Courtesy of Red Bull Media Room
Photographer Credit:
Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool
Welcome to the complex lexicon of the fighting game community.
At EVO 2017, we were given a crash course in the language of fighting games. Before running off to find your fight stick, understanding the slang of the FGC is a good start to understanding the culture behind the screen. After all, no one wants to be a scrub.
Button masher (noun): a new player that presses a lot of buttons on their controller without purpose or strategy
“The first time I played Street Fighter I was a total button masher.”
Randomed out (verb): When a person loses a game to button mashing or strategy-less play
“He just got randomed out by some scrub.”
Scrub (noun): a person who sucks at competitive gaming
See above
Free (adjective): easily beatable
“My pool was free.”
Bodied (adjective): whipped, beaten badly
“Dude, you got bodied.”
Combo (noun): a series of moves that cannot be blocked
“He dropped a combo.”
Although this might seem positive, it means the player was unable to string together a combo – he/she fumbled the opportunity
Photographer Credit:
Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool
Hit-confirm (verb): The action of completing a combo after the first hit connects (usually in a situation where the whole combo, when defended correctly, would leave the attacker open for retaliation)
“He hit-confirmed that super for the win!”
Super (noun): a special attack that does a ton of damage to the opponent, and costs a significant amount of resources to use. High risk/high reward
See above
T.O. (noun): tournament organizer
“Big E was the T.O.”
FGC (noun): Fighting Game Community
“The FGC turned out in huge numbers for EVO 2017.”
Salty (adjective): poor sport
“Don’t get salty cause you lost.”
No Johns (phrase): No excuses
“I wasn’t warmed up yet.” “No Johns, man.”
Footsies (noun): Attacking an opponent from right within or outside maximum effective range in hopes of connecting with an attack
Mix-ups (noun): Ambiguous situations that have no defined or clear defense
“She’s got sick mix-ups he can’t read.”
GG (phrase): used to signify the end of the game or round – means Good Game
Wrecked (adjective): beaten very badly in the game, destroyed, wrecked
“You just got wrecked.”
Photographer Credit:
Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool
The sights and sounds of EVO 2017 are evidence that the FGC has a big influence on popular culture.
Maurice_33, a competitor at EVO from Michigan explains, “The slang and even the trash talk can help settle the nerves but when it’s all said and done most of us just have respect for each other.” He continues, “I met some of the world’s top fighters but the most fun I’ve had was meeting the people I play with in real life.”
Repatriate, a competitor at EVO from Vancouver, B.C., interjects “The slang brings us together; it shows there is a culture that lives outside of the games”.
The esports community is a tight-knit and ever-evolving network of both competitors and friends. More and more people are becoming drawn to this area of the sports landscape. Walk around the EVO 2017 tournament and the vernacular of the esports scene surfaces in causal conversation and on merchandise in addition to the competitions.
Big E, a tournament organizer from Philadelphia says it best, “Characters aren’t just in the game.”
Photographer Credit:
Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool