There are Legends of Runeterra terms that are used in and outside the game, with some terms being used to simplify and facilitate rapid communication. This is a list of these terms and their definitions.
Please contribute to the page by adding more terms and definitions alphabetically.
These terms are mostly used in the English language.
An archetype of decks. Deck archetypes aren't solidly defined, decks can be between archetypes, and some decks may functionally be another archetype depending on matchups. Aggro decks focus on ending the game fast and/or use the pressure of it to force plays. Tends to be strong against Combo as it is able to end games before they can reach their goal, and weaker against slower, defensive archetypes that can outlast them until their early-game threats are irrelevant (Midrange, Control). Tends to have the best Tempo of all archetypes, and the worst long-term value. See also #Combo, #Control, #Midrange, #Aggro.[1]
Short for aggressive.
Allegiance
When you summon this, it gets its bonus if the top card of your deck matches its region. See Allegiance.
Ally
Allies
Any unit that is alive on the same team as the referencing card.
Another
Implies that the associated effect can not target or create the card that caused the effect.
EditThe player that has the Attack Token can (manually) declare and commit an attack. Commiting the attack consumes the token. Through the use of cards' effects, such as Rally, both players can have a Token. The player with the Play Order Token each round gets an Attack Token for free.
Includes everything related to a game, i.e. the Bench and the Battlefield.
A skin for the board that changes its appearance, adding new background artwork and music. See Board.
Bond
Bonded
A unique effect that only relates to 3Kalista's Level Up, a bonded unit takes damage for her.
Burn
An archetype of decks. Burn decks can either revolve around forcing the opponent to run out of cards in their deck either by forcing the enemy to draw cards or by Obliterating them, or the deck can focus on destroying the enemy nexus via direct damage sources from units like 0Caustic Cask or spells like 2Mystic Shot.
Another term for the keyword Obliterate, particularly when forcing the enemy to do it.
Direct damage to the Nexus, not dealt through combat.
Burst
Burst spells resolve instantly. The enemy can't act before it finishes. See Burst.
Button
The Button
The large green or blue circle on the right side of the board that players can press to commit to actions such as attacking, defending, and playing spells. Context sensitive to what is currently happening. Pressing the button passes priority to the other player (makes it their turn).
C[]
Cantrip
Colloquial card game term. Refers to cards that draw exactly one card, along with another positive effect to the allied team. These types of cards have a net gain and essentially cost 0 cards to play. Some examples of cards like this in Legends of Runeterra are 3Shadow Assassin and 2Avarosan Sentry, both these cards provide a unit while drawing a card, making them very safe to put in any deck.
Copies of champion cards in hand that match an allied champion on the field are transformed into their Champion Spell Card. Each champion has a unique spell card that usually works well with their effects and playstyle. All champion spell cards add a copy of the champion to the deck, and can be used to avoid losing via not being able to draw. All champion spell cards turn back into the champion when the champion is removed from the field.
Combat
EditPlayers are in-combat if there's currently committedattacking or blockingunits; units are in-combat if they're currently committed attacking or blocking. Units in-combat are also referred to as 'Battling'.
Damage done in-combat or combat damage only refers to the damage directly caused by units striking during combat with the strikes that occur due to combat.
Combo
An archetype of decks. Deck archetypes aren't solidly defined, decks can be between archetypes, and some decks may functionally be another archetype depending on matchups. Usually slow decks that revolve around executing one or more combinations of cards for some effect. Prioritises this over stalling/surviving. Tend to not have enough defense to survive against Aggro decks, but stronger against Control decks due to their lack of pressure. Tends to have middling or variable Tempo and long-term value. See also #Combo, #Control, #Midrange, #Aggro.[1]
Short for combination.
Commit
Committed
Committing
EditAn action is committed when it is 'confirmed', usually by pressing The Button. It cannot be reversed, without extra card effects. Committing an action ends your turn (except in the case of Burst spells, or non-manual commitments such as Skills).
Casting BurstSpells and Playing a unit are notable actions that are committed as soon as they're declared.
