Hello. Currently I am 5 rank swain, which I received after update (have played him only 10 games as earlier version), and I am happy about the work made by Riot.

But its not about it...
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Swain is THE Grand General of Noxus, which represent one out of three columns of strength -- wisdom. Being possessed by the demon, Swain could take him over with only his power of will and mind. After taking control over his body once again, he was able to rule the Invasion on part of Ionia and achieve win by the cost of his army and left arm. Thus, he became the ruler, or, better worded, dictator of Noxus. Demonic powers gave him incredible abilities, as well as substitute for his lost part. As he represents the true power, Demonic ravens always surround its owner, waiting for a new soles to be possessed...

Swain theme can be decided into two parts, first is the communist motif (or at least inspiration), which can be clearly seen in his official theme and Noxian freedom-dictator ideology. But not all at once. Play Video
Another theme is the demonic power of Raven, the protagonist of DC comics. It can be seen in the Demonic form, telekinesis, summoning, ravens, sole-stealing, link to the powerful demon etc.


All of these details give good character design and archetype, therefore creating more possibilities to construct powers for the developers and adding Over 3000+ level of coolness for henceforward memes.

Swain is a tanky medium to low range mage with good CC and disrupting abilities, as well as incredible sustain. His damage can be divided in two types: Burst and continuous, all of which grant him strong team-fight presence and potential.For lane priority I would chose mid lane, with an option of top. Survival, poke and burst make him constant farmer, which is not easy to get out of the lane, and his abilities are strong ganking tools to give his advantage. Despite all other mid laners, his kit allows him to be reliable late game (35+ min), which is a nice additional advantage. And getting lead to swain makes all team-fight very simplistic to manage and very unrewarding for an enemy team. In both cases, its a win to win condition, just try to avoid risk of getting overconfident about your powers, thus, to lose your mid game strike.

Swain's passive () is one of the most interesting abilities in the game. In fact, it's your 5th oppressing skill, which, similar to Talon's, bring your power spike ONLY on 2 level. If enemy is captured in any form of CC, you are able to aa them, which will drag them closer to your position, adding insignificant damage and gaining sole shard (heal up to 7% max hp and get back 7% of mana!!). Has mediocre CD and can target only one enemy, so pick wisely. Furthermore, every time you receive a soul fragment, you gain flat 5 hp, which can lead to the enormous free health if the game lasts long enough.

(Tip: Passive works with ANY form of hard CC, meaning that you can use it on a stunned enemy by your ally. The range is quite high, so you can contribute to fighting without being too close.)

Swain's Q () is 5 different skillshots within one arc, which work similarly to Grave's shotgun. As you hit an enemy with only one of them, damage is not very impactful, Although, every additional strike after the first one increases damage by 35 percent, so, you can reach 1k magic damage (late game) on one q. Also, it has a very short CD, so, feel free to spam it later on.
(Tip: Use it like a shotgun, up close. Otherwise, you will be dealing miserable dmg and only be spending tons of mana. Remember -- this skill passes minions, so use it to poke while standing inside your wave (lower risk of enemy's skills hitting you), and apply it when the enemy approaches to farm.)

Swain's W () is a circular AOE ability with unbelievable range (semi-global 3500). It has high magic damage, slow and scaling, but has preparation time until explosion of 2.5 seconds. Grants you one sole shard for each enemy hit. Damage is halved against minions (bad wave clear). Reveals all enemies hit.
(Tip: use with your passive and e inside your combo to guarantee its hit, or drop inside the team fight, to slow the enemy team down significantly, and massively heal you. It is harder to avoid the hit in combat, rather when go back. Also good for interrupting tp back. Perfect for checking objectives/bushes.)

Swain's E () is medium range skillshot, which moderately damages enemies on path and comes back, rooting them. Its AP ration if hit by both parts is only 0.5, so it is not worth using for harassing.
(Tip: use your pull as soon as you root enemy, as it is hard CC ability.)

Swain's R () is one of the strongest abilities in the game. He turns into his Demon form, gaining size and health. Every second he deals damage to 3 closest enemies and drain health form them. Heal is lowered vs minions. You can recast it immidiately, to deal some innitial dmg. However, after draining enough he can recast it, or it will go off automatically after ult duration expires, to deal up to 1000 dmg (with items) late game in the same area around him. Importantly, the flat hp gain doubles during the ult's duration.
(Tip: Use ult to bait enemies. It grants you extra hp and incredible sustain for the duration. You can absorb a lot of damage, and, zhonnya's effect does not cancel drain, so you still continue healing and dealing damage to enemies. Great tool for initiating/aggro and then falling back.)

2 level: E, passive, Q

Constant: E, W (closer to you), passive, Q
(Guarantees hit by both W and Q, or by all Q skillshots, which leads to even more dmg)

Ult: Constant + Ult, Q, Q, Q (or zhonnya's), flash(if needed), Ult 2, Q

Pros:
-High AOE damage
-Incredible sustain
-Massive free hp late game
-Moderate CC and good CC synergy
-Good laning faze/poke
-Ungankable
-High ranges on passive and W reveal

Cons:
-Low mobility
-Damage on range gets lower and inconsistent
-High allergy to Ignite (From Winter Russia, hey)

Swain is a strong champion, which can lead to the greatest of wins. However, do not go in without support of your team. You are strong, but not immortal. Tactical advantage is over everything...

Good luck on the Rift.

My favorite music for playing Swain.
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