Pros: naturally has a lot of hp and because of that he gets a bit of AP.
very low cool down on His Q and E so you can spam damage and farm very well.
Very useful ult for team fights and finishes on 1v1's and 1v2's.
has a wide range slow which makes ganking a lot easier

Cons: very level dependent up till level 9.
really high cool down on his escape skill.
2 of his skills take a huge chunk of HP to use them.
Slow movement speed unless you get boots of swiftness which makes you lose magic penetration.

Start with a Amplifying tome and a potion. when you have enough gold get a hextech revolver for the spell vamp that will be huge during the whole game( never sell it). Then get sorcerer boots for the magic pen. notice you will hurt like crazy and constantly stay alive in lane not having to go back or taking 3x as long to heal up with Q. Then get either a Blasting wand or a Giant belt but get both just decide which is first and which is second(get both after the boots). money shouldn't be too hard as long as your farming well and trying to get the kill in mid or Ganking. even the harassment you'll cause will make the enemy not get close so u can farm better. if your doing good or your team is feeding get a Mejia soul stealer. then get riley's crystal scepter so you can slow without having to be in range with your W(sengiene pool). and from here on work to get rabadons death cap. make sure to gank and get last hits with your q for the kill. from here its a free for all for your last item. either a warmong armor or another rabadons death cap. It really depends on what the enemy team is if its a lot of damage but not too much magic then warmong. if they are not that strong then get another rabadons death-cap.

ALWAYS TAKE MID!!!!! i can't stress that enough. Too many Vladamir's Don't take mid and they end up being under leveled and not very deadly in team fights. Vladimir is very skill dependent he needs his levels so he can be really good. Rarely is it that they get fed at bottom or top and do good late game. for the first 6 levels just farm and stay alive unless you REALLY believe you can kill the mid enemy. once at level 6 you should have Q at level 3, 1 in ult, 1 in W and E. if your pushing on there turret g back to base and get hextech revolver if you haven't already. let them now start to poke at them with q depending on what items you have you should do a chunk of damage. if there below half and you have ghost its smart to turret dive if your doing enough damage( Don't just do it because they are at half HP). To turret dive ran in start with Q then w so you can damage, slow, and avoid turret aggro. By the time you get up ignite them q again and ult. if your worried they might live ignite them for a sure kill then ghost out of there either through the brush or just back up to lane whichever your closest too. by this point they should be low hp and you can just heal up with q( thanks to your spell vamp). if you have a lot of hp then go and help gank any lane IF they are pushed against your turret.

Ganking comes down to how confident you are that you can help your teammates at the other lanes.
If there are pushed against your turret then hide in bush and MAKE SURE YOUR TEAM KNOWS YOUR THERE BY EITHER TYPING OR EVEN BETTER PING IN CASE THEY DON'T SEE THE TEXT. If they are the middle area then go around and start with Q then use W right away to slow try to get at least one so your teammates can catch up and use ignite and keep spamming Q and E Use Ult ONLY if there getting away OR If there somehow beating you guys so you can secure a kill or at least scare them away so that lane can push out.

This is the most important that separates a good Vlad to a bad Vlad. in team fight when it fully breaks out quickly dive in pool to avoid most of the AOES. Once out bust your ult then E and Q. Stay in semi close range so you can use your E and have good distance for your Q.

Ult situations: 1. Bust your ult when at least 3 people are in range then go into pool with your W and slow them while your ult gets closer to popping them. Then spam Q and E with ignite for maximum damage. depending on what level you are you will depend on if you can slow them again.

2. you can be a great bait for your team as they wait in the bush. just go in and use your ult and as they chase you, you have to decide depending on the situation if you want to use pool to avoid some damage before you get to your team or to save it when your team jumps them and you can slow them to assure a couple kills if not all. by the time they get to you if you are strong enough you should have done plenty of damage to them making it a lot easier for your team to kill.