Hello, fellow MvM psychopaths! This is MannsOverMeta (name may vary). You may have seen me before, not like it matters. Third time's the charm, so hopefully this is my best guide so far. Well, enough with that generic intro, lets get on with it.

Note: I feel that this guide needs some changes, but I don't have the time or the motivation to make them. This guides will be improved later on.

Pyro has a flamethrower. It has a DPS (Damage per Second) of 150 and deals damage in streams. It also has airblast. In PvP, the flamethrower is pretty bad, except for the airblast. In MvM however, It's quite the opposite. Airblast is not very useful, and sometimes detrimental. The actual flamethrower is a weapon that can easily torch multiple robots. It is hard to miss, and not detrimental if you do. It shoots out flames at the press of M1, and doesn't have to reload. This makes it one of the most reliable weapons in MvM. Oh, it also has afterburn. Like PvP, it's almost useless.

The key aspect that shapes Pyro's playstyle the most in PvP and MvM is his lack of range. Because of this, he is forced to get up close to the bots to burn them down. However, without any significant health or speed to help him, and the fact that most MvM players are too scared to even be in the bot's line of sight, It makes Pyro a glass cannon that can't survive a second in the battlefeild. That is, if you play dumb.

You may be able to get away with mindless W+M1 agianst melee and non-lethal bots. However, agianst Soilders, Pyros, Demos, Heavies, and Giants that aren't Scouts, you will die before you can even do anything significant. When facing agianst these threats, you will need to take advantage of what Pyro was meant to do. Ambush.

Before you learn how to ambush, you must learn the reason why it works. Aggro is basically the amount of attention an enemy has on a target. Bots will usually target the closest target that is in their line of sight. If the only targets in a bot's sight are too far, they will most likely target someone outside of their line of sight. So if you die immidiately after the bots fall and you were behind them, that is most likely the reason. Medics and non-disguised Spies have higher priority than others, so if a Spy is trying to backstab a giant, get out of his way. Sometimes, you can use this to your advantage.

Ambushing is pretty simple. Just wait for the target/targets to be distracted by a teammate. Then burn them all to crisps behind their backs. In order to do this, you will need a position to quickly and reliably get to your unexpecting targets without facing any harm. You could be perched on a rooftop, waiting for the right moment to strike. You could be behind a rock or fence, ready to dash out when you hear them firing away. Or you could even be behind the robot spawn, waiting for their pre-drop uber to wear off. Whatever it is, just make sure it gets the job done.

Just make sure that your teammate taking the fire isn't far away. They usually have less aggro on them, so you will be focused on instead.

Not only is airblast barely useful in MvM, but it's also detrimental! A direct opposite to PvP.

Airblasting means a second before you can start spouting flames agian. It means you will take a second longer to start kill the bots agian. And a second longer for the bots to kill you. And you won't be decreasing the number of bots shooting at you. And you won't be healing with health on kill. And the bots will have more time to buff, which is always bad. And if you are airblasting, you must be in front of the bots. If you are in back of them, there is a chance to blow them away from you. Always a bad thing for the team. But being in front of them means you are going to take all the enemy fire and die instantly. And if you are trying to blow bots away, you are going to get airblast force. Which means 400$ wasted on something that could have been used for more useful upgrads like damage or health on kill. And if you are reflecting projectiles, an unreliable thing to do, the bots have the duration the airblast is not active to shoot you agian. Which also gets you killed more easily. Blasting bots into pits will just bring the bomb back to spawn. If you had to reset the bomb, you have fallen back. Meaning you can't kill the bomb carrier at the start. Meaning they buff. And if your team needed a reset, they probably won't be able to deal with a buffed bomb carrier and it's guards.

Airblasting can also detriment your team. Your main damage dealers will have to suffer damage falloff, which means the enemy will die slower, which means they have more time to kill you and your team. It will push bots away from sticky traps the Demo prepared, making it longer to detonate the stickies, meaning the next trap will come slower and the bot being blown away will, agian, die slower. Snipers will be screwed over by unpredicted and unneccecary movement. Same for spies, who rely on bot positions.

TL;DR: What would you rather do? Stall the bots so everything takes longer than it should? Or kill the bots immidiately and help your team?

Hopefully this stops you from becoming a filthy airblast/Shorch Shot spammer.

Stock: The best flamethrower for airblasting compared to the rest. However, I already proved that airblast is bad, so who cares.

Degreaser: Switch speed is useless in MvM. You will almost exclusively be using your main weapons. Downsides don't matter much anyways.

Backburner: Free crits for doing what Pyro should be doing. Downside doesn't matter because it's airblast. If you aren't going to use the Phlog, this the only other good option.

Phlog: Crits on demand and best tank busting weapon in MvM. Downside doesn't matter because it's airblast.

