MOBA Terminology Explained - Esports Betting Glossary Guide
MOBA Terminology Explained - Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Esports Glossary
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games, known by their acronym, MOBAs, are video games that feature 2 teams of players each trying to destroy their opponent’s base structure while defending their own. Players control champions with unique abilities and grow stronger as they defeat opponents and earn gold to buy new items. Some of the most popular Esports betting markets on Stake, such as Dota 2 and League of Legends, are MOBA games, and you can bet on them here at Stake Sportsbook.
General MOBA Esports Terminology
MOBA games are all relatively similar, with standard gameplay mechanics. However, the terminology used may differ between games which is why we've compile a list of the most popular MOBA terms in this Stake guide. Here are some of the most common gaming terms and their definitions:
ADC - Stands for Attack Damage Carry, a player role that mostly focuses on dealing the most damage possible to enemies. Pairs well with tanks.
APC - Stands for Ability Power Carry, a player role that focuses on magic damage to deal the most amount of damage to enemies in the shortest amount of time.
AoE - Stands for Area of Effect, which refers to an ability that can affect a wide area.
Base - The starting area for each team, containing the main structure from which minions are spawned. Players must defend the base from enemy attacks.
Barracks/Inhibitor - A special structure that trains up minions/creeps. Players can destroy the enemy inhibitor in League of Legends to start spawning super minions in that lane.
Boss - High-strength neutral monsters that can be found in the jungle. For example, Baron Nashor in LoL and Roshan in Dota 2. These bosses require a team effort to take down, but will reward the team with a strong buff.
Buff - A temporary beneficial effect that can improve a character’s abilities or skills. Buffs can be gained from defeating monsters in the jungle or by activating specific support skills or equipment.
Carry - The player dealing the most damage to lead their team to the win. This is normally a character that starts off weak but becomes one of the strongest by the end of the game.
CC - An acronym for crowd control, which generally means status effects on multiple enemies. This can be stuns, poison or similar negative effects.
CDR - Stands for cooldown reduction, which means an ability can be activated more frequently.
Clear - Eliminating enemy creeps/minions as quickly as possible.
Cooldown - The time before an ability can be used again.
Creeps/minions - Each base will spawn AI units, which will travel down lanes. Players can destroy enemy creeps to earn experience and gold.
Debuff - A temporary negative effect to reduce the effectiveness of a target.
First Blood - An award given to the team that achieves the first kill of an enemy player.
First Turret - An award given to the team that destroys an enemy turret first.
Ganker - A player role that focuses on sneaking up on opposing players to eliminate them with high burst damage. Will typically also clear monsters in the jungle for experience and buffs.
Gold - The currency used by players to purchase items for their character to boost their stats.
Juke - Escaping enemy players, creeps or characters by using movement or abilities to cause them to miss their attacks.
Jungle - The area between lanes, which contains neutral monsters. Once defeated, these monsters will reward the team with experience and buffs.
Jungler - Farms jungle areas and ganks lanes.
Lane - These are the paths that travel from one side of the map to the other. Lanes are lined with towers that attack enemy creeps/minions and players. Lanes are usually described as top, middle (mid) or bottom (bot).
Map - The battlefield over which the two teams fight for control.
Poke - A long-range ability power that forces an opposing player to play defensively or pull back from their lane.
Push - Aggressively engaging on a specific target or enemy. For example, if a team pushes the middle lane.
Support - A player who focuses on healing, crowd control or providing buffs to teammates. Works well with other players, especially an ADC.
Tank - A player role that is capable of absorbing a lot of damage. Great for taking damage away from weaker, but heavier-hitting players.
Teamfight - A big battle on the map featuring all teammates and enemy players.
Top/Mid/Bot - The three main lanes on the map: top, middle and bottom.
Tower - Towers are defensive structures that defend lanes and player bases. They autoattack any nearby creeps/minions and players, and have to be destroyed to progress through a lane.
Competitive MOBA Esports on Stake
Some of the most popular MOBA games available at Stake include:
Dota 2 and Dota 2 Duels
League of Legends
King of Glory/ Honor of Kings
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB)
MOBA Bet Types
There are many different ways to bet on MOBA games at Stake. Some of the most popular MOBA betting markets include:
Match Winner - Twoway - A moneyline bet on which team you think will win the match.
Map Winner - Twoway - You can also bet on the outcome of a specific map, choosing either team to win.
Map Handicap - Bet on either side with a map handicap or map advantage applied. Handicap betting lets you essentially bet on the margin of victory.
Total Maps/Kills - This lets you predict the over/under line of the total number of maps played in the match or the total kills for either team or total kills on a specific map. You can also bet on the over/under map duration.
Correct Score - You can also predict the final score of the match.
Wins at Least One Map - Bet yes or no on whether or not a team will win at least one map during the match.
Prop bets - You can also bet on stats and outcomes that aren’t directly tied to the result such as First Blood.
Parlays - Combine multiple bets to increase your odds. Same-game multibets are also available on some MOBA matches.
Outrights - Outright betting options let you pick the eventual tournament winner or the player crowned as MVP.
How to Bet on MOBA Esports
You can find information on how to get started in our Esports betting guide. What’s more, we also have a guide to MOBA betting and an ultimate sports betting guide to give you everything you need to place your first bets. You can also follow the steps below:
Sign up and create your Stake.com account with a secure passkey .
Open your wallet and select the deposit option. Choose from any of the available payment methods and local currencies such as Argentine Pesos, Chilean Pesos, Canadian Dollars, Turkish Lira, and Vietnamese Dong.
You can gamble with crypto too. Stake supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, USDT, EOS, DOGE, LTC, TRX, and SOL.
Use Mesh to deposit your coins, or buy crypto using MoonPay or Swapped.com before transferring them to your Stake wallet. You can also store your coins in the Stake vault for additional security.
Open the Esports betting page to see all live and upcoming matches.
Choose one of the MOBA games from the menu or select a match to see all available markets.
Add any bet to your bet slip, then enter your stake and check your potential payout before confirming.
MOBA Betting Tips
Follow our guides and read our predictions - We’ve created our helpful guides to make betting on MOBA games as simple as possible. You’ll be able to learn more about how to bet on Dota 2 and how to bet on League of Legends. We’ve also got expert analysis and predictions for major Esports events such as the Esports World Cup, LoL World Championship, and The International.
Understand the game and meta before betting - Although all MOBA games feature similar gameplay, they each contain different characters with unique abilities and special game modes. You should understand what each character does and their damage types, as well as the current meta within the game, and the type of heroes the professionals like to play. Read guides, watch videos and try the game out for yourself.
Make the most of the wide range of betting markets - There are lots of ways to bet on MOBA games at Stake. Aside from betting on the match winner, you can also predict the total number of maps, total number of kills or the time it takes for the map to be played. There are also handicap betting options and outright betting markets.
Esports Betting Promotions, Stake VIP Club & Responsible Gambling
When you join Stake, you’ll also be able to enjoy a wide range of betting promotions. What’s more, you can earn exclusive rewards as you level up your account thanks to the VIP Club. Unlock regular rakeback, reload bonuses and your own VIP host as you progress through the ranks. More details on how it works can be found on the VIP FAQ page.
Remember to bet responsibly while enjoying Esports at Stake. Follow our Stake Smart guidelines to stay safe while betting on the action.
