League of Legends - Swain Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Swain

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Carrion Renewal Swain regenerates Mana each time he kills a unit. This amount increases each level.
	Decrepify (Target Range: 700, Effect Radius: 325, Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Mana, Cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10)ACTIVE: Beatrice lands on the target area for 4 seconds and attacks the closest enemy unit prioritizing champions, dealing 30/48/65/83/100 (+30% Ability Power) magic damage per second and slowing it down by 20/25/30/35/40%. Damage is doubled to 0 (+60% Ability Power) magic damage against minions.Beatrice will look for a new target if the current one moves away or dies. – If any nearby enemy unit is afflicted by Torment then it will become Beatrice’s targetMax damage: 0 (+0) to non-minions and 0 (+0) to enemy minions.
	Nevermore (Target Range: 900, Effect Radius: 125, Cost: 80/85/90/95/100 Mana, Cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10)ACTIVE: Swain marks the target area that triggers after a brief delay dealing 80/120/160/200/240 (+70% Ability Power) magic damage to enemies within range and rooting them for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 second(s).
	Torment (Target Range: 625, Cost: 65/70/75/80/85 Mana, Cooldown: 10) ACTIVE: Swain marks the target area that triggers after a brief delay dealing 80/120/160/200/240 (+70% Ability Power) magic damage to enemies within range and rooting them for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 second(s). Enemies afflicted by Torment are focused by Beatrice while Decrepify is active.
	Ravenous Flock (Effect Radius: 700, Cost: 25 Mana Per Second + 5 Per Additional Second, Cooldown: 20)TOGGLE: Swain transforms into a monstrous raven, spawning up to 5 lesser ravens per second that strike out at nearby enemies, prioritizing champions. Each raven deals 50/70/90 (+20% Ability Power) magic damage and heals Swain for 20/30/40 (+0) against champions and 8/11/14 (+{{ f10 }}) against minions and monsters.Ravens can’t attack the same target for 1 second and the mana cost to sustain Ravenous Flock increases by 5 Mana each second.

Strategy

Mid Lane

• Swain’s spells require a lot of mana. In the earlier stages of the laning phase, be sure to efficiently use your skills. Use (Q) Decrepify in an area where both the enemy champion and the minions are currently standing. This’ll allow Beatrice (Swain Bird) to change its target to the nearest minion and not waste its remaining seconds when the enemy champion moves out of its range.
• Swain has great crowd control with (Q) Decrepify but also an AOE root from (W) Nevermove. You can also use your (Q) Decrepify to peel off enemy champions from your allies since it will continue to dish out damage until the enemy champion moves out of range of your (Q) Decrepify.
• Cast (E) Torment on a high priority target to have your other skills deal more damage to them. One example of Swain’s skill combo involves hitting (E) Torment, then following it up with (W) Nevermove, (Q) Decrepify and (R) Ravenous Flock.
• (R) Ravenous Flock functions both as great damage output and self-sustain. It heals you greatly from the damage you inflicted to the enemy using your ravens making you very hard to kill in team fights.
• Your role on team fights does not only stop at you dealing damage to the enemy champions or disabling them with your crowd controls. You can also protect your allies using (W) Nevermove and (Q) Decrepify. Since your carry will most likely be targeted in team fights, it’s better if you sometimes observe how the team fight unfolds instead of recklessly using your valuable crowd control on one enemy champion.

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Top Lane
Flash	Teleport

Item Builds

Top Lane

Starter Items
Doran’s Ring	Health Potion(x2)	Warding Totem

Core Items
Rod of Ages	Spirit Visage	Hextech GPL-800

Rod of Ages – Rod of Ages is a staple item for Swain. It gives him great health, mana and Ability Power over a course of 10 minutes. It is often imperative to rush this item so that you’ll get the stacks earlier.

Spirit Visage – Another standard item for Swain, Spirit Visage gives him good health, cooldown reduction and magic resistance. More importantly, this item bolsters Swain’s health regeneration and spell vamp from (R) Ravenous Flock. This makes him last longer during team fights.

