Discover all champions who counter Swain. Use our statistics and learn how to counter Swain in League of Legends and win in Champion Select! Swain Data for all roles taken from 52,5593135712,44939,560166 matches.
pandorelol says “Mages are usually a pain botlane, but Swain is even worse as his base hp are basically stupid, his 1 item spike is stunning and you won't be able to 1v1 him ever. If hits his claw you'll just get bursted with no counterplay since his dps range is higher than yours. Cleansing his cc won't cleanse his ability to pull you to him. Ban worthy.”
Camelorry says “You can block his e but nothing else. He has a lot of damage and you range doesnt help to avoid it, just disengage once he ults and play around his sums. ”
yers says “Later on he can get thick and tank your burst pretty effectively, so just try your best to kill him early. When he throws his hand and you're in the path, walk up and sideways instead of back; his hand will only root coming back to him so you walking up and sidestepping will buy you more time to dodge it. He becomes vulnerable once his hand is down.”
Terrific says “I feel like Swain is really bad because you can dodge his E very easily. Tho do not underestimate this champion because he will do a shit ton of DMG if he does get you in his E. with his entire combo.”
KuuHaKu_OtgmZ says “It really depends on your dodging skills against him. Stay inside your minion wave to counter his Q, he is really easy to kill if you're not stunned”
HyperFake says “Swain is a big threat for caitlyn because you have to have fast reaction time to dodge his grab skill otherwise you will lose a lot of health.”
Eccentricks says “Swain support is a hook support. I have never fought one, but I played this, and fell in love. This champ is absolutely bonkers in the bot lane and destroys AD Carries like bugs. So like a bug, you gotta always be moving, trying to avoid his E's and W's. As for W, if oyu get hit by in while Sneaking, you will get revealed. He can also check the grass very easily with it as well. Your ambushing will not be helpful, thus destroying your early game and therefor giving you little chance to catch up in late game.”
mhsmhs123 says “Swain has the ability like Heimer to chunk Vayne down at the very start of the game. His damage added to his utility and CC can create a living hell for any Vayne hoping to make it through early and mid game.”
eiensiei says “Can constantly harass him with E and even go for passive procs if I'm in a position to hit a Q as well - in that case it doesn't matter if he does his full combo, I'll still outdamage him. At 6, I'll stay out of his range and poke safely with E. After he gets RoA/Zhonya's he's unkillable and I'll only ever really Q+E him in fights, holding my R for squishier targets.”
Dr Eggmund says “Can be annoying, take care. Swain will look to all in you if he lands his stun so if you are confident that he will land it don't hesitate to pool out of it, but don't use your pool for anything other than if it saves your life against him or negates his damage. ”
PlayCabex says “you can kill him easily after level 6, if you have enough damage then just fight, otherwise r him then q and go for e and w then run out of his ult with your phase rush”
Sylvan Lore says “I haven't had too many games against swain, but he is quite strong right now. You can afford to trade early, but if he ever lands his E onto you, you will always lose the trade. Dont forget that it can travel through minion waves as its deceptive in how far it can catch you and pull you in from. Building morellonomicon second really hurts his healing and he isn't very good at tanking consistent damage from mages like Orianna. Outplay his E and the lane is won for sure. His Ult is quite strong if you get stuck in it so avoid close encounters at all costs.
Recommend Barrier and Dmg Build”
Drewmatth Taliyah says “Doran + 2 Pots or Corrupting for his post 6 sustain.
Relatively easy to kill pre-6 and can't do much after that also if you finish Morello. Focus on getting an early kill on lane but beware of his CC spell and jungler followup (it is predictable/quite easy to dodge however). Focus on Roam if he becomes too tanky and get kills elsewhere. Don't use anything else than ignite because he doesn't really have any kill power on you especially pre 6.”
Fuzzmonkey says “Dodge his E and this match up is pretty easy early game, you might take some trades every now and then when you W in but other than that, be extremely aggressive early game. Always take ignite for this match up like you would against Vladimir. Level 6 would be a good time to have your ignite up so that he doesn't heal off minions when he uses his ultimate.”
iZianni says “Fairly simple match up, dodging his combo is relatively simple since we can cast while moving. Our damage might not stick the best because of his itemization, but we'll usually have more impact early and snowball off that.
Its the 25+ minute Swain that gets scary.”
Ambitieux says “Swain isn't too much of an issue. Watch out for his e's and you should mostly win the lane. He is a slower champion then most and has no real mobility so Ahri is a natural predator against him. You can easily take trades pre 6 or after 6. This is mostly just a standard matchup of skill were you push him in. Deny him cs and try to look around the map for pressure. ”
LunarVortex says “His E is pretty easy to spellshield with how telegraphed it is. If he's close enough, he might try to Q you right before his E hits you to break your spellshield, be aware of that and time it well. In teamfights, zone him and prevent him from getting good value out of his ultimate with your Q and R.”
