
Because of that, the Spy's possible presence shapes a lot of the meta-game, and people will be wary of Spies, checking corner and whether or not if anyone is a disguised Spy. With that set of tools, the Spy can lurk in the enemy's side of the map, navigating through their defense and assassinate lone enemies or key targets like that one distracted Medic with his Ubercharge ready. His defining feature though is his ability to Back Stab people with his Knife, resulting in an instant kill in most circumstances. The Spy is a stealth-based class who uses espionage and trickery to infiltrate the enemy lines, as his wristwatch can render him invisible, and his cigarette case allows him to disguise as any class. With 125HP, 107% base speed, and his only proper firearm being a large-caliber revolver, one shouldn't seek open confrontation when playing as him. The Spy, like other Support characters, is ill-suited for direct combat. Only a Medic carrying the Solemn Vow shares this ability.This is the Spy's official TF2 Wiki page. Whereas most players can only see the names and health of their teammates, the Spy can observe the names and health of the enemy team as well, allowing him to relay useful intelligence. They also have the Homewrecker, and Neon Annihilator to help engineers fight spies, removing sappers in one or two hits, respectively. The Pyro can easily Spy check for disguised or cloaked spies with his flamethrower, and the afterburn will make them easy to track. With his fast movement speed, the Scout is very difficult to backstab, and he can use Mad Milk to reveal cloaked spies and the Holy Mackerel or Unarmed Combat to reveal if a Spy used their Dead Ringer to feign death (as they will show only a hit in the kill feed instead of a kill) . The strongest counters to a Spy are the Scout and Pyro. However, the sniper can still be killed in three shots or less with the Spy's revolvers, making it almost useless against smarter spies. Snipers can use the Razorback to defend themselves from a single backstab and briefly preventing any Spy foolish enough to attempt it from attacking or switching weapons. Snipers are obvious Spy targets due to their reduced movement speed and tunnel vision when scoped in with their Sniper Rifles. Medics are a valuable target since their healing and uber make their entire team stronger, and are also usually behind their teammates leaving them vulnerable to backstabs. The Heavy is the slowest class, to begin with, and is even slower when he has one of his mini-guns revved up – this slower-moving speed, along with the distraction of combat and a high health pool, makes for an easy and valuable backstab.


Three other common Spy targets are the Heavy, Medic, and Sniper. He can also make use of enemy teleporters to surprise (and maybe even telefrag) his foes. Using his sappers, he can disable the Engineer's buildings – slowly draining their health until they are destroyed unless removed by either an Engineer or a Pyro wielding the Homewrecker, Maul, or Neon Annihilator. His disguises prevent Sentry Guns from targeting him and allow him to heal and recharge cloak from enemy dispensers. In addition to being able to assassinate key enemies quickly and efficiently, the Spy has advantages over the Engineer.
