Since the debut of ranked games, Heimerdinger has topped nearly every player’s ban list. His pushing power, anti-pushing, and ability to shackle another team to its base while slowly ripping down turrets with his grenade, made him a menace against just about any team comp.

Yesterday changed that. Heimer caught a string of minimal nerfs over the last several months that amounted to very little, but this latest patch was a huge nerf. Heimer now casts one less turret. The rank that perviously gave him three turrets now adds 100 hp to the turrets. Honestly, 100 hp is a joke. I laned against a Ryze today and he just laughed at my extra 100 hp. Heimer’s grenades no longer deal damage to turrets as well.

It’s a short list of nerfs, but the difference is huge. Having just one turret left when one gets killed can actually make it hard to control a lane. Heimer is also a pretty squishy toon without a lot of escape options. Three turrets allowed you to roam around the map a little bit with the security of a couple turrets you could use to slow enemies if you extended too far.

I do agree that Heimer’s damage needed a nerf, but removing a damage source wasn’t the way to do it. It would have been more appropriate to nerf the damage of each turret or reduce their AP scaling, rather than eliminating one of his options.

I think we’ll be seeing very little from Heimer over the next few weeks.

Heimerdinger has slowly risen to become one of the champions I see most in-game. Though known for his incredible pushing power, he is also an excellent defender and farmer, giving him the items needed to put out big damage over the course of the game. With yesterday’s grenade buff, I think Heimer is among the strongest support champions, despite his turret vs. tower nerf.

I was pretty shocked to see Heimer catch a little buff. Yes, his turrets deal less damage but he can toss more grenades so his net effect on towers is just about the same. The real key to Heimer is getting a strong early farm and good early magic penetration. Magic penetration, especially early in the game, increases the damage output of your missiles for some nice harass. My personal preference is to max turrets and missiles side by side and stand well back behind my creeps so that should my opponent come to harass they catch a missile in the face.

Heimer is strong in teamfights because he gives his team control over positioning. What could have been a successful chase through the woods quickly turns into death for you or multiple teammates if Heimer comes to back up his teammate. The slow from turrets is great CC and the heal his ultimate provides can keep a push alive. In short, Heimer is one of the most frustrating characters to play against if played well.

Phreak dropped into a recent forum thread to say they (the devs) aren’t quite done with Heimer. He specifically calls out the Heimer vs towers situation, which is really the worst of it. If his team has good ranged harass, he’ll stand by and lob grenades until your towers are gone and there’s precious little you can do about it.

Heimer is unique because he gets to play a different game than everyone else. While not quite the micro fun of a Chen or Meepo from DotA, he still has big control over the positioning of teamfights and the lane creeps. If you’re playing Heimer right now, enjoy your day in the sun. It won’t last forever.

As an original post said of the Heimerdinger skin, you can now pick up three otherworldly skins in the League of Legends Store. Riot has officially released the legendary Alien Invader Heimerdinger, Galactic Nasus, and Molten Rammus skins.

I’m personally excited about the Galactic Nasus skin, and it seems like it will be priced right once it goes on sale. Nasus has been long overdue for a skin and even at 520RP I’d call him reasonable. The Heimerdinger skin is grossly overpriced, especially for the lack of imagination that went into it. His hair already looked like a brain. Actually making it a brain is not worth $20. Molten Rammus is pretty unimpressive as well – just a cracked glowing like you get on Malphite when his shield is down. That one will run you 975RP (which, if you really want a Rammus skin, get the Chrome Rammus – it’s much cooler).

As you probably guessed, Alien Invader Heimerdinger is indeed on his way. The legendary Heimerdinger skin will be available in the store next week.

I’m a little disappointed that this will be going for legendary prices. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought Heimer’s hair looks like a brain anyway. This skin feels a little less imaginative than the other legendary skins out there (though honestly, I thought toboggan Corki was really lame). Really all of the skins are overpriced in my mind, except maybe those that fall in the 200-400 RP range. Three bucks seems about right for a skin, and then more for the truly awesome skins. I was miffed that the Shaco was $10, but it’s so awesome I bought it anyway.

Still no word on Galactic Nasus.

The latest post in the announcement forums is a little teaser for some very cool up and coming skins. Though the picture only shows Heimer, I’d imagine it’s also a little preview for Galactic Nasus.

From the official post:

Since the appearance of a strange craft now piloted by the famed and Daring Bombardier Corki, there has been an increase in the sightings of strange lights in the skies above Valoran. The scientists and scholars of Piltover are equally baffled by the appearance of strange crop patterns that have been dotting the countryside. This, combined with reports from the local sheriff regarding an increase in missing persons, has led to some speculation regarding the possible involvement of extra-Runeterrestrial life.

Take care, summoners! And when you’re out there on the Field of Justice, keep an eye on the skies!

I’m guessing we’ll get a new skin announcement mid week, as we have with past several patches.