Control
An archetype of decks. Deck archetypes aren't solidly defined, decks can be between archetypes, and some decks may functionally be another archetype depending on matchups. Control decks usually ignore the opponents Nexus and focus on withering the opponents field and hand down to nothing. They Control the game by preventing everything the enemy tries to do, and once they completely remove all opposition, they will destroy the Nexus without any fear of retaliation. They are often good against Aggro, using cards like 4Avalanche or 5Grasp of the Undying to survive, but perform poorly against Combo decks due to their lack of units. Control decks tend to have the best long-term value but are slow in tempo.See also #Combo, #Control, #Midrange, #Aggro.[1]
Copy
EditA copy of a card is an instance of a card (same card code), with no consideration of any effects applied to it. Different from exact copy.
Create
Create a card, rather than taking it from somewhere, the scope of what the card can be and where it is created (and summoned, if appropiate) depends on the card text. See also: Random, Draw, Copy, Exact Copy.
Crimson
Not an official group, but often considered a group. Crimson units have "crimson" in their name and revolve around damaging allies to gain positive effects. Crimson units are closely related to 5Vladimir and the Crimson Circle faction from lore.
D[]
Dead
When a unit's health is reduced to 0, or otherwise killed through a card effect, it becomes dead and is sent to the "graveyard". Units are permanently considered Dead after dying, nothing will remove them from the "graveyard", even if Revived. See Death.
EditAn action is declared when it is 'done' but not commited.
Examples of this are when a unit is dragged into the Attack or Block position, or when a spell is dragged onto the board.
When a spell is declared, then undeclared, it's placed in the rightmost position in the hand.
When an attack or block is declared, then undeclared, the unit(s) are placed in the rightmost position on the board.
Deep
EditOnce a player has 15 or fewer cards in their Deck, they become Deep for the rest of the game. Increasing the number of cards in the Deck to more than 15 cards will not remove the Deep state.
When a player is Deep, their units with the Deep Keyword have+3|+3, including when in deck or hand.
A unit card group, Elnuks belong to the Freljord region. See Elnuks.
Elnuks are large shaggy buffalo like quadrupedal mammalian herbivores. Unique to the lands of the Freljord. They are domesticated animals that are used for their meat and fur, they are also used as a form of currency in Freljord and sometimes even used for riding.
Elusive
Can only be blocked by an Elusive unit. See Elusive.
Enemy
Enemies
Any unit that is alive on the opposing team of the referencing card.
End of Round
Round End
Happens when both players have passed, the round ends. The Play Order Token swaps sides, the players swap from being on attack and on defense.
Card effect that activates the moment directly after the second player presses the button, but before the play order token swaps sides and the new player on attack receives an attack token.
Enlightened
You're Enlightened when you have 10 max mana. See Enlightened.
Ephemeral
This unit dies when it strikes or when the round ends. See Ephemeral.
EditSomething that applies everywhere applies to all instances of the specified card that exist or could ever exist that game, living, dead, in hand, in deck, in play, not yet created, in discard. No matter what, this effect applies to them. Although, the effect will only apply once to every card, and can be removed through normal effects that remove other card effects, like Capturing units, Silencing units or units Dying.
Exact Copy
EditAn exact copy of a card is another instance of a card (same card code), inheriting all effects applied to and all statistics of it. Different from copy. An exact copy will not copy any attachments or underlying disguised unit
Experience
A value gained through playing games, completing quests, or completing an expedition. Experience unlocks rewards that result in earnable cards, chests, and capsules. See Experience (Legends of Runeterra)
F[]
Face
To go face
To attack the Nexus directly. Usually used when targeting the Nexus is chosen over a more efficient play. See also Burn and Aggro.
Fast
Fast spells can be played at any time, but allow the opponent to respond. See Fast.
Fearsome
Can only be blocked by enemies with 3 or more Attack. See Fearsome.
Set a unit's Power to 0 this round (it can be changed after). See Frostbite.
G[]
Game
Match
The period between load in and the victory or defeat screen.
