A new Swain rework is bringing drastic changes to Noxus’ iron-fisted leader, with the new update allowing him to stay in his ultimate indefinitely under the right circumstances.
Swain got a full Visual Gameplay Update years ago that has slowly made his niche in League of Legends shaky. Swain is one of the latest champions to get a mid-scope update looking to change some functionality of their kit without giving them brand new abilities.
Swain rework gives him unlimited ultimate time
Swain’s new rework has a few major changes, taking away his ability to pull enemies off of allies’ crowd control while refocusing him as a drain-tanking raid boss. Swain’s rework increases his healing from removing the souls of crowd-controlled enemies while shifting significant power into his Q and ultimate. Swain will still be able to do his iconic pull, but it will be tied to reactivating his grab, Nevermove.
The biggest change comes with his ultimate no longer ending once he reactivates it for a burst of magic damage. Now, Swain’s ultimate is active as long as he’s draining health from targets. This is similar to the Olaf rework that is hitting the PBE in the same patch, both champions are now able to make their ultimates last indefinitely in fights. The Swain rework looks to emphasize his unstoppable nature when an extended team fight breaks out.
Swain’s changes do make him somewhat less viable as a support, as pairing crowd control with Swain could lead to some obnoxiously powerful lanes. The tradeoff is that his moments of power are more amplified, with Nevermove becoming a key part of his trade patterns.
The Swain rework will likely launch in LoL patch 12.8.
