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can we talk about Vlad for a second?

Sir Sneaky Beaky·11/15/2019, 3:13:33 AM·14 votes·9,101 views

- Diamond + ranked solo stats pulled from U.GG these stats are lower then FLEX and i believe my explanation on why i think his P/B backs this up -

top 31.0% - ban rate 7.3% - pick rate 48.47% win rate

Mid 31.0% ban rate** 5.9% pick rate. 48.87% win rate

Theres a 44.2% chance this dudes banned or picked in diamond +

he has the second highest ban rate in diamond + Top he has the 34th highest win rate in diamond + Top he has the third highest ban rate in diamond + Mid He has the 32nd highest win rate in diamond + Mid

**Why? **

With this context we can see for some reason despite being an extreamly high P/B champion Vladimir is very far from being in a postion for those rates. What makes him such a P/B?

I personally believe its his laning phase. Where other champions can be have more impact map wide from an early point. you know that hes a safe pick. hes in a position where you wont have to worry about ever losing your lane. Worse case senerio you can even allow crashing to occur, maintain farm, and out trade if they go for turret plating.

You're also at a much lower risk for being dove thanks to his general surviability with Pool and a commencing/stop watch.

in turn because of this you end up in a situation where you heavily relay on your team. You are gambling that you trade a stagnant lane on the rest of your team out performing. Where i don't think this play style is a negative to the game. I do believe that it really kills the already struggling top lane meta and damages mid in the sense that because of his large wave control you cant prevent him from maintaining gold. You also cannot roam due to the fact he will counter crash and grab turret plating.

Im by far not a professional game analyst, game designer, or of a high enough ELO/MMR to say exactly what the problem is. however it does feel the champion has a problem that needs to be solved either through some clever redesign or balancing.

Aatrox cringes at the redesign comment

39 Comments

WoonStruck11/15/2019, 4:09:46 AM13 votes

Wait, did you just suggest vlad has wave control? He sucks at pushing until at least level 12.

One mistimed/over/under charged E ruins an entire wave as far as csing under turret.

He cant freeze mid because everyone can break it safely.

Top lane is a gamble because most of the laners eat you alive if they actually punish your CDs.

And either way you're still at the mercy of your team.

macspam11/16/2019, 2:37:01 AM3 votes

Vlad is really scaling reliant. He loses early and mid against most ranged champs and melees with mobility. If you are playing an immobile toplaner against him you lost the rock paper scissors and needing Vlad isn't going to fix that. Have fun playing against ryze, Quinn, or teemo instead.

Sir Sneaky Beaky11/15/2019, 6:35:34 PM3 votes

A lot of interesting discussion.

I see alot of people bringing up hashinshin

I didnt really take his opinions into consideration. Where hes mechanically good. He lacks a lot of awareness and tends to snowball on his own frustrations with the game.

I was mainly looking at the raw data. In ranked flex you see an almost 50% P/B rate despite Vladimir having a negitive win rate.

Personally i feel vlad needs a reboot. His current kit and mechanics are from an era of the game being much simplier.

How to reboot him im not sure.

Though there could be an interesting play on his design to make him a much more interesting champion with a place. Instead of a P/B safety pick.

Hopefully in the direction of a morde postive rework and not an aatrox rework that has seen difficult time finding where riot wants him.

As for the wave clear I have always found sorc shoes protobelt rush has always been more then enough to gurentee an even lane phase.

D357R0Y3R11/16/2019, 4:58:32 PM2 votes

there is nothing to talk about

he's also getting nerfed thanks to preseason changes, like the doran's shield buff on melees

Modl Ryden l11/15/2019, 9:21:25 PM1 votes

No talk about Vlad! Pyke and Senna ~~discussions~~ rantz only!

jk.

But for sure facing him in lane is a total pain the ass. He's one of those champions that stay in lane almost indefinitely after a certain level or after purchasing a certain item. Then once Vlad gets cozy, you're having to play catchup and keep away after buying an Executioner's Calling.

To me, he's one of those champs that fall under the radar despite having a really strong kit. If the other team can't consistently reduce heals on Vlad OR if Vlad's team is loaded with some extra heals then Vlad becomes a champion that becomes very difficult to deal with in later stages of the game.

RacoonHunter11/15/2019, 8:59:40 PM1 votes

I agree. Although he has some flaws, the reason he's p/b the most is because of how much of a monster he becomes mid/late game. His q can heal him up to full almost, is point and click (like honestly most of his spells) and the way he builds, if he builds defensive, he will still do damage. His saftey is also up there.

The W combined with Hourglass means he's about the fizz level of annoyance in terms of survivability on a much lower cd than fizz e (oh and allows him to do damage while healing himself)

Healing reduction needs a rework. I have seen vlads with and without spirit visages tank entire teams (ala mundo) because the q gets to be on like a 1-2 second cd. Sure healing reduction works in the early game, but that's only because I believe it's designed for the early game and not mid/late when most if not all tanks or people with self heals get Spirit visage. I personally think this is because Damage is WAY to friggen high right now which also means it's less effective. especially when a vlad is healing for 500-600 per q even after reduction because of how much AP he has..

Riot wonders why champions are almost perma banned.. yet, refuses to even look at the main reasons why claiming skill of the champion is 100% the reason why...

5050BS11/16/2019, 5:39:12 AM1 votes

He is like Yasuo and Akali, Lots of people play him and play him BADLY while those that learn him can stomp without any real counter play.

So his win rates are bad and his p/b are like that.

FSRER11/15/2019, 11:19:44 AM1 votes

A wise unstoppable man once said "Just make him to heal reduced hp from minions" A nerf that will make him punishable at early game without making him useless late game (That or remove his ability to heal when he is in Zhonyas)