### Ubers and Game Flow --- The two central ideas to winning in highlander break down to controlling space and time. In [[King of the Hill (KOTH)|king of the hill]], the goal is very simply to hold space for a certain amount of time. Defense on [[Stopwatch|stopwatch]] is basically the same thing, while the goal on offense turns into taking space in the least amount of time. Ubercharges are the easiest and most reliable way to take or hold space in the game. Because of this, it is extremely important to know how to track ubers, and how to play based on the uber percentage of each team. It takes around 40-50 seconds for a medic to get uber charge after spawning, so its safe to assume that a medic will have uber after about that time if they haven't died. Depending on things like forces and medic picks, the relationship between each teams uber percentage will change from advantage, disadvantage, and even ubers. ### Advantage --- Uber advantage occurs when your team's medic has a higher uber percentage than the enemy team's medic. This commonly happens when the enemy medic dies or is forced and yours does not. Taking and holding space is easier for a team with uber advantage as the enemy team is forced to play around it. It is extremely common for the enemy team to run a sac as soon as their medic dies or gets forced. If they manage to kill or force your medic, it resets uber back to an even state and takes away the opportunity for your team to use its advantage to hold space for longer. Because of this, it is important to play around your medic as soon as your team gets into an uber advantaged situation. The goal here is to prolong your advantage for as long as possible and force the enemy team to take losing fights or simply waste time until they get their own uber. In offensive situations with advantage, taking an uber in is almost a guarantee of space and a won fight. For example, say your spy drops the enemy medic on [[Vigil]] second. Your team can immediately take the uber in and control the space with invulnerability while you cap the cart. Using an uber advantage to its full potential should be game winning, so being in sync with your combo and protecting your medic quickly becomes your only priority. ### Disadvantage --- Uber disadvantage occurs when your medic is the one getting dropped. The first thing to do in this kind of situation is sac. Try to force or kill the enemy teams medic and reset the uber percentage of both teams. If your team is unsuccessful, attempting dry fights and pressure to make sure the enemy team uses as soon as possible, while keeping your medic alive, generally becomes the game plan. It is extremely important that you play to escape with your team here and try to get out with your medic. Sacrificing yourself to stuff the uber and dying out of position as your team tries to leave will allow the enemy team to take advantage of your medic trying to leave without you. Sometimes you will have no choice but to die for your medic in order for him to live, but it is almost always better to live when you can. If you've successfully baited out an uber with a disadvantaged dry fight, your team can now play with advantage and retake the space in the post uber fight. Playing a disadvantaged situation correctly can be as good as winning an exchange. ### Exchanges --- Uber exchanges occur when both teams use uber at around the same time in an effort to control space. Pyro's role in exchanges is very dependent on the map and the specific situation. In ubers where your team is trying to take space Scout/Demo ubers are most common, with Pyro able to fill in if either are unable to participate. Pyro is much more frequently involved in defensive ubers where your team is trying to hold space, as [[Airblast and controlling engagements|airblast]] is one of the most effective tools for this in the game. Your team should be calling who is going to be in ubers, but these are good general rules to keep in mind. There are instances where Pyro is extremely valuable in offensive ubers to get through chokes and allows your team to take the space behind you. This is true on at least one point for most stopwatch maps. Make sure that you are only in ubers that you actually need to be involved in, having extra players take beam during the exchange will make yours worse and potentially lose your team the fight by causing your medic to drop players. ### Post Uber ^3fc607 --- Post uber fights occur, as you would expect, directly after ubers fade. This is true in situations where you have advantage, disadvantage, or even ubers. Assuming one team didn't drop a lot of players during the uber, this is where most fights are actually decided and when teams will fully try to commit to a fight. Because of this, it is important for all players to avoid dying during ubers. It can and will cost your team fights and lose games. Before an uber, take into account what kind of uber it will be, whether you will be part of it or not, and play to live and keep your teammates alive so that you can be in with your team in the post uber fight. Since teams are generally looking to fully commit in post, the enemy teams spy and solider will almost certainly be in on your medic and you need to be in position to deal with that. ### Dry Fights ^c0d65b --- Dry fights happen when your team doesn't have uber and decides to commit to a fight. Depending on if you are at disadvantage or there are no ubers in play, teams will determine whether or not it is worth committing their medic to the fight. You don't want to end up in a situation where your medic dies, you lose the dry fight, and now the enemy team has full uber advantage + time on point while you have gained no advantages. Most of the time, you will be walking with your combo and trying to take the space while protecting your Demo. Commonly medics will bait and play their life so that, if the push fails, your team will have successfully built uber and can take an exchange after the team respawns. ### Sacs --- Teams will commonly run sacs for similar reasons to dry fights. When a team loses their medic, they will nearly always immediately try to send as many players as possible in to try and force or kill the enemy teams medic. This is not really done in defensive situations, especially on stopwatch maps, as the mass loss of players will give the enemy team all the space they need to push a point, regardless of if you kill their medic. Pyro is not always part of sacs, depending on the exact situation. Sometimes teams will sac instead of dry fighting while their medic builds uber. In that case, either the engineer or the pyro will take the medic back to spawn. This can depend on positioning at the time as well as if one of you happens to be dead. The [[Utilizing the Detonator effectively|Detonator]] can be really useful in sacs on some maps, as it allows you close space quickly and through paths otherwise inaccessible to Pyro. Other secondaries lack this gap closing ability, however they do provide much more effective damage potential to actually take out the enemies' medic if you manage to get in. It is extremely important to recognize sac timings from your enemy as well and position yourself to protect your medic if someone on your team manages to get a medic pick.