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-All In Threat- -Kill Immune- He's basically a melee version of you. Except he can heal up faster in lane and all-in you whenever he wants unless you poke the shit out of him. Don't waste your Sanguine Pool(W) if he tries to jump you with Dark Ascension(Q) (he wastes health on abilities as well) unless it's going to be fatal. Just kite backwards after his engage and punish him with your Transfusion(Q) and smack him up with a couple of auto attacks as he walks back. He is either going to max his sustain (W) or his poke (E). If you don't dodge his E's when he chooses to max it you're in trouble and if he gets an early lead you are in trouble.
Akali
-Out Sustains Early- -Out Bursts Early-Classic easy lane until she reaches level 6 of course. Poke her to death while you can. Would recommend getting early magic resistances or getting an early Morellonomicon to stop her in team fights. You can consider getting a Protobelt early so you can burst or escape her before she heals too much or bursts you, whichever of the ladder comes first. Try very hard not push your lane because a well coordinated gank with her jungler will result in a guaranteed death for you due to her being able to chase with ultimate. A good Akali will Smokescreen(W) near you when you have your empowered Transfusion(Q) so you can't hit her then jump on you right after when you cant heal enough to win the the trade. If you see this about to happen Transfusion(Q) a minion before your Crimson Rush(P) diminishes. Atleast you can use Tides of Blood and hit her if she uses Smokescreens underneath you too.
Cassiopeia
My utmost best advice that I can give when there is a Cassiopeia is to understand that you can not fight her unless you are certain you will one-shot combo her; this opportunity usually comes in the mid game when you have items and a lead. Extremely hard lane. Her poke is greater than yours by far and she has sustain as well. She is easy to gank fortunately and you will need help from your jungler to win this lane if she knows what shes doing. The only way to safely trade her is to set your dominance early game by aggressively poking before she figures out that she can destroy you. You need to start charging E to get give her the message to screw off if she starts chasing you. Getting stunned from her ultimate might result in instant death unless you happened to use your ultimate before she did, at that point accept the glorious heal from your Hemoplague(R) and run. If you get an early lead you will still have troubles trading her. Late game you should out-carry her since you can force a burst kill on her.
Darius
It's actually a winnable lane because his hook range is 50 units below the range of your Transfusion. You will notice yourself and Darius playing mind games with each other to see if you can get your Transfusion(Q) off but the downside is that if you lose the mind game he will win the trade no matter what you do if he hooks. Once he gets Phage be a lot more careful as he will hit a minion then run and hook you with the bonus movement speed. After you get hooked he will try to do his Q Spin at some point. While he is charging it up quickly Use of Tides of Blood then Sanguine pool to do a spicy combo, but retreat and don't go back in. If you Pool his ult, it will reset the cool down so when you pop back up he will probably try to ult you again. Start boots, and rush them into Sorcerer's to win mind games. Don't E in his hook range because he can interrupt your channel and you will loose your a big portion of your damage. Oh yeah... and if you weave in an Auto Attack at the wrong time it gives him a chance to hook you because your animation is slow as shit and his hook out ranges your AA distance... If he goes cleaver you can whittle him down and actually burst kill him because he will lack resistances. Be Careful.
Cho'Gath
I haven't faced this guy in so long but I know I've seen him top lane some times in the past. Rush boots to dodge his Q, and don't stand in front of minions, other than that you should win every trade since he has no other way of getting close to you and you can poke him to death for free. Always go in for the empowered Q in lane. His silence will mess you up so hard late game its not even funny, be cautious if you are aggressive in team fights at this point.
Dr. Mundo
Farm lane. You won't kill him once he gets spirit visage and hits level 6, Don't bother. Don't play stupidly aggressive and get yourself killed by his jungler even though he cant do anything against you. If you are at his tower and he starts chaining his cleavers against you he can probably chase you down and kill you, so once again don't play stupid just because its an easy lane.
Fiora
If you push your wave to her tower she will Ult you, chase you down, and kill you and you can't duel her. The only thing making this match up a lower difficulty than most other fighters is the fact that she has no CC so she cant interrupt your damage so you can poke her. Don't worry there is still hope to win since most Fioras suck. Fiora can block your empowered Transfusion with her W, and if she W's your Tides of Blood you just lost 8% of health while she did nothing... and she can also easily block your Hemoplague when it's about to detonate. Of course she cant block all of these one after another so use one ability to bait her W then counter with what you need. Fiora might just Q away if you try to Transfusion her as well. Start Doran's Shield for safety, or amplifying tome if you are going to try and assert your dominance. Cloth armor wont help you against her passive true damage.
Gangplank
TIP: He can't cleanse your Ultimate with oranges. Lowest threat. I haven't lost to this guy unless I get 5 man ganked every second of the game. He is so squishy while he is rushing his trinity force that an empowered Q from you will take 40% of his health easily. You can break his barrels eith ease (free gold) and his sustain is dirt compared to yours. Whenever he Q's a minion Transfusion him. Rinse and repeat and he will be scared farming under his tower until 50 minutes where he will be full build and then probably destroy your whole team. But you will 20/0 by that time and be able to pentakill. Pool his chain barrel IF NEEDED because it will probably going to do the most damage out of anything you face late game. If he wastes his Oranges, you can possibly flash E,empowered Q him and pick up an easy kill.
