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TF2vOW: Scout versus Tracer

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The Logo

Welcome to the first-ever edition of the “TEAM FORTRESS 2 VERSUS OVERWATCH” series.  Inspired by the ongoing flamewars between the two fandoms and Screwattacks own “Death Battle” series on Youtube, TF2 vs OW is where I theoretically pit one or more of your favorite TF2 classes against their counterparts from Blizzard’s upcoming TF2 rip-off (and revenge for Valve stealing DOTA): Overwatch!

We’re probably never going to be able to see this in this reality, so doing it here will be the next best thing!  I will try to go through each characters weapons and abilities as objectively as possible in order to decide who would win in a fight to the death.  The goal of this whole exercise?  Well, simply put…

Two franchises enter, one franchise leaves.

 

 

 

THE TEN(ish) RULES OF TF2vOW:

  1. Battles will be between two or more classes that are similar in a significant way.
  2. Battles will last as long as they have to.  Patience is considered finite, however.
  3. Battles will take place on familiar ground, most often in TF2’s 2Fort.
  4. TF2 classes will be assumed to use stock loadouts, except where noted.
  5. Item pickups are allowed for TF2, though moot for most OW heroes.
  6. Both Random Crits (TF2) and 2xDMG Headshots (OW) will be disabled for this.
  7. Combatants will be considered to be at “equal” skill levels to one another.
  8. Combatants will be well aware of their opponents skills and abilities.
  9. Overwatch Heroes’ health will be scaled against the highest health TF2 class.
    1. Highest Base Health Class in TF2: Heavy (300 HP)
    2. Highest Base Health Class in OW: Winston (400 HP + 100 armor)
    3. Between the two highest classes, “Adjusted HP and DMG” will be found.
      1. OW values will be divided by the health of the biggest OW Hero.
      2. Next be multiplied by the max health of the biggest TF2 Class.
      3. Simply put: all OW values will be adjusted downwards by 3/5.
  10. Superiority will be determined by a Best-Of-Three match at three ranges:
    1. Match 1: CLOSE RANGE
    2. Match 2: MID RANGE
    3. Match 3: LONG RANGE

Today’s Competitors?  Why, none other than the fastest and feistiest of the teams…

 

 

 

SvT - VS Screen

SCOUT vs TRACER

Tracer is obviously closest to the Scout in terms of gameplay, though she has some significant differences in abilities.  Requiring a mastering of taking alternate paths and hit-and-run tactics, they are both the definition of glass cannons.

 

 

 

TEAM TF2: The Scout

SvT - Portrait 1

Background:

  • True Name: Unknown
  • Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  • Job: Rapid Recovery
  • Description: The Scout, The Crown Prince of Caffeine, uses his speed to run circles around his opponents. Quick in his delivery of both bullets and snarky comments, the Scout harasses his enemies with ease, using his unmatched speed and special “double-jump” ability to get both into and out of tussles. He’s a natural choice for many high-skilled players due to his high skill ceiling and his ability to quickly be where he needs to be.

Combat Characteristics:

  • Health: 125
  • Weapons:
    • Scattergun: 6 shells per clip, fired every 0.625 seconds, and reloaded singly.
      • High damage at close range, mediocre the further away the target.
    • Pistol: 12 shots per clip, 3 spare clips, fired at 6 rounds/ sec.
      • Respectable damage and accuracy at all ranges.
    • Bat: Swung every 0.5 seconds, this deals around 35 damage with every hit.
      • Used primarily as a last resort, though not ineffective.
  • Abilities:
    • High Speed: Fastest class by far, running 26% faster than the next fastest.
    • Double Jump: He can jump once in midair, even if it’s in a different direction!

 

 

 

TEAM OVERWATCH: Tracer

SvT - Portrait 2

Background:

  • Name: Lena Oxton
  • Age: 26
  • Occupation: Adventurer
  • Affiliation: Overwatch (Formerly)
  • Base of Operations: London, England
  • Description: Lena Oxton, going by the moniker “Tracer,” is a former Overwatch agent who utilizes her unique timey-wimey powers to zip around the battlefield. Originally a test pilot for experimental jets in the Overwatch Agency, her life was changed forever when she was selected to test The Slipstream: a state-of-the-art jet utilizing temporal teleportation technology. During her test flight, the drive malfunctioned, and she became afflicted with “chronal disassociation,” a disorder that basically meant that her molecules began experiencing time differently than the rest of the world. However, like any good hero, she was able to turn her disease into a superpower with the aid of some sweet Gorilla Science. Now she harnesses her pseudo-time-traveling abilities to her advantage, using her weapons and abilities to rid the world of bad guys.

