Swain vs Brand Counter Pick

Swain, the Noxian Grand General, meets Brand, the Burning Vengeance, in the Support lane. Over 553 ranked games on patch 16.13.1, Swain closes out 41.2% of them. Sitting 8.8 points below the 50% line marks Brand as a genuine problem pick for Swain.

Conflagration (E) is the ability Swain has to respect, just as Brand plays around Death’s Hand. Demonic Ascension and Pyroclasm are the two buttons that end the exchange outright.

This is a ranged mirror in terms of reach — 525 versus 550 — so spacing matters less than ability timing.

With Swain and Brand both dealing magic damage, stacking a single stat answers most of it. Swain carries 595 base health to Brand’s 570, and 25 armour to 24. Scaling matters as well: Swain ends on 2278 HP, Brand on 2355. Brand covers ground faster from level one (330 against 340).

A 8/10 difficulty rating on Swain, against 4/10, means the sample includes plenty of players still learning it. Sample size counts as much as the number — 553 games for Brand here.