Regarding the Vlad nerfs on today's (7/16) PBE update.
After giving it a bit of thought, here's my take on the direction of the nerfs.
They're wrong. They're targeted at the wrong parts of his kit and arent going to resolve the issue that's causing people to almost constantly ban him.
An extra two seconds of his pool for most of the game (since that's what you max last) are not going to make him any less of a massive pain to lane against, and the MS nerf is just going to make playing Vlad slightly more frustrating for those lucky few that get to play him right now.
What's actually the thing making Vlad a massive pain to lane against? His Crimson Rush.
Historically, Vladimir has been a Champion who only really gets ahead against certain Champions he completely counters coughs
coughs or against poor players. His early game had nothing going for it beyond survivability, it's atrocious.
Not anymore though. With half-decent positioning and good Rush management, you can either deny an opponent creeps if they respect your Rush power, or get a kill as early as level 2-3 on a Champion who's power shouldnt really kick in until level 7-9. It's silly.
I personally love the Crimson Rush mechanic, and it's definitely several steps in the right direction compared to the old playstyle of "spam E-Q when in range until someone is dead", but it's overtuned for the early game. I feel that the values are fine for the mid-late game, but dealing almost 1/3rd of your lane opponents health at level 1 is just silly. That's what needs nerfing; Crimson Rush early levels.
Tl;Dr - Pool and MS nerfs are just going to make life unfun for Vlad players and won't solve any issues. Nerf Crimson Rush early damage and leave mid-late game values intact.
