Heimerdinger vs Riven Counter Pick
Matchup Summary
What the Data Means
Two very different profiles meet in the Top lane: Heimerdinger the mage/support hybrid, Riven the fighter/assassin hybrid. 219 tracked games on 16.13.1 put Heimerdinger at a 44.8% win rate into Riven. Sitting 5.2 points below the 50% line marks Riven as a genuine problem pick for Heimerdinger.
Because Heimerdinger is magic-based and Riven physical-based, the counter-item is obvious but different for each. Heimerdinger opens on 558 health and 19 armour, Riven on 630 and 33. That 14-point armour gap favours Riven in the first all-in. At full build levels the gap widens to 2343 HP versus 2330, favouring Heimerdinger. On autos alone the numbers read 56 AD for Heimerdinger and 64 for Riven.
A missed UPGRADE!!! from Heimerdinger hands Riven the window to land Ki Burst. Then it becomes UPGRADE!!! against Blade of the Exile, and the one still holding it sets the terms. Heimerdinger pays in Mana, Riven in None, so extended trades drain them at different rates.
Heimerdinger holds a 425-unit range advantage (550 to 125), and that shapes how the lane is traded out. Riven wins only by collapsing the distance, which usually means a cooldown or a gank.
219 games sit behind that figure, and it moves whenever Heimerdinger or Riven gets tuned.
FAQ
No — current data marks this as a counter matchup: Riven has the statistical edge. Heimerdinger wins 44.8% of the recorded games.
44.8% from Heimerdinger's perspective, measured on patch 16.13.1.
219 ranked games at Emerald rank and above, across all regions.
The current Heimerdinger build — items, runes and skill order from the same data set — is on the Heimerdinger build page.