Guide · Support

Swain Guide

the Noxian Grand General

Mage

Support

Tier B Support

Swain, the Noxian Grand General, is a mage and support champion that is demanding to master. Across our 605 analysed ranked games, Swain is mostly played as Support (42% of its games), and more rarely as ADC (31%), in Mid (16%), and in Top (11%), with a 49.6% win rate in that role: tier B among Support champions (#22 of 39, ranked by win rate). Swain's damage is mostly magic (85%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 54.2% in short games (under 25 min, 83 games) versus 46.6% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min).

Averages measured over 254 Support games played with Swain, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Swain is a mage who grows: his ravens collect soul fragments that heal him and permanently increase his max health. Death's Hand deals more damage with the number of projectiles, Vision of Empire slows and reveals, Nevermove roots and pulls, and Demonic Ascension drains the health of nearby enemies.

Harassment

W › Q › AA AA

When: An enemy is within range.

Vision of Empire damages, slows and reveals the champions hit (a soul fragment as a bonus), Death's Hand deals increasing damage.

The capture

E › E › Q

When: An enemy is isolated.

Nevermove fires a wave that returns and roots the enemies hit; recast it to pull every rooted champion toward you.

Demon form

R › E › Q › R

When: A team fight begins.

Demonic Ascension transforms you and drains the health of nearby enemies; Demonic Eruption decimates and slows, and the form lasts as long as you drain enemy champions.

Laning phase

Vision of Empire damages, slows and gives a soul fragment if it hits a champion. Death's Hand passes through enemies: the more projectiles hit, the more the damage increases.

Common mistakes

• Using Nevermove without knowing whom to pull in.
• Casting the ultimate outside the fight: it drains nearby enemies.
• Neglecting soul fragments: they increase your max health.

Riot's official tips for playing Swain

• If you're having trouble rooting an enemy with Nevermove, try throwing it at opponents when they are near their minions so the explosion surprises them.
• While laning, try to use Death's Hand's piercing damage to damage opponents from a safe distance.
• Vision of Empire is quite difficult to land on its own, look for skirmishes around the map where enemies may be distracted or crowd controlled so you can land it more easily.
• Demonic Ascension may make Swain very hard to kill but he's pretty easy to get away from. Try building items that can slow opponents to keep them in range if their mobility is overwhelming.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Liandry's Torment (16 games, 56.2% win rate).

Rylai's Crystal Scepter+Zhonya's Hourglass+Liandry's Torment

16 games · 56.2%

Summoner spells

Flash + Ignite50.6% · 164 games

Exhaust + Flash51.8% · 54 games

Flash + Heal37.0% · 27 games

Most-played runes

Electrocute + Precision

44.7% · 76 games

Primary tree · Domination

Cheap Shot97%

Grisly Mementos86%

Ultimate Hunter91%

Secondary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind91%

Coup de Grace74%

Shards

Adaptive force86%

Adaptive force87%

Health scaling83%

Conqueror + Resolve

55.9% · 59 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind97%

Legend: Haste100%

Last Stand97%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Overgrowth90%

Conditioning88%

Shards

Adaptive force92%

Adaptive force93%

Health scaling88%

Electrocute + Inspiration

49.0% · 51 games

Primary tree · Domination

Cheap Shot96%

Deep Ward51%

Ultimate Hunter84%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear63%

Jack Of All Trades53%

Shards

Adaptive force55%

Adaptive force53%

Health55%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Swain's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team49.3% · 75 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Rylai's Crystal Scepter 49.3%

Zhonya's Hourglass 60.0% ▲

Liandry's Torment 52.9%

Malignance 63.6%

The item that stands out most is Zhonya's Hourglass: 60.0% win rate, +6 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team50.0% · 68 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Rylai's Crystal Scepter 49.1%

Zhonya's Hourglass 40.0%

Liandry's Torment 63.6%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team49.5% · 111 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Rylai's Crystal Scepter 53.7%

Zhonya's Hourglass 58.8% ▲

Liandry's Torment 37.9% ▼

Malignance 50.0%

Frozen Heart 73.3%

Spirit Visage 60.0%

The item that stands out most is Zhonya's Hourglass: 58.8% win rate, +4 points versus its usual win rate.

Counters and matchups

How to play against Swain

• Swain's passive is very potent if you are immobilized. Make sure to be extra careful around enemies who have immobilizing effects.
• High mobility counters all of Swain's basic abilities: Death's Hand does more damage the closer he is, Vision of Empire has a very long delay and Nevermove must start returning back to him to be dangerous.
• Buying an item with Grievous Wounds will make Swain much easier to kill during his Demonic Ascension.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Swain's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveRavenous Flock

Swain's ravens collect Soul Fragments that heal him and permanently increase his maximum health.

QDeath's Hand

Swain unleashes several bolts of eldritch power that pierce through enemies. Enemies hit take more damage for each bolt they are struck by.

WVision of Empire

Swain opens a demon eye that deals damage and slows enemies. Champions hit are revealed and also grant Swain a Soul Fragment.

ENevermove

Swain launches a wave of demonic power forward. It then returns to Swain and roots enemies it hits. Swain can then choose to pull all rooted champions closer. This ability has a shorter cooldown during Demonic Ascension.

RDemonic Ascension

Swain transforms into a demon and drains health from nearby enemy champions, minions, and neutral monsters. Swain can cast Demonflare to decimate and slow nearby enemies with a nova of soulfire. This form is indefinite as long as Swain drains enemy champions.

Frequently asked questions

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