There are four shotguns in CS:GO; the Nova, Sawed-Off, MAG-7 and the XM1014. I might as
well compare them all. A big thank you to SlothSquadron who has given
me valuable feedback and advice to ensure that this video doesn't have any glaring mistakes.
Thank you! There are three tiers of pricing, with the
nova and sawed off both costing $1,200. The MAG-7 covers the middle-ground at $1,800 and
the XM1014 is $2,200. Essentially, shotguns are competing with SMGs and lower-priced rifles.
However- there's one massive benefit that shotguns have over the other choices, and
that's the kill award. You get a massive $900 per kill with the shotgun, compared with just
$300 for rifles or $600 for most SMGs. Factor in the shotgun's low cost and you've got yourself
a potentially lucrative income from choosing these weapons.
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I rarely use shotguns. They require a different style
of play to the other weapons in-game, but they can be brutally effective at close-range
and have been used in proper matches by high-level players, Get_Right included.
I don't think that I'm in the best position to advise you on HOW to use it. However, this
video will simply analyse the pros and cons of the different shotguns, which is something
I can do. If you want to know how to use them then look else-where or simply load up a deathmatch
server. Let's look at some odd quirks that the shotguns
have. The MAG-7 is the only one that isn't reloaded one shell at a time. This is a mixed
blessing. Overall it's faster to reload completely, but you are unable to fire mid-way through
the animation like you are with the other shotguns. The MAG-7 has a smaller magazine
size than the others as well so you may find yourself facing difficult decisions regarding
when to reload. Shotguns are very much a close-quarters weapon and you must have a plan of retreat
should the situation turn against you. As for fire-rate, there's one clear winner.
The XM1014. You may be interested to know that the nova is slightly slower than the
MAG-7 and Sawed off shotgun. Fun fact: the sawed-off shotgun is the only shotgun where
you have to manually press fire for every shot.
With three of the shotguns, the delay between shots is long enough to reset the recoil,
resulting in a similar spread pattern every time. However, the XM1014 is the odd one out,
as it's an auto-shotgun. Holding down fire with this beast will make later shots fire
above the crosshair. I COULD have kept this feature in and made the gun look terrible
in all of these comparisons, but instead I'm going to add a fake delay between each shot
with this gun to make the results more comparable. I think it's unfair that this gun should be
punished for giving you more freedom over the fire-rate and accuracy. With experience
you'll manage to get the best of both worlds out of this gun. Simply keep in mind that
you'll have to compensate for the recoil if you go full-auto with this gun in-game.
Right, let's get on with it. I fired 32 shots with each gun at a wall 512 units away in
four different stances, and this is how they compare. Note that I walk closer to the wall
to get this view, this isn't the range at which I was firing from.
Standing still and firing, they all offer the same level of spread apart from the sawed-off
shotgun, which is more imprecise. The XM1014 was fired the same number of times, but it
fires fewer pellets than the others so it doesn't look as... nghhh... 'hole-some'.
There are no major surprises with the crouching, it shows about the same thing again.
Moving is where things get interesting. Immediately you can see that the MAG-7 has the tightest
spread. What you might not notice is that the sawed off shotgun does surprisingly well.
It's now about as accurate as the nova and XM1014- a significant improvement in comparison
to standing still. Interestingly, when crab-walking, the sawed-off
becomes the least precise weapon again. Hmm. I might as well use this opportunity to say
how few pellets the XM1014 fires. Beyond close range it really is hit and miss. Literally.
You'd be lucky to hit the broad side of a barn.
Movement speed also varies between weapons. Here is a table of all the maximum speeds.
The slowest is the sawed-off and the fastest is the MAG-7. Using a shotgun will make you
slower than SMG-wielding players, but about the same as rifle-users.
And how about damage? The XM1014 does the least, at just 20 damage per pellet and 6
pellets. The nova does 26 with 9 pellets, the MAG-7 does 28 with 9 and the sawed off
30 with 9, making it the most powerful... on paper.
But it's not that simple. The nova and XM1014, despite being the weakest up-close, do more
damage at range than the mag-7 and sawed off, which drop off very quickly at distance. Beyond
750 units the sawed off doesn't even do any damage!
Against armoured opponents the nova is the worst and the XM1014 the best, with the sawed
off and mag7 coming just behind. With that in mind, the nova is best used for
an anti-eco after the pistol round, or any other time when you know that the opponents
will not be buying armour. The sawed off is useless at range but is good
for holding close-range positions against armoured opponents. It is best suited to hostage
rescue maps since only the terrorists can buy it. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't
have any sort of penetration. I can't even shoot through one unit of wood against this
opponent. The mag-7 is like a better version of the
nova. It's more effective against opponents with armour and is best purchased in rounds
where you can't quite afford the more expensive weapons.
The XM1014 won't leave you helpless between shots but its price premium makes it difficult
to recommend over the FAMAS, Galil or P90. As with the Mag-7, there may be certain situations
and positions where it outperforms these other weapons, it's really down to personal preference.
I would say that the shotgun to use depends very much on what you're going to do with
it. Take some time to practice with them and you'll be rewarded with a cheap and occasionally
very effective weapon that others don't really understand. Plus it's a great way to upset
opponents. And at the end of the day, that's what CS:GO's about.