Meddler, would the Vlad buffs that were hinted at be in 7.2 like Nidalee's?

WoonStruck·Jan 5, 2017·4 votes·10,488 views

Would the scope of the buffs be somewhat similar as well?

They're both in an equally poor state; you could even argue that Vlad is a bit worse off atm.

23 Comments

RiotMeddlerJan 5, 20178 votes

Vlad's probably a 7.3 candidate rather than 7.2. Vlad's solo queue performance is poor, but around the same point it's been in the past when he's still been pick/ban in organized play. We definitely want to improve his solo queue state, but want to get a look at initial competitive play in the next couple of weeks to help guide changes (e.g. how much should we focus on mechanics changes that reduce the discrepancy between the two contexts versus just adding power?), hence 7.3 rather than 7.2.

Sahn UzalJan 5, 20177 votes

What about getting rid of his % Damage amp for teammates, but give him more selfish power?

Twitch ChatJan 5, 20171 votes

I think he's healthier for the game overall in a teamfight situation than in a 1v1 so I don't know why you'd do that.

I think holding off an extra patch to make sure hes not breaking competitive is ok but he only had around a 30% pick ban at worlds and he's so much worse after the removal of strength of the ages so it's unlikely you'll see many vlad picks.

WoonStruckJan 5, 20173 votes

I think he's healthier for the game overall in a teamfight situation than in a 1v1 so I don't know why you'd do that.

Because even in a teamfight Vlad wants to hit the entire team for the heal/nuke while he tries to get everyone as low as possible without dying before the heal pop.

Even going so far as to remove the damage amp entirely, his teamfighting would not change much, if at all. Its extraneous power, for the most part. He doesn't need it to function in a teamfight successfully.

Twitch ChatJan 5, 20171 votes

I really don't like the idea of turning his ult into just a standard nuke and heal from the big teamfight ult it is right now. I also don't like what you're going to have to do in order to make vlad pickable in a world where he doesn't have it. Buffing up his basic skills to compensate for an overall loss of 10% of his burst damage would be a massive power increase for lane.

WoonStruckJan 5, 20175 votes

That's why most, including myself, suggest making the damage amp affect Vlad alone.

LùmenJan 6, 20174 votes

Yeah, Vladimir should definitely be a selfish champion IMO.

WoonStruckJan 5, 20172 votes

Are you aware of the fact that his competitive use mostly rides on his Ult's damage amp for the team?

Do you believe it would be healthier if it were a Vlad-only boost, reserving a team-wide amp 'niche' of some kind for some sort of aggressive 'curse' support?

Any power that's added, I would personally avoid his HP ratios and base damage entirely.

Nobody wants tank Vlad to be a thing again. Is that something the team agrees on, or do you want to attempt to make tank Vlad healthy enough to be viable in some way?

Also, Nid was pick/ban in competitive when she was viable as well...she's no different from Vlad at high MMR/competitive.

Is there a reason Rioters don't think she's just as volatile between ladder and competitive?

dunder killJan 5, 20173 votes

Why dont you just change the damage amp on his ult? That that is a huge reason why he was picked in competitive so much

Twitch ChatJan 5, 20172 votes

Competitive mid lane is a really big farmfest most games so a super strong late game mage like vlad is going to shine more there than in the solo queue deathmatch arena. Even if you take off the damage amp and put his power somewhere else its still going to be a difficult time making him viable in both areas as long as his power curve remains the same.

XinCrinJan 5, 20172 votes

I think one of the big problems with Vlad right now was that he was pretty bad before the item 3116 nerfs but the nerfs made him that much worse.

Sun Wu RyuumokuJan 5, 20171 votes

Aatrox for 7.2 or 7.3 ?

Neeko BοtJan 6, 20171 votes

He does not need any changes. He is pretty good, just people itemize him wrong, spirit visage and rylai are total crap on him atm.

WoonStruckJan 6, 20171 votes

Rylai's isn't crap on him; protobelt is.

SV I agree on. Abyssal is superior.

Neeko BοtJan 8, 20171 votes

Actually protobelt gives you CDR and cool dash, when rylai slow is bad atm. Liandry is pretty good replacement for rylai, sorcerer shoes with liandry magic pen is so strong on vlad.

WoonStruckJan 8, 20172 votes

Who needs Protobelt for CDR when you're already at 40%?

The dash is only decent for damage, really. You can't claim protobelt is good and Rylai's is bad when Rylai's still has better stats. It also lets you kite champs you normally would not be able to; this happens a lot in this meta, regardless of Rylai's state.

Liandry's is not a good replacement because it still doesn't let you kite.

#This is why so many people are such trashcans on Vlad. They just rely on stat-checking everything to death, which often doesn't work.

No matter what you say, the slow is invaluable on Vlad. The kiting and chasing abilities that the item offers will always be necessary in any game that's not a complete shut-out. It doesn't matter how bad the item gets until it doesn't accomplish that job anymore.

The CD on flash/ghost is stronger considering you need one of the summoners up in order to do any teamfights if you're facing anyone that actually knows how to play the game.

You can't take sorc shoes in most cases; you don't always have the luxury of waiting 3 minutes between fights.