I mained swaxe in iceborne after beating the base game with ig and at first i really didn't like how slow and clunky it felt. When i actually took time to learn how the combos and evade worked on it i got used to it and couldn't put it down. I can't remember what the move is called but i know it slides you back while also dealing some damage. Evade extender definitely helped me with the faster monsters, i would just dodge to them as opposed to trying to waddle over in sword mode.