Matchup Glossary
A simple glossary of the most common terms used in matchup tips: trades, wave states, power spikes, roaming, and more.
Trading & Damage
Trade
A short exchange of damage between you and your opponent. A good trade is when you take less damage than you deal, or use less important cooldowns.
Short trade
Quick in-and-out exchange: you use one or two abilities (or auto + ability), then back off before the enemy can fully punish you. Great for burst champions.
Extended / long trade
A longer fight where both of you keep hitting each other for several seconds. Favors champions with strong sustain or DPS (bruisers, some ADCs, drain-tank mages).
Poke
Safe, repeated damage from range to slowly lower enemy HP before committing. Usually done with low-risk abilities (long range skillshots, long cooldown autos).
All-in
Full commit to kill or force summoners. You use all your main abilities (and often Flash/Ignite), with very little option to back out if it goes wrong.
Burst
A lot of damage in a very short time window. Burst champions try to delete a target with one combo instead of fighting long trades.
DPS (Damage per second)
Sustained damage over time, usually from autos + repeated abilities. ADCs and some bruisers rely more on DPS than on raw burst.
Out-trade
To consistently win trades: you end up with more HP, better cooldowns, or a better wave state after the exchange.
Gap closer
Any ability that lets you quickly reach your target (dash, jump, blink). Used to start trades, all-ins, or follow up on crowd control.
Kite
Attacking while moving away from the enemy so they can’t easily reach you. Good kiting lets you deal DPS without giving melee champs clean engages.
Peel
Using your abilities to protect a carry on your team (stuns, slows, knockbacks, shields) by stopping divers or assassins from reaching them.
Zone / threat range
Controlling an area where enemies risk getting hit if they walk in. Your abilities or hitbox “zone” them away from farm, objectives, or safe positions.
Cooldowns, Power Spikes & Scaling
Cooldown
The time an ability is unavailable after being used. Many matchups are decided by trading when the enemy’s key spell is on cooldown.
Cooldown window
The short period where an important enemy spell is down. This is usually the best moment to trade, all-in or start an objective.
Power spike
A moment where your champion becomes much stronger than before (hitting level 6, completing a core item, or getting a big AD/AP purchase).
Outscale
To become stronger than the enemy later in the game even if they are ahead early. A champ that outscales usually has better items, ratios, or teamfight impact in late game.
Tempo
How quickly you can push, reset and be first on the map compared to your opponent. Good tempo lets you move to objectives while the enemy is still catching waves.
Priority / prio
Having the push or the stronger lane so that you can move first to scuttles, objectives or skirmishes. Your jungler loves you when you give prio.
Wave Management
Wave state
The current position and size of the minion wave (pushing, even, frozen, stacked). Good wave states make trading and ganking much easier.
Freeze
Holding the wave near your tower without letting it crash, so the enemy has to walk up and expose themselves to ganks or bad trades.
Slow push
Building a big wave by last-hitting and letting your minions stack. You then use that heavy wave to pressure dives, plates or roams.
Fast push / hard shove
Quickly killing the wave with abilities and autos to push it into the enemy tower. Used to force recalls, get plates, or create time to roam or reset.
Crash the wave
Forcing your minion wave to reach and die under the enemy tower. After a crash, you can usually recall, ward or roam without losing much farm.
Bounce
When a big wave crashes into the enemy tower, the wave often “bounces” back toward you. You can use this to set up a safe freeze near your side.
Thin the wave
Killing some enemy minions so the wave doesn’t stack too hard against you. Prevents you from getting stuck under tower with a huge wave crashing.
Cheater recall
A very early recall (usually after a stacked wave crash) where you reset, buy items and return to lane without missing much, giving you a small but very powerful early lead.
Roaming, Jungle & Fights
Roam
Leaving your lane to help another lane or contest an objective. Good roams are usually done after pushing your wave so you don’t lose too much farm.
Skirmish
A small fight involving 2–4 champions per team, often around river or jungle. Not a full 5v5, but more than a simple 1v1.
Dive
Attacking an enemy under their tower with the goal of killing them and escaping. Usually done with a stacked wave and help from your jungler or support.
Reset
Recalling to base to buy items and heal. A “good reset” is done after you crashed a wave or secured an objective, so you don’t lose much XP or gold.
Contest
To fight for an objective (scuttle, dragon, herald, baron, waves) instead of giving it up. You usually need prio or numbers advantage to contest safely.
Facecheck
Walking into an unwarded bush or fog of war area without vision. Often punished instantly in higher elos — avoid it unless you are very tanky or sure it’s empty.
Vision control
Placing, clearing and denying wards around key areas (objectives, jungle entrances, river). Good vision control makes picks and objectives much easier.
Flank
Attacking the enemy team from the side or behind instead of front-to-back. Strong for engages and assassins when the enemy backline feels “safe”.
Choke point
A narrow area of the map (jungle corridor, dragon/baron entrances) where AoE abilities or zone control become very strong.
Frontline / backline
Frontline are tanks/bruisers taking the first hits. Backline are damage dealers (ADC/mage) staying behind and hitting safely.