ShadowSlayerMain says “Getting caught by his E doesn't stun you so you can still trade but he can deal Heavy damage, blink back when he casts R so he can't do anything”
Hullos says “ Strong cc sustain and poke. high CDs so good opportunity to go in once he missed stun. Post 6 you most likely lose the 1v1 unless he missed everything. Attempt to bait out ult and back off. Exhaust or TP can help here. ”
sweodigaming says “Pretty boring lane just try your best. Important to dodge his claw. Otherwise just harass him since he has a short range. You do have more burst dmg than him which can favor you a lot.”
Sanctuar says “Swain has become stronger after his rework, yet his sustain gets cut a lot by Morellonomicon. Use this item to your advantage combined with your kit to bring him down. Dodge his E and W to ensure a trade in your favor. Do not fight him alone unless you are ahead. In an even lane, wait for your jungler to help you out.”
JoshAy says “You can easily avoid his root and his ult is very good to take. Don't let him proc electrocute early. His ultimate is so so so so good to take. Also, you should always beat him in an even fight post 6 because you can heal more in his ultimate because of W.”
1Recycle Bin1 says “not a difficult matchup, his kit is easy to dodge, he heals alot so you'll need to start dorans and buy morello after gunblade to lower his healing potential
stay away when he uses his R since it heals him alot
dont forget that if he dies while channeling he'll get refunded both souls and R cooldown”
Fuzzmonkey says “Dodge his E and you'll win this match up easily since his Q is short range and his only main ability that he does damage with. Constantly poke him and all in him with ignite so he doesn't heal when he goes into his ult form.”
Coldsong says “Swain's E and Q can be annoying, but other than that he is pretty easy to lane against. Just save your combo for when his ult is on CD, as it makes him pretty tanky.”
Coldsong says “Swain is pretty tanky for a mage, so killing him won't be very easy. Dodge his E and abuse his semi-short range. His R heals him for a shit load if you stand near him, so back off until it he uses Demonflare.”
Yeager says “This will be a farm lane. You have to be careful of his E, as this is the only way he can get to you. Rush boots if you have trouble dodging it. The matchup is quite easy so just focus on farming for your first hex core!”
Twitch.Tv-LimitBreaker88 says “You have better lane and outscale. Dodging his E is your only concern. So track it, bait it out and then do whatever you want.”
FalleN3 says “Swain has it easy against you for the first 6 levels. He has loads of sustain and will be building tanky. As he gets tanky as the game progresses you may have to look for kills elsewhere unless your jungler helps you out or you are pretty far ahead. Farm as much as you can and punish him for any mistake he makes. Freeze the lane near your turret if needed. After level 6 you can possibly win trades against him. His (E) can damage you while you're on your troll-pole.”
FalleN3 says “Swain has it easy against you for the first 6 levels. He has loads of sustain and will be building tanky. Because he gets tanky as the game progresses you may have to look for kills elsewhere unless your jungler helps you out or you are pretty far ahead. Farm as much as you can and punish him for any mistake he makes. Freeze the lane near your turret if needed. After level 6 you can possibly win trades against him.”
SirGobogi says “Paired with the right ADC, swain is the most annoying support matchup in the world. He is mega tanky for you to one shot him in a full combo plus ignite. He has a great pull stun. Realistically he pokes better than even you. Just try not to get stunned cause you will have a bad time.”
BCota says “Pretty annoying matchup, pre-6 ONLY IF YOU HAVE TO use pool to dodge his grab if you are low. You can perma poke him because you outsustain him but his crows heal him so dont get pulled. Focus farm hes tanky and hard to kill early before you have large rod. 6+ dodge whatever you can, ignite him when he ults all in dont use pool until you think hes gonna use his ult's blast wave”
Fadedreformed says “Pretty even. He can try cheesing you with his jungler anytime and the health he gets from his ult is kinda disgusting. Try taking short trades poking him out slowly till you all in him”
Veralion says “HoB/DH, Sword/Dark seal. The only thing you need to worry about with Swain is his E. It goes through creeps and has quite a far range, and will guarantee his full combo if it lands. It’s got a reasonably long cooldown, so make sure to bait it out before going up for farm. Does no damage outside of his ultimate and requires you to repeatedly get caught by his E to lose the lane, which is nice. A chill lane to scale up in so long as you're attentive and respectful. It's just tough to finish him off since he usually goes RoA and gets a ton of health back with his ult. I've only been seeing him as support of late since other champions can set up his passive for him. You'll almost never see him mid lane. ”
RikudouDovahkiin says “Swain is a sustain-character as well, like Vlad, but he has a weak side, he uses Mana and building Mana items will usually prevent his stacking MR chance, so your abilities will be much impactful in trades, but care his E combo as it might hurt in lane, since many Swains won't have Ignite, it should be easy to negate those pokes even if you were to get caught to his combos, you might kill him but care for his jungler, who may come and easily cancel an avalanche, since his ultimate has an animation time, if your timing is well enough, you might kill him before letting ulti, which'll also make things easier in lane, so time for one-shottings instead of long duels because his ultimate lasts for 12 seconds and your early cooldown isn't favorable for such duels. Extra note; don't give hi free stacks as it increasese his burst from Demonic Ascension.”