Give
Target gains whatever the referencing card says for only this round, all effects will be removed at the end of the round the target gained the effect.
Global Level Up Condition
Usually in relation to a champion's Level Up condition, Global Level Up Condition relates to the player themself, and the champion will level up immediately when it enters the field it the respective player has completed their level up condition at some point during the game. Uses a psuedo-keyword of You've, these can be checked by clicking on the respective player's deck.
Grant
Target gains whatever the referencing card says permanently, and will only lose the effects if it is killed, recalled, or if another card specifically removes the effects, for example silencing it.
Graveyard
Colloquial term for the list of units that have died this game. Effects that Revive units pulls from this list. Reviving a unit does not remove it from the Graveyard. A unit that has died multiple times gets added to the graveyard multiple times, increasing the chance that it can be "randomly" revived.
Group
A group is a subtype of unit cards that relate them to other unit cards with the same group. Some cards effect groups and make all units of that group stronger. Having a group allows players to create powerful synergies using cards like 8Reinforcements or 2Battlesmith. See Groups.
Dictates the amount of damage that can be taken by a unit. If a unit reaches 0 health, it dies.
Health cannot go below 0.
Effects that affect Health values are 32 bit signed integers. If they reach 2,147,483,647, they overflow or underflow to -2,147,483,647, and vice versa.
This means that health multiplying effects can kill a unit in extreme circumstances.
A unit has a default max health value, a max health value, and a current health value. If a unit is damaged, its current health decreases. Effects that grant a unit health increase its maximum and current values. Effects that Heal a unit only increase its current health, capped by its maximum health.
If a unit loses a maximum health increase and its current health is more than the maximum health it would have after, its value is set to it's maximum health.
The current health value is shown on the bottom right of a card. When a unit's current health is equal to its default maximum, it is white.
When the current value drops below the maximum, it is red. When it is at the maximum and it has been increased above the default, it is green.
I[]
I
I've
Usually in relation to a champion's Level Up condition, I've or I relates to the champion themself, and the champion will level up when they see their level up condition completed. See See.
Imbue
These abilities trigger when you resolve a spell. See Imbue.
A Landmark is one of the main card types. It takes up space on the board (like units), but can not attack or defend, and does not have health or power. Spells that target Landmarks will explicitly refer to them. See Landmark.
Last Breath
These abilities take effect when the unit dies. See Last Breath.
Level Up
A level up happens when a champion completes their level up condition. The respective champion gains stats and sometimes even new or stronger effects. After a champion levels up, all copies of that champion on the field, in the allied deck, and in the allied hand will change into their level two form. See Level Up.
EditMana is the primary resource used to play cards in Legends of Runeterra.
Mana Curve
Mana Curve relates to the overall mana cost of all cards in a deck. A low mana curve has a lot of cards with low mana cost, while similarly, a high mana curve has a lot of high cost cards. An appropriate mana curve is vital to a deck being effective.
Midrange
An archetype of decks. Deck archetypes aren't solidly defined, decks can be between archetypes, and some decks may functionally be another archetype depending on matchups. Midrange decks try to be faster than control decks while being slow enough to handle aggro decks. They try to build up a board of strong cards and generate value through beneficient trades. Ideally they thrive where the other decks don't, but can sometimes have problems with getting the right cards for the opponent's deck. See also #Combo, #Control, #Midrange, #Aggro.[1]
Mill
A strategy that relies on removing cards from a deck. A general card game term, originating from Magic: The Gathering. "Self-Mill" refers to doing so with your own deck, "Milling" refers to doing so with the opponent's deck.
In Legends of Runeterra, Milling tends to rely on taking advantage of the fact that drawing a card from your deck when it's empty loses you the game. The main card that facilitates this is 4Maokai, though he also facilitates Self-Milling. Nab cards could be considered a form of Milling.
Self-Milling tends to rely on Toss, Deep, and using 7Nautilus' Level Up effect to avoid over-drawing and losing the game. In Legends of Runeterra, Mill decks are near-required to fall under both of these archetypes, or only Self-Mill due to the nature of 4Maokai's Level Up being partly reliant on Toss.
