Any tips for a vlad main?

VladCuzBad·Feb 27, 2017·2 votes·6,145 views

I want to become a better Vladimir player. I feel like I'm mechanically good (for bronze) But I want to be more. Any tips on combos or any tricks you can do?

33 Comments

A Basic IslandFeb 28, 20173 votes

dont get attached

vlad is like the red headed step child #4

GigglesOMar 3, 20173 votes

Play someone riot favors more than vlad.

WoonStruckFeb 28, 20172 votes

Masteries are pretty up in the air atm, but I'd put money on stormraider's surge still being the most consistently good choice.

Runes --- R: 9 magic pen B: 6 cdr/lvl, 3 flat AP Y: HP/lvl Q: 3 flat AP.

summoner 4 summoner 6 or summoner 3 . You're usually going to want Ghost. Rotate the two CDs if you can help it; try not to use both at the same time so you have at least one up every fight.

Start item 1001 item 2003

item 3001 or item 3152 first full item; personally,I hate protobelt. If you really need armor, just get the seekers and go into one of the other items before item 3157 . Grab item 3158 before you head into your 2nd item; you can grab it whenever you can afford it.

item 3151 or item 3116 , depending on what you need in that game.

ALWAYS skip item 3065 with the exception of mid vs a VERY hard AP match-up that you wouldn't normally be able to scale against. Even if you're vs a 4 AP team, having pretty much any AP item in place of it means you'll destroy them with flanks. Better to have damage. Going full AP offers very similar healing/Health, but much, much greater damage.

#Spirit Visage is a noob trap now. It kills his damage scaling without significantly improving his healing or defenses when compared to an AP build.

All you're doing when you build Spirit Visage is setting back your damage early-mid game even more.

item 3089 item 3135 between 4th and 6th item, depending on circumstances. Sometimes I even grab void as a 2nd or 3rd, depending on what's going on with the enemy.

Full build should look something like item 3001 item 3157 item 3158 item 3135 item 3089 item 3116

Gameplan is to get Q2, get onto the backline (usually with flanking), and R->E->Q a squishy to 100-0, and follow up on that without dying.

If you want to get good at Vlad, you have to learn how to avoid things without using pool. Positioning is arguably more important for Vlad than it is for ADCs because he has significant downtime he has to work around.

VladCuzBadMar 1, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Masteries are pretty up in the air atm, but I'd put money on stormraider's surge still being the most consistently good choice.

Runes --- R: 9 magic pen B: 6 cdr/lvl, 3 flat AP Y: HP/lvl Q: 3 flat AP.

or . You're usually going to want Ghost. Rotate the two CDs if you can help it; try not to use both at the same time so you have at least one up every fight.

Start

or first full item; personally,I hate protobelt. If you really need armor, just get the seekers and go into one of the other items before . Grab before you head into your 2nd item; you can grab it whenever you can afford it.

or , depending on what you need in that game.

ALWAYS skip with the exception of mid vs a VERY hard AP match-up that you wouldn't normally be able to scale against. Even if you're vs a 4 AP team, having pretty much any AP item in place of it means you'll destroy them with flanks. Better to have damage. Going full AP offers very similar healing/Health, but much, much greater damage.

#Spirit Visage is a noob trap now. It kills his damage scaling without significantly improving his healing or defenses when compared to an AP build.

All you're doing when you build Spirit Visage is setting back your damage early-mid game even more.

between 4th and 6th item, depending on circumstances. Sometimes I even grab void as a 2nd or 3rd, depending on what's going on with the enemy.

Full build should look something like

Gameplan is to get Q2, get onto the backline (usually with flanking), and R->E->Q a squishy to 100-0, and follow up on that without dying.

If you want to get good at Vlad, you have to learn how to avoid things without using pool. Positioning is arguably more important for Vlad than it is for ADCs because he has significant downtime he has to work around.

I personally love proto due to being able to protobelt and proc rylais to catch up for a kill. It also is useful in lane for catching people off guard and getting that empowered q. I never use pool to dodge skillshots, but that isn't being said that i don't get hit by skillshots. That is usually my downfall in losing matchups, ill get fked with skill shots. I lose hard in ziggs matchups due to spam q.

bbQsauçeMar 3, 20173 votes

[deleted]

WoonStruckMar 3, 20171 votes

Full AP glass cannon has barely less HP, more MR, far more damage, and slightly more healing.

Its numerically superior after they switched his AP->HP ratio back, buffed Q's heal scaling, and nerfed E's HP/buffed AP ratios

Chaos Milk TeaFeb 27, 20171 votes

Are you aware of the thing where you can cast his E while in the pool? Try it in the practice tool, it's pretty easy and it increases your damage and reliability greatly in team fights.

How do you usually build him? He doesn't need an item like item 3165 so his builds are very flexible and he has access to a lot of weird AP and tank items that most mages wouldn't.

VladCuzBadFeb 28, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Are you aware of the thing where you can cast his E while in the pool? Try it in the practice tool, it's pretty easy and it increases your damage and reliability greatly in team fights.

How do you usually build him? He doesn't need an item like so his builds are very flexible and he has access to a lot of weird AP and tank items that most mages wouldn't.

