Vladimir

Playstyle Profile

Vladimir is a backline carry — deals massive sustained damage from a safe position

Teamfight Role

Backline Carry

Power Spike

Late game

Split Threat

None

Backline Access

Low

Vladimir's Strengths

• Massive sustained damage from safety — Vladimir melts frontlines while positioned behind their team
• Outscales most opponents — Vladimir grows stronger every minute and takes over in extended games

How to Play Vladimir

Champion-specific pre-match tips

Gameplay tips on Summoner's Rift

Lane Phase

Cast your empowered Q on the enemy champion to maximize your trading potential, but immediately use it on a minion to heal if they completely space out of your range.

Lane Phase

Hold your W strictly for dodging high-impact crowd control or lethal damage, since casting it drains twenty percent of your current health.

Lane Phase

Charge your E fully to fast push the wave into the tower right before you recall, using the area-of-effect damage to instantly clear the caster minions.

Mid Game

Catch side lane waves to accelerate your core item spikes, then immediately group with your team when your Flash and ult are off cooldown.

Mid Game

Charge your E and instantly cast W to apply damage and clear waves safely while remaining completely untargetable.

Mid Game

Flank skirmishes from the fog of war when your summoner spells are available to bypass the enemy frontline and directly access backline carries.

Late Game

Cast your ult across multiple enemies at the exact start of a teamfight to amplify all follow-up damage and guarantee a massive delayed heal.

Late Game

Charge E, Flash directly into the enemy backline, instantly cast your ult, and release E followed by an empowered Q to burst the priority targets.

Late Game

Cycle your W and stasis effects immediately after your burst combo to drop enemy aggro while waiting for your basic ability cooldowns to reset.

For matchup-tailored tips, download Baron Buff's AI Coach & Companion App.

Gameplay tips in Arena

• Build empowered Q before committing, use pool to dodge control rather than ordinary damage, and charge E while moving into R range. R both enemies when possible to multiply healing.
• Build Rabadon's Deathcap, Riftmaker, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Demonic Embrace. AP, health, and stasis sustain repeated crimson rotations.
• Prioritize Goredrink, Big Brain, Can't Touch This, and It's Killing Time. Healing and invulnerability extend the ultimate's detonation window.

Vladimir Build

This might not be your familiar build. We look at ranked games after each item was bought. If the player or team gained ground in gold, we rate that item higher.

Core

• Stormsurge
• Sorcerer's Shoes (Boots)
• Rabadon's Deathcap

Situational

• Riftmaker
• Zhonya's Hourglass
• Void Staff
• Morellonomicon

Vladimir Runes

The most popular rune page and summoner spells for Vladimir in ranked games over the last 30 days.

Sorcery + Precision · 49.6% WR · 8,814 games

• Stormraider's Surge
• Nimbus Cloak
• Transcendence
• Gathering Storm
• Last Stand
• Legend: Haste
• Ability Haste
• Adaptive Force
• Health Scaling

Summoner spells

Flash, Ghost

Vladimir Skill Order

The recommended skill order for Vladimir from ranked games over the last 90 days: the first three skill points, then the order to max abilities.

1. lvl 1: Q
2. lvl 2: E
3. lvl 3: W
4. max: Q
5. max: E
6. max: W

How to Counter Vladimir

Counter strategies and draft context

gap close quickly, flank from angles they can't control, or out-sustain their mana pool

• Folds to direct pressure — Vladimir relies on frontline protection and collapses when dived
• Weak early game — Vladimir needs time to scale and can be punished before hitting full power
• Assassins and divers that close gaps quickly
• Champions with long-range engage tools

Vladimir's Weaknesses

Dive-heavy compositions collapse on Vladimir when allied peel and frontline protection are missing. Aggressive early compositions force the pace and put Vladimir behind before the scaling arrives.

Best Synergies with Vladimir

Team synergies and draft context

Peel supports and frontline tanks protect Vladimir, and safe positioning unlocks their full damage. Waveclear and disengage allies stall the game for Vladimir's scaling, and every minute makes them stronger. Frontline tanks zone enemies into the path of your skillshots. Engage champions with AOE crowd control set up wombo combos.

Draft Context

• Lacks a frontline or peel — Vladimir gets dove with no protection between them and the enemy
• Drafts an aggressive early comp that can't protect Vladimir through the scaling phase

Learning Curve

Based on 1.2M+ matches across all ranked elos, showing how Vladimir's win rate changes with mastery level

Vladimir has exceptional depth — there is always something new to learn, but getting results takes patience. Expect lower win rates early while building the experience to unlock this champion's potential.

Skill Cap

Very High

Cost of Learning

High