Garen
Annoying. His sustain can potentially be better than yours if he feels like standing back a bit, but that gives you time to regain your own health. His silence will screw you over late game like any champion with a silence, and in lane he can actually catch up to you but you can make him lose momentum with a max charge Tides of Blood. Get Rylais early to slow him and win trades even easier. He will get to a point where he is so tanky you cant kill him so don't push your lane at that point or he will call for a jungle and most likely execute you with his ult.
Yasuo
Your Q can go through his wind wall and you can take his shield off any time you want. Don't be a scrub and die to his bronze mechanics. Start cloth armor, rush seekers. And consider a randuins late game. Deathfire touch will burn his shield as well if he happens to charge it after you damage him. I don't see how he can possibly out trade you early game when his shield is down at all times and you have armor. Don't rage if he taunts his level 7 mastery and spams his Project Yasuo laugh.
Xin Zhao
Impossible. He out sustains you, he out damages you. He has CC, and he will jump on you and win every trade if he chooses too. If he doesn't choose to kill you today then set something up with your jungler. Pool as soon as he dashes so he doesnt get his heals off and passive, then pop back up and hopefully get a Transfusion off.
Vladimir
Start amplifying tome so your heals heal more than his during trades. Please save your Sanguine Pool for his ult, not to dodge it itself, but to dodge the detonation after 4 seconds. If he wastes his W (Probably to dodge your E cause he sucks) then you have a chance to kill him with your ult or severely out trade him. Watch him drain his health with E, then Q him when he tries to heal. You honestly can win this whole lane just by using Q and making him kill himself with E while dodging it at the same time. If he burns his W for some reason you just won a trade. Don't waste your pool unless its for his ult, seriously.
Swain
I don't know why a lot of people consider this to be one of Vlad's hardest match ups. He cant sustain till 6, and has less of an escape than you which means you can poke him and set up a gank. To be honest I never face this guy but when I do, I become more of a late game monster than him. He might win most of his trades after 6 due to the nature of his kit. Start boots to dodge his Nevermoove and to run out of his AoE crow thingy. Spirit Visage reccomended. Protobelt is actually good against him for the early cooldown to out sustain him and extra burst damage.
Shen
Farm lane, except you have kill potential. It's like a Dr.Mundo match up but he has no sustain and a slightly scarier engage. A good Shen will make you feel like dirt with his roaming and map awareness. Consider bringing the teleport summoner spell against him. His W is useless against you so he's down an ability. Dodge his E with your Pool or just side step it which is way more recommended then poke him to demise, pretty standard stuff here. His Taunt will interrupt your Tides of Blood charge. HE DOES %AP DAMAGE NOT AD SO DON'T BUILD SEEKERS FOR NO REASON.
Teemo
Boring lane, lots of mind games. He is going to try and blind dart you every single time you go for your regular Transfusion so just wait for your empowered one and there is no way his dart can out trade that unless he is already winning lane. Watch his mushroom placements so you don't screw yourself over when you try to empowered Transfusion him. Regular transfusions will probably result in him winning the trade, I like to rush AP so that's not the case. You can go spirit visage if you are struggling for some reason. Your E can hit him if he tries to be sick and go invisible. You may need to flash to force a kill on him since he is ranged.
Gnar
Skill match up. It's like a Teemo lane but he actually has a kit with the potential to outplay you. Lots of mind games, start boots. He will most likely throw his boomerang then proc his W passive if you go in for regular Transfusions which will result in him out-trading you. To avoid this you need to play it like Teemo and only force an empowered Transfusion which he has no way of out-trading you if you land it. At level 6, be careful because he can all in you if you have no backed and picked up an items. When he is in ult form you only need to Pool his W stun because he will try to combo an Ult if he stuns you. If he doesn't have a chance to get on top of you in Mega form, then you can severely punish him if he tries to CS. You need to assert your dominance so he doesn't sustain by filling his rage bar and going Mega all the time. Rush boots to win mind games and sidestep his Q slow. An early kill will let you win this lane, but same for him if he early kills you.
Tryndamere
If he brings ignite you're dead because he can kill you at level 2 like riven. Fortunately he will push his lane like a madman to try fill his rage bar and out sustain you with his Q which sets himself up to be ganked. Don't let him get his rage bar up; by poking him to death early and he shouldn't be able to all in you again until he backs. If he spins to you start charging your E to max to get the slow. Make sure you hit the maxed Tides of Blood charge because he will try and pivot your E when he sees it max charge. Dont chase him if he dodges it or he will spin back in and kill you. Punish him if he walks away from one of his engages. If you miss the max E he will win the trade more than he should have. Consider a seekers arm guard first, but I prefer boots so when he dashes I can kite him and easily win the trade if his rage isn't up. You can expect him to tower dive if he gets cocky, you need to wait to use your ult or it will detonate under his invulnerability. Wait 2 seconds if you get dived, then use your Hemoplague and pool right after. At this point he will either have to commit to a fight under the tower to kill you or he will have to leave, but then your Hemoplague will get him. Save your Pool for his dives. Late game he will murder you and split push you to oblivion.
