Game jargon – Valorant

Are you new to Valorant, or have you ever found yourself confused by some callouts in-game?

In this guide, we look at some of the most commonly used terminology in the game, and what they mean.

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Ace:

When a player kills all five players in the opposing team in one round it’s called an ace. Often teammates will encourage each other to get the ace rather than going for the last opponent themselves.

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Bonus:

When you carry over the weapons you bought from the previous round this is called a bonus round. Usually teams will force buy an smg/rifle after winning the pistol round and then bonus those weapons into the third round.

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Controller:

Also known as smokes, these agents can be used to offensively or defensively block off an enemies vision, they can ‘control’ situations to set their team up for success.

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CT:

Same as the term in CSGO, CT is a callout on the map when an enemy is coming to site from the defender’s spawn.

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Cubby:

A cut out of a wall, or small box type area where you can sit and wait for an enemy to walk by in the hopes they don’t check that ‘cubby’.

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Default:

Playing default is when your team plays neutral, looking to gain information or picks before you commit to a strategy/site.

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Dink:

 A headshot, you will often hear players saying ‘they’re dinked’ meaning they’ve headshot them.

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Drop:

Buying a teammate a weapon (ex “can you drop me?” “can I get a drop?”).

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Duelist:

The agents that offer aggression to the team composition, they should seek out any engagements and create space for their team. Often the ones to find an opening pick or clutch out a round. 

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Economy:

The money a player has access to that allows them to buy their abilities and weapons. The economy is based on kills, assists, plants and round win/loss. Credits cap at 9000.

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Entry Fragger:

The first one to enter the site (typically a duelist) who opens up space on the site for their team.

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Exit frags:

Players usually run from the bomb as it detonates so they can save their gun, often in a 1v4+ situation a player will play for exit frags rather than trying to defuse so they can cause economic damage to the enemy team.

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Fake:

To sell a fake, a couple of attackers may heavily attack one site so that the defenders over rotate off of the other site. This allows the other attackers to quietly move up to (hopefully) a free site where they can get the plant.

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Flawless:

Winning the round with no players on the winning team dying.

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Full buy:

Buying up every ability, full shields and whatever weapon you can afford (typically requires 4500 credits – depending on what agent you play).

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Heaven:

A high spot (for example a sniper nest).

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Hell:

Hell – A low spot under heaven.

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Initiator:

Set their team up for success by providing them with information, they should work with their duelist to help them get the opening pick on the attack. As well as providing information, some of these agents have flashes and stuns as abilities which can further help their duelist as well as push any defenders away. 

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Line up:

When you position yourself in a certain way on the map to guarantee that your ability lands in a certain way. For example post plant, some agents can play ‘line ups’ meaning their ability can cover the bomb defusal meaning the enemies will not be able to defuse it without taking damage.

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Lurk:

To look out for flankers/catch the enemies off guard.

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One-way:

Using utility that allows you to see enemies but they cannot see you, often used with smokes.

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Op:

The operator is a sniper rifle used in Valorant (CSGO = awp) it is the most expensive weapon.

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Picks:

Safely getting a kill on an enemy that may be isolated, you will often hear teammates saying “play for picks” when attacking, which essentially means to play passively and wait for the enemy defenders to push out/play aggressively.

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Pistol round:

The first and sometimes second round of each half, where both teams can only afford a sidearm and possibly an ability.

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Re-take:

When defenders play retake they concede site control, regroup and then attempt to coordinate and retake the site together. For example, Killjoy’s ultimate ability ‘Lockdown’ is often used in retake situations as it captures all enemies caught within its radius for 8 seconds.

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Rez:

Sage’s ultimate is called resurrection, often you will hear players asking for a Sage rez.

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Rotate:

When the team commits to relocating across the map. For attackers it would be the realisation that a site is heavily defended (perhaps with lots of utility) so they rotate to a different site. For defenders it may be that attackers are committing heavily to one site so they quickly rotate to help the defenders on that site. Defenders may ‘over-rotate’ if attackers are baiting/faking a site.

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Save/Eco:

When a teammate suggests a save or eco round it is essentially buying whatever utility/abilities/weapon you can but also ensuring you have enough credits so that you can fully buy into the next round.

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Sentinel:

Great defensive agents, sentinels are able to lock down areas and hold down sites, they also benefit from utility that can hold flanks and slow down any pushes or rotations.

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Shift walk:

Walking whilst holding your shift key in Valorant keeps you quiet and prevents enemies from hearing your footsteps meaning you can move in silence. Not shift walking gives the opponents information as to what bomb site you may be heading towards.

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Spike:

What Valorant calls their ‘bomb’.

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Team Ace:

When all players on a team each get a kill in the round.

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Thifty:

Winning the round by getting a kill with an enemy player’s weapon.

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Trade:

It is important to play in pairs so you can trade your teammates death. Killing the opponent that killed your teammate would be classed as a ‘trade’.

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Ult/Ultimate:

The most powerful ability that an agent has, it requires kills or the collection of orbs to unlock. Each agent has a different ultimate that provides different value to the game.

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This is only a brief guide of the many terms you might hear during a match of Valorant, so let us know on the British Esports Twitter if you would like to see more in different titles.