League of Legends is going through a huge shift in the way it is played. With streams getting more popular any one can watch a professional player in their respective role. Not only that but teams from all around the world are easy and free to watch compete against each other. This being said any Summoner watching these games would no doubt see the success of many different play styles. One of the most popular also seeing the light of day in the Challenger series and in many tournaments and in fact my own team.

Lane swapping is simply taking the ADC and Support and putting them in the top lane while taking that top lane and putting them on the bottom. What this does is create an uneven match up but like many strategies in League of Legends there is a lot more to consider than a simple positional change. There is risk and reward just like taking ignite over heal, a consideration of team compositions, and knowing when you have the advantage to swap. Going over these things will help in understanding what lane swapping is and how to use it effectively.

The Risk

Here we will talk about some of the risks being taken when lane swapping.

- Bad Dragon positioning
While Dragon does not necessarily win or lose games having good positioning on dragon can be important for transitioning into the mid game. When you are taking away two people from bottom and only replacing them with one you do risk the other team being able to grab an early dragon without much contest. However if you react correctly you should be able to push that top turret with more pressure knowing they have no help.

- Other team may react better than you can capitalize
Sometimes other teams are more practiced with lane swapping than your team. This can cause them to play surprisingly well and maybe even out-perform you in pushing their lane. However if your bruiser/tank with whom you have switched lanes with does not require as much farm as the opposing bruiser/tank in order to be effective, then it can still be a small win for your team.

- If you don't push fast you may lose your surprise swap
Playing passive and safe is seemingly unnecessary and freezing the lane by last hitting minions is really just enabling the other team rather than your own. Once the ADC and Support pair hit level 6 it is much harder to survive under turret and protect it. To get the most out of this strategy you would want to down the turret before reaching level 6 or at least before the other team does but don’t sacrifice yourself to get there.

- Can still be ganked by mid and jungle
While you have a two on one if mid and/or jungle come up to gank you are still at risk. In order to avoid this try to have vision on river and tri bush when you are pushing hard on the tower while also communicating with the mid lane so that you can pull back if their opponent goes MIA.

- Poor Champion select gives other team the advantage
This may seem obvious but when in champion select it is important that you pick champions to help you succeed in your lane swap. If the other team looks like they could put more turret pressure than you can then maybe the lane swap isn’t for you that game.

It is important to note that these are only some of the risks, however the ultimate risk is losing the game. Execution is key and if you or your team don't feel good about going out of their comfort zone in competition than maybe give it some more practice.

The Reward

However despite the risks there are great rewards to lane swapping. The benefits however do not guarantee you victory by any means. These are just some of the benefits you can reap with a successful lane swap.

- Shutdown opposing top laner
Shutting down the other team’s top laner can mean the game for your team, if you keep it that way. Champions that require a good amount of minion kills in order to reach their potential are champions you will want to keep your eyes out for when thinking about lane switching.

- First Turret
This one is definitely a big deal if your top laner, who is now on bottom, can successfully defend their turret. By getting the first turret your whole team now has extra gold which for this point in the game can really help them transition into mid game with their core items. First turret however does not guarantee a victory but can give your team confidence.

- Able to switch back to normal lanes with turret gold
If you decide to and are able to, switching back to your original lanes is the way to go in order to take this advantage far. If you can get back to lane after backing to buy, you’ll come in the lane with more items and an outer turret to fight the opposing ADC and Support.

- Starting with an objective mindset
This can be more important than some of the other rewards because many games are lost due to focusing on kills rather than objectives. You can’t win the game without getting objectives so starting off with a focus on getting first turret can help the mindset of the team to keep focusing on objectives.

- Surprise may throw off opposing team's mentality
This last one will depend on what level of competition you are in but it is possible that you switching lanes can give the other team something they were not planning on or expecting. However League of Legends is a very strategic and mental game so throwing off someone’s mentality in a game can be devastating for that person’s team.

Team Compositions

Team composition is alwasys something to be considered because if your team does not fit well together it can make winning team fights and taking objectives diffucult.

-ADC Support combos

Some ADC and Support combinations are not well suited for lane swaps due to inability to siege effectively. Some champions like Lucian may be able to play an aggressive lane but can be hard to land skill shots and put on tower pressure. All melee support champions would also hinder the effectiveness of pushing a tower early as they have to get close to do any damage.
A good combination my team has competed with is Caitlyn and Morgana as both have good range and are able to poke from a distance with abilities and can easily catch someone trying to farm under their turret. This is only one combination I have personally tried while I have also seen Braum and Jinx combinations do quite well too.

When to Swap

Now that we kind of have a feel for what optimal lane swapping is how can we know when we should and shouldn't lane swap? Well here are some things that should raise flags in your mind for a lane swap:

- Opposing top laner relies on farm
- Opposing ADC and Support counter your combo
- Your Bot lane duo can siege better and faster than the opposing team's duo.
- Your Top laner can farm under turret
- Your Top laner can dodge
- You feel confident in your team's ability to capitalize
- Opposing ADC and Support duo do not have good tower poke

Any of these and other factors all can justify a lane swap for your team. However once you have acquired that lead and turret the fun is not over! Ideally you will want to get back to lane, preferably when your solo bot lane can safely back without losing turret or having to teleport top. This is the best option, however if you use teleport to swap lanes then your top laner will be out of the very near dragon fight that is bound to happen soon. Keeping this in mind you will be ahead by a small bit but not enough to just go all in to type "gg" in all chat.

Performing a traditional lane swap can be very risky if none of these factors are at play. Preferably you would want all of them if you plan on doing this outside of a Normal or Draft game. While lane swapping can be effective it is always possible the other team may respond better and quicker which can cause a mental breakdown within the team. This is only one team strategy and there are many counter strategies to this as well as better strategies if you want to simply push lanes first. Remember that getting the first tower or shutting down one champion does not win you the game but gives your team a slight edge so you still have to play cautious, with vision, and communication.

Please talk to your team before trying a Lane Swap. Common symptoms of a failed lane swap include but are not limited to: raging, quitting, throwing, loss of confidence, low self esteem, and or disbandment of team. Thanks for reading!