| AoE |
Area of Effect, often used in MOBA games, an AoE ability of a hero is one that affects a certain area of the terrain and thus does not focus solely on the enemy |
| Ban |
Translated as “ban”, used in the picking phase of matches, where individual heroes (MOBA) or maps (FPS, RTS) are banned |
| Buff |
Enhancement, a buff can be received by a hero (MOBA) or a weapon (FPS) in one of the game updates, increasing their strength in matches. A buff can also be obtained for one’s team in MOBA games, where all (or one) heroes are enhanced for a certain time. |
| Bait |
Bait, designation of a player or situation that lures the opponent into a disadvantageous situation or leads them to make a poor strategic decision |
| Carry |
Carrier, designation of a player who with their precise performances led their team to victory, in MOBA games it refers to heroes and players whose task is to eliminate opponents |
| Caster |
Commentator |
| CC |
Crowd Control, primarily used in MOBA genre games, refers to a hero’s ability that can control the enemy (stun them, trap them in one place, disable their spell usage, etc.) |
| Cheese |
Literally “cheese”, denotes the use of a simple tactic to gain an advantage over the opponent |
| CS |
Creep Score, the number of killed minions, used in MOBA games, from Creep Score one can deduce how many gold coins a player has gained from farming |
| Damage |
Damage |
| Dive |
Denotes situations where one team dives into deadly danger with the intention of gaining an advantage, there is a high risk of failure but also a chance for a great reward |
| DPS / ADR |
Damage Per Second / A Damage per Round, Damage caused per second (MOBA) / Damage caused per round (FPS) |
| FoW |
Fog of War, a game mechanism that prevents visibility of parts of the map where no hero/player/unit is physically present |
| Frag |
Achieved kill in an FPS game (“Player XX got two frags”) |
| Gank |
Used in MOBA games, denotes a situation where a player who does not play on a particular lane comes to that lane in an attempt to support their teammate, often junglers gank |
| Glass Cannon |
Literally a glass cannon, in MOBA games it is a hero with minimal defensive stats or lives, but very high damage, in FPS games it is a designation for a player who buys a strong weapon without armor (for example, AWP in Counter Strike) |
| IGL |
In Game Leader, the team leader responsible for making decisions and strategizing |
| KDA |
Kill, Death, Assist, KDA determines the ratio of kills and assists to deaths, the higher the KDA, the better the performance |
| Kiting |
Often used term in MOBA games, denotes a game mechanic where a hero escapes an opponent and manages to damage them while still staying out of reach of the enemy hero |
| Last Hit |
Last hit, used in MOBA games, denotes the hit that makes the kill (creep or hero) |
| Macro |
Macromanagement, denotes the ability of a team or player to effectively manage acquired resources or advantages at the global level of the match |
| Meta |
The strongest current strategy, played by most teams/players, the meta can change with a game update from the developer |
| Micro |
Micromanagement, denotes a player’s ability to control their hero or their shooting and movement, especially important in fights |
| Nerf |
The opposite of buff, denotes a weakening (hero, game mechanic, weapon…) |
| OOM |
Out Of Mana, denotes the state where a hero is out of mana, which are resources necessary for using abilities |
| Push |
Push, denotes a situation where one team is very determined to achieve one of the objectives (in MOBA games lanes are pushed to gain a tower, in FPS games a push might occur to quickly gain control of a place for placing a bomb) |
| RNG |
Random Number Generator, random number generator, encountered in card games (Hearthstone), adds an element of chance to games (slot machines operate on the RNG principle) |
| Rotation |
Rotation, denotes movement around the map |
| Shotcaller |
Designation for a player who is responsible for making decisions in complex situations |
| Skillshot |
Used especially in MOBA games, refers to an ability that needs to be manually aimed |
| Snowball |
Snowball effect, denotes situations where the strength of a team or player accumulates gradually to the point where it becomes unstoppable (for example, a successful dive might be the first step towards a snowball) |
| Support |
Support, designation of a player or hero whose goal is to support their team, thus not focusing on caused damage but on game mechanics that can gain an advantage for their teammates |
| Tank |
Designation of a hero in MOBA games, whose task is to absorb (tank) damage from the enemy team |
| Tilt |
Denotes the mental state of a player who is upset, usually to the extent that it affects their gaming abilities |
| Ultimate |
Ultimate, designation of a hero’s ability in MOBA games, which is the strongest in their arsenal, often has a long recharge time and great power |
| Vision |
Vision, denotes a team’s ability to monitor places on the map where no heroes are present and normally there would be FoW |
| Wards |
Items in MOBA games that provide vision when placed |
