Chapter 84: of Europe

Audience perspective.

On the minimap, the five avatars of the blue side FNC looked like five chess pieces, lined up in a row by the river.

Meanwhile, the three players from the red side G2—top, mid, and jungle—had grouped together, marching aggressively toward the blue side's upper jungle.

Rushing to defend the blue side's mid-left jungle exit against Spirit, he had just steadied himself in the bushes when he saw three burly enemies charging at his face; he startled, quickly turned and fled, leaving behind a fake eye.

But that eye lasted less than two seconds; the two enemy frontline melee champs rushed into the brush and cleared it outright.

All three had quick reflexes; in the end, AP's Viktor, whose projectile had the longest range, snagged the 10‑gold eye‑clear bounty and chuckled twice into his headset.

Unfortunately, they were just one patch off; this version only gave gold for clearing eyes, not experience—the experience‑granting mechanic wouldn't arrive until 6.13, and they're still on 6.12.

After clearing the eye, G2 didn't continue the invasion; the three split up and went their separate ways.

But Liang Yan's order to group up had a deeper purpose.

After placing a ward in the central river bush, Liang Yan returned to his own jungle, standing guard in front of the F4 camp, while Lao Zhang's treant walked up the river, made a big loop, came back from behind the Dragon pit, met up with Liang Yan, and then they headed downstream together.

At the same time, down in the bottom lane, G2's duo was making their way up from the jungle.

"Wow, it looks like G2 is about to swap lanes again!"

"This is exactly the trend they started; now, when facing the super‑strong lane pressure of Caitlyn and Jinx, they've once again opted for a lane‑swap tactic!"

The lane‑swap tactic actually appeared as early as Season 1, and thereafter it shows up in pro play every few seasons.

But for this summer split, Europe's lane‑swap craze truly kicked off with G2's match against H2K.

The Zyra‑Bard lane duo already had strong lane‑holding power, but the opponents threw curveballs, pulling out the massive Caitlyn‑Jinx combo that made Zven joke about surrendering before the fight even started; though it was just banter, everyone knew bottom lane pressure was real, so during the hero‑select phase after bans, Ka Lao Si consulted the team and finally settled on this game's lane‑swap strategy.

FNC should have seen it coming, but G2's early three‑man group gave them a false impression, and when Kikis's Riven spotted Lao Zhang's treant marching alone up from the river, the combined actions completely misled FNC's judgment.

Thus, at the outset of this fight, G2 once again seized the initiative.

After the jungle monsters respawned, Liang Yan started clearing from the blue buff, and considering Olaf's mechanic—lower health means faster attack speed—he opted to clear solo.

Lao Zhang, meanwhile, went top early, crouched in the brush, and quietly soaked up experience.

Only after FNC's duo finished a camp of Stone Armor Beetles and returned to lane did they notice Zyra and Bard showing up top, realizing something was off, as Jinx moved to press them into the brush.

Lao Zhang then began to flee, looping back to the river to feel out mid; it was just a casual move, yet he unexpectedly snagged the enemy Shah's Flash—a pure stroke of luck.

Moreover, the Shah was already low on health and needed to find a chance to recall and heal.

Liang Yan, who had planned to keep farming the F4 camp, instantly changed course upon seeing that, grabbing his double axes and charging straight into the enemy's upper jungle.

Although the enemy support rushed all the way from bottom lane, FNC was effectively missing a mid‑laner, so G2's top‑mid‑jungle‑support quartet drove them out of the jungle; Liang Yan cleanly took FNC's upper jungle—including the blue buff—two monster camps, leaving only a single wolf pack for Rek'Sai.

As the commentator put it, Olaf ate so much this wave his beer belly popped out!

The venue camera panned over the FNC bench; Spirit's face was black as if someone had stabbed him in the rear, showing early signs of cracking under pressure.

Liang Yan truly hadn't planned to target him specifically, but the timing was simply perfect.

This wave, Lao Zhang earned major credit; after organizational discussion and approval, he ultimately secured the exclusive right to the demolition compensation for a single turret.

Both sides' first turrets fell just after the four‑minute mark; G2 was a few seconds quicker, taking down FNC's top turret, while FNC destroyed G2's bottom turret.

On both sides, the top‑lane champion alone claimed the turret‑destroy gold.

Liang Yan finished his jungle clear and returned to his own jungle, starting to clear from the Stone Armor Beetles downward.

After finishing the F4 camp, he turned and headed back up.

By then, both sides had reverted to normal lane assignments; Spirit's Rek'Sai was top lane helping the Riven push, trying to shove the wave into the tower as fast as possible.

Lao Zhang had soaked up a lot of experience early on from bottom lane, whereas Kikis's Riven had been shoved out by G2's duo from the very start, gaining nothing.

Thus, although Riven had taken the early push‑lane experience lead, the opening deficit plus the experience shared with Rek'Sai left his level still behind Lao Zhang's treant.

A level‑3 Riven plus a level‑4 Rek'Sai had no appetite for a level‑4 treant that had backed off to buy items, so they just kept shoving the lane.

Liang Yan came up from the river, and without a word he burst forward with a sprint, double axes raised, charging straight at Kikis's Riven's face.

"Firrrrrre popped a sprint and charged in! The forces were totally lopsided—FNC couldn't even fight back! Spirit just dug a hole and ran, head‑straight for the turret!"

"Kikis lacks any active dash to quickly widen the gap! Moreover, Firrrrrre is clearly gunning for him! 【Reverse Toss】 hits! Kikis's movement speed drops sharply!"

"Island rushes in with 【Distortion Thrust】 and pins him down!"

"Firrrrrre surges forward, unleashing 【Ravage】 in a frenzy! A 【Reverse Toss】 on the left, a 【Reckless Swing】 on the right—Kikis's health pours out like a flood!"

Kikis realized he couldn't escape, didn't flash, and countered with a 【Balanced Strike】 that stunned Liang Yan's Olaf, then ran behind the treant, obviously not wanting Olaf to claim his kill.

But Lao Zhang couldn't care less; he slammed an 【Arcane Smash】 that swatted him aside, then turned and walked away.

After losing control, Liang Yan snatched his axe and flung it; the blade skimmed the ground, splashing water everywhere, finally landing squarely on the side‑stepping Kikis.

Ugh~

Irelia let out a seductive dying sigh, her slender frame slowly collapsing to the ground.

Olaf and the treant popped up two golden numbers:

+400

+200

The first‑blood bounty and assist went into their respective pockets.

"The title of Europe's First Blood King may have to change hands! Firrrrrre! He's snagged first blood yet again! The Asian superstar jungler and his hometown buddy Island utterly crushed their lane opponents right from the start of this fight!"

"It's terrifying, Firrrrrre—a 90% first‑blood rate is already terrifying enough."

"Is Jankos already the former holder?"

"Well, looking at the stats, that's indeed the case."