Spy Trickstab strategy/help.

[Shpywaffle]

I need practice for spy, but I don't know any good tricks. Any tips?

[HEBUR]

NEVER DISGUISE AS SCOUT. IT IS A DEAD GIVEAWAY, You could as spy to explain cloking ability but you might want to kill the other spy first , and Stay Away from Pyros (S.A.P). you could disguise as any class, (with the exception of scout), and remember the catchy/dual purpose acronym S.A.P.

[Shpywaffle]

Originally posted by alex.proust:

NEVER DISGUISE AS SCOUT. IT IS A DEAD GIVEAWAY, You could as spy to explain cloking ability but you might want to kill the other spy first , and Stay Away from Pyros (S.A.P). you could disguise as any class, (with the exception of scout), and remember the catchy/dual purpose acronym S.A.P.

I know but i want tips on trickstabs,and stuff. I'm already a pretty good spy

[Le Fishe Au Chocolat]

Don't trickstab. Spies are supposed to be sneaky, and trickstabbing is really risky(Most people have the presence of mind to turn around when a Spy jumps over them)

[JarateKing (very rusty)]

The only practical trickstab I've seen is where you're running up a slight slope with an enemy class following you, then you jump back over them and backstab them from above right as soon as possible so no matter which way they turn they'll die. Seemed pretty good but you'll probably need to practice it.

[Cevune]

I'll add to this by saying that sneakiness means more than simply remaining undetected. Use misdirection to your advantage. As alex the canine said being a scout is a dead givaway. Use that. Sniper harassing your team? be an obvious scout and tempt him away from his spot and ambush him in a building after he tries to catch you. Like itsuki koizumi says, most people know to turn around when a spy jumps over them. Pull a double fake. Fake an escape, fake a jump, and end up falling short to attack from the direct route after they turn expecting you to attack from the reverse. The enemy just turned into their own death.
As for the techniques themselves, it all generally falls under the concepts of backstab range (in other words anything more than 50% behind an enemy is applicable if you are mostly facing them) and abusing lag compensation (the server and client views are typically disjointed). Also keep in mind that spy knives are instant. They don't have a wind-up to them that other melee weapons in the game do. To that end it all becomes muscle memory and being able to pull moves off quickly. I'd recommend getting the map tr_walkway_rc2 to practice on, but if you're feeling up to the task already, try out some pubs. The moves themselves generally fall into stair stabs, corner stabs, side stabs, the infamous face stab, yadda yadda, but they're all derived from the first two principles of finding and really nailing those stab areas (you can think of it like learning how to quickscope headshot as a sniper, but at a MUCH closer range). A general pipeline for training the muscle memory is to set bot movement speed to low (if you're on walkway) or hunt down soldiers and/or heavies. Use this to learn the general distance you can expect to score a stab on so you can hit it immediately. After that's done, you'll want to allow the bots to pass by so you get a picture for the angle at which you score side stabs (trial and error at this point mostly, but after missing a few shots, you should start seeing the big picture). Following that, run towards the enemy and strafe and snap them (that is flip the moment you pass by them, strafe along with them, aiming to pull a near 180 and score the backstab/sidestab as you pass them. generally this should have no delay and occur as though you stabbed while drifting by the target). After you have this down, you've already laid the ground work for side, face, corner, etc stabs, and you're nearly complete with stair stabs. To practice stair stabs, you need to get used to navigating in the air (it comes in handy while being airblasted as well, just as an added bonus). Air-strafing in general tends to be faster than using w movement, but there's an art to that all it's own. If you want really good air navigation experience, give rocket/sticky jumping a try, as they rely heavily on understanding of air navigation techniques. Obviously you won't need to go as in depth into them, but it's always helpful to know. Anyway, your basic goal now is to crouch jump onto an enemys head. If you're using bots or training with friends, have a quick poke around (no pun intended) to re-explore the kill angles from above. Again you'll need to be facing from the side or back to accomplish the attack. From this point try to lay off the stabbing and just focus on getting your jumps timed properly. Try to get a solid ground on the rear part of the enemy's head, and try to get it consistently. Once you get used to landing on the enemy, it's back to using the old strafe and snap trick from before, but after the jump. And there you have it, You've just performed a stair stab. Practice it and eventually you'll be pulling those things out quick as lightning (much to the rage of your victims). Don't forget to be observant as well. Despite what the name may imply, you can pull stair stabs in a variety of scenarios by crouch jumping to a rail, barrier, etc, or by simply falling off of a ledge in vertical maps to act as the height advantage that allows you to pass and stab the enemy.
Also I know this is besides the point since your asking for trickstabbing help, and tips in scoring stabs, but don't put all your eggs in one basket. You've got a gun (for that S.A.P. thing especially). Sometimes stabs just aren't worth it and it's a much better decision to off the target from afar. Also don't be afraid to be aggressive. A spy who's invisible the whole game might as well not be there. There's an intrinsic value in ramping up the enemy's paranoia, even if you die a lot doing it.
I'll go back to the first little bit by also giving you the tip to not be afraid to die. There's nothing much scarier than a spy who can be aggressive, and do it well. If you're too cautious the enemy will forget about you, which counter intuitive as it seems is bad for the spy's cause because it means your share of fire is now turned on your teammates, which may end up losing the round. Don't forget your role as the pinch hitter when need be. When there's a target the team can't get, its your job to get it, even if that means A) a target as mundane as a cart push or CP cap because the team is stuck in a crossfire or B)you end up dying to do it.
If you want some more help on the matter, look into stabby stabby on youtube ( stabbyvideo ). He's a damn good spy, and his words of wisdom did a lot to up my game. He never really goes into how to practice trick stabbing, but he operates at the point you know the moves and shows you how to string together some techniques to deal with various scenarios. And yes, he trick stabs A LOT, up to and including those double fakes and bait&switches I was mentioning earlier. In fact, I see him using trick stabs more often that vanilla sneak stabs, and we're talking about competetive highlander games here. It is a viable technique, and an extremely lethal one at that when properly practiced. Even if you screw it up starting out, don't be discouraged, it will get there. Aside from that, if you just can't get it or figure out when to use the moves, spectate some games, particularly comp or lobby games, and see what the spies there are doing. There's no shame in a spy doing some spying, right? ;P

