Valorant Terms: An Introduction to In-Game Terminology

The world of internet shooters has become very sophisticated. The battles have become more heated and players across the world try to gain every possible advantage they can over their opponents to secure a win for their team and become a hero. 

Valorant is a highly dynamic FPS made by Riot Games. The game is a mixture of CS:GO’s realistic and robust combat mixed with the whimsy and creativity of Overwatch. This has made the game a battleground for FPS veterans and relative newcomers to the genre, and has created a smorgasbord of in-game terminology that is getting thrown around which can be overwhelming for any new player. 

But worry not, as we’ve compiled a comprehensive Valorant glossary, full of the vast array of terms and slang that you can refer to when you find yourself unable to decipher teammate communications. 

Ace

When a single player kills all five opponents. Even if someone gets resurrected, you can get an Ace with only five kills as long as your team wins the round.

Team Ace

When each of your teammates gets a single kill for the round. It also works when someone gets resurrected by Sage and one of your teammates gets two kills.

ADS

Aim down sights or using right-click on your weapon to use the sights.

AK-47

Used to refer to the Vandal weapon (resembles the fire and damage of AK-47 in CS:GO)

Anchor

A player who chooses to hold down a spot for the attacking team. Usually along a high-traffic passageway where enemies try to trade and jump through. These are called sentinels in the game.

AWP or OP

Another name for the Operator sniper. Players that played Counter-Strike never let this terminology get old. It has been used for decades since Counter-Strike has been the most relevant competitive FPS game in history.

Baiting

Baiting is where you use a teammate to check if there will be enemies in a specific area. After your teammate gets the information, you can proceed to pre-firing the enemies. It can be treated as “trading” as well.

There are other examples of baiting where you have a teammate holding the same position you are holding and the enemies will never check the corner again if your teammate dies. So instead of trading, you still hold the angle until you can kill everyone.

For example, if you are holding B Site on Bind, you can have two players play inside the Boathouse. Your teammate can peek from the Boathouse and die. You can choose not to fight and trade off your fallen teammate and wait for everyone to plant the spike.

If they assume Boathouse is clear because they killed one inside already, you can wait for everyone to go in and kill everyone from behind including the one planting the spike. Baiting is frowned upon, especially when you are playing with randoms.

Bunnyhop 

Bunnyhop is when you gain momentum first by running with the knife (since you move faster) and you can perfect your jumps perfectly so that you maintain that speed while jumping. It is faster because you gain more speed when the ground is uneven (lower or elevated).

Players use this tactic because it is fast and you can time your walk (Shift) mid-air so you make no noise when you land at the end.

Camp

Holding any weird angle like a rat to either gain information about rotations through footsteps or catch everyone off guard if they do not clear corners.

Cooldown

The ability is not yet available or is on cooldown.

CT

Is a CS:GO term that has carried over to Valorant. It denotes the starting locations of the defending team.

Cross fire

Holding down an area of the map with a teammate but taking two separate positions that are completely opposite to each other. This essentially creates two targets for the unwary enemy to aim at. This is effective after planting the spike and defending the bombsite. 

Default

Default is an area on the map where enemies usually hold, but there is no defining feature on that area. If you hear “plant on default” or “enemy is on default” on Bind, you can assume default is on the area where you usually plant the spike in A Site from A Mid.

Dink

“I dinked her,” means you hit a headshot and did a lot of damage, but didn’t manage to get the frag.

Double peek

The act of going around corners doubled up with a teammate at the same time. One teammate could wide-peek while the other provides suppressing fire. Helps with a coordinated flush of a crowded area.

You usually pair these double peeks with a blind. The player without the blind does the wide-peek since the player blinding will take a moment to get his or her weapon ready.   

Drop

When a teammate needs a weapon and is low on credits, they ask you to drop them one. It can also mean the area where attackers push on A Site Fracture.

Eco round

One of the most important in-game commands which let your team know that you will not use all your credits on weapons but rather save them for future rounds. Full eco means that you are purely using a classic because you will not be able to afford a full buy next round if you don’t.

Entry Frag

The player that is going to enter first to get kills for the team.  It is a hard job to do, but the point is to have someone “trade” you once your team gets the information.

Exit Frag

Getting kills by picking off attackers leaving the bomb site just before the explosion. Usually when you are the last defender left and you have no hope of defusing the bomb, you wait for attackers to run away and try to pick them off for better weapons or hurt their economy.

