Putting Dracula to Shame: A Comprehensive Guide to Vladimir
Though the Crimson Reaper has fallen out of favor, he is still a force to be reckoned within the right hands.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Pros & Cons
III. Abilities Breakdown
IV. Runes and Masteries
V. Summoner Spells
VI. Item Build & the Early-Mid-Late Game
VII. Lane Matchups (A Work in Progress)
I. Introduction
Hello and welcome to my guide on Vladimir, the Crimson Reaper. I have played this champion since Season 1 with hundreds of games to show for it. Though he has seen better times, Vlad is in my honest opinion, one of the most underrated late game Ability Power carries in the game. With his area of effect team fight damage, his late game durability due to his passive, Crimson Pact, and the ability to escape and even avoid enemy ultimate abilities with Sanguine Pool, Vlad becomes extremely difficult to deal with in the late game. Though, he is not without weaknesses, it is possible to circumvent those weaknesses with the knowledge that I will provide in this guide.
II. Pros & Cons
Pros
-strong late game
-ultimate can win games
-easy to learn
-can be built with several tank items and still deal respectable damage
Cons
-weak early game
-long cooldown ultimate
-hard to master
-requires both items and levels to be effective
-no crowd control besides a slow
III. Abilities Breakdown
Passive: Crimson Pact
Vladimir gains ability power equal to 2.5% of his bonus health and bonus health equal to 140% of his ability power. These bonuses do not stack with themselves.
An extremely strong passive that allows Vlad to focus on increasing his ability power, and in doing so, increase his maximum health. Though the passive states that you gain ability power by building health, the actual amount of ability power gained makes it a poor choice to buy items like Warmogs (25 AP only) in order to gain more damage. That is why I shy away from building health items unless I need to be more survivable, and even then, they need to provide something else as well. To get a more in depth explanation as to why this is, look to the items section below.
Q: Transfusion | Cooldown 10/8.5/7/5.5/4s | Range: 600
Active: Vladimir drains the lifeforce of his target, dealing magic damage and healing himself.
Magic damage: 90 / 125 / 160 / 195 / 230 (+ 60% AP)
Health regained: 15 / 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 (+ 25% AP)
Whenever people think about Vlad, they think of this ability. It used to be that once Vlad hit level 9, he was impossible to push out of lane due the 3 second cooldown of Transfusion. Add in the cheap price of Hextech Revolver, that used to give 20% spell vamp, and there was no way to deal with him in lane. Despite the nerfs to Transfusion and Revolver, it is an extremely useful sustain and harassment tool in the laning phase. There is no substitute for maxing this first and it is because of how well it scales with levels.
W: Sanguine Pool | Cooldown: 26/23/20/17/14s | Radius: 150
Active: Vladimir sinks into a pool of blood, gaining 37.5% bonus movement speed that decays exponentially for 1 second and becoming untargetable for 2 seconds. Enemies who stand upon the pool are slowed by 40%, and are dealt magic damage every half second while Vladimir heals himself for 15% of the damage done.
Magic damage per half-second: 20 / 33.75 / 47.5 / 61.25 / 75 (+3.75% of bonus health)
Maximum magic damage: 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+15% of bonus health)
The infamous Sanguine Pool, more often referred to as pool or troll pool, is one of the most powerful defensive abilities in the game. The reason for this is because, if timed correctly, it can completely negate enemy ultimate abilities such as Karthus' Requiem or Caitlyn's Ace in the Hole. Another use of the ability, though not recommended in a lot of situations, is to use it for a damage and heal in a fight. I can't remember how many times I have won duels by using pool at the last second on both the enemy champion and minions to both damage them and heal me.
Despite the strength's of this ability, it is not without downsides. The obvious two are the very high cooldown at early levels and the fact that it takes out a huge chunk of Vlad's health when used. This makes it a skill that is very punishing when used incorrectly because it will hurt more than help the player. Something to note is that it takes 20% of Vlad's current health, so it is often better to save the ability when at lower health so it takes a lower percentage of total health away. At the same time, this can get the player in trouble because the enemy team might save their burst for when Vlad gets low or even worse, throw an ignite onto him right before he pools, which ticks even when Vlad is in pool.
