Why Vladimir is So Strong in Pro Play
Vladimir has recently become of the top tier picks in competitive League of Legends and here we will look at why and how.
Intro
In Patch 6.9 Vladimir got increased healing on his Q, Transfusion, changing it from 2.5% missing health every 100 ability power to 4% missing health every 100 ability power. Also his E, Tides of Blood, recieved a damage buff at all levels. The damage went from 30/45/60/75/90 to 60/90/120/150/180. In Patch 6.10, his ult, Hemoplague, got a buff as well, increasing its healing from champions. The healing went from 50% of the damage dealt to 150/250/350 + 0.7 ability power, increased by 50% for each additional champion hit beyond the first.
How the Changes Affected Vladimir
With the Q healing buff, Vladimir has way better sustain in late game teamfights and becomes even harder to kill with a Spirit Visage. His ult changes also buffed his late game sustain, making Vladimir an extremely tanky champion even with only one or two defensive items. Also his E buff made it easier for him to clear waves early and gives him more AOE damage in teamfights.
Why it is Easy to Build Vladimir
Vladimir is very heavily reliant on items and his early game can very easily be punished, especially in pro play which is why having a very easy build path makes him even stronger. Out of the past 50 matches Vladimir was played in pro play, he was only taken top four times, and, since most of the meta mid laners are Mages, Vladimir can almost go for a Spirit Visage first or second. The Spirit Visage gives him much needed sustain and health and, with his passive, gives him some damage as well. Also if Vladimir is ahead, he can build one of the new items, the Hextech Protobelt-01, which gives him much needed mobility for only 2500 gold.
How the Pros Build Vladimir
Almost every pro goes at least three of these items: Hextech Protobelt-01, Spirit Visage, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Rylai's Crystal Scepter.
In this matchup, Origen's PowerOfEvil built three of those four core items and was able to outscale his opponent, who was playing Viktor.
We can also see from his build path that he was able to get an early Spirit Visage to help counteract the damage from the enemy Viktor. Vladimir's ability to have a very flexible build path is a huge source of his success in pro play. Vladimir can build tanky and still do damage because of his passive, or build damage and still get tanky because of his passive.
We can see here that even against an attack damage enemy, Vladimir can simply skip the Spirit Visage and still do extremley well.
How to Counter Vladimir
Even though Vladimir is extremely strong and scales very hard he can still be countered. If you can play around Vladimir's weak early game, he may not be able to snowball or get his core items before he gets made irrelevant by an Executioner's Calling or a Mortal Reminder. Those last two items are also huge counters to Vladimir because of the healing reduction they give. If Vladimir doesn't have a Spirit Visage or Rylai's Crystal Scepter, he becomes extremely squishy when targeted by an ADC or Assassin with an Executioner's Calling or Mortal Reminder. In a lot of pro matches, if no one gets a healing reduction item, they simply chain CC Vladimir until he dies. In most pro games where a Vladimir loses, the team he is against drafts a high CC composition.
While the composition drafted against the Vladimir this game isn't a great line-up for any of the reduced healing items, they have enough hard CC to chain and kill him off before he can do anything.
How the Pros Have Drafted around Vladimir
Usually with Vladimir on a team a lot of teams will draft a high damage teamfight line-up. In the composition in the above section, the team with Vladimir has a lot of damage in Irelia, Graves, and Caitlyn, and good teamfight with Karma and Vladimir.
In this composition, the team with Vladimir has very high damage in Nidalee and Ashe, and extremely good teamfight with Gragas, Nami, and Vladimir. Compositions like these are a staple with Vladimir picks and you see similar compositions in almost every Vladimir game. You almost always see Vladimir picked with high early game damage and strong teamfight compositions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Vladimir is extremely strong because of his great sustain in teamfights and his ability to constantly pump out damage with his E and Q. Also his flexibility when it comes to his core items helps Vladimir out in lane phase. Vladimir however is not invincible because he can be countered by items that reduce healing like Executioner's Calling, Mortal Reminder, and Morrellonomicon or a high CC team composition. Vladimir is an extremely snowbally champion that can be shut down but if he is not he runs rampant and that is what makes him a strong pick in pro play.
Get your own AKRacing Chair here and support our players, all profit goes towards the teams!
