MOBA Terms Glossary
MOBA terms: lane, gank, CS, itemization, objective control, draft.
Lane
The specific, defined paths on a MOBA map where waves of AI-controlled minions travel and defensive towers are located. There are typically three main lanes: Top, Middle (Mid), and Bottom (Bot).
Gank
A surprise attack or ambush on an enemy player, usually involving numerical superiority. Ganks are often executed by the Jungler or a rotating Mid laner to secure a kill and gain a lane advantage.
CS (Creep Score)
The total number of AI-controlled minions or neutral monsters a player has successfully delivered the killing blow to. High CS is crucial because it is the primary source of gold and experience.
Itemization
The strategic decision-making process of selecting and purchasing items during a match. Good itemization requires adapting your build to counter the specific damage types and abilities of the enemy team.
Objective control
The prioritization and securing of highly contested neutral monsters (like Dragons or Baron Nashor) or structures that provide significant, permanent, or temporary team-wide buffs and gold advantages.
Draft
The critical pre-game phase where the two teams take turns strategically selecting the champions they will play and banning champions they do not want the enemy to play.
Jungle
The sprawling, un-laned areas of the map situated between the main lanes, populated by neutral monster camps. The Jungler role roams this area to farm and secure buffs.
Mid
The middle lane of the map. Mid laners are typically mages or assassins who benefit from solo experience and have the central map positioning to easily roam and influence other lanes.
ADC (Attack Damage Carry)
A role typically played in the bottom lane. ADCs deal consistent, high physical damage primarily through basic attacks, becoming extremely powerful in the late game but requiring protection due to their low health.
Support
A role dedicated to assisting and protecting the team, particularly the ADC in the early game. Supports focus on providing utility, crowd control, healing, and map vision rather than dealing damage or taking CS.
Tower dive
The risky, coordinated maneuver of attacking an enemy player while they are under the protection of their own defensive tower. The tower will attack the aggressors, making the timing and execution crucial.
Peel
The act of using crowd control abilities, positioning, or damage to force enemy attackers away from a vulnerable, high-value teammate, typically the ADC or Mid laner.
Kiting
Continuously moving away from an pursuing enemy while attacking them at the same time. This technique allows ranged characters to deal damage while maintaining a safe distance from melee threats.
Split push
A macro strategy where one player, usually a strong duelist, pushes a lane on the opposite side of the map from their team to apply pressure and force the enemy to divide their attention and resources.
Wave management
The advanced skill of manipulating the behavior of minion waves (freezing, pushing, or slow pushing) to deny the enemy gold and experience, or to create opportunities to back to base or roam.
Freeze
A specific wave management technique where a player keeps the minion wave perfectly balanced in a favorable position, usually near their own tower, to farm safely and force the enemy to overextend.
Macro
The overarching, grand strategy of the game, including map awareness, objective prioritization, rotation timing, and wave management. It contrasts with 'micro', which focuses on individual champion mechanics.
Micro
The individual, mechanical skill of a player. This includes precise clicking, ability targeting, dodging enemy skillshots, and executing complex champion combos.
Skillshot
An ability that requires the player to manually aim a projectile or area of effect, meaning it can miss or be dodged by the enemy, as opposed to a targeted ability that automatically hits.
CC (Crowd Control)
Any ability or status effect that limits the movement or actions of an opponent. Common forms include stuns, slows, roots, silences, and knock-ups.
Feed
To die repeatedly to the enemy team, granting them a massive advantage in gold and experience. A player who is 'fed' is extremely strong and difficult to defeat.
Snowball
A situation where a small early advantage (like a single kill or CS lead) is leveraged to gain progressively larger advantages, eventually becoming an unstoppable force that easily wins the game.
Vision control
The battle for information on the map, achieved by strategically placing wards to see enemy movements and clearing enemy wards to deny them information and set up ambushes.
Leash
When laners help the Jungler defeat their first monster camp by dealing some initial damage before heading to their own lanes, speeding up the Jungler's early clear without stealing the kill or experience.
Engage
The act of initiating a team fight. Champions with strong engage tools usually have large area-of-effect crowd control abilities that can catch multiple enemies off guard.