@Meddler, why are we fundamentally changing Swain's gameplay?

Reposting with a better title :P

Can we get a little context as to the end goal of the changes being pushed for Swain?

I always learned that he was supposed to be weaker early with a devastating late game if he grew to that point, dealing loads of DOT and sustaining fights, while struggling in lane to do much.

Now, he has very good waveclear and harass early game and his late game falls off quite drastically in terms of damage and utility. On top of that, he's got a nerf coming that will severely hurt his late game further.

Previously (pre-rework), good Swains would know when to toggle the ultimate and play around the 5-6 second window in team fights managing mana and knowing when to go in. With the rework came an increased cooldown and less of a "use good judgment" play style to more of a "press R and go in until either a) you go OOM, b) you win the team fight, or c) you die" play style. However, with CDR, the element of toggling back and forth and positioning wisely still exists, just to a slightly lesser extent.

Why are you taking this gameplay facet completely out, flattening his mana drain at all levels with the rework and then subsequently nerfing the cooldown? I'm sure there's context behind it, but this does absolutely destroy his identity as the bird-demon toggle mage and completely changes his play style. Why go to such lengths to fundamentally change a champion in this way?

To me, this was Swain.

• Bad wave waveclear. Either learn to last hit or be SOL, easily countered by wave clearing champions like Ziggs or VelKoz.
• Scaling damage. E ramped up, didn't do too much until he gained some levels.
• Transform at will, but watch your mana bar.

Now, this is Swain.

• Great waveclear, further exacerbated by double minion damage on his wave clearing ability.
• Great zoning and harass.
• Press R and forget about mana. It doesn't matter because you can't play intelligently by knowing when to be in bird form and when to not. You either WILL go OOM or the teamfight will end, but the in-and-out play style is no more.