This brings me to the next weakness of the ability and that, unlike Zhonya's Hourglass, it does not make Vald impervious to all damage and status effects. A good rule of thumb is that all damage over time abilities (DoTs), like ignite, will continue doing damage to Vlad while in pool. Also, abilities with a tether (ie. LeBlanc's Ethereal Chains and Nocturne's Unspeakable Horror) persist so long as they connect with Vlad before he pools. This makes playing Vlad very tricky because often these abilities will negate Vlad's ability to escape from bad situations. There are other abilities such as Veigar's Event Horizon (stun) and any terrain abilities that Vlad can not pool under. There are many more abilities that pool does not work against. If I were to list them all along with their effects, this guide would double in size. The best way to learn them all is to play the champion and learn through experience, as even I, someone who has played hundreds of games on the champion, do not know the exact interaction of every ability.
E: Tides of Blood | Cooldown: 4.5s | Range: 610
Active: Vladimir unleashes a torrent of blood, damaging all enemies within range. Each cast of Tides of Blood gives him an Tides of Blood Empowered stack that lasts 10 seconds and stacks up to 4 times. Each Empowered stack increases both the base damage and cost of his next Tides of Blood by 25% per stack, and increases Vladimir's healing, spell vamp, and regeneration by a percentage.
Magic damage: 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+ 45% AP)
Healing and regeneration increase per stack: 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8%
Maximum damage: 120 / 170 / 220 / 270 / 320 (+ 45% AP)
Maximum cost: 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 health
At first glance, this ability does not look very strong: only 160 damage at max level with a low AP ratio. To add onto that you have to increasingly sacrifice health in order to use it. The true strength of this ability is when you reach 4 stacks of Tides of Blood. Though the AP ratio does not increase, the base damage for this ability is extremely high for an AOE low cooldown ability. To make it even better, Vlad gains increased healing and regen, making Hextech Revolver an amazing item to have on Vlad. Ideally you will have 4 stacks of Tides of Blood before a team fight which will allow maximum healing and damage. Do this by using the ability right before the buff runs out and heal off minions and monsters to keep your health topped off.
Another strength of this ability is that it allows, and one could argue, even requires Vlad to build more durable than other AP carries. The reason for this is because it does damage in an AOE around Vlad so is best used in the middle of a team fight. The other reason reason for this is because of it's high base damage and low cooldown. The more rotations of the ability you can get off the better.
R: Hemoplague | Cooldown: 150/135/120s | Range: 625
Active: Vladimir infects all enemies in the target 175-radius area with a virulent plague which increases the damage they take from all sources by 12% for 5 seconds. After these 5 seconds, infected enemies take magic damage.
Magic damage: 150 / 250 / 350 (+ 70% AP)
Amplified magic damage: 168 / 280 / 392 (+ 78.4% AP)
A relatively simple yet extremely powerful tool: Hemoplague is an AOE damage amplification ability that also has a delayed damage proc. This even increases true damage sources, which makes ignite (410 > 459 at lvl 18) an extremely powerful summoner spell on Vlad. Something to note about the ability is that it even increases the damage it does itself, which is what the amplified magic damage values are all about. There are a few ways to use this ultimate:
1. Use it at the start of a team fight before all of your allies use their cooldowns, in order to maximize damage (if it is possible to do this and hit at least 3 people, do it)
2. Save it for when the enemy carries go aggressive. Similar to an Orianna ultimate, it makes the enemy carries very cautious in their positioning, and if they are not cautious, do not hesitate to flash initiate with it
3. Hit all 5 people on the enemy team and win the game
Every situation is different and there is no way for me to outline every possible scenario in this guide, so assess every situation individually and make your decision based on the assessment. It is safe to say in almost all scenarios that if you can get an ultimate on two of their carries, do it. Be aware of any Quicksilver Sashes as they can remove both Hemoplague and ignite.
IV. Runes and Masteries
This is the main rune page I use in the top lane for Vlad and here are the reasons for each one:
-Marks: This is an obvious choice for Vladimir all of his damage is magic based except for auto attack harass against melee champions.
-Seals: I like to mix my seals up with enough armor to survive the lane against early physical damage champions but at the same time, have the strength of health per a level seals in the late game. By getting 5 armor seals I will have an extra 20 armor with a cloth start and with 4 health per level seals, I will have just shy of 100 health in the late game. If you do not feel confident enough, you can go full armor seals, but I do not feel it is necessary so long as you start cloth armor.
