Norra Heimerdinger Deck Guide

Hello friends, this article will feature Norra Heimerdinger (Bandle Boomers), one of the most played archetypes on the competitive ladder at the time of writing.

Norra Heimerdinger is a value deck that looks to squeeze out resources from both Heimerdinger and Norra before the opponent finds an answer for them.

Early game, you’re looking to keep up with the board using your cheap removal spells like Vile Feast and Quietus. An early Junk Construct or Norra can plant Mysterious Portal in the deck that’ll come in handy for board presence.

Summoned units through Mysterious Portal, Vile Feast, Hate Spike, and Heimerdinger will advance your Norra’s level-up condition, making it relatively easy to get insane value from her level-up ability.

Once Heimerdinger is set up on the board, you’ll be able to build a board of turrets. Those turrets might end up forcing your opponent to commit resources to deal with them. Eventually, they’ll run out of answers, paving the way for you to set up a finisher attack.

The deck runs multiple control cards to deal with big units on your opponent’s side. Cards like Vengence and Crumble from Shadow Isles Tellstones.

Moreover, as you build a wide board of summoned units, you’ll be able to buff them up with Sneezy Biggledust! which sets up for a powerful attack that could either close out the game or destroy your opponent’s board.

Techs and Options

• Unspeakable Horror: a cheap spell to ping down units while creating a nightfall card that could potentially be extremely useful. You can cut The Box for two Unspeakable Horror.
• Eclectic Collection: a late-game card that finds value the wider your board is. The Mysterious Portals can put more board pressure, whereas the Puffcaps will put your opponent on a timer if they’re low on health. Don’t run more than two copies.
• Minimorph: an expensive spell to deal with an important unit on your board. You’ll run this if you’re more focused on a control-style playstyle that wants to slowly win the game. Cut Sneezy Biggledust for one or two copies of Minimorph.
• Aloof Travelers: It can be a great addition against slow decks to gain an edge. You’ll have the ability to discard important cards out of their hand. Can run two Aloof Travelers and cut Sneezy Biggledust!

General Tips

• Stay a bit reactive. You want the game to reach its late stage. Have Heimerdinger on the board once your opponent committed has a lot of mana and can’t reliably kill him. You still want to try and get any value out of Heimerdinger before he’s killed, the free turrets can be useful to win the board.
• Squeeze value out of Norra. If a leveled-up Norra is about to die, you can play your draw spells in the hopes of activating the Mysterious Portals in your deck. Pokey Stick, Glimpse, and Portalpalooza are perfect plays before Norra dies.
• You can adopt an aggressive game plan. Killing as many units on your opponent’s side and building a wide board can set up for a strong attack with Sneezy Biggledust!. It will also force your opponent into unfavored trades, setting them back on the board’s presence.

Matchups

Miss Fortune Twisted Fate (Pirates) – favored

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Junk Construct, Vile Feast, and The Box

• You’re playing against an aggressive deck trying to close out the game as fast as possible. You’ll need to try and keep up with their board aggression. Junk Construct is perfect for the job, as he can block and kill a unit while also setting up a free summoned unit in future rounds.
• Vile Feast can also be the perfect play to shut down your opponent’s aggression. Killing a Legion Saboteur while also summoning a Spiderling on the board slows your opponent down immensely.
• Miss Fortune is pretty troublesome. You’ll have to prioritize killing her as the 1 damage from Love Tap can be brutal in the early stages of the game.
• The Box is a strong card that can shift the board’s presence to your advantage.
• Heimerdinger is important mid-game as you’ll notice your hand starting to deplete. The turrets can give you the value you need to keep up with your opponent. Don’t hesitate to block with Heimerdinger if you’re low on health. Try keeping your champion above 1 health to play around a Make it Rain. Keep in mind that your opponent can kill Heimerdinger with Riptide Sermon, make sure you can squeeze some value out of him before he’s killed.

Ezreal Kennen – favored

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Norra, Quietus, Vile Feast, Pokey Stick

• You want to try and kill your opponent’s Kennen before he levels up. Quietus, Pokey Stick, Vile Feast, and The Box can all be handy to kill Kennen. Make sure you have enough mana to play around the recall spells.
• Ezreal is a must-kill. Quietus, Crumble, and Vengence are your tools to deal with the elusive champion before he burns you down.
• Heimerdinger helps you build a solid board. You can play a bit aggressively with Sneezy Biggledust! but Eye of the Dragon can keep your attacks in check.
• Don’t sacrifice Norra to the Mark of the Storms. Wait until the opponent has cast them before dropping Norra, you want to gain value from her level-up ability.

