If you’re new to the esports world, it might be a little hard to understand exactly what the commentators are saying when they’re talking about the match that’s going on. In fact, it’s not exactly surprising to feel lost when you’re listening to them talk and use esports terminology.

The list of words out there that describe the world of esports is immense, and it could take months for you to finally fully understand everything that they’re saying. When I first began watching League of Legends on the competitive scene, I didn’t understand a single word they said.

It took me two months to finally have an idea as to what they were talking about and then I could understand how the game was functioning. I’m going to make it much easier for you, however. Today, we’ll be going over some of the main terminology used in the esports industry today, giving you a better understanding of what the game is talking about and possibly helping you in the long run.

We’ll be going through all of the esports terminology in an alphabetical order so that it’s easier for you to navigate and memorize. We want it to be as easy as possible for you to enter the esports world because it’s a world that is worth discovering. Before we get started though, just remember that MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena since I’ll be using this word several times throughout.

AD

AD stands for attack damage. This usually applies to MOBA games, but it’s also been seen in other esports and can also just mean damage. The main definition of “AD” means how much physical damage they have.

ADC/Attack Damage Carry

An ADC is usually a word that is used in MOBA games but can also apply to other esports if put in the right context. An ADC stands for Attack Damage Carry, and that is exactly what it means. They’re the main damage on the team through attacking the other enemies.

Aggro

“Aggro” is short for aggressive and is used to describe someone who plays exactly that way. Whether they’re attacking their opponents more than their opponents are attacking them or are really pushing the boundaries of safe play. It can also be used to describe an NPC (non-player character) attacking a player for some reason.

Animation Cancel

Animation cancel is the process of using different abilities and making the animation on them shorter by doing a specific combo that can make the entire process happen either half a second or a second faster than usual.

This may not seem like much, but at the pro level, even a millisecond can be the difference between life and death in the early stages of the game and the difference between victory and defeat in the later stages of the game.

AP

AP stands for Ability Power, but this word is used mainly in League of Legends and refers to the amount of magic damage they have in their kit through the use of items, runes, or abilities that the characters have.

Auto Attack

An auto attack is something usually doesn’t really cost mana or energy or any type of resource. It can be used by the character an unlimited amount of times unless some type of ability is keeping them from attacking you.

Backdoor

Backdoor is the MOBA action of going into one’s base when no one else is there and taking out the enemy structures without the team knowing for a certain amount of time. The backdoor term became widely used after “xPeke” made the term popular thanks to his crazy play at IEM Katowice.

Blink/Flash

Blink (or known as Flash) is a term coined from the ability to go from one location to another without any movement from the character itself hence the word “flash” or “blink” since the character literally “blinked” to another part of the map or arena.

BM

This is a shorter way of saying bad manner and is used whenever players are either jokingly disrespecting each other or using it to actually make fun of the player. While this is usually done in good humor, it has caused fights between players.

Brush

Brushes are areas where vision is hindered. It usually has a different name for different games like First Person Shooters and Arena Games, but in MOBAs, it’s usually seen as a literal brush where nothing can be seen until some type of vision-rendering trinket is placed there.

Buff

A buff is a type of power-up that makes the team or person stronger and is usually given through the killing of a major monster or minion. In League of Legends, the two main monsters are Baron Nashor and Elder Dragon.

Build

A build is the combination of items that a character has. In Fortnite, this can refer to the different types of weaponry that you pick up. In League of Legends, it usually refers to the different items you buy from the store, and in other games, it isn’t applicable at all. (Overwatch)

Burst

Burst is when a champion or champions manage to pull off their combo fast enough and have sufficient damage to kill a player faster than usual. In FPS games (first person shooters), a burst can also refer to a type of weapons that outputs bullets at an extremely fast rate.

Casting

Casting is the term where someone is charging up an ability or move and is about to use it while in esports, it can refer to the commentators talking and streaming the game while the matches are underway.

CC (Crowd Control)

CC or crowd control is an immobilizing effect used by a champion or character which keeps the players from moving. The most common types of crowd control are stun, blind, silence, knockback, and root all of which apply to different games but is still most popular in MOBAs.

Cheese

A cheese is usually pulling off a risky play or going for an extremely dangerous attempt that will either give you an advantage or start you off at a disadvantage. This is a term that has been coined throughout the esports industry to this day.

Cooldown

A cooldown’s definition speaks for itself. It is whenever an ability has been used, and the cooldown is the timer till the ability can be used once again.

Comp (Composition)

A composition is the combination and array of heroes or characters that the team picks to represents themselves on the playing field and the synergy that the characters have between one another. Usually, the better-synergizing team wins the match provided they play it right.

