Regarding Vlad and the recent PBE changes.

I'll attempt to tackle this in as objective a way as I possibly can, but if some people can't see past that that's fine. Bear in mind I havent played League in a few weeks since I'm abroad and the country isnt properly supported by the EUW servers.

I'm going to preface this by saying that Vlad is at his core, a statstick. A walking statstick with no mobility to speak of and hardly any cc (soft or hard). So why does Vlad work? Four reasons. He's got respectable damage at range; which makes him a decent threat in most situations. He's got pretty good sustain (nowhere near the best in the game and immediately outclassed by what a grants an AAing Champion, but his is innate), hyper efficiency with raw stats thanks to Crimson Pact, and most significantly; no mana, which allows him to function far longer than most other Champions can afford to, especially those who could outsustain him.

This whole thread was prompted by the most recent PBE update, where they put Vlad's passive the way it used to be (1.4 HP per 1 point of AP from 1 HP per 1 AP, and 1 AP for 40 HP from 1 AP for 25 HP). In a nutshell, it's a buff for building damage and a nerf for building tankier, not a huge buff/nerf either way, it just shifts the balance.

Couple this with the earlier change to Vlad this PBE cycle which nerfs his Q base at all ranks (don't remember the exact numbers, but they're pretty hefty nerfs at rank 4/5), but buffed his AP ratio up to 55% from 45%. It's pretty clear that Riot wants Tank Vlad to absolutely not be a thing, which is fair of them.

Except that's kind of how Vlad is meant to work, being tanky as shit while dealing respectable damage and healing up, which augments his tankiness by giving him chunks of his health bar back every few seconds.

Especially with the %health missing healing on Crimson Rush.

Speaking of Rush, his sustain is now almost entirely dependent on it; which is (from my POV) a good thing. Old Vlad could just sustain the same off everything, meaning you couldnt deny him healing off you as he'd just slurp up health from minions or something else, and he'd do this every couple of seconds with a CDR centric build. Now, it's not as effective to heal off minions, meaning you moving out of his range to deny him health is actually an effective tactic, as well as Rush being up more than three times less often than old Transfusion.

At it's core, every 1v1 with Vlad is "Can your DPS kill him before his CD's allow him another Rush?" It's stat check-y, but not as bad as old Vlad was. Since Rush scales with having low health, there's still a strong element of risk about using it to its full potential.

I've had people complain Vlad is OP because you can heal <2k health with one spell. Yes, you can, under perfect conditions. Perfect conditions that include: having health in double digits, being full build with mostly AP, and having either Baron or Elder Dragon buff (if not both). If Vlad is low enough to heal <2k health with Crimson Rush, you should be able to kill him before he does that.

Want to know what Vlad hates?

1. Grevious Wounds (which I still think is an awful concept and Riot should just balance healing mechanics as they are without resorting to the bullshit that is GW, but that's another discussion). Use that shit instead of complaining. It's fairly accessible for most Champions.
2. He also hates being ganged up on. Yeah, everyone does, but there's something people have to come to terms with; try to avoid 1v1'ing Vladimir. This is a Champion who's core theme is having pretty damn good sustain, and it doesnt run out. So unless you're certain that your DPS outmatches Vlad's healing, don't 1v1 him.
3. Use the unit collision on Tides of Blood against him. Tanks in the front, squishies in the back, the way you do it every teamfight.
4. If you can effectively deny him getting the full heal off Crimson Rush, you'll be that much closer to beating him. Whether by going untargetable when his Rush comes up, or by using some mobility to get out of range for it, or whatever else.
5. ADC's. Especially Caitlyn. You match/outrange most ADC's range of 550 with your Q and E, but after a certain point (notably the aforementioned ), they can match your sustain, if not surpass it. Of course, I mean lategame ADC's, so don't get any ideas of 1v1'ing Vlad with your two first items. Caitlyn especially because her range allows her to actually kite Vlad as if he were a melee Champion, provided she's good at kiting.

Going back to Riot trying to shave power off tankier Vlad builds, I'm fine with that as long as they don't kill it. Tankko was a problem because his kit abused it when it was not meant to. Tank Fizz was/is a problem because his W gave him damage where he didnt build for it, and his E is one of the most hilariously overloaded things in this game. Tank Vlad is...kinda how he's designed to be. I said it's fair of Riot to try move away from Tank Vlad, which I stand by, just don't kill it.

May your games be creamy, and your rivers run red, Tides of Blood.