Vladimir - Sustain in lane

Introduction

Hello people today I am going to talk about how I play Vladimir.

Vladimir is a very strong mid champion with alot of troll skills like his Sanguine Pool and Transfusion. He can escape ganks very easily and is very sustainable in lane since he dosen't rely on mana.

Pros / Cons

High amounts of HP due to Crimson Pact (Passive)

Cons:

Hard to know when to use Sanguine Pool

Early-game reliant

High HP cost on Sanguine Pool and Hemoplague

If ganked, after Sanguine Pool you are left open to any damage and/or CC

Masteries

Masteries
1/1	4/4	4/4	1/1	3/3	3/4	4/4	1/1	1/1	3/3	4/4	1/1

Summoner's Wrath

Ignite

Mental Force

Sorcery

Arcane Knowledge

Galio

Havoc

Blast

Archmage

Executioner

Good Hands

Summoner's Insight

Swiftness

Runic Affinity

Transmutation

Runes

Runes
Greater Mark of Insight 9	Greater Seal of Vigor 9	Greater Glyph of Focus 9	Greater Quintessence of Potency 3

Greater Mark of Insight

Galio

Greater Seal of Vigor

Greater Glyph of Focus

Summoner Spells

Flash is a great summoner spell for Vladimir, if you get ganked and you un-pool before you reach your tower you always have flash you get you that last bit of way to the safety of the turret

Ghost is great for Vladimir too, the best part is that you can use it right before you pool to get amazing move speed in it, but I perfer Flash

Ignite is just amazing for Vladimir, you can put it on someone before you use your ulti Hemoplague to secure a kill

Exhaust is great too, since you already have Summoner's Wrath in your masteries, and you need an exhaust on your team, take it. It is great cuz it lowers the targets magic resist due to Summoner's Wrath

Skill Explanation

Without his passive vlad wouldn't be Vladimir, it gives you huge amounts of HP from this build since it gives 1.8 HP for every 1 Ap you have

Your ult, this is a vital spell for Vladimir, this will boost your damage to all the enemies hit by a certain percentage, and after a few seconds he he.. BOOM

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

I max Transfusion right away since it gives the best sustain in lane and it is you primary damage output early-game

Core Items

Without this there is no Vladimir, it scales SO well with all of his spells that if you don't get this, ur doin' it wrong.
Pro tip: If you get a Will of the Ancients and buy a new Hextech Revolver after finishing the will, you can get up to alot of spell vamp for early game since it does stack.

Great if you are playing against a tanky team, if not, concider getting Ionian Boots of Lucidity

Items - Damage

Amazing item for every AP caster, gives loads of AP and tops it by adding 30% AP to the mix, it scales very well with Vladimir due to his passive

Items - Survivability

Gives AP, HP AND CC this could be the best items for Vladimir out there due to his passive Crimson Pact

Very good item if you find yourself focused by AP casters of AP based damage, also lowers nearby enemies' magic resist which can really make the diffrance in a teamfight

Very nice item for early-mid game, if you are not very focused, keeps your health up in laning phase and while ganking, although if you get full inventory with items and don't know what to get next, concider selling this for something else

Gameplay

Early-game (1-8): Try to harras your opponent as much as possible, most likely he won't have as much sustain as you have, take upper hand as fast as possible, but do not overextend, care for junglers and dont forget to farm as much as possible. DO NOT USE Sanguine Pool AS A FARMING TOOL it is your only chance to escape a gank, your enemies know this and will wait for an oppurtunity. Do not let them get it.

Mid-game (9-13): This is where you start to be getting some farm under you and start getting some damage, you should never walk in the from lines of battle, let the tank to that, despite your high amounts of hp you don't have any armor or magic resist at all. If you start ganking you should always start with using Hemoplague then Transfusion -> Ignite/ Tides of Blood and if you choose to chase Sanguine Pool to slow the enemy.

Late-game (14-18): This is very much the same as before, don't initiate, let the tank, remember to keep an eye on dragon and baron. If you get into a teamfight, focus the ad carry or the ap caster, if you find yourself focused just pool and/or use Zhonya's Hourglass this is more than enough time for the enemy to either switch their focus or die. And remember to always start out with your Ult!

Summary

That was pretty much playing Vladimir in a nut shell I hope you have fun pwning everyone out there :D

Don't forget to rate and comment and rep and all that good stuff :)

Thanks

I would like to give a BIG thanks to JhoiJhoi for her Making a guide it helped me out alot :D

Change Log

30-11-2011: Released

1-12-2011: added a part about boots and abyssal scepter thx to Rys Aberdeen for the suggestion

06-12-2011: added a segment about Spirit Visage and added pro tip for Will of the Ancients + Hextech Revolver