Talk:Vladimir/@comment-62.194.141.153-20120328182133/@comment-77.249.233.124-20120329172028

You can also go 9/0/21 for masteries, getting a total of 10% CDR from the start, 9% vamp if you include vamp quints, extra move speed and extra XP.

Though I've tried various trees in recent times (mostly utility and offense) and I find all of them pretty much performing the same. The utility tree gives sustain in the form of vamp and CDR, the defense tree gives sustain in the form of HP and resistances and the offense tree gives sustain in the form of more AP (which for Vlad of course translates to HP and dmg). Though the offense tree might sound nice in that it provides both offense and defense for Vlad, the differences with the other trees are barely noticable because you lose out on CDR and HP regen in the form of vamp or hp/5.

For Vlad his versitility in the mastery trees is a blessing and a curse if you ask me because overal there simply isn't a clear winner.

btw, I recently did beat a Vlad in a mirror match with utility masteries and vamp runes, but mostly because I went defensive + CDR (starting with a null mantle) and he went full AP (he started with an amp tome and had full AP runes and offensive masteries).