Guide to Esport Slang

Like any sport, esports has its own lingo. The difference? Esport slang hasn’t fully crossed into the mainstream. You don’t have to watch baseball to know what a home run is. Or basketball to recognize a slam dunk. But knowing what a “frag” is? That usually means you’ve watched or played.

For newcomers, this language can feel like a barrier to entry. How do you follow the action if you don’t understand what the casters are saying?

Covering all the slang across every esport would take more than one article, so we’re focusing on the terminology most commonly used in competitive games like CS2, Valorant, and League of Legends. Consider this your go-to guide for esports lingo, helping you watch with confidence, follow every play, and join the conversation like a pro.

Your Guide to Esport Slang & Terminology

To keep this guide clean and easy to follow, terms will be broken down into the following categories:

Gameplay
Team Strategy & Roles
Culture
Community

Esport Slang in Gameplay

Frag – A kill
- Used in a sentence: She dropped 30 frags.
Top frag / Bottom frag – Player with the most/fewest kills on a team.
Clutch – Winning a round when you’re the last player alive vs multiple enemies.
Eco – A round where a team buys little or no gear to save money.
Ace – One player kills the entire enemy team in a round (5 kills).
Entry frag(ger) – The first person to push into a contested area and (hopefully) get the opening kill.
Lurk – A role or strategy where a player stays behind the main group to catch enemies rotating.
Hard clear – Checking a specific corner or angle methodically.
Pre-fire – Shooting at a spot before seeing the enemy, anticipating their position.
One-tap – A kill with a single shot, often referring to a clean headshot.
Jiggle peek – Moving in and out of cover quickly to bait a shot or gather info.

Team Strategy & Roles

IGL – In-Game Leader: the shotcaller for the team’s strategy.
Anchor – A defensive player who holds down a bomb site or area solo.
Utility – Grenades, flashes, smokes, mollies (or abilities, in Valorant).
Stack – Putting multiple players on one site (usually a gamble).
Default – A spread-out formation to gather info and punish pushes.
Rush – A fast, aggressive strat where everyone charges one area.
Strat – Short for strategy.

Culture

Popped off – Played exceptionally well.
- Used in a sentance: She popped off with a 3K clutch.
Smurf – A high-rank player using a lower-ranked account.
Tilted – Mentally shaken or frustrated, playing worse because of it.
Clean – Aesthetic, smooth play.
Sweaty – Playing extremely tryhard, often with intense focus.
Throw – Losing a won round/game due to mistakes or overconfidence.
GG / GGWP – Abbreviation for “Good game” and “Good game, well played.”
NT – Abbreviation for “Nice try.”
Diff – Used to compare players implying one outperformed the other.
- Used in a sentence: Jett dropped 30 kills while their Reyna barely hit double digits. Total duelist diff.

Community

Bot – An insult meaning a player is playing poorly or brainlessly.
Cracked – Insanely good reflexes/mechanics.
Cheese strat – An unconventional or gimmicky strategy that catches opponents off guard.
Boosted – Someone who’s achieved a high rank thanks to better teammates, not skill.