I've played hundreds of games with Vladimir. I've seen him through every nerf (we're presently on the 59th). I’ve experimented with every conceivable Vladimir play style, from cooldown centric Vladimir to AP runes, magic penetration runes, health runes, HP based tank, AP carry, AD carry for giggles, I’ve tried it all. This guide is a description of what has worked best for me.

Vladimir is a medium skill cap AP carry. He can exist comfortably on the cusp of death, inviting opponents to underestimate his survivability while he obstinately refuses to die. That said, he's no tank. He lacks proper crowd control effects and is too apt at avoiding damage rather than sustaining it. Instead, he should be played with the philosophy, "What's yours is mine," wherein he is sustained by inflicting maximum damage. All of his abilities synergize with this philosophy.

Vladimir's HP scales with his AP, and his AP scales with his HP. AP and HP added by this passive do not add an additional bonus. The ratios by which they scale has been decreased a couple times, and you shouldn't expect this effect to differentiate Vladimir too much. It's most limited in providing extra AP. A fully stacked Warmogs Armor grants just 32 additional AP. A Rabadon's Deathcap, however, adds at least 200 HP.

Consequently, building heavily into AP will make you reasonably hard to kill. Building heavily into HP, conversely, will not make him deal reasonable damage.

Nerfs 5 and 21 decreased the ratios for this ability.


This is Vladimir’s defining ability. It deals immediate damage and after a short delay, heals Vladimir.

Instantaneous Damage
This is an important characteristic of the spell. Whereas autoattacks and other spells have a certain travel time before reaching the target, Transfusion deals damage at almost the instant that it's cast. This makes it easier to collect minion kills, because you can last hit minions without misjudging the travel time of your autoattack.

It's also beneficial against champions that cast shields and spellblocks like Nocturne, Viktor or Morgana. They will be less able to time their shields to block Transfusion than other spells.

Healing
Transfusion's healing effect will enable you to swap damage favorably in a fight or to lane indefinitely. It's immensely important to note that the healing effect is flat; it does not scale with how much damage is inflicted; it is not spellvamp.

Cooldown
Transfusion begins with a cooldown of close to ten seconds. Consequently, Vladimir is extremely vulnerable until Transfusion is level 5. At that point, the cooldown will be roughly three seconds. Until then, play cautiously.

Nerfs 14, 17 and 49 badly hampered this ability.


Of his abilities, Sanguine Pool has the highest skill cap. At a cost of 20% of his current HP, it renders Vlad untargettable for a period. Enemies standing above him are slowed and sustain damage that scales with Vlad's maximum health. Vladimir is healed by a percentage of that damage.

Untargetable
Sanguine Pool enables Vlad to remove himself from ambushes as well as dodge catastrophic spells and status effects. There are too many variables to summarize here. Learning when and how to dodge attacks will just take practice on your part. Timing and attentiveness are key.

The best Vladimir will be able to dodge Enchanted Crystal Arrow at point blank range or know when pooling under Wall of Pain is the difference between life or death. It defeats abilities that lock on as well, like Ace in the Hole or Pyroclasm; defeating the latter may even save your whole team.

Sanguine Pool is also immensely valuable under turrets, friendly or hostile. Since
Vladimir nerf 28, activating Sanguine Pool under an enemy turret will not keep a shot fired by the turret from inflicting damage on you. It WILL, however, keep the turret from firing more shots at you, effectively dropping turret aggro. This makes Vladimir comfortable chasing opponents under a turret. Most other champions are not similarly equipped, so when you're on the receiving end of a tower dive, understand that your opponent wants to finish you quickly; they cannot afford to dally. Activating Sanguine Pool will force them to either disengage or to wait patiently under your turret for Vladimir to reappear.

Escaping
Apart from dodging abilities, Sanguine Pool lends itself to escaping in other ways.

If an opponent has ordered their champion to initiate an attack on Vladimir while out of range, the champion will move toward Vladimir. If Vladimir pools, the order will be canceled, causing the enemy champion to stop and putting precious pixels between Vladimir and death.

If an opponent is in range of Sanguine Pool, they will be slowed while Vladimir will not be, again putting distance between Vladimir and his pursuer. Prior to Vladimir nerf 3, pooling also provided a speed boost. It no longer does.

