Capping (Control Point: Competitive)

This article is for competitive play, based on the standard community competitive format.
The community competitive scene changes frequently. Some or all info may be outdated.

Capping is a term that means the act of capturing a control point in the Standard Control Point, King Of The Hill, Territorial Control, Capture The Flag, and Attack/Defend game modes. Control Points are captured when a player of any class stands on a contested control point, and after a certain period of time the control point will convert to the color of the team that captured it if the capturer is not killed or the enemy fails to block the capture. Capping is the primary objective in many modes of Team Fortress 2.

Capping works the same way in every game mode, however the time required to capture a point can vary between modes and maps. In some game modes, it is necessary for the team that owns the point to defend it after they have captured it.

Strategy

A Scout benefits from a capture rate double that of other classes, giving Scouts an advantage in capturing control points. A Scout also has the ability to easily dodge incoming damage due to his double jump ability. This is very useful on certain control points such as Badlands Spire, where an enemy Demoman can easily spam stickies onto the point. However, the Pain Train, a melee weapon for the Soldier and Demoman classes, improves their cap rates to equal that of a Scout – making these three classes excellent for rapidly capturing a point.

When these classes work together, they can provide a devastating offensive and allow themselves to punch through to the point and hold it just long enough to capture it. However, this is easier with support from other classes such as Pyros and Medics. A Medic's ÜberCharge can be an enormous help when pushing back the defending team, however Übered players cannot themselves cap a point. Additionally, Heavies can provide additional assistance as their high health increases the time a player is on the point.

Engineers can set up sentries and teleporters around a control point to help their team fight the defending team, and help get to the control point faster, especially if the control point is far away. Players should remember to check for Demoman sticky bombs on the point and destroy them or the Demoman himself (a recommended class to this is the sniper due to his ability to dispatch bombs and enemies from a long distance) to avoid a failure of a direct assualt of your team.

Stealth can also be used to rapidly capture points. Using his cloak and disguise, a Spy can easily slip past the front line undetected and hide on a locked control point further ahead. This means that when the previous point is captured and the next one unlocked, a Spy can capture it before the defending team has time reach the point and set up a good defense. However, a Spy is unable to capture a point while invisible or disguised, so he must expose himself just before the point becomes available for the greatest success. This is called 'backcapping'. This is very successful when your team is losing and they have a slight chance of getting the 1st point. On occasion, a Scout can also do this, but it is usually much harder for a Scout to reach the point and hide there.

Standard Competitive Control Point Maps

	Map	File Name
	5Gorge	cp_5gorge
	Badlands	cp_badlands
	Coldfront	cp_coldfront
	Fastlane	cp_fastlane
	Freight	cp_freight_final1
	Granary	cp_granary
	Well	cp_well
	Yukon	cp_yukon_final