Hey, I play Riven a lot too! Ok to beat swain I will usually be running an AP per level glyph page with resilence maxxed. To actually fight him you have to basicly commit to an attack or he will just chunk you for free, try putting 2 early points into 
Valor to nigate his poke. Now to face someone like swain you would have to Valor at him and wait for him to try to stun you then get out of it using Broken Wings, this being said you should have 2 Broken Wings up and Ki Burst(you also are probably behind him at this point),I would Ki Burst him once you are clear of the stun auto attack broken wings auto attack then broken wings infront of him auto attack and around this time valor should be up so you can either Valor away or commit more with it, also remember you will have atleast 2 passive stacks so try and use them on swain, At least 6 you should be able to chunk him once or twice then just ingite him and go for the kill with Blade of the Exile, just remember to get out of his stun or he will win trades...this being said if he doesnt stun you then you should win the trades.
Valor to nigate his poke. Now to face someone like swain you would have to Valor at him and wait for him to try to stun you then get out of it using Broken Wings, this being said you should have 2 Broken Wings up and Ki Burst(you also are probably behind him at this point),I would Ki Burst him once you are clear of the stun auto attack broken wings auto attack then broken wings infront of him auto attack and around this time valor should be up so you can either Valor away or commit more with it, also remember you will have atleast 2 passive stacks so try and use them on swain, At least 6 you should be able to chunk him once or twice then just ingite him and go for the kill with Blade of the Exile, just remember to get out of his stun or he will win trades...this being said if he doesnt stun you then you should win the trades.
Ask for more ganks?
"(Btw LZ, I read all of your posts like a poem because your paragraphs look like stanzas. It's rather amusing. :P)" - PsiGuard
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why you write like that" - wRAthoFVuLK
"Why DO you write like that?" - Amazing Monkey
"Why do you write like that LZ?" - iownedya
"no-one knows, but it is unique.
An artist originalising his work,
per say. Yet what have I done,
I have copied his work.
It's probably wrong too, but lolz. Keep at it LZ, since it makes reading your posts interesting." - ShiftyCake
"^ya same
why you write like that" - wRAthoFVuLK
"Why DO you write like that?" - Amazing Monkey
"Why do you write like that LZ?" - iownedya
"no-one knows, but it is unique.
An artist originalising his work,
per say. Yet what have I done,
I have copied his work.
It's probably wrong too, but lolz. Keep at it LZ, since it makes reading your posts interesting." - ShiftyCake
The LZ wrote:
Ask for more ganks?
Pretty much that.
Riven has 2 problems in lane. No range, no sustain unless built.
Swain has both of those and can easily outdamage you since you have to use skills to get to him, or flash.
True love is found only in yourself.
Level 1 and 2 with brutal aggression should do it (not 100% sure). Swain's poke is nice, but he can't handle tons of aggression before he has his 3 skills, since he can't recover life anyway. Most Swains start with Torment, so eating a full Broken Wings should make him hurt a lot.
Torment, so eating a full Broken Wings should make him hurt a lot.
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I've mained Riven and I think I play her very well! But two times I got counterpicked in ranked by a Swain and no matter how I build I can't seem to win trades or even get on par with CS.
I've tried getting ~120 mr around level 10 and maxing E, just to be able to CS, but i lose the lane no matter what I do.
Anyone able to give a few pointers? Thanks in advance