VALORANT Terms & Slang Every Player Should Know

VALORANT Guides

Author: GamerGirl.GG
Published: May 24, 2023
Updated: November 29, 2023

Table of Contents

What’s up, Gamers! Welcome to the ultimate glossary of VALORANT terms! Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting out, this comprehensive reference is here to help you navigate the VALORANT lingo like a pro.

Valorant Terminology

Term / Slang	Definition	Category
Ace	When one player kills every player on the enemy team	Gameplay
AFK	Away From Keyboard or Keys, meaning not playing	Communication
ADS	Stands for aiming down sights	Gameplay
Anti-eco	Refers to buying weapons to try to keep a lead over a team that is resorting to saving	Gameplay
Bomb	Synonymous with “Spike”	Gameplay
Bunnyhop	An advanced technique that allows you to mix up your movement and move slightly faster than sprinting by buffering your jumps and air strafing	Movement
Buy	Refers to the decisions teams make in relation to buying guns and managing their economy	Gameplay
Full-buy	When your team is able to buy to be fully equipped	Gameplay
Force buy	When your team is close to losing or the sides are close to switching so you spend the rest of your remaining credits and buy what you can. It is sort of a risky hail mary attempt to win that round	Gameplay
Half-buy	When your team chooses to buy but can’t afford a full-buy and it isn’t a force buy, you should have enough credits saved to full-buy the next round	Gameplay
Callout	Refers to indicating a place on a map by a particular name, such as “Heaven” or “Elbow”	Communication
Camp	To defensively hold an area for a long time, waiting for an enemy rather than seeking them out, usually in a tight corner that an enemy may not clear	Strategy
CD	Shortened version for “cooldown”	Gameplay
Clear / Clear corners	Throughouly checking all possible corners or angles that enemies could be	Strategy
Clear / Clear site	When the attackers thoroughly check the site before planting the spike to decrease the chance of a hidden defender sneaking upon them	Strategy
Clutch	When the last player alive wins the round, usually when the odds of winning are against them.	Gameplay
Counterstrafe	An advanced firing technique that allows you to shoot accurately if you simultaneously fire when you strafe in the opposite direction	Gameplay
CT	A term that has been brought over from Counterstrike, referring to “counter terrorists” which are equivalent to Valorant defenders. CT is referring to the defenders side of the map.	Map Terminology
Cubby	Refers to a part of the map with a deep corner that players can hide and peek from behind	Map Terminology
Crossfire	When two teammates position and fire so they are on opposite sides of an enemy between them	Strategy
Default	When you’re on the attacking side and your team plays a neutral/non-committal strategy to gain information and/or look for picks	Strategy
Dink	Refers to a headshot that doesn’t kill an enemy, usually used to indicate that the target is close to dying	Gameplay
Double up	To position with an ally to set yourself up for a trade or to stack a site with an additional defender when there is usually one	Strategy
Drop	Refers to buying a teammate a gun (or dropping them one you have)	Gameplay
Flick	To quickly move your crosshair and shoot, usually killing a target with a single shot	Gameplay
Eco/eco round	When a team chooses to save credits in order to have the ability to full buy during the following round	Strategy
Entry	The player or agent who will enter site first to take space.	Role
Entry fragger	The player or agent who looks to initiate the fight when attacking by entering first and getting the opening kill	Role
Exit frag	Before a bomb detonates, players will often run away so they can survive and save their guns. Looking for exit frags means to position yourself so you can kill these players rather than trying to defuse (usually done in 1v4 or 1v5 situations)	Strategy
Flanker	A player (usually a defender) who sneaks around to attack the enemy team from behind	Strategy
Flank	“Behind”. If your teammate asks you to cover flank, they want you to watch your backs for an enemy who may be trying to come from behind your team.	Map Terminology
Flash	Short for “flashbang” often used in reference to specific abilities that, like a flash bang grenade would, blind players with brightness.	Utility
Flawless	When a team wins a round by killing all enemies and doesn’t suffer any casualties	Gameplay
Frag	Refers to a kill	Gameplay
FF	Forfeit	Communication
GLHF	Good luck have fun	Communication
GH	Good half	Communication
Headshot	When a shot hits an opponent in the head, dealing significantly more damage	Gameplay
Heaven / Tower	Refers to the high ground on a map, often located above a site or a specific area	Map Terminology
HP/health points	The amount of health a player has	Gameplay
Lurker	The player or agent who takes a separate path from the rest of the team and tries to catch the enemy off guard	Role
Meta	The current state of the game and what strategies, agents, and weapons are considered strong or popular	Gameplay
