League of Legends, like so many other games, has its own language that only serves to confuse newcomers. You can’t simply jump in and expect to understand the lingo, which is why we defined a variety of popular terms that’ll have you channeling your inner jungler and dominating the Fields of Justice in no time.
AD: Shorthand for Attack Damage. This type of damage is reduced by Armor.
AP: Shorthand for Ability Power. This type of damage is reduced by Magic Resistance.
ARAM: Shorthand for All Random All Mid. It is a game mode where champions are randomly selected and players must fight each other in one lane. This game mode is usually played on the Howling Abyss map.
Assassin: A highly mobile champion whose skill is to take down strong targets. Assassins are normally agile and dangerous.
Autoattack: Attack performed when right clicking an opposing target.
Back: Returning to base, more specifically the well by pressing the B key. “I’m going B.”
Baron: short for Baron Nashor, the toughest neutral monster in the game.
Baron Buff: When a team defeats Baron Nashor, they earn the buff “Exalted with Baron” that grants up to 40 ability power, 40 attack damage, three percent of your maximum health in health regeneration per five seconds, and 1 percent of your maximum mana in mana regeneration per five seconds.
Buff: A boost acquired by killing either the Golem for blue buff, the Lizard for Red Buff or Baron. Blue Buff grants 25 flat mana regen per five seconds and .5 percent of their maximum mana, along with and increased 10 percent Cooldown Reduction on their abilities. Red Buff applies a movement speed debuff to all enemies struck by the holder’s attack. The holder’s attack will also deal bonus true damage.
Bush: The tall grass around the map where champions can hide. Example: “ward tribush!!!!!”
Burst: When a large amount of damage is dealt at one time by one champion. Example: “burst him down!”
Carry: A champion that starts off fairly weak, but then ultimately becomes incredibly powerful. They are expected to do a lot of damage and “carry” the team to victory.
Caster: A champion whose main damage output is his or her abilities. The damage can either be Attack Damage or Ability Power.
CC: Shorthand for Crowd Control, abilities that limit movement and actions; stuns, slows, snares. Example: “They have so much CC, i can’t f***** move!!!”
CDR: Shorthand for Cooldown Reduction. A stat that lowers the wait time on abilities.
Creeps: Minions and neutral monsters.
Crystal Scar: The name of the map for Dominion game mode.
CS: Shorthand for Creep Score. The amount of minions and neutral monsters a champion has killed. Example: “Your CS SUCKS, uninstall now!”
Counter-pick: To choose a specific champion during champion selection that counters the opposing team’s pick.
Dragon: The second hardest neutral monster on Summoner’s Rift. Killing the dragon grants your team a good sum of gold and experience.
Dominion: A game mode where two teams of five battle for control of five base nodes. The less nodes your team controls, the more damage is done to your Nexus base. The team whose Nexus dies first loses.
Face Check: The act of going into a bush to see if an enemy champion is hiding in there. This is a high risk move since it leaves you vulnerable to an unsuspecting attack. Example: “Seriously, did you really just face check that bush? Amateur.”
Farm: The action of killing minions and neutral monsters for gold and experience.
Fed: When a champion becomes overpowered due to killing multiple champions.
FF: To forfeit or surrender. Example: “FF at 20 guys we don’t have a chance!”
Fields of Justice: The arenas where champions battle each other.
Feeding: To die repeatedly to the enemy team.
Gank: To ambush enemies with one or more champions. Example: “OMG WE NEED A GANK WHERE IS OUR JUNGLER I SWEAR TO GOD I’M GONNA START FEEDING!”
Inhibitor: The structures after the lane towers and before the Nexus. These buildings prevent the enemy team from deploying Super Minions.
Howling Abyss: The map where the ARAM game mode is generally played.
Jungle: The areas on the map in-between the lanes where the neutral monsters hang out. Be careful in the Jungle. No one’s watching your back in the Jungle.
Jungler: The role which champions can play where they level up in the jungle and try to attack unsuspecting enemies in their lanes.
KDA: Shorthand for Kill, Death, Assist. Used commonly, it refers to the ratio of kills to deaths to assists. Example: “My KDA is better than yours. Please stop talking.”
Lane: Paths that minions follow to get to the enemy Nexus. There are three lanes: Top, Mid and Bot.
Last Hit: Dealing the final blow to a minion or neutral monster to attain gold.
Marksman: Also know as ADC or Attack Damage Carry. This type of champion deals ranged damage from afar and is expected to have high damage output. They are to stay behind the lines rather than in the middle of the fight because of there “squishiness.”
Minions: NPC units spawned from the base. They follow the lanes to try and destroy other minions, objective points and enemy champions.
Nexus: The primary structure on each map and main objective. Victory is earned when the enemy Nexus is destroyed.
Poke: The act of harassing enemy champions with long-ranged abilities and attacks.
River: The body of water that divides the map in half. Baron Nashor and Dragon reside in the river.
Snowball: The act of getting an advantage over the enemy team or specific enemy champion, and continuing to use the advantage to win the game.
Solo: Used to describe accomplishing an objective alone. Example: “SOLO BARON FTW!”
Support: A champion who makes plays by creating advantages and opportunities for their allies to capitalize on. Most supports offer a form of sustain, heals or crowd control.
Stealth Ward: A ward that is invisible and reveals all non-stealthed units in the area.
Summoner’s Rift: The oldest and most common Field of Justice. It is the name of the map for classic five-versus-five matches.
Super Minions: Stronger minions spawned in a lane after the enemy inhibitor is destroyed.
Tank: A champion designed to take high amounts of damage. Usually tanks have a lot of health, CC abilities and low damage output.
Tower Hugging: Staying close to tower to deter an enemy from attacking you. Example: “I’m hugging tower, they have so much cc!”
True Damage: A type of attack that ignores all forms of damage reduction.
Twisted Treeline: The name of the map where three-versus-three matches are played.
Ward: An item that grants vision on the map.
The Well: The corner of the map where allied champions get healed. The shop is also located here.
Winions: When super minions take down the enemy Nexus, they become “winions.”
Vision Ward: A ward that is not invisible and reveals all units in the area.
Published: Jun 20, 2014 07:00 pm