Combat Characteristics:

  • Health: 150 (90 Adjusted)
  • Weapons:
    • Pulse Pistols: 5-9 dmg/round (3-5 adj), 40 rounds/clip, 40 rps, 1 sec reload.
    • Pulse Bomb: 520 dmg (312 adj), requires 1000 damage (600 adj) to prep.
    • Melee Strike (Left Punch): ~50 dmg (30 adj), at 1 second intervals.
  • Abilities:
    • Blink: Medium-distance horizontal teleportation. 3 sec cooldown per jump.
    • Recall: Revert health/ammo/position to 3 seconds ago. 12 sec cooldown.

 

 

 

All right, that’s the basics!  Time to get on with the show!

SvT - Let's Do This

SvT - Round 1

MATCH 1 (CLOSE RANGE):

  • SCENARIO: 2fort Intel Room; exits blocked; no escape.
  • In such close quarters, dodging and evading becomes less effective.
  • It becomes a damage race. Who can deal the necessary damage faster?
    • On the one hand, Tracers bullets do 3-5 adjusted damage per second, and can deal up to 120-200 damage in a second if all her shots hit.
    • On the other hand, Scout can do 90-105 damage with a single meatshot, and a chance of doing this every 0.625 seconds.
  • Tracer’s blink is less useful in these conditions. They only travel in straight lines.
  • Her recall wouldn’t be very useful either, as one shot can put her down completely.

CONCLUSION:

This engagement will likely not last long.  In a DM situation, Scout-like fights are decided by aim and a bit of luck.  Assuming similar skill levels, whoever can deal damage faster will be the victor, and between the two, burst damage takes the significant advantage here.  Tracer’s blinks will do little to throw off Scout, and her recall will only delay the inevitable.  Being required to deal 600 damage to use her Ultimate, her Pulse Mine will probably never come into play.

It will be a quick fight, and Tracer will likely be dead before Scout’s clip ran out.

WINNER: The Scout

 

 

 

SvT - Round 2

MATCH 2 (MID RANGE):

  • SCENARIO: 2Fort Bridge
  • More tactics will come into play in this fight, considering the greater range.
  • With maneuvering space, Tracer will get more chances to show off her abilities.
    • Blink can teleport her in a straight line in any desired direction.
    • Recall has much more viability with these great distances.
  • Scout has the pistol for longer ranges.
    • It is able to deal 180 dmg in a bit over 2 seconds at medium range.
  • However, Tracer also can deal 160 damage over the course of a single second.

CONCLUSIONS:

With all the extra room, Tracer will be able to utilize her tricks much more.  And it’s a good thing too, considering that Scout is beefier, faster, and can end the fight in a moment with a well-placed meatshot.  In response to this fact, Tracer will try to keep her distance and focus on a midrange fight, where she has the advantage.  Scout may try to press the attack, but the instantaneous unpredictability of Tracer’s blinks were designed to throw off pursuers like the Scout.  Throw in Tracers recall, capable of shrugging off all recent damage but a killshot, and Tracer has so many options for engaging and disengaging.

In the end, Scout may try to force engagements, but Tracer will be the one that dictates the flow of the battle, and the longer the battle draws out, the more sure Tracers victory becomes, culminating in a possible Ultimate.

Scout wouldn’t even be able to get close enough to show her his bucket of chicken.

WINNER: Tracer

 

 

 

SvT - Round 3

MATCH 3 (LONG RANGE):

  • SCENARIO: 2Fort Battlements
  • Neither combatant prefers extreme ranges for their engagements.
  • However, should the need arise, both have ranged options.
  • Unfortunately for Scout, this engagement will likely end like the last one.

