New to ranked? Every term you need to understand the game — explained simply with real examples.
43 terms
Attack Damage. The stat that increases the damage of basic attacks and many physical abilities. Champions who deal AD damage are countered by Armor.
💡 Example
Garen, Darius, and Caitlyn all deal primarily AD damage. Build Plated Steelcaps or Bramble Vest against them.
Ability Power. The stat that increases the damage of magic abilities and spells. Champions who deal AP damage are countered by Magic Resist (MR).
💡 Example
Lux, Ahri, and Syndra deal AP damage. Build Mercury's Treads or Banshee's Veil against them.
Damage that ignores all resistances — both Armor and Magic Resist. There is no item that reduces true damage, making it extremely dangerous.
💡 Example
Vayne's Silver Bolts, Fiora's Vitals, and Cho'Gath's Feast all deal true damage. Building armor or MR won't help.
A champion that deals both AD and AP damage. Building only one type of resistance won't fully protect you — you need both, or just stack health.
💡 Example
Corki, Jax, and Kayle deal hybrid damage. Rather than buying pure armor or pure MR, build health items and adaptive defences.
Damage triggered by basic attacks that applies special effects on each hit. On-hit damage often scales with max health, meaning tanks take significant damage too.
💡 Example
Kog'Maw and Vayne deal on-hit damage. Anti-heal (Bramble Vest) and health are more effective counters than flat armor.
A defensive stat that reduces physical (AD) damage taken. Each point of armor makes you slightly harder to kill from physical sources.
💡 Example
Plated Steelcaps give bonus armor and reduce incoming auto attack damage. Great against AD champions.
Magic Resist. A defensive stat that reduces magic (AP) damage taken. The equivalent of Armor but against ability damage.
💡 Example
Mercury's Treads give MR and tenacity. Essential against AP-heavy teams.
Reduces the duration of crowd control effects like stuns, slows, and silences. Tenacity of 30% means a 1-second stun only lasts 0.7 seconds.
💡 Example
Mercury's Treads provide 30% tenacity. Great when the enemy team has lots of CC.
Reduces the cooldown of your abilities, letting you cast them more often. Formerly called CDR (Cooldown Reduction).
💡 Example
With 20 Ability Haste, a 10-second cooldown becomes an 8.3-second cooldown.
A debuff that reduces healing by 40% (or 60% from some sources). Essential against champions who rely on healing to sustain through fights.
💡 Example
Bramble Vest applies Grievous Wounds on hit. Build it against Aatrox, Dr. Mundo, or Soraka.
A form of Armor Penetration that ignores a flat amount of the target's armor. More effective against low-armor targets like squishies.
💡 Example
Duskblade and Youmuu's Ghostblade give lethality. Assassins use it to one-shot carries.
Your total health pool. When it reaches zero you die. Building health is effective against mixed damage (both AD and AP) because resistances only protect against one type.
💡 Example
Against a Jax who deals both AD and AP, building Warmog's Armor (pure health) can be better than stacking one resistance.
Crowd Control. Any ability that limits what an enemy champion can do — including stuns, roots, slows, silences, and more.
💡 Example
Leona has heavy CC: her E roots you, her Q stuns you, and her R stuns in the centre. Always respect high-CC supports.
Completely stops an enemy from moving or using abilities for the duration. The strongest form of hard CC.
💡 Example
Blitzcrank's E (Power Fist) knocks you up and stuns you after hooking you in.
Stops an enemy from moving but still allows them to use abilities. Less powerful than a stun but still very dangerous.
💡 Example
Morgana's Q roots you in place. You can still cast spells, but you can't walk away.
Reduces an enemy's movement speed. Doesn't stop them entirely but makes it much easier to chase or escape.
💡 Example
Ashe's passive permanently slows targets she attacks — making her incredibly difficult to run away from.
Prevents an enemy from casting abilities but allows them to move and basic attack. Counters ability-reliant champions.
💡 Example
Garen's Q silences you briefly. Use your gap-close before it lands if possible.
The strongest form of CC — completely stops movement and ability use, and cannot be cleansed by regular means. Only QSS (Quicksilver Sash) removes it.
💡 Example
Malzahar's R and Warwick's R suppress their targets. Build QSS if you're being focused by these champions.
Launches an enemy into the air, preventing all actions. Cannot be reduced by tenacity — it always lasts its full duration.
💡 Example
Malphite's R knocks up everyone it hits. Unlike stuns, tenacity does not reduce knockup duration.
Forces an enemy to run away from the source of the fear uncontrollably. They cannot control their movement during the fear.
💡 Example
Fiddlesticks and Nocturne can fear enemies. If feared near a wall you'll run into it — stay away from terrain.
When the jungler (or another ally) leaves their lane or jungle to attack an enemy laner alongside you. Successful ganks create kills, summoner spell burns, or map pressure.
💡 Example
If your jungler pings they're coming bot, shove the wave to deny the enemy a reset and set up the gank.
Repeatedly dealing small amounts of damage to an enemy from range to chip away at their health before a fight. Poke champions want to whittle you down then engage when you're weak.
💡 Example
Jayce in cannon form pokes with empowered Shock Blasts. Don't engage unless you're healthy — his poke will chunk you in a full fight.
Dealing a large amount of damage in a very short time — ideally before the target can react. Burst champions aim to kill quickly rather than sustain damage over a long fight.
