Magnificent
*explosion*
That was a recreation of a clip I hold dear to my heart
It's just one kill,
But it's so clear that I fooled two people in broad daylight with my disguise.
people often say that spy's disguises
Don't fool good players,
but when they do... Oof
See, this video isn't about balance. This video is about how it FEELS to play spy
Let me say first that almost all these clips are from competitive lobbies with experienced players. Everyone in these clips knows how spy works
But that doesn't stop me from fooling them.
I should also say that I'm not the best spy
Sometimes I just... die?
But that's not the point.
Why do people play spy?
*dead ringer sound*
If you ask me it's because you get to feel like a sneaky motherfu-
nothing compares to the feeling of hiding in plain sight
Here, I'm pretending to be a sniper keeping an eye on the chokepoint.
This engineer looks right at me,
And then proceeds to backpedal into my loving arms
Spy: "Everyone back to the base, pardner."
In this next clip, I pass up a free backstab on the enemy Sniper
The engineer and medic see that it could have killed sniper if I WAS a Spy, which completely clears me of suspicion
I then go on to backstab the medic while he's healing me, which honestly might be one of the best feelings in TF2
Ya, see, after you backstab, you tend to be in a lot of trouble
*medic scream*
Sonic: so whaddya do? First, you say no,
Spy: NO
Sonic: Then, ya get outta there!
But reallym it's hard to articulate the excitement and mind games of escaping invisibly
There's a visceral feeling of being chased and vulnerable which you can't really feel without playing the game
Actually, it's pretty interesting to me that Spy goes from this menacing
"Ooooo.... when's he gonna show up?" feeling to this:
(nervous) Okay... this is fine! *forced laughter*
Everything's alright here... OH KAY
Okay, alright, let's... *nervous laughter*
Get outta here buddy *hyena laugh*
Okay... no no, it's... just *nervous noises*
It's time to go somewhere else
Alright... okay... alright, alright, now's my time to shine
*hurried breathing*
BANG
This Soldier has no idea where I went....
Oh yeah yeah, spycheck check over there. I'm suuuure you'll find me
What an idiot...
*panicked breathing*
Being invisible certainly doesn't make you invincible, and sometimes it requires perfect movement to get out of situations
*Spy screaming*
Spy: Perfect
Spy is almost always just completely dead upon being found out, but there's something special about killing someone who's actively looking for you
Heavy: OOOH, RUUUUN, RUUUN!
No, u
You see this spot?
There's something special about this architecture. As a spy, if you can find a slightly elevated platform, hide next to it
Don't believe me? Watch these clips
Alright, in this clip, it's painfully obvious that I'm a Spy, but it takes this Medic a second to figure it out
I try to escape, but then this guy....
THIS GUY
I'm disguised as this guy, how does he?
How did he manage to get ahead of me?? No matter how many times I watch it,
I just can't understand how he materializes in front of me, but I digress this medic starts owning me
So I make my getaway. I find my little spot
And he proceeds to check almost every inch of space
Around me except where I actually am. It's almost as if there's something in his brain
Preventing him from checking this ONE LITTLE SPOT.... this one square foot of space
Still don't believe me?
I get into a little trouble here aaaand boom. I'm gone. Never to be seen again
Here, I picked the Demo and then I take my opportunity to gun down the Medic
I should be dead as dirt, but this spot
Just never lets me down
But wait do you notice something about how the Engineer walks right by me?
isn't it a little too convenient that he walks
Right outside of my hiding spot?
See I have this theory that if you don't have enough hours on Spy
Architecture like this appears extended to the point that you can't find someone who hides-
Alright look: What can you DO against spy?
He can kill you with one backstab...
He can go invisible to get away...
is there any counter to this insta-killing, undying madman?
Engie: YEAH! As long as I have my back against this here wall, you can't kill me, you snake.
He's right.
There is literally no way
for a Spy to kill someone who has their back against a wall. Spy is just a walking gimmick
BANG NOPE, that's right, Spy can headshot people.
Characters that rely on headshots often attract players who think they're better than everyone else.
And when you pick spy,
I am the spy
You're asically announcing to the entire server that you think you're smarter than everyone else.
So when you combine that with the ability to headshot,
You create a mass of pretension so dense that it can cause a singularity
Spy: "Excellent!"
