Demoman match-ups

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Oh, I'm goin' to liquefy ya... Click to listen — The Demoman on his battle plan

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Class			Strategy
Demoman	vs.	Scout	At high level play, a Scout is your main counter. The Scout is difficult to hit with your projectiles and can easily get in your face with his Scattergun. Predict his actions; lay Stickybombs where you think he will cross and lead him with your Grenade Launcher. If you use a Demoknight loadout, your shield's charge lets you catch up to and execute the Scout with your melee weapon. Even if the Scout gets close, taking out your melee weapon is not recommended, as his speed lets him easily dodge your swings and retreat beyond your melee range again.
Demoman	vs.	Soldier	The Soldier is an enemy you will often find trouble with; he's like you, but with more accurate explosives and less self-damaging weapons. Keep your distance; at close range, his rockets and Shotgun are easier to land than your explosives. If he rocket jumps into the air, land precise Grenade Launcher shots, lay Stickybombs where he will land, or detonate Stickybombs midair to catch him with their splash damage.
Demoman	vs.	Pyro	You never want to let a Pyro get close to you, where his assortment of strong fire and melee weapons will scorch you. Like with a Scout, lay Stickybombs where you think he will cross and lead him with your Grenade Launcher. Unlike the Scout, he can use his compression blast to reflect your projectiles back at you. Although you can fire faster than he can reflect, avoid shooting in predictable patterns. It's worth noting that while reflected grenades can injure you and your teammates, reflected stickybombs are merely pushed to a new location, and can still damage enemies. Equipping any of your shields changes the matchup significantly, as they reduce fire damage taken and can extinguish afterburn by charging, preventing powerful critical hits from the Axtinguisher and Flare Gun; if the Pyro doesn't have the Shotgun or Reserve Shooter equipped, his best option becomes his melee weapon. The Pyro's compression blast can interrupt any charges you attempt, which keeps the playing field even.
Demoman	vs.	Demoman	Against another Demoman at any range, fire grenades and Stickybombs while dodging his. Be careful when approaching an enemy Demoman on the defensive, as he's bound to have traps prepared for you. You can use one of your own Stickybombs to scatter an enemy Sticky trap. Another option is to use a Quickiebomb Launcher or Scottish Resistance Stickybomb to simply destroy an enemy trap. A Demoman with the Chargin’ Targe acts as a soft counter to a vanilla Demoman – the explosive protection offered by the shield puts the latter at a significant disadvantage, especially once the former uses the charge to enter melee range.
Demoman	vs.	Heavy	At medium range your damage output, especially from your Stickybombs, can match that of a Heavy. Never try to fight a Heavy at close range, since his Minigun will shred you. However, his weapons suffer significant damage falloff over distances while yours do not. Stay away and use high ground or cover to harass him with your explosives. His slow speed makes him an easy target to land direct hits on. If a Heavy has a Medic healing him and thus has very high health, try setting up an improvised Sticky trap at his feet. This works best when he is spun-up and distracted, giving you ample time to quickly set up.
Demoman	vs.	Engineer	Keep a modest distance when fighting a lone Engineer; although he is weaker than other, more hearty classes, his Shotgun and Pistol give him the advantage at close range. Instead of directly facing his Sentry Gun, use the trajectory of your projectiles to attack indirectly from behind obstacles and remain safe from harm. Your Stickybomb Launcher makes you one of the best classes for taking out a Sentry Gun; detonating several at once will deal huge damage and prevent the Engineer from doing any repairs. If the Engineer is using the Gunslinger, the extra health it provides makes him tougher in a direct fight. Expect to have to destroy at least one Mini-Sentry Gun while dueling him. Equipping a shield will rob you of the Stickybomb Launcher and overall make you weaker against Sentry Guns. Equipping the Loch-n-Load can help to negate this, as it can destroy any of the Engineer's buildings in up to two shots.
Demoman	vs.	Medic	As with an Engineer, a Medic who aims his Syringe Gun well can be insidious to you at closer ranges. Remain far enough so that you can safely attack with grenades and Stickybombs. The Medic is a high priority target, especially when he is healing his teammates. Use your splash damage to attack both him and his patient at once. You can sticky jump above and past the Medic’s allies to dive-bomb him. Your shield can be used to chase and pick off a fleeing Medic.
Demoman	vs.	Sniper	You’ll want to close the distance between you and a Sniper as quickly as possible. Harass them with grenades and charged Stickybombs while moving erratically to avoid being headshot. If you decide to sticky jump or use your shield charge to approach, try to catch the Sniper off-guard; your trajectory, if not using the Tide Turner, is easily predictable. Once you get inside medium range, your projectiles or melee weapon will make short work of him.
Demoman	vs.	Spy	You are relatively slow and can deal massive damage, making you an important target for a Spy. The main problem is his Cloak; with it, he can be difficult to directly hit and can pass over your Stickybombs undetected. His Revolver is deceptively strong at close range, where you are weakest. Still, once you find the Spy, your weapons outdamage his at any range. If he tries to Cloak and run away, detonate your Stickybombs near his predicted path, keeping the detonation delay in mind for your aiming.

See also

• Team strategy
• Demoman (competitive)