Evelynn Viego – favored

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Norra, Junk Construct

• This is a grindy game where you’ll focus on killing key units on your opponent’s side like Viego, Evelynn, Nerverglade Collector, and Invasive Hydravine. Both Vengence and Crumble are your main methods to deal with Viego and Invasive Hydravine.
• Try and remove the husks before Evelynn hits the board to shut down the level-up. Quietus can be a cheap answer to dealing with an unleveled Evelynn or a Neverglade Collector.
• Eventually, your opponent will run out of resources to deal with your champions, and you’ll be able to get the value you need to swing the game to your advantage.

Kindred Nasus – favored

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Norra, Junk Construct, The Box

• Your objective is to kill off their champions. Kindred can be removed easily with The Box or Hate Spike + Ping spell. However, you’ll need to save a Vengence or Crumble to deal with Nasus.
• You’ll run them out of resources, and from there, both Norra and Heimerdinger will continue providing the value you need to dominate the game.
• Watch out for the Atrocity play. Keep Vengence as an answer to interrupt it. Rite of Negation can be used to shut down your removal spell.
• If Heimerdinger can set up a board of turrets, Sneezy Biggledust! might be difficult for your opponent to handle.

Norra Heimerdinger – even

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Norra, Junk Construct, Quietus.

• Quietus is the perfect answer for either Norra or Heimerdinger. Ideally, you want them dead before much value can be gained from their ability.
• This is a pure value match-up. The game will be decided by which player manages to keep one of their champions on the board.
• If you specifically want to beat this match-up, you can replace Sneezy Biggledust! with Aloof Travelers to gain a hand advantage.

Gwen Katarina – slightly unfavored

Mulligan for: Norra, Choncologist, Junk Construct, Vile Feast

• You’re able to keep up with your opponent’s early aggression. Your main threat in mid-game are Gwen and Katarina.
• You have to kill Katarina before she levels up. Double ping-spells or Hate Spike can do the job.
• Crumble and Vengence are your answers to Gwen and Eternal Dancers.
• The Harrowing is your late-game concern. You lack a card that can completely shut down the play. You’ll need to try and survive the attack, Risen Reckoner and Fallen Reckoner can make it difficult to have a full board of blockers

Poppy Taric – slightly unfavored

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Junk Construct, Vile Feast, Quietus, Shadow Isles Tellstones

• You’re able to kill Fleet Feathertracker with a Vile Feast or Pokey Stick to slow down their board early on.
• Poppy and Taric are your main concerns. Poppy can empower the board, making it difficult for you to keep up with the buffed units. Whereas Taric can set up a brutal attack with the double Rally combo.
• Vengence and Crumble are your best ways to kill their champions. A Concerted Strike or Single Combat can shut down your Crumble play. Quietus and The Box can kill Poppy. However, your play can be countered with either Sharpsight or Pale Cascade.
• Your opponent cannot set up a winning play without their champions. With the help of Heimerdinger and Mysterious Portals, you’ll be able to keep chump-blocking their attackers until they’re out of resources.

Trundle Timelines – unfavored

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Junk Construct, Norra

• Concurrent Timelines played early on means you’ll find it difficult to keep up with their buffy units.
• Outside of Thermogenic-beam, your opponent will need two spells to deal with Heimerdinger. You’ll need to try and pick off units, set up a wide board, and buff them up with Sneezy Biggledust!
• On turn 8, your opponent will set up a strong The Pillar play that transforms into an 8-mana unit, basically for free.
• Vengence and Crumble can be answers to big units that threaten to slam your Nexus.

Nami Twisted Fate IO – unfavored

Mulligan for: Choncologist, Norra, Junk Construct.

• The primary win conditions for your opponent are Nami and Fleet Admiral Shelly. You’ll need to kill them before they get too many buffs on the board.
• You might be able to squeeze a hit or two with Norra early on before your opponent sets an elusive on the board. Norra then will be kept for her leveled-up ability and to be used as an elusive blocker.
• A Hate Spike can pick off a Twisted Fate or Wiggle Burblefish. You want to avoid allowing Twisted Fate to level up.
• Try to build a wide board before going for the swing. You want to force your opponent to use their elusive units as blockers.

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Closing Words

Heimerdinger Norra has been one of the most popular archetypes out there. Its ability to control the board while also setting up strong attacks makes it a solid archetype in the current meta.

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