-Glyphs: There are several things you can put in these slots and still be effective. I personally like the extra AP later in the game to not only give more damage, but also more health. Flat AP glyphs break even with AP per level glyphs at level 7 and fall behind in the late game, where Vlad is strongest. Other common choices against physical damage lanes are flat cooldown and cooldown per level. This is mainly personal preference so experiment and find things you like.
-Quintessences: If I had the choice, I would get 3 movespeed Quints simply because Vlad has low mobility and it helps him kite and harass in lane. The problem with this is that you can lose out in trades against other champions without the extra AP and health from flat AP Quints. This is a set of Quints I'm currently experimenting with because it gives both the movespeed to harass and AP to win trades.
On the off chance you want to take Vlad into the mid lane, this is another runepage I use to deal with the champions you might find there:
-Marks: Same reasoning as above.
-Seals: This is the standard set of seals I use on almost any mid champion. The reason for this is because more often than not, the enemy team has a physical damage jungler (Lee Sin, Kha'zix) with a magic damage mid. The armor helps me survive ganks that I otherwise would not have. The health is there is for the same reason as above. If the enemy team has both a physical damage mid (Jayce, Zed, Talon) and jungle or both a magic damage mid and jungler, go full armor or health respectively.
-Glyphs: These glyphs are mainly used against very bursty/poke orientated champions like Syndra, Orianna, or Xerath. Along with a little extra health from the seals, you should be able to survive. If you are confident in your ability to time pool and dodge abilities, feel free to use full AP or cooldown glyphs, but it is not recommended when first learning the champion.
-Quintessences: Only a slight variation to the top lane Quints, I go full AP to help sustain and trade against other mids. If you would like to go more movespeed Quints in order to help dodge skill shots and harass the opponent, feel free to. This slot is again, mainly based on personal preference and playstyle.
List off the tiers of both the offense and defense tree, and why you picked each individual masteries, one small variation in tier 1 if you want to have slightly better last hitting, because of Vlad's low base damage and range.
Offense
-Sorcery: For each point, you gain 1.25% cooldown reduction, which is extremely useful for a champion like Vlad who depends on his abilities to do damage and survive.
-Expose Weakness: Synergizes well with Vlad's ult by increasing the damage of your allies by 1%. By itself it is not even noticeable but since his own ult increases allied damage, and he is able to apply this mastery to enemies in an AOE, it is that much more effective. Other alternatives to this mastery point are Double-Edged Sword or Butcher for last hitting, but I believe Expose Weakness is more effective on Vlad.
-Mental Force: Great on any AP champion, even better on Vlad because he gains HP from it as well. Along with AP per level glyphs, you gain 44 AP at level 18, which equates to 62 HP rounded up.
-Arcane Mastery: An extra 6 flat AP at level 1. Though it might not seem like much it is helpful in early game harass and trading and helps sustain Vlad with his Q.
-Executioner: This mastery is most often taken on assassin champions because it provides that extra damage on low health targets, but is useful for any champion that uses the offense mastery tree and that is because of the Dangerous Game mastery that it opens up. Not only that, but it also synergizes well with Vlad's ultimate which procs after a duration, meaning that you will have already done enough damage to get them below the 50% HP zone, and as a result, increase the damage of your ultimate even more.
-Archmage: This mastery combined with Deathcap, increases the total AP you have by 36.5%. This is required for every AP carry champion, regardless of whether or not they plan on getting Deathcap. When at 6 items and with Elixir of Brilliance, using the first rune page from this guide, I have 700+ AP. This is both with a defensive item as my 6th item and no Baron buff. It is thanks to these percentage bonuses that I am able to reach these kind of numbers.
-Dangerous Game: Possibly one of the strongest masteries in the game and it only requires one point. Vlad is very good at baiting enemies into bad situations and it is thanks to both Sanguine Pool and Zhonya's Hourglass. Dangerous Game makes this an even better tactic by allowing you to heal up when an enemy champion you have done damage to, dies.
-Devastating Strikes: Fairly self explanatory. This is helpful in the late game if enemies stack magic resist against you. Along with void staff, Devastating Strikes penetrates through 38.6% of enemy magic resistance.
