[discussion] team setups

its been running through my mind for a while. the current team setup is as follows:

solly
solly
scout
scout
demo
medic

with a scout or solly sub'd for heavy if its a suitable map, same with a sniper or spy (if Jag's playing)

im guessing its this setup as its mainly based one all of the offensive classes.

but what of the of the other classes, are they even viable, or is tf2 matches doomed to this way of thinking ?

i know the engineer can be slammed as its not that helpful, BUT, with the recent updates of lv3 tele's, would it be even tactical to use this as an advantage? i know engis are ment to be a stagnant class, setup in one area and try to hold it, which will always fail, but given the teles, wouldnt a surprise sentry at key corners/choak points be enough to hinder/slow or even hold an emeny team, while you give your team enough time to regroup?

and the other hardly used class: pyro. its a close range class, based on ambush tactics and AoE type primary attack. would this class be viable for some of the close quaters maps such as granary (if you think about it gran is quite close quaters, as the points are either covered with tons of options and runs, or like two of them, indoors with hardly much room to react at long range?)

Problem with engy is it genuinely will lose 1v1 vs any other class on all occasions, leaving you a player down until he's got the equipment set up. What you say about teles and about unexpected sentries at key choke points is true, but applies more to the sort of maps we prefer not to play (dustbowl, badwater, goldrush and so on). On the fast-paced maps like granary, fastlane and badlands, a round will often be over before an engy even has time to get a lvl 3 sentry up.


I would like to see Hez get back into practise as a pyro tho and us give that a shot in a match some time. With the medic healing a soldier facing the enemy front-on, if the pyro can get in amongst them it could be pretty chaotic....a bit like having a third scout, but with more health and the ability to act as a medic-protecting class too when needed.

Engies would be useful on a couple of the payload maps IMO, and possibly dustbowl (I'm thinking on offence btw). Somebody could switch after capping initial points when you need to walk long distances, but it's very situational and may not work too well, depending on how clued up the opponents are.

Not everyone plays engy well either, I've noticed Karma does though.