Intro

With the last couple of patches, Swain has become one of the strongest picks for top lane in pro play. Swain first started seeing play in Patch 6.9 when he received changes to his Q, Decrepify. His Q before the change was a simple point and click ability used to slow and harass enemies but the changes turned it into an AOE zoning tool that can be used to push waves or harass enemies. Because of changes to his Q one of Swain's biggest problems, his early wave clear, was solved. He now has some sort of decent wave clear before he gets his ultimate, Ravenous Flock, which makes him an even better mid laner. Swain also received buffs to his ultimate in Patch 6.9, giving him the ability to use his ultimate longer and heal more against champions. His E, Torment, got some damage nerfs but got overall buffs with increased AP scaling and his E now gives him 20% bonus damage at all ranks instead of just rank 5.

Why He Is Strong

Swain has always been a strong team fighter but before Patch 6.9 he could just get shoved in under tower and bullied in the laning phase before he got his ultimate. Now that he has some wave clear with his Q, he is harder to punish during the early game. Going back to previous points, Swain is a very strong team fighter. With his R he can sustain a lot of damage in team fights while also dishing it out. His Q is a very good ability in choke points and can completely zone off a squishy. His W, Nevermove, is also extremely strong in team fights because he can root a squishy then throw down his Q and do insane amounts of damage, or he can simply root some enemies and wait for his team to hit them with harder CC. Another reason Swain is so strong is because he can counter a lot of strong top laners. You can pick Swain into Trundle or Irelia, two of the strongest top laners currently, and Swain will destroy them in standard lanes. Swain is also strong because of his ability to be a flex pick. If a team first picks Swain, it is hard to say whether he is going top or mid as he is just as strong in either lane.

Build Path

One reason Swain is strong in both top and mid is because he can build Armor and MR effectively in both roles. If Swain is mid and needs MR, he can build Spirit Visage and get value from it because of his ultimate healing. Swain could also build Abyssal Scepter and since Swain is usually in the middle of the enemy team during team fights he can make use of the MR reduction aura. If Swain is top and needs armor, he can build Zhonya's Hourglass and get value because of the AP and he can still heal during the stasis. Swain also builds Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Rod of Ages, which both give him a lot of health and damage. Plus, the slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter make him extremely hard to kite in team fights. As a top laner, Swain can go Rod of Ages into Zhonya's Hourglass and those two items makes it almost impossible for the enemy top laner to kill Swain as long as both players are on equal footing.

Counters

One way you can stop Swain from snowballing into an unkillable menace is by getting jungle assistance early game. Even though Swain isn't as weak early game as he used to be, he is still very easy to gank. Swain has no escapes or mobility and very low sustain before he gets his ultimate. Another way he is stopped in pro play is by putting him into non-standard lanes. Putting Swain into a 1v2 situation is what most pros try to keep him down. In most pro games what usually happens is the level 1 turret trade and the top laners get starved of farm and usually the top laners only get the solo gold from taking the tower, but if a team is against a Swain they try and give their top laner an advantage so that they can freeze the lanes and starve the Swain.

Conclusion

Even though Swain is better early game than he was before, he still can be punished. Swain needs specific items to be able to do anything late game and in the pro matches a lot of teams can take advantage of that. If a team does not punish Swain's weak early game, he snowballs and becomes extremely hard to kill and can completely shut down his opposing laner. Overall, Swain is an extremely strong pick but in pro play his weaknesses can be exploited.

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