Nooldles says “Hands down the easiest champion to face. If they lock in Swain in any lane; mid, top, bot or support it's going to be a great game I promise. His Ultimate is the best Ult to steal in the game. You can't die when you press it as the healing you get from it plus your W is too much. The DoT and the explosion at the end in sync with Sylas' normal abilities is just OP. Sylas with Swain R is the perfect champion!”
LemonDemon says “Probably the worst overhere. Swains abilities can poke you a lot in early, wasting your spells and it can scale so badly, you will need a lot of help it you want to dominate the lane.”
Zoe Sparklepop says “He'll build tanky and he'll be tanky
It's a boring and annoying lane but as long as you can dodge his E, you should win trades with your better burst.”
AZIR MEN says “Just dodge his root lmao. It'll root you and he can pull you if the thing goes back to hit you. You can get a 2nd item morello for this man.
Take conq”
PepeOnDrugs says “Swain has it easy against you for the first 6 levels. He has loads of sustain and will be building tanky. Because he gets tanky as the game progresses you may have to look for kills elsewhere unless your jungler helps you out or you are pretty far ahead. Farm as much as you can and punish him for any mistake he makes. Freeze the lane near your turret if needed. After level 6 you can possibly win trades against him.
”
Gageowago says “You outdamage but he outsustains. Avoiding his root means he can't actually poke you if you position right. Poke him with Q W AA for electrocute and then start moving unpredictably to avoid his root. If you get rooted, he will pull you and then hit you with q and go for a w. You can charm him if he roots you because Swain tends to walk straight up to you after rooting you to land his q. Just charm him and then walk out of his w and combo him to easily win the trade. At 6 use your ult or flash to get out of his ult because he will heal off of the damage he is dealing to you. If you keep him down and prevent his scaling then he is useless.”
Lil Tidepod says “Swain is pretty easy to lane against. If you dodge his pull go onto him. He has nothing to out damage you at that point. If you happen to get hit by his pull, try and pop your shield combo to negate as much damage as possible. If you can, get out of the AOE damage he puts below you, because it will heal him. If he ults, lock him in place with your root and kite away.”
serruh says “one of the most dogshit champions in the game, I feel sorry for any guy that plays lane swain in 2020, but if you face one of these mole people, remind them why they should never lock in this joke of a champion. he can impact teamfights mid game but you still win at every point in the game. be happy if you see a swain on enemy team.”
Gogicha55 says “Try to kill him early or he will become too tanky for you to deal with, if he's playing really safe shove him and roam to get ahead cuz he scales really well and gets really tanky also don't take free E's or when you get rooted you won't be able to trade back cuz of his range”
Tehqo says “Avoid his Q, because getting hit by it usually makes you lose trades 100%. If he throws his Q and misses, take the chance to trade with him because he really can't fight back at that point.”
NebuIa says “Be aware of what he does. He can do deceptive damage, but if you respect it, he shouldn't be able to kill you. He is also pretty hard to kill though.”
Je Suis Azir says “Just wait. You fuck his mind late game. ONLY thing you need to be mindful of, is his E, his CC. It is his only opportunity to hurt you. Fuck him up.”
LightningDeceptigon says “His ult heals him for a lot and he's a tanky champion. Hard to kill in lane, so look for roams. Definitely take ignite for this matchup.”
cobbzy says “His ult is really annoying, I don't see him mid too often in my games but make sure you go in once his root is down or ult is down. Dodge abilities when you can and punish when he makes a mistake. ”
sekkondsEU says “Tanky and has damage + cc
Thats never good for Ekko.
You have to shove and roam. You can fight him, but only when he doesnt have stun and your chances are better.”
DravensBukkake says “Ignite/Exhaust/TP/cleanse/ literally everything is good into him
You outshove, but he wins extended trades. He can potentially win 1v2's if he has ult, so not that free to gank, but if your jungler is strong early, def easy to shuffle. If he lands E, he wins trade no matter what, otherwise he literally cannot touch you so you out poke him. ”
MarkeleleYasuo says “buy exe so he doesnt heal that much, try to block his e only if you know it will 100% Hit you, otherwise use it for his q while being in melee range with him ”
Weaver42 says “If they are even remotely good, then their W hard outranges you so hard (It's only 1500 less than your ult) you question why they haven't buffed Xerath and nerfed Swain at the same time. And then they are also better at short range than you, which is made worse when they can root you, and after root are able to pull you closer.”