Illaoi
Annoying. Most annoying champions I put on threat level 4 because they can cheese kill you, but they really don't have a way of getting on top of you unless you let them. You can free farm her tentacles for extra gold, NEVER COMMIT TO A FIGHT UNDER HER ULT AND SIGNAL YOUR JUNGLER TO BACK OFF IF THEY IS TRYING TO HELP. Illaoi can't out sustain unless she lands tentacles so this lane is just going to be a poke fest. She is melee with no dash, which means you have the advantage here. She is also pure physical damage, get a seekers arm guard if you are having trouble. I would just rush AP items though so you can heal hard in lane and assert your dominance. If she E's you and she starts beating your soul to a pulp at least try to Transfusion her while she's busy and get some health back.
Irelia
Jesus, there is nothing you can do. Start Doran's shield. Get Seigemaster. You're tower farming this game. The only thing you can do for peace of mind is to Transfusion her aggressively before she gets all three of her abilities so she is scared to engage you before the first back. After she gets items you're dead at all points in the game.
Jarvan IV
So hard. You need to play smart as hell to take this guy down but it is possible. If somehow you have godlike timing you can pool his ult damage but he will just proceed to stab you to death. You must dodge his Q pokes in lane. He can all in you at all points in the game if he lands his Q. If he doesn't know that he can destroy you then you can assert your dominance and scare him off. You ult when he uses his to try and escape alive. His knock up will interrupt your Tides of Blood so be careful. If you push your lane you are guaranteed dead because a gank from his jungler while inside his ult is just inescapable unless you burn flash. Even then he will just gap close you with his combo again. Start cloth armor, then rush Rylai. I know you should finish Armguard but in this case do not because if you get a lead from your jungle you can fight him if you get lots of ability power.
Kayle
Just don't even try to trade with her using regular transfusions because she will slow you and melt you at all points in the game. Only go in for empowered Transfusions. You need to farm under tower and ask for jungle help. She can block your ultimate with her ultimate then turn around a fight and slay you. She has no way to get on top of you but you can't really do anything against her unfortunately. Pool her slow or she will hurt, if your empowered Q is up while you pool you can probably get it off on her when you pop back up and escape with an even trade assuming nobody has kills yet. An early kill for her means you lost this lane for good. You can out poke her in lane if you get ahead but she will 1v1 you in all scenarios.
Nasus
Do not let him farm obviously. Which is doable since you can punish him so hard if he tries to CS. Don't be scared of his slow unless he gets to level 9 where he will have a spirit visage rushed and just Q minions and heal all your Tranfusion damage. If he doesnt get early magic resistance then that is a big mistake for him. Start amplifying tome, and make this guy regret picking nasus into you. Don't get cocky if he starts to out trade you after level 9 and kill yourself from stupidity. Rush Rylai's as soon as possible to punish him hard, then right into death cap. Make sure you hurt him.
Renekton
It's not as hard as a match up as people claim it to be. I still wouldn't pick into him though. Seekers Armgaurd rush will screw him over if you manage to get it without giving him a kill. You can poke him early before he gets his dash and scare him enough to build up enough gold for Seekers, then it will be hard for him to trade you. If he gets on top of you he will most likely out trade you prior to the armguard. You can possibly pool his empowered Q since he will be maxing it and it will prevent him from a large heal and damage. Renekton always pushes a wave hard to maintain his rage bar which is a perfect set up for him to get ganked. This match up relies heavily on your early game itemization so build effectively and appropriately.
Riven
If a good riven brings ignite you are dead at level 2. Play safe if you can tell she is good. You can tell if she is good if she blocks your Transfusions with her E shield, because that takes insane timing. If you notice her letting you poke her to death after she gets all her abilities it means you can assert your dominance early game. Keep an eye out on her build because if she starts getting Hexdrinker because she can turn around fights easily even if she sucks. YOU MUST save pool for her Windslash. If she uses her ultimate and catches you. Don't pool her stuns she will just keep up with you, you need to run and get your E and Q off before she blocks it again. Two of her abilities can interrupt your Tides of Blood. If she wastes her E shield on your Tides then you can get a Q off. But it's risky since she can all in you anytime she wants. Start cloth armor, get seekers if she is good and build super safe. Rush Rylai if she is bad and lets you poke her.
Master Yi
He rarely even goes top lane but just know that if he is on the enemy team he will obliterate you. Somone smart may pick him into you though. You can't do anything against him late game. You can't out sustain if he gets an early lifesteal item like BoTRK him but you can poke him to death.
