My initial impressions about Swain were unflattering to say the least. He just didn’t “bring it” like other champions did. He caught a buff, though, and I have to say, I’m starting to like the guy. I almost bought a skin at full price for him!
The bottom line for me is that Swain does have a fun playstyle. He has a lot of control, the nice bonus of healing himself in lane for what sometimes feels like a lot of mana, but the mana comes back. Oh, he also does great damage. With an ignite it’s very easy to get some early kills in a side lane.
The biggest place Swain struggles is the big team fights. Yeah, sounds counterintuitive with his bird, but he just doesn’t heal enough to keep himself alive through a full-on, five-man explosion of AoE. He’s great against three, though (hmm, might have to try him on TT some time soon), and he only gets better as the numbers go down. The fact that he can slow you, stun you, then immediately slow you again means you better hope to god you have Flash and he doesn’t.
Though the current metagame seems to limit Swain, I don’t think it’s a stretch to do well with him in ranked games.
Passive: Carrion Renewal: Swain gains 150% increased mana regeneration for 5 seconds upon killing a unit. Note: This looks like another great passive
(Q)Decrepify – Swain sets his raven to cripple an enemy. Over the
(W)Nevermove – Swain marks a target area. After a short delay, mighty talons grab hold of enemy units dealing damage and rooting them.
(E) Ravenous Flock – Swain inspires dread in his enemies by temporarily taking the form of a raven. During this time ravens strike out at up to 3 nearby enemies. Each raven deals damage and heals Swain for the same amount.
(R)Torment – Swain afflicts his target, dealing damage over time. Each tick deals additional damage based on a percent of all damage taken from Swain during Torment (this includes the spell’s periodic damage).
