MOBA / ARTS – Multiplayer Online Battle Arena / Action Real Time Strategy, the genre of this game and others like it (DotA 2, League of Legends etc.)
Laning – The early stages of the game, beginning at minute 0 and ending once players start killing lane guardians and grouping up around the map. It lasts approximately 10 minutes.
Mid game – The phase following the laning phase, usually involving teams starting to group to fight over objectives such as mid-boss and urn. Managing waves and keeping map control starts to become important. This stage lasts vaguely between the 10- and 25-minute mark.
End game – A phase following the mid game, defined by many structures being destroyed and heroes being at the peak of their strength from items and AP. At this point in the game, a team wipe can often mean a lost match. This stage occurs whenever at least one of the teams has both secured their core items and destroyed most of the enemy’s structures and lasts until the match ends.
Harassing/Poke – The act of threatening or dealing damage to an enemy player to leverage an advantage.
Net Worth – The total souls you have accumulated throughout the match. This determines the number and tier of items you may have as well as how leveled up your abilities are.
Creeps – AI controlled units that inhabit the map, including the troopers both teams own and the neutral jungle camps.
CS – An abbreviation for “creep score”, referring to the amount of last hits (and therefore souls) you have secured and denied.
Waves – Groups of troopers that are sent down lanes regularly throughout the match.
Pushing / Fixing / Shoving – Killing enemy trooper waves as fast as you can, such that your own wave can progress further down the lane. This is necessary for contesting enemy structures such as guardians and walkers.
Map Control – Generally this is the amount of space between your base and your trooper waves. This space is safer than space controlled by the enemy team and makes it easier for you to contest objectives. If your lanes are always pushed out you generate more map control and even the impact of dying is lessened, as the enemy team must slog through multiple trooper waves before reaching your structures, giving you more time to respawn.
Pathing – The exact route you take from location to location, considering speed of travel and risk of danger.
Rotation – Moving between locations on the map with intent to make a play. Ganking is a form of rotation, as is seeing a potential fight beginning and preemptively pathing towards it to help your team.
Macro – In very simple terms, the strategy of the game. Good macro play means maintaining map control, staying ahead in net-worth and generally outsmarting the enemy team.
Jungle / Camps – Places where groups of team-neutral creeps can be fought to gain souls.
Ancients – Legacy term for the hard jungle camps.
Farming – Prioritizing collecting souls by killing creeps as opposed to fighting enemy players, to gain AP and purchase items.
Ganking – The act of roaming the map to assist teammates in killing enemies in their vicinity, usually by surprise.
Tower/Turret – Legacy terms for Guardians and Walkers, the structures that both teams own that will shoot at you to defend themselves.
Roshan/Baron – Legacy terms for the mid-boss.
Aegis/Baron Buff – Legacy terms for the rejuvenator and its effects.
Throne/Ancient/Nexus – Legacy terms for the Patron. Killing the enemy Patron wins you the game and vice-versa.
Space – In the laning phase, the space you control is determined by the position and health of both trooper waves and both players. You have “more space” if you and your wave are healthier than the enemy, as you are at less risk when attempting to make plays and secure CS.
Creating Space – An often-sarcastic remark that refers to the player “creating space” making a suicidal distraction play, with the idea being that the rest of their team secures something more valuable than their life from the sacrifice.
Inting/Feeding/Fed – Inting is shorthand for “intentionally feeding”. Feeding is when a player repeatedly dies to the enemy team, “feeding” them resources. This can be used either literally for someone griefing a game or as a joke for a player that is making poor choices. Someone that has killed a lot of enemy players is often referred to as “fed”.
Team Fighting – A large-scale fight involving most members of both teams, usually over an important objective.
Split Pushing/Ratting/Backdoor – Splitting up and attempting to sneakily destroy enemy structures while they’re distracted by your grouped up team. The idea is that your team holds off the enemy team 5v6 and forces the enemy to decide between trying to force a team fight with numbers advantage or coming to stop you.
Turtling – Staying close to the inside of your own base in order to minimize the risk of dying, usually when the enemy team has a strong advantage over yours.
Core Items – Items that your hero’s build rely on to be effective, that you will buy almost every game. This is in opposition to situational items, that are generally good for your hero but depend on the state of the match itself. Both of these terms are usually used in the context of hero item build discussions.
Snowballing – Accumulating advantages sequentially to gain a greater and greater lead. An example of this would be killing the enemy player in your lane, then using the souls from this kill to buy a new item. Since you have an additional item compared to them, killing them again in the future becomes easier and easier. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill, growing bigger the more additional snow it picks up along the way.
Trading – In the laning phase, trading is done with your lane opponent and refers to whenever you are fighting each other for control of the lane, but not committing to trying to kill each other. Later in the game, trading is usually used when one objective is intentionally given up in order to take another. An example of this would be a team allowing one of their walkers to be taken without fighting back as they take a shrine inside the enemy base.