Also note that the slow may be applied to put distance between an ally and an enemy pursuing them. Just be mindful that you keep yourself away from the enemy too.

Discretion
What makes Sanguine Pool so difficult to master isn't just learning to dodge different spells. You also have to learn when not to cast it. The spell has a very long cooldown, between ten and 26 seconds. Misusing it will leave you very vulnerable for a period. The spell also costs 20% of your HP. Consequently, every time you use it, you'll have to quickly assess whether that's more or less damage than you'd take otherwise. Do you cast it at the beginning of a teamfight and lose 20% of your MAX HP, or hold onto it until you're practically dead in order to minimize the cost?

This ability will either make you immortal or suicidal; use it carefully.


Sends out a wave of auto-locked projectiles that damage all nearby enemies on impact. Casting adds a stack (up to four). Each stack increases the ability's damage and all healing effects on Vladimir.

Multiple targets
There's no limit to the number of targets that can be hit. You might use it to indiscriminately damage the entire enemy team or to clear out a whole minion wave. It's Vlad's most damaging area of effect spell and his best mid-game farming tool.

Searching for hidden enemies
Tides of Blood auto-locks on any enemy champions that are nearby, even from the other side of a wall, and even if the enemy is invisible. Use it to scout bushes before you enter them. Use it to make sure that Twitch, Evelyn, Teemo or Shaco aren't setting up an ambush. If it locks onto an invisible target, you will see the blood trail hit an apparently empty space; that's your signal to run.

Stacks
Each stack increases Vladimir's healing effects by 8% as well increases the damage of Tides of Blood by 25%. Having four stacks increases those bonuses to 32% and 100% respectively. These are enormous bonuses, so you SHOULD NOT NEGLECT THEM. Max the stacks before any serious engagement.

That said, maintaining the stacks can be expensive (each casting of Tides of Blood costs HP). Spellvamp will make maintaining the stacks near minions essentially free.


Vladimir affects all enemies within a selected area with a status effect that will increase the damage they take by 12% (That's 2% less than it was before Vladimir nerf 59). Once the effect ends, Hemoplague deals additional damage.

Maximizing Effectiveness
Getting the most out of this ability means casting it at the very start of a fight and making sure that you hit as many opponents as possible with it. You never know how the fight is going to unfold or who your team will target.

Finisher
Hemoplague can be cast within a fairly large range and is itself an area of effect spell. Consequently, it may be used to finish champions that are critically low on health but are not within range of any other attack. When doing this, be aware that Hemoplague does not deal tremendous damage. LOOK to see how much it does and compare it to how much health the target has. Also know that they may heal (pots, support, lifesteal) in the interim before Hemoplague deals damage.

Making Them Work Together

When unleashing a full combo, cast Vladimir's spells in this order:


Hemoplague first ensures that all following damage is increased by 12%.
Tides of Blood adds a stack that increases your regeneration and puts the spell on cooldown
Transfusion heals you for 8% more now. If you have spellvamp, Hemoplague increases its healing effect.
Sanguine Pool will probably be cost effective now, since you will no longer be at full HP. Meanwhile, it makes you untargetable while you wait for Transfusion and Tides of Blood to cooldown.
Casting Transfusion and Tides of Blood repeats the damage cycle.

Vladimir should prioritize the leveling of his abilities as such:
> > >

We've already discussed the importance of Transfusion, but many Vladimir guides will try to persuade you to prioritize Sanguine Pool before Tides of Blood. Don't listen to them!

Understand that Sanguine Pool is a situational ability. It does not deal substantial damage even at level five, and it costs a great deal of your health. Its primary utility is in avoiding catastrophic damage and status effects. The need to do that appears rarely.

Tides of Blood however has a great deal more utility. At four stacks, averaged out over time, it enables you to deal a base of 80(+45%/4.5 of your maximum AP) damage per second to all surrounding enemies. Sanguine Pool at level five deals 16(+3.75%/14 of your maximum HP) damage per second. Tides of Blood deals much more damage and increases the healing effect of Transfusion by 32%. If you don't level Tides of Blood, that effect is only 16%.

Also appreciate that Tides of Blood is remarkable at farming. Maxing it mid-game will ensure that you don't enter late game underfarmed.

