I ask because I love Swain, the sustain-mage is a lot of fun because it's all about being in the middle of the fight. Swain has the full package, but I wouldn't mind more variety.

Vlad's balance is always changing. Good, bad..

Is he worth buying? Why do you think he belongs on a team?

He's really strong for three main reasons.
1) He has a lot of sustain. No seriously. No mana? Free heal? Massive sustain, you can farm off minions after a teamfight with just revolver and get back to full without having to back.
2) His sustained damage is really strong, and half of it is AoE.
3) 12% increased damage for EVERYONE is retarded strong.

He's really strong you just gotta be careful for the first few levels (even more so if you're playing him at top).

He is strong, and a good pick mid.. Besides against your favorite swain, however I'm sure you knew that if you played the matchup... God is that annoying

But ye he is in a good place right now I think mid or top, just like swain

Suppose he does have some positive aspects

Just don't forget you have the damage/spell of a DPS caster with the cooldowns of a nuker, meaning he's among the worst casters in both DPS and nuke potential

He also doesn't have any CC, and don't forget the lack of range, both are massive handicaps as well, honestly if your team isn't built around covering your many, many flaws, picking vlad is as bad as trolling your team.

Going top also denies your team off a tank, and no, he's not tanky at all, he does poke well, but when damage gets serious, he just melts.

I enjoy Vlad quite a lot. He has great sustain but it takes awhile to really get him to shine. He will rarely be the big-bad of the team but he can be valuable throughout the game unless he gets beaten down early in which case he'll have a problem recovering.

I've run Vlad effectively top solo, mid and bottom (my best game with him went 18/4/15). His 'q' means he is healing when he farms and once you start pumping up his w and e his farm can become insane.

In a team fight his ult can really help your team burn down enemies quick with the 12% damage boost it burdens anyone you catch it with. His w is also great in a fight as it slows the enemy making it easier to your teammates to catch them.

I don't know what other people build but I usually get a Warmog, Rabadon and Spirit Visage. Warmog and Rabadon play very well with this passive and Spirit Visage makes in already great sustain even better.

Getting used to his mechanic (his spells use his own health as fuel) can get a bit getting used to. Early on it is easy to push yourself too far but once you get used to it you'll learn what the safe limits are.