Best TF2 Counters for Every Character

It’s natural that when we join a match of Team Fortress 2, we would like to play our favorite characters, with which we’re best skilled. It’s one of the most fun things in the world for me when I get to play a class with which I’m familiar and comfortable because, let’s be honest, those picks will lead to an overall better score and a better mood for the game.

Even though we all love playing focusing on our favorite characters, sometimes we will need to step in and make a pick that will stop the enemy team’s push. Usually, there’s one enemy player who is very experienced with their pick and requires you to counter him if you want to have any chance of winning. So, if you want to quickly find out all the weaknesses of TF2 characters you just need to keep reading our guide!

Related: Best Summer 2023 Cosmetics in TF2

Counters for Every Class in TF2

Before we start with the list you should know that a lot of countering in TF2 comes down to skill. There are some classes that have natural advantages over others but that doesn’t guarantee a successful kill or domination against them. Your skill and strategizing is the most important aspect when countering other players. These counters for each of the 9 classes in TF2 just have a small advantage that will tip the balances to your favor. Onto the list!

Counters for Scout

Scout is a quick-moving class with a small amount of HP and a fascinating double jump that allows him to change directions mid-air and cause a lot of trouble for everyone looking to kill him. However, his small HP pool leaves him vulnerable and there are some classes that can hurt him quite a bit.

The best counters for Scout would be Heavy equipped with Natasha and Soldier. Heavy’s Natasha minigun is slowing down enemies it hits so it’s ideal for taking down Scouts. Moreover, Soldier can’t really contest Scout much on the open field, but in close quarters he has a major advantage over him due to his splash-damage rockets. As we mentioned, Scout is very squishy so a couple of splash hits in a narrow hallway will kill him.

Counters for Soldier

Like his counterpart in Overwatch 2, Soldier in TF2 is made to be an all-round character that is great for beginners and without any big major counters really. Having said that, I can add that perhaps the biggest enemy of the Soldier is himself since his splash-damage rockets can damage him as well if he’s not too careful and fires them too close to himself.

Pyro has a chance of reflecting your rockets with airblast but I wouldn’t call him an overall counter to the Soldier class. Another class you should be on the lookout for is Scout since he has the ability to run around you pretty swiftly while shooting you and getting you in a situation where you will make a mistake and fire a rocket at close range, damaging yourself. We could say that Soldier isn’t a hard counter for anyone and that no one is a hard counter for him even though some classes have a slight advantage over him.

Counters for Heavy

When playing Heavy think of yourself as a human tank. You are really powerful and resistant, but slow-moving and vulnerable to flank attacks. This makes you super vulnerable to Spies and Snipers. Spies will look to backstab you and kill you instantly so keep moving and turning around all the time because you can both prevent him from backstabbing you and bump into him and make him visible.

Snipers will simply outrange you and pour their powerful bullets on you. Try not to have too many 1 on 1 showdowns with them and instead try getting out of their sight or moving in a zig-zag manner to avoid being predictable and thus avoid being hit.

Counters for Spy

As a cunning backstabbing Spy, you might often feel elusive due to your invisibility watch and disguise skills. However, you’re not a superman and once the enemy team notices you sneaking around they can kill you pretty fast. That’s why Pyro and Heavy can be a counter to you. They spray their damage around all the time, and if they hit and discover you, you’re toast.

Pyro has an amazing ability to engulf everything in front of him in flames preventing you from being sneaky. So Pyro’s advantage over Spy isn’t necessarily in killing him instantly but in revealing him thus negating his primary advantage.

Counters for Pyro

Pyro is a really strong overall character with devastating damage, but what he lacks the most (and what his enemies can exploit) is movement speed. He moves decently quickly but doesn’t have any abilities that will allow him to dodge incoming attacks so Snipers and Heavies are his biggest nightmare.

Snipers can hitscan you quickly and pretty efficiently if you’re not close to a cover. Same thing with Heavies who can also slow you down and make you food for their whole team.

Counters for Sniper

Since Sniper relies on long-distance shots, anyone who can get into Sniper’s face is his natural counter. This means Spy and Scout. Spies will sneak up on Snipers with either disguise or invisibility watch and take them out with a backstab. Scouts can use their great movement speed to overcome other members of your team and get straight into your face as a Sniper and at that point, you’re probably dead.

Another unusual but completely logical counter for Sniper is enemy Sniper. Your biggest advantage over enemy characters is your range, but you don’t have that against another Sniper so keep an eye out for this (possible) counter.

Counters for Engineer

Engineer’s main focus is constructing buildings for their team and helping them with Dispensers and Sentries. However, their main role is their biggest weakness since they need to hold still and hit these buildings with their wrench in order to build them faster and to upgrade them. This makes them perfect prey for Snipers, Demoman, and Spies.

Snipers can take you out easily only if you’re constructing your buildings out in the open, so that can at least be avoided easily. However, Spy will kill you in an instant if you’re not careful while building, and Demoman can exploit the fact that you’re standing still next to your Dispenser or Sentry with his bombs and destroy both you and your construction at the same time.

Counters for Medic

Medic is the most important role in a team that dictates the pace of the game and can snowball his team into a victory. However, he doesn’t have any special counters but just by playing this role, you should know that you are everyone’s main target. And sometimes this can be worse than having a direct counter of your class.

Good Soldier players can try and distance you from the team with their rockets since Medic needs to be close always to efficiently heal the team. Pyro can do the same with the flamethrower and even though they don’t kill you instantly, their countering strategy will cause your team to temporarily be without a healer which is devastating.

Counters for Demoman

Being a projectile-based class that can deal a ton of damage to groups of enemies, Demoman lacks concrete and easy single-target damage, and that leaves him open in any 1v1 encounter. Anyone who can sneak up on him like Spy or Scout can cause trouble.

If you’re playing as a Demoman and notice one of those two classes approaching you, try running away with your sticky bomb and joining your team rather than engaging them. You can also place a sticky bomb between you and your enemy thus zoning them out.

We hope you enjoyed our guide on Team Fortress 2. If you’re a fan of Valve’s FPS games we suggest you check out our articles Is Counter-Strike 2 a New Game or a Big Update? Answered and Best CS:GO Crosshair Settings and Codes. You can follow Gamer Journalist on Facebook for more guides just like this one!