League of Legends Terminology

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Dominikas Pupkevicius

Dominic is a writer that specializes in gaming content. He loves playing various genres, from survival horror to MOBAs. Recently he discovered his passion for playing League of Legends again and has grinded to reach Diamond 2. However, Dominic has experience in various gaming franchises like Call of Duty, Witcher, LoL, RuneScape, New World, and more! Outside of gaming, Dominic loves to play basketball and walk his dogs.

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League of Legends is one of the most popular games worldwide, with over 100 million monthly players. One of the biggest changes throughout the +10 game seasons is the terms used by players. Moreover, It can become frustrating to read the chat if you don’t understand what’s being said. Therefore, we’ve put together the most common League of Legends terminology below.

• AP: This is short for ability power. AP is the source of damage for magic champions.

• AD: This is short for attack damage. AD is the source of damage for physical champions.
• Auto Attack: This is your champion’s basic attack that automatically fires.
• Ability: A unique action performed by a champion. All characters have unique abilities they can perform.
• Champion: A player-controlled character. All champions have unique abilities, passives, and ultimates.
• Cooldown: The amount of time it takes an ability to recharge.
• CS: This is short for creeper score. It provides the number of enemy creeps you have the last hit to receive gold.

• Gank: To attack the enemy by surprise. Usually, a jungle does this by jumping out the bushes to help a teammate.
• Last Hit: The final hit on an enemy champion, monster, or creep.
• Minion: This is another term used for creepers. They spawn at both sides of the map.
• Nexus: The biggest structure within a team’s base. The objective of the game is to destroy the enemy Nexus.
• ACE: An ace is given when killing the last player on the enemy team.
• AoE: An ability that impacts the fight in a widespread area. AoE is short for Area of Effect.
• Backdoor: When you attempt to end the game by destroying the enemy Nexus while they are focused elsewhere. Usually, this is done by sneaking through the jungle or teleporting to a minion or ward.

• Burst: Dealing a significant amount of damage in a small time frame.
• Crowd Control: This refers to abilities that limit the movement of opposing players. For example, crowd control abilities can deliver stuns, blinds, and slows.
• Countergank: Ambushing the opposing jungle when they are ganking your teammate.
• Counterjungle: Killing neutral camps on the enemy’s side of the map.
• DPS: Damage per Second. The amount of damage a champion can output per second.
• Dive: To go under the enemy’s tower to kill the opposing player.
• Lane: Summoner’s Rift is separated into three main lanes – top, mid, and bot. Each lane has unique roles depending on where they are located.
• Laning Phase: This phase of the game can last up to 20 minutes. During the laning phase, players aim to farm minions and gain an edge.

• Recall: All champions have this ability once the game begins. Using the recall ability spawns you back at your fountain.
• Super Minion: These minions spawn when you destroy the enemy inhibitor. The super minion will spawn instead of the cannon minion.
• Squishy: A champion that has low defense and health. They are easy to kill, so these champions tend to stay in the backline.
• Backline: The backline consists of squisher targets like the ADC and mid laner. These champions have low health and avoid being focused.
• Frontline: The frontline consists of tanky characters that soak in damage during fights. Their goal is to protect the backline since they are squishy targets.
• Teamfight: When multiple champions from both teams engage in a battle.
• Ulti: A champion’s most powerful ability. The multi becomes available at level 6.
• Zoning: Pushing an enemy away from objectives to prevent them from getting experience or gold.
• ADC: This is short for Attack Damage Carry. It’s a champion category that usually goes in the bot lane. Their usefulness comes from dealing damage from their auto-attacks.
• Baron: Baron is officially known as the Baron Nashor. The creature spawns from the void and provides buffs to your team when killed.
• Base: Both teams have a base that provides healing and lets players buy items. At the start of the game, all players will spawn inside their base.
• Buff: A positive effect on your champion that lasts for seconds or minutes depending on the buff.
• Dragon Soul: When a team kills their 4th drake, they will receive the dragon soul. Currently, 6 souls offer different buffs to your team.
• Drake: Drake is another term used for the dragon that spawns between bot and mid-lane.

• Elder Dragon: The elder dragon spawns after a team receives a dragon soul. This dragon is tougher to defeat but provides a significant buff after killing it.
• Rift Herald: A large monster spawns in the Baron pit after 8 minutes of game time. It grants a buff that makes it easy to destroy towers.
• Farming: When killing minions for gold and experience.
• Flash: A summoner spell that lets you blink a short distance.

• Inhib: This is short for inhibitor. The inhib is a structure that, when destroyed, spawns super minions.
• Push: Killing minions and advancing the lane to destroy towers or inhibitors.
• Lane Swap: The act of changing lanes with a teammate. Usually, this is done if the enemy champion counters your character.
• Death Timer: The death timer shows how much time is left before your champion respawns.
• Crit: This is short for critical strike. Players can purchase various items that will increase crit chances.
• Shotcaller: A player that communicates to the team what objectives to focus on.
• Solo Lane: Being the only champion in a specific lane. Top and mid are both solo lanes, unlike bot lane.
• Stun: A stunned player cannot use abilities or move for a short duration.

• Turret: A structure that blocks your or the enemy’s path to the Nexus. Also, there are three towers in each lane the protect the inhibitor.

League of Legends Terminology: Summary

That concludes our list of the most used League of Legends terms. All dedicated players should learn these terms because they let the team communicate much faster. Therefore, giving you an edge when needing to provide information quickly during an intense game stage. Lastly, most terms in League of Legends are self-explanatory, making them easy to remember.