Mulligan
An event that happens at the start of a game where players can replace cards in their opening hand (4 cards, unless a gamemode has specific rules) by taking a new card from deck (Explicitly not Drawing) for each one they want to replace and then placing the replaced cards back into the deck. After the Mulligan, both players will normally Draw 1.
Multi-region
A card belonging to more than one region. When deckbuilding, a mono-region from one of the multi-region card's regions must be added to the deck in order to be valid.
N[]
Nexus
Each player has a Nexus, they start at 20 health and when they reach 0 the respective player loses. See Nexus.
In versions of the game before the Open Beta Patch, there was a sword icon on the playing field for the player On Attack, in that patch its functionality was replaced with the Play Order Token.
In versions of the game before the Open Beta Patch, there was a shield icon on the playing field for the player On Defense, in that patch its functionality was replaced with the Play Order Token.
Open Play
After playing 3 Expeditions in a week you can no longer buy into any more and Open Play is unlocked for the rest of the week, where the mode can only be played for free but with reduced rewards.
Overwhelm
Excess damage I deal to my blocker is dealt to the enemy Nexus. See Overwhelm.
P[]
Player
A person participating in the game.
Play
Played
When Played
An effect that occurs when a card is played from the hand. See Play.
Play Order Token
EditThe player with the "Play Order Token" (unofficial) at the start of each round takes the first action. They get the Attack Token for free at the start of the round too.
At the start of the game a random player gets the Play Order Token. Every round the token goes to the other player.
Plaza
3The Grand Plaza. Largely used to refer to decks that use it.
Plunder
EditIf you've damaged the enemy Nexus, you become Plundered for that round.
While you Plundered, if you play a Plunder unit or spell, it will trigger Plunder effect, after its Play effect (if any).
Spells that only have Plunder effects can only be played if you Plundered.
A unit card group, Poros mainly belong to the Freljord region, but every region has at least 1 poro that costs 1 mana to play. See Poros.
Poros are cute tiny round fluffs of fur, that are canonically made of love.
Power
EditDictates the damage a unit does in combat, whether attacking or defending. This value can be changed through various cards temporarily or permanently, but each card has a default Power that it returns to if effects are removed.
When a unit's Power is at its default, it is white. When the value drops below the default, it is red. When it has been increased above the default, it is green.
Q[]
Quest
A random daily task given to players to complete for experience.
Quick Attack
While attacking, strikes before its blocker. See Quick Attack.
R[]
Random
EditRandom selections in LoR are made using an unknown algorithm.
Random cards are chosen from a given scope. If there's no given scope, cards are chosen from all regions and only out of cards that are collectible.
Random effects that refer to your regions can only choose from the regions that the cards in the deck were chosen from. If the deck is regionless, such as in some Labs, then their effect cannot happen.
Ramp
An archtype of decks. Ramp decks focus around building up mana as fast as possible, then using that extra max mana to play high cost cards and gain the advantage. Due to this indicating still a slower playstyle, they're often Control decks.
All cards in game have a rarity to indicate how common each card is. The indicator of rarity is located at the bottom center of the card, and can be any one of four rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, Champion. Follows the basic video game color coding for rarity of: Green, Blue, Pink, Orange. Finally, Each rarity is also indicated by a shape, gaining a vertex as rarity increases: Triangle, Diamond, Pentagon, Hexagon.
Recall
Return a unit to hand and remove all effects applied to it. See Recall.
Regeneration
Heals fully at the start of each round. See Regeneration.
Region
EditEvery card in Legends of Runeterra is sorted into a region based off a canon region of Runeterra. Cards within a region tend to share mechanics such as certain keywords and tend to synergise well with each other, and combining cards from different regions can lead to unique synergies and playstyles, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Game Modes and deckbuilding rules have specific restrictions on the number of regions that can be in a deck.
Reveal
EditRevealed cards are cards in hand that have been shown to the opponent, either by creating an explicitly-named card, being returned to the hand, or some other means. Revealed cards are indicated by a reveal icon above the card.
