With every new reveal it seems like everyone is being used by him or was used by him and now hates him or hates him from the start. He can't see everyone as a chess piece.
Does he have anyone who he sees as an equal that he can have a drink with? :p
LordHippoman2 votesHe has a bird.
GreenLore1 votesProbably 
Dragon Master1 votesLeblanc, Vlad and Elise.
ChunLii1 votesI always got the impression that he never cared for Vlad and was closer with Darius and one of the reasons why Vlad hated Darius. I'm not sure about Elise but LeBlanc is probably the best possibility.
Blood Magicks2 votesI like to see Darius as his right hand, the man who directly imposes his will, and Vlad as his left hand - his more secretive and shady subordinate who runs errands the world would be better off not knowing about. Of course, Vlad and Darius have completely different approaches and constantly compete for Swain's favor ( and Vlad's loyalty is not absolute).
ChunLii1 votesThat would be a pretty cool.
Wrathof3001 votesElise is a chess piece of the Black Rose, though she may have risen through the ranks by now.
Wrathof3001 votesinb4 Sawin is being used as well... by BEATRICE!!!
OurLestrade1 votesI like the idea that him and LB have a deep if complicated respect for eachother. They're both strategists who are pursuing power and are great assets to one another in the pursuit of this goal, but in the long run they're aware that one of them will have to lose to the other eventually. One of those weird rivaling friendships that runs a lot deeper than your typical "i love you" "me 2 smooch" scenario :P
Hell, I wrote a bloody fanfic about it a while back.
Killaburn1 votesits like swain has white chess pieces and black chess pieces. where the black ones are the black rose members and the white ones are the high authorities that serve him in noxus(like darius).
Chromatic Eagle1 votesIt's lonely at the top.