Pyro

The Pyro is a class who wields a Flamethrower as its primary weapon. Along with the ability to inflict burn damage and a relatively high damage output, the Pyro also has the airblast mechanic, which can neutralize an enemy's über with ease, reflect projectiles like rockets and arrows, and extinguish burning team mates.

6v6

Main article: Pyro (6v6)

In 6v6, the Pyro is considered an offclass. Most commonly run when the defending team has über disadvantage while defending last, the Pyro's job is to neutralize the enemy team's über and projectile spam from the Soldier and Demo through the use of the airblast mechanic. This situational use of the class allows the defending team to counter the enemy team when in disadvantage, against über it allows the team to gain precious time, often enough for the team to get über in time to defend last even counter-push if the Pyro manages to hold the whole über back. It has been tried and experimented through the years as a full time competitive class and while it is encouraged in some competitive gamemodes it doesn't work in 6v6 because of the lack of mobility and low damage output of this class.

Highlander

Main article: Pyro (Highlander)

In Highlander, the Pyro is considered a support class. The Pyro's main job in Highlander is to protect the Medic. It also has the job of displacing and neutralizing enemy übers, spychecking to neutralize the enemy Spy, protecting its team's sentry gun by deflecting projectiles and providing flank support when required. The Pyro most commonly positions himself around the combo, so as to allow them to deal a lot of damage to the enemy team's damage dealing classes like Heavy or Demoman, without having to focus on classes like Spies or Scouts. This allows for the rest of your team to co-ordinate a push. Alternatively, if a Pyro's team is aware enough of the enemy Spy, then the Pyro could take the role of a roaming Pyro. This involves the Pyro flanking the enemy team and trying to deal a lot of damage, possibly to get a pick on the Medic, which could then allow their team to push in.

Weapons

Asterisks (*) indicate an outdated season/whitelist

Primary

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Flame Thrower				Always	Always	align="center" height="5px"	Always	align="center" height="5px"	Always
							The Flamethrower provides better upfront damage than the Degreaser as well as possessing a relatively cheap airblast in comparison to the Backburner and, although by no means a bad weapon, lacks either the ambushing potential from the Backburner as well as the weapon switching bonus of the Degreaser, which can often be invaluable. Since either of the allowed alternatives have an offensive focus (through different means) that means the stock Flamethrower will generally be used with a more passive play-style in mind, and often without tangible upsides in relation to the alternatives.
			Backburner				Allowed	Allowed	align="center" height="5px"	Allowed	align="center" height="5px"	Allowed
							The Backburner is a weapon made with ambushing and flanking in mind and is rarely used in 6's. Since the Pyro generally has responsibilities to either the Medic or the Engineer in Highlander, it requires a significant change to the team's overall strategy to be used effectively and is therefore rarely used in that format as well. The Backburner's unique ability allows it to critically hit an enemy from behind (approximately 90 degrees) allowing the Pyro to quickly kill an unaware opponent. This comes at the price of diminished support capabilities since the Pyro will only be able to use four airblasts with full ammunition and this greatly hinders the most powerful support tools in the Pyro's arsenal.
			Degreaser				Allowed	Allowed	align="center" height="5px"	Allowed	align="center" height="5px"	Allowed
							The Degreaser is the most widely used flame thrower in competitive. The weapon provides the Pyro with faster weapon switching which makes using weapon combos (such as the Flare Gun or the Axtinguisher ) far easier and allows the Pyro to handle combat situations that would otherwise be quite difficult to handle. The Degreaser's downsides come from the weapon's reduced damage upfront and weakened afterburn in relation to the stock flamethrower. This rarely affects the Pyro, still, given that the class' objectives in most competitive scenarios are to either stall the enemy or support his own team rather than actively getting kills.
			Phlogistinator				Allowed	Allowed	align="center" height="5px"	Allowed	align="center" height="5px"	Banned
							The Phlogistinator is a unique Pyro weapon that exchanges the Pyro's ability to airblast with the ability to get crits on will. The lack of a compression blast severely hinders the Pyro's support functions, but its sheer killing power from its crits have led it to be banned in most leagues.

See Also

• Pyro (6v6)
• Pyro (Highlander)