Akshan

Akshan is definitely one of the hardest matchups to manage with Swain, not necessarily in terms of lane but in terms of impact. Indeed, you will have a hard time trading with him in the early game, a hard time pushing him, and especially a hard time following his rotations. The advice I would give is to focus on the Frozen Heart as your first or second item, depending on the game, with Ninja Tabi if the enemy team doesn't have too much crowd control. Then, to limit the damage, there are two techniques: the first is to ward at the extreme limit of the tower in the middle of the lane to follow his roams, and the second is to spam pings and write in caps in the chat that you have to be careful :) You can also take TP if you believe your team won't listen you (for low elo +++). I only give 4/5 because akshan isn't really good on this patch.

Akali

Yes, yes, dashes are fun. A particularly difficult matchup to manage given that the kill potential is close to zero. Usually the Rylai rush is advised to secure the kills, but in the case of Akali I prefer to start from the principle that whatever happens I will not be able to kill her, and thus rush the Liandry which gives enormous damage. You can also more or less take Mercury treads, or a Megatron cloak if you really don't feel like it in anticipation of taking a Kroakern as a second or third item. It is still good to note that overall, by being very passive and equal with Akali in terms of farm, you will have much more impact. In addition, if you find opportunities to roam bot lane, you can quickly take the lead, so it is a winning matchup in terms of winrate for Swain, but which represents quite big risks if played badly. In this kind of matchup, farming is essential.

Zoe

There is a special place in hell for Zoe players. She represents everything you hate: burst and crowd control from a long distance with dashes in all directions. It is one of the rare matchups where the Mercury/Kroakern rush is almost inevitable, even if the jungler is AD. But this matchup, although statistically the worst for Swain (10/02/24 lolaytics) is more impressive than it seems. If you avoid dying and manage to warn your allies in case of roaming, you will have much more impact. Farm, farm,

Tristana

"A matchup that I would like to qualify as psychological. You may think to yourself, 'it's just a poor ADC, I'm going to one-shot her,' well, spoiler alert, she's going to one-shot you if you're not careful. A Frozen Heart rush is super effective, however, don't expect to be able to kill her, just to be able to compensate for her push. TP is a very relevant option, but only to be taken if you already have Phase Rush and/or you consider that the enemy backlane will be very easy to catch.

Sylas

Hardcore matchup. You will suffer. The fact that he can steal your ultimate, which represents 75% of your impact on the game, will be very, very difficult to manage for both you and your team. In this kind of matchup, I would tend to take Phase Rush, then rush a Riftmaker with Mercury's Treads and then a Rylai's Crystal Scepter if you feel that your resistance is still too low. If the support doesn't build anti-heal, you will need it yourself, even if I don't like to do it in Swain's mid lane kit.

Brand

The matchup I hate the most, you're going to have a lot of trouble both early and late game. He represents everything you hate with a ton of damage, even at 0/10. It's relatively easy to get kills and if you're comfortable on Swain I recommend rushing Cosmic Drive and Mercury's Treads, with Phase Rush. It will be mandatory to have a Rylai's Crystal Scepter at some point. In this matchup you have to be especially careful of his poke, when an enemy is ignited and he uses his Z the damage spreads in a large area, Swain's auto attacks being very short range it is extremely easy for him to abuse it. You can take a Corrupting Potion even though I strongly advise against it, also don't forget that his damage scales on max HP which can be surprising, during your power spikes you are not that all-powerful at 2 items against Brand. The best thing is still to manage to feed on the botlane or toplane! In addition, Brand is an excellent setup for ganks, especially when he has his Rylai's and his ult so never forget that the jungler is probably not far away, warding is ESSENTIAL.

Talon

On paper, it's a complex matchup with a very low winrate for Swain. But in reality, if you adapt your build and rush a Frozen Heart, you'll have very little trouble 1v1ing him. The problem is his ability to roam all over the map, so you'll need to ward intelligently and use your Z to track his movements, as well as SPAM PING your allies and type in all caps in chat when he roams, especially in low elo. You can also opt for a TP if the enemy team has few dashes or mobility.

Kassadin

The rare matchup that will completely outscale you. You have several options: take Seraphin/Road of Ages to keep up with his scaling or rush Liandry's to end the game as quickly as possible with your roams.

Qiyana

Not an easy matchup, but with a good itemization (Frozen Heart, Tabi) you should be able to get out of it without too much trouble. Be careful, however, to have at least as much impact as her on the lane.

Aurelion Sol

A bit of the same matchup as against Aurelion Sol, he will quickly outscale you and be impossible to deal with in late game. You will have a lot of trouble killing him, if you don't calculate his dash reset timing, and you will also have a harder time roaming. I have a lot of trouble playing this matchup personally, try to ward, warn your team, take a TP, take Cosmic Drive/Swift if you feel like you need even more movespeed, and good luck!

Cassiopeia

Almost even but a slight disadvantage for Swain, the person who snowballs this matchup will have almost won the game, so be patient and don't make mistakes, it may be relevant to ask your jungler for support!

Twisted Fate

No real difficulty, the champion remains very strong on his roams, you will surely need a TP.

Ahri

Karma

Vladimir

It is relevant to take an ignite for this matchup, as well as Cosmic Drive.

Viktor

Azir

Yone

Frozen heart !

Pantheon

Frozen heart ! Care to not be surprised by the damage in early, and respect the range of his ult.

Irelia

Frozen heart ! In this patch Irelia isn't anymore the worst matchup of swain, from far.

Syndra

Naafiri

LeBlanc

Ekko

Fizz

Lissandra

Orianna

Smolder

Galio

Diana

Veigar

Corki

Anivia

Xerath

Lux

Vex

Cassiopeia

Annie

Ryze