Swain the Tactician is a powerful early-game caster champion with some strong spells, but be wary of being focused in team fights!

Swain's ultimate spell is so awkward, by the way, not only because it is random in its targeting abilities, but because Swain needs to be fairly close to his opponent in order for it to hit. Considering that all of Swain's other abilities are medium-ranged and that Swain is a pretty squishy spell caster (if you don't add tank items), too often I see Swain players desperately trying to get into the middle of the battle to take advantage of their ultimate, only to be immediately smashed. The passive heal from his ultimate is good, but if Swain builds himself like a common magical DPS carry he really won't be able to withstand any focus fire.

Where Swain is extremely strong, however, is during the lane phase, where he has near infinite amounts of mana if he is any good at last hitting. His passive boosts his mana regeneration for every creep he kills, and since Torment is a targeted spell with decent range, Swain should be able to constantly harass his enemies while still keeping his mana up. A lot of Swain players like to take the middle lane to pressure their opponents in a 1v1, but I find that, since Swain doesn't really have a lot of solid defensive options (it's fairly easy to dodge Nevermore as it places a bright purple rune on the ground before firing), and because his skills aren't very long range, a smart ranged opponent can easily out pressure Swain by trading hits and being unafraid of his skills.

Sadly, after the lane phase is over, unless Swain has managed to build up a solid lead from the laning phase, I feel that he lacks presence in team fights. Other caster carry champions have some incredible up-front spike damage to deal with opponents, but Swain must rely on constant damage through Decrepify, Torment and his ultimate, Ravenous Flock, in order to win the day. This has led many Swain players to build a Deathfire Grasp for its instant damage (and when stacked with Torment, it deals even more damage), but this is where you run into problems. By building Deathfire Grasp (a purely offensive item), Swain has some pitiful defensive stats, and is prone to being rushed down in seconds. Lacking any form of defensive spell, like Morgana's Black Shield that she can use before wading in to pop her ultimate, means that Swain must do one of two things: a) ignore his ultimate and cast spells from afar, or b) build himself as a damage dealing tank to utilize all of his spells.

Choosing option a) means that Swain becomes a terrible version of Anivia in all ways, and so it is only in choosing option b) that Swain gets any unique team utility. If you are still considering adding Swain to your team lineup, I would highly recommend that you place him in this role, because players also tend to equate peg legs to some sort of defensive weakness, so even if Swain becomes the hardiest tank on your team, your opponents will still try to target him if he walks right into battle. In the end, while Swain will not be the "best" in any role he is placed in, this is not to say that a good Swain player will be bringing his team down. He is a decent caster DPS champion who can, if anything, utilize his Ravenous Flock to stay in the lane forever; it's just that there are a few champions who can simply out-perform him in all ways (Anivia and Morgana come to mind). My advice? Build him as a tank, taunt your opponents with loud, obnoxious pirate lingo, walk into the middle of every fight, utilize Decrepify and Nevermore to control the battlefield / protect your squishy DPS carries, and watch the feathers fly.