No one can. He wins every lane by default by pressing Q and E. Good idea to give a champ a 1.7 AP Ratio on 2 ranged targetted skills with one of them also increasing that damage by 20 percent.
Nerf Swain.
Jamaree4 votesCass, any and every long range mage who lands their skillshots, champions with grievous wounds in their kit.
Narvuntien4 votes
b1TLHaKERl2 votes
OhOkYea2 votesAnnie
Poptart Evelynn2 votesLux and Xerath... OR anything long range.
Most people experienced with Swain max E/W. His Q is weak and unreliable while his W is straight burst damage amplified by his E.
But hey you know he should have his Q nerfed like you say because you totally just didn't suck vs him.
(btw his e/q at max ranks scale 204% at maximum ap and not 170% ap lols...)
ImAHeroForFun2 votesIf swain is so strong why aren't the pros just playing him to death??
Rawrful1 votesIf swain is so strong why aren't the pros just playing him to death??
Actually, the pros play him when they want to win lane. He gets play top as an unbeatable laner occasionally. The problem is his lack of mobility and how good focus and Ignite wrecks him in team fights. Swain is sitting at viable, strong in the right situation, but not the hard tank of Maokai or the reliable lockdown of Lissandra.
No one has mentioned a champion that beats Swain in lane yet. The best I can come up with is Ahri. Long range, strong wave clear, mobility to escape all-ins and she roams harder than he does due to ult mobility. Not to mention, he is weak to jungle ganks, again from lack of mobility.
I guess what I'm saying is that there isn't a hard lane counter to Swain. But that doesn't make Swain OP, because he is vulnerable to ganks and because outside of lane he has clear and obvious weaknesses to be abused.
Altricad1 votesI think Koreans played him in Season 4, just that NA is a sheep of what koreans play and they haven't started yet. It's also cuz long range mages/ burst mages 
counter him hard. As for top lane, he's suspectible to early game lane swaps/ 3 man dives due to being immobile
Also, I hope they don't play him. Swain will probably become the next 
if he sees play because he doesn't have anything flashy in his kit for #LCSBIGPLAYZZ
N3mO061 votesKATARINA and every champ who can build Morellonomicon for grievous wounds
Fed by Snu Snu1 votesActually, he shits on Katarina in lane. You are referring to how to shut him down in teamfights later.
In order to deal with him in lane you need to pick someone who can farm from deep and shove under tower where he will miss a lot.
1011001110001 votes[{quoted}](name=Fed by Snu Snu,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Tmv50tP8,comment-id=00020000,timestamp=2015-03-07T10:22:42.839+0000)
Actually, he shits on Katarina in lane. You are referring to how to shut him down in teamfights later.
In order to deal with him in lane you need to pick someone who can farm from deep and shove under tower where he will miss a lot.
So 
counters Swain in lane.
Fed by Snu Snu1 votesI can see Swain's slow setting up some really easy ganks, but it would be worth a shot.
Although it's generally not that good when you have to go for MR first as a tank, because ADC overlords, etc.
1011001110001 votes[{quoted}](name=Fed by Snu Snu,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Tmv50tP8,comment-id=0002000000000000,timestamp=2015-03-07T10:31:26.140+0000)
I can see Swain's slow setting up some really easy ganks, but it would be worth a shot.
Although it's generally not that good when you have to go for MR first as a tank, because ADC overlords, etc.
Well, Sion does have a shield to help stop damage, Doran's Shield can help against Decrepify, and his own slows can also set-up easy ganks against Swain. Not to mention, Sion's E (his main harass in lane) costs less mana than any of Swain's abilities while also having a really long range to hit.
I said it in jest, but I think it would be hilarious to see Sion smash Swain's face in.
themachamp21 votes
Just shove his ass under the tower and ward. Easy enough to win lane.
The Bíg Ticket1 votesrofl ok keep defending your main champ...
McAllister1 votesHe counters melee champs pretty good, it's true. Champion.gg suggests Xerath, Orianna and Katarina: I can personally attest to the first two beating Swain in lane, and Katarina might counter Swain in teamfights more than laning as mentioned.
Miku Lv991 votesJust don't feed him and outscale him later in the game. Not every champ has to win lane in order to give their team the higher chance of winning the game overall. A champion can be an absolute beast in lane but be bad enough in other parts of the game to the point of not being OP. So look at Swain's midegame for example. He's not especially good at it since he doesn't really have all that much mobility or ways to roam around to other places and make big plays to rack up tons of kills and objectives. Also, ignite/morellonomicon will make him a lot less difficult to deal with.