This is the second build that I have worked on for mobafire. After having little support with my urgot build I stopped thinking up builds for a while and played. I only decided to make a Vlad build guide after going on a very large win streak with extremely high scores. Enjoy my build for Vladimir.

Pros:
-Amazing nuke
-Self heal
-No mana limitations
-AoE ultimate
-A pool which makes you invincible from anything except for the odd skill (Ex. Fiddlesticks drain)

Cons:
-Ultimate and pool are high health costs
-Early game your skills can drain your hp very quickly (Ex. tides of blood overused)

I chose these runes because they fit Vlad really well, since his passive scales AP from hp and vice versa. Besides your mag pen runes all other runes will give bonus health or AP. Its like getting 2 for 1 ! At about level one your not going to be doing much anyways, the real harassing and killing starts 3-4 levels later so scaling runes work quite well. These runes in total at the beginning give approximately 20 AP to start and this will help greatly when facing your opponent. Scaling runes match flat at about level 5-6 so by the time you can start killing your opponent your runes will give the same values as flat runes do.

As for masteries I always take 9-21-0 and the reason for this is straight up durability. I have seen many 9-0-21 builds but I find it harder for vlad to be a carry with utility masteries as he has less survivability. I take ability power for the boost in AP early game and cool down reduction and magic penetration to assist his ability to deal out large quantities of magic damage in short periods. In my defensive masteries i take max armor and magic resistance while also grabbing dodge and nimbleness once again for survivability. Now I take 2 points in harden skin to reduce champion damage and 4 points in veteran's scars for the hp boost (always could use more hp). The last two masteries i take are ardor and tenacity. Ardor is another boost to my ability power, which you really can never have enough of and tenacity adds more onto my survivability aspect.

These items are in my view the most effective way to carry as vlad or any caster for that matter. Mejais is key here, getting it fast can easily get you 5-6 stacks quickly rather than getting it 2nd or 3rd. Before you recall MAKE SURE you have enough for mejais and basic boots if not more. I can usually last hit 4 out of every 5 minions so when i recall for the first time i make it my goal to get mejais and sorc boots. Your 3rd item is the real winner here, rabadon's deathcap coupled with 10-20 stacks of a mejais you are already dominating pretty hard and your AP is 300-450 by now. Rylais is of course very necessary, but dont rush it. It is a great item and can help with lots of kills espec with vlad but your other 3 items should always come first. Your last AP item should be hextech revolver moving into will of the ancients. The main idea here though is to get your revolver because this greatly increases healing effects on yourself and will only add to the unkillable monster that is vlad. For your final item you want to pick up guardian angel. This is a great item for many reasons, one being that it will make you a bit more tanky to both types of attack and two being that you have an extra life (great huh?). This will kind of be your "insurance" item. If you happen to die this will give you the chance to remain alive and get out safely that or your will be able to just run through their team like a madman?

I think that the skill sequence is pretty self explanatory, but some people may raise questions as to why you max pool first. So my reasoning for maxing pool first is the cooldown. In order to be a heavy carry with vlad your going to NEED stacks. If played properly your pool will allow you to live through ALMOST anything but the downside is it starts with long cooldown. So I max it before tides of blood because it greatly helps the cooldown which will help keep you alive. (shouldnt have troubles getting to 18 anyways if your mid).

For summoner spells I take Ghost and Ignite:

I take ghost because this GREATLY helps your escape mechanism. If you ghost BEFORE you pool then your pool form will also benefit from the speed making escape from the enemy team almost inevitable. This is amazing for teams who gank alot or have a jungler.

Ignite is a great spell for any character. It greatly excels at picking off those pesky enemies who escape with 10-50 hp (isnt that annoying?). Ignite is also great on vlad because it couples with his ultimate well. If you drop your ultimate ----> ignite ----> trans ----> pool under them ----> trans ----> tides of blood you will almost always get your opposing carry. Sometimes you may not need this whole skill sequence.

Other:

Flash is also always a viable choice for a summoner spell i just prefer ghost for chasing/escaping in pool.

Cleanse is another one of my favorite spells as it can save you from teams who stack crowd control.

Either of the above can be replaced instead of ghost if you so wish.

Early game: Early game take mid and simply avoid your enemy except for the odd transfusion. Try to last hit as many minions as possible while still harassing/farming with transfusion and tides of blood. Around level 5 your transfusion will have a lower cool down, now you should start weakening your opponent to about half hp or a little less (you dont want them to recall on you now). Once you are level 6 wait for a moment when your opponent comes a little closer than usual and when this happens cast transfusion, ghost, your ultimate, and ignite. Now chase them down with pool and if they are still alive (should have been half health so they shouldnt be) use transfusion and tides of blood to finish them off. Even if they have flash or ghost IF you got them to half health they should be dead.

Mid game: You should have sorc boots and mejais if you got a kill and farmed well. So now is the time to start building up your stacks. Before heading back to mid look at your map, if there is anylanes which are pushed back hard and you can easily move in behind the enemies on then set yourself up in the brush at top or bottom. Make sure your team is prepared and when they are strike with trans, hemoplague, tides of blood and sanguine pool. You should get atleast 1 stack from this if not 2-4. Now head back to mid and continue farming. Careful of the opposing mid as they may try to gank a lane too. (always call your mias :]) You should farm in mid until about level 11 before you b again (note at level 9 to start mass harassing the opposing mid). Once you recall at around level 10 or 11 you should have enough gold to buy the large rod and possibly the blasting wand. (dont worry late game is where you get mass gold).

Late game: This is where vlad really shines. Team fights will be breaking out all over the place and your job is too get stacks from them. Build up your items while avoiding death and gaining stacks. If you do play carefully, but still manage to get in kills or assists then you should have 16 stacks in no time. I call 16 stacks on vlad "The point of no return" because at this point your doing 1/3 of squishies hps with trans and your ultimate is crushing in teamfights so at this point you are extremely close to unkillable. Even at a low hp such as 500 if 1-2 people are chasing you and your pool is up you can make them pay. Trans the squishy one ---> tides of blood ----> pool ----> trans (squishy is dead and if you have revolver youve healed about 400-800 hp from this little display maybe more).

Simply build yourself up and end game crush the other team. I have used this build in every game i have played as vlad for a long time now.

Here is some proof of what you can achieve:

Overall Vlad is a great character you just have to know how to play him. Use this build and practice and you will reach a point where you do dominate with him.

Im not telling you that this build will make you win every game you play. Nor am I telling you that you will play better with this build. Your skills are a big part of how well this goes in the end they will ultimately determine whether you dominate or you get dominated.