Don't listen to any Vladimir that tries to tell you that there's no incentive to level Tides of Blood

So what do we do with Sanguine Pool? We learn it at level 4 and leave it there until level 13. Sanguine Pool's primary utility early game will not be in dodging ultimates but in escaping ganks. Prior to level 4, you shouldn't be in a position to be ganked. Hence, there's little point in learning it at level 2 or doing anything with it between levels 4 and 13.

Marks

9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
or
9x Greater Mark of Scaling Ability Power


Seals

9x Greater Seal of Vitality
or
9x Greater Seal of Health
or
9x Greater Seal of Scaling Ability Power

Glyphs

9x Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration
or
9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power

Quintessences

3* Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp
or
3* Greater Quintessence of Scaling Ability Power
or
3* Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration
or
3* Greater Quintessence of Vitality
or
3* Greater Quintessence of Health

General Philosophy

Vladimir is extremely vulnerable to early game harassment due to the initially long cooldown of Transfusion. If you're going to be shutdown, it will happen in the first five levels. Health runes and spell vamp runes add a bit more durability to Vladimir's early game. Magic penetration and ability power runes are more valuable mid to late game. Identify which area you're most concerned about and use the appropriate runes.

Note that magic penetration is extremely valuable, and your goal should be to penetrate all or most of an opponent's magic resistance. Remember, if we build spellvamp, then the amount of resistance that we penetrate is proportional to how much we will be healing ourselves. If you choose to not take magic penetration runes, remember that you'll need to make up for the difference with the items that you purchase in game.

I recommend summoner spells in this order:






I strongly encourage the use of Ignite for two reasons. (1) It deals between 70 and 410 true damage that when coupled with Hemoplague is increased to 78-459. It doesn't seem like much, but it means that Ignite is 12% more potent for Vladimir than for any other champion in the game. (2) I mentioned before that Hemoplague can be used to finish weak opponents at a distance. However, the delay gives them a chance to heal themselves before dealing damage; Ignite minimizes their healing capacity for that period. When using this combo, note that Ignite and Hemoplague have identical durations, so you don't need to be concerned about which you cast first.

Teleport is useful for any champion laning in mid. Vladimir, if you haven't guessed, should always be in the middle lane, so Teleport will always be valuable to him. It enables you to leave lane to make game changing item purchases and return immediately. An opponent that can't do this will find themselves overwhelmed by your ability to purchase items without compromising your farming or tower. It may enable you to win the lane. Alternatively, it also enables you to quickly render aid to the other lanes, should they find themselves in a poor situation.

Ghost and Flash are universally useful summoner spells, but are especially potent on Vladimir. Because of Sanguine Pool, Vladimir is extremely resistant to ganks. Taking one or both of these escape spells will render Vladimir virtually immune to ambushes.

I occasionally see a Vladimir take Heal; don't repeat this mistake. After you have spellvamp, its effect will be grossly overshadowed by Transfusion and there won't be much point in having it mid or late game.

General Philosophy

We should prioritize item attributes in this order:
Ability power > Magic penetration > Spell vamp > Health > Resistances > Cooldown

Vladimir is not equipped with crowd control or the inherent durability of the primary tanks, so his objective should be to deal damage rather than soak it up. Ability power and magic penetration accomplish this. We prioritize ability power before magic penetration because it adds to our durability whereas magic penetration does not.

Spellvamp should be the next priority. Three of Vladimir's abilities are geared toward healing himself and all of them are equipped to deal damage. As with any champion, we build upon Vladimir's strength: regeneration through damage. Spellvamp will in some cases triple the healing effect of Transfusion; it will make Tides of Blood free and in some cases give Sanguine Pool a net healing effect. It's simply too powerful and synergistic to not have.

Keeping with the idea that we build upon strengths, building health should be a goal as well. Vladimir passively generates HP as he accumulates AP. We can amplify this innate beefiness while also gaining a marginal amount of AP through Crimson Pact. Don't make the mistake though of prioritizing health before ability power. The ratio scales more favorably if you build ability power.

Resistances obviously follow as a priority once you have sufficient health. At least try to get your armor and magic resistance near to a 100 to get the absolute most out of the HP that Crimson Pact has given you.