-Arcane Blade: Not the most important of masteries but because Vlad's damage is in rotations of 3-4 seconds, it gives you time to get auto attacks in between rotations. Can replace this with Double-Edged Sword, but not suggested as this does not have any negative aspects unlike Double-Edged Sword.
-Havoc: An extra 3% damage is always welcome.
Defense
-Block: Needed to reduce damage from auto attack reliant champions like Nidalee or Teemo, and opens up Unyielding.
-Recovery: A little more sustain in the early game. I would much rather take Enchanted Armor because I get both Zhonya's Hourgalss for armor and a magic resist item for the late game, but I believe Vlad's early game weakness needs to be covered more so I instead take this mastery. If you feel confident enough in your laning, feel free to take Enchanted Armor instead of Recovery.
-Unyielding: An even better version of block because it reduces all damage, except of course true damage. Just like with the rest of the masteries taken in the Defense tree, it helps strengthen Vlad's weak early game.
-Veteran's Scars: Synergizes with Vlad's passive and makes him more durable in the early game.
-Juggernaut: A strong late game mastery and it only requires 1 point. Vlad reaches over 3000 HP with 6 items, so it will roughly give him an extra 100 health.
V. Summoner Spells
Flash and Ghost
A very common set of summoner spells in high elo and it is for two reasons. The first reason is because it allows Vlad to farm safely in the laning phase regardless of jungle pressure. With both mobility summoners and the safety that Sanguine Pool provides, it is extremely hard to kill Vlad. Oftentimes, junglers will not even waste their time ganking a Vlad with these summoners because of how hard it is to kill him and how many ways he has to get away. The second reason for this combination of summoners is for the same reason you see players like dade take it on Ryze in the mid lane. The mobility that both Flash and Ghost provide are vital in sticking to an enemy and kiting in team fights. This is even more important for Vlad because he has close to no crowd control to stay on a target or peel for himself. It is highly recommended to buy the Distortion Enchantment early on to reduce the cooldown of your summoners and give you the great added effects.
Ignite and Flash or Ghost
My personal favorite combination of summoner spells because of the mix of mobility and kill potential it provides. When I am not using Ignite and an enemy gets away with less than 50 health after they flash away, I think about the fact that if I had Ignite, I would have been able to get that kill and start my snowball with more experience and gold. The strength of Ignite is amplified even further with Hemoplague, making for a surprisingly strong combination.
If I see that the enemy back line gets slightly out of position, I will quickly use either Ghost or Flash to initiate and blow all my cooldowns in order to zone and kill the enemy carries. Most people do not realize just how much damage a full rotation of Vlad's spells can do with Hemoplague and Ignite and by the time they realize, it's too late.
Here is a damage chart of Ignite before and during Hemoplague:
Level
Total Damage Total Amplified Damage 1 70 78.4 2 90 100.8 3 110 123.2 4 130 145.6 5 150 168 6 170 190.4 7 190 212.8 8 210 235.2 9 230 257.6 10 250 280 11 270 302.4 12 290 324.8 13 310 347.2 14 330 369.6 15 350 392 16 370 414.4 17 390 436.8 18 410 459.2
Teleport and Flash or Ghost
This is a combination of summoners that I have only recently started experimenting with. The ways I see it, you get these summoners for the same reason you get them on Ryze in the top lane. By getting teleport, you are free to farm and split push without having to worry about your team not having backup in a bad situation. For a majority of the game you should be farming as Vlad because of how he needs gold and experience to be effective.
Teleport also helps you if you are pushed out of lane or die early to a gank. Instead of losing a large wave of minions, you can teleport right back into lane and not lose nearly as much in the process. It is recommended to go Distortion Enchantment with this set of Summoners for the same reason as when taking Flash and Ghost.
Flash vs Ghost
When deciding exactly which summoner to take as your mobility spell, one must look at the champions on the opposing team. For example, it would be a terrible idea to take Ghost against champions like Jarvan VI or Anivia as it is very easy for them to keep you in place without Flash. Even though Sanguine Pool is a powerful spell, it unfortunately does not allow you to pass under these terrain abilities. Another benefit of taking Flash over Ghost is that it allows you to instantly change positions and jump over walls if needed. If an enemy flashes over a wall, Ghost will more likely than not help you reach them.
