Spy match-ups

“

I'm going to gut you like a Cornish game hen. Click to listen — The Spy on his battle plan

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Class			Strategy
Spy	vs	Scout	A typical Scout rarely stands still and is difficult to hit with any of your weapons, making him a poor target for a backstab. With his speed, he can simply bump into you to Spy-check and easily chase you down. The Force-A-Nature’s knockback, Mad Milk, and the Boston Basher’s bleed effect can aid in revealing you further, so it may be best to avoid him whenever possible. Additionally, the Scout's damage is superior to yours. If you end up directly fighting a Scout, backpedal erratically while firing your Revolver; you don’t want to fight him at close range.
Spy	vs	Soldier	The Soldier walks slowly and brings a large amount of firepower to his team, making him a prime backstab target. However, he tends to be hard to reach on the battlefield, where he will make use of rocket jumping and frequently be ahead of his team or at high ground. With his mobility and the Rocket Launcher's high damage output, being caught by a Soldier almost guarantees your death. Should your backstab fail or he discover you, it's best to flee; your Revolver does not deal much damage relative to his large health pool.
Spy	vs	Pyro	The Pyro, with his fire, is your nightmare and direct counter. He can use his Flamethrower to easily Spy-check all of his teammates, nullifying your Cloak and disguise. Additionally, he can use his compression blast to keep you pinned in a corner once discovered, so avoid him whenever possible. If you are set on fire, uncloak immediately and run for the nearest body of water or source of Health. If you must directly fight a Pyro, backpedal while firing your Revolver, outside of his flamethrower range, your Revolver more powerful than his secondary weapons. Even in the midst of combat, his Flamethrower’s large spread may inadvertently reveal you, making him a suboptimal choice to try to backstab. Careful use of the Dead Ringer or Spycicle, items that can extinguish afterburn, can give you some immunity to his routine Spy-checks.
Spy	vs	Demoman	A Demoman will often be too focused on combat or laying Sticky traps to pay attention to you. He moves relatively slowly and cannot frequently Sticky jump without sacrificing a sizable portion of health, allowing you to easily catch up for a backstab. Your Cloak and disguise can be used to pass over his Sticky traps with some degree of safety. While the Demoman can deal more damage than you at all ranges, his explosive projectiles can be dodged while, his sticky bombs take some time to arm and his weapons reload slowly. If fighting the Demoman directly, remain within medium range but outside melee range, especially if he has a shield equipped; the Demoman will have some difficultly aiming yet be unable to use his melee weapon.
Spy	vs	Heavy	A Heavy is a large, slow target who provides a lot of firepower for his team, making him your natural prey. Due to the nature of his primary weapon, a Heavy must stay looking directly at his target and cannot spare moments to look around. However, before attacking, be sure that he is too focused on combat at the front lines to pay attention to you since, when spun up, his Minigun is one of the best ways of dealing with a Spy at close range, even when cloaked or disguised. Killing him should take much of the pressure off from you as you retreat back to your team.
Spy	vs	Engineer	Whilst a Spy can effectively kill an Engineer and all of his equipment in one fell swoop, don't be fooled into thinking this matchup is in your favour. While the two of you are about even in a one-on-one encounter, the Engineer will typically be near his Sentry Gun, which can easily mow down whatever it targets. There will also typically be other foes guarding the area around the Sentry Gun, this often makes sapping attempts, or even getting near the Sentry Gun, difficult if not impossible. However, your Cloak and disguise won't draw the attention of his Sentry Gun, allowing you to approach and disable his buildings with your Electro Sappers. If there are no other enemies in the area, you can place Electro Sappers faster than he can remove them, forcing him to abandon his buildings and attack you. If you constantly dodge his fire, his buildings will eventually fall. If the Engineer is working on his buildings, employ the “Stab then sap” strategy: backstab him, quickly sap his Sentry Gun before it can attack you, then flee. Although this is a very effective technique, it is best to attempt this while the Sentry Gun is facing away from you or in the midst of upgrading; otherwise, you might take significant damage following the backstab. If an Engineer is between you and his Sentry Gun, it is possible to bait the Sentry Gun into firing at its owner by revealing yourself. Your Revolver does much less damage to sapped buildings than normal, however, your team-mates do not suffer this penalty, a well timed Sapper and a team-mate of any class can make short work of a Sentry Gun before the Engineer has a chance to remove the Sapper and perform any repairs.
Spy	vs	Medic	A Medic’s ability to heal his teammates makes him one of your most important targets. He will often be looking behind his allies to check for threats when healing, so you may have to rely on appearing unsuspicious as you approach. Do your best to act like a member of the enemy team as you prepare to backstab the Medic. To avoid retaliation, it is best to backstab him, then his patient. If your backstab fails, it is best to retreat, as even the Medic outshines you in close range combat. If you are particularly devious and the Medic is particularly unaware, you can disguise as a viable Medic buddy and trick him into following you into a trap or wasting an ÜberCharge on you. If he uses his Kritzkrieg on you, it is possible to attack the Medic with a critical Revolver shot.
Spy	vs	Sniper	A Sniper will typically be focused on aiming at targets that are far away and will not notice that you’re behind him. If he is wearing the Razorback, simply gun him down with your primary weapon before he can retaliate. However, should the Sniper discover you, he can use Jarate or the bleed effect from the Tribalman's Shiv to nullify your Cloak and disguise, leaving you vulnerable to all nearby enemies. Even with his weak close range weapons, a Sniper is capable of defeating you in a one-on-one encounter, especially if he inflicts one of his debuffs on you. If your backstab fails, keep a modest distance while firing your Revolver or simply retreat and try again later. Finally, the Sniper is often away from the battle in a quieter area and is much more likely to hear you decloak
Spy	vs	Spy	Although it is rare for you to backstab another Spy, you can Spy-check by approaching the backs of teammates with the Knife active; if you automatically raise it as if to backstab someone, that "teammate" is a Spy. If you’re in enemy territory, you may have the opportunity to see if an enemy Spy changes his disguise; if you are not in a position to attack him, simply report this information to your team and continue about your usual business. If you end up directly fighting an enemy Spy, dodge his attacks while retaliating with the Revolver.

See also

• Team strategy