Everything to Know About eSports Betting: Terminology

With the esports jargon library being deep, it pays to spare time to learn about the lingo before placing the first bet. The best part is that understanding these terminologies is not far from possible. This blog post seeks to unravel some of the most commonly used terminologies in the world of esports.

Esports & competitive gaming jargon

• Esports: Video games with competitive scenes. Some of the most popular eSports include CS: GO, League of Legends, and Dota 2.
• Zoning: Forcing the opponents into leaving an area by use of aggression. This aims to give the player's side a competitive edge by securing the safest area.
• Assist: Dealing damage to an opponent then leaving them to be killed by a teammate. For example, a player can hit an enemy and move away for a while. When a teammate comes and kills the enemy, the player scores an assist.
• Backdoor: Sneaking behind or around an enemy without knowing, probably because their focus is elsewhere. By the time they realize it, it is already too late.
• Bots: Players controlled by a computer but with whom human players can compete during gameplay. Bots allow players to hone their skills before competitions.
• Random Number Generator: Abbreviated as RNG, this refers to an element of randomness included in some games, such as Hearthstone.
• Camp: When players camp, they stay in an advantageous spot, such as a corner, and milk it for kills or items. Approach routes in this spot are typically limited.
• Combo: A sequence of attacks where one leads to the next. This deprives an opponent of escape chance. They can't even block or counter the attack.
• Circuit: All the esport events in a calendar year. For instance, Dota 2's Circuit includes Minors, The International, Majors, and charity events.
• Carry: When a player performs well to offset their team's bad performance, and the team goes all the way to claim victory, that player is said to have carried the team.
• Buff: Refers to an effect, ability, or spell that increases a character's power.
• Deny: Involves an opponent trying to accomplish an action against a player but the player counter-acts to neutralize the action. For instance, when a player takes a powerup before an opponent who saw it first, he is said to have denied the opponent.
• Betting Edge: An advantage a punter has over a sportsbook. This advantage can be acquired in multiple ways, including devising a margins-exploiting betting system or studying games/matches to gain knowledge that helps the bettor place winning bets.
• Bait: Pretending to be weak to lure an opponent into a situation where they can easily be overpowered.
• KDA Ratio: KDA (kills, deaths, assists) ratio is the number of kills, deaths, and assists attributed to a player in a match.
• Noob: A player who is new to a particular game title. Noobs need time to understand how the game works.
• Gank: Multiple players attacking one opponent. Opponents who manage to escape a gank without the help of their teammates are believed to be very skilled and powerful. Some even go on to kill ganks.
• Glass Cannon: A player who kills or gets points for his team very effectively yet is vulnerable, and an easy target for opponents is known as a glass cannon. In FPS, glass cannons are those players can buy without any armory. In MOBA, glass cannons are typically high-damage-per-second heroes.
• Developer: A firm that produces esport games. Of course, there are games produced by more than one firm. A classic example is Call of Duty.
• Objective: Particular targets or goals that put the player's team in an advantageous position. Objectives may include such things as a monster that offers a buff to a team.
• Kiting: Moving away from a pursuing opponent while keeping a relatively safe distance.
• Babysit: Frequently assisting teammates so they gain more power to keep on fighting.
• Jungling: Staying in the jungle to gain gold and experience rather than killing neutrals.
• Build: When a player builds, they improve their base or character by giving them abilities and items. The area of focus depends on the type of build. These areas may include defense and damage.
• Clan: Players who play multiplayer games regularly are known as a clan.
• Coach: Coaches are figures/characters responsible for improving the performance of a team. They do so by giving advice, tactics, and strategy. They can also analyze the stats of the opponents.
• Poke: Staying at a safe distance and unleashing damage to an opponent in bits until they give up.

MOBA games terminology

While many MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games are available today (as of 2022), Dota 2 and League of Legends are undoubtedly the most popular and most played in this genre. Thus, it pays to look at these two.

• Tanky: Tanks are characters who, despite being slow, are very difficult to kill because they boast a ton of robust armor.
• Squishy: These are great killers e.g. marksmen and assassins, yet they are very weak when it comes to defense. The fact that they can't defend themselves renders them squishy (they can easily be killed). To ensure they survive long, they move around the map with a lot of caution, ensuring they only engage in fights they can win with the fewest combos, say, one or two.
• Feeder: A feeder is a player who is constantly killed by the opponents. However, feeders may be rare in competitive matches.
• AoE: AoE, which in full is Arena of Effect, is a skill whose effect is felt across an entire opponent's area (as chosen by the player) rather than just a single opponent. This skill comes in handy when dealing with many opponents located in a single small area.
• Pushing: The intention of a team to move its creeps up the lane of the opponents to destroy its inhibitors, barracks, turrets, or towers. A push can be accomplished by a team or one player; this depends on the progression and situation of the game.
• Dot: DoT (Damage over Time) are items that cause damage to opponents gradually through poisoning, bleeding, or burning.
• Ultimate: A particular champion's most important skill.
• Farming: Killing and last hitting creeps/minions in lane phase.
• First Blood: The first kill during a MOBA match. The killer usually gets bonus gold.
• FF: When a teammate asks the team to “forfeit”, to give up the game and surrender.
• AA: AA means Auto Attack, when the player does not use any abilities but the basic attack (it can be either melee or ranged).

The jargon of FPS games

The most popular FPS game by far is CS: GO. Here are a few terminologies to master before giving the game a shot.

• Eco Round: Losing several consecutive rounds can damage the economy of a team, depriving them of the ability to purchase items for the next few rounds, which are known as eco rounds.
• Lit: A player receives damage in the current round, he is said to be lit.
• Molly: One of the CS: GO's five grenade types. It is usually meant to prevent opponents from accessing a particular map point.
• Kobe: Killing an opponent with a long-distance grenade.
• Anti-Eco Round: This is when a team buys armor capable of yielding more money per kill while facing opponents who are on an eco round.
• Boosting: Two or three players work together to beat an obstacle and gain a terrain edge over the opponents.
• Rotations: Movement of players from one point of the map to another for purposes defending or attacking the latter.
• Top Fragger: A successful kill an opponent. It also means the most effective players in terms of points and kills.
• Shot Caller: Also known as an in-game captain, a Shot Caller is an in-game decision maker on matters such as map control, rotations, and management.
• Nemesis: A nemesis is a foe that took down the player many times in a row - without killing them back.