Smolder vs Swain Counter Pick

In the bot lane, this matchup is decided by range. Smolder reaches out to 550, while Swain tops out at 525. Demonic Ascension only drains health from enemies who are already close to him, so it does little against someone keeping their distance. Vision of Empire can slow and reveal from afar, but it lands as a telegraphed circle, not a threat that moves toward you. Death’s Hand releases several piercing bolts, and each one adds damage, so lining up behind a row of minions means paying for bad spacing. Smolder’s 53.5% win rate over 348 games on patch 16.13.1 owes a lot to how easy that spacing is to maintain when the support doesn’t press the issue.

Swain’s game plan revolves around Nevermove, a wave of demonic power that flies out and returns to him. It roots whatever it hits and lets him drag rooted champions toward him, so nearly everything he does depends on that root connecting. Swain is rated 8 for difficulty, compared with 6 for Smolder. Ravenous Flock permanently increases his maximum health as he collects Soul Fragments, but that payoff only arrives in a long game he first has to survive. Early on he is the sturdier of the two, with 595 health and 25 armor against 575 and 24. By the end the gap closes, with 2,278 against 2,275, so durability isn’t what separates them. The real question is whether the root lands before Smolder builds enough Dragon Practice stacks to finish him from range. Both champions are limited by mana, though Swain’s kit is far more costly to keep running.