How to beat Vladimir

Common role: Mid / Top

The best counter to Vladimir in Mid is Kled: 66.2% win rate over 46 ranked games on patch 26.17.

A sustain mage who is helpless early and unkillable late.

What makes Vladimir dangerous

Vladimir harasses with Q at no mana cost, pools (W) to become untargetable and dodge everything, and scales into a teamfight monster whose ultimate amplifies all damage on your team. If he survives laning, he wins the game by simply outlasting you.

How to play against Vladimir

• 1Punish him hard levels 1–6 — he is one of the weakest early laners in the game.
• 2Bring Grievous Wounds early; it cripples his sustain and teamfight healing.
• 3Bait his pool (W) before you commit your combo — he wastes it and is then exposed.
• 4All-in before he hits 2 items; every minute you wait he gets stronger.

Weaknesses to exploit

• ✓Extremely weak first six levels — his worst point in the game.
• ✓Has zero hard CC, so he relies entirely on health and healing.
• ✓Low mobility outside of pool; lock him down before it comes up.
• ✓Health-cost abilities let you race him down when he is low.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Vladimir's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  Crimson Pact

  Every 30 points of bonus Health gives Vladimir 1 Ability Power and every 1 point of Ability Power gives Vladimir 1.6 bonus Health (does not stack with itself).

  Strong: converts bonus health into AP and vice versa, so he scales in both. Weak: this makes him weak early with neither stat — punish levels 1-6.

• Q
  Transfusion

  Vladimir steals life from the target enemy. When Vladimir's resource is full, Transfusion will benefit from massively increased damage and healing for a brief time.

  Strong: no-cost heal-and-poke that sustains him through harass. Weak: on cooldown he has no sustain — trade in the gap and bring Grievous Wounds.

• W
  Sanguine Pool

  Vladimir sinks into a pool of blood, becoming untargetable for 2 seconds. Additionally, enemies on the pool are slowed and Vladimir siphons life from them.

  Strong: pool makes him untargetable, dodging any ability or ult. Weak: costs a chunk of health and roots him in place — bait it, then all-in.

• E
  Tides of Blood

  Vladimir pays his own health to charge up a reservoir of blood which, when released, deals damage in the area around him but can be blocked by enemy units.

  Strong: a charged AoE that shreds waves and pokes hard when empowered. Weak: the empowered version is slow — step out of the circle before it lands.

• R
  Hemoplague

  Vladimir infects an area with a virulent plague. Affected enemies take increased damage for the duration. After a few seconds, Hemoplague deals magic damage to infected enemies and heals Vladimir for each enemy Champion hit.

  Strong: amplifies all damage on the enemies hit — a game-winning teamfight ult. Weak: it does little burst by itself; if his team can't follow up, it's wasted.

Itemization

Grievous Wounds is mandatory (Executioner's, Morellonomicon, Mortal Reminder). Magic resist and burst outrace his healing before he scales.

This guide covers Vladimir's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.