Cooldown is a matter of controversy. Some players reason that because the only thing limiting the usage of your abilities is cooldown, that Vladimir should benefit from maximizing his cooldown. Consider however that 40% cooldown reduction (the maximum that you can obtain) will only lower Transfusion's cooldown by 1.6 seconds and Tides of Blood by 1.8 seconds, because at level 5, their cooldown is already quite low. That would be nice to have, but 40% cooldown reduction costs 2600 in gold and a few rune slots. You will be trading the equivalent of an Abyssal Mask in order to cast Transfusion 1.6 seconds sooner and Tides of Blood 1.8 seconds sooner.

So how do we treat cooldown? Take it opportunistically. Take 4% of it in your masteries with Sorcery. If no one else needs blue buff, take that too. Apart from that, you should generally have no affiliation with cooldown reduction.

Naturally, you'll want to avoid any item that offers mana or mana regeneration. Vladimir does not use mana, so any item that offers them is not cost effective.

Item Discussion

Recommended

With complimenting rune page, these will let you penetrate more than 100% of other caster's magic resistance early game, providing an extra amplification to your damage and, with spell vamp, regeneration.


The 20% spellvamp will nearly double the healing effect of Transfusion. Consider:
When maxed with 80 AP, 0% spellvamp and four Tides of Blood stacks, Transfusion heals for 99
When maxed with 80 AP and 20% spellvamp, Transfusion damages for 278 and heals for 173.
That's a 75% increases in your regeneration.
The spellvamp is so beneficial that if there is another caster on your team, such as Ziggs, Brand, etc., you should strongly encourage them to purcahse Will of the Ancients too, because THE AURA STACKS.
When maxed with 80 AP and 40% spellvamp, Transfusion damages for 278 and heals for 246!

Spoiler alert!! Vladimir doesn't die once he has 46% spellvamp.


Purchasing Rabadon's Deathcap should be a goal in all of Vladimir's games. The AP it provides is tremendous and it will add more than 200 HP with Crimson Pact. In cases where you do not need more survivability or magic penetration, consider even buying a second one in late game.


Most enemy teams will have a caster or two. They'll also usually have at least a couple champions with more than 30 magic resistances (remember, you want to penetrate 100+% of it). Abyssal Mask is a reply to both. Not only is it a reliable provider of survivability and damage, but the aura effect will compliment the aura effect of Will of the Ancients; together they'll greatly empower allied casters. Note, however, that the aura on Abyssal Mask does not stack.


It benefits twice from Crimson Pact, providing a total of 93 AP (not counting the bonus from Rabadon's Deathcap) and 612 HP. Meanwhile, the slow compliments Sanguine Pool, raising its slowing effect from 40% to 55%. This is almost always a great purchase.

Situational

This is only a viable item when the enemy team has substantially more magic resistance than you're penetrating. The less they have, the less the less utility Void Staff has. By mid to late game, you should be penetrating between 50 and 60 magic resistance, so as a rule of thumb, buy Void Staff only when the enemy team predominately has more than 100 magic resistance. Otherwise, buy an item that offers more ability power or survivability.


Prior to Vladimir nerf 5 and 51, Warmog's Armor was as essential to Vladimir as the late Zhonya's Ring. Now it's a situational purchase, though many Vladimirs still buy it religiously. With Crimson Pact, Warmog's Armor yields 32 AP. To put things to scale, 32 AP increases Transfusion's damage by 19 points. Vladimir does not benefit that much more from Warmog's Armor than other champions. Tanks like Dr. Mundo, Volibear and Cho'Gath benefit more from this item than Vladimir who, if the meta holds true, should be dealing the first or second most damage on the team. However, if your team is desperately in need of a tank, Warmog's Armor is the route Vladimir should take. Also note that the HP it adds will increase the damage of Sanguine Pool by 48.


I used to use this item a lot. It provides a little bit of everything Vladimir needs at a reasonable price. With Crimson Pact, it adds 6 bonus AP. The 10% cooldown lets you cast Transfusion 0.4 seconds sooner. A 15% gain on regeneration effects is more appreciably for a Vladimir than for most champions. So why is it situational? You'll find that in most cases (except where enemy magic resistance is unmanageably high), you'll gain greater healing from magic penetration and AP. It's also situational because health and spell vamp are not a priority in every game. Get Spirit Visage to counter caster heavy teams, just be sure to sell it late game to buy better items. It's also a reasonable purchase if you expect the game to end quickly; then you won't be wasting money by selling it late game.


