So ive been playing Team Fortress 2 more or less since it was released in 2007. Like any new character playing a game they want to take pro, picking out your role should really come quite naturally. Unfortunately, TF2 is a class-based game, so this becomes more challenging, in a way. Since every character and every role is dramatically different, and changes constantly. For instance, the Soldier can be in the front line devestating a bottleneck or behind a wall of Pyros and Scouts laying covering fire. A Demoman can perform in a similar way. Not only that, but the Snipers latest update can turn him into an offensive mid-range assasin. The point im trying to make is that if you have the necessary skills, virtually any character can be played in virtually any role.
In my case, i began playing TF2 as the Soldier and the Sniper, mostly. The Sniper is, in my opinion, the easiest character to pick up and play. After a few months of coasting by like this (average of an hour a day) i built up a friend base, a few favourite servers, and a “Hey Rockstar” whenever id join one of them. So after this it didnt take long for me to be drawn into pugging. “Pug” stands for “Pick Up Game”. For those that dont know, this is where players join a team of other players and compete in a professional, competitive match. My first pug, though disastrous (19 deaths, 2 kills), was the first time i started learning about the competitive Scout.
I thrashed the Scout for a quite some time, and became the third ranked pug scout on the iPGN servers. I could go into the details of how to effectively play as the Scout, but its a tad complicated, and itd distract from the point im getting across. I was top scoring 9/10 of the pugs i was playing at this stage, and rarely touching another class in pub (public) games. Finding friends with Steam and TF2 opened me up to another popular strategy within the game: Heavy+Medic. Several people on my TF2 list were saying “Dude, join this server” virtually every time id log into Steam. Id pick Scout, theyd pick Medic and try and heal me. This frustrated them since the Medic moves at roughly half the Scouts speed. So after a few rages, i picked up the Heavy at these opportunities and you know what? I loved it. The Heavy is now my most played character, and my highest scoring. On maps like 2fort, with plenty of clutch points and bottlenecks, the Heavy can potentially harrass and hold back an entire side, leaving the cap open to anyone who happens to do the legwork.
Since playing Heavy, i did learn quite a bit about the value of teamwork and player positioning in terms of scoring the most frags and (maybe) winning matches. It might just be the type of player i am, but i constantly moniter the players on my side, and track the different classes in the game. If a game of 2fort is missing, say, a Soldier or a Scout, chances are youll find me filling the gap. In this sense, i started playing as the enigmatic Pyro.
Im a frontline Pyro, not enjoying supporting a Heavy, waiting for a half dead Scout to slip by and pick up the assist. Instead, im pushing way forward, holding a cap point before a Scout or Heavy can get there. As far as my gameplay style goes, it takes a noob or an idiot to hold their flamethrower out and run straight forward toward a Scout or Heavy without switching to the shotty and popping off a few shots to keep them on their toes. After all, a player with half health takes half as long to kill than a player with full health.
I can feel another trend coming on, to start competitively playing as the Demoman. I greatly dislike the Demoman, since hes lacking in a mid range weapon like the shotty, but i can appreciate his uses in laying down support fire and protecting valuable assets.
So there it is: My TF2 character progression. Sniper, Soldier, Scout, Heavy, Pyro, Demoman. Everyone plays the Medic on and off, so i didnt include that in there, meaning that i have the Engineer and the Spy to go. They are two characters that arent played competitively, and i honestly dont see a valid use for either of them in the game. Nevertheless, i will learn them to master the game 