Big Bang Theory guy: BaZiNgA
Anyone who's played any kind of support class, whether it's a healer, or something specialized like the spy
Knows how good it feels to punish an overconfident combat class that assumes you're defenseless
The Ambassador is perfect for this and can cause some really...
/really/ embarrassing deaths
I really hope they revert the nerfs on this gun because it felt pretty balanced to me.
Soldier: NO GOD, PLEASE NO. NO.
So. The Spy can backstab you.
He can escape invisibly.
He can headshot you
Is there any way
To stop this monster
There is one way, but you might not be happy to hear it
Demo: OI! SPY!
Spy: Oh please, just-
*seinfield theme plays unironically*
That's right! in order to balance the Spy's powerful abilities, valve programmed a never-before-seen
"Voice chat system" into Team Fortress 2
*complete nonsense* (the voice of my people)
If you open voice chat and say:
"Aaah, Heavy, there is a Spy behind you!"
The enemy Spy will mysteriously
die within the next five seconds
and no one knows why...
HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME?
Now I know, I know. people don't communicate in pubs.
But there's another trick you may have heard of...
Spy: May I make a suggestion? Run.
NO U
Good players are always looking for something to do
When they're not in combat, their priorities look something like:
Don't get backstabbed, don't get headshot...
When the fighting STARTS, though it looks more like:
Shoot gun. Dodge boolets. Say thanks after every kill
Heavy: THANK YOU
And THIS is Spy's time to strike.
In this clip, the enemy team sent their Medic, Heavy, and Demo to take control of bath house
There's no way I'd be able to take them out on my own
But my soldier, who isn't even really a threat to the enemy combo
Provides the slightest distraction which is enough for me to make a play
Spy heavily relies on his team to make distractions, making them more of a team player than most people realize
in this 6v6 match
I literally asked my team to do a fake push to make a lot of noise,
which again,
Proves to be just enough of a distraction for me to make something happen
But sometimes, Spy can't kill people no matter how distracted they are.
He can't keep up with mobile classes
Spy: I AM SUCH A BAD CLASS.
And he has no way to close the gap
Spy: Please, Medic, PLEASE
Damn you!
And because of how specific his role is, sometimes the entire fight just...
happens without him
Spy: SO! Your deadly skill is jogging? Mine is murdering people
What?
but... I
I am the spy
But Spy isn't ABOUT consistency.
Spy is about those special moments...
Those moments where you're breathing down the opponent's necks, and
before you even uncloak you're imagining yourself back stabbing everyone in sight
Spy: Today... I am a GOD
Yes! Yes! YES!
Funnily enough, I actually learned about that hiding spot from the legendary "stabbystabby"
I then used this knowledge against him by catching him in the same spot
Suck on that stabby!
Turns out that having a legendary YouTube channel with helpful advice
Exciting gameplay and good editing, was a suboptimal play
There's NOTHING SNEAKY, about being a GREAT GUY
and sharing your knowledge with everyone!!!
*dead ringer sound*
Spy is so nostalgic for me... watching great spies like stabby inspired me and many others to spend entire days just pubbing as spy
When I think about all the times I backstabbed someone that I barely knew how to play,
or all the times I truly fooled the pants off of someone
I can't help but smile
Spy is just so unique!
The fact that, in a first-person shooter,
I can pretend to be an enemy and then this guy thinks he's found me out
But I've found out that he's found me out
And he hasn't found out that I found him out
and I found out by googling how to trick stab that I can just sidestep
AND KILL HIM
is pretty special
and having true invisibility lets you get into all sorts of ridiculous "how am I gonna get out of this one" moments
Gahh
and don't get me started on how important Spy is to the humor of the game.
IT'S RAINING MEN
HALLELUJAH
I guess what I'm trying to say is...
that without the Spy, TF2 just wouldn't be the same
*Spies scream in agony (same tbh)
Hey guys
Thanks for watching and please subscribe if you haven't already
Just wanted to update you guys and say that I'm no longer threatened by the California fires, which is great!
Thanks so much for all the well wishes, and thanks to all of you on my discord server for this amazing fanart
I hope you guys enjoyed the holidays and have a Happy New Year