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Swain champion portrait

Swain Build

Top Tier 4

Patch 26.21 · Silver+ · 5,847 gamesUpdated

50.5%win rate0.3%pick3.5%ban

Who counters Swain

How to build Swain

Plated Steelcaps→Blackfire Torch→Rylai's Crystal Scepter→Zhonya's Hourglass

Plated Steelcaps → Blackfire Torch → Rylai's Crystal Scepter → Zhonya's Hourglass

55.2% win rate 7% of games 241 games
RunesPrecisionConquerorPresence of MindLegend: HasteLast StandResolveConditioningOvergrowth41% of games
SpellsFlashIgniteFlash + Ignite36%
Skills
123456789101112131415161718
Death's Hand
14578
Vision of Empire
39101213
Nevermove
214151718
Demonic Ascension
61116
StartDoran's RingHealth PotionHealth PotionDoran's Ring, Health Potion, Health Potion
Full Swain build →
50.5%win rate
Patch 26.20: 49.5% over 15,048 gamesPatch 26.21: 50.5% over 5,847 gameswin rate, 26.20 to 26.21
53.3%at Emerald+
0.3%pick rate
3.5%ban rate
Holdingsame as last patch
51.9%under 22 min
50.6%over 32 min

Swain Top gets better as the elo rises. 50.5% across Silver and above, and 53.3% at Emerald and up. It rewards players who know the matchup.

Want the written version? Our Counter Series breaks down how to actually play against champions like this, not just who wins on paper.

Recent games

Taken from as high up the ladder as this pick gets played. All 10 games from Master and above.

Loss 30–35m
MASTER+
Swain champion portraitT SwainvsJayce champion portraitT Jayce
6 / 8 / 19

Build

Plated Steelcaps|Frozen Heart→Rylai's Crystal Scepter→Randuin's Omen

Spells & runes

FlashGhost|

Skills

QEWQQRQWQWRWWEERE
Loss 15–20m
MASTER+
Swain champion portraitT SwainvsPantheon champion portraitT Pantheon
2 / 5 / 1

Build

Plated Steelcaps|Rod of Ages

Spells & runes

FlashTeleport|

Skills

QEWQQRQWQRWWW
Loss 35–40m
MASTER+
Swain champion portraitT SwainvsJayce champion portraitT Jayce
7 / 17 / 8

Build

Plated Steelcaps|Rod of Ages→Liandry's Torment→Rylai's Crystal Scepter

Spells & runes

FlashTeleport|

Skills

QEWQQRQWQWRWWEEREE

Runes

The full page most players run, not just the keystone.

Most popular 47.6% win rate · 41% of games · 1,788 games
PrecisionConquerorPresence of MindLegend: HasteLast Stand
ResolveConditioningOvergrowth
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling
Runner up 47.6% win rate · 9% of games · 395 games
DominationElectrocuteCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate Hunter
PrecisionCoup de GracePresence of Mind
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling

Summoner spells and early items

What people bring, and which ability they max first.

Summoner spells
pickwin
  • FlashIgniteFlash + Ignite36%49.8%2,150 games
  • FlashGhostFlash + Ghost27%52.4%1,621 games

Boots and the other slot items that do not count as finished items in the full build below.

Boots
Plated Steelcaps43%Mercury's Treads27%Boots of Swiftness13%
Plated Steelcaps most often · 50.7% win rate

Swain build

The items players finish, in the order they end up in the inventory.

  1. Zhonya's Hourglass1st
  2. Blackfire Torch2nd
  3. Rylai's Crystal Scepter3rd
2% of games that reach a third item take this path51.2% win rate82 games
Every slot, boots and full build for Swain →

Every slot, boots and full builds

Patch 26.21 · 5,927 games with a finished item

Slot by slot

Boots

Plated SteelcapsPlated Steelcaps
42% · 50.9% win rate
Mercury's TreadsMercury's Treads
26% · 51.6% win rate
Boots of SwiftnessBoots of Swiftness
13% · 51.2% win rate
Sorcerer's ShoesSorcerer's Shoes
8% · 50.0% win rate
BootsBoots
4% · 36.4% win rate
Gluttonous GreavesGluttonous Greaves
4% · 59.1% win rate

Most common full builds

  1. Rylai's Crystal Scepter+Plated Steelcaps2% of games · 34.2% win rate · 117 games
  2. Rylai's Crystal Scepter›Liandry's Torment+Plated Steelcaps1% of games · 50.0% win rate · 84 games
  3. Rod of Ages›Rylai's Crystal Scepter+Plated Steelcaps1% of games · 43.3% win rate · 67 games
  4. Rylai's Crystal Scepter+Mercury's Treads1% of games · 42.9% win rate · 63 games
  5. Rylai's Crystal Scepter›Frozen Heart+Plated Steelcaps1% of games · 49.1% win rate · 57 games
Where these numbers come from

We read finished ranked solo queue games directly from Riot and keep a running tally. Nothing is copied from another site.

Matchups compare Swain against the enemy champion in the same lane, counting only games where both were actually there. The counters list pulls each matchup toward Swain's own win rate by 180 games' worth of it, then keeps the ones still under 50%. A matchup seen thirty times barely moves off the champion's average, and one seen a thousand times keeps close to its own number.

Every number here is followed by the games behind it, because that's what tells you how much to trust it. A win rate over a few hundred games is worth reading. The same number over thirty is mostly luck.

Recent games show what was built and who won. They never show who played. Rank is grouped (Master and up is one band), game length is rounded to five minutes, and there's no region or date on a card.

Every ranked game we read this patch adds its finished items here, boots aside. Items are listed in the order they sit in the inventory, which isn't always the order they were bought: a finished item takes the slot its first part was in.

Compare a win rate only with the other picks in its own slot. A fifth item mostly shows up in long games, and those skew toward the team that was already ahead, so late slots run hot whatever sits in them. A row needs 30 games before it shows up at all.

Built from real ranked games this patch. We keep the running totals, never the games themselves.

Read More About Swain