💡 Example
LeBlanc is a burst assassin. She wants to kill you in one combo. Stacking health and a Stopwatch gives you a chance to survive.
The ability to restore health during or after fights, either through healing abilities, lifesteal, or shields. Sustained champions become harder to kill the longer a fight goes.
💡 Example
Aatrox sustains through his Q hitting sweet spots. Anti-heal (Bramble Vest) is the primary counter.
Moving away from an enemy while continuing to deal damage — typically by attacking and then moving between auto attacks. Kiting is how ranged champions fight melee champions.
💡 Example
Caitlyn kites by auto-attacking then immediately moving away. Melee champions need to close the gap with dashes or CC to fight her.
Controlling the minion wave to create advantageous situations. Freezing keeps the wave near your tower for safety. Shoving pushes the wave to the enemy tower to deny gold and set up roams.
💡 Example
Before recalling, shove the wave under the enemy tower so they miss minions while you're gone.
A specific level, ability unlock, or item completion where a champion becomes significantly stronger. Knowing enemy power spikes helps you avoid fighting them at their strongest.
💡 Example
Kassadin spikes at Level 6 when he unlocks Riftwalk. Play aggressively before 6, then respect his mobility.
Leaving your lane to help another lane or secure objectives. Roaming champions create pressure across the map but risk losing lane priority.
💡 Example
After pushing the wave under the enemy tower, a mid laner might roam bot to help their ADC. Ping your team when the enemy laner is missing.
Committing fully to a fight, using all abilities with the intention to kill. Going all-in means you can't easily disengage — only do it when you're confident you can win.
💡 Example
Darius all-ins by using E to pull you in, then spinning and building Hemorrhage stacks. Never all-in Darius when he already has passive stacks.
A short exchange of damage between two champions. Short trades are quick engagements where both sides deal damage and back off. Extended trades last longer and favour certain champion types.
💡 Example
Darius wins extended trades. Take short trades against him — deal damage quickly and back off before his bleed stacks.
Keeping the minion wave near your own tower by last-hitting while letting enemy minions push slightly. Freezing denies the enemy safe farm and makes them vulnerable to ganks.
💡 Example
If you're ahead, freeze the wave near your tower to force the enemy to overextend for farm — making them easy gank targets.
Creep Score. The number of minions and monsters you've last-hit for gold. CS is the primary source of gold in lane — a few missed CS can mean missing an item spike.
💡 Example
10 CS is roughly equal to 1 kill in gold value. Consistent CS is more reliable than chasing kills.
Having pushed the wave and being free to roam, contest objectives, or help teammates. You have lane priority when your wave is shoved and your opponent is stuck farming.
💡 Example
If your wave is pushed and you have lane priority, you can roam mid or contest a Dragon without falling behind on CS.
A champion built to quickly eliminate single targets with burst damage before escaping. Assassins are strong against isolated or immobile carries but weak in extended fights.
💡 Example
Zed and Katarina are assassins. They want to find you alone, burst you in one combo, and escape before your team responds.
A durable frontline champion built to absorb damage and protect teammates. Tanks have high health and resistances but deal less damage than other roles.
💡 Example
Malphite and Ornn are tanks. They engage fights, absorb CC, and create space for their carries to deal damage safely.
A melee champion that is both durable and deals high damage, but has limited mobility. Juggernauts dominate extended fights but struggle to engage or disengage.
💡 Example
Darius and Nasus are juggernauts. Kite them — their lack of mobility is their biggest weakness.
An AP champion who deals damage through abilities rather than auto attacks. Mages typically have high burst or sustained ability damage and use mana as a resource.
💡 Example
Lux and Syndra are mages. They deal AP damage — build Magic Resist against them.
A ranged carry who deals sustained physical damage through basic attacks. ADC stands for Attack Damage Carry. Marksmen are weak early but become very strong with items.
💡 Example
Caitlyn and Jinx are marksmen. They need protection early but scale into powerful late-game carries.
A champion whose role is to help teammates rather than carry damage. Supports provide healing, shielding, crowd control, or vision control.
💡 Example
Lulu shields and buffs her carry while Thresh hooks and creates picks. Both are supports with different playstyles.
A melee fighter who excels at short, intense duels. Skirmishers are strong in small fights and side lanes but can struggle in large teamfights.
💡 Example
Fiora and Jax are skirmishers. They want 1v1 or 2v2 situations — avoid duelling them without backup.
Quicksilver Sash. An item with an active that removes all debuffs from yourself — including suppression, which cannot be cleansed any other way. Builds into Mercurial Scimitar.
💡 Example
Build QSS against Malzahar, Warwick, or Mordekaiser. Their ultimates suppress or isolate you — QSS is your escape.
A cheap item with a one-time use that puts you in stasis (untargetable and invulnerable) for 2.5 seconds. Can be used to dodge burst combos. Builds into Zhonya's Hourglass.
💡 Example
Use Stopwatch to survive an Zed or Fizz all-in. Activate it when you see their ultimate land — the damage triggers on the way out of stasis.
Items that apply Grievous Wounds, reducing enemy healing by 40–60%. Essential against champions who rely on healing to survive fights.
💡 Example
Bramble Vest (tank/melee) and Executioner's Calling (ranged) both apply anti-heal. Build them early against Aatrox, Soraka, or Dr. Mundo.
