Panzer asked me the other night if the Spy could be very useful to a team. I gave a short elaboration that, if played correctly, they could be very pivotal in the success of a team.

The Spy is given many tools that allow him to maneuver throughout the battlefield and sabotage key defense points. As some examples:
– If you kill a Demoman all his sticky bombs disappear.
– If too many Engi’s have built their units really close together, you can spam sapper all their machines and take out an entire defensive post
– If a Spy disguises as a Medic, no one questions him getting behind them.
Just a few examples, but essentially the tricks to playing a Spy well is:
1. Knowing when your team doesn’t need a Spy.
(When you already have 2 spies, or when the other team has 2 pyro’s defending an Engineer, it’s time to switch to Demo or Soldier and clear ‘em out)
2. Knowing to disguise as something that won’t make it obvious you are a spy.
(If you disguise as a Heavy and don’t ever spin up your gun, or you disguise as a sniper and charge forward with everyone.)
3. With #2, remembering that the longer you stay in your disguise and don’t do what that class does, the more people will be suspicious of you.
4. Timing. Timing. TIMING. Patience is just as important as seizing an opportunity.
5. Knowing when to switch between the different Cloak-Watches.
(If you are unfamiliar with this concept, essentially Spies get an item called the Invisi-Watch which allows them to Cloak or turn invisible.)
– The Cloak and Dagger: Your Cloak only decreases if you move. If depleted it reveals your outline. Crouching makes it deplete slower. Otherwise if you stand still you can be invisible forever.
– The Dead Ringer: If you take ANY damage, including Fall damage, it makes it appear as if you died, when in reality it puts you in Cloak mode for about 10 seconds. Walking over Ammo packs will increase the amount of cloak by a proportionate amount.
– The Standard Invisi-watch: Allows you to cloak for a short period and then goes away.
6. Prioritizing. Know when to bust out the revolver and help capture a point instead of running around face-stabbing people.
7. Kill Zyley
8. Embracing the concept taught to us by Mr. Captain Jack Sparrow: “He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.”
9. AVOID PYROS. For the love of MannCo, AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. Only go in for a pyro kill when you have a very clear and present shot at them. Pyros are the Anti-Spy

When you are constantly hear wild accusations that you are a scrub, “play a real class” or “dammit (your name)!” that’s how you know you’re doing well.
The more time the other team spends questioning whether their teammates are spies is more time your team can capture and objective. It distracts them and forces them to waste ammo they could be using on your teammates.

Subterfuge. Sowing Discord and Distrust. Tactical Elimination. Ingenuity.
This is how one plays Spy well.