From A Vladimir Main: Some Suggestions/Feedback on his "Rework"

Why is he being planned for a update?

Many believe that he's "unhealthy" to play against with his point-and-click Q and resource-free sustain. Personally, I disagree and I believe he has quite a bit of counter play, but I'll concede. It's an understandable criticism.

What do Vladimir players like about the champion, and what's working well so far?

I love everything about his playstyle, but if I had to pick two that I liked the most, it would be:

1. That he's a mage that's played as a top laner, and becomes on off-tank in late game due to his Passive and lifesteal. To me this is one, if not his most unique feature. His health-stealing and built in tankiness from his AP -> HP Passive is, I would say, the core of his identity. It's incredibly fun to play, and one of the things I love about him.

2. Having to manage his E stacks. It's a unique mechanic that requires you to pay attention more when playing him and really spices up his gameplay, having to decide the right time to build up stacks before a fight, or stop using to stop hurting yourself further. Just imagine how easy to play and stale he would be if he didn't have it? I think it adds just a hint of needed complexity and micromanaging, and it improves his gameplay.

What ISN'T working, and what do people dislike about playing against Vladimir?

By far people say his Q is easily is most unfair ability (which I personally disagree with, but that's the common opinion). It's a point-and-click ability, so it's completely undodgeable, and it heals him back at no cost.

Many Rioters have stated that good gameplay in LoL comes from Counterplay, having a legitimate way to avoid or beat an ability that requires some skill or strategy, and Choices. With Choices, they mean using a strong ability should require hard thought. There needs to be a right and a wrong time to use it, to make it an exciting moment in gameplay. For example, the recent nerf to Tahm Kench's ally-targeted Devour (W) made it a hard choice to decide when is the right time to use it, and it was a good change for his gameplay and those who play against him.

Back to Vladimir, his Q Transfusion, offers no such decision. As a main of him, I admit you basically just use this ability whenever you feel like it because there honestly isn't a bad time to use it. On the other hand, the healing on his Q is core to his health-stealing identity, so him using it and having that ability are necessary for him to remain the champion he is.

How do we fix this to make it a harder decision when to use it and how do we make it more fair to play against?

This is a hard one, and probably one that has stumped Riot for a long time. It's his Q, one of his most basic abilities. Making such a short cooldown, core-to-his-character type of ability is tough.

There is a very common suggestion to make this ability more balanced:

Make it a skill shot, that may or may not be blocked by minions. This is a very good suggestion, and a simple one too. Players wouldn't be able to spam the ability whenever, and it offers legitimate counterplay.

• If it wasn't blocked by minions, it would be harder to dodge, but still would offer ways to play around it, by baiting out the ability or keeping track of it's cooldown. Zed's Q and Olaf's Q are good examples . Some players will argue that both of those are overpowered at harassing, but seeing as how Riot has never mentioned changing them I will classify them as balanced abilities.
• It it was blocked by minions then it would even easier to avoid, but many other abilities are like this and those champions function perfectly fine. Both Xerath and Ahri's E, as examples both are very strong moves that a defining moment when they land, one being a stun and the other a charm/stun, that are not able to be used freely, but must be planned and aimed carefully.

I feel this change would add significant counterplay to Vladimir, while also preserving his identity to long-time players of him.

Thoughts? Other suggestions? I'm excited to hear what Meddler, Statikk, or any other Rioter thinks about these suggestions, if you guys are reading this.