Swain vs Sona Counter Pick

Sona starts on 550 health and finishes at 2,097 by level 18, both figures below Swain’s 595 and 2,278, and she takes the matchup regardless. The explanation is not durability but tempo. Accelerando grants her permanent non-ultimate ability haste as she uses her abilities well, so the auras from Hymn of Valor, Aria of Perseverance and Song of Celerity return faster the longer a game runs.

Swain needs contact. Nevermove has to travel out, come back and root; Demonic Ascension has to keep enemies inside its radius. Song of Celerity hands allies bonus movement speed, which pulls targets out of that radius, and Aria of Perseverance repairs the chip damage his ravens were supposed to convert into Soul Fragments. Crescendo then stuns his side of a fight outright, cast from 550 units, twenty-five further than Swain’s 525 reach.

Their difficulty ratings run the other way, four for Sona against eight for Swain, so the more demanding champion is the one behind. Both deal magic damage and their magic resistance sits at 30 and 31, close enough to ignore. Sona’s 26 base armor and 97.4 at level 18 make her killable the moment Nevermove connects, which is precisely the play Swain has to hit from 525 units and mostly does not. Over 351 games on patch 16.13.1, Swain wins only 42.5 percent against Sona and sits clearly on the losing side.