SWAIN CHANGE
INTRO: I saw someone post this idea on Reddit, with some tweaks I think it could really help Swain transition into this new era of mages!
POTENTIAL CHANGE: Nevermove (W), ACTIVE: Swain marks a target area for 2 seconds and afflicts the enemies passing through and within, with a curse. The curse will summon talons that grab onto enemy units, damaging and rooting for an amount based on the amount of movement performed by the cursed target. Dashs will instantly trigger the curse for the maximum amount. Remaining stationary for 1 second removes the curse.
SOME THOUGHTS: This W would be another unique (what I've been calling) "New Age CC." Some of the greatest changes I've seen from Riot lately are making more champions have AoE potential cc, like Poppy's W stopping dashes for a few seconds, Cass W preventing movement spells from being used, Taliyah W hurting people being pushed/dashing/pulled through it, Shen W blocking auto attack damage (not cc but you get my point).
To the "guy who came up with this change"'s point, this truly makes it a "Never Move."
With so many counter play options, it goes a long ways towards making Swain THE Master Tactician. Q is zone control, W also becomes Zone control and has tons of counter play, E marks his target of choice, and his R keeps him in the front lines dealing some sustained damage and sustaining him to keep up his DPS and see his plan/strategy from start to finish all the way through.
COUNTERPLAY OPTIONS: W gets dropped on you? Don't dash, stand still for a second to drop the curse then dash to get out of the Q, (this gives him at least a second of reliable damage, something people have complaints about now) Or, it gets dropped on you, you can't stand still for a second so you (without dashing) cover as much ground as possible to increase the gap between you and Swain before getting rooted. (In my head, units traveled is what increases the damage and duration of the curse, with dashes procing the full damage and cc instantly/at the end of the dash)
TL;DR: -This truly modernizes swain and makes him a bit more unique: Close-Range, Anti-Mobility, Zone-Control, AoE, DPS>Burst, drain tank.
-His W can become stronger CC since there is a lot of counter play to it.
-His W also becomes (somewhat) more reliable and also makes his Q more reliable in the process (Q reliability being a big complaint right now).