All that being said, Ghost does have its upsides, one of them being the duration that it allows you to chase and kite for. If the enemy team has minimal crowd control, Ghost is ideal. If, for example, you find an opportunity to dive the enemy back line and take it. With Flash you are immediately on top of them to do damage, which is great, but it also puts you in a bad position once the enemy team turns on you. With Ghost, you still have plenty of time to move around and escape. If I honestly have the chance to take Ghost without being punished in the laning phase, I will take it 9 times out of 10. Unfortunately, with all the mobility and crowd control in the game now, Flash is required.
VI. Item Build & the Early-Mid-Late Game
Starting Items & Early Game
Your starting build is always dependent on your lane opponent so it changes accordingly. You just need to be able to stay alive and farm up, and ideally, buy a Hextech Revolver.
An all around good start for the top lane against champions who can't instantly gap close. Allows you to kite and harass thanks to the extra mobility.
Use against both auto attackers and AD casters in the top lane. Another alternative is to go Doran's Shield and 1 health potion, but the amount of sustain you get from it is far less than cloth. Also you can not build it into any item later.
This might look like an odd start but it is meant to build into a Spectral Cowl and later into a Spirit Visage. Use this start against heavy magic damage lanes like Rumble or Maokai, where both boots and cloth armor are inefficient. Can also be used in the mid lane against magic damage mid champions.
Your focus throughout the early game is to farm safely and reach your core items. Do not be afraid to harass or trade damage with the opponent if given the opportunity. Last hit with your auto attacks and save your Q for when the enemy goes for a last hit. So long as you do not stay for prolonged trades you should come out even or ahead thanks to the high base damage of Vlad's Q as well as the sustain it provides. This of course depends on the matchup, so be careful and gauge your damage against their damage if you are unsure which way it goes.
Core Items & Early-Mid Game
vs AD lane
vs AP lane
In both of these cases, it is important to look at the situation. If you are behind in lane due to a gank or misplay, it is best to forgo buying the AP components and go straight for either Cloth Armor or Null-Magic Mantle if possible. If ahead, it is more often than not, a good idea to start building into your Hextech Revolver. Once you have it focus on harassing your opponent out of lane and winning through a battle of attrition. If you can get the enemy laner low enough and are confident you can kill them, do so, but it is not necessary so long as you are farming well.
Once you get these items, you should make your item decisions based on what you need next. For example, if I am dominating against an AP mid laner, I will start building more damage and hold off on building my Null-Magic Mantle into something else. This will allow me to snowball my lead often. The same thing goes for the Seeker's Armguard: if you are winning lane hard enough to the point that you do not need the stasis of the Hourglass, build your Sorcerer's Shoes first. I often finish my Hourglass soon after though and it is because it provides a huge chunk of AP as well as allowing you to get out of bad situations.
Mid Game
This is the point in the game where things start to deviate in item build. Look at the enemy team and ask yourself these questions: is anyone building magic resistance, how are team fights going to play out, do we need more damage or more of a front line? By asking yourself these questions you can decide what to build to best make use of your gold. While a Deathcap might be useful, it won't help you in taking down that 5/0/3 Maokai who has a Spirit Visage and Mercury Treads.
In this situation, a Void Staff would allow you to do damage to everyone on the enemy team without having to be forced to hit the low MR targets only. It also allows you to have a smooth power curve because of how each magic resistance item that the enemy buys is immediately less efficient. If the enemy team has no front line and is going full damage, a Deathcap might be in order. Here are the strengths of each item and when it is appropriate to buy them:
Offensive Items
Rabadon's Deathcap: The most commonly bought item by AP carries due to its high base AP, but more importantly, for the 30% increase in total AP it provides. Though not as strong as Void Staff against high magic resist targets, Deathcap is also useful on Vlad for the health it gives him through his passive. Depending on the magic resistance on the enemy, who I am facing in lane, and how well I am doing, I will either get this as my 1st or 3rd major item.
Void Staff: A great late game damage item thanks to the percentage magic penetration it gives. Allows you to use your abilities on anyone on the enemy team without worrying about wasting your cooldowns. Also extremely effective because of the high base damage and low AP ratio of Tides of Blood, which makes Deathcap less effective in comparison. I will often get this as my 2nd or 3rd major item unless I need to act as the front line of my team or the enemy team is going full damage.