ZEDORSON says “Swain is tanky mage which has lot of CC. Don't waste your W for poking him. Because he will root you with E and will take HP back with W. Executioner is good choice here too. When he is in ultimate and has 70%hp+ don't figt with him. Always wait until his ultimate will end. After he is killable.”
Cloud375 says “He will tank your damage late game and he has a decent poke. To be honest, this is just a question of how much damage you can deal to him and how much he can deal to you.”
Tayna says “Your E will only save you from his root, and he has it more often than you have your shield. Another champ you have to play safe and stay faaaar away.”
Euphoric Toaster says “Pretty easily lane for Heimer. Swain is completely immobile unless he goes Phase Rush, but either way a simple stun disengages any all-in he attempts on you. Swain struggles with pushing and maintaining mana as well so hes very easy to push in. His only hard CC is his E, which is relatively easy to dodge, so if you dodge those he cant do much against you.”
Big Shawn says “Swain is a champ which is quite annoying for Yasuo. His ability to poke and lifesteal with his ultimate ability will be difficult for Yasuo to 1v1 the Noxian General.”
Vispectra says “After the changes , Swain has become more of an AP bruiser than someone you build full burst, his lane is rather with a really short range Q and an easy to dodge E, his is powerful but does it matter when you can just E and R away from him? No it doesn't. You should be able to even shove the wave and look for a roam bot or top with your jungler post 6 because killing him is rarely an option.”
unownreality says “Its vital that you rush a [[morellonomicon]]. Grievous wounds will reduce his sustain substantially. Wittle him down slowly, but dont take too much aggro. If swain tries to dive, he doesnt have a burst to take you down, so snare him under tower and go all out. They key is not to take too much damage from his Q. ”
MechaaZero says “He gets pretty tanky, and he can end up doing a lot more damage than you think he will. You can destroy him if you play around his E, but that's given he isn't actual garbage.”
maplecat21 says “Before 9.14 I'd place him at a 1, just dodge the E, but now I'm not entirely sure. You should still be able to beat him easily though.”
RagexAddict says “Swain is pretty weak against you before level 6. The best way to take him on is before that point. At level 6, he will be very hard to kill. Morellonomicon is a very effective item as it will reduces his healing and make it easier for you to win fights against him.”
ryze4thewin says “doge his e and then kill him try not to be poked by his q if he ults most swains are over confident so let him waste his combo then go in and kill him”
AzureArmatt says “After his rework Swain became great scaling champion. At first he won't do much dmg to you but suddenly in mid game you are dead before you thought what happened. His strength lies in his ability that will hold you in place and let him pull you towards him (and his team) for deadly damage. Avoid his root and don't sit inside is ultimate area of efect and you can beat him with your eyes closed i belie but later you get out scaled so better try to make him fall behind as soon as you can. without items he's damage is really bad”
Ebug8215 says “If you are against an experienced Swain you will lose. If they are newer to Swain you should be able to win. Avoid his E at all costs and don't let him poke with his Q”
Jazzmonkey says “Just farm do short trades. Play with your masterys and trade him if he uses his skills for farming. You can see in the video sector how i played vs swain.”
overweight_zoe says “Only ability that can ruin your day is his snare so as long as you play around that long cooldown this match up is pretty easy. If he gets brave and ults onto you just sleep him and walk away.”
LuxIsMyCrush says “dodging his E can be annoy some times, if you are into minions can be better to just walk forward, doing so he will catch a minion insead of catching you, but ofc if you can completly avoid it just do it.”
moutenn says “Swain is a bad man. He can poke you, however its way better then old Swain. This Swains R has a CD now, so try and kill him pre 6. If this works, just keep killing him. If he gets a lead, you have to roam. ”
Sozzoh says “Swain can seem pretty scary with his W-E-aa-Q-Ult combo, but if you can dodge his E and not get hit by his Q, you win trades 100%. Try not to stay in his ult too long, and you'll be fine.”
Katapullt says “Go GB -> Mercury's Treads -> Morellonomicon to lower his AP dmg to you and his healing effect. Try to trade but dont all in. When you have all these Items he wont be too dangerous since his dmg is very low and you can easily heal up again. When he uses Ulti Shunpo out to a nearby allied Minions”
ZF.PandaYang says “Swain is one of your biggest threats because of how versatile and mixed his kit is, it allows him to trade, slow,snare and sustain you, especially his claw ability and ult, get Hex and MR boots.”
Eccentrik says “The noxian general, his root will enable him to pull you towards him, and if he ults, he'll deal enough DPS to kill you. Best you stay away until you can kill him on your own, or with jungler who knows.”
