Vladimir vs Garen
Skill matchup
You are stronger late game. Farm safe and avoid early trades.
Build vs Garen
The champion's reference build, for lack of enough games in this matchup
Recommended items for Vladimir: Stormsurge, Rabadon's Deathcap, Void Staff, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Riftmaker, Dark Seal, Cosmic Drive, Hextech Rocketbelt.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Garen's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
If Garen has not recently been struck by damage or enemy abilities, he regenerates a percentage of his total health each second.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8s | 22s | 9s | – |
| 6 | 8s | 22s | 9s | 2m |
| 9 | 8s | 19.5s | 9s | 2m |
| 11 | 8s | 17s | 9s | 1m40 |
| 16 | 8s | 12s | 7.5s | 1m20 |
| 18 | 8s | 12s | 6s | 1m20 |
Playing as Vladimir
Tips to maximize your impact
- Save your empowered Transfusion
After two Transfusion (Q) casts, the next one is empowered for a few seconds: save it for a trade, since it hits harder and heals you based on your missing health.
- Farm safely with Transfusion
Last-hit minions with Transfusion (Q) until your items come in: it deals damage before healing you, and costs you nothing.
- Charge Tides of Blood at least 1 second
Charge Tides of Blood (E) for at least 1 second before releasing: the missiles then also slow, and their damage grows with the charge.
- Dodge in your Sanguine Pool
Save Sanguine Pool (W) to dodge CC or a burst: for 2 seconds, you're untargetable. It costs you part of your current health.
- Hemoplague first, burst second
Cast Hemoplague (R) before your burst: infected enemies take increased damage from all sources, then the blast heals you for each champion hit.
Playing against Garen
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Hit him regularly
Hit him regularly, even with a small poke: Perseverance (passive) only regenerates him if he hasn't taken damage recently.
- At range, kite him
If you're ranged, kite him: his kit has no dash, and only Decisive Strike (Q) speeds him up and removes his slows.
- Burst after his shield
Wait for the Courage (W) shield to end before your burst: the spell starts with a shield and tenacity, then keeps only a damage reduction.
- Don't stay low once he hits 6
Once he hits level 6, back instead of staying in lane at low health against him: Demacian Justice (R) deals true damage that grows with your missing health.
Other Vladimir matchups
Patch 16.21.1