Hextech GPL-800 – Hextech GPL-800 is an offensive item Swain uses to catch up to enemies. It gives good health, Ability Power and an active skill that fires a string of icicles. These icicles slow down enemies they hit, allowing Swain to land his skill combos and deal massive damage.

Full Item Build
Rod of Ages	Sorcerer’s Shoes	Spirit Visage
Hextech GPL-800	Zhonya’s Hourglass	Liandry’s Torment

Sorcerer’s Shoes – A standard boots upgrade for mages, Sorcerer’s Shoes give Swain’s damage more potency. This is because it gives him good magic penetration and movement speed, allowing him to stick to enemies.

Zhonya’s Hourglass – Getting Zhonya’s Hourglass is a great defensive item for Swain. This gives good bonus Ability Power and armor. Furthermore, it has an active skill that places Swain in stasis, rendering him immune to damage and crowd control.

Liandry’s Torment – Finally, Liandry’s Torment wraps up Swain’s standard item build. This item provides good magic penetration and a passive skill that further increases magic damage for every enemy champion who got slowed or stunned by your skill or an ally’s skill. Liandry’s Torment also synergizes well with (Q) Decrepify and (W) Nevermove – for instance, once you hit your targets with these skills, you can follow up with (R) Ravenous Flock to dispatch them.

Situational Items
Rabadon’s Deathcap	Nashor’s Tooth	Thornmail

Rabadon’s Deathcap – A standard mage item, Rabadon’s Deathcap greatly bolsters Swain’s skills, as it gives him bonus Ability Power. However, it is best to get this item when you’re team is significantly ahead, as Swain needs more defensive items in order to survive.

Nashor’s Tooth – Getting Nashor’s Tooth is a viable option for Swain. Given that he deals sustained magic damage, Nashor’s Tooth also gives his auto attacks on-hit magic damage which further increases his capacity to duel against enemies. Moverover, stats-wise, Nashor’s Tooth gives good Attack Speed, Ability Power and cooldown reduction.

Thornmail – Another defensive item, Thornmail gives Swain good coverage against Physical Damage-dealing champions such as ADCs. Specifically, Swain is often the target for ADCs who get health-melting items such as Blade of the Ruined King, since he often rushes Rod of Ages. As such, getting Thornmail addresses his defensive predicament against such enemies.

Playing Against

• Swain lacks the mobility, and is especially vulnerable if he doesn’t hit enemies with (W) Nevermove. Avoid this skill to get the upper hand during the laning phase.
• Steer clear of his (Q) Decrepify to avoid being slowed and open to (W) Nevermove.
• Consequently, when he casts (E) Torment on you, do not engage him. (E) Torment amplifies any damage Swain does to you, so it is best to disengage and wait for his skill to dissipate.
• His spells cost him a lot of mana so he can’t continuously harass you early on in the game. Use this to your advantage by provoking him to cast his spells and punish him afterwards if he is depleted of mana.
• Swain relies on prolonged fights and skirmishes to make the most of his damage output. During team fights, it is best to focus on high priority targets first. After routing the targets, you can then focus on him.

Hard Counter

• Viktor – Viktor thrives when it comes to clashes and shutting down single targets. For example, he is proficient in dealing single-target damage with Siphon Power. He then follows it up with Gravity Field to slow down and lock Swain. Finally, he casts Chaos Storm and Death Ray to burst Swain down.
• Cassiopeia – Similar to Viktor, Cassiopeia is proficient in dealing sustained damage to single targets. For instance, she is able to zone Swain out of the lane with Noxious Blast and Miasma. Should Swain decide to throw down against her, Cassiopeia’s Twin Fang whittles down his health, while Petrifying Gaze either slows him down significantly or stuns him if he looks directly at Cassiopeia.
• Orianna – Finally, Orianna gives Swain a hard time to stick to his targets. During the laning phase, she is capable of zoning him out with Command: Attack and Command: Dissonance. When Swain goes all-in on Orianna, Command: Protect shields her from his skills. During team fights, Command: Shockwave provides her team instant advantage once she gets most of Swain’s team clumped up with her Ball.

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