One Shot	Refers to when an enemy player will only take one shot to the body to kill them because their health is so low.	Communication
One-tap	Refers to killing an enemy with a single shot	Gameplay
OP	Short for Operator, which is a sniper rifle in Valorant	Weapon
Jump Peek	A strategic maneuver and technique where a player quickly jumps out and back cover in order to peek an angle to gain information, bait out shots from enemies, and more while minimizing the risk of getting hit. It is very hard to shoot someone jump peeking, because it is very fast and sometimes only a small portion of their body is revealed.	Movement
Shoulder Peek	A technique used by players to get information about enemy positions or bait out shots and utility from opponents while minimizing the risk of taking damage. It involves briefly exposing only a small portion of the player’s body, typically just the shoulder, to peek around a corner or angle	Movement
Jiggle Peek	A technique used by players to gather information, bait out shots, or engage in quick exchanges with opponents while minimizing the risk of taking damage. It involves rapidly peeking out from cover for a very short duration, usually just exposing a small portion of the player’s body, and then quickly returning to cover. This movement is similar to counterstrafing, so jiggle peek shooting can be extremely accurate and get picks.	Movement
Peek	To quickly expose yourself to see or engage enemies	Gameplay
Plant/planting	Refers to the action of planting the spike/bomb at a site	Gameplay
Rotate	When a player or the entire team moves from one site or position to another, often in response to new information or the spike’s location	Strategy
Pick	Refers to getting a kill on an isolated enemy before any significant engagement or team fight occurs. Picks create an advantage for the team who get them.	Gameplay
Duo	Duo referes to two players who are queued together. It emphasizes the importance of teamwork and collaboration between two players.	Gameplay
Knife Out Run	Refers to running with your knife out to move as fast as you possibly can. The call to do this should mean the location of all enemies is known and you can safely move, usual rotate, with your knife out and not have to clear corners.	Movement
Knife Out	Refers to moving with your knife out. When your knife is out you move faster than with a weapon out.	Movement
Shift walk / Walk	Refers to moving silently, which with standard controls is the shift button plus your movement keys.	Movement
Solo queue	To play alone without a pre-made team or anyone else in your party	Communication
Spray	When a player continuously fires their weapon, controlling the recoil to hit the target. Or this is refering to the spray paint players can use pre, mid and post round.	Gameplay
Stuck	Refers to the situation where a player is unable to move or escape, usually due to an ability but can be used in the context of not being able to move because an enemy is holding the angle of their exit with an advantage.	Strategy
T-side	T is short for terrorists, a term that has been brought over from Counterstrike, which are equivalent to Valorant attackers. Refers to the attacker’s side of the map.	Map Terminology
Tag	To deal damage to an opponent without killing them	Gameplay
Trade kill	When one player gets killed, and their teammate immediately kills the enemy who killed them in return	Gameplay
Ult	Refers to a player’s ultimate ability	Gameplay
Utility	Refers to the abilities and tools used by agents, such as smokes, flashes, or healing	Gameplay
Wallbang	To shoot through a wall to damage or kill an enemy on the other side	Gameplay
Win conditions	The objectives or criteria needed to win a round or a match	Gameplay
Dog	Refers to Fade’s Prowler or Skye’s Trailblazer ability	Utility
Ninja Defuse	Refers to defusing the bomb by masking the audio cue of the defuse start with another sound or ability at the same time	Gameplay
NT	Nice try	Communication
NTNT	Or, NTNTNTNTNTNTNT, means really nice try	Communication
GG	Good game	Communication
GJ	Good job	Communication
NS	Nice shot	Communication
Lineup	Refers to tactful use of certain agents’ abilities where they “line” themselves up in a particular place on the map in order to throw their utility in a specific spot. Example: Brim or Viper may have a mollie lineup to throw their mollie on the bomb just in time, while under cover, making it impossible for the enemy team to defuse. Example: Sova may have a lineup for throwing his shock darts, in order to time them both to land at the same time on an enemy’s position, resulting in a double shock dart kill.	Strategy
Rush	To run in at the enemy without stopping, usually a full team push. This strategy is an attempt to overwhelm the other team and throw them offguard. It’s usually a play from attackers attempting to take a site, hoping to overwhelm the usually onlyone or two players “holding” site.	Strategy

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Valorant Terminology