CS/Creep Score

Only used in MOBAs, the CS or Creep Score is how many minions you’ve killed during the duration of the game. You only get CS if you kill the minion, not if other minions kill the minion and you merely helped out by damaging it.

Denying

Denying is the action of keeping your opponent from either attacking minions or NPCs so that you can have a gold advantage over them. This type of denying is usually only used in MOBAs. In the overall aspect, denying has a different definition.

Denying is also the action of keeping opponents way from a certain objective or target. A good example is whenever a teammate guards a low-health ally, “denying” the enemy from getting a kill on their teammate.

Dive/Diving

Dive or diving is whenever a team or player decides to put themselves in an uncomfortable situation with the danger of being put to extremely low health or killed in an attempt to kill an opponent usually for a hope to gain the advantage throughout the rest of the game.

DPS

DPS stands for “Damage per Second” and is used to show how much damage a character or champion dealt in a certain period of time. It usually shows DPS on weapons to help FPS games get a better understanding of their weaponry.

Early Game

Early game is used to describe the primary stages of the game when everything is getting set up or when players are just beginning to get into the game. This is when the action is at its slowest, and instead, it’s more passive.

Farm or Farming

Farm or farming is the action of killing NPCs or minions or monsters with the goal of acquiring as much gold as possible to buy items that give you an edge over your opponents. While this seems the same as CS, farming is actually the action of killing the minions while CS is more like the noun.

Fed

Fed is the word used to describe someone who is extremely strong or has a lot of kills largely due to a strong early game. This can also be used to describe someone who has a lot of new weapons or items before anyone else does.

Feeding

Feeding is either the intentional or unintentional purpose of dying to one specific player or duo over and over again. It can be used as a hostile way to make the teammates have an unenjoyable game or just be the result of a bad day.

FF

FF means “finish fast” and is used to typically describe a team giving up and surrendering to another team. This is usually done whenever a team is outmatched, or one of the players is just disconnected from the game.

Flaming

Flaming is the use of harassing or bullying others through the in-game chat. This leads to arguments and even the banning of players if it gets serious enough. If you’re ever flamed to the point where it could be considered abuse, report the player to the correct authorities.

Fog Of War

Fog of War is the other term for areas without vision and can be applied to all games such as First Person Shooters, Speed Runs, and even MOBAs despite brushes being another term that is used in the game.

Ganking

Ganking is the surprise of attacking a player from either behind or from the side without them first knowing about it. This is usually used in early-stages of the game to shut down someone who has been playing very well.

Glass Cannon

Glass cannon stands for players who have a large amount of damage and are the main source of damage but as a result, have the lowest health and are the easiest to kill. In MOBAs, this is typically the AD Carry of the team.

Harass/Poke

Harassing or poking is the action of damage your opponents little by little though not using all of your damage all at once to kill someone. They usually do this to force someone off of a minion or NPC so that they can’t get the gold.

Initiating

Initiating is the act of engaging or starting a fight either between two full teams, two opponents, or even just a few enemies. This is usually done by one team whenever they have the advantage over the other team.

Inting

Inting is short for intentionally feeding. It’s whenever a player intentionally gives their opponents kills in the hopes of making the playing experience terrible for their teammates and usually arises from heated arguments.

Juke

A juke is whenever a character either uses a movement ability or just smarts to outmaneuver their opponent and get out of any tight situation or dodge an attack. Think of it as the sport version of “juke” but with video game characters in it.

Jungle

The jungle is a word that applies to MOBAs only and is the area in between the lanes of a map. These are where large monsters and objectives reside and can be used to carve smart paths to get to another place.

Jungler

The jungler is a character in-game who makes sure that the team gets ahead. They’re the ones who reside in the jungle and kill the large monsters as well as make sure that the large objectives are taken for their team.

KDA

KDA stands for Kill Deaths Assist and is used to show how well a player has been performing throughout the season. In most FPS games, you can see your KDA after a match and compare it to other players.

Kiting

Kiting is the action of staying away from a threatening enemy player who might be chasing them or dueling them with the intention of still inflicting damage at the same time. Most AD Carries learn this when they first start out because it’s essential to their kit.

Laner

The player or players who reside in one of the three lanes inside of the MOBA genre. There is a toplaner, a midlaner, and a bot duo that consists of the AD Carry and the Support. Each of these players has their own specific playstyle.

Laning

Laning is the process of moving down three lanes on a map (top, middle, and bottom) where they will compete against an opposing laner for control of that lane while also farming gold by killing NPCs. This is also where the ganks can potentially happen for the MOBA genre.

Last Hit

Last Hit is yet another MOBA term which describes the process of hitting a minion or NPC the last time in order for it to die so that you can get the gold from it while also getting the full experience from the kill.

