How to win lane as Gangplank against Vladimir · 51.48% win rate over 1,354 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Vlad has one of the weakest laning phases and so do you — the lane opens even, so deny his last-hits and lock in your keg spacing first. |
| Level 2 | Gangplank | Vlad pays HP (not mana) to cast, so your Parrrley + keg poke out-trades his Transfusion before he has the bars to absorb it. |
| Level 3 | Gangplank | He has no Sanguine Pool escape until 6, so a keg chain detonated with Parrrley chips him for free every time he steps up to farm. |
| Levels 4-5 | Gangplank | You out-trade a pre-Rylai's Vlad — bait the pool, then re-engage with a fresh barrel chain while his W is on its long cooldown. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Cannon Barrage chunks and zones but Sanguine Pool rides out the worst untargetable — it's even outside a jungler collapse or a baited pool. |
| First item | Gangplank | Your Sheen/Essence Reaver keg-burst spike out-paces his first AP item — this is your last clean all-in window, so take it. |
| Two+ items | Vladimir | He out-scales hard: a 2-item Vlad pools your detonation, drains it back, and kites your barrels with Rylai's — play safe and let your team handle him. |
Vlad is a famously weak laning phase: he pays health (not mana) for every Q (Transfusion) and E (Tides of Blood), and he has zero escape until Sanguine Pool at 6. You don't have to win a raw poke war — you have to punish the HP he's already spending. Place Powder Kegs behind your minion line and detonate them with Parrrley every time he walks up to last-hit, so your chip stacks on a health bar he's also draining himself to farm. Don't let him free-auto your kegs to pop them early — space them where his E can't reach. His Transfusion sustain is real, but it can't out-heal repeated Q + keg detonations layered on his own HP costs.
The full Gangplank vs Vladimir report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Vladimir vs Gangplank guide →
All Gangplank top lane matchups →