This adds nothing to Vladimir but sheer survivability against physical opponents. Take this in only the most extreme of cases, as part of a concerted effort by your team to counter an entirely AD team.


Apart from the 50 armor and 100 AP, Zhonya's Hourglass adds 140 HP with Crimson Pact. This should be taken to counter predominately physical teams when Thornmail] is not quite warranted or taken in combination with [[thornmail.


Analogous to Spirit Visage in its survivability, but it provides appreciable magic penetration in place of increased healing.

Not Recommended

A lot of Vladimirs will be seen with this. They neglect, however, that it will only improve the cooldown on Transfusion and Tides of Blood by 0.6 seconds. That would be nice, but everything is a trade off. Casting Transfusion half a second sooner means having 20 less magic penetration (and the associated spell vamp bonus). Ionian Boots of Lucidity is better suited for champions with longer cooldowns.


This item is theoretically workable. I can't recommend it, however, because there's no scenario for which you can maximize its utility. It's necessarily a gamble. Purchase it if you're comfortable with losing.


Vladimir does not benefit from mana, but the cost of these items is raised by the relative value of the mana they offer. Consequently, buying these items means wasting money.

Build Examples

Bloody - For maximum damage


Armored - For physical enemies
or

Warded - For magical enemies
or

Immortal - For maximum survivability


Most scenarios will call for some blend of these. Ask yourself: does the team desperately need a tank or an AP nuker? Are you penetrating most of the enemies' magic resistance? Do you need armor or magic resistance yourself? How much? Is thornmail necessary, or should you compromise between penetration and armor? BE ADAPTIVE.

General Walkthrough

In general, your goal is to play defensively until Transfusion is sufficiently leveled to swap damage favorably. This means staying near your tower and only attacking minions to finish them. Transfusion's instantaneous damage will even allow you to farm under your tower, so let the enemy push. Being defensive also means dissuading friendly ganks. Vladimir's early damage is very low and he has no real crowd control to prevent the target from escaping. At best, ganks will be a waste of the jungler's time; at worst, it will get you killed when the enemy jungler intervenes.


Begin the match with three Health Potions and Boots. You'd be right to question, "Why not start with Amplifying Tome so that I can rush Hextech Revolver." Let me submit three things for your consideration. (1) Transfusion is very ineffective at healing Vladimir for the first few levels, healing at roughly 1.25-5.00 HP per second for champion levels one through six. It's so little that one wrong move could easily force you out of lane. The extra twenty AP from Amplifying Tome will only increase the healing effect by 5 HP per cast. Vladimir needs more early game sustainability than that; the health potions permit him to stay in lane until he can afford Sorcerer's Shoes. (2) Rushing Hextech Revolver is tempting because of the 12% spellvamp. Spellvamp, however, means nothing if you're not dealing significant damage. Buying Boots will afford you an earlier purchase of Sorcerer's Shoes which will increase your damage enough to make spellvamp quite rewarding. Most casters start the game with around 30 magic resistance. With Sorcerer's Shoes and the appropriate runes, you'll be penetrating all of that; the damage will be frightening. (3) A lot of middle lane capable champions, Nidalee, Karthus, Ziggs, Xerath, Ahri, Brand, etc, have potent skill shot spells -- spells that have to be aimed and have a certain travel time. Dodging these consistently will pose a problem for them. Having missed their shot leaves you a window of safety to close on them, cast Transfusion and retreat to safety. The movement speed afforded by Boots and early Sorcerer's Shoes requires skill in order to capitalize upon, but it will win fights for you outright and enable you to better participate in ganks and rescues.


Farm defensively in lane until you have at least 750 gold. Return to base to buy Sorcerer's Shoes and use Teleport if you have it to return to lane quickly. This quick purchase will let you throw your weight around in lane without compromising farm or tower.


Vladimir will begin to overpower many champions at this point, potentially even picking up a kill. In any case, stay in lane until you've collected another 1200 gold. Teleport should be available again so use it to return to lane after you've gone to purchase Hextech Revolver.

