Abbreviations
AA – auto attack, the right-click your champion does to opponenets
ADC – attack damage carry, a champion in the bottom lane, used generally for any bot laner although technically different to a mage / ability power carry (APC)
AoE – area of effect, where an ability can have an impact
AP – ability power, the strength of a champion’s abilities
CC – crowd control, managing the waves of minions and champions in a teamfight
CD – cooldown, when you use an ability, time must pass before you can use it again
CDR – cooldown reduction, allowing you to reduce the time between using the same ability again
CS – creep score (minions killed)
DPS – damage per second, there is also the separate DoT for damage over time
ER – Essence Reaver, an item that provides +70 attack damage, +25% critical strike chance and +20% cooldown reduction
GG – good game, said at the end of matches
IAS – increased attack speed
IE – Infinity Edge, an item that grants +80 attack damage+25% critical strike chance and an increase in critical strike damage by 25%
KS – kill steal, overused phrase for when a champion is set to get the kill but another champion ‘takes’ it
MR – magic resist, the equivalent of armor but for magical attacks
MS – movement speed (not to be confused with ms in the top right corner)
TP – Teleport, a summoner spell you can bind to D or F by default that allows you to send your champion to an allied structure or champion quickly
VGU – visual and gameplay update, another way of describing a rework with significant changes
VO – voiceover, champions often deliver voice lines as they are played
Terms
Ace – when a whole team of five champions is killed by the opposing team
Ban – in modes with a draft, each team member can ban a champion that prevents it from being picked by allies or enemies
Baron – Baron Nashor is a huge and powerful monster in the jungle that first spawns at 20 minutes and gives the Hand of Baron buff to the team that kills it
Baron Pit – the area in which Baron Nashor and the Rift Herald spawn
Blue Buff – the Crest of Insight buff is given to the champion that kills the large Blue Sentinel in jungle
Brush – the tall grass in which champions and wards turn invisible
Camp – where monsters spawn, these are set areas in every game so are known before the start
Chickens – the Raptors are the bird-like creatures that spawn in the jungle
Counter – champions that are a strong matchup against their opponenet, counter picks often give you a better chance of winning through kit alone
Damage – three types of damage can be dealt – physical damage, magic damage and true damage – with the latter ignoring armor and resistance items/stats
Dive – going under a turret to engage with and kill a champion knowing you will take significant damage
Dragon – in the bottom right of Summoner’s Rift, different elemental drakes spawn here that provide different buffs when killed
Elder Dragon – a strong monster that spawns 35 minutes into the game and when killed, grants the Aspect of the Dragon buff
Engage – the act of entering into a fight with disengaging being the opposite
Farm – gaining gold and exp from minions and monsters
Fed – a champion that earns many kills and levels up above opponents is ‘fed’. Dying multiple times to another champion, this can be described as ‘feeding’
Focus – usually followed by a champion name, this means the team should seek to eliminate that champion to give a higher chance of winning a fight
Fog of War – the dark areas of the map over which players do not have vision
Gank – a surprise attack that seeks to ambush and eliminate an enemy champion, often the junglers who have the most freedom to gank all three lanes
Herald – the Rift Herald is a large and strong monster that spawns once a game at 9:50 and drops the Eye of the Herald when killed
Kit – the set passive and abilities a champion possesses
Kite – staying out of range of enemies while attacking them and keeping them in place through slows, stuns or other CC
Last hit – the last hit is the killing blow to enemy champions, minions or mobs. This determines who receives gold or buffs in the case of the jungle monsters
Mana – the resource many champions have that allows them to use abilities that cost a portion of it to cast
Minions – the small mobs that walk down each of the lanes
Monsters – also referred to as ‘neutrals’ or ‘mobs’, these are the enemies that appear in the jungle such as the raptors and wolves
Peel – a means of enabling an ADC, peeling is preventing your carry from taking damage using CC
Penta – similar to an ‘ace’ when all enemies are wiped out, a penta is when one champion kills the five enemy champions personally
Pick – draft mode allows you to select, or pick, a champion
Poke – small damage to reduce enemy HP without seeking a kill
Pre – short for ‘premade’, used in lobbies by players to state they are queued with others in the lobby
Proc – short for Programmed Random Occurence, this term is borrowed from World of Warcraft to mean an ability/item that has an extra effect that can be activated
Push – leaving your lane or jungle to make progress in a lane as a team together to bring down a tower
Red Buff – the Crest of Cinders buff is given to the champion that kills the large Red Brambleback in jungle
Roam – not sticking to one area/lane on the map
Rocks – the Krugs are the rock-like monsters in the jungle that split into smaller versions of themselves when first killed
Root – similar to a stun, this debuff stops champions moving and roots them to the spot
Runes – special customisation that can tweak how a champion plays such as providing shields when hit or earning extra gold, this is explained in detail below in a YouTube video by Snow Fox
Silence – this debuff prevents a champion from activating their abilities
Smite – a summoner spell all junglers should have, this enables high damage to neutrals and bosses in the jungle
Smurf – someone who is using a low level or low rank account while their main account is of higher level and rank
Split Push – this involves the team pushing a lane while a teammate tries to make progress elsewhere while the opponent is distracted
Squishy – a champion that is easy to kill due to low HP on their side or high damage on the other side
Tank – strong durable champions who are capable of taking significant amounts of damage
Tower / Turret – the tall structures to attack and defend in each lane
Trade – an enemy champion kills you or another ally and is then killed
Ward – a unit that can be placed to grant vision in an area and come in multiple forms
Wave – the crowd of minions is commonly referred to as a wave
Ult – R for all champions is an ultimate, a special ability that allows for a powerful attack, buffs, transformations or other significant changes
Zoning – keeping a champion out of range for their attacks to land