How to win lane as Vladimir against Locke · 54.52% win rate over 1,117 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | An even skill lane at 1 - his burst threat and your escape tools cancel out. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Trades stay balanced around your Pool and Transfusion cooldowns at 2. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Level 3 remains a skill fight over whether he can bait out your escapes. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Neither side pulls clearly ahead through levels 4-5. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | At 6 your untargetable Pool trades evenly against his execute totem. |
| First item | Even / skill | First item stays close, but your sustain begins clawing the lane back. |
| Two+ items | Vladimir | Late, your drains and Hemoplague amp outscale his burst completely. |
Levels 1-3 are an honest skill lane: his burst threat and your escape tools cancel out, so it becomes a dance of cooldowns - weave Transfusion on his Q Ritual Nails whiffs, never Pool for harassment you can heal back, and keep your HP above the range where his W burst plus totem math gets interesting.
The full Vladimir vs Locke 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? Locke vs Vladimir guide →
All Vladimir top lane matchups →
Also played in: Mid Lane