edit: I'll provide a pretty good video tutorial that shows how to train the skills. He goes into details about how corner stabs work. worth a watch, if you still want to develop trick stabs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XawFp1927w&NR=1&feature=endscreen

[Angry Shpee]

First and foremost, most Spies employ trickstabs because they try to be stealthy, but run into unexpected complications that can be solved via trickstabbing.

Trickstabs are done because it helps to compensate any Spy's weakness: direct combat. Revolver DPS, while fairly high, is less than the DPS of, say, the Rocket Launcher or the Stickybomb Launcher, and only useful if the target is guaranteed to die before you do (i.e. lower health/firepower). Trickstabs help to offset the low DPS by instantly killing your target – provided he doesn't dodge the attack.

Trickstabs aren't flawless, as they can be dodged by an experienced player and require your target to be in close range (so, unless you can only attack at short range, keep your distance from a Spy). They are, however, somewhat of a remedy for the Spy's lackluster direct combat capabilities.

[Harmania]

Originally posted by L.:

NEVER DISGUISE AS SCOUT. IT IS A DEAD GIVEAWAY, You could as spy to explain cloking ability but you might want to kill the other spy first , and Stay Away from Pyros (S.A.P). you could disguise as any class, (with the exception of scout), and remember the catchy/dual purpose acronym S.A.P.

Please don't give advice when you have no idea what you're talking about.

[SmoovWiddIT]

Only Trickstab if you have to, if you have the opportunity to do a normal backstab, take it. But if you are going to trickstab, make sure you are well practiced on them, or have practiced on some noobs or something. Look up videos on Youtube, there are a lot of in-depth strategy, and trickstab tutorials for spy. Hope this helped :P

[Male]

Only trickstab if you know that the person you are going to do it to has no brain cells or are newbies to TF2. Most people will catch on to what you are trying to do if you lead them to a slope or staircase/corner. Regular backstabs get the job done just as fast.

[ʙᴜɴ.ᴇ]

whats a trickstab?

[Harmania]

Originally posted by Princess Mimi:

whats a trickstab?

Effectively, if an enemy has noticed you, fishing for a backstab through trying to deceit, outmaneuvoring and utilizing fancy footwork if known as trickstabbing.

[JarateKing (very rusty)]

Originally posted by Princess Mimi:

whats a trickstab?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0aH0Z9bQEI
Something to give spymains something to practice.

Just curious though, if you don't play tf2 because it sucks why ask what something in tf2 is?

[Ozyruz]

Originally posted by Ineffable Cupidity:

Originally posted by Princess Mimi:

whats a trickstab?

Effectively, if an enemy has noticed you, fishing for a backstab through trying to deceit, outmaneuvoring and utilizing fancy footwork if known as trickstabbing.

However it is risky, believe me, that Crit Ubersaw should not have gone there..

[Shpywaffle]

Holy Bejeesus this is old. I've forgotten about this.

[76561198216529304]

just use Dead Ringer
and dont use Spy-Cicle