Welcome to the Vladimir, Crimson Reaper Champion Spotlight, presented by Riot Games.
Vladimir is a Tank/Caster hybrid who uses health to cast his various spells. His passive gives him health for buying AP, and gives him AP for buying health.
His first ability is Transfusion. It’s a direct single-target nuke which heals him for 1/4 of the damage.
Second is Sanguine Pool. Vladimir dissolves into liquid, slowing and damaging enemies he floats under.
He heals himself for 15% of the damage dealt, dodges any projectiles thrown at him, and removes all enemy minion agro.
Tides of Blood is his third spell. It deals damage to nearby enemies and gives Vladimir bonus healing and regeneration.
If he casts the spell quickly in sequence, it increases the damage, health cost, and healing gain.
Vladimir’s ultimate is Hemoplague. Afflicted enemies take bonus damage from all sources for 5 seconds, and take significant damage afterwards.
My rune page holds magic penetration, health per level, cooldown reduction, and flat health. My masteries are 9/0/21, taking magic penetration in offense
and all the non-mana masteries in utility. Ignite and Ghost allow me to chase down and kill enemies as well as run away using Sanguine Pool.
Vladimir excels in controlling a lane. At level 6 or 7, you can start wearing down your opponent.
At 500 health, Sivir will die to Tides of Blood, Hemoplague, and Transfusion, even though I have nothing but a Doran’s Shield and runes for bonus damage.
Sanguine Pool makes for a great escape spell. Gragas, Garen, and Sivir all try to kill me. However, I make a point to drop
into the pool before Garen can silence me, and you see here that while I’m dissolved, Gragas’s ultimate does not touch me.
Spirit Visage is my first major item. A good standard spell combo is Transfusion and Tides of Blood, followed immediately by Sanguine Pool.
Once I become human again, my two main spells are already refreshed and ready for cast. The invulnerability from the turret also makes diving a breeze.
While pushing top, the opposing Vladimir attempts to defend the turret. I initiate and then drop turret
agro with Sanguine Pool. As I come out, my basic spell combo of Transfusion and Tides of Blood picks up the kill.
However, I’ve been severely hurt and Garen comes for the gank. I pre-emptively Pool to dodge his silence.
While he attacks me afterwards, the delay has caused him to take significant damage from Gangplank and minions.
When he returns, I am once again able to dodge Decisive Strike using Sanguine Pool. This time, he’s so heavily injured that after Transfusion, he dies to Gangplank’s passive, Grog Soaked Blade.
Vladimir really shines in team fights. With 4 of them grouped up, I open with Tides of Blood, Hemoplague, and then Sanguine Pool.
As I return to form, Transfusion and Tides of Blood help us kill Gragas and Sion. Garen attempts to silence me to save Vladimir, but Sanguine Pool wins the day.
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is the next important buy. My extreme damage output allows me to chop up Sivir very quickly.
Then as Vladimir attempts to escape, the slow from Rylai’s on top of Transfusion allows the rest of my team to catch up.
I pick up Randuin’s Omen to give me significant health regeneration and to cap out my cooldown reduction. In the large fight at top, I spam my normal spells until my team is ready to fight. Then using
Hemoplague on top of Cannon Barrage and Soul Shackles gives us an easy victory. Then as I take turret agro, I use Sanguine Pool to dodge Sion’s Cryptic Gaze just before it hits me, allowing me to escape the turret.
We start another fight as the push continues. Again I hold off on Hemoplague until my team has baited them into a compact formation
for Morgana and Gangplank’s ultimates. In the resulting carnage, we mop up all four of the enemy champions with almost no danger to ourselves.
While Vladimir is not officially a vampire, if you want to role-play as one, remember to buy lots of elixirs and a Sunfire Cape. Real vampires sparkle.
Thanks for tuning into the Vladimir Champion Spotlight. Cool off in the waters this summer, because the rivers will run red.