Pyromania!

Valve is currently in Day 2 of their Pyromania! update, which they hinted heavily at and alluded to in several ways over the past week. Hell, I even picked up a new term, ARG.http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/ARG

For myself I've been looking forward to this update for some time, as it will finally release the final Meet the Team video, Meet the Pyro. Speculation has always been afoot for who or what the Pyro really is, with probably the most popular supposition being that the pyro is really female.

Hudda hudda hudda!

Whole new definition to "hot girl"

I've been waiting for this for some time because since I started playing TF2 (admittedly it was after it went F2P, sue me) they pyro has quickly become my "main" character class to play. And it wasn't the whole "burning" thing that appealed to me but the actually complex and interesting gameplay combinations afforded to the class.

This despite the subtle and well-thought out criticisms of "W+M1 class!" or "EZ mode newb class." "W+M1 (meaning the player holds down the "W" key for forward movement and M1 meaning they hold down the mouse 1 button to fire the flamethrower) is often used to refer to pyros due to the class having to close the distance to light someone up with their flamethrower, and despite their "afterburn" effect it's not a fire and forget weapon, you have to hold on the player to do some serious damage. Some players take this to be the extent of the pyro's abilities in the hands of even above average players and take offense to being killed with the flamethrower. Fuck em, they havne't a clue what they're talking about.

Pyros are the hard counter to spies, so "spychecking" is often the role expected of them. This means spraying anyone acting suspicious (like a "friendly" running toward the rear) or just sweeping areas around controlled areas such as around a sentry gun or control point. Pyros are even helped in this role by the Homewrecker, a melee weapon that allows the pyro to destroy sappers placed on engie building by enemy spies.

SPYCHECK!

But probably the coolest thing a pyro can do is use M2 on their flamethrower to throw out a blast of air. This airblast can deflect projectiles, including rockets, grenades, flares, balls, and even jarate or milk, can push back enemies, and can put out the flames on a teammate. This makes the pyro an asset in nearly any situation.

Got an uber coming in? Pyro juggle! Or, even better, airblast the medic away from his patient far enough to break the bond, the medic will still be ubered and invuln, but he'll have no teeth and his patient will be helpless against your teammates. Another option, knock the medic away and down, still breaks uber and the patient has a choice to follow or push on alone.

Rocket spamming soldier? Make him eat his own rocket with a well-timed airblast reflect. Same for demo 'nade spam.

Actually this video should sum up the pyro's capabilities nicely:

 

But in any case, it's now my favorite and "main" class that I play, followed by sniper and engineer. So I've been waiting patiently all year to see this freaking clip that probably won't be 4 minutes long! But the thing that troubles me is all the speculation. I don't want the pyro's identity to be revealed, and I'm hoping that the MtP video doens't go that far. 

But in the end, I don't really care if the pyro is a girl, a monkey(naut), a robot, or Abe Lincoln (seriously SPUF, wtf are you smoking anyway?), the MtP video is going to be awesome.