait his grenade, forcing Heimer to lose mana and play into Renekton's mind games. Renekton can also use his Q to easily kill Heimer's turrets, allowing him to take away damage and force him to waste more mana using them. Eventually at level 6, Renekton can take advantage of Heimer's E miss to force a kill window, allowing him to use his R to help him stat check towards a kill. Renekton needs to be careful of Heimerdinger's R turret, as this provides him a ton of damage to kill him. Instead, wait out of his R turret, then force the kill as soon as it's gone. Renekton can use items like Hexdrinker or Eclipse to provide him great success within the match up. Later on Renekton's role is a lot more versatile than Heimerdinger's, allowing him to play in any way he wants towards the mid to late game. Make sure to ward any bushes before any major objective timers, as Heimerdinger will camp bushes looking to burst down any targets.
Detailed Tips
- 01
Respect Heimerdinger’s Turrets - At level 1, Heimer will attempt to place all his turrets in the middle of the lane, as doing this provides him with easy time to push and zone his opponents off the minion wave. Trying to fight him or his turrets at this point is practically impossible without level 3. With that said, try to let him push and play for your level 3 spike, in which you will be able to use empowered Q to help you kill and outsustain through his poke.
- 02
Play For Sustain - Heimer's early lane power will force you into tanking a lot of damage, providing a giant problem for Renekton’s early lane bully style. However within this match up, we simply try to win this lane by abusing our sustain and our ability to easily mana burn Heimerdinger. To do this, simply abuse Doran Shield and Second Wind, as these allow us to easily tank and kill his turrets. Once we hit level 3 we’re also able to do quick combos to get in and out, allowing us to easily avoid his abilities and successfully mana burn him towards an advantageous position.
- 03
Play For E Miss - Heimer's main weakness is located within his squishyness and the fact he only has one defensive ability with his E. Renekton can quickly dash in and out to avoid his stun, allowing him to burn through his mana and look for trading opportunities. Eventually Renekton can double dash to avoid his E and go for a one shot if Renekton played well prior to this.
- 04
Quick Trades - E > Q > AA > W > AA > E Out / E > Q > W > E / E Q E - These combos allow for Renekton to get quick damage off in being able to keep health up and whittling his opponent down, use these to get your laner low and look for a low HP kill with flash.
- 05
Play Wave On Your Side - Playing the wave on your side essentially means playing wave states on your side of the map, via abusing wave manipulation tactics or freezing on your side of the map. Simply use this to help you combo on your laner, taking away any space from them being able to trade you back (This also helps prevent the enemy running you down with their extended or sustained movement speed abilities). You can also use this wave state to run down your opponent with your abilities up, helping you obtain kills a lot easier vs stalemate or ranged match ups. Look to do this when your opponents are below 50% HP, or potentially make a mistake to provide you an all in opportunity to run them down.
- 06
Avoid Extended Fights - Trying to look for extended fights vs Heimerdinger without a giant lead is always a recipe for disaster. Hemier generates additional movement speed when running next to his turrets, meaning that whenever you’re trying to greed your damage he will simply just run away and his turrets will end up eating you alive. As already mentioned, play for short trades and make sure you avoid his E stun to really leverage any kind of fights onto Heimer.
- 07
Respect Heimerdingers R - When looking to fight heimerdinger in an all in attempt, he will usually try to use his R and look to use his Q. If he does this within a fight, simply use your E2 to exit, or simply walk out of range. Whenever Heimer uses R, it seriously isn’t recommended to fight with him as he’s able to nuke any targets in range with him. Another attempt at Heimer using his R, is that if you’re low and you potentially tank his grenade stun, Heimer can look to use R W to completely one shot or finish you off. As mentioned, try to always avoid and punish his grenade as that will dictate how you will be able to fight him within the lane.
- 08
Abuse Renekton's R Powerspike - Prior to this point in the match up, if Renekton has farmed safely and rushed defensive boots in the match up, Renekton is now ready to fight his opponent in an all in. Renekton's high base damage and stats from his R, allows Renekton to completely stat check his counter match up. Simply wait for the enemy to make a mistake, then go all out and kill your opponent.
- 09
Rush Mercury Treads, Eclipse, Stridebreaker or Profane - Go Mercury Treads to lower Heimer's overall damage and CC duration. / Go Eclipse for consistent power through mid game and damage mitigation with the shield. / Go Stridebreaker to cripple Heimerdinger's mobility and provide teammates with additional utility. / Go Profane for full damage focused playstyles.
- 10
Midgame + Teamfighting Tips - Heimerdinger’s overall strength within the mid game is a lot more linear when it compares to his early game. Within the mid game, Hemier’s role is either to look for picks, using his R > E to help CC his enemies, place turrets and cheese using bushes, or rushing objectives using his turrets. When playing around Heimerdinger make sure to provide vision in an area with blue trinket or prior wards, as heimer won't be able to cheese his damage onto you or your team. In a teamfight he is essentially a sitting duck to kill once he has no major abilities up, with that in mind you can engage for your team and try to lock him down into a one shot. Be aware of his R E, as it's a major utility stun tool, however if he misses he also falls under being very useless. It also should be said that, if Heimer tries to look for a R Q, you should try to reposition the fight away from his R, or simply try to kill Heimer or his turret as fast as possible.