analysis

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How to think like a spy: The Art of War from behind the cloak and dagger

Kaiga 1 Comment , , ,

Note: This applies less to playing the spy in small-sided competitive games, as there are different mechanics in play all together, this is a piece on the spy in regular format TF2 play. Battle is not a concrete, straightforward thing. Many people believe that winning games is all about numbers; kills, deaths. Victory is not merely a body count. In TF2 you can fight battles all day long, and slay hundreds of enemy combatants, and unless that’s your explicit goal (such as in arena mode), they will always return to fight that same battle over the same point or the… [Continue Reading]

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Is Scout really a “Generalist” class?

aabicus 0 Comments , , , , ,

The Team Fortress classes are often listed as “Generalists” or “Specialists”. Generalists, as their name would suggest, are useful in almost any situation, are infinitely adaptable, and are cornerstones of team play. Scout is frequently listed as a generalist, along with Soldier, Medic and Demoman. But after thinking about it, I’m not so sure that’s accurate. Again, a “Generalist” is supposed to be useful in most situations. That includes offense, defense, different game modes, etc. No matter what’s happening on the field, there is usually a role for a generalist class to play. Then why can I think of several… [Continue Reading]

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Arena mode: why it failed

u-moon xytwo 0 Comments , , ,

Arena. We all know it’s a dead mode. Sure, there have been other modes that Valve dropped, like Special Delivery or Territory Control. But Arena was the only one with a considerable push behind it, starting with not just one map, but five: Lumberyard, Badlands, Ravine, Granary, and Well. It even received four more maps after its initial push. But despite this key difference, the mode still died. Why? Well, in short, it’s not very good. Why? There are a few reasons.

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The best pyro loadout in the game

aabicus 0 Comments , , , ,

Ah, pyro. Pyro pyro pyro. How SPUF can’t seem to make up its mind about you. On one hand, even pyro mains think he needs a buff. His weapons are all incredibly close-range save the flare guns, his primary only seems good at inconveniencing the enemy, to the extent that the Degreaser is far more popular because it allows combos with afterburn (often touted as the only thing afterburn is good for.) If it’s not that, its the ability to remove sappers from friendly buildings, or the ability to gain full health+crits with Phlog, or the ability to…basically do anything.… [Continue Reading]

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“Taunt Kills!” + Why the new Chemistry Sets are good for the economy

aabicus 0 Comments , , , ,

Literally the day I write a blog post mentioning a desire for a “taunt kills” strange part, Valve releases one! And that’s not all; some very interesting changes have been made to the trading metagame. You can now use “Chemistry Sets” to make strange cosmetics items which track points scored. On one hand, I question the use of such things when nobody will see a cosmetic in a deathcam, plus points are largely irrelevant, but on the other hand Strange Genuine Archimedes. This is actually very, very good for the economy, and here’s why: Step 1: A player obtains a… [Continue Reading]

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(Blog posts about Strange Parts: 1)

aabicus 1 Comment , , , , ,

So I was leafing through my inventory, trying to figure out how to make loadouts using some stuff I never wear. It was when I tried to make a stat-obsessed LARPer parody using the Merasmus hat that I tried to fit as many counters onto one loadout as possible. Did you realize TF2 now has items that track stuff in every single loadout slot? Using the above loadout (along with three strange weapons, with 3 strange parts each, and a strange PDA tool), you now can track: · The number of kills on your primary weapon ···Three other random stats… [Continue Reading]

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Why the Short Circuit should be allowed in Medieval Mode

aabicus 2 Comments , , , , , ,

Remember when I covered Medieval Mode? It’s a great mode. Really fun for eight out of 9 TF2 classes. I’m reasonably certain you can guess which class gets shafted (and not just by arrows). Yes, poor Engineer has had everything he’s ever built stolen from him, and left to fend for himself with a plethora of melee weapons designed to augment nonexistent sentry guns. He basically shouldn’t exist as a choice, and for the most part if you play Medieval Mode, you’ll find that his representation on cp_degrootkeep is sorely lacking. (If there are engies, that’s usually a sign your… [Continue Reading]

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A Tale of Two Saws

aabicus 0 Comments , , , , , ,

We here at spufblog pride ourselves on keeping our daily articles relevant and balanced between all nine of Team Fortress 2‘s classes, and I’d say that this week’s articles are shining examples of that. Let’s see…we had article about the Sticky Jumper….followed by an announcement about “Demoman vs. Demoknights,” followed by an analysis about Demomen vs. Demoknights…followed by a break-down of the Demoknight’s Half-Zatoichi… Okay, at this point you’re probably pretty positive I’ve never played anything but demoman. But that isn’t true, actually he’s not even my main. I consider myself a Medic. Problem is, I haven’t played him recently… [Continue Reading]

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