Ever joined a match and felt lost when teammates typed "rotate mid!", "take Lord!", or "stop KS!"? Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) has its own language, and for new players, these terms can feel like a secret code. The truth is, understanding this basic vocabulary is the first step to communicating effectively, reading the game state, and ultimately winning more often.

In this article we've rounded up the most commonly used MLBB terms, grouped by category so they're easy to find. Bookmark this page as a reference, and you'll never feel out of the loop mid-match again.

General terms you must know

These are the basic terms that come up in almost every match, whether classic or ranked.

GG — Short for Good Game. Usually typed at the end of a match as a sign of sportsmanship. If someone types "GG" in the early minutes, it's usually sarcasm because they feel their team is already doomed (or already winning).
AFK — Away From Keyboard, meaning a player who goes idle or disconnects from the game. One AFK player can be devastating since MLBB is a 5v5 game.
Feeder / Feeding — A player who dies repeatedly, "feeding" the enemy gold and EXP. Not usually a compliment.
KS (Kill Steal) — "Stealing" a kill from a teammate who did the hard work of weakening the enemy. Best avoided, unless it's necessary to secure the kill.
MVP — Most Valuable Player, the player with the best performance on the team in a single match, calculated by score.
Smurf — An experienced player playing on a low-rank account, making them feel much stronger than everyone else at that tier.
Meta — The strategies, heroes, or playstyles currently considered the strongest and most popular in a given patch.
Buff / Nerf — Terms from the developer side. Buff means a hero or item was strengthened through an update, nerf means it was weakened.
Comeback — A situation where a team that was far behind manages to turn things around and win.
Maniac & Savage — Multi-kill markers. Maniac means killing 4 enemies consecutively in a short time, while Savage means killing all 5 (wiping the entire enemy team) — the most prestigious achievement in MLBB.

Role and lane terms

MLBB has a division of roles and lanes that determine each player's job. Understanding these is crucial for a balanced team.

Role — A hero's role: Tank, Fighter, Assassin, Mage, Marksman, and Support. Each role has a different function within the team.
Tank — A high-durability hero whose job is to initiate teamfights and protect teammates.
Fighter — A versatile hero with a balance of damage and durability, usually played in the EXP Lane.
Assassin — A killer hero with high burst damage, focused on eliminating squishy targets like enemy Marksmen and Mages.
Mage — A spellcaster hero with high magic damage, usually played in the Mid Lane.
Marksman (MM) — A ranged damage-dealer who becomes the team's main source of damage in the late game. Played in the Gold Lane.
Support / Roam — A supporting hero who protects teammates, provides crowd control, and controls the map.
Gold Lane — The bottom lane, where the Marksman farms to accumulate as much gold as possible.
EXP Lane — The top lane, where Fighter or Tank heroes race to level up quickly.
Mid Lane — The middle lane, usually occupied by a Mage who is flexible enough to help across the entire map.
Jungle / Jungler — The player who "hunts" in the jungle to get buffs and levels, then performs ganks.
Roamer — A player (usually Tank or Support) without a fixed lane who roams the map helping teammates and securing objectives.

Map and objective terms

Winning a match isn't just about kills — it's about controlling objectives on the map. These are the terms that most frequently spark teamfights.

Turret / Tower — Defensive structures that shoot enemies. Destroying enemy turrets is the path to their base.
Base — Each team's main headquarters. The team that destroys the enemy base wins the match.
Minion — Small troops that automatically march down each lane. Killing minions (farming) gives gold and EXP.
Turtle — A neutral turtle-shaped monster that spawns around minute 2 to minute 8. Defeating it gives gold for the entire team, a shield for the killer, and a damage buff. A hotly contested objective in the early game.
Lord — The strongest neutral monster that replaces the Turtle after minute 8. Once defeated, Lord turns into a "super minion" that helps push and is extremely effective at destroying enemy turrets.
Lithowanderer — A small creature in the river area that provides bonus gold, EXP, mana regeneration, and movement speed while in the river. Often secured by the jungler or mage early on.
Buff (Purple / Orange) — Temporary buffs from jungle monsters. The purple buff generally boosts mana regeneration and cooldown reduction, while the orange buff increases damage against monsters. Essential for junglers.

