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How to Win Bard vs Swain Counter MatchupBard is in the s tier of champions

Bard vs Swain

How to Beat Swain as Bard in LoLBard is in the b tier of champions
SupportMage
MageFighter

How to Beat Swain as Bard

based on 3,889 Bard vs Swain matchups
Win Rate
50.6 %
K/D/A
3.33
Pick Rate
3.6 %

How We Analyze LoL Champion Counters

We get our matchup statistics from the millions of recently ranked League matches that we analyze each and every week. This guide on how to beat Swain as Bard came out of an examination of 3889 ranked games where both champs fought one another. This particular matchup is relatively rare. Bard has to counter Swain in only 3.6% of his games.

Bard vs Swain Matchup Summary

Bard does a average job of beating Swain. On average, he wins a acceptable 50.6% of the time the champions clash against each other in. In Bard versus Swain rounds, Bard’s team is 0.0% more expected to obtain first blood, implying that he probably will be able to get first blood versus Swain.

Best Bard vs Swain Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Health PotionWorld Atlas

Early Items

~5 Mins
Cloth ArmorIonian Boots of Lucidity

Core Bard Items

~22 Mins
Frozen HeartBloodsongImperial Mandate

Optional Items

Kaenic RookernForce of NatureLocket of the Iron SolariMorellonomicon

Summoner Spells

summonerflash summoner spell D
summonerdot summoner spell F

Skill Order

First skill for Bard to level upq
>
Second ability for Bard to level upw
>
Last skill for Bard to max oute

Runes

PrecisionFleet FootworkTriumphLegend: TenacityCoup de Grace
ResolveConditioningUnflinching
Attack SpeedAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling
Bard's passive ability p
Bard's q ability q
Bard's w ability w
Bard's e ability e
Bard's ultimate ability r
1
Q
2
W
3
E
4
Q
5
Q
6
R
7
Q
8
W
9
Q
10
W
11
R
12
W
13
W
14
E
15
E
16
R

Guide to Countering Swain as Bard

Tips for Playing as Bard against Swain

Don't forget that enemies can also use your Magical Journey doorways, and that your ultimate can also hit your allies!

Let your Caretaker's Shrines charge up - they heal for a lot more when at full power.

It's important to collect chimes to improve your meep's attacks, but don't neglect your lane partner! Try to make a big entrance by bringing an ally into the lane with you with Magical Journey.

Advice to Win Against Swain

Buying an item with Grievous Wounds will make Swain much easier to kill during his Demonic Ascension.

Swain's passive is very potent if you are immobilized. Make sure to be extra careful around enemies who have immobilizing effects.

High mobility counters all of Swain's basic abilities: Death's Hand does more damage the closer he is, Vision of Empire has a very long delay and Nevermove must start returning back to him to be dangerous.

Bard vs Swain Counter Stats

Bard Image
Win Rate
50.6 %
VS
Win Rate
49.4 %
Swain Image
2.8
< Kills >
5.1
5.2
< Deaths >
6.3
14.5
< Assists >
10.1
0.6
< Killing Sprees >
1.15
30
< Minions Killed >
107
0.04
< Dragons Killed >
0.07
0.47
< Inhibitors >
0.43
3,192
< Physical Damage >
1,491
8,731
< Magic Damage >
20,573
1,119
< True Damage >
888
13,043
< Damage Dealt >
22,953
21,830
< Damage Taken >
31,271
8,998
< Gold Earned >
10,334
1.66
< Towers >
1.86
0.01
< Baron Takedowns >
0.02
6,674
< Total Healing >
9,504
11,404
< Experience >
12,339
60
< Vision Score >
33
26
< Wards Placed >
15
462
< Time Dealing CC >
363

How to Counter Swain with Bard in LoL

The stats shown here clarify several valuable Bard against Swain counter statistics that can help us appreciate the differences between these two champions. As an example, Bard’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is greater than Swain’s ratio of NaN, highlighting that Bard may be more central to his team's team fighting effectiveness than Swain. This observation is largely fueled by the differences in assists.

Bard normally has a slightly smaller longest killing spree than his counter does. Commonly, he receives less damage than Swain. This often reflects different amounts of tankyness, yet it can also show that the one champion has less mobility and thus is not able to kite away from additional damage when poked or engaged.

Differences between Bard and Swain

Damage Types Compared

Bard
Swain
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Compared

Bard
Swain

Who is Better, Bard or Swain?

Both League champs are great champions. Both have their pros and cons. In League's current meta, Bard usually fairs equally well when playing against Swain, with a 50.6% win rate. Thus, Bard makes an ok counter to Swain.

While Bard does have a higher win rate than Swain, when on opposite teams, Bard also has a greater difficulty level that makes him a more time consuming character to develop with. You should be careful when picking Bard into Swainas his relative depth means you may not be able to reach his full potential without a lot of practice beforehand.

Furthermore, Bard has a good amount of CC and other utility, a similar amount to Swain. This often makes her just as valuable during team fights, especially when fighting champions with a ton of burst damage.

While there isn't a single best champion for every situation in League of Legends, in Bard vs Swain matchups, Bard is the better champion with a similar win rate, more champion depth, and a similar amount of utility to help out your allies during team fights.

Bard is a decent counter for Swain. Focus your tactics on maximizing your CS and destroying objectives. If you can do that, you should hold your own as Bard against Swain.

Additional Information for Bard Players

How We Calculated Our Bard vs Swain Build and Stats

For this guide on countering Swain as Bard, we analyzed 3,889 matchups from recent LoL games. We use rigorous data cleaning and processing methods to ensure that our counter stats are of the highest quality. You can rest assured that the recommended build to counter Swain as Bard comes from real data and is not the fabrication of some random LoL player, as some other sites provide. You can use the filters at the top of the page to view the most relevant stats and items to your rank.

Other Useful Resources

Further Insights to Win this Matchup

To truly master Bard in order to counter Swain during both the lane and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should keep reading to learn a few extra tricks and insights into this matchup. If you mind the build and stats presented above, you should increase your win rate significantly and be that much closer to League of Legends pro players.

Bard usually picks up a lot less CS relative to Swain. Champions who typically don't get much CS typically don't need much CS to be effective, such as support champions. These kinds of champions are able to scale well off of their abilities and first items alone. Yet, champs with a lot of CS, such as hyper-carries, typically require many items to be effective. In either situation, try to do better than the values displayed here to do well.

The most crucial items to focus on in your Bard versus Swain build consist of Frozen Heart, Bloodsong, and Imperial Mandate. When Bard included at least these three pieces in his build, he did significantly better when facing Swain than with most other common counter builds. In fact, Bard had an average winrate of 50.6% battling Swain with these items in his kit.

To have the best chance of coming out on top against Swain as Bard, Bard players should take the Fleet Footwork, Triumph, Legend: Tenacity, Coup de Grace, Conditioning, and Unflinching runes from the Precision and Resolve rune sets. Out of all the runes we have analyed for Bard vs Swain clashes, this set of runes resulted in the highest win rate. Notably, these runes averaged a 50.6% win rate overall.

By default, tips, stats, and builds on how to beat Swain as Bard are displayed for every ranked division. If you want to scope the stats and builds to an individual division, you should use the selection menu at the top of this page.