If your opponent has still not returned to base yet, you will have a decisive advantage over them. Make the most of this; play aggressively. Harass them incessantly. Tower dive them if the opportunity presents itself. With Transfusion at level 4 or 5, you'll be able to move between lanes as needed. Watch for catastrophes to unfold in the other lanes, intervene with Teleport if it's available. If enemies are over extended in another lane and yours isn't particularly pressed, leave for a swift gank.


When you have 900 more gold, return to base once more to buy Will of the Ancients.


With the laning phase coming to a close, you'll be farming efficiently enough that you can begin building Rabadon's Deathcap, completing your core build. Everything that you build after this will be situational.

The Other Champion

Easy

These are mana dependent champions with no inherent way to regenerate health; they can be forced out of lane regularly. They come with nothing that counters Vladimir specifically, and he readily matches or surpasses their damage. Expect to kill them and often.

Skillshot based casters like Ahri, Brand, Ziggs, Veigar, and Xerath have no sustainability and their play style is punctuated with instances of vulnerability. Always be prepared to dodge their abilities. Invite them to waste their mana, and when they've missed, attack them in the ensuing window. For example, After Ahri has cast Orb of Deception, you have a seven second window to close, cast Transfusion and retreat. Repeat this, sipping from their HP until they can be zoned. Remember to pool under Pyroclasm, Mega Inferno Bomb. In the event that Ahri's Charm might ruin you, forgo sidestepping pool under that as well. The spell will fly over you to no effect.

Ranged AD champions like Caitlyn, Vayne and Ashe are not particularly threatening, and you should be willing to take a few of their auto attacks in order to cast Transfusion on them. If you come out unfavorably in such a swap, heal on a few minions before repeating it. Don't let Ashe harass you at long range with Volley though; always keep a line of minions between you and her. Always remember that Sanguine Pool will prevent their ultimates, Ace in the Hole and Enchanted Crystal Arrow from hitting you.

Karthus has no sustain and Vladimir's damage quickly outpaces him. In any event that you can't afford to be slowed, know that you can cast Sanguine Pool to avoid Wall of Pain's status effect. It only works if you cast it before touching the wall though! Pooling under Requiem is also usually a great idea. Finally, remember to inform your team when Karthus is able to cast it; if at all possible, keep track of its cooldown.

Teemo is very item dependent for his damage. After Vladimir has Sorcerer's Shoes, his damage soars beyond Teemo's. Play with extreme aggression and expect to be fed after level six.

Viktor has a unique disadvantage to Vladimir. Power Transfer normally applies a shield to Viktor's health shortly after being cast, and it normally enables him to poke an enemy with favorable damage exchange -- not so with Vladimir. Transfusion deals immediate damage, usually before Power Transfer's shield is applied, defeating the ability's utility. Wait for Sorcerer's Shoes and then play aggressively.

Talon does very little damage early game, such that Vladimir can safely harass him. He's also highly starved for mana, so he won't be able to carry out too many combos before being forced into a defensive stance. Stand away from your minions in order to force Talon to choose to use Rake either to farm or harass you; he can't afford enough casts of it to do both. Silences are normally very potent against Vladimir, but Cutthroat's is so brief as to be negligible. Talon would regret getting that close to Vladimir. After a rough engagement, he may cast Shadow Assault to escape. Remember that you can cast Tides of Blood and still hit him regardless of his visibility.

Stalemate

These are champions that are difficult to kill or force out of lane, but that aren't necessarily threatening to Vladimir either. Don't expect to kill these champions. Simply farm, because playing overly aggressive will attract hostile ganks and not net you a kill.

Anivia is typical of mana dependent casters, but she can be difficult to kill. If you've disadvantaged her, she can farm safely from her tower without fear. The worst possible mistake that you can make is attempting to tower dive her. Rebirth has a four minute will not enable you to kill her under her tower unless its been activated in the last four minutes. Meanwhile, exposing yourself to the tower will leave you vulnerable to an enemy jungler and a fully healed Anivia. If She isn't winning the lane, she's likely to stalemate it.