Round End
End of Round
Happens when both players have passed, the round ends. The Play Order Token swaps sides, the players swap from being on attack and on defense.
Card effect that activates the moment directly after the second player presses the button, but before the play order token swaps sides and the new player on attack receives an attack token.
Round Start
Start of Round
The point after both players have drawn their card but before the player on attack can play any card.
S[]
See
Seen
A unit with the "I have Seen" condition must be on the field while the action it must see is happening. See See
Set
An effect that sets a unit's health or power to specific number. The stat can be affected after it is set to a specific value. Most notably, Frostbite uses this mechanic.
Silence
Removal of text and keywords from a unit. See Silence.
Skills
A spell-like effect created and committed by a Unit. See Skill.
Slow
Slow spells can be cast outside of combat and other casting. The enemy can respond. See Slow.
Spell Mana
EditSpell Mana is a resource used to play Spell and Equipment cards along with Mana. These cards prioritise using Spell Mana before they use regular Mana.
Unlike regular Mana, Spell Mana doesn't completely refresh each round, instead up to 3 remaining Mana from the end of the previous round is converted into Spell Mana. Spell Mana is conserved between rounds, and a player can have a maximum of 3.
Like real-life spiders, LoR spiders are 8-legged arachnids; however their size varies considerably, with most being the 3size of humans and some being 3larger than houses. 2Elise has a close connection to spiders.
Spell
EditSpells are non-unit cards that can be played to trigger an effect. The speed of a spell dictates when it can be played, and whether the opponent can respond.
The Spell Stack: Once one or more Fast or Slow spells have been played, it can be responded / reacted to by the opponent with one or more Fast or Burst spells. Fast spells played are added to the stack, where the most recent one placed is the first to resolve. Once the response is confirmed by pressing the Button, the opponent has a chance to react, and this continues until both players pass. Only 10 spells can be on the stack at once, and the 10th spell may only be Burst.
Splash
To add a card to a deck that doesn't help the overarching theme of the deck, but because the card itself is good.
A term used to describe a deck. Used to describe a secondary region when the deck is mostly a single region but has a small amount of supporting cards from a secondary. For example, Ionia is is a region you can splash only for access to 4Deny or 2Nopeify!, these being the few cards that can reliably counter enemy spells.
Units that stack are summoned to the same board space and increase a counter if another unit is already present. See Stack.
Start of Round
Round Start
The point after both players have drawn their card but before the player on attack can play any card.
Stun
Remove a unit from combat. It can't attack or block for the rest of the round. See Stun.
Strike
Struck
An effect that occurs when a unit deals damage with their Power. See Strike.
Strongest
Highest Power, with ties broken by highest Health then highest Cost. See Strongest.
Summon
If an origin is specified, summons the unit from the hand or the deck of the player. If no origin is specified, the unit is created and then summoned. See Summon.
Summoned
When Summoned
When a unit first enters the field.
Support
Gives an effect to the unit positioned to the right of this unit if this unit is attacking. See Support.
Survive
To take damage but not die.
T[]
Tech
A unit card group, currently all Tech come from 5Heimerdinger. See Tech.
Tech units are all mechanical creations from the mind of Heimerdinger.
Tempo
An archetype of decks. Tempo decks focus on mana-efficient plays to get ahead by a slight amount that eventually ends up in a huge lead. Decks of this type make good use of Cantrips, and getting the most value out of every card. Aggro decks try to play with a high tempo, playing many low-cost but cost-efficent units.
Playing a card optimally to a high degree, and getting a lot of value from the play. E.G. playing 9The Ruination when the opponent has 6 high value units while there are 0 allied units on the field.
Attaches to another card in the deck, trapping it. When the trapped card is drawn, perform the effect. See Trap.
U[]
Unit
Unit Card
EditA unit is one of the main card types and can be either a Champion or a Follower card. A unit card can be played by spending Mana equal to its cost, and fulfilling any additional conditions in the card text, which summons it. A unit has a Cost, Power and Health. A unit can also have additional card text that has its own effects, usually only when the unit is alive.