AQRC Turtle says “Swain outrange, outsubstain and outdmg ZED before lvl 3. However hes no unkillable but if he get ahead youre probably gonna need help to kill him”
asffg123 says “If you dodge his root, then he has no damage. His skillshots are easy to counter. You will win laning phase. However, be wary of his ultimate power spike.”
Smol Jelly says “Swain has much better sustain than you do. Focus more on CS and smart trades. Going all-in might not always work against him, and save the root for his ultimate in order to get away.”
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Tips Against Swain in Top Lane Tips Provided by MOBAFire Guide Authors
Sovereign Kitten says “Swain's biggest thing is his sustain and CC. Side stepping against his (E) is something you need to learn how to do. It's pretty visual when he is about to use the ability as he reels back his arm in a swiping motion. Keep your distance from low HP minions as he can shock you through his (Q) just like other champions like (Cho'gath / Lissandra). His (W) and (E) combo can reveal you in bushes but he can't pull you out of stealth if you're hit while in passive. He has a lot of sustain with his (R) and if he kills a target, he gets a soul fragment which can also grant him sustain and increased life. It's really all about positioning and avoiding the initial (E) pull towards his burst.
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Rhoku says “TL;DR - SKILL MATCHUP IN YOUR FAVOR. CONQUEROR/PHASE RUSH BOTH WORK WELL. MERC BOOTS IF BEHIND. JUST RUN HIM DOWN, HE HAS NO ESCAPE. SIDESTEP HIS PULL. EXECUTIONER’S CALLING IS A NICE PICK UP.
Swain is probably the easiest ranged toplaner to beat. Phase Rush allows you to snowball on him and kill him but to me, Ghost is enough so Conqueror works better. Up to you. Taking Dshield is recommended but you can play without Second Wind. It is also up to you whether you take it or not. Swain has lower range than other mages and has no easy cc ability he can use against you. His root is very easy to side step and even if he does land it on you, him pulling you in towards him allows you to pull HIM in. Swain is a late game carry so try to abuse him as much as possible. He is a little difficult to deal with due to his healing but honestly, your dps is better than his healing even without Conqueror. You can pick an executioner’s calling just in case though. If he becomes a problem, just get Merc boots.”
PH45 says “Get early mercury treads and try not to get rooted by his W. After level 6 you should be able to beat him in trades if you don't get hit by his W. He has good sustain though so prepare to get forced out of lane, jungler ganks are pretty important in this lane as it can be difficult to beat him 1v1.”
Anoying bro5 says “Easy match up but can be hard when ganked. Abuse him early and riposte his stun which is very predictable. Keep your eye on jungle and you should be fine. Your riposte is on a longer cooldown then his stun so becareful when riposte is down and dodge his stun with your Q.”
MarkFromSingedMains says “Can be really oppressive in lane, and there's not much Singed can do against him. When he R's in teamfights goo fling him to neutralise the threat.”
Rhoku says “He is a ranged mage but he is pretty short ranged. You can fight back with your Qs. He will always be in your E range so you can easily combo him down. Try to side step his root as it lets him kite you down. If he makes the mistake of pulling you to him when he stunned you, he basically signed his death certificate as if you pull him in at this point, he is dead. Overall, he isn't too hard to deal with and can actually be snowballed off of. Ignite makes this lane free food if you can land your pulls. Protobelt is good.”
RTO says “You might be able to kill him pre 6 and can look for trades. Make sure to avoid his pull back. You are one of the few champs that can sustain his ultimate with your own and you should be okay. ”
LeSocair says “Always dodge his E, it's his only way to win against anyone. Avoid fighting his R, specially without Grievous Wounds.
Q him all the time and stay behind the creeps that have the most HP.”
LoLReal says “We should lose lane to Swain. Not picked often top in this meta, has shifted to a support. Early cowl + farm under turret if you're against one and look for windows where they misplay and pull them in.
Try not to take too much damage going for CS.”
Raen says “Dodge his E and you will be fine. Be careful at lvl 6, he got his powerspike and can burst you down. Early buy Executioner's Calling will be useful vs Swain. Try to jump on him if he will burn from his spells. Mercury recommended.”
Alan234 says “Any rune is fine.
Swain top isnt really a champion so anything he does you will be able to beat him. Literally just harass and dodge skillshots and youre fine. If you dont dodge skillshots youre still kind of fine.”
laoshin3v3 says “Fleet or Grasp
Parry his E either right when it hits you or after it hit you since he will pull you immediatly and you can abuse it to stun him aswell”
LoL destroyer says “Swain can root you and does a decent amount of damage. He will be very annoying early game but if you dont feed him you can take him easily late game.”
qasddsa says “Easy lane as long as you dodge his pulls. If you need to, rush a Wit's End or Hexdrinker so you can all in him better past level 6. When he uses his ultimate to transform, don't stay unless you know you can kill him before he releases it.”