I aint a noob lol. I want tips like things most people don't know. And who builds mana on vlad....

Chaos Milk TeaFeb 28, 20172 votes

That wasn't the point of bringing up Morelo. I mean that since he doesn't need a "sustain item" he can start with pretty much whatever you want for the matchup. There's the obvious go to start of item 3152 , but item 3157 item 3001 item 3116 and item 3065 all work too depending on your opponent. Zhonyas is a great assassin counter, while rylais can leave Darius frustrated that he can never seem to quite get you in grab range while you poke him down. Vlad also able to dip into regular tank items like item 3143 and item 3742 to counterbuild AD heavy teams. Interestingly, vlad doesn't really auto much late game so the dead man's speed boost can be expended sparingly.

Some players will run movement speed quints on vlad rather than AP, as he is extremely positioning dependent. I'd assume you're running summoner 6 ghost on him most of the time. For the same reason, he performs better with Storm Raider's surge than the Thunderlord's Decree mastery. Vlad has to take his enemies for a dance, so sticking power is essential.

Consider team composition when picking vlad. He's 65% damage over time, 30% defense, and 5% CC. If your team has a Graves jungle and Zyra support, don't be surprised when you hit mid game and there's no real tank or anyone to properly peel for the adc. Rylai's helps, but it's much more useful for helping vlad chase people down than defending his allies.

WoonStruckFeb 28, 20171 votes

Vlad also able to dip into regular tank items like and to counterbuild AD heavy teams.

No. Tank items don't work on Vlad anymore. Not even item 3065 .

Literally the only reason you're building a tank item on Vlad atm is if its item 3065 and ONLY as an early game choice vs a lane you would never have been able to survive until you start to scale with Abyssal.

Also, Vlad's closer to 33% burst, 33% sustained damage, 24% positioning, and 10% healing/defense right now.

If you think of the healing/tankiness you get as a bonus for going damage, you'll be much better off than incorrectly assuming you're tanky/heal enough to pull specific stuff off without a ton of damage behind it.

Chaos Milk TeaFeb 28, 20171 votes

I'm not going to pretend to be some profession vlad player, but even the pros put a spirit visage on Vladimir. They don't do it every game, but it's not a panic first build. It gives gives him a big bump in sustain, and unless you are fighting mundo, the longer the fight the better for vlad. There are certain champions who absolutely melt vlad and ignore is damage in the late game like yasuo. It's not wrong to cap off your build with an item to resist their primary damage type or to duel their most oppressive carry considering Vladimir WILL get hit during a proper team fight.

WoonStruckFeb 28, 20171 votes

Pros do because they want to go mid and be a brick wall. You aren't going to carry out of bronze/silver/gold/plat that way. There's a reason pros don't pick him anymore. You can't build Visage on him, be tanky, and still dish out damage anymore.

Also, 10% damage and 60 AP often helps more than +20% healing and 500 HP.

Why? Because it means you can actually do something when you dive. The game is too fast paced atm for the methods that you're thinking of to work. Sustain is not strong right now. WHY WOULD YOU PLAY TO IT INSTEAD OF DAMAGE, WHICH IS WAY TOO HIGH RIGHT NOW?

You'll also notice that most pros have a 40% winrate with him, meanwhile Vlad one tricks are pretty much all going full AP, MAYBE a protobelt. They usually skip Visage entirely unless they're mid vs an obnoxious pick.

Chaos Milk TeaFeb 28, 20171 votes

Idk where you get your statistics, but I see him sitting at a happy 53%. http://www.probuilds.net/champions/details/Vladimir

WoonStruckMar 1, 20171 votes

Pick %: 0.6% ....97 total games

Great statistics, m8.

Chaos Milk TeaMar 1, 20171 votes

How many pros do you think there are?

WoonStruckMar 1, 20171 votes

Why do you think lolpro is a valid statistic to use?

Sample size is far too small. If you look, half the games are Vlad getting carried, very few of the losses have him ahead.

He's doing alright at best; there's really not enough data to conclude anything.

http://www.probuilds.net/champions/details/aatrox

Wow Aatrox so stronk

http://www.probuilds.net/champions/details/urgot

Urgot perfectly balanced

http://www.probuilds.net/champions/details/Kled

Gut Kled pls

http://www.probuilds.net/champions/details/Olaf

So broken

http://www.probuilds.net/champions/details/Zac

Zac weakest champ in game pls buff

Chaos Milk TeaMar 1, 20171 votes

If you're going to bring up pro statistics, don't be upset if they aren't what you said. There is a low sample. The statistic doesn't match up. It's not a big deal.

WoonStruckMar 1, 20171 votes

You can't use pro statistics when they're in solo queue lol. If you're going to use 'pro' statistics, use tourney/scrim statistics.

You have to use solo queue statistics.

Taking the statistics of a specific few players playing among players equal or even better than them is bound to be misleading.

Diamond tends to be 48% or 46% depending on the day, with a single day where he peaked at 50.9%.

Master+ He had 14%, 33.3%, 36%, 43%, and 40% the days following 7.4

You still want to say he's performing well?