Zhonya's Hourglass: Technically, Hourglass is also a defensive item, but the way it is used on Vlad makes it a great offensive item as well. By getting this as a very early item, one can be very aggressive in what they do in team fights. I often find myself in the middle of a team fight in order to use Tides of blood on as many people as possible. When I find myself in a bad situation, I first use Hourglass, and then Sanguine Pool if necessary. That is a total 4.5 seconds of untargetability, which is a large amount of time in a team fight. The Hourglass active also gives you time to get another spell rotation off, which equals more damage. To add on top of that, it gives you 50 armor, 120 AP, and 168 HP before the percentage AP increases of Deathcap and the Archmage mastery. A must buy on Vlad.
Defensive Items
Randuin's Omen: The most effective all around armor item in the game, it makes you very resilient to auto attacking champions as well casters. Since Vlad wants to be in the middle of the team fight, the active on Randuin's is a very useful tool to stick to people and continue doing damage. I mainly buy this when the enemy team has an AD top and mid that do not rely on auto attacking as the extra health will help against casters (Zed, Jayce, Talon), where other alternatives will not.
Thornmail: Used against champions who rely on auto attacking to deal their damage. I mainly get this item when the enemy AD carry gets out of control as it is extremely cost efficient in protecting you against their damage. Most people do not expect a Vlad to buy a Thornmail and only realize once you're already in their face surviving through their damage. The longer you survive, the more spell rotations you can get off, remember that. This item also deals magic damage so magic penetration increases the damage it deals to your attackers.
Frozen Heart: Frozen Heart, what? Yes, Frozen Heart is a surprisingly good item on Vlad despite not making use of the mana the item offers. Though not as individually strong in protecting yourself, against auto attack champions, it does decrease the damage the enemy team does to your team. It is very important to have at least one Frozen Heart on your team if up against a late game hyper carry. The 100 armor and 20% cooldown reduction are also very good reasons to buy this on Vlad as he benefits greatly from defensive stats (more effective healing and health) and cooldown reduction. The more you can use your abilities, the more healing you get, and the more often you can use pool. I almost never get this in solo queue, but if in a 5s game, it is a viable choice.
Guardian Angel: A solid item when the passive is up for the same reason as Zhonaya's Hourglass. You can be extremely aggressive and throw away your life only to come back, pool and or use Hourglass. Very useful when you need to win a team fight but after the passive is down, it is no longer as a strong of an item. When this happens, sell it until you need it again.
Spirit Visage: A great magic resistance item on Vlad. Provides extra healing, cooldown reduction, health, and magic resistance. There isn't a bad thing I can say about this item. Get it early if you are facing a double AP composition and spam /laugh as you sustain through all of their damage.
Abyssal Scepter: There used to be a time where this item would give 57 magic resistance, which was the second most after Force of Nature. At that time, this item was almost always bought when I played Vlad because of how cost effective both offensively and defensively it was. Though not as strong anymore, it is a great item to have on your team if you are running a double AP composition. Not as defensively strong as Spirit Visage, but it makes up for it with its offensive aura.
Quicksilver Sash: I rarely get this item but if there is a Warwick or Malzahar on the enemy team and they are constantly ulting you and only you, it is worth investing in this item. I used to get QSS as my first main item after Hextech Revolver when playing against Malzahars in the mid lane. I don't know how many times I've seen a Malzahar use his ultimate on me, assuming they had me killed, only for me to just QSS it and retaliate with my own combo.
Utility Items
Will of the Ancients: A great item to increase your sustain more after buying a Revolver. I have been playing around with immediately upgrading this and it has been quite effective. If you would like to hold off on upgrading to a WotA and focus on more damage, feel free to. This will be a part of your full item build regardless of when you decide to upgrade it.
Morellonomicon: I have only once bought this item on Vlad and it was when facing a Mundo and Swain and we only had 1 ignite on the team. Though it is very cost effective and provides great stats, minus the mana regeneration, it is hard to replace this item with any other in a 6 item build. Very situational.
Rylai's Crystal Scepter: There are a few circumstances in which I buy this item. The first is if our team is lacking in crowd control and we are having trouble keeping the enemy team from kiting us. Vlad is able to apply the 15% slow to the whole enemy team with Tides of Blood so in that respect, it is a great item on Vlad. The second circumstance is if I have messed up in the laning phase or am facing a champion like Irelia that has a lot of kill potential on me. The early Giant's Belt helps keep you alive against high burst champions like Irelia who depend on true damage (armor and magic resistance are ineffective).