Fake

This is a defensive move where you start defusing the bomb but stop after a couple of seconds. The opponent thinks you are busy defusing and the enemy reveals their position. There are a lot of mind games involved.

The defuser is always at a disadvantage, but it also depends on how the enemy plays it. You might have heard phrases like “pros don’t fake” or “fake don’t pros” because the enemies do not try to peek and reveal their position.

Players usually fake defuse if they have no clue about the location of the last enemy. Making any kind of noise after doing a fake defuse is completely pointless because the enemy will know you are not defusing.

Flash

Certain agents like Reyna and Breach can blind opponents with their abilities.

Flick

Quick crosshair movement to hand multiple headshots, usually bagging more than one kill. Denotes a player’s aim-skill, which is also a term used occasionally. 

Force Buy

Spending all your credits even if you do not have enough credits to buy full shields and your preferred rifle (Vandal or Phantom).

Frag

Getting a kill or describing Raze’s Paint Shells.

Half-buy

Half-buys are usually called when your team is on a losing streak (you gain more credits per round) and your team does not have enough money to buy rifles with full shields and abilities. Hovering around 3,000 credits can still give you a Spectre with a half shield and you can retain enough credits for a full buy next round because of the losing streak bonus credits.

IGL

IGL refers to an in-game leader. When a player assumes or is given the role of strategist for a round or a game, he becomes the IGL.

Jiggle peek

Repeated quick peaks around a corner to help you get information about the opponent’s positions. You can also use this tactic to bait the Operator shot so that the Operator loses the angle. Jump peek is also a better way of getting information because enemies aim at head-level.

However, you will not have the option to peek at the enemy with a weapon while doing this.

Lit

When you damage an opponent.

Long

‘Long’ is a callout on the map where there are lengthy corridors. You often have to be wary of snipers who can engage from a distance in these locations.

Lurker

A player who chooses to head out on their own in the map and tries to pick off enemies that are rushing noisily. This is a good tactic with agents like Jett and Phoenix who can circle behind enemy lines and launch attacks.  

LOS

Line of sight (in plain view).

Mid

‘Mid’ is the area of the map that forms crossroads between the two bomb sites, or simply the ‘middle’.

NT

NT is short for ‘nice try’. It means your teammates think you gave it a valiant effort despite being unsuccessful.

One-tap

One-tap is when you eliminate an enemy in just one bullet. A Vandal, for example, can one-tap an enemy with full shields at any range if it’s a headshot.

Play time

This is a defensive command — or perhaps an offensive one if you’ve managed to plant the spike and the other team is playing retake. Playing for time means you don’t necessarily try to wipe out the enemy team, but instead just keep them distracted so that they can’t plant or defuse in time.

Retake

Take back control of a section of the map your team held but lost to the opponent.

Safe plant

Planting the spike behind some cover where teammates can also cover you.

Stick

A teammate usually calls stick when he wants you to keep defusing while he covers your back or that enemy will not reach the bomb in time. 

Play for picks

Pre-fire

Pre-firing is when you shoot before an enemy comes around a corner because you’re suspecting they might peek or because you can hear them coming.

Rotate

Rotate is a command used to suggest changing the plan and going to the other bomb site. Your team will usually backtrack and move to a different location on the map, such as going from the A site to B instead.

Smurf

A smurf is an experienced player using a different account to pretend to be a newbie and proceeds to torment players.

Spike

The spike is the bomb that attackers plant or defenders defuse.

Stack

Stack means that you are putting more players on the site. If you are completely sure the enemies are going to a particular site, you can “stack” the A Site with three or more defending players.

Sometimes it is a good strategy when you know the enemies are afraid of pushing powerful sentinels on defense such as Killjoy and Cypher.

Thrifty

Killing all your opponents with a cheap loadout or half-buys as a team. 

Trade

A life for a life. When a teammate is killed, make sure the responsible opponent is neutralized. This is known as trading and ensures there are no landslide rounds. 

Ult

Refers to the Ultimate ability of each agent in the game. 

Wall bang

Valorant has several walls which show black scorch marks when shot at. These walls can be used to hit enemies on the other side.

Whiffing

When you or your team miss easy kills. You do not want to be a whiffer. 

This extensive list of in-game commands in Valorant will give you a quick overview of the lingo used in the game. Next time your teammate yells, “Wall-bang heaven, lurker inside;” you’ll know exactly what to do. 

This list was compiled using a variety of sources and game experience. The list will be updated as the game develops and new patches are launched.