Malphite
Annoying. If he builds AP his seismic shard will hurt like a bitch. You should go Abyssal Sceptre early because he will be squishy and you don't need to out sustain him with spirit visage. If he goes tank then you don't have any kill potential and he will probably kill you with his level 6 and jungle help. It's tricky to get his shield off, but basically you should always try to E,Q combo him if you are going to poke him.
Singed
What. Please. You cant lose. I don't even think he can damage you at all in lane. Take the blood from this poor man's soul and put it to good use.
Trundle
King of cockblocks. Janna is the queen. Anyways, he can interrupt your Tides of Blood with his E if he is good then chase you, win a trade then sustain back up with his passive. He can force a 1v1 fight on you after he gets sustain items and you can't out trade him. Your best bet is to play safe and get jungle help because even though you can poke him his sustain is ridiculous from his passive. Start cloth armor since he is AA reliant.
Poppy
The bright side of picking into this lane is that she will have to rush magic resistance, which wont allow her to abuse her W passive which increases her armor. The dark side is that you wont be able to kill her once she does get resistances. Not even late game. You just need to poke her to death with Q and pool her ultimate if you want to stay in a fight. Be careful of her positioning because if she slams you against a wall she will out trade you. Spam your Pool if shes does because you can dodge her Q which she will 100% use after she stuns you. Other than that you can poke her out of lane but just be careful when you push from enemy jungle ganks.
Kled
Skill Match Up. Dodge his Bear Trap and you should be able to poke him out of lane because he has no other way of getting on top of you. Unfortunately if he does he will probably out trade you, but it's not a big deal since you can heal back up while he is on cool down. Assert your dominance, get amplifying tome start. To be honest I have little experience against this guy because he is literally never played.
Sion
His early game can really get on your nerves because of his base damages, You need to dodge his Q at all costs without burning your Sanguine Pool, then you can win every trade Once you get some items he is not much of a threat at all throughout the game. You can also pool his ult if he tries to be aggressive on you. Don't go near him for a regular transfusion poke when his shield is up because he can detonate it and do a % of your health based off how much of his shield is left, and your regular transfusion wont break it. You can E him or empowered Q him instead. You should win this match up, if he goes AD just grab an early cloth armor and proceed to stomp him.
Jax
He can 1v1 you at all points in the game and he will most likely know he can. You must not try to fight him 1v1 late game. Its is very possible to trade him early with a rotation of E and Q. Try to deny him as much as possble and assert your dominance. Dodge his E stun with your pool or he will get a free W and ult pasive on you. He has no way of actually blocking your damage, he can just out DPS you. Play safe and poke appropriately, start Doran's Shield because he does mixed damage so there is no point in going cloth armor.
Nautilus
Pfft, just watch out for his cheese perma-stun ganks with his jungler. He's useless against you in lane and cant poke you. He will be scared tower farming for the most part. Leave his shield, don't bother knocking it down and sustain up in the mean time then go back in when its down since his shield has a longer cooldown than your pool. Use this to your advantage. He won't hurt you unless he hooks you.
Pantheon
Your Q out trades his Q. Yeah sure he can out trade you with a full combination but he excels at executing enemies at low health which you will never be at since you are Vladimir. There is no way he can kill you unless you let him. Start cloth armor, assert your dominance and he will be scared to throw spears at you.
Kennen
He can out range you with his Q and punish you hard if you let him get stacks. His AA range is bullshit and he can poke you. You need to farm good and take him down late game, he cant really push the lane that hard because of his restriction to consistently use abilities due to his energy resource. Therefore you can freeze it easily and keep it at a stalemate throughout the game. There will be opportunities where you can out trade him like if he is in range of your empowered Q and E combo. this will hurt him badly since he doesn't not build tank, get Abyssal early if you are dominating and spirit visage if you are struggling. You can pool his ultimate before it has time to build up stacks.
Jayce
His all in does stupid damage and his poke distance is far greater than yours. Good thing he is squishy, can easily ganked and has no sustain. This is where you get the advantage. He burns through mana fast if he keeps coming at you so you need to be aggressive, then heal off minions since he will out trade you. Just burn his mana and trick him into think hes going to poke you out of lane. Get a cloth armor, and get seekers. He is going to build alot of armor penetration. Go protobelt if you are ahead and you can out burst him in a fight.
Rengar
Stay on the right side of the lane so he doesn't constantly bush jump you. Ward up good since you'll be vulnerable on the right side. If he gets an early kill he will come back into lane and maul you to bits. Other than that he is fairly squishy and you can show him who is the king of top lane by giving him a taste of your empowered Transfusion. Since his heals are gone thanks to the new patch you can easily out sustain him and on top of that, you have no CC so you don't have to time anything around him. Start cloth armor, build into seekers early. Pool if he jumps on you with full ferocity because he is going to follow up with either his Ebola stun or empowered Savagery.