Ally in card text refers to an allied unit. Enemy in card text refers to one of your opponent's units.
V[]
Value
An archetype of decks. Generating an advantage in one way or another, for example having more or stronger units on the board or more cards in hand. Control decks aim for value through destroying the enemies resources, eventually having more and stronger cards in hand to play.
Vanish
Fizzle
When a card can't be added to the respective location because the location has max occupancy. If this happens the card is simply Obliterated.
When declaring an attack, the player can choose to Challenge an enemy unit with Vulnerable with any of their units by dragging it into the blocking position.
A unit with Vulnerable can still get new Vulnerable.
Lowest Power, with ties broken by lowest Health then lowest Cost. See Weakest.
Wildcard
A token that can be traded for any card of the same rarity. Wildcards come in all four rarities, Common, Rare, Epic, Champion.
X[]
Y[]
Yeti
A unit card group, Yetis belong to the Freljord region. See Yetis.
A sentient large humanoid creature with white fur that lives in the cold regions of Runeterra.
You've
Usually in relation to a champion's Level Up condition, You've relates to the player themself, and the champion will level up immediately when it enters the field it the respective player has completed their level up condition at some point during the game. Also considered as a "Global Level Up Condition", these can be checked by clicking on the respective player's deck.
Allegiance.
unit that is alive on the same team as the referencing card.
Nexus.
Attack Token moves allied unit cards from the backline to the battlefield and commits to the action by pressing the button.
Attack.
Champion or 
Follower that is attacking.
Rally, both players can have a Token. The player with the 
Play Order Token each round gets an Attack Token for free.
summoned, its owner refills 
1 spell mana.
Barrier.
3Kalista's 
Level Up, a bonded unit takes damage for her.
Obliterating them, or the deck can focus on destroying the enemy nexus via direct damage sources from units like 
0 Caustic Cask or spells like 
2 Mystic Shot.
Burst.
Can't Attack.
Can't Block.
Capture.
Challenger.
blocking 
striking during combat with the strikes that occur due to combat.
Skills).
Spells and Playing a unit are notable actions that are committed as soon as they're declared.
4 Avalanche or 
Random, 
Draw, Copy, Exact Copy.
Crimson Circle faction from lore.
Revived. See 
Death.
have 
+3|
+3, including when in deck or hand.
Deep.
Discard.
Double Attack.
Drain.
Demacia region. See Elites.
Dauntless Vanguard of 
Demacia.
Freljord region. See Elnuks.
Freljord. They are domesticated animals that are used for their meat and fur, they are also used as a form of currency in Freljord and sometimes even used for riding.
Elusive.
Enlightened.
Ephemeral.
Silencing units or units 
attachments or underlying disguised unit
Fast.
Fearsome.
Fleeting.
Focus.
Frostbite.
See.
Imbue.
Landmark.
Last Breath.
Lifesteal.
Legends of Runeterra, the title of the game itself.
Nab cards could be considered a form of Milling.
Toss, 
region. When deckbuilding, a mono-region from one of the multi-region card's regions must be added to the deck in order to be valid.
Nexus Strike.
Overwhelm.
Plunder.
Dictates the damage a unit does in combat, whether attacking or defending. This value can be changed through various cards temporarily or permanently, but each card has a default Power that it returns to if effects are removed.
Quick Attack.
Recall.
Regeneration.
Runeterra. Cards within a region tend to share mechanics such as certain keywords and tend to synergise well with each other, and combining cards from different regions can lead to unique synergies and playstyles, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Game Modes and deckbuilding rules have specific restrictions on the number of regions that can be in a deck.
reveal icon above the card.
Slow.
Mana. These cards prioritise using Spell Mana before they use regular Mana.
Shadow Isles and 
Noxus regions. See Spiders.
Ionia is is a region you can splash only for access to 
Stack.
Stun.
Strongest.
Support.
Tough.
Trap.
Vulnerable.
Weakest.