Combat and skill terms

When a teamfight breaks out, these terms determine who survives and who falls.

Ult (Ultimate) — Each hero's ultimate skill (3rd/4th skill button), usually the most powerful with the longest cooldown.
CD (Cooldown) — The waiting time before a skill can be used again.
CC (Crowd Control) — Effects that disrupt enemy movement, such as stun (frozen in place), knock-up (thrown into the air), or suppress (locked down and unable to act). Key to winning teamfights.
Burst — Massive damage dealt in a very short time, the trademark of Assassins and Mages.
Poke — Small long-range attacks to chip away at enemy HP before a teamfight begins.
Sustain — The ability to last a long time in a fight, usually through lifesteal or healing.
Lifesteal / Spell Vamp — Converting a portion of the damage you deal into HP recovery. Lifesteal applies to basic attacks, spell vamp applies to skills.
DPS (Damage Per Second) — How much damage a hero can consistently deal per second.
AoE (Area of Effect) — Skills that hit an area, not a single target. Effective against grouped-up enemies.
True Damage — Damage that pierces through all defenses (both armor and magic resistance).
Penetration — The ability to bypass a portion of enemy defenses, gained from certain items.
Shield — A temporary barrier that absorbs damage before your actual HP is affected.
Kite — The technique of attacking while moving backward, dealing damage without taking hits. A must-master skill for Marksmen.

Strategy and communication terms

These terms come up when the team starts coordinating. Understanding them helps you stay in sync with your teammates.

Gank — Ambushing an enemy suddenly, usually with multiple teammates, to secure a kill.
Rotate / Rotation — Moving from one lane to another to help teammates or secure objectives.
Split Push — The strategy of pushing one lane alone to divide the enemy's attention.
War / Team Fight — A large battle involving many heroes from both teams at once.
Push — Pushing minion waves forward and destroying enemy turrets.
Farming — Gathering gold and EXP by killing minions and jungle monsters.
Last Hit — Delivering the final blow on a minion to secure its gold.
Recall / Back — Returning to base to restore HP and buy items.
Map Awareness — The habit of regularly checking the minimap to track enemy positions and objectives.
Retri (Retribution) — A battle spell that deals damage to monsters, crucial for securing the Turtle and Lord.
Ping — A signal sent on the map to communicate with teammates (e.g., "gather", "retreat", or "attack").

Rank and competitive terms

For those looking to climb the ranks, these are the terms you'll frequently hear in ranked mode.

Rank / Tier — Player skill levels. The order from lowest to highest: Warrior, Elite, Master, Grandmaster, Epic, Legend, then Mythic.
Mythic — The highest tier, further divided into Mythic, Mythical Honor, Mythical Glory, and Mythical Immortal (the absolute top rank where pro players reside).
Star — Points within each division. Winning adds one star, losing removes one star. Collect stars to climb tiers.
Mythic Point — The point system that replaces stars once you reach Mythic, used to determine your position in the top tiers.
Draft Pick — The alternating hero selection mode between teams that starts from Epic rank and above.
Ban — Prohibiting a hero from being used by either team during the draft phase, usually to block dangerous meta heroes.
MMR (Matchmaking Rating) — A hidden rating the system uses to match you with opponents of similar skill.

Closing

Mastering the terms above will pay off immediately: team communication becomes smoother, you'll understand instructions faster, and your in-game decisions will be sharper. You don't need to memorize everything at once — just learn the ones that come up most often first, and the rest will stick naturally as you play more.

Once you're comfortable with the basic terminology and ready to dive into strategy, the next step is understanding each role's responsibilities and how to build a strong draft. And when you're ready to enter the draft pick phase, you can use the Itembuild Draft Assistant to get automatic ban suggestions, pick recommendations, and build advice — so you can focus on playing, not guessing your team composition.

Good luck out there, and may your rank climb fast!

Complete MLBB Terminology Guide for Beginners