Camille
It seems to me that the majority Camille players are NOT building Trinity Force/Attackspeed early on, but instead rushing Titanic Hydra which means her dueling potential against your sustain goes down significantly, on top of this the recent nerfs severely hurt her combo damage. Camille now has to be more conservative with her E due to the mana increase, meaning you can out sustain her resource wise if she abuses it, and the lowered stun duration means you don't always have to Pool it and can save it for her W heal. Her W slow also took a hit so she is less sticky, because of these rough changes to Camille I decided to lower her difficulty to 8 from 9 for now. DO NOT PUSH LANE AGAINST HER AT ALL COSTS, her all-in is ridiculously insane with her ultimate. Pool her E stun if you know the rest of her abilities are up or you suspect a gank, after you pool make sure you play safe because her E is on a shorter cooldown than your W. Gain some distance if you decide to pool then when you pop up get a Transfusion on her. Rushing seekers won't help you because of her true damage. Rush Rylai's to slow her if she gets close to stay safe. If you get stuck in her ultimate you need to save your Pool until the end and escape. You may be able to survive a level 6 ultimate from her because of the sustain your empowered Transfusion offers if it is up in time.
Maokai
I have not seen, nor faced the new Maokai top enough post some confident information on how to play against him. I'm just going to leave this blank for now. Don't go near the bushes though, his saplings hurt so much when stacked and I guarantee he will spam them in there.
Rumble
Annoying. You guys seeing the trend with these level 4 match ups? Like all other champions in this category, Rumble has no way to actually lock you down and kill you unless you let him. On top of it all he has no sustain. But also has no resource. When he over heats this is your ticket to get a nice juicy combo off on him, as he will be reliant on auto attacks for a slight duration and you can easily pull off an E-Q combo. His shield is pathetic, but the movement speed is annoying when you try to secure a kill against him so don't get to savage if he gets away. Rumble can turn a fight in his favor with his ultimate as it does ludicrous damage. Once he gets his 2 wonder items (Rylai's and Liandry's) he is going to be disgusting in team fights and probably out-perform you. In conclusion, Rumble is a pretty easy lane match-up but an absolute monster in team fights; leaving you to fend for yourself after he shreds your team.
Ahri
Ahri shouldn't be much of a problem at all actually. The general safeness of her kit may be discouraging, but she is an easy match up. Your Q is a targeted ability which means her mobility is pretty much useless in terms of negating your damage compared to other mid laners who rely on skill shots. She's mana hungry if she plays aggressively and now that Doran's Ring passive doesn't stack anymore she cant negate her thirst for mana in the early game as easily. The problem you're probably having against Ahri is the fact that once she sees that she is up against you (Vladimir) she is going to rush a Morellonomicon, which apply's grievous wounds making your heals significantly less potent. With that, you may want to take a more defensive approach and get some early on magic resist. Against Ahri, I like to take a Null-Magic Mantle at level 1, and one health pot. That's just me, most players would object (based off experience).
Kassadin
He's going to max his Q so he can compete with poke. His E generates off spell casts near him, which means you need to tone down how quickly you rotate spells if you don't want him to constantly engage you with his full combo when he gets his R. His passive grant's him 20% reduction to magic damage. This is where you're probably seeing troubles against this lane (if any). Most kassadin's will go for RoA early on which means that Liandry's Torment as a first item would be an effective counter item in my eyes since it gives magic penetration to make up for Kassadin's innate tankiness to magic damage as well as countering the health stacking from his RoA since Liandry's does a % of their health as bonus DoT. Of course, spirit visage would probably be the optimal first item for ANY AP match up (keep that in mind)if you're going for more of a safe lane.
LeBlanc
The infamous LeBlanc is indeed a rough match up for Vladimir, and a delicate problem to approach. She can all-in you with her far range burst and quickly escape leaving you with no effective counter measures causing severe frusturation. The best thing to do against a LeBlanc players it keep a cool head - Honestly, if you clear your mind you will find yourself better off predicting her W (the teleport). You can tell she's going to W when she knows she has the advantage on you, and tries to walk forward all-to-often waiting for the right moment to use her combo. Jungle help would be minimal since LeBlanc is slippery as hell and the best thing you can do is rush a Spirit Visage and play defensively. LeBlanc can't snowball if she cant grab kills, so by playing super safe you're doing your whole team a huge favor. Not saying this lane is impossible, but to increase your winrate against her you need to keep a cool head, practice against her a lot, and poke when you see clear opportunities as she will get away from you if you commit to a full on R-E-Q Vlad burst combo. Late game you will have enough health to survive multiple rounds of her bursts, and you and your team should be able to easily take care of her if she isn't ahead.
Ornn
If Ornn is a demi-god and Vladimir takes his blood, does that make Vladimir a demi-god? Either way, you can blow Ornn to smithereens (Pun intended). Ornn's passive gives him a unique way to sustain in lane but it's nothing compared to Vladimir. You can shove him out of lane making his passive useless. If you are "Brittled" don't use E when you are in Ornn's AA range because he can interrupt it.
