Pick

For the Soldier's melee weapons, see Pickaxe.

A pick is a solitary kill on an important class. As opposed to taking out a few enemies before dying or retreating, it is killing only one enemy, with that enemy being an important piece of the opposing team. Picks may or may not be suicidal; obviously having the picker survive is more effective than a suicidal pick. Whilst all classes can get a pick, some are better at it than others:

Classes suited to picking

• Scouts that have managed to flank the enemy can pick enemy Snipers with relative ease, while having a go at the Medic can be worth the effort as well. Using the Back Scatter, the Scout can take out targets from behind once he has managed to flank, dealing a maximum of 142 damage to enemies facing away from him per shot. With their powerful close range Scattergun or Force-A-Nature, the Scout can quickly pick off any high priority targets with a few blasts and then escape. With the Shortstop the Scout can take on targets at a longer range, albeit requiring more shots to kill.

• Soldiers using the Gunboats are very ideal at getting a pick on an a target in a group as he can quickly jump in and quickly jump out, or make a quick escape using the Escape Plan. The Direct Hit is also very useful for taking out high priority targets, and can function as an alternative sniping weapon. Since it can take out most classes in one to two hits, it is very effective at disrupting the enemy team. Finally, the Market Gardener can pick key targets off with practice on more open maps, as the Soldier can simply rocket jump towards his target and net a critical swing before landing, which is enough to kill a Medic from full health.

• A clever Demoman may be able to hide and/or time his stickies good enough that the rear of the enemy team is hit harder than the front on a push, where most pick-worthy classes tend to hide. However this is very situational and would probably not be considered a pick if it gibs more than one enemy. A Demoman with the Scottish Resistance can place multiple stickies in important chokepoints, which can be an effective deterrent if enemies tend to swarm in a particular location. Alternatively, he can equip a Shield, which gives him the ability to charge and kill a single enemy, however this puts him at a great risk as he will be unable to retreat as quickly as he charges.

• Snipers are the quintessential picking class; in fact one could say that due to the nature of his primary weapon all of his kills are picks. One uncharged headshot or fully charged bodyshot will take out an enemy Medic with minimal risk. Enemy Snipers or built-up Engineers can also be efficiently removed this way. A fully charged headshot will also pick any Heavy, which instantly removes a wall from in front of the team.

• Spies are less useful at picking than Snipers are (as they generally do not survive for long after doing their job), but can still be effective, especially if the enemy team is watching for Snipers (and therefore probably not their backs). The Your Eternal Reward and Cloak and Dagger combination is great for hiding out before going to strike at an important enemy, as well as having the benefit of not creating any sound and taking the disguise.

Classes that are pick targets

• Demomen are important targets as they are the greatest damage dealers and area controllers. Without a Demoman it is hard to defend a point.

• Heavies or overhealed Soldiers can be efficiently removed by a Sniper or Spy, while it would take a great deal of hits to bring them down otherwise.

• Medics, with their game-changing Übercharge and protective buddies, are the top target. Picking a Medic nulls a team's free source of health and deprives them of any Übercharge they might have had.

• Snipers are often targets of picking simply because they themselves are the best at picking. With great aim, Snipers are able to pick bigger targets quickly at a farther distance. A no-charge headshot will kill a Medic in one hit, for example.

See also

• Competitive play
• Strategy