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[[File:SpyIcon.png|200px|right||link=http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Spy]]
 
[[File:SpyIcon.png|200px|right||link=http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Spy]]
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Regardless of game mode, Spy's job remains the same. His primary goals are to:
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Regardless of game mode, the Spy's job remains roughly the same. His primary goals are to assassinate high priority targets on the Enemy team, such as the [[Medic]], [[Heavy]], [[Sniper]] or [[Engineer]]. As well as this, the Spy is tasked with sapping the Engineer's building, thus allowing his team to push forward.  
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* Assassinate high priority targets that other pick classes ([[Sniper]], [[Scout]], and [[Soldier]]) cannot reach.
 
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* Relay enemy positions, pushes and Ubercharge to his team. The location of the Sniper and the Medic's Ubercharge meter are especially important.
 
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* Sap the enemy Engineer's buildings to allow his team to push forward.
 
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Due to Spy's low health, average speed, and poor damage output, he will usually be shut down when he attempts to gain picks. Enemies are typically on the lookout for him, and when he becomes visible, he will often be called out and killed. Thus, he often must attempt suicide plays, trading his own life for that of a more-important target - escaping with his life is secondary. Oftentimes, Spy will finish a match with more deaths than kills, but if he lands kills at the right time, his team can push forward, gain momentum, and win the game.
 
  
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Due to the Spy's low health, and combined with his relative immobility, the Spy will usually have a low amount of kills, and will often times finish a match with a negative K/D. This is because, when backstabbing, he becomes visible to everyone, and the player who was just backstabbed will call out his position. Unless he can successfully cloak and escape, his death is almost certain at that point. In addition to this, the enemy Pyro will usually ignite the Spy, this revealing him to the rest of the team, making a stealthy escape impossible.
  
 
== Gameplay ==
 
== Gameplay ==
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As the Spy is not seen as a major role of a team, he can often be used to 'run interference' with the enemy team by purposefully revealing himself in a poor situation, turning the focus of the enemy team to him to either allow his team to push forward uncontested, or draw a high priority target like a Heavy or a Medic out of position, leaving them open to focus fire. Because of his low priority status of the team, he can often spend vast amounts of time out of combat, relaying valuable information to his team, such as telling his Medic or Heavy where the Enemy Sniper is, allowing for a tactical advantage for his team.
  
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While not terribly effective for deceiving the enemy team, Spy's disguises are a valuable source of information; he can examine enemy players' loadouts - especially the enemy's Medi-Gun - by disguising as them, allowing his teammates to adjust their positioning and loadouts accordingly.
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In regards to information gathering, the Spy has the ability to see what weapons the enemy team have equipped by disguising as an enemy class and switching weapons. This is most commonly used to find out which Medi-gun the enemy Medic is using, and allows his team to adjust their positioning and loadouts accordingly.
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Unlike Sniper, Spy's ability to gain picks is very limited. The better the enemy team communicates, the weaker he becomes. At high levels of play, his effectiveness at assassination diminishes, which makes him expendable. This allows him to fulfill a variety of unconventional roles. Aside from his primary goals, he can distract the enemy team by revealing himself, intimidate them with friendly disguises, or lure important classes out of position. Spy may also initiate captures by decloaking on the objective, and may be able to win games on [[5CP]] maps with this technique of "back-capping."
 
  
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Even if he cannot secure a kill, Spy's ability to instantly kill any class from behind makes him a valuable distraction. Revealing himself at a distance can distract the enemy Sniper, who may shoot him while his team's combo crosses the sightline. Decloaking behind the enemy combo will often cause them to whirl around in a panic, creating an opening for Spy's team to push in. Even the constant looming threat of a Spy backstabbing them as soon as they lose focus can cause paranoia in players, causing them to make mistakes that Spy's team can capitalize on.
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Another trait of a Spy is his ability to cause confusion and panic within the enemy team, causing them to become more focused on finding or avoiding the Spy, and allowing the rest of the Spy's team to push onto them unaware. A common tactic is revealing himself in the distance for brief periods of time, ensuring that the enemy Sniper can see him. When the Sniper shoots at the Spy, it can allow the Combo to cross dangerous open ground with safety. Back stabbing a Heavy, then using The Dead Ringer to cloak and escape will cause the enemy Medic and the rest of the combo to switch focus from pushing or defending to discovering the Spy and taking him out. The constant looming threat of a Spy backstabbing them at any point can cause panic in players, making them move out of position and into danger, or make other mistakes that the other team can capitalize on.
  
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On maps with tighter choke points or against vigilant teams, Spy may have difficulty slipping behind enemy lines. In this case, he will often equip the Dead Ringer and join the flank, chipping away at the enemy's health with his Revolver. While this playstyle does give up the ability to land key picks, it may be better to deal moderate damage consistently than to die repeatedly in an attempt to kill a high-priority target.
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One of the more advantageous elements of the Spy is the ability to disguise as an enemy Medic. This allows the Spy to see what the Medic's load-out is. This allows the Spy to call out what Medi-gun the enemy is running; be it the Kritzkrieg or the Stock Medi-gun. Also during lulls in the objective the Spy may also help push the cart or help capture the Control Point. Also one of the best  ways a Spy maybe utilized is to uncloak as the friendly team is pushing into the final point on [[5CP]]s maps as it will put some cap time on the point. In situations where the comms (of the enemy team) are very cluttered, the Spy is able to get valuable picks and make plays that wouldn't be available under different conditions.
  