I highly recommend checking out my updated section for Keystones and Runes. I have 4 optimal rune page set ups and highly recommend reading the notes for each one. After extensive gaming on Vladimir I have come to the conclusion that the best possible combination of Keystone and Secondary path MUST BE some variation of Sorcery, Domination an Inspiration, either being;
Dabble with these combinations to find the playtyle that suits you but I can tell you that precision and resolve are useless on Vlad as primary's. As secondary paths you may want Triumph or Overgrowth respectively but they are just lackluster in comparison to the way you should be playing Vladimir.
Introduction
Introduction
Hello fellow lovers of spice. My name is Adam, and my in-game username is iLikeEmSpicy. This is my first ever guide so the layout may be sloppy and probably not up to the standards that you are used to. I'd like to start off by saying I don't play ranked at al- HA. THAT WAS THE OLD ME. Now I'm back practically spamming ranked games and I'm currently Platinum 5. This is the season where I truly push myself to my limits with Vladimir and I want you all to join my journey. All I can say to convince you further is that I definitely know how to carry and play with Vladimir with over 700,000 mastery points, a 68% winrate with 120 games + and an enormous amount of experience in lane match ups and itemization as well as playing with him since Season 4. I hope you gain some valuable insight from what I have to offer. I picked him up at level 20 and instantly fell in love knowing he would be my main no matter how many champions there were that I didn't try. Right now I lack numbers for my information to sound convincing but I will provide that once I get the motivation to test everything out exactly in a custom game. I wish I could write something to give my introduction a bit more spice but this is all I can think of for now, enjoy the further content! (Note to self: Add more pictures)
Colour Legend
Colour Legend
The point of this legend is to make scouting for Vlad's key stats easier so you can get straight into the content, and most importantly, to add a bit of flavor to my guide.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
- Red will be spicy.
- Cyan will refer to movement.
- Green will refer to healing.
- Orange will refer to health.
- Blue will refer to Damage
- Purple will refer to Magic Resistance
- White will refer to Armor.
- Grey refers to outdated information and should be ignored until updated, in which at that point it will be a different color and you will have no recollection that it was even grey in the first place. Spooky.
- Pink: a re-cap or conclusion.
- Gold will refer to Duration. For example; Zhonya's hourglass active lasts 2 seconds.
Why choose this build? Why dont I build Protobelt?
Why choose this build? Why dont I build Protobelt?
My playstyle for Vlad is to carry and dominate my lane no matter who I am facing. You do not sustain from building tank, you sustain from building damage because of your Q AP scaling. You will heal 40%+ of your missing health with an empowered Transfusion with this build late game. To do this I focus on building damage early on, lacking a bit of CDR unfortunately. You will notice my match up difficulty may vary quite a bit from other Vlad guides. This is because I have 700,000k + points on Vlad and have true experience against every match up multiple times. I will most likely provide move combinations and starting items for each match up and will teach you how to fight against match-ups that other people would claim to be hard. You get the best of both worlds from this build, being able to tank and pump out fantastic damage. This build will maximize your healing, DPS, defense, and most importantly WILL ALLOW YOU TO CARRY. is such a noob trap, it is extremely situational like when up against people who will out sustain you and you need to burst them with your combo. That is it. I don't know why people prioritize it over . You do not need since you hit 40% CDR easily late game, I know people have their arguments to justify building it for early game sustain and the fact that games usually don't last for you to get 6 items, but you are here to carry, and you need penetration for that.
Ability Run Down
Ability Run Down
PASSIVE: Crimson Pact;
INNATE
For every 40 points of bonus health, Vladimir gains 1 Ability Power.For every 1 Bonus Ability Power, Vladimir gains 1.4 health.
This is Vladimir's unique and extremely powerful passive. It is similar to Singed's or Ryze's passive as in you gain free stats for building a different stat. In Vladimir's case it is between health and ability power. It only applies to bonus health and ability power, meaning your base health growth WILL NOT give you bonus ability power, however, Runes and Masteries will give you bonus stats. Items that give both health and ability power such assynergize unbelievably well with this passive and that is why it is a core item on him. offers so much AP it would be foolish to pass it up. Late game with this build you should be getting a free bonus 800 health and bonus 20 ability power. Yes, bask in the free stats my friend.
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Q: Transfusion;
RANGE: 600 COOLDOWN: 9/8/7/6/5
ACTIVE: Vladimir drains the lifeforce of the target enemy, dealing magic damage and healing himself.
MAGIC DAMAGE: 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+ 60% AP) HEAL: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 (+ 35% AP)
Each cast of Transfusion generates a stack of Bloodthirst over its cooldown, which is displayed in his secondary resource bar. At 2 stacks, Vladimir gains Crimson Rush for 2.5 seconds and 10% bonus movement speed for 0.5 seconds.
CRIMSON RUSH: Transfusion deals double damage and heals for an additional 30 - 200 (based on level) (+ 5% (+ 4% per 100 AP) missing health), reduced to 35% against minions.
