Team Fortress 2: Unnecessary Map Callouts: Phoenix

The first point of Phoenix sets the tone for the rest of the map, and we won’t lie to you: it’s a tough one for the attackers. But look at that scenery! And hey, it’s not the toughest point to take either. Actually, it’s probably the easiest.

• Main: The main exit from BLU spawn. There are two doors here, so you can take left or right, but you’re arriving at roughly the same place.
• Lower spawn (alt. Lower): Situated in a drainage ditch, the lower exit from BLU spawn leads out to their left. It can be a useful way to try and wrap around the defenders spamming the main exit.
• Van: Near BLU’s lower spawn is a small van. No, you can’t go into it, and no, it won’t drive away; use it for cover instead.
• Slope: On BLU’s left, RED’s right, there’s a curved slope stretching up to the top of the arch. It’s an important route to hold if you want to have high ground over the cart path.
• Arch: The highest (easily accessible) ground in this area is the archway, which will probably be a key RED holding spot. BLU will have to take it if they want to push.
• Board: The billboard advertising Phoenix Gulch National Park is a wonderful little piece of design. It also offers fantastic cover to defenders, making it an important callout.
• Packs: Below the arch, just around the bend, are a medium health pack and ammo pack that define this little section of the path.
• Table (alt. Mesa): This low, flat chunk of sandstone can be hopped onto by more mobile classes and gives a height advantage.
• Drain: To BLU’s right/RED’s left is a low area full of ankle-deep water, which can be used for flanking attacks.

Although Arch can be a good first hold for RED, it’ll likely be overwhelmed if BLU can attack from the slope and around the Drain area. The major battle for the first point will take place further back, around the point itself, which is situated outside a convenient rest stop.

• Mineshaft: Once the first point is captured, the mineshaft will provide a crucial shortcut to the next point. In the meantime, it’s blocked off.
• Awning: The awning is BLU’s best bet at controlling the cart’s path, so they’d best take it. Although the awning itself gives the callout its name, the whole area around it can be referred to as awning. And if you’re under it (where the large ammo pack is), that’s under awning.
• Rest Stop: Hiding inside this building is a great move for the defenders, who have great shelter and health/ammo packs to use. The vending machine is, sadly, nonfunctional. Most of the fighting will occur just outside of this building.
• Rooftop: On top of Rest Stop is Rooftop. Although defenders can try to hold up here, it’s open to enemy sightlines and requires a blast jump to reach.
• RV: The RV is parked in front of the rest stop and provides some cover to defenders and attackers alike. You can’t climb it, though. It’s short for Recreational Vehicle, but don’t say that mid-combat.
• Spire: This tall sandstone spire is only accessible with a blast jump or similar, but there’s a small health pack (and probably a lot of snipers) waiting for you up there.
• Bend: Because a lot of fighting occurs at this nearly-180-degree turn, it gets a callout of its own. This is where RED and BLU most frequently exchange fire.

The second capture point is a tricky one to take, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. Especially if you use these callouts, which have been shown to increase chances of victory by up to 127%.

• Tunnel: Just past the first capture point is the tunnel, which cars shouldn’t go into but you sure can. It leads to Basement.
• Basement: The more direct route to Basement is up the hill a little bit. It’ll probably start in RED hands.
• Cellar: This cellar door, like the kind of thing you’d see covering a tornado shelter in the Midwest, leads to a low-lying area with a one-way gate. Note that the gate can only be opened if you’re approaching from the cellar door – but the health and ammo are on the other side.
• Mineshaft: This connector runs from near Awning (remember that?) out onto the tracks. It saves valuable time for BLU to go through this.
• Redstone: This wood-paneled room has many entrances, but it provides a place of reasonable shelter for either team. BLU will want to hold it to mount an assault on the point. Note that there’s a higher area, accessible through Basement, that drops down into Redstone proper. If you want to take the room, take that area first.
• Puddle: Hope you have good boots, because the cart needs to be pushed through a low, wet area. Not only is it wet, it’s very vulnerable to spam.
• Trestle: The railroad bridge that runs above the cart is called Trestle. It’s wide and long – a perfect spot to fight.
• Cargo: On the trestle are several cargo crates, which are useful for both teams to control. There’s also a handy wooden ramp onto them!

