Thoughts on the New Swain

I've been having a lot of fun with the new Swain, he feels challenging but interesting. I would say the old Swain was effective but very boring to play with any regularity. This new version has kept my attention as I enjoy the challenge of his kit and the thrill of successfully pulling off a kill combo. I primarily play in mid, but I see him being viable in top, or perhaps even bot as a support (his E and W would be good harass and CC, but his Q might cause issues).

However, not everything is sunshine and roses. I see a few glaring issues with him that hinder his mid to late game potential, particularly when teamfights start.** His ultimate feels very lackluster and weak**, and combined with the powerspikes of certain classes like ADCs, unless you're is off cooldown you'll get blown up real quick. Even if you build durable, he still feels very squishy around ADCs and such, though I'd argue that is more of an issue with ADCs and armor penetration.

Also his basic abilities are somewhat problematic to use in teamfights for damage; They are well-designed for the laning phase but fall apart in teamfights.

His Q's piercing mechanic really suffers when trying to focus squishes as the frontline of tanks, bruisers, and juggernauts are in the way for the most part, meaning you have a hell of a time hitting the backline effectively.

His W's slow activation time becomes a severe hindrance since teamfights are generally on the move these days so landing to do damage or heal is real problem; also because it costs so much mana, missing really hurts.

His E's root mechanic is good for reaching the backline, but if the chosen target are not in the back but surrounded by beefy targets it makes hitting your target a pain, because like I said teamfights are always in motion.

I think we could solve all these issues while also addressing that lackluster state of 's ultimate. To be simple, his basic abilities would be empowered while his ultimate is active: his Q would always pierce through targets regardless whether that target dies or not, his W would have a larger hit radius, making it more practical in a teamfight, and finally, his E would now root ALL targets on return that it collides with, acting a bit like 's Q in this regard. With these changes in mind, Swain's teamfight would be a bit stronger and less cumbersome, and his ultimate would cease to feel lackluster. As the effects only occur during his ultimate, the mechanics would have counterplay and could be played around.

Thoughts? Comments?