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How do I play this Matchup?

ls2eFvBHYf·5/18/2015, 11:05:42 PM·2 votes·707 views

Hello, I'm still relatively new to League of Legends, and I am an Irelia main. I recently played a game against a Swain and I was able to completely destroy him. However, I think that this is because he was really bad because literally the game after, I played a good Swain who zoned me off of minions and was able to completely bully me around lane. This ended once I hit nine and could start trading with almost capped hiten style and leveled stun. I began winning the lane after triforce but I wasn't able to get a kill on him before I left lane for the teamfights. None of us got any kills in lane and I only left lane 11 cs behind because I was able to push and deny him farm after triforce. How should I play this matchup so that I can actually kill him? I was running tp so no ignite to counter his ult. Also, my strategy was to bait his ult, and just do a lot of heavy trades where I activate my w and hit him 2-3 times when hes stunned or slowed. If he popped his ult I would back off immediately and I played ultra safe. I almost got him after 3 of these heavy trades where i activated my ult and procd my sheen. Can anybody give me any insight on how to kill freaking Edgar Allen Poe in this matchup and if I'm ever against a better Swain, how to deal with him? Regards, InJailOutSoon

7 Comments

thePandev5/18/2015, 11:22:29 PM2 votes

Swain's farming pre-6 is horrific. By horrific, I mean the only way he can catch up in CS to you is if he denies you so hard you end up missing more than him.

So I suggest running flask and pots to start. His E is a dmg % amplifier, which means all sources of his damage are increased, for ex. his AAs, WQR, even ignite and item effects. Anything you can think of.

That is the ability he generally maxes most and uses to harass you. His Q is a dmg overtime tether that can be broken if you get far enough from it, and keep in mind it get's amplified by his E.

His W is his snare, it's generally easy to dodge, but good Swains will know where to put it exactly and when to keep it.

As Irelia, you out sustain him pre-6, and with the flask you can recover from most of his damage. If he uses his EQ combo, try to get away from it as quickly as possible, because it hurts pretty hard early game. If he missuses times his combo badly, don't be afraid to go all out on him. He won't be able to do anything to you for 10 seconds because of CDs.

Also, ganking Swain works extremely well. If you can deny him early game he becomes near useless late game.

After he hits 6, trying to duel him 1v1 is probably useless. Unless you already have a lead on him (CS or killwise), he will out trade you every single time. But as long as he doesn't hit his W onto you, you can farm pretty safely without much harass.

Just remember, if fed, he snowballs horrifically hard. With the right items late game he tanks as much as a Maokai while most likely dealing more damage than any mage in the game.

colesy5/18/2015, 11:15:22 PM1 votes

don't even bother trying to kill, he has too much sustain. i mean sure, trade a bit and then go deep if jungler takes a visit, but it's doubtful you'll solo kill him.

personally i'd just try and shove his tower in as quickly as possible and start roaming down to mid and bot and push those out.

WalkingInACircle5/19/2015, 2:18:59 AM1 votes

Swain has mana problems, you can try running him dry. Aside from that you'll need to do something about his regeneration.