ERNESTSAURUS says “CONQUEROR / FLEET FOOTWORK SETUP - DORANS SHIELD / 3 REJUVENATION BEADS + POT =
Swain lately has barely been seen in the Top lane since nowadays every Bruiser build's BORK and Black Cleaver making it super hard for him to outrade Bruisers damage and sustain, he's usually played as a support that pokes and has a great teamfight. As for laning phase, he will usually try to poke you really hard but he will run out of mana super easily, but still don't disrespect him, his damage early levels, specially against Nasus, it's really strong. Once you hit lvl 6 and Sheen power spike you can look to trade on him whenever he misses his E (the pull) and you can run him down since they don't have many abilities to stop you and Nasus base movement speed is way higher than Swain without counting on Nasus W. Usually they will go for Grasp of the Undying as their rune page to be somewhat a Drain Tank but Nasus with Conqueror + Legend: Bloodline is way stronger than him. Later on to the game, he becomes a sort of a good frontilne for his team so try to splitpush and force him to match you to negate his team utility and since he can't really match you solo since he won't be able to deal enough damage to outpoke the Legend: Bloodline and Passive Lifesteal combined; so be prepared for 1v2 or even 1v3 scenarios.”
Grayified says “Fleet Footwork Runes and Build. Ignite + Flash. Dorans shield start. Swain has really good poke, but you can get good trades on him every time he misses his E or wastes his W. Otherwise look to farm until tiamat. After tiamat when you trade with him make sure you look to dodge his E during the trade or you will lose the trade pretty hard. His E will get caught on the 3 ranged minions if you position yourself in between swain and your ranged minions. You can keep track of how much damage his ulti will deal based on how many soul shards he has which is right below his resource bar. He can have up to 5 soul shards and if he has all 5 his ultimate will deal maximum damage. In the mid-late game swain will have a hard time dealing with you 1v1 and you can abuse his cooldowns really well if he ever misses something. However he can be hard to dive at 100% HP just because of his ulti healing and zhonya, so if he is hugging turret hard use your mobility to take jungle camps or look for an opportunity to roam in between waves.”
I Am Goliath says “This match up is pretty annoying but you should be able to win it, I've always found it difficult to actually kill swain but he is weak early and you can jump out of his Q and W so you shouldn't really die either.”
STIERNACKENTYP says “Swain lost his hardcore early lane pressure with the rework. If u can manage to stay behind minions u are fine since his Q wont hit and W/E are easy to dodge.”
EntxRecoil says “Fleet Footwork Runes and Build. Ignite + Flash. Dorans shield start. Swain has really good poke, but you can get good trades on him every time he misses his E or wastes his W. Otherwise look to farm until tiamat. After tiamat when you trade with him make sure you look to dodge his E during the trade or you will lose the trade pretty hard. His E will get caught on the 3 ranged minions if you position yourself in between swain and your ranged minions. You can keep track of how much damage his ulti will deal based on how many soul shards he has which is right below his resource bar. He can have up to 5 soul shards and if he has all 5 his ultimate will deal maximum damage. In the mid-late game swain will have a hard time dealing with you 1v1 and you can abuse his cooldowns really well if he ever misses something. However he can be hard to dive at 100% HP just because of his ulti healing and zhonya, so if he is hugging turret hard use your mobility to take jungle camps or look for an opportunity to roam in between waves.”
Ayanleh says “If the swain is good, he will destroy you, the better player wins. He has mana problems early on so you can abuse that and play aggressive.”
Olaf Only says “Can be hard to kill if he has Phase rush, but he is no threat.
Try to poke before 6 and freeze close to your turret so you can go for an all-in eventually.
Swain Outscales Olaf HARD”
Ravenborne says “Easy Lane. When he pulls you in also pull him in. Get Executioners and do not let him poke you that much with Q. And do not dive him if he has R.”
Womsky says “Survival set up/ mixed, doran's shield, swain got pushed out of solo lane completely, so finding him vs you is kinda troll, you can take harash trades vs him especially if he misses his E "pull", with ignite you will have so much kill pressure on him, plus you can out sustain his mana pool early, just watch out for one thing, swain can get really tanky with his ultimate so he can actually suprise you with the tankness he can pull out, so if u want to play it safe, dont dive him full hp if he hits 6, outside of that, he is an eaay matchup.”
Satoyo says “Swain is actually a very strong pick in general and can be dangerous for Riven if executed well. He get´s really tanky later on and can facetank you.”
NullPC says “Swain can hard scale if he gets an early lead and destroy games or get a 15 min ROA and be less usefull than backing for Faerie Charm. Its a snowball match up in your favor.”