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While the Spy stands out in communication and tactical advantage potential, he is often utilized in helping out the flank with consistent damage output achieved by a more heavily usage of his primaries. Especially in higher divisions the gun playstyle is a pretty common one, since it is usually seen as a more reliable option than backstabbing. Also the sheer value of staying alive is considered as an important aspect by many players. Good decision making and an effective mix of consistency and picking potential are seen as one of the most valuable traits of a good Spy throughout the competitive scene.
  
 
== Playstyles ==
 
== Playstyles ==
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At the current state of [[Highlander]] there are mainly two different playstyles which dominate the meta. Both styles are used between all divisions, with no clear playstyle being the best for each and every map or situation. The two different forms of playing Spy are called '''Gunspy''' and '''Knifespy'''. An example of a well-known Gunspy is [[toast]] who is playing for [[Strong Opinions]]. toast recently earned the Spy of the Season award as well as the Best Player of the Season in [[ETF2L Highlander Season 10]]. A spy who has been playing in the top divisions of [[ETF2L]] for a long period of time is [[Grenjabob]], who is famous for his use of the Knifespy gameplay.
  
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At the current state of [[Highlander]] there are mainly two different Spy playstyles which dominate the meta. Both styles are used between all divisions, and neither is clearly superior to the other - though one may be more effective in certain situations. The two different methods of playing Spy are called '''Gun-Spy''' and '''Knife-Spy'''. Note that Spy's Revolver and Knife are by no means exclusive to the Gun-Spy and Knife-Spy playstyles; the terms simply describe which weapon Spy emphasizes in his loadout.
 
  
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The Gun-Spy playstyle typically utilizes the [[Revolver]] or the [[Ambassador]], depending on the situation. The [[Dead Ringer]] is sometimes equipped to improve Spy's survivability. While the Revolver deals more damage-per-second, the Ambassador deals greater burst-damage, allowing Spy to kill weakened targets before they can retreat. When using the Gun-Spy playstyle, Spy puts himself at significantly less risk than he would when focusing on his Knife, allowing him to remain alive longer, and provide more information to his team. Simply staying alive to relay enemy positions, tactics, and Ubercharge can be of great value, especially on maps where sudden tactical changes can make a huge difference on the outcome of a match, such as [[Steel]]. Remember that Spy can still use his Knife as a last resort to attempt a Trickstab on an overconfident attacker.  
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Defining the Gunspy role can be subjective depending on previous experience and usage of the Spy class. Different primary weapons can be used, based on what objective the Spy is trying to accomplish. Both the [[Revolver]] and the [[Ambassador]] are commonly used as primary weapons by players playing Gunspy. The [[Ambassador]] is frequently paired up together with the [[Dead Ringer]], giving the Spy the ability to put out damage in the form of headshots behind enemy lines. The use of both weapons is a part of toast's signature loadout. An example of a common spot where the Gunspy can utilize his or hers loadout is on [[Badwater]] roof. If a Gunspy is on the defending team, and the attacking team is moving towards the third point, a Gunspy can sneak behind the enemies to get a safe spot on the roof to shoot from with the Ambassador. Some players value a Gunspy higher than a Knifespy, one reason being the amount of times a Knifespy dies in comparison to a Gunspy. Simply staying alive to provide intelligence on the enemy team can be of great value, especially on maps where sudden tactical changes can make a huge difference on the outcome of a match, one example being [[Steel]].  
  
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The classic Spy playstyle is known as the Knife-Spy playstyle. Spy will go for picks with his knife, eliminating key targets instantly. In general, the only two knives Spy will use are the stock [[Knife]] and the [[Spy-cicle]], as other knives make it more difficult to land a backstab by reducing Spy's health or cloak time. All of his watches are useful depending on the situation: The [[Invis Watch]] allows Spy to roam large distances on maps with plentiful ammo pickups, the [[Cloak and Dagger]] allows Spy to gather information at little risk to himself, and choose the exact moment he decloaks, and the [[Dead Ringer]] gives Spy a nearly-guaranteed escape. If caught before he can land a kill, Spy will often switch to his revolver to cause as much damage as possible before dying.
 
  
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Sometimes, Spy must switch playstyles to maximize his effectiveness as the game-state changes. Consider learning both playstyles to use depending on the situation; neither is superior in every situation.  
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The classic way of someone playing as Spy is today often labeled as a Knifespy. Different melee weapons may be used, two examples being the [[Spy-cicle]] and the standard [[Knife]]. All the invisibility watches are used in various ways, depending on map and situation. The [[Cloak and Dagger]] is often used as a way for the Spy to gather data on the enemy team. Where the combo is located as well as the enemy Engineer's sentry gun can be communicated to the rest of the team while the Spy is cloaked in invisibility. Using the [[Cloak and Dagger]] to gather data is by all means not restricted to a Knifespy, but one major difference between the two playstyles is the focus on using a melee weapon in close combat, instead of long-range attacks using the Ambassador. Altough knife spies primarily use a melee weapon, examples such as Grenjabob and [[Domaytoe]] have found great success using the Revolver on classes separated from the enemy combo. Killing a Sniper using the [[Razorback]] with a melee weapon is near impossible, making the use of either the Revolver, L'Etranger or Ambassador great options, depending on personal preference.
  
 
== See Also ==
 
== See Also ==

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