League of Legends has been juggling different overpowered champions ever since the mid season started. Patch 6.8 gave us a reworked Malzahar, who could be invulnerable for a few seconds, which made him way too strong. Being able to solo dragon at level three is no joke – there’s a reason people still ban him in solo queue. In this latest patch, Riot screwed with another champion’s numbers and gave us our new god tier mage, Swain.
The old man with a bird and a cane was never really a consistently good champion. Before his rework, Swain was extremely gimmicky. He would throw down his E and Q combo, hope to snare the enemy with his W and hopefully get a kill. He also had a terribly hard time staying alive in teamfights. Because his ultimates healing was Spell Vamp, if he tangoed with a tank, then he was bird kill. He also had really bad mana problems, barely able to keep his ultimate form up for more than a few seconds mid game.
Swain received a rework in 6.8, but people didn't start playing him until his buffs in 6.10. His ultimate now heals a flat amount, regardless of how much damage he deals. Old Swain struggled in team fights and needed to pop a Zhonya’s Hourglass if he wanted to make it out alive. Now, regardless of how much damage he deals, Swain can stay alive.
Rod of Ages fixes Swain’s mana problems. The new ROA passive converts 15 percent of the damage you take into mana and 25 percent of the mana you spend into health. Swain no longer goes out of mana or loses health. He’s a crowd control mage that can never die, and if that doesn't sound scary, you don’t play enough League of Legends.
I accidentally let Swain through bans in a ranked game, and I regretted it. He would deal insane amounts of damage in teamfights, root and slow my carries, all while staying above 75 percent health. He’s insanely overpowered right now, and is now a must ban for any of my games. His only downside is his low mobility and weak early game, but those weaknesses are overshadowed by how powerful and tanky he gets in the mid to late game.
Stick Swain in the top lane and teleport, and when the time comes watch the whole enemy scramble to try and kill him.
Build, Skills, and Runes
Swain works best when you build him like a tanky mage. Rod of Ages is a must first buy, followed by a Rylai’s Crystal Scepter. On Probuilds.net, Zhonya’s Hourglass is still a popular item – the cooldown reduction it gives after the items rework along with its passive make it still a must have for Swain.
If you are super behind, Swain tends to struggle. Buying a Spirit Visage after your ROA can help ease some of your mid-game pain. The healing you get from the item’s passive combined with all the other heals in your kit turns you from a weak sparrow into the terrifying king of Noxus.
Maxing Q is a must now for Swain. Players were maxing E, because that’s what you used to do on old Swain before the rework. In the Patch 6.10 notes , Scarizard gave us players some advice: “Torment’s damage amplification is a flat 20% as of 6.9, which means you shouldn’t level it first.” As you level Q, Beatrice’s (Swain’s bird) slow increases at around five percent per rank, maxing out at 40 percent.
For Runes, you can pretty much grab whatever you think fits your playstyle the best. Looking at Probuilds.net , players have all different runes for Swain, though AP quintessences and scaling health marks seem to be really popular. Marin runs seals of scaling health, Hybrid pen marks and AP quints. On the other hand, SKT Duke runs CDR glyphs and magic pen marks.
Should You Play Swain?
Swain is the God-tier champ of this patch. Like Soraka mid so many patches ago (remember when Curse was still a thing?), if your team has Swain you have a higher chance of winning. Currently, Swain has the highest winrate on op.gg and is going to stay there until he is nerfed in 6.11.
If you want to spend the time to learn Swain, keep in mind that this champ might become garbage soon. Riot has a tendency to over nerf problem champions, Kassadin comes to mind, making them garbage until their inevitable new rework.
Still, Swain is really fun and powerful right now. If you want to 1v5 and have a chance of beating the enemy team without help, he might be your guy. Practice landing your purple claws and last hitting if you do though, nothing's more embarrassing than trying to fight a Yasuo which you can’t land anything on.
