25 Most Important LoL Terms You Should Know

Michael Smit

Updated:

22 Aug 2024

If you could major in League of Legends, this would be LoL 101

1. AD

Attack Damage. The primary damage attribute for most physical damage dealers, such as marksmen.

To properly build Draven, click the “Attack Damage” tab in the store and then buy everything.

2. AP

Ability Power. The primary damage attribute for most magic type champions, such as mages.

This Veigar just one shot me with two thousand ability power…

3. Backdoor

Used as a verb. Describes the action of being a clever little rascal and waiting until the enemy team is on your side of the map, then going behind them to destroy their base while they’re too far away to react.

Alternative name: Xpeke, named after an esports player who performed the most famous backdoor in pro history.

You guys stop them from recalling, I’m gonna xpeke these fools.

4. Bait

Same concept as bait in fishing. Sacrifice a little guy in hopes of catching something bigger.

Everyone wait in this bush while Lulu spams her laugh. Hopefully someone will take the bait.

5. Buffs

1. When Riot boosts the attributes of a champion, making it stronger.

If Rito buffs Teemo, I’m seriously quitting the game.

2. Red and blue buffs are earned from last hitting the appropriate jungle camp. Red applies a burn and slow debuff on hit. Blue applies cooldown reduction and mana regeneration. Blue is generally donated to the mid laner, assuming the jungler isn’t a selfish prick.

Teemo stole my blue buff with his dot, I swear to god I hate this champion.

6. Camp

1. Used as a noun, it means a group of passive creeps in the jungle, minding their own business until some maniacal player comes through and slays them for cash.

You know the game is going poorly when your jungler dies to the wolf camp.

2. Used as a verb, it means for the jungler or someone from a different lane to often gank your lane.

I’m gonna camp mid lane because this guy made fun of my username.

7. CDR

CDR means cooldown reduction. Cooldown reduction reduces your cooldowns, shockingly. It maxes out at 40%, 45% with the Intelligence mastery.

I’m gonna spam the shit out of my spells once I hit 40% CDR on Sona.

8. Creeps

Any of the AI controlled monsters and minions on the map, whether heroically marching down the lane to meet their death or heroically waiting in the jungle to meet their death.

I had a nightmare that I was a minion in a Ziggs lane.

9. CS

CS stands for Creep Score. Every minion you last hit adds one to your CS. Higher CS means more gold. More gold means more items. More items means more smashing faces.

I fell behind a little in the early game, now my lane opponent has double my CS.

10. Dive

To attack an enemy under their own turret. Very dangerous, because turret damage increases over time.

We can dive Teemo if you can poke his health down a little.

11. Elo Hell

The Elo System is a matchmaking system developed by Arpad Elo. Elo Hell is the bottom of the matchmaking barrel, an inescapable den of bad players getting pushed down in matchmaking by even worse players.

I’m actually the best League player in the world, but you’d never know it because I’m stuck in Elo Hell.

12. Face Check

To walk into a brush where you have no vision. It’s russian roulette for League players.

Ok here’s the plan. We’re 20 kills behind, so let’s all wait in a brush and hope someone face checks it.

13. Feed

To continuously die to one champion, making him “fed” with gold.

I meant to camp midlane, but instead fed him. My bad.

14. Gank

When someone from the jungle or another lane roams to score a kill.

Hey jungler, I’m gonna need a gank because I’m so far behind in CS.

15. Inhib

Short for inhibitor. There’s an inhibitor at each end of each lane. The inhibitor inhibits super minions. Kill the enemies inhibitor, and super minions will spawn from your base and easily push into your enemy’s base.

We just destroyed their third inhibitor, so I’m gonna go grab dinner while the minions finish this game.

16. Last Hit

You only get gold if you land the killing blow, or last hit, on a creep.

I only play support because I can’t last hit. No joke. This is me, the author of this article speaking. I play support because I can’t last hit.

17. Leash

To help the jungler kill the first jungle camp. It’s usually expected that you help leash if you’re in the lane closest to where the jungler is starting. Just make sure to not last hit the jungle camp unless you’re looking to make a bunch of new enemies.

Give me a leash and I’ll gank your lane all day.

18. Masteries

Masteries are skill points you can invest in to add passive effects to your champ.

I blame our loss on this LeBlanc running with tank masteries

19. MIA

Missing In Action. You’re expected to call “MIA” if your lane opponent goes missing, and you’re expected to get flamed if you forget.

Really guys? All 5 enemies gank show up in my lane and no one gave me an MIA?

20. Peel

To use stuns, silence, slows, or whatever else you have available to get enemy champions off the tail of your buddy.

They have a Malphite, Volibear, Kassadin, Kalista, and Braum. I’m gonna need a bit of peel this game, boys.

21. Rito

How people spell Riot when they aren’t creative but still want to be funny.

“Rito plz,” - League memers since 2012

22. Runes

Attribute boosts such as health, mana regen, damage, and more.. You can buy them with IP and place them onto pages to use on the character select screen.

Dammit, I’m playing a mage but forgot to use my AP rune page.

23. Throw

To lose a game when you were so far ahead that it seemed impossible to lose.

“Okay guys, it’s impossible to throw now. Just keep doing what we’re doing.”

10 minutes later.

“I can’t believe we threw that game...”

24. Vision

Vision is what you can see on the map that’s not covered by fog of war. Vision is how you avoid ganks and traverse the jungle in safety. Vision wins games, so buy those damn wards.

You can’t complain about getting ganked if you’re pushing down the lane with no vision.