Vladimir vs Katarina
You are stronger late game. Farm safe and avoid early trades.
Build vs Katarina
The champion's reference build, for lack of enough games in this matchup
Recommended items for Vladimir: Stormsurge, Rabadon's Deathcap, Void Staff, Sorcerer's Shoes, Riftmaker, Dark Seal, Shadowflame, Mejai's Soulstealer.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Katarina's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Whenever an enemy champion dies that Katarina has damaged recently, her remaining ability cooldowns are dramatically reduced.If Katarina picks up a Dagger, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies, dealing magic damage.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 11s | 15s | 12s | – |
| 6 | 9s | 15s | 12s | 1m15 |
| 9 | 7s | 14s | 12s | 1m15 |
| 11 | 7s | 13s | 12s | 1m |
| 16 | 7s | 11s | 10s | 45s |
| 18 | 7s | 11s | 8s | 45s |
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 Katarina
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Stay away from her daggers
Stay away from her daggers on the ground: when she picks one up, Voracity (passive) hits every nearby enemy, and Shunpo (E) lets her blink to it.
- Trade after her Shunpo
Trade right after Shunpo (E): it's her only blink, and it has a 12 to 8 second cooldown, less if she picks up a dagger.
- Save your CC for her Lotus
If you have CC, save it for Death Lotus (R): it's a channel, and interrupting it stops its damage.
- Don't count on your healing
Don't count on your healing during Death Lotus (R): each knife applies Grievous Wounds, which reduces healing received.
Other Vladimir matchups
Patch 16.21.1