November 08, 2019

Command & Conquer Rivals Terms & Terminology

If you're new to Rivals, you might struggle with a lot of the terminology used by other players on Reddit, Discord or in the Alliance chat in the Rivals app. Here's some terms you might encounter:

Rivals glossary:
  • Aggro = Decks without "Tech" and usually a number of cheap units that try to win the game early
  • Base Kill = Winning not with launching two of the Nuclear Missiles, but with killing the opponent's base with units or commander abilities (e.g. Jade Catalyst missile)
  • Bikes = Attack Bikes
  • Blocking = Keeping an opponent from moving onto a specific hex (often a pad) by moving a unit in the way. With clever control, a single unit can block access to two or even three pads.
  • Borca = Orca Bomber
  • Break Point =  A unit interaction that significantly changes once a unit has higher levels (each level gives +10% hitpoints and +10% damage). E.g. a full salvo killing or not killing a unit, or a unit needing 2 or 3 shots to kill something.
  • Broken = Term used to describe units or decks that supposedly are too strong, also see "OP"
  • Charging = Charging the pads
  • Chems = Chem Troopers
  • Chuggy = Chem Buggy
  • Customs = Playing games in the "Custom" game mode that's avaibable in the settings section of the app. You can play games at equal level here, which is used for tournaments or training matches
  • Coliseum = Weekly & Monthly tournament series run by prolific streamer 13lade
  • Dancing =  Moving a unit in and out of a hex that the opponent wants to enter so that they can't enter it, but also can't easily attack the blocking unit (special form of "Blocking")
  • Fortress = Decks that try to get a specific defensive setup on a strategic position on the map, usually centered around a 2- or 3-range unit (usually MLRS, Giga Cannon, Artillery)
  • Flip = Winning control of the majority of controlled pads shortly before the missile/nuke fires (i.e. "flipping control of the pads")
  • Ladder = Ranked games, i.e. the main game type that people play next to "Customs"
  • LD = Laser Drones
  • Meta = The typical units, decks and play styles currently being seen in the ladder or tournaments
  • Micro = controlling your units to make the best of them, e.g. retreating at the right moment, switching unit positions, baiting opponent shots on the wong units rtc.
  • Mid range = Decks with some slightly more powerful units compared to "Aggro" decks, but still no "Tech". Often has advantages in the late game against "Aggro" decks due to the Tiberium acceleration throughout the game making cheap units relatively worse as the game goes on. Examples would be decks build around "Borca" or Inferno
  • MG = Machine Gun Squad
  • OP = Overpowered, used to describe units that are supposedly too strong
  • Pop cap = The mechanic of Rivals that you can't build as many units as you have Tiberium. There is a cooldown to build units, and it becomes slower the more units you have on the field.
  • Pop capping = The technique to conciously make the opponent have so many units (e.g. of a certain type, or half-dead units like single riflemen) that they cannot build a necessary counter at a critical time due to the Pop cap mechanic
  • Rifle War = Situation occurring in the early game if both players open Rifles (or Militants), trying to win pad control, trade profitably and force the opponent to switch into a different infantry counter that then can be countered (example: One player switching into Talon, the other then into Pitbulls -- the Pitbull player will usually win the first missile)
  • Scrim = Competitive training match done in the "Customs" mode
  • Stalling = Keeping the pads from charging, i.e. ensuring that both parties both control the same number of pads (0 or 1)
  • Stank = Stealth Tank
  • Scorp = Scorpion Tank
  • Tank = Scorpion and Predator Tanks
  • Tech = Units (or decks incorporating them) that come from the "Temple of Nod" or "GDI Tech Lab" buildings. Most players in lower leagues play Tech. Learn how to beat tech players.
  • Tech Splash = a deck with a single tech unit that is not critical to winning the game. If the single unit is a "super unit" (Avatar or Mammoth), it's usually not called Tech Splash. Tech Splash decks e.g. utilize Sandstorm, Zone Troopers, Basilisk for the late game and/or as options/counters against specific decks/units.
  • Thick Tank = Tick Tanks for their ability to withstand tons of damage once burrowed
  • Tib = Tiberium
Deck nicknames:
  • Air Mammoth = Jackson - Rifle, Missile - Droneswarm, Mohawk (or Orca), Hammerhead - Mammoth
  • Suzaku APC = Strongarm - Rifle, Missile - Pitbull, APC - Droneswarm, Orca (invented and popularized by top player Suzaku)
  • Airtillery = Oxanna - Militant, Lasers (or Scavengers) - Laser Drones, Venom, Phantom - Artillery
  • Alicia Nod = Oxanna - Fanatics - Wheels, Bike, Tank - Phantom, Inferno
  • ckm111 Jade = Jade - Militants, Laser Troopers, Chem Troopers - Bikes - Laser Drones, Phantom
  • Chuggy / Marauder = Oxanna - Militant (or Wheels), Laser Troopers, Marauders - Bike, Chem Buggy, Stealth Tank
  • Fanatic Aggro = Oxanna - Laser Troopers, Fanatics - Wheels, Bikes, Scorpion Tank - Banshee (or Phantom)
  • Nod 2-2-2 = Seth - Militant, Laser Troopers - Bikes, Scorpion Tank - Venom, Banshee
Player nicknames:
  • AgentDodger = AgentShadow for his alledged dodging of challenge matches
  • CP = CrazyPsychopath aka Praetor Pyro, a divisive streamer and player in Rivals
  • Micro Queen = AliciaDestiny for her unit control prowess

If you found this article useful, find more articles about Rivals basics below:

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