Gragas is similarly frustrating. Happy Hour and Drunken Rage will give him the health and mana he needs to stay in lane longer than most champions. If he exposes himself to harassment though, it is possibly to force him out of lane or kill him. Don't permit him to zone you with Barrel Roll. After it has been cast, circle around the barrel and reply by casting Transfusion on Gragas. When low on HP, EXPECT him to cast Explosive Cask. Know the difference in animation between Barrel Roll and Explosive Cask and cast Sanguine Pool appropriately.

Morgana has as much regeneration as you, can avoid damage with Black Shield and has enough crowd control to escape you or prevent your escape. Your only advantage over her is Transfusion's instantaneous damage. Only a very perceptive Morgana will be able to block it with Black Shield. Know that Morgana can't set up her combo without first landing Dark Binding. If she casts it and misses, close quickly and cast Transfusion. Also note that if Soul Shackles has already been cast, Sanguine Pool will NOT prevent the subsequent stun and damage from activating. The most you can do is cast Sanguine Pool to try to prevent her from catching you in Dark Binding while you're already stunned.

Swain's Torment and Decrepify deal enough damage to cripple Vladimir early game, while Nevermove will leave you vulnerable to them. Nevermove is a snare though, not a stun, so if caught in it, cast Sanguine Pool to avoid being targetable by his other abilities. Know also that there's not much point in playing aggressively against Swain. Carrion Renewal will help him cast spells regularly, while Ravenous Flock will bring him back from the brink of death. If he is disadvantaged however, keep him away from your minions so that he can't heal with Ravenous Flock.

Galio is an anti-mage tank. Rune skin encourages him to build magic resistance early, while Bulwark makes him nearly invulnerable to your harassment. Meanwhile, Resolute Smite is a fairly obnoxious poke. Don't expect to do exceptionally well here.

Difficult

These are champions with silence in addition to other crowd control effects. They readily outpace Vladimir's damage, don't rely on skillshots, and are difficult to force out of lane. You should avoid laning against these champions at all cost. If one of them is mid, consider soloing top. If you're playing draft mode and see that the enemy has chosen one of them, simply do not play Vladimir; you will feed them.

Fiddlesticks has more regeneration than Vladimir and can readily silence and deny him. A good Fiddlesticks will take control of the lane quickly, denying Vladimir outright. He will cast Reap as Vladimir approaches to keep him from casting Transfusion. He'll then cast Terrify and Bountiful Harvest to inflict damage. The damage is not tremendous, but the ability to keep Vladimir from farming will ruin him. Also note that Bountiful Harvest will not be interrupted by Sanguine Pool.

LeBlanc is especially unmanageable. Where Vladimir is weakest in early game, LeBlanc does powerful burst damage with Sigil of Silence and Mimic. Even with Sorcerer's Shoes and Will of the Ancients, you will struggle to swap damage favorably against LeBlanc. Couple this with Ethereal Chains' snare, Sigil of Silence's silencing effect, and Distortion's ability to quickly take LeBlanc into and out of your turret range, and there's little that Vladimir can do to avoid her damage or respond offensively.

Kassadin's Null Sphere is the bane of Vladimir. It has more range than Transfusion, meaning that [Kassadin]] can easily silence Vladimir before he's within range to cast Transfusion and then maintain distance. When Vladimir is able to deal damage to Kassadin, Void Stone minimizes the damage. Riftwalk, like Distortion, enables Kassadin to tower dive with impunity. Vladimir will have difficulty dealing damage to Kassadin as well as escaping him; Kassadin in turn deals sufficient damage and can easily avoid damage.

Malzahar has several abilities that hard counter Vladimir. Call of the Void can prevent Vladimir from escaping with Sanguine Pool and has more range than Transfusion, enabling him to either prevent Vladimir from harassing or escaping damage with Sanguine Pool. Nether Grasp is similarly effective at preventing Vladimir from escaping a bad situation, be it a failed tower dive or a hostile gank. Most Malzahars carry an Ignite, and when coupling this with Malefic Visions, Malzahar is able to inflict significant damage over time to Vladimir, which can't be avoided with Sanguine Pool. Hence, casting Sanguine Pool before Malzahar can silence or suppress you does not guarantee that he didn't put enough DOT onto you to kill you.

Pros

Damage
Regeneration
Lane presence
Adaptable itemization

Cons

Lowest possible escapability
Only moderate durability
No cooldown