The reason I say Swain is because he has very high sustained DPS, which is what an ADC is meant to do in a teamfight. Except unlike an ADC, Swain is AP, which means tanks are less effective against him because MR itemization is poop. I know he can't siege towers as well, but honestly you can't siege towers if you're dead. I know it's not meta, but could it work?
AndyChrono2 votesDon't play Swain in place of an ADC. He has to get into the heart of the enemy team to do his full DPS which is not what you want to replace an ADC. Preferably you want someone with range who can deal high sustained DPS like 
or 
.
If you need extra tank busting, 
can be a good option as well.
TehNACHO2 votesYes.
ADCs are naturally much better tank busters than Swain is. You are doing your team a selfish disservice by going Swain.
KMannnnn11 votesIt could definitely work, as long as you know how to play the champion. I've carried from many an unconventional bot lane over the months I've played this game (favorites being 
and 
). The big problem is exactly what you said though: Lower pushing power. If you can't snowball and win in the mid-game, you're screwed in terms of siege potential, because you have no AD DPS, but if you play aggressively, it shouldn't be too hard to get that snowball rolling.
Laraso1 votesDo you want to know who else does absurd amounts of sustained magic damage even when building straight AD, in addition to being known as arguably the most notorious tank killer (the only one who can even think about competing for this title is Vayne) in the entire game? He has one of the highest ability AND auto attack ranges in the game, making him one of the very best seigers out of the entire roster. He also just so happens to be an ADC.
Budupops1 votesadc swain ftw
