Talk:Swain/@comment-93.46.46.70-20120617155954/@comment-4677525-20120618084033

From what I understand, a large part of this depends on the skill of the Swain player. What makes Swain good against burst mages in general is his ultimate which allows him to survive a full burst combo, but what makes him good against Ahri in particular is the snare and the fact that all of Ahri's skills can be dodged.

Theoretically, if you snare Ahri when she dashes in with her ulti, she may be caught in an unfavorable position and blown up. On top of that, all of Ahri's abilities can be dodged or avoided whereas Swain's E+Q is guaranteed to hit making Swain's lane harass superior.

That being said, as Swain you have to be really smart about landing the snare AND dodging the skillshots (especially the taunt) + Ahri can still burst Swain with Ignite. I wouldn't say it's a hard counter, but I feel with 2 equally skilled players playing Swain and Ahri, Swain has the upper-hand.