What is CS in League of Legends?

Items are a pivotal factor in increasing the power of your champions in League of Legends. However, the more powerful the item is, the more gold it costs, meaning players will have to traverse the map for ways to accumulate the currency.

One of the most efficient ways to get gold in League is by taking down minions, thus increasing your creep score—affectionately known in the community as CS. This number can be viewed at the top right of the screen between the player’s KDA and the timer. A higher CS denotes a larger amount of gold, and is often used to weigh the competition between opposing laners.

In the DotA series, another MOBA similar to League, the “minions” on the map are known as creeps. The term “creeps” has been adopted into League to refer to both minions and non-epic monsters, all of which contribute to a player’s CS.

How do players increase their CS in League?

Minions aren’t the only factor that increases your CS, however. Taking down monsters in the jungle increases this number by a larger amount than simply killing one minion, therefore granting the player more gold.

Each player focuses on increasing their own CS through taking down waves of opinions that storm into their lanes. However, for junglers and support players, CS comes in different forms. Junglers primarily increase their CS count by pathing through the jungle and slaying monsters, only increasing their CS via minions if they take some when ganking an ally’s lane.

Supports start games by purchasing a support item, all of which interact directly with how they accumulate CS. Since supports don’t want to take CS away from their lane partners, who use minions as their main way of gaining gold, many of these items reward the support players for damaging enemies and turrets. Other support items allow players to execute a minion below a health threshold, rewarding them and a nearby ally with the full gold and experience the minion provides.

Having a high CS at the end of the game ultimately shows that players have mastered their specific role. Though CS isn’t the most important stat, the gold benefits it provides can change the course of a game.