WoonStruckFeb 28, 20171 votes

E in pool is practically a noob trap.

Its only useful when chasing through CC pointed at you or really close fights where you would have died if you didn't W during your E.

Its just wasting pool and a lot of HP in pretty much any other scenario. You want W off CD for as long as you can so you can safely get to the next CR proc or your ult pop.

SirLapseFeb 28, 20171 votes

{quoted}

E in pool is practically a noob trap.

Its only useful when chasing through CC pointed at you or really close fights where you would have died if you didn't W during your E.

Its just wasting pool and a lot of HP in pretty much any other scenario. You want W off CD for as long as you can so you can safely get to the next CR proc or your ult pop.

W allows you to ignore unit collision, and experienced opponents will attempt to focus you down regardless of if you're charging E up. It's a very good mechanic to learn even if its usage is not 100% linear.

WoonStruckFeb 28, 20171 votes

experienced opponents will attempt to focus you down regardless of if you're charging E up

Exactly why its a noob trap. You need to save it for being focused/CC'd specifically, which only happens to coincide with using E sometimes.

In fact, its so intuitive its hardly worth mentioning. You just cast W if you need to. Whether or not you're using E is pretty much never why you're using W.

SirLapseFeb 28, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Exactly why its a noob trap. You need to save it for being focused/CC'd specifically, which only happens to coincide with using E sometimes.

In fact, its so intuitive its hardly worth mentioning. You just cast W if you need to. Whether or not you're using E is pretty much never why you're using W.

I can't tell you how many times people have attempted to tower dive me despite my small amount of games played on Vlad. This guy is consistently around Silver so he should be utilizing this strategy. At that MMR, you should be expecting ridiculous tower dives that go wrong for the opponent.

It's only a noobtrap if you're not using the combo for an express purpose, and at that point that's the player's problem, not ours.

SirLapseFeb 28, 20171 votes

To the OP, I recommend you main Exhaust instead of Ghost. The only time you'll want Ghost is against immobile mages where you have to dodge skillshots or want to roam down to bot lane and think you'll make it in time. Exhaust is much better vs. assassins which are meta in mid lane.

WoonStruckFeb 28, 20171 votes

Your goal isn't to win lane. That's too inconsistent as Vlad because it depends entirely on how bad the opposing player is, not how good you are.

Vlad's goal is simply to not lose lane, scale up, and teamfight.

Ghost is much better in that case because it allows you to flank very effectively.

SirLapseFeb 28, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Your goal isn't to win lane. That's too inconsistent as Vlad because it depends entirely on how bad the opposing player is, not how good you are.

Vlad's goal is simply to not lose lane, scale up, and teamfight.

Ghost is much better in that case because it allows you to flank very effectively.

Vs. Assassins, the Exhaust is much better than Ghost. A Zed ults you and what will Ghost do then? lol

WoonStruckFeb 28, 20171 votes

Use your R+W and Zhonya's lol.

Zed can never kill you through your W before you get Zhonya's unless you severely misplay.

SirLapseMar 1, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Use your R+W and Zhonya's lol.

Zed can never kill you through your W before you get Zhonya's unless you severely misplay.

Except any decent Zed choosing you as a target will attempt to cause you to pop W first. I've had a Zac gank me and force my W out. Zed got 6 off of that and proceeded to dive me. I trust the Exhaust much better than Ghost. Personal preference and it hasn't really gone bad for me. This is also a beginner Vlad, why provoke him to make plays based around chasing opponents if he might still need to understand how much damage he actually does around certain stages of the game?

WoonStruckMar 1, 20171 votes

I've had a Zac gank me and force my W out. Zed got 6 off of that and proceeded to dive me.

You should never need to use pool against a Zac outside of teamfights. You can see exactly where he's going to land a long time before he gets there, and you start boots. There's no CC in that lane outside of shadows, which would also means he can't follow up with decent damage with his ult if his slow causes Zac's blind E to hit you, stopping him from effectively diving you.

Not only that, but if your W is down vs an assassin, you should be playing back, getting CR off of wolves/wraiths, or probably anything other than what you did.

why provoke him to make plays based around chasing opponents

Its not chasing opponents. Its allowing you to function in teamfights and learn to flank, which is a core aspect of succeeding on Vlad.

Want to know another core aspect of succeeding on Vlad? Not using Exhaust as a crutch while you're learning him. Its only setting yourself back further down the road.

SirLapseMar 1, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Want to know another core aspect of succeeding on Vlad? Not using Exhaust as a crutch while you're learning him. Its only setting yourself back further down the road.

I'd rather rely on a crutch when I'm starting out so I don't get smashed. There's vertical progression when you work out what your champion can do and starting safe instead of going raw is an approach I prefer. If that's not what you prefer than it's just a difference of how to ideally understand a champion. That's perfectly fine but neither you nor I will change each other's opinions.

Mizuki ZahraFeb 28, 20171 votes

I usually look at all the different tier players builds and see where they put their masteries in and runes and stuff if they have a lv7 vlad it helped my with his build while the other is I guess timing on all abilities can score you a penta and save your life