• Cap House: This is a general term for everything in this big ol’ building where the capture point is. As fighting gets closer, you’ll want to use more specific callouts.
• Skylight: A hole in the roof of Cap House, just above the tracks, lets in the sunlight… and unwanted visitors. It’s critically important for BLU to control this area to give them an easy spot to push from.
• Rails (alt. Hose): Behind Redstone is Rails, a spot where a train would go if there was one on this map. It’s a transitional zone with no real tactical advantages. If Rails is too similar to the Payload tracks for you, you can call it Hose – there’s a garden hose hanging there.
• Dock: Back behind Rails, there’s a loading dock. It leads straight into (or out of) Cap House.
• Patio: Outside Cap House, there’s some raised stone platforms that the defenders have easy access to. There’s a left and a right patio, and which is which depends on which team you’re on, so be sure to know your left and your right. It’s good advice for life.
• Longhouse: Not to be confused with the beautiful longhouses of Pacific Coast natives or in the British Isles, this is just a long house. It separates the patios from each other.

• Balcony: Best accessed from RED spawn, the balcony is the spot where any last-ditch hold against BLU is sure to take place. It directly overlooks the capture point, and a high-ground advantage makes it a great spot to fire down from.
• Cubby: Down by the capture point, almost underneath Skylight, is a cubby containing a medium health and ammo pack. It’ll save your life more than once.
• Tanks: Below the balcony, just adjacent to the capture point, is a room containing two large septic tanks. Make sure your teammates don’t think you’re saying “thanks” instead.

Exiting the loading dock that formed the second point, we reach a beautiful cliffside series of grain silos, leading into a concrete building that houses expensive control equipment and the third point.

• Main: This is the main exit from the second point’s house. It’s not terribly exposed, but rounding the corner will mean you’re taking some serious fire.
• Balcony: One of the upper exits from the second point leads to a wooden balcony that sits above the tracks. It’s a great place to shoot from and to shoot at.
• Shelter: Outside Main is a sheltered little stretch of decking. It’s called… uh… let’s call it Shelter, ’cause it’s sheltered.
• Hoodoos: This isn’t pl_hoodoo, but it still has hoodoos. In this case, they mark the area below Shelter, which leads to a sheer cliff face.
• Cliff House: From Hoodoos, you can access a small house that hangs precariously over the edge of the cliff. Be sure to note whether someone is in or on Cliff House: it’s relatively easy to get onto the roof, even for less-mobile classes.
• Silos: These huge grain silos are not traversable, but they give their name to the area below them, which is. Note the long roof here, which affords some shelter and can be used to get onto Cliff House.
• Chute: Technically, it’s more of a covered bridge, but Chute extends from Silos up into the C House. Try to minimize the chute/shoot confusion by not saying “I’m going to go Chute at them.”
• C House: This isn’t actually where Point C is located, but it has a big honkin’ sign inside that says C.
• Secret Roof: This low-lying roof is so called because it’s on top of Secret, but it’s also kind of secret in that few people jump onto it. (It’s not accessible to most classes).
• Secret: A low-lying area with an ammo box inside? It’s Secret, and you’ll rarely see someone here. Hop in, but you’ll be exposed to gunfire coming from C House.

• Cliffside: If someone were to go through Cliff House from Hoodoos, they’d end up on the Cliffside, where one can get a large health pack and/or fall screaming into the abyss.
• Backyard: Marginally safer than Cliffside, Backyard is a flat-ish flank area that extends from the back of C House over to Chute.
• Front Batts: Stand in C House looking toward the second point, and these batt[lement]s are above and in front of you. They lead directly to Chute, too.
• Back Batts: Stand in C House looking toward the second point, and these battlements are behind you. Which is to say, they’re behind RED team. They also extend into the next building, where they’ll be right outside BLU’s final spawn room.

• Powerhouse: Marking the second time this map has a callout that is named after another map, we have Powerhouse. Like C House, it mostly refers to the floor level of this building.
• Railings: These will be denoted as left or right, so make sure you hold your hands out in an L shape in front of you while you play. The left railing (from RED’s point-of-view) connects to Front Batts, while the right connects to Back Batts.
• Glass: Further into Powerhouse, there’s a set of windows made of, you guessed it, Glass. They provide important shelter and, if you’re on the correct side, ammo and health packs.
• McJohn: Past Glass, the low-lying room with the small ammo and health is called McJohn after the big McJohn Power sign painted on the wall. It also connects directly to the cart path.

The fourth capture point is indisputably the hardest one to take and the easiest one to hold. It features a huge elevator platform that BLU will need to keep the pressure on, or else the cart will fall back to the bottom. It’s also a very large, open area with an incredible amount of alternate routes and high places, so buckle up, ’cause we’ve named them all!

