Unusual LoL pick leading Iron mid lane players to victory in Patch 13.13

In short:

• Heimerdinger is seeing high win rates in Iron mid lane
• This is unusual for a typical bot lane support champion
• Mistakes made by beginners mean his abilities carry him further than they should in lower tiers

Lower rankings in League of Legends are often known for bringing out unusual picks in certain positions. In Patch 13.13, mid lane Iron players have been finding a lot of success with a support mage.

Heimerdinger is currently the third-best pick in Iron’s mid lane with a 53.09 percent win rate, according to a stat site U.GG. He’s behind two standard mages, Swain and Aurelion Sol, who are first and second in terms of win rate, respectively.

Seeing Heimerdinger so high in rankings is odd, to say the least. The champions hasn’t been utilized in the mid lane by skilled and pro players for a long time. In the current meta, the Revered Inventor has seen some action on Summoner’s Rift, but we’ve been seeing him mainly in the support position. In Platinum+ ranks, he has recorded a 50.12 percent win rate so far in the role.

It’s not surprising in any way, though. Heimerdinger lacks mobility and burst damage, so it’s almost impossible to stand your own against mobile and aggressive opponents. You can always take a defensive stance with your Q’s turrets, but skilled mid laners usually know a way to deal with them, and with some help from a jungler, it’s easy to shut down Heimerdinger.

As far as support Heimerdinger goes, if you’re looking for a quiet, stable lane, the champion should be your pick. With turrets standing by and his other projectiles annoying enemies’ bot lane existence, you should have one of the safest bot lane experiences ever, even when an enemy jungler comes around.

But that’s not the strategy being used in Iron. Low-ranking players often make mistakes in terms of positioning and decision-making, which should lead to Heimerdinger being a solid, almost untouchable enemy in the mid lane.

Related: No damage, no problem: LoL player takes the pacifist route and still wins ranked game

Heimerdinger’s dynamics could shift soon, though, with Patch 13.14 bringing a set of changes to the game across the board. So if you’re a Heimerdinger one-trick pony and are looking for some easy wins in the lower rankings, hurry up.