Kingarthur720 says “Fleet Footwork Runes and Build. Ignite + Flash. Dorans shield start. Swain has really good poke, but you can get good trades on him every time he misses his E or wastes his W. Otherwise look to farm until tiamat. After tiamat when you trade with him make sure you look to dodge his E during the trade or you will lose the trade pretty hard. His E will get caught on the 3 ranged minions if you position yourself in between swain and your ranged minions. You can keep track of how much damage his ulti will deal based on how many soul shards he has which is right below his resource bar. He can have up to 5 soul shards and if he has all 5 his ultimate will deal maximum damage. In the mid-late game swain will have a hard time dealing with you 1v1 and you can abuse his cooldowns really well if he ever misses something. However he can be hard to dive at 100% HP just because of his ulti healing and zhonya, so if he is hugging turret hard use your mobility to take jungle camps or look for an opportunity to roam in between waves.”
Dantheman81 says “Swain isn't seen too often top but when he is I recommend you get a Executioner's Calling as early as you can (Trust me I've played Swain many times and this really sucks when they get it first item) Swain is also very slow and easy to trap or hit your E on so he shouldn't be too much of an issue to you when his ult heals 40% less. If he begins to ult, trap him in your W and run away, you will avoid all of his damage.”
Xplor says “Swain is not only a ranged mage champion who can poke you over and over but after level 6, he can take you down while he is transformed.
When I play against Swain, I like to play defensive and build some early MR to secure my lane.”
WayOfTheTempesst says “Go on him when he uses his Q to push the wave and try not to be point blank infront of him so you don't tank the full Q damage. Save windwall and use it behind you when the E comes back into him to avoid the snare and you can easily all in him. As long as you have fingers, you can't really get hit by his W either so this should be a very easy matchup as long as he doesn't get 5 stacks in his ulti. Use your ignite when he starts his ulti to reduce the healing.”
SpyDaFX says “really easy to kill, dodge his e or actually try to get hit on by it, but use it to actually get closer to him and e+w him to kill him (it sort of like baiting him into killing himself). at level 6 he's pretty hard to kill when he uses his ult so rush Spear of Shojin. go Conqueror”
report singed ty says “Not very hard, you can fling him and he can't respond so you can just keep lowering his hp that way. Bring ignite or build morellonomicon to win against his ultimate in all-in trades.”
Beatport Expo says “Easy fight before he reaches level 6. It's much easier to fight him WITHOUT his Ultimate but the last time I checked, you outdamage his healing when fighting 1 v 1 in early game. You CANNOT fight him in a Teamfight though, the only thing you can do is slow him down and prevent him from getting near your allies”
TrinityForceYasuo says “Easy match up. Level 1 place safe dont get poked by his autos and Q a lot. Level 2 its a decent time to go in for a trade since he doesnt have any DPS at all and level 3+ you destroy him. Block his E with your W on its way back if it didnt hit you the first time. His W is easy af to dodge so nothing much about it. Now about his ultimate, he takes a decent amount of hp when he uses it so keep that in mind in case you ignite him when he is 100 hp or something like this, he will ult and heal up so he can survive. Just freeze against him every time, make him overstep and then go in for an extended trade and you win it easily with no trouble.”
Itreallyhim says “Better E wins. If hes good he will crush you.
You can remove his threat from the game by ulting him, He has mana issues early so abuse that.
You can remove his E with your ult, Only if it hasn't hit anything tho.”
Erenando says “His damage is moderate, but he will poke you quite often and he sustains a lot. You can easily stack with spirit visage and mercury's so go for it.”
shinsuky says “Really good match-up because he isn't good at all in early game, you can poke him and don't try to not let him farming. He will be in difficulties during the whole 6 first level. After this 6, you can still beat him easily again but with some IQ.. Easy to dodge with W again, don't waste it.”
6MillionBreads says “He has range advantage on you and you don't have any kill pressure on him if his ult is up but at the same time he doesn't have any kill pressure on you either unless you try to all-in him. Just farm and either wait for jg ganks, or roam to other lanes to help pick up kills/assists that way. ”
Split King says “AHA! The Swain!
If you get ahead early you can buy Gunnblade as usual, but if Swain gets ahead or you are even with him, a Wit's End purchase WILL win you the lane. If you get Wit's End you should try to all-in him.”
Big Belly Bop says “If he lands his root on you just immediately E and root him. There's no way for him to stick on to you unless he lands his root. He will become very bursty eventually. Farm it out and get some ganks, your range will be hard for him to deal with eventually. Flash + TP, Doran's Blade/Corrupting Potion, Sustain/Burst rune page.”
