VALORANT-to-English dictionary

VALORANT is out, and that means only one thing: new players! The beta was about the least exclusive beta in the history of gaming, with access eventually granted to all 7.5bn people on Earth and a decent percentage of the pet population, and now the full, free game is upon us in all its glory. If this is your first big-boy FPS, some of the callouts may sound confusing to you. From 'eco' to 'cyka blyat', it's a whole new language - and we're here to help you out with a handy dictionary!

Eco

We’ll start with a simple one. It’s round three, and so far the other team has pretty much rolled you for fun. You could take another SMG, but the team wants to have a pop at winning a round fully kitted, so you basically buy nothing, or just an upgraded pistol to have a punchers chance of doing damage. It’s like saving for the future, if all you want to do in the future is bang someone’s head off…

See also: half-buy, some items are purchased but you still save money; full eco, you get nothing at all; force buy, get what you can afford to have half a chance; anti-eco, you know the other team is saving

Jiggle/shoulder peek

Known as ‘face checking’ in games where jiggling isn’t as powerful, this refers to rapidly moving back and forth on an angle to try and bait out a shot (or, in VALORANT, a giant wall of ice maybe) and gain information. When facing players like s1mple and kennyS it’s a great way to sit out the rest of the round.

CT/T

This is a CS term that probably won’t survive, given Riot’s attitude toward words like terrorist, or ‘kill’, but essentially it refers to counter-terrorist (CT) and terrorist side. In Riot’s world those would be the defenders (CT) and attackers (T), and generally refer to the places those sides spawn when used as callouts.

Example: he’s CT = player is in defender spawn

Gooshed/he’s lit/he’s one

A goosh is a headshot the enemy doesn’t die from, meaning they are normally low HP, or ‘lit’. Sometimes it's also referred to as 'dinked'. Usage of ‘he’s one’ is more creative, and can mean anything from ‘the enemy only has one HP left’ to ‘I might have hit the character that can heal in the toe and I’m aware I’ve been carried to this point so I’ll act like I lost a close gunfight’. Use liberally…

Need drop

Being the friendly, inclusive space it is, VALORANT has a button for requesting guns, but sometimes people will just demand a drop instead. This normally means the player who is 1-9 on the scoreboard wants the OP, the most expensive gun in the game, and it’s on you to buy it for him or spend the rest of the game hearing how bad you are.

Heaven

Not a creative way to say you have killed the most virtuous member of the opposition team. Normally refers to an elevated area overlooking a site, with ‘hell’ being the callout for spots underneath, and means you’re about to get headshot by a guy with the high ground, which Star Wars fans know is the best ground.

Cyka blyat

A Russian callout that roughly translates to ‘rush B, do not let go of W my friends’, or something along those lines. If anyone invokes this magic phrase any competent player must instantly comply, or be left last alive while resonant Russian voices discuss your shortcomings as a player, and possibly as a man too.