Glossary

• Please organize terms by category, and alphabetize within categories.
• Link only the first instance of a word to a page.
• Keep descriptions concise

Combat terms

Airburst/Airdet 

When a Demoman detonates his stickies while they are in mid-flight.

Airpipe/Airpill 

When a Demoman hits someone on the enemy team in midair with one of his grenades.

Airshot 

When a player hits someone on the enemy team in midair with a projectile. Usually used to refer to a Soldier hitting someone in midair with one of his rocket. Also known as a middie.

Buff 

The excess health granted (up to 150% base hp) by any of the Medic's Mediguns when he continues to heal a player after they already have full health.

Bomb 

The act of using explosive jumps in order to propel yourself towards the enemy. The resulting speed and height advantage is then usually used in an attempt to take out key targets such as the Medic or Demoman. Bombing is generally done by the (roaming) Soldier.

Clutch 

Adjective used to describe risky plays that save a team from certain round or match loss.

Crit Heals

Term used to describe the Medigun's mechanic of healing faster based on how long it has been since a player has taken damage; after not taking damage for 15 seconds or more, the target will be healed at the max heal rate (72 hp/s) thus being healed to max health in no-time.

Focusing 

As a combat class, focusing means intentionally targeting a single player to prioritize kills on the most important players. Usually, multiple players focus targets together to kill them faster.

Gun 

An Engineer's sentry.

Hardscope

When a Sniper stays scoped for enough time to fully charge his shot.

Hurt, Lit, Destroyed, Hit, Tagged

Used to describe players who have taken a lot of damage.

Juke 

A dodge

Kritz 

An abbreviation for the Medic's KritzKrieg's ability.

Meatshot 

A close range shot with a Shotgun or Scattergun where all pellets hit the target. Popularized by ESEA-Invite Level Scout player carnage.

Middie

When a Soldier hits someone in midair with one of his rockets. Also known as an airshot.

Peeking 

When someone looks into an area but is not planning on pushing into it, usually to gain information on the enemy's positioning.

Pill 

A Demoman's grenade.

Pipe 

A Demoman's grenade.

Quickscope 

When a Sniper scopes in and fires very quickly.

Roller 

A Demoman's grenade after it hits the ground/wall.

Spam 

Repeated shooting at chokes for the purpose of area denial, usually by Soldiers and Demomen due to the splash damage property of their projectiles.

Splash 

The property of the explosion of rockets and grenades to damage players near the explosion without making physical contact with the projectile.

Uber pop(ped) 

When a Medic activates his ÜberCharge.

Uber Force 

When a player forces an enemy Medic to activate his ÜberCharge earlier than desired by presenting an immediate threat to the Medic's life.

Wipe 

A wipe is when an entire team dies in a single fight.

Metagame terms

Backcap 

When a player, mostly a scout, gets behind enemy lines and starts capping a point behind the front line thus forcing some members from the team to go back or, if the backcapped point is last, winning the round.

Combo 

The Medic and the players that play near him. Their job is to use Uber to spearhead pushes and secure main areas to control objectives on offense and to deny access to the objectives and shut down Ubers on defense. In 6v6, the combo is usually a Medic, the Pocket Soldier, and the Demoman. In Highlander, the combo varies but is most often made up of the Medic, Heavy, Demoman, and sometimes Pyro.

Distraction 

When one or more players openly present themselves to/engage on the enemy in an attempt to draw their attention away from key targets,objectives or positions.

Domino Cap 

When a point is lost because the previous point was taken with such force that a defense of the next could not be set up in time (ex. after a wipe on a 5CP map, a team is likely to lose two control points before they are spawned and ready to fight back).

Double Overtime 

In King of the Hill, when both teams have dropped their timers to 0 and the attacking team has capture time on the point, triggering Overtime.

Drop 

When a Medic dies before using his fully charged Uber. A uber drop can change the course of a game.

Leapfrogging 

When the two medics have Ubers out of sync, the medic who has full uber first can get a free push into the other medic without much risk since the enemy doesn't have full charge. However, if the push doesn't result in an enemy Medic pick, then the other team will have advantage and can push back in the same manner. This is called Leapfrogging. The occurs commonly on midpoints of 5CP maps when the team that loses their Medic wins the Midfight.

