Alright, this is the biggest issue with new players I am noticing. They don't seem to understand the role that Commando's play in SMNC, and as such, they tend to get like 15 deaths each match and score maybe 1 or 2 kills total. Now I'm not exactly a very good Commando player myself, above average maybe, but not knock your socks off amazing. However I have seen what works and what doesn't and figure I might as well make a post here in the hopes that SOMEONE benefits from it and becomes more of an asset for their team.

Let me start off by saying that you shouldn't play any Commando for your first 5 games or so. You really need to have a basic understanding of map layout, and a good general idea of how the game plays before you pick a Commando. Its also pretty beneficial to get at least a general idea of how much damage everything in the game does and how much health each pro has, so you can be a better judge of when to try to gank people or not.

All Commandos have some ability that lets them get to the second level of the map (the jungle) from the start of the game. Why would you do this? Two main reasons. One, so you can kill the bots that spawn there since they drop more money than normal bots. Two, so you can spot players on the other team with low health that you can easily finish off. Often you want to stay on the top layer of the map and drop down to either help out teammates or to gank people who have low health. If you see a low risk opportuniy to get a kill, take it!

Keep in mind that each map is a little different. Bullet Gorge and Loco Moco are pretty typical maps in terms of basic commando strategy, but on the others you need to mix things up a bit. On Spunky and Gun Mountain, there is also a bottom layer, which holds the actual jungle. Popping down there to kill a jungle bot or grab some buffs once in a while is generally a good idea, but unlike on other maps, you are probably better off not staying in the jungle there too long. Gun Mountain has a nice top layer where you can easily see most of the stage and kill bots while waiting for an opportunity to gank someone. Spunky's top layer is much smaller but can serve the same purpose after the enemy laser blaser turret has been destroyed, or before then if you are careful. G3 is the oddball as there is no jungle. Instead, staying on the top layer and waiting for opportunities to use the ejector or to gank someone almost the whole match is preferable. G3 is a good map for hit and run attacks, so don't think you have to go all in every time you attack someone.

The basic idea of playing a Commando is to quickly kill a pro, and then get the hell out before the other pros get some revenge on you for killing their buddy. All 3 Commandos are rather fast and have some sort of escape skill in order to make this easy. Ideally, a decent Commando player has a lower likelyhood of dying than players of equal skill in the other roles, simply because they can easily escape bad situations. A Commando is a hit and run character, so you can't really play them as if they were just a really fast melee version of an Enforcer. Even an overleveled Commando will die quickly if they get grappled at the wrong time or just get focus fired.

Each Commando plays a bit differently, but generally you want to always go for low health targets not matter which you are playing, and to be cautious around Enforcers or Karl players as both can easily reduce your health to almost nothing before you know it. Commando's are ideal for performing hit and run strikes against these pros however to prevent them from regening health or just to get them out of the lane.

All three Commandos have their own variations on the playstyle, but still generally play the same way. Assassin has cloak to help her chase down players near bots or turrets and does absurd backstab damage. Captain Spark can teleport through walls and easily achieve ring outs with flip switch. Wascot can debuff enemies, stun them, or use shifty shuffle to punish anyone who tries to grapple him.

To sum this up in 3 steps:
1.Get to the top layer of the map and watch for players to be weakened so you can finish them off
2.Avoid direct fights unless you have a clear advantage
3.Don't forget the "run" part of hit-and-run

Also keep in mind that Commandos still need to kill bots, just like other pros. They just don't need to focus on laning as much.