Zed vs Vladimir

Zed
vs
Not enough games
Vladimir
High sustainHeavy AP damageHigh burstSustained DPS

Build vs Vladimir

The champion's reference build, for lack of enough games in this matchup

Recommended items for Zed: Voltaic Cyclosword, Bastionbreaker, Axiom Arc, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Edge of Night, Serylda's Grudge, Lord Dominik's Regards, Guardian Angel.

Starting items

Scorchclaw Pup
Health Potion

Core build

Voltaic Cyclosword
1
Bastionbreaker
2
Axiom Arc
3

Standard

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
4CDR
Edge of Night
5

Anti CC

Mercury's Treads
4vs CC

Other options

Edge of Night
Serylda's Grudge
Lord Dominik's Regards
Guardian Angel
Endless Hunger
Youmuu's Ghostblade

Power Spikes

Strength by game phase

Vladimir's abilities

Passive, spells and ultimate

Crimson Pact (P)

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).

Cooldowns

Cooldowns by spell rank

LevelQWER
39s28s13s–
66.8s28s13s2m
94.6s25s13s2m
114.6s22s13s2m
164.6s16s9s2m
184.6s16s5s2m

Playing as Zed

Tips to maximize your impact

  1. Combo with two shadows

    To kill, cast Death Mark (R), then Living Shadow (W), Shadow Slash (E) and Razor Shuriken (Q): with two shadows, you throw three shurikens.

  2. Dodge with Death Mark

    Cast Death Mark (R) just as the enemy casts their decisive spell: during the dash, you're untargetable.

  3. Save the swap back to your shadow

    After Death Mark (R), save the recast to get out: you swap places with the shadow left at your starting point, far from the fight.

  4. Save your energy

    Save enough energy for a full combo rather than casting your spells for nothing: Living Shadow (W) refunds energy when you and your shadow hit the same target.

  5. Flank to reach the carry

    In teamfights, go around the sides and save Death Mark (R) for an isolated target: going in from the front exposes you to the whole team's CC.

Playing against Vladimir

How to counter and exploit weaknesses

  1. Force his Sanguine Pool early

    Force him to use Sanguine Pool (W) early in the fight, when it costs him the most health: he can't become untargetable again for 28 to 16 seconds.

  2. Back off from his empowered Transfusion

    Back off after his first two Transfusion (Q) casts: the next one is empowered, hits harder and heals him based on his missing health.

  3. Play hard before his items

    Get ahead early: Vladimir mostly shines later, once he has his items, since Crimson Pact (passive) turns his ability power into health and his bonus health into ability power.

  4. Kill him before his Hemoplague pops

    During Hemoplague (R), focus him if you can kill him before the blast, otherwise back off: you take increased damage until then, and the blast heals him per champion hit.

  5. Cut his healing

    If you have Grievous Wounds, apply it to him: Transfusion (Q), Sanguine Pool (W) and Hemoplague (R) all heal him.

Patch 16.21.1