Poke

Poke is a playstyle built around dealing small amounts of damage from a safe, long range to wear enemies down before a real fight begins. Champions and abilities with long-range, low-commitment attacks are described as having strong poke.

The goal is to force opponents to back off, miss farm, or enter a teamfight already low on health, giving your side an advantage when the fight actually starts. Poke is especially common around objectives like dragon and Baron, where one team tries to soften the other before contesting. Knowing how to poke, and how to dodge enemy poke, is a fundamental skill that separates higher-ranked players.