If you’re searching for the game New York Times mentioned something about 10.9 million dollars, then you’re looking at Dota 2.

If you don’t understand what the hell people are saying when they talk about Dota 2 (usually streamed at a site called twitch.tv), then this is the quick and dirty you’ll need to catch up to watch the game, without all the silly abbreviations.

DOTA 2 is still a big thing when it comes to E-Sport tournaments.

Best of # (BO#) – maximum number of rounds in a set. The rounds needed to win for a BO3, for example, are 2, whereas for a BO5, 3 are needed. For every 2 round increment of the BO#, 1 more win is needed to win the set. There are some sets played in BO2, but it is only used in pool stages, for teams to accumulate wins and obtain their final position in the finals of the tournament.

Big items – You buy items which make your hero more powerful in Dota 2. Big items are items that boost the hero exceptionally, but cost a lot of gold.

Blocking/Blocked – Two meanings, more obvious meaning that either the hero is being blocked by heroes/creeps or the hero is blocking other heroes/creeps, but when anything (usually an invisible ward) is placed inside the jungle spawn camps, which spawns every minute, it becomes blocked and no creeps will spawn there.

You better be a fast thinker if you want to survive (and win) in DOTA 2.

Creep wave – The creeps are the units that walk down the three lanes on dota 2 – forming paths that define the top, middle (mid) , and bottom(bot) lanes. These creeps give gold to the opposition heroes, but only if they land the final hit  that kill the creep. Creeps spawn every thirty seconds (a wave of creeps), and you’ll find that most professional teams time this spawn time to properly assault the enemy base in a push.

Core – A role in Dota 2 teams which involves dealing most of the damage to the enemy to kill them. Core heroes can be carry heroes as well, core heroes scale especially well with additional items.

Carry – A role in Dota 2 teams which involve farming most of the game, then rolling over the enemy team when they reach a critical mass. Carry heroes need items to excel in dealing damage, and are otherwise lacklustre. Carry heroes often have skills that grant them superior maneuverability and tools that help them fight against multiple opponents. A practical application of the theory of farming.

Core items – Relatively inexpensive items (1.5k to 2k to build) that makes the particular hero excel in whatever the hero is supposed to do.

Dire side advantage – although Dota 2 looks like a symmetrical map, the map nuances cause one of the objectives, Roshan, to be difficult to approach from the Radiant side. Thus, this ease of access by the Dire side is termed as the “Dire side advantage”.

Say hello to mr pudge.

Farming – Since killing creeps give you gold, why not kill a lot of them? This repetitive action is called farming. Farm refers to the amount of gold they have.

Gank – When more than one hero gangs up to move into a lane (usually through the jungle) to try to kill an opponent hero, that is a gank. A Counter-gank uses the same logic, except it occurs when your allies move in to counter their movements.

Push – When a team decides to fight down any lane(or lanes, thus resulting in a split-push) towards the enemy base.

Rax – See the two large structures near the starting zone stairs? That’s the Barracks, derived from the original Dota structure using the barracks model from Warcraft 3. Destroying it is a game objective awarding the destroyer more powerful units which attack the enemies base.

Roshan (with Timer!) – Roshan is the giant dude in his own pit, which is an objective in Dota 2. Killing him grants your team lots of gold, and he drops an Aegis of the immortal, an item which cannot be dropped but grants you a resurrection passive for 6 minutes, after which the aegis disappears.

DOTA 2, where magic and brute force clashes.

When you die with the aegis in your inventory, it will disappear, then you will resurrect where you died after a 5 second delay. The Roshan Timer for observers only shows how much time Roshan has left before he respawns.

The circle resembles the 12- hour clock, and each mark represents a minute. Roshan will always respawn between 8-11 minutes after he is killed. When Roshan is killed for the third time in a single game, he will drop a Cheese, which is a consumable item which restores 2000 health and mana to its user instantly. You cannot use items while stunned doomed or when you are dead.

Support – A role in Dota 2 teams which involve disabling or hindering enemy opponents to aid their own team in killing the enemy

Teleport/TP – A consumable item that allows your hero to teleport to any allied structure after a short delay. The enhanced version of teleport, available through an item called Boots of Travel, allows teleportation to any allied creep or building, but not to heroes.