Meta

Meta is the current stage of a game where specific playstyles, item builds, and champions or characters are preferred over others. This influences the different types of play and which characters are strong during that period of time.

Minions

Another term for creeps or non-player characters (NPCs)

Nerf

This is whenever a character or item is weakened either by the game designers or by the current meta itself. This usually happens whenever a character or item becomes too strong and makes the current game unbalanced.

Objective

An objective is something that is usually sought after by both teams. In FPS games, this is usually a point or place that needs to be held, and in MOBAs, it’s a type of large monster that gives a buff or a structure inside of the game.

OOM

OOM is a short term for out of mana which is the main source for dealing damage. Without mana, you cannot deal damage. This can also be used for whenever a player just can’t use his abilities anymore because he’s run out of whatever juice lets him do so.

Peel

Peel or peeling is whenever you use crowd-control or other abilities to save your teammates. Most of the time, this applies to players that have the most damage—the “glass cannon” of the team—and in MOBAs, this is the AD Carry that is most usually being peeled for.

Proc

Proc is the action of using an item with an active effect or using an ability that has a random chance of ever happening.

Recall

Recalling is whenever your character goes back to their base. This usually isn’t instant and takes time to happen.

Rotation/Rotate

A rotation or to rotate is whenever a player or group of players move from one part of the map to another in the hopes of gaining something out of it. In MOBAs, this is usually to grab an objective, and in FPS games, it is usually to flank a team.

RTS

A shorter term for “Real Time Strategy” that refers to games like Starcraft, Age of Mythology, Age of Empire, etc. These games are more like chess than any other video game out there since it’s more about what you can do to weaken your opponent with them trying to do the same thing.

Rush

A blitz-style type of play or attack which incorporates fast movement and quick assaults that throw your enemy off-guard with the hopes of ending the fight quickly.

Salty

A term used to describe a player or character who is mostly annoyed or agitated by something or someone. This mostly happens whenever the player expects something of another player, and it doesn’t happen.

Shotcaller

The shotcaller is the player in the game who tells the team whenever they should grab objectives, fight, rush, or rotate. They’re seen either as the captain or co-captain of the team and are mainly responsible for them winning or losing.

Skillshot

An ability that follows the path traced out manually by the player themselves. This means that it has either the potential to miss the target if done poorly.

Snowball

Whenever a player becomes too powerful and seems unstoppable to the enemy. Usually, this occurs when a player manages to kill their lane opponent over and over again and has better items than anyone earlier in the game.

Split-Push

The act of pushing a lane while all of your opponents are away from you, most of the time on the other side of the map or in another lane. This is a term that applies mainly to MOBAs but can be used in rare circumstances.

Stack

Either a group of players playing together as one team, keeping your teammates closer together, or effect of an ability adding either buffs or de-buffs onto a player until they reach the maximum effect that they can reach.

Tank

A character or player that is extremely hard to kill thanks to their high health and armor numbers though they are usually compensated with lower damage to balance it out.

Tilt

Whenever a player has been having a bad day or something extremely unlucky happens to them, causing them to play off and be particularly frustrated. This means that they probably can’t play to their best potential.

Ult/Ulti

Short for ultimate and is the strongest ability in a player’s kit. It usually has the highest cooldown and the most potential for turning a team-fight around. It’s also the last ability that is unlocked ninety percent of the time.

Vision

Vision is how much a team or character can see on the map. If they can’t see something, it’s usually either “fog of war” or a “brush” that hinders their vision.

Wards

Trinkets in MOBAs that provide vision to “fog of war” or “brushes” for a certain amount of time. They can be destroyed with certain items in the game.

Waves

A word used to describe a group of monsters or minions that travel down a lane and battle another group of monsters or minions from the opposing side.

Zoning

The act of keeping your opponent away from someone or something gaining a bigger advantage than your enemy. This is done mostly in League of Legends whenever a player keeps another opposing player away from a minion wave in hopes of draining experience and gold from them to weaken them.

It also happens to be that zoning occurs whenever a champion or character has something on the other character whether it’s some ability to will take their health or they just have the lead in general and can out-duel them.

Conclusion

That’s a lot of terms to cover, but that’s how the esports world is! It’s such a large, diverse, and creative community that it’s basically created its own dictionary full of terms and phrases that at first seem hard to understand.

Once you learn about this jargon, however, the esports world becomes one that is unique and awesome in its own way. It provides an experience that is completely outlandish to any novice watchers and awe-inspiring to veteran onlookers. I hope you can take these new words and apply them to any upcoming esport event out there and take full advantage of the opportunities that esports provide.