The Art of Taunt Killing

I love taunt kills. So weird and wonderful, and yet, almost completely useless. But performing a successful execution is beautiful. It’s the embodiment of satisfaction, tension and humiliation wrapped up in a bow, and all you have to do is deliver the present to the person of your choice. It’s one of many ways TF2 sets itself apart from the tedious, generic shooter. I like the applications for it as well. Going for the oblivious Sniper who doesn’t have situational awareness, praying for a cheeky kill at the end of a lost round, hoping for the lucky kill if you’re… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Practical Advantages You Can Gain With Taunts

Taunts are a silly yet fun addition to TF2 that have have grown more and more pernicious as time goes on. Nowadays they’re hard to avoid with very attention-drawing musical jingles, unusual effects, and contagious dances. But like everything other seemingly-pointless just-for-fun game mechanic, I’m here to nitpick the hell out of the entire concept, wringing out every possible competitive advantage. 1. Generic all-purpose third person. The first and most obvious, taunts give you an ability to look around corners and get a more broad screenshot of the map around you, with the only downside being the few seconds of… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Which Way Does the Wind Blow on Your Favorite Map?

Cause there is wind. You may not have known that, but now you can see for yourself. That there is the Buy a Life taunt, added during the Love & War Update. Spy, being the cocky dick he is, pulls out a wad of cash and flings it derisively while taunting his poor & Irish foes. It was the subject of the highest-rated screenshot I ever posted to Steam. But what’s important is that the money always blows in the same direction! No matter what direction you’re facing, no matter how many times you crank the map up. It’s not randomized in… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Taunt Situations

The G key. What a mysterious creature, the G key. What does it want from us? What does it even do? Be careful, dear readers… Be careful. Taunting was a feature that existed in the very first release of Team Fortress 2, and has since grown into somewhat of a staple of SPUF’s favorite game. The Sniper’s Wave, KABOOOOM!, The Medic’s Oktoberfest. Some of these taunts form the very backbone of characters, too, like the Spy’s many revolver taunts where he takes the time, in the heat of battle, to adjust his tie and brush off his coat. The Medic… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Sniper Taunts vs. Spy Taunts?

Here’s an observation I’ve made just recently. Based on what I’ve heard from other people and what I’ve noticed myself, taunting as sniper is such a common occurrence that it’s become cliche. On the other hand, taunting as spy puts the player at such an inconvenience that it’s rarely considered. A number of factors make it appear that this is actually completely intentional in gameplay. For whatever reason, sniper very much encourages taunting while spy highly discourages it.

Read more