Primary locations on this stage include:

• Tracks: Pretty self-explanatory, but when there’s this many callouts in one place, you kinda have to stay centered.
• Platform: This platform will move up the slope as long as there’s BLU players near it. The platform itself provides some shelter, and the Payload cart acts as a small dispenser as usual, but make no mistake: it will not be an easy ascent.
• Shack: This little shack is outside RED’s spawn, so it’s a natural holding point for them. It also has a roof, and that roof can be stood and even built on.
• Red Batts: Accessed from Shack is a nice long battlement that allows defenders to shoot down on the cart even more effectively. It’s also shielded from BLU sightlines. You see why this point is tricky?
• Stairs: In contrast to Backstairs on the other side, these stairs are right by the platform. They mostly lead up to it, or to Concrete.
• Nook: It’s very small, but very important. Only really accessible through RED Batts, it looks out on the elevator platform and thus is a fantastic spot for a defense. There’s a little hole through which BLU can maybe shoot in (accessed via Caution), but it ain’t an easy hold to break.
• Barrels: At the very top of the ramp, there’s a whole set of barrels, presumably full of something interesting. This area – the flat area just in front of the dam – is critical to winning the map: if BLU can’t force RED away from it, their chances of victory are very slim indeed.

On BLU’s right, RED’s left:

• Backroad: Just outside McJohn is a well-worn wooden platform. Mostly a transitional area for flanking players.
• Valley: Next to Backroad, there’s a low area with pooling water. Try not to be caught here!
• Upper Decker: Right by the cart tracks, there’s a two-story building. The upper level is named Upper Decker, and it’s a relatively sheltered place for BLU to try and hold. The lower level? You guessed it, it’s Pack House. No Lower Decker here (unless you want to use that; callouts can be changed to suit your needs).
• Back Stairs: Leading up from Valley, you can take these stairs to get up to the next level.
• Blocks: Once you’re up Back Stairs, you can step onto Blocks, a series of big cement bricks overlooking the capture platform.
• Pipes: Three huge, capped-off pipes mark this lower area just outside of RED spawn. This area tends not to be used very often, as it’s placed a little bit out of the way and BLU has a hard time pushing through it.
• Sheets: Above Pipes, there’s a wire fence reinforced with sheet metal. It separates RED’s lower spawn from their primary spawn door, and as such it’s a decent place for them to hole up if BLU should try approaching through Pipes… which rarely if ever happens.
• Left/Right Roof: This roof is accessible and buildable, but it sees the least use of all three roofs on this stage. It’s Left Roof to RED, Right Roof to BLU.

On BLU’s left, RED’s right:

• Blu Batts: Coming out of the Powerhouse building, these battlements are easy to access and give BLU players a good view of the whole final area. Most classes can’t jump onto them from below, either. No relation to Zubats.
• Concrete: This concrete area has health and ammo as well as some shelter from the hellish battle. From here, you can go down to the platform, up to Caution, or up the other way to the roof. Concrete is a very common place for BLU to hold, which means there will usually be more action on this side of the map than the other.
• Left/Right Roof: This roof can be jumped up to by any class and can give BLU players a nice high-ground spot to shoot at or get shot by RED.
• Caution: Named for the caution tape on the outer edge (really, there’s a lot of caution tape on this map), this small wooden room can be accessed by going up from Concrete. It’s harder to access from Barrels, but some classes can make the jump. It also provides a very small viewing window into Nook, which can be crucial to break a hold.

Hopefully this guide has given you a more helpful understanding of Phoenix, which is hopefully a map you enjoy playing on! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me; although I can’t promise I’ll keep this guide maintained, I do hope to stay active on Steam at the very least.

Do bear in mind that callouts are not always one-size-fits-all: you should feel 100% free to change, modify, butcher, and otherwise alter these callouts to what you need. Add new ones, ignore old ones, change names, whatever – it’s your experience that matters.

Major thanks to !!, who helped name these callouts and started the Upper Decker trend. He and I have also worked on Unnecessary Map Callouts: Goldrush, Hoodoo, and Sharkbay. While you’re clicking links, you should also look at my other callouts guide (this one mostly necessary), for Borneo.

Last but not least: a serious and sincere thank-you to community mapmakers, including Defcon, Diva Dan, KrazyZark, Fenech, Blade x64, and Stuffy360, for their hard work creating Phoenix and other maps. Without people like you, there would be no summer update and no TF2.

Happy playing!