I have, in the 4 months ive played this game, never seen a Swain(other then bots). I want to know who actually plays him, and maybe give me some tips, cause im one of those few people that do.
I Jungle with hi, except for when I 1v1 a friend, cause I found he is very good at that.
Edit- just because people posted already dosnt mean I am no longer looking for tips. so keep posting!
Lao Fu the Tiger4 votesI am a Swain main, and while I in no way claim to be amazing at League (only Silver at the moment, but climbing steadily), I do know a few things about Swain ;)
First is, he's absolutely god-awful at jungling. Definitely strong at top lane, and fairly strong mid-lane.
He's good with top lane because many top-lane champions don't clear waves of minions very efficiently (neither does Swain) but has the range and harass to keep the enemy laner away from you, especially if the enemy is melee. He's fairly strong mid, but many current meta champions in mid-lane right now have very good waveclear. Swain does not. This means he can easily be pushed under the turret and can't get as much farm. However, in the right situations, he can definitely be a very strong mid-lane choice (against Veigar, for instance).
As for item builds, you basically want tanky mage items. You probably need to start Rod of Ages. It's a very good item that gives lots of mana (which he needs for his ult), decent ability power, and lots of health. Next core item, though you don't need to buy it right away, is Zhonya's Hourglass. It's simple, really. When in a pinch, ult and hourglass. The birds still drain health from enemies while you're frozen, so it helps give you a bit of sustain and will save your life many many times. Liandry's Torment is also a very strong item on Swain, due to most of his abilities doing damage over time and crowd controlling them. If you really need the tank-factor, you can go Rylai's for the health and AP (and slow), but you can usually diverge into whatever items you want from here. Deathcap if you want the AP, Void Staff if you're incredibly ahead of the enemy, or any other item. Swain doesn't need much AP to do loads of sustained damage.
I almost always level up his E first. Just one max-level E and a couple auto-attacks does a lot of damage.
GO KILL SCRUBS.
67chrome4 votes
He's played fairly regularly. He counters Fizz in lane incredibly hard, and destroys most assassins in general. He completly poops on "untargetability" mechanics like that of Fizz, Fiora, Vladimir, Elise, and Master Yi for one - and Elise and Fizz are pretty solid champions that see regular play.
Also - he's been used multiple times in the LCS, mostly as a counter to Maokai in top lane. If you want to see some pro Swains in action, head over to the Competitive section of this site. I know for sure Unicorns of Love used him, and he's been used to various levels of success by a few other teams as well.
LoL King is showing him at exactly average for being played as well, so there's that.
12tales2 votesI believe that Wickd and Soaz both played him the EULCS Playoffs as well.
PhoenixOfHeaven1 votesOk love the help u gave! thoguth I liked it, I disagree ith several parts of the 1st thread. He makes for a great Jungler thanks to his w(which I start the match with) e(I target strongest, except on double golem, 1st) and R( Spell Vamp). he also, thanks to the W and R, Clears lanes very quickly. I also focus a lot on Ap, except for the case of AD enemy Junglers I biuy 1 defense item, a Frozen heart. I have this same build for my other Jungler, Diana.
I have never vsed a Fizz in Summoners before, but hope to see that counter, because I hate vsing him.
sorry fo being rude, but I greatly appreciate the help. I am actually an Anivia main, where Swain is my 2nd best. 3rd is undecided, but presently its Ahri.
so im gonna help give u some more Jungung tips :) (that's the only thing I mgood for with him.) I have found heard of many other pople who use him for Jungling. I get the Spirit of the Ancient Golem, Nashor's tooth, and a few other random items. I keep all attacks around the samelvl I always upgrade them in E,W,Q order unless R is an option. I start with W, then use E on the strongest, then Q to slow the strongest so he dosnt kill me quite as fast.
Once again, thanks for the advice :)
Edit- forgot to mention, ive tried him mid before nd did terrible. I have never tried him top, and would like to learn how to. have any tips for it such as tactics or Builds?
PhoenixOfHeaven1 votesbump. :)
12tales1 votesThat doesn't work on these boards, FYI.
PhoenixOfHeaven1 votesdidn't know that. thanks. :)