CONCLUSION:

This engagement is bound to end up like the mid-range engagement, though maybe taking a bit longer.  Scout wants to get into close-range to end the fight quickly and efficiently, while Tracer prefers to engage at longer ranges.  Here is where a predicament comes in: do Overwatch weapons experience fall-off?  Assuming they do, the lowest damage we’ve witnessed Tracer’s guns deal is 5 per round (3 adjusted), meaning that Tracer is still capable of delivering 120 damage over the course of a single second.  That’s more than enough to quickly cripple Scout, even at longer ranges.

Of course, in large, dynamic fights, Scout has the option of camping corners and waiting for Tracer to appear, but with her Blink and Recall, she can both easily get the drop on him and easily recover from  any non-critical injuries she may suffer in the process.  Longer fights inevitably become battles of attrition, and even though she may be more fragile, at higher levels she has more sustained damage and evasion.

Scout would be given the most permanent kind of restraining order.

WINNER: Tracer

 

 

 

SvT - Results

WINNER: TRACER

Tracer has an ability to match every move Scout can make, as well as some defensive fallback abilities just in case the scout gets an advantage.  Scouts ability to instantly end the fight with a meatshot is his primary advantage against her, but at higher levels of play and in a 1v1 setting, Tracer will never allow Scout to get that chance, and can easily disengage much easier than the Scout can thanks to her Blink.  On top of that, Tracer has the Recall, which functions almost like a Dead Ringer in the fact that it’s basically a get-out-of-jail-free card for Tracer, negating all the work the Scout did with a push of a button.

All in all, both characters are spastic and hard to track, but in a 1v1 DM situation Tracer will have far more evasive options, if given the chance to use them.  Things would certainly be different if the pair had their teams with them, as their focus would be less on single-minded death matches and more on focusing on objectives.  Scout might even fair better than Tracer in a team-based setting, considering that the second Scout can get close, it could all be over with a well-placed meatshot.  This thought-experiment was about 1v1’s, however, and if Tracers attention is focused solely on the Scout, she can easily outmaneuver him.

The better both players are, the less likely the 1-hit-KO meatshot/pulsebomb will come into play, and Tracer will always be able to deal reliable damage at all ranges with what equates to twin pre-speed-restricted scripted scout pistols.  With those, she is basically a hybrid of a Heavy and a Scout: slightly slower movement speed (offset by her blinks and recall) and a nearly broken fire rate (augmented by having unlimited ammo).

Considering her weapons and abilities, her strength/weakness relationship with the Scout will be similar to the Demomans: the Scout can dominate the fight if he gets up close, but has to get past her kill-zone first.  The difference between the Scout v Demo matchup and this is, where a Demo has very few ways to reliably disengage from the Scout with all his parts intact, Tracer can easily create space between them with the simple push of a button.

Main Advantages:

  • Scout
    • Weapon – Scattergun Meatshots
    • Survivability – Higher Health
    • Maneuverability – Speed and Jumps
  • Tracer
    • Weapon – Reliable Ranged Damage
    • Unpredictability – Blink
    • Fallback Ability – Recall

This was an extremely close fight, but Tracer’s tricks and gimmicks gave her the edge against the Scout.

 

 

 

SvT - Scoreboard

Looks like the Scouts time was up.

 

 

 

SvT - Credits

Hi again, everyone.  I’m Answers, or Scotsman, or Omegadom, or whatever you want to call me.  Other things I’m sure I’m going to be called are “biased,” “close-minded,” “brainwashed,” and “sheeple,” but I assure you I tried to stay objective for this article.  TF2 is my absolute favorite game of all time and an irreplaceable part of my gaming life, and it is because of that that I enjoy these mental exercises.  Scout just couldn’t cut it this time, though other TF2 characters my have a better time against their counterparts.  😉

Speaking of which, do you feel like there was something I didn’t consider?  Or do you have any suggestions for the next TF2vOW?  Feel free to contact me by adding me on steam, or sending me a PM on SPUF (must have a SPUF account)!  I love discussing nerdiness and playing TF2, so if you’re down for either of those things, hit me up!

Editor’s note: Although Tracer would likely win the battle, it’s highly likely that she’d find herself lying in dead a ditch with her throat torn out due to that fucking dreadful ‘accent’.

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