Anatomy of a 2v1 Lane Swap

What used to be an occasional phenomenon in 2014 has become the norm. The 2v1 lane swap was primarily used to shield a weak bottom lane before the 4.4 patch. The reasons for that are numerous, not the least of which is that a top laner could grab jungle camps without the jungler holding his or her hand. The 4.4 patch was the catalyst for the 2v1 proliferation thanks to the extension of Trinket's starting cool down from 90 seconds to two minutes.

4.4 Changes Everything

As stated, the main reason for so many more 2v1 lane swaps is tied to extending Trinket starting cool down, but what does that actually mean? How did it do that? The extension stopped teams from being able to protect themselves from a late invade on a consistent basis, so teams adapted and invaded with three or four members early, and then fell back to their buff on the same side of the map. In effect, the middle lane bisected the jungle instead of the river. The entire point was to protect the jungler and allow a blue and a red buff to be secured. The alternative, as seen in the clip below, is a very unfortunate circumstance.