I've played some amazing matches with the buff banner. There were three Soldiers and a medic with an uber - I buff bannered, he battalion back-upped an the medic ubered the third soldier. Sure, epic moments of teamwork like that are usually unheard of in a pub match, but this was just [bleep]ing insane. As for the backburner - I think its !5% extra damage is no way near worth the compression blast trade-off. I find now, as Pyro, I solely play with the degreaser. The switch speed is so amazingly useful with the axtinguisher. It is the king in ambushing, and you still get that useful compression blast. I find the direct hit very hard to use, and I would say I'm cloe to mastering as soldier. I find it useful in a scout, engineer and medic heavy team, as they all have rather low health.