eSports Glossary

Language is a beautiful thing, especially when you start with a blank canvas and are given the chance to be creative, but sometimes some terms need to be clarified. This is what happens whenever any big phenomenon appears and eSports and World of Tanks are no different.

To make your life easier, we’ve created a set of definitions that should make it easier for you to understand our content, with the most basic terminology you can read on our portals and hear on live streams and youtube videos explained below:

Admin / Administrator	The official responsible for running a tournament. All instructions given to tournament participants by the administrator must be followed.
Approval	Teams must be approved by tournament staff before they can participate in the tournament. Applying for approval is a commonly forgotten step when registering for a tournament, so it is strongly advised that every team member checks that their team has been fully registered and approved before the tournament begins. Check our guide on getting your team approved for more details.
Ban	If you get one of these, you're in real trouble. You've broken the rules many times or did something strictly forbidden by the rules of a tournament. The consequences of a ban can vary depending on the exact circumstances. A ban can be temporary or permanent. We hope you'll never get one!
Battle \ Game	A single battle or game is the base unit of a match. The terms 'battle' and game' can be used interchangeably.
Best of 3 (Bo3)	This is a common victory condition in which a match consists of a maximum of three games. The team that wins two out of three games will be victorious.
Best of 5 (Bo5)	This is a common victory condition in which a match consists of a maximum of five games. A team winning three of the five games will be victorious.
Brackets	A bracket is the tree diagram that represents the series of games played during a tournament. It is named as such because it appears to be a large number of interconnected brackets.
Bounce	A shell “bounces” when it hits a vehicle (enemy or friendly), but does not penetrate. Also referred to as: ricochet or ding.
Cap	Refers to the Base Capture Circle. Driving your vehicle into the circle will begin the accumulation of Base Capture Points. If the timer runs out and you are not disrupted by enemy fire or any other factor while in the Cap, your team wins the game.
Caster	Also known as a commentator. The caster joins the game to witness the events that take place in order to report on it. Often casters will also stream the game on official channels with live commentary.
Defeat	If you lose a match, you could be defeated and eliminated from the tournament! Time to get practicing to get your revenge next time!
Dispute	A situation during which players or teams disagree over an issue relating to the tournament. Disputes are resolved by judges / referees and their decision is final.
Disqualification	A disqualified team is removed from the tournament. A team may be disqualified for breaking the rules, e.g. by using forbidden mods, tampering with the game client, etc. The exact rules that may lead to disqualification of a team are listed in the specific tournament rules.
Double Elimination	This is a more complex tournament format. After the first round, the tournament tree is separated into two brackets - one for winners and one for losers. All the winning teams play in single elimination against each other, as do the losers. A loss in the winner’s bracket means the team drops into the loser’s bracket. A loss in the loser’s bracket means elimination from the tournament. This format gives teams a chance to comeback after losing a match.
Draw	A draw is a situation where neither team achieves victory in a battle. The effect of a draw on the tournament will be stated in the rules (called the Draw Rule). In some instances, both teams could be eliminated from the tournament for passive play. Other times a rematch may be played or token points awarded.
Draw Rule	A specific rule within the tournament rules that states what happens in the event of a draw.
ESL (Electronic Sports League)	The Electronic Sports League (ESL) is a third party organisation which hosts a number of World of Tanks tournaments. The ESL is not part of Wargaming, so all issues regarding ESL tournaments should be directed to the ESL administrator team.
eSports	eSports (Electronic Sports) is the commonly used term for the competitive playing of video games. Other terms include competitive play, cybersports and professional gaming.
eSports team	The term can refer to two different things depending on the context: The eSports Team is a group of Wargaming employees, who professionally take care of all eSports issues within World of Tanks. An eSports team can refer to a group of tournament participants – in such a case, please refer to: 'Team'
Fair play	The concept of "fair play" is a very general one, that is not easily defined. It is a general clause and can be interpreted differently, depending on the situation. In general all tournament participants are obliged to "play fair". They should not break any rules of the tournament, abuse bugs, cheat in any kind of way, or behave disrespectfully towards their opponent, admin, etc. Understanding of this term requires applying common sense.
Final	Usually it refers to the last round of a tournament in which the two top teams battle to determine who the winner is. It can also refer to the very last match or matches of a tournament.
Finals	The finals involve a group of top teams and consist of the quarterfinals, semi-finals and final.
Forfeit	The act of conceding or "giving up" a game/battle, or match. The exact consequences of a forfeit are described in the rules of a specific tournament.
Group stage	In this stage, teams are placed in a certain group (or groups) and fight only within the designated grouping to put them in a ranking. The top ranked teams (often the top two) from each group then proceed to the tournament's “knock-out phase”. From there the tournament continues under a knock-out (single-/double elimination) system until the winner is found, unless rules state differently.
Invitation	Please see 'Special Battle'
Live stream	Broadcasting the battle with commentary using an internet service such as twitch.tv so that anyone can view the course of the battle.
Map Pool	The group of maps which a specific tournament will use. Maps in the map pool are defined in advance. This is to ensure fairness by having all teams play on the same map for each round. Technically any map from World of Tanks can be in the map pool. The map pool for a tournament will be listed in the rules.
Mod	This is any kind of third party modification or alteration to the game client, resources or game functionality. Use of mods in tournaments is usually heavily restricted or forbidden altogether. Any software or hardware change that leads to the game client not working as originally designed can be considered a modification.
