Talk:Swain/@comment-3360855-20121207200155/@comment-130.234.181.219-20121211122949

Swain is usually mid, but he can go top as well. He's pretty brutal against melee champions who don't have strong gap closers or ridiculous sustain. Just hit them with E+Q every time they come even close to the creep wave and use W if they try to run at you. Just be careful for the first few levels because toplane is insanely snowbally if you fall behind.

The reasoning behind which champions go mid or top is not that strict anyway. Top is generally thought to be more dangerous because the halfway point is further away from the tower and there are so many bushes that need to be warded to be secure. Mid is usually pretty safe with a ward in one of the river bushes, but on top you really need two or three (river, lanebush, tribush if blue) to not get badly ganked. Swain's skillset is good at surviving because his Q can slow one pursuer, W can root both if you hit it and R can help stay alive while running. Also your opponent on top is more likely to take Teleport instead of Ignite than those on mid.