Phlog or Backburner?: Phlog is best for tanks and W+M1. Backburner is best for everything elseflanking, which you should be doing as Pyro. Not saying Phlog isn't good for everything else. It is.

And by the way, Backburner is always the best for Mannhatten.

Secondary and Melee matter have too little importance to note. You could get the Detonator and Powerjack for movement, but that is really it. The Homewrecker can also be decent if you don't have the Powerjack or you're going to play passively during the wave (which you shouldn't late game).

Upgrade crit resistances if there are threatening crit bots in the wave. Otherwise, this upgrade path should do nicely.

• Health on Kill, one point: Pyro is a damage class. Even if you are the greatest sneaky beaky in TF2, you are gonna take some bullets and rockets to the face. This will help you greatly.
  
• Max Damage: Pyro has the cheapest route to max damage potential. Only 1600$ to reach 300 DPS. Definitely max this out. It also pairs very well with the Health on Kill.
  
• Ammo Capacity/Movement speed: Ammo drains quick. Ammo capacity increases your time in the battlefeild before you have to make a dispencer trip. Movement speed helps you avoid more damage, and helps you catch up to bots outside of your range. Upgrade them in any order you like.
  
• Resistances according to Wave Composition: Self-Explanitory. As a close range class, you will be taking alot of damage. No matter if you are ambushing or not. Max them all out (except fire resistance) before moving on.
  
• Max out Health on Kill: Now you are guarrentied to destroy any bot that isn't a giant or stronger. You will still need to take advantage of aggro with the giants.
  
• Who Cares: All the good upgrades are worn out. Get anything that you think will be most useful.

Pyro is the single best class for tanks. No class can come close to his potential. And all because off one weapon.

All of Pyro's flamethrowers have a DPS of 300 when maxed out. Other classes can go up to 400 and can boost it even further. However, the secret to Pyro's tank busting potential lies in one weapon. The Phlogistinator. With it, you will be able to increase your damage output after doing damage for about 10 seconds. you do a little taunt, and you will gain crits for about 8 seconds. Yes, Crits. the juicy 3x damage multiplier. All without canteens or a Medic. Not only are the crits consistant and easy to get, but they spike up your DPS to 900. The closest anyone can get to that is Scout with the Crit-a-Cola and Beggar's Soilder with the Buff Banner. All which get close to 550. That is insane. It allows Pyro to solo even the tankiest of tanks. It allows your team to fight the robot hoard in peace, knowing that they don't have to worry about the tanks causing their failiure.

Combine this with the fact that the flamethrower's max DPS is the cheapest to achieve, and Pyro is undoubtably the best tank buster in MvM.

Too lazy to come up with an efficient playstyle of your own? Well, read this and you will never have to think about it agian!

There are multiple ways to ambush bots. Hide behind a corner and shoot the unexpecting bots when they pass by. Get a drop on the bots when they lock onto their target. Or simply M1 behind the bot spawn. They all work.

When it comes to giants, find a way to safely get behind them and burn them down. Going from the side is risky, and going from the front is suicide. The back is the best way, and it will help even more when using the Backburner. However, when things are out off control, a mindless W+M1 may be the best course of action.

When using the Phlog, activate crits whenever giants or anything threatening comes by.

When the tanks come, focus on it exclusively. Press M2 to activate crits. Taunting can happen even if the bar isn't full.
A handy tip for dealing with Giant Demos with the Phlogistinator: https://youtu.be/P09c-IV1Km8 (Credit to itsgalf for making the video.)

On maps like Decoy and Mannhatten, the Detonator can be used to travel between floors at moment's notice. If you die, use the Powerjack to get to the frontlines faster. And don't be afrid to use it when getting closer to the bots. The damage vulnerability will wear off as soon as you put away the weapon.

Some people can't play without the Pyro abusing their airblast crutch. Some people can't stand not having their Medic babysitter or they throw a tantrum. And some people just suck, so they cannot play Pyro without being bad because it isn't a buttpluged Heavy. Thus, they think the class is bad and will kick you on sight.

You might build up some salt from these encounters. You might complain about it in the MvM forums. However, just remember this. These elitists ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ aren't worth playing with. Be thankful you got kicked.

Congrats for getting through my third guide! Hopefully it has inspired you to become a good MvM Pyro!
The more you play Pyro in MvM, the better you will become. Ambushing bots, taking advanatage of aggro, and general gamesense will be improved the more you play. Soon enough, you will be 1 step above most of the MvM community. However, don't neglect to learn the other classes as well.

I would appretiate if this guide gets an actual rating. Upvote it if you think it's good, Downvote if you think otherwise.

Links to my MvM guides.
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=720660457
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=723127660
MvM Demo guide coming 2017. Unless I decide to work on it early.

Other Non-MvM guides.
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=749116967

Feedback is appretiated.