ll start with saying this is the first time I'm writing a guide for anything, sorry if there is anything I've missed.

I'm writing this guide as I rarely see any Swains in the lower elo, he is a strong and viable AP carry with great lane controll and useful CC, it is sad that he is underplayed.

AP runes is just to give a good start at lvl 1, the rest is defense and magic penetration.

The same as runes, defense and magic penetration.

Someone that comes mid with dorans ring u can kill or send im to recover base easy with this skill sequence. U can be agressive because u have more speed and health potion.

Pros:
Pretty much assassin like damage once you acquire the DFG
Nice ability to constantly chain skills with blue buff.
nice sustain

Cons:
Squishy
Extremely blue buff dependent
tends to have to pick and choose when to go into a fight.

Summoner Spells


I have chosen Flash for a few reasons. Flash is a great great surprise attack on anyone when laning. Players feel they are safe behind creep lines and when you flash to them it is a great scare and obviously allows less time for an enemy to flee.
Also, Flash is the best way for a mage to enter team fights when not seen. Just like a Kassadin, flash allows me to sit behind trees when pushing to bypass the annoyance of tanks guarding their carries.


Most ppl feel they need to get survivability summoner spells more with swain, but if played correctly, ignite just adds to the madness. Ignite consistantly gets me first blood and many kills after that. The reason for it is because you combo it with Torment and Decrepify and you have a level 2 first blood. By the end of the game ignite just serves its purpose as a health regen ruiner, and made me that much more powerful from early game ganks.

Swain is one of the most powerful carries due to his ability E (Torment). Never start the game getting Q, especially if you solo, for numerous reasons..
1. If you get Q first (Decrepify), the slow typically will scare someone away.
2. Q can be kited and does not do full damage.
3. When you get E first, that allows you to do more damage from your melee attacks at level 1.

Once you hit level 2, thats when the harrassing truly begins. I can't emphasize enough how strong Swain is as a harrasser. Just a couple times of combining E and then Q will get you first blood. But again, you need to learn how to harrass without getting yourself hurt at the same time. Consistantly keep your enemy at half life and by the time you hit lvl 4 you get first blood. You simply, like any mage, cc them but in our case Nevermore them in place, flash to them, quickly use E Ignite and Q as you auto attack them.. BOOM FIRST BLOOD! I have done this sooo much it is the easiest way for first blood. By then you are now farmin to lvl 6 by the time your enemy gets back (unless they have teleport). At this point you just keep doing the same thing over and over, but this time when u flash and do your combo, remember to activate R near the creeps as well and you wont lose any hp as you see your enemy run in FEAR!

Now that you understand early solo ganks, now comes the hard part, ganking other lanes!!!
Ganking is quite easy with Swain. But again, you must know how to land Nevermore. Also, grabbing Blue Buff from Golem is a MUST!!!!! This helps you consistantly hold R longer and farm easy. You do not need Blue Buff to gank but it is a huge bonus.

Early game is one of Swain's most important phases to rape face at mid-end game. It is not needed for first blood or any early game kills, but it definitely helps you get your items faster. With great micro skills, ganking ability, and correct combos with his spells, you can tear enemies to shreds and show your teammates how useful Swain can be.

Rod of ages; Ryal´s and sorcerer shoes are the core build.
When u have the chance go for Rabadon´s Deathcap

Situation items :

Void Staff against heavy tanks
Zhonya´s against AD
Thornmail against heavy AD

BLUE BUFF!!

Without Blue Buff, you are nothing. You're just a caster with a bit of healing for about 15 seconds who runs out of Mana all the time. I don't care if you have to be an enormous douchebag and steal it from you jungle Nunu or whatever after you hit 6, but if you do not have Blue Buff, you are not going to help anyone. Ward their blue and steal it, take yours' as soon as it's up to keep them from stealing it, I don't care, just make absolutely sure you get Blue Buff, because without it you are completely screwed. Remember the whole "Why Nunu why!?" thing by HotshotGG? Nunu was taking Blue Buff from Swain. THAT, my friends, is how huge of a deal it is that YOU GET BLUE BUFF.

You can usually solo Blue Buff at level 6 with no Pots, if you want to do it earlier you need Mana Pots because otherwise you run out of Mana too quickly (general rule of thumb earlygame is that you need around 600-ish Mana to take Blue Buff, more if you want to take it faster). You should get it down within a couple bursts one E Q when u have half life ulti and E Q again, if you aren't to that point and you have a cooperative teammate, ask for help with it... but make sure they don't steal it, on purpose or on accident. If someone takes a Blue Buff (beside the first one of the game), try to, as calmly as possible, TELL THEM HOW ABSOLUTELY IDIOTIC THEY ARE. ANIVIA needs less Mana than Swain! Just calmly ask for the next Blue if you aren't throwing a fit already, and if they say no... I'm sorry, but you're going to have to steal it. The only time when someone else should have it is if it's a MASSIVELY Mana-hungry jungler, which there aren't a lot of, and so I'm sorry you may have to go to that level, but so long as you aren't just feeding your Blue to the other team, you should never be without it. No matter what.