What Defines a "Pro" Player?

[Bronze Fox]

I noticed that once I branched out into classes I considered the most difficult, I started to improve quite a bit as a player. I even found that understanding how to play alternative classes really helped me play my initial favorites even better.

This held very true for me as a Scout. Soldiers and Demos are some of the toughest match-ups you can have as a Scout.
Playing those two classes I got an "in-depth look" at their weaknesses, and so when I went back to Scout I try to "exploit" said weaknesses.

For instance, when fighting a Soldier you always want to be above him because then his rocket will either have to directly hit you
or hit the wall behind and cause splash damage.

Demo is pretty tricky, but generally it's getting close to him, and then if he switches out his grenade launcher you want to try to out predict him.
If he doesn't switch to his grenade launcher he's dead. Too much distance and time will have been covered by the time he can shoot and arm his
next sticky.

[Fano]

I noticed that once I branched out into classes I considered the most difficult, I started to improve quite a bit as a player. I even found that understanding how to play alternative classes really helped me play my initial favorites even better.

This held very true for me as a Scout. Soldiers and Demos are some of the toughest match-ups you can have as a Scout.
Playing those two classes I got an "in-depth look" at their weaknesses, and so when I went back to Scout I try to "exploit" said weaknesses.

For instance, when fighting a Soldier you always want to be above him because then his rocket will either have to directly hit you
or hit the wall behind and cause splash damage.

Demo is pretty tricky, but generally it's getting close to him, and then if he switches out his grenade launcher you want to try to out predict him.
If he doesn't switch to his grenade launcher he's dead. Too much distance and time will have been covered by the time he can shoot and arm his
next sticky.

Demos are generally considered easy pickings for scouts, since they lack a reliable way to fight 1v1 and it takes 2 pipes to kill you assuming you have full health.

[ADevilishPotato]

Since I started playing not too long ago, I found that I was dying what felt like every 5 seconds, which frustrated me. But (trying to avoid common themes) I found playing the game of trying to survive the longest helped immensely. I personally like the medic and demo class, so once I started to hang back and either heal passerbys or just lob stuff, I could sit there and start to get a better feel of the match while still being a tad helpful. That led to being better able to advance, feel death closing around me, and bravely turn my tail and flee to fight another day. And as far as communicating, I love to talk way too much, but I also don't really know what to say. So I am still staying quite and listening to what others are talking about. But just listening to everyone helps me understand things that I can't always see, and have saved my life more than once.
Just my 2 cents

[Bakuryu]

Basically, study maps, learn positions, and where to aim. Where you aim a scattergun is different from a nade launcher and a nailgun. Every weapon has a distinct spread, hitbox, and/or arc. It lets people who play demo kill scouts easily, snipers headshot you in the air, and pyros reflect things in your face before you even see them.

As for going "pro" - it ain't worth the time unless you are decidedly amazing at games. Part of the challenge of TF2 is that it's hard for a player to consistently level a team all the time. People can in some stages or instances, but it's hardly consistent (play counterstrike or BF2/3 and you'll see what I'm talking about). It's a game with remarkable parity and the freedom to derp a lot (those 3 spy, 3 sniper, medic, engy, pyro offenses really get rolling!). It makes the game challenging and interesting, and the sheer variety of weapon combinations makes it fantastic.

Best advice I can give: aim a little higher than you normally do, always top off your pyros as a medic, and never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

[Plinko]

If you want to develop your scout skills, play TV3.

KoTH with stock spawns really let scouts do their thing without having to fight through chokepoint spam. Now, you'll need to re-learn the adjustments to go back to the other servers, but it's an excellent training ground.

[Larry]

Somedude is pro at airblasting, Plas is pro at demojumping, etc...

I'm pro at getting killed by snipers.

I'm pro at distracting sentries on 2Fort..... with my body. (37 deaths in a row due to sentries, your welcome blue engies....)

[Bronze Fox]

Demos are generally considered easy pickings for scouts, since they lack a reliable way to fight 1v1 and it takes 2 pipes to kill you assuming you have full health.

Maybe I'm mixing up my Warpath Scout experience and my normal Scout experience.

But if a Demo spots you from far away then there's a good chance he'll be able to keep you at bay.

[THE Flying chihuahua]

Demos are generally considered easy pickings for scouts, since they lack a reliable way to fight 1v1 and it takes 2 pipes to kill you assuming you have full health.

Maybe I'm mixing up my Warpath Scout experience and my normal Scout experience.

But if a Demo spots you from far away then there's a good chance he'll be able to keep you at bay.

Which is why you jump around like a crazed gremlin.

[Bronze Fox]

Demos are generally considered easy pickings for scouts, since they lack a reliable way to fight 1v1 and it takes 2 pipes to kill you assuming you have full health.

Maybe I'm mixing up my Warpath Scout experience and my normal Scout experience.

But if a Demo spots you from far away then there's a good chance he'll be able to keep you at bay.

Which is why you jump around like a crazed gremlin.

Nah, I surprise the Demo with a triple jump.

[THE Flying chihuahua]

Maybe I'm mixing up my Warpath Scout experience and my normal Scout experience.

But if a Demo spots you from far away then there's a good chance he'll be able to keep you at bay.

Which is why you jump around like a crazed gremlin.

Nah, I surprise the Demo with a triple jump.

My Point still stands.

[Larry]

Shoot him with your pistol and hope for crits, problem solved.

[Fano]

Demos are generally considered easy pickings for scouts, since they lack a reliable way to fight 1v1 and it takes 2 pipes to kill you assuming you have full health.

Maybe I'm mixing up my Warpath Scout experience and my normal Scout experience.

But if a Demo spots you from far away then there's a good chance he'll be able to keep you at bay.

I can't imagine playing scout on warpath is all that enjoyable since flanking is quite literally impossible.

closing in on a demo as scout is a bit difficult if the demo sees you, but scouts aren't supposed to be seen until they're up close, this is pretty hard to do on warpath.

Shoot him with your pistol and hope for crits, problem solved.

Relying on random crits is always a bad thing.

[THE Flying chihuahua]

Demos are generally considered easy pickings for scouts, since they lack a reliable way to fight 1v1 and it takes 2 pipes to kill you assuming you have full health.

Maybe I'm mixing up my Warpath Scout experience and my normal Scout experience.

But if a Demo spots you from far away then there's a good chance he'll be able to keep you at bay.

I can't imagine playing scout on warpath is all that enjoyable since flanking is quite literally impossible.

Hard, but not impossible, you have to wait in a secluded corner and then jump right over their stupid heads and hope for a meatshot.

Or you could use the Sandman and rely on that.

[Plinko]

Scout on full Warpath2 is a different class than elsewhere. Bonk! is kind of a requirement, Sandman nearly so. You have to be willing to die, a lot, in the hopes that when you do get through you create sufficient havoc and distraction that it was all worth it.

[l33tOMGlolz!11!shift]

situational awareness separates the men from the boys imo

That's the most important thing IMO. So often I see people not paying attention as to what's going on around them. Particularly snipers (I'm guilty of this at times as well).