Vladimir's Q is a targeted ability which has two components to it as you can see. The first half of the ability which can be activated allows Vladimir to deal single target damage to his chosen enemy champion and then heal himself based off his Ability Power. This is why building ability power rather than tank is more beneficial, because you actually heal more from building damage. The heal does not apply to Vladimir until AFTER the animation reaches him. So don't expect to Q someone and heal instantly, however this is not as bad as it seems because it usually tricks people visually. Now, the second part to Vladimir's Q was recently added in his rework. It gives Vladimir access to a much needed movement speed burst. This second half can not be activated and it will automatically give you movement speed when the bar below your health turns red. The second half of this ability is Vladimir's bread and butter for damage as it is what makes people scared to try and trade you during laning phase. Furthermore, because of the nature of Vladimir's kit you DO NOT have to play agressively during laning phase. People mistake Vladimir as a champ who should be constantly dominating his lane. This is not true, he should be able to survive his lane and avoid giving the enemy kills which he can do extremely well. Do not be afraid to just sit back and heal off minions with this ability when needed.
STILL NEED TO ADD W STILL NEED TO ADD E STILL NEED TO ADD ULTIMATE
Bear with me <3
Keystones (NEW)
Keystones (NEW)
Keystone Choices
Sorcery Aery: Aery allows for Vladimir to amplify his poke in lane, and later in the game amplify his single target damage aswell, it most ideal keystone under sorcery because compared to Comet, which is used in conjunction with long range cc abilities (Which Vlad has none of), Aery is always a guaranteed hit. Phase Rush is too gimmicky to pull off in lane because Vladimir lacks three instant disposable abilities, you would need to Auto Attack to activate it. You can test all three Sorcery keystone for yourself but in my experience Aery is the best by far under Sorcery.
Domination Predator: Predator allows for Vladimir to substitute Ghost, but is not an equal replacement. Predator is inferior to Ghost because the movement speed is deactivated once in combat. Predator keystone allows access to one of the most rediculous runes on Vladimir which isRavenous Hunter but don't forget you can easily make Domination a secondary path and gain the healing from that. I just put Predator here to allow you to see that it is still a viable option if it fits your playstyle. Dark Havest and Electrocute are the other contenders but they are inferior as well in the same way that Phase Rush from the Sorcery tree is; they require auto attacks to activate and during laning phase people WILL NOT give you the chance to Q,E, and Auto unless they fully engage you.
Inspiration Unsealed Spellbook: Unsealed Spellbook is the best option under Inspiration. The reason why you would wan't to get into the Inspiration tree in the first place is because of the free Zhonya's component, and the Approach Velocity rune which does work with Vladimir's E, thus, compensating for the absence of movement speed quintessence which no longer exist. Anyways, unsealed spellbook allows for the option to bring Teleport/Ignite at the start of the game for the best possible laning and then switching to Flash/Ghost for the late game.
Resolve Grasp of the Undying: seems unreal but it is so lackluster because of the halfed healing and permanent health. I laned against a Shen and 30 minutes into the game I only gained 100 health which is not even worth it at all compared to the other keystones. The only upside is the fact that you gain access to overgrowth which gave me around 400 health 40 minutes in. Don't forget that you can gain access to overgrowth through the secondary path so you should seriously not use Grasp.
Sorcery Keystones and Inspiration Keystones are the best options but having Ravenous Hunter under Domination is highly reccomended in some way which concludes to some combination of; Sorcery/Dom Inspiration/Dom Sorcery/Inspiration or Inspiration/Sorcery.
What Each of the VIABLE(for Vlad) Skill Trees Bring to The Table.
Sorcery (Pros & Cons): - Access to free 10% Cooldown (Makes up for loss of CDR glyphs) - Acess to massive scaling AP through gathering storm - Amplifies lane bully potential with Aery. - Lack of movement speed options unless you sacrifice the cooldown for Celerity (not ideal)
Domination (Pros & Cons): -Say hello to good ol' Spellvamp my friends(Relentless Hunter) - Slight scaling AP through Eyeball Collection - Best vision through runes (Zombie Wards & Poro) - Gimmicky movement speed option - No access to cooldown
Inspiration (Pros & Cons): - Solid options for increased movement speed (Enhanced Boots and Approach Velocity - Massive snowball potential with Future's Market and Zhonya's component - Access to increased CDR cap - No synergy with damage or healing(Major parts of vladimir's kits) - Susceptible to nerfs because this tree is overpowered.
Runes (NEW)
Runes (NEW)
So for the runes I've only put the ones you'll ever need to consider on Vladimir.
Precision
Overheal: Decent for laning phase. Pretty hard to get the full shield and maintain it because of your E. (You must be at full health to start charging the shield). Still viable.