The third reason I would get this item is because the enemy team is either primarily AD focused or primarily AP focused. The reason for this, like with Morellonomicon, is that it is hard to replace any item with Rylai's when reaching 6 items. If the enemy team has a balanced composition with a mix of both AD and AP, you have to buy at least one armor and one magic resistance item. That leaves four more items. You need a set of boots, a WotA for spell vamp, a Deathcap, and a Void Staff. Unless you want to decrease your overall damage and sustainability, those are the items you will have to get against a balanced team. Do not get me wrong, as an item, Rylai's is great on Vlad, especially with the changes they made recently to it. Without taking into account the bonus AP from Deathcap and Archmage, Rylai's provides 110 AP and 540 HP thanks to his passive, but without the resistances to bolster that HP, Vlad is very vulnerable in the late game.
Boots and Enchantments
Sorcerer's Shoes: My most bought pair of boots on Vlad for obvious reasons. The early magic penetration is good against enemy laners who buy magic resistance to counter your harass. The extra movement speed is nice to have early as well to kite and chase.
Mercury Treads: My second most bought shoe upgrade mainly for the tenacity component. Unless you plan on buying a Zephyr to counter that Fiddle Fear or Rammus Taunt, this is your only option. It does hurt your damage in the early game but after buying a Void Staff, it should not be that big of a deal.
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: Though they have fallen out of favor on Vlad, they are still a good alternative to the standard Sorcerer's Shoes. I just prefer to have the extra damage as opposed to the extra sustain in lane. Probably stronger in the late game as cooldown reduction is hard to come by.
Alacrity: More movement speed to help you kite in and out of battle. My most bought enchantment on Vlad because of his very low movement speed and the fact that I usually go Flash/Ignite or Ghost/Ignite.
Distortion: No questions asked, this is a must by when using Flash/Ghost or Flash/Teleport. The summoner spell cooldown is priceless, and if that wasn't enough, it increases your mobility immediately after using a summoner.
Homeguard: For when you need to defend your base or you prefer to get back out on the field to farm and kill champions faster. Only downside to them is they are useless in combat outside of your base unless you plan to use the movespeed buff and teleport from fountain to initiate a fight.
Pick your items wisely as this is the time that team fights will be more common. As a result, you must think about itemizing toward the whole enemy team as opposed to just your lane opponent. Do your best to group with your team and make plays where possible but do not forget about your own farm. It is easy to fall into the trap of constantly grouping in order to win fights but if these fights do not work out, you will fall farther and farther behind. Constantly move through the jungle and from lane to lane to get whatever farm you can on your way to fights.
Your team needs to understand that you can't fight constantly as your ultimate has a long cooldown. It is best to hold out until you have the items you need to not only survive team fights but also deal the necessary damage. That is why often times I will get a Void Staff over a Deathcap because of how it is cheaper and allows you to fight earlier without compromising your strength.
Late Game
This is the point in the game you have waited for and when you are strongest. Take advantage of the monster that Vlad is and play aggressively. The strength of Vlad is his high HP due to his passive, his high sustain thanks to his Q, and his elusive nature thanks to both Sanguine Pool and Zhonya's Hourglass. If played correctly, you can zone and kill the enemy back line and get away with your life. That being said, do not play so aggressively that your team can not follow up on your aggression. Your goal is to stay alive as long as possible so you can do maximum damage.
If you see the enemy team make a slight misstep and group up, use your ultimate and hit as many people as you can. If your team reacts accordingly, you should win the fight, barring no unforeseen factors like your AD carry being caught out. Be careful not to get caught out yourself as your team will most likely lose the game if you go down in the late game.
Here are the ideal late game item builds in several different scenarios:
vs Balanced Team
vs AD Focused Team
vs AP Focused Team
OR OR
Lack of Front Line
OR OR
YOLO...kinda
VII. Lane Matchups
This section will be filled in time with videos and commentary on each lane matchup. As of now, my toaster can not handle streaming and video recording so until I get a new computer, I will fill this with wordy descriptions as I play games against the different matchups. Thank you for taking your time to read this guide and I hope you found it useful!
