Terminology

Learn essential Pokemon Unite MOBA terms like ADC, AoE, CC, and Feed. Understand key mechanics for new players.

ADC - Attack Damage Carry: Refers to ranged characters with low HP and defenses who primarily rely on basic attacks for damage. Cinderace and Mewtwo Y are typical examples. Some Pokemon can flex into this role with the right move choice, such as Aurora Veil Alolan Ninetales.

AoE - Area of Effect: Refers to anything that affects an area. This is not always a circular area and can be different shapes. Slow Smoke, Pikachu's Thunder, Wigglytuff's Dazzling Gleam, and Leafeon's Solar Blade are all examples.

Assassin: A character with high burst damage and high mobility but generally frail. These are usually Speedsters, like Zoroark, but some other characters can fit the role like Greninja running Surf.

Auto-Attack: In Pokemon Unite, these are referred to as Basic Attacks.

Backcap: The act of attempting to sneak a score in when the enemy can't react. Backcapping is a legitimate strategy, but it tends to be a reviled play in solo queue as most players attempting having poor timing or map awareness and often end up costing their team more than the score gets, assuming they successfully score at all. Since a bad backcap can lose a match, it's strongly advised to not attempt it if you have any doubt it'll succeed.

Blind: A soft CC (Crowd Control) effect that reduces the victim's sight range and also prevents them from benefiting from ally sight range.

Bound: A hard CC effect that renders the victim unable to act. Bound can be considered an "extra hard" CC as there's no way to free the victim early except by interrupting channeled Bound effects via hard CC (usually also via Bound) or KOing them. Many moves that inflict Bound will bypass Hindrance Resistance and Unstoppable, but this is not a trait of the status effect itself.

Carry: Generally refers to winning the game, or being in a position where said player's actions are the most likely to win the game. "Carries" are characters who deal consistent damage and thus can win fights, clear objectives, and win if protected and/or supported. "Carry potential" refers to how likely a given character can carry a game either with help or if their teammates are total dunces, depending on context.

Cleanse: An effect that clears most debuffs and crowd control effects from a target. Full Heal is by far the most ubiquitous source.

CC, Crowd Control: Effects that hinder the opponent's ability to act. This can be farther defined as "soft CC", in which the victim's ability to act is in someway reduced or only some actions are locked out, such as slows or the "Move Lock" status, or "hard CC" where the victim cannot act at all, such as stuns and freezes. A "CC chain" is when multiple CC abilities hit a victim one after the other to extend the amount of time they cannot act.

Dive, Diving: When a character, often one with a lot of mobility, jumps into an enemy team usually with the goal of getting past the enemy's front line to attack the more vulnerable characters farther back. Brave Bird Talonflame is the textbook diver.

Buff, Debuff: Buffs are temporary boosts to a character, such as increasing their attack damage, or debuffs, which give penalties to a character such as reducing their defense. CC effects can often be considered to be debuffs, but debuffs aren't inherently CC effects. Non-CC debuffs will bypass Hindrance Resistance and Unstoppable.

Farm: In Pokemon Unite, this tends to refer to the wild Pokemon, who are worth experience points. Farming usually refers to the act of KOing wild Pokemon with the intent of leveling up, collecting Aeos Energy, or charging your Unite Move.

Feed: "Feeding" typically refers to someone worth a lot of XP to the other team getting KOed by that team, often in situations the player should have avoided getting into to begin with, but it can also refer to a player who's just intentionally getting themselves KOed a lot. Meanwhile, a "Fed" character or player in Pokemon Unite is someone with a significantly higher level than the average in the game. For example, someone who is level 11 by 6:30 would most certainly qualify as being fed.

Freeze: A basic hard CC that keeps the victim from acting at all until it ends. Note that while its basic function is identical to a stun, freezes have different interactions with some moves and abilities than stuns do.

Harass: Attacking an opponent, usually from a safe position, without committing to a proper fight with the goal of wearing them down or forcing them to back off.

Hindrance Resistance: A positive status effect that makes the user convert most hard CC into slows instead. Some moves can bypass Hindrance Resistance to inflict hard CC anyway.

Initiate, Initiation, Engage: In the context of "initiate a fight". Generally refers to engaging an enemy with the intent of having a full on fight if the enemy doesn't completely disengage. Usually a Pokemon on the frontline should be doing this. Also note that the move that initiates a fight may not be the first attack of a given fight as ranged characters may try to take safe pot shots at opponents.

Jungle: Refers to the Center area of the map, primarily the central-side areas and less so the very center where the final boss spawns, but may also refer to the "Jungler", who is the player going into the Center position. "Jungling" is the act of playing Center. "Jungle farm" refers to the wild Pokemon in the Center area.

Kite: A defensive maneuver where a player attempts to stays at a set range, either at maximum attack range or outside of the enemy attack range, while attacking or waiting for cooldowns. Counter-kiting would...