Resolve
Overgrowth: This is THE ONLY rune you would ever get in resolve making it a must for your secondary path IF you are going to get it. The health gain is ridiculous and of course works so well with Vladimir's passive. You can potentially reach 4000 health with my build if it hits late game with this rune. Still would not recommend over the Sorcery, Domination or Inspiration trees.
Domination
Taste of Blood: Pretty self explanitory. It's the old feast but works with abilities and heals slightly more.
Eyeball Collection: Mini scaling AP rune that promotes dismantling wards to stack it up, any AP is good AP for Vladimir.
Zombie Wards/Ghost Poro: If you're not a fan of Eyeball Collection, then then any of these are a good substitute.
Ravenous Hunter: This thing is broken on Vladimir. It's easy as hell to stack up and practically gives you 15% spellvamp for free, with spirit visage it goes up to 19.5% rounded to 20% spellvamp from this rune. Seriously consider getting this in somehow.
Sorcery
Nullifying Orb: Good choice if you know you aren't going to be building a second magic resistance item beyond spirit visage. Because penetration runes do not exist anymore, I like building Liandry's over my recommended Banshees Veil so I bring this rune.
The Ultimate Hat: Well, if you're not taking Null Orb then take this. It's not that great since you don't really spam Vladimir's Ultimate but still an alternative if you don't like Null Orb.
Transcendence: Gather around fellow Vladimirs. Transcend the feeble state of mind that is all other champions compared to Vladimir. SHOW THEM YOUR SUPRIOR STATE OF MIND. TRANSCEND LIFE. TRANSCEND LEAGUE... One of the best runes for Vladimir.
Gathering Storm: Best option, free AP. Scales well into late game and goes with Vlad's passive.
Scorch: Combined with Aery, you'll be one annoying bastard in lane.
Inspiration
Perfect Timing: I don't know why you would take any of the other contraptions over this. It's a free 600 gold and builds directly into a core item for Vladimir
Magical Footwear: Between this and Future's Market because, this is my favorite option. The reason being because I like to rush my first item then complete boots and I'm usually in lane for the 10 minute mark. Ofcourse if you need a boots start for certain match ups you would not take this. You also get flat 10 more movespeed which Vladimir needs.
Future's Market: Overpowered. Combined with the free gold from the stopwatch and maybe even Kleptomancy you are snowball at a ridiculous rate.
Approach Velocity: Best choice if you don't gain your extra movement speed through the other runes, still a good choice even if you do because your E and W impair movement regardless.
Cosmic Insight: Can't go wrong with cooldown right?
Pros / Cons
Pros / Cons
- Extremely High Sustain
- AoE Damage
- Unique damage amplification on his ultimate
- Unique untargetable ability.
- Can play mind games with his opponent.
- Disgustingly strong late game.
- Free stats from passive.
- No mana.
- No mobility
- Is not actually a vampire
- Takes understanding of the champion to use abilities effectively
- Defenseless early game
- Long cooldowns early game.
- Weak objective control.
- No CC.
Unique Skills
Unique Skills
Vladimir's most unique skill is his Sanguine Pool, which can actually interact with his Tides of Blood ability thanks to the Vladimir rework. The technique I am about to share is a costly technique that will make you loose 28% of your health if you fully charge your tides of blood. It is simple to pull off, but hard to use it effectively. All you need to to is press E and W at the same time, and Vladimir will cast his E while in the ground! Basically you with this technique you can force your enemy to make a decision of chasing you through the pool or to back off and avoid taking the damage. This is the most offensive use of the pool and I would highly recommend saving it instead for more dire situations that call for defensive measure. Use it wisely!
If you happen to face a Zed you can use your Sanguine Pool to completely block the mark of his ultimate. To do this all you need to do is press W while he is invisible in the air. He will come on top of you but not apply his mark. Also, you can not pool underneath player made terrain such as:
- Jarvan Ultimate
- Anivia's Wall
- Taliyah's Wall
- Yorick's Ghoul Trap
- Ornn's Q
TLDR; Use E and W at the same time to do a spicy skill combo.
Farming
Farming
Farming in the lane for Vladimir can be done in some unique ways due to his Tides of Blood ability if you know what you're doing. Early game your annoying AA animation will probably deny yourself some CS but the only way to overcome this is to practice and practice. Using your Transfusion to last hit will make you vulnerable because of its long cooldown early game; try to avoid this against facing a Jax and/or riven whom you should save your Transfusion against to out trade. If a champion has a strong all in he will abuse your early Transfusion cooldown. If you do need to use your Transfusion on a minion be prepared to follow up with Tides of Blood so you can still poke, but be wary of shoving your wave. Farming under the tower is nearly impossible until mid-late game. This is why as a Vladimir player you must not get shoved under tower, nor can you shove because of your lack of escape. Sometimes it is best to not use your empowered Transfusion on a minion if you cant land it on the enemy champion because it will shove your lane and will probably one shot the caster minion. Another technique for pushing hard is to move to the far left side or right side and charging up your Tides of Blood. If you go between the caster minion wave and melee minion wave you are setting yourself up to be engaged by the enemy laner.
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