Pick(s)

Kill on player who is on the other team. Generally used to indicate the kill obtained when the enemy team was off guard.

Main Caller 

The person who decides, communicates, and organizes; or calls, all the team's plays. In lower levels, the task is often delegated to the Medic but higher level play usually is the Pocket or Demoman.

Midfight 

The initial battle that takes place on the central control points in a 5CP match at the start of each round.

Pocket

As a noun, it's the player (usually a Soldier in 6v6 or a Heavy/Demoman in Highlander) who protects the Medic and gets the most heals.

As a verb, it's the act of focusing heals onto a single player as a Medic.

Trade 

When one person from each team kills each other; also when an offclass such as a Spy or Sniper kill a class of equal value like a Scout or Soldier.

Tunnel Vision 

Originally a reference to camping snipers who look down their scope too much and have no peripheral vision (as if looking through a tunnel), in Team Fortress 2 it usually just refers to a player who focuses too much on an objective or player and fails to notice other players around him, which usually results in death to ambushers or flankers.

Uber Advantage 

When a Medic is significantly closer (usually ~20% or more) to having a full uber or gets his uber before the other team's Medic.

Push 

The act of a team moving forward onto the enemy team.

Medigun Checking 

When one player on a team switches Spy and disguises as the enemy Medic to determine whether the Medic is running Kritz or standard Uber. Many Medics now rename their mediguns making it impossible to tell.

Core Team

2 players in 6's, consisting of the demoman and commonly the scout who plays a defensive role. They work together, the demoman putting out damage while the scout protects him from other scouts and roamers.

Map terms

Choke 

General term applied to several maps referring to narrow hallways, rooms, or entrances.

Flank(ers) 

The Flank is any area where the combo isn't. The Flank can also refer to the players who watch those areas. They are the players that don't rely on their Medic for heals and who prevent enemy flankers from getting into any positional advantage from which they can ambush the Medic. They tend to spark pushes by forcing Uber or securing significant picks.

Rollout 

The sequence of jumps and paths each class takes to the mid point. While there are many different strategies and rollouts employed for each map, the general objective is for each team to have the fastest rollout to the middle point that leaves everyone with a full buff, as that gives immediate point presence and area advantage to the faster team.

Mid 

The 3rd (or center) point. Usually where the fighting begins at the start of a round after players complete their rollouts.

Last 

The final control point. Used to refer to the 1st control point on either side of a 5cp map, or the bomb site in payload.

Spire 

A control point with a large height advantage (ex. Badlands 2 second). Gives jumping classes an advantage and is usually the second control point on a 5cp map.

General Terms

DM 

Short for "deathmatch", a term used to describe a player's individual ability to kill enemy players.

Fatkidded 

Commonly used term to describe not being picked in a PUG.

LAN dodger 

A term referring to someone who is unable to attend their team's LAN matches.

LFT 

An abbreviation for Looking For Team. A person who wishes to join a currently active team.

LFP 

An abbreviation for Looking For Players. A person whose team is in need of players.

Lobby 

A lobby is a semi-competitive game played on tf2lobby. Lobbies are often not taken seriously, and PUG's are generally better for practicing.

MGE 

A gameplay mod which allows for 1v1 matches, typically on 6v6 classes, often used to practice DM.

Mix 

A match in which the teams consist of friends.

PCW 

An initialism for Practice Clan War. A practice match between two teams. A European term; see Scrim.

Pub 

Commonly used term to describe public games and/or servers.

PUG 

An abbreviation for Pick-Up Game. A semi-competitive format in which players sign up for classes they wish to play. Two players are then assigned as "Captains" and pick their teams.

Scrim 

An abbreviation for scrimmage match. A practice match between two teams.

VOD 

An abbreviation for Video-On-Demand. An uploaded recording of a match.

Ringer/Merc 

A name used to describe players who are playing as a substitute for a team due to mssing players, whilst not actually being on that teams roster.