How to Play Swain Mid: Tips & Power Spikes (26.19)

Max order: Q > W > E
First item: Blackfire Torch11.4 min
Gold vs lane at 15: −206
Win rate 1k gold ahead: 73.0%
Win rate 1k gold behind: 34.7%

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Swain Power Spikes (Patch 26.19)

Mid

When Swain Mid gets stronger, in the order it happens in a typical ranked game: ability unlocks from the most common skill order, item spikes at the median minute players finish them, and the game length Swain wins most.

Lv 3
All three basic abilities at level 3
Swain's full combo is online — the first point where trading all-in is realistic.
Lv 6
Ultimate rank 1 at level 6
The biggest early spike: look for a kill or a roam as soon as Swain hits it.
Lv 11
Ultimate rank 2 at level 11
Lower ultimate cooldown means more fights Swain can start or win.
Lv 16
Ultimate rank 3 at level 16
Lower ultimate cooldown means more fights Swain can start or win.
11.4 min
First item at 11.4 min
Blackfire Torch is done — Swain's first real damage or durability spike.
19.8 min
Two items at 19.8 min
Blackfire Torch + Rylai's Crystal Scepter: the window to group and take objectives.
25 min
Strongest in games of about 25 minutes
Swain wins 54.8% of games that end around this point.

Item timings are medians: half of players finish later. Fall behind in farm and every item spike moves back with it.

Swain Mid Laning Plan

Swain recovers well from behind: a lost lane is not a lost game, so keep farming and wait for teamfights. On average Swain Mid is 206 gold behind the lane opponent at 15 minutes and ahead in only 47% of games. A 1,000-gold lead at 15 turns into a 73% win rate; a 1,000-gold deficit leaves 35%. Swain averages 0.79 solo kills by 15 minutes.

Swain win rate by gold at 15

1,000+ gold ahead73.0%
Ahead63.0%
Behind41.1%
1,000+ gold behind34.7%

Swain Mid and Late Game

What Swain does better or worse than other champions after laning, from this patch's ranked games — percentiles where 100 is the highest of every champion.

Play to these strengths

Swain brings crowd control (percentile 94): start the fight or follow up on a teammate's engage.
Swain heals a lot (percentile 82): extended fights and sieges favor Swain.
Swain out-wards most champions (percentile 82): keep owning vision around the next objective.
Swain wins 4.2 points more in short games than long ones: group, take objectives and end before the enemy scales.

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.

Playing 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 dange
Buying an item with Grievous Wounds will make Swain much easier to kill during his Demonic Ascension.

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How to Play Swain FAQ - Patch 26.19

When does Swain power spike?

Swain's spikes in a typical ranked game: All three basic abilities at level 3; Ultimate rank 1 at level 6; Ultimate rank 2 at level 11; Ultimate rank 3 at level 16; First item at 11.4 min.

Can Swain come back from behind?

Swain wins 41% of games when behind in gold at 15 minutes (over 299 games), against 63% when ahead — so a lost lane costs Swain games, but it is not decisive.

What is Swain's first item?

Most Swain players finish Blackfire Torch first, at a median of 11.4 minutes.

How do you play Swain Mid?

From this patch's ranked data, Swain wins by playing to these strengths: start fights with crowd control; take long fights and sieges; control vision.

Swain How to Play: Tips & Power Spikes