Noob	You’re advised not to call people noobs, as it’s rude. This term refers to a player and/or his actions being “newbish”, insinuating they are a player who has not yet become accustomed to the game. Instead of calling someone a noob, you should offer them valuable, constructive feedback based on your experience with the game. This will help the player, who would otherwise become a target for your negative emotions. Doing this also helps out the community and makes you seem like a better person (than you actually are, you little devil)! Other spellings / references: N00b, nob, nooblet and many more…
Offline event	Some tournaments (or final stages of big tournaments) involve the teams travelling to a specific location to take part.
Online event	Usually, participants join in the tournament remotely from the comfort of their own homes. Teams communicate via voice chat and play together in-game, even if they are spread right across Europe in real life. As these stages are conducted completely over the internet, it's called an Online event.
Penalties	Penalty points may be awarded for any discrepancies or rule-breaking carried out by any team in a competition. Penalty points are awarded based on the severity of the offense. A major and minor penalty point are not mutually exclusive and both may be given for the same offense. Accumulating too many penalty points may result in a warning or disqualification from the tournament.
Player	A person with a World of Tanks account. All players can join a team if they want to take part in tournaments. A player who is taking part in a tournament becomes a Tournament Participant.
Prize	Once the tournament is over, prizes are awarded to the winners. These can consist of real money, game merchandise or virtual assets such as gold or premium tanks. Prizes are often awarded to all the teams who reach the last stages, with the grand winner receiving the biggest prize. The exact prize lists for each tournament are always listed in advance.
Prize Pool	The prize pool consists of all the prizes allocated for the tournament. Teams get a cut of the prize pool depending on their final position in the tournament (with the grand winner receiving the most). The prize pool and allocation is listed in advance with the tournament rules.
Professional eSport team	There is no exact definition of what makes an eSport team professional. In general, a team is considered 'pro' when it receives a large sponsorship or signs a contract with a sponsored group. A 'pro' team can receive goodies, uniforms, reimbursement of expenses and much more from their sponsor. Some may even receive monthly salaries for playing. Professional eSports can be similar to professional sports with daily training regimes for players and fan clubs for spectators.
Qualifiers	Qualifying rounds are the early stages of the tournament in which the teams entering are reduced to a few elite teams who progress to the final stages.
Quarterfinal	The quarterfinal is the first part of the final. Eight teams take part and the top four progress to the semi-finals.
Registration	The process of enlisting for a tournament. The registration process may differ for different kinds of tournaments.
Round	A group of matches composing a single stage of a tournament. For example, a round of 16 teams in which the winning 8 will progress to the next stage of the tournament. A round is depicted as a vertical column in a standard, progressing-right tournament bracket.
Rules	A set of regulations that set out the conditions for participating in the tournament. The rules can consist of everything from registration and match dates, team name restrictions and numbers of players per team, vehicle restrictions, replay submission processes and so on. It's very important to read and understand all the rules before entering a tournament!
Semi-final	The semi-finals are the middle part of the final. Four teams take part and the top two progress to the final.
Single Elimination	This is a simple tournament format in which a participating team will progress to the next stage of the tournament after winning a single match, while the losing team leaves the tournament.
Spamming	The excessive posting of messages is regarded as spamming, especially if they contain senseless, harassing or offensive content. Spamming is forbidden in-game, in streaming-chat channels and on the forums. It is also considered very rude, so we advise you not to spam.
Special Battle	The client uses a mechanism called 'Special Battle' to invite registered and approval tournament participants to take part in scheduled battles. Visit our extensive tutorial to see how this works.
Tank setup	This is the stage of the battle where participants choose the tanks they will use in the next battle.
Team	A group of players who work together as a single unit. Team vs Team is the standard format for eSports. Teams can consist of anything from 3 to 15 players, depending on the tournament rules and format.
Tier limit	The Tier limit is the maximum Tier for individual vehicles in the tournament. The Tier limit can vary for each vehicle type in a single tournament - for example it’s common to see Tier VIII maximum. Each tournament will set its own Tier limit so check the rules carefully to see what vehicles you can play.
Tier point limit (also known as the level cap)	Please see "Tier points" below.
Tier points	Each vehicle is worth a number of Tier points equal to its vehicle Tier. The Tier point value for a team is equal to the sum of all participating vehicle Tier points. Most tournaments have a Tier point limit for teams which they cannot exceed. This means teams must be tactical in choosing what vehicles to use.
Time	The time for tournament events is always stated in the time zone for the Wargaming office of that region. For Europe, it is Central European Time CET (GMT+1) and in summer it becomes CEST (GMT+2).
Tournament	A grand event in which tournament participants play a series of rounds. In each round, teams are eliminated until there is a final winner. The specific rules and victory conditions of each tournament can vary depending on requirements.
Tournament participant	A player taking part in a tournament, usually as part of a team. The number of players in each team can vary depending on the specific tournament rules.
Tournament section	This is the section of the official World of Tanks portal that is dedicated to all eSports matters. To access it, click the "Tournaments" tab on the menu, near the top of the screen, or follow this link.
Transfer	A player can only play for one team at a time per tournament! However, a player can move from one team to another in a process called a 'transfer'.
Victory	Achieving victory in a battle/game usually involving the elimination of all enemy vehicles, capture of the enemy base or something different that is specified in the tournament rules. Victory conditions can vary to suit the theme or goal of the tournament, so read the rules carefully!
Warning	Warnings are issued for small rule infringements. Several warnings can result in a ban.