This is an uphill battle of range versus sustain. Vel'Koz wants to poke you from outside your engage range, while you must use P to survive until you can find a gap-close opportunity. You win by surviving the early levels and using your superior CC to set up ganks or catch him out of position.

This is a difficult poke-heavy lane where you are the underdog until you find an opening. You are a low-range tank against an artillery mage, meaning you must play defensively and rely on your sustain to reach level 6. Success depends entirely on your ability to dodge geometry and capitalize on his lack of mobility.