Hamstertamer says “Proper positioning just in front of your ranged minions makes it very hard for him to land his E+pull on you, since it'll just hit a minion. For the same reason, sit behind your melee minions to avoid his Q. Trading with him is good at any moment, just *never* fight him during his ult unless it's 2v1 or you're absurdly fed. Disengage instead whenever he ults.”
Lynboe says “Match-up très facile avec Phase Rush, si vous parvenez à l'atteindre, vous pouvez le battre facilement et le tuer. Le seul danger est son niveau 6, alors assurez-vous de disposer de Nullifying Orb pour survivre. Si vous voulez être encore plus en sécurité, un HexDrinker ou un Spectre’s Cowl faciliteront grandement cette lane.
Lorsque vous lui rentrez dedans, assurez-vous qu’il ne touche pas son E sur vous, le CC de ce sort lui donnera suffisamment de temps pour s’éloigner de vous lorsqu'il le combine avec le slow de son W. Avec Conqueror la lane serait plus compliquer.
Ce match-up est le même en mid game.
L’Executioner's Calling est également un très bon item à acheter face à Swain, cela réduira considérablement sa puissance et, permettra éventuellement de le tuer plus facilement.
Vous n'avez pas besoin d'un item spécifique au départ face à Swain.”
messketchup says “Build hexdrinker immediately. Provided he doesn't get ahead, if you have magic resistance you should be able to outtrade him.
If he has no mana, he'll just die. He doesn't have any escapes other than his slow and root which can be unreliable.”
Prince Afghan says “Swain has no escape for your W and his damage is low compared to you in all stages of the game. He will likely rush Zhonyas which may complicate things but play the lane smart and don't get ganked as he has good setup for ganks with his root.”
zygiux says “You can easly go in on him untill level 6, then be more carefull and use ur E because then he has no way to outplay you, unless you dive and get E'd and then he uses every single thing on you.”
DrMoneybags says “Swain's only real self-peel is his E, and you can dash through him with your E to make it fairly useless. He will usually take Resolve runes with Grasp, making him semi-tanky. But with enough all-in trades you can probably kill him before he hits lvl 6. Hexdrinker and nullifying orb will help if he gets out of control.”
Arcthunder says “If Swain catches you low with his root, consider yourself dead. Respect him and his healing. Your ultimate may be able to catch him out of position since he thrives on you being a bit further away. Rushing Hexdrinker will be great against him.”
TheNinjaRoid says “Fall behind, you lose. Get ahead, you win. Oppressive early, once you get an item or two you can fight him if you're even or ahead.”
ElleryTheViking says “Really easy, pre 6 just spam E and Q, if you dodge his root and you have ghost, he's pretty much dead. If he moves up post 6, just ult ghost and all in. He wont be able to stun you, but if he has ult, he may be a little hard to bring down. Try make sure he's pretty pushed when you do this so you maximise your damage output. If you do it while he's close to his tower, he'll likely escape.”
SwiftOblivion says “Strengths: Poke, Sustain, AP. Weaknesses: Low mobility, Predictable CC. Go into this lane with either a D-Blade or a Corrupting Potion seeing as this is a winnable lane. He can zone you out early with his wave clear and slight healing. Once he uses his nevermove, start looking for Q pokes as per usual. If he tries to lane a nevermove, look to riposte that. When he uses his ultimate, you can fight him in it if you use your ultimate or you are fed. Buying a hex drinker or Mercury’s Treads early would not be a bad idea in this matchup but if you end up ahead of him in lane, don’t be afraid to go into your core items. ”
E61K says “This lane can go either way and snowballs stupidly heavy from both sides. Your Wind Wall can block the 2nd part of his Ult and his E look to Wind Wall his E then trade with him/all in him.”
Zachlikespizza says “Swain actually does pretty well against Aatrox because he can manage distance with his root. If you can avoid this you should be all right.”
Mouadyam says “not very easy, grab a dorans shield to start with, avoid poke. if he comes up too close early then pull and he's free food, otherwise if he plays smart until 6 then he gets harder to kill, grab some MR and try to dunk him in all ins past 6 before he explodes, as he will heal through the damage otherwise.”
Ashnard says “Swain is pretty weak in lane and is easy to hit. Only thing to consider is that his passive pull repositions your q and heals hit, so dont let him poke you for free.”
DERPFISHrejects says “Another even matchup. If you can dodge his E's second hit so he can't get his passive off then you can harass him fairly well as he can be mana gated fairly hard early.”
thedunkening111 says “Annoying, but it's funny when he e's in the other direction when yo zenith blade onto him. Once you lock him down, he's not too hard to kill. Just be wary of his six. He can do quite a bit of damage.
Take Conqueror”
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Bottom Lane (81%)
Swain Bottom Lane Counters: 
Middle Lane (11%)
Swain Middle Lane Counters: 
Top Lane (6%)
Swain Top Lane Counters: