In the Counter Strike series, most players default to assault rifles as their main weapons. AK-47 and M4A4 are some of the most popular guns in the game, offering great versatility in long-range combat, while at the same time being reliable at close range, allowing players who know how to control the spray patterns to best their opponents.
Because of this, all the shotguns in CS:GO don’t really see much action, especially in competitive play. Most players choose to simply default to meta solutions, which generally dictate that shotguns with their limited range are simply not good enough to be used in-game.
However, this approach is wrong, and even in competitive play shotguns can excel on some maps. Most players are unaware of the real scope of power these weapons possess, and if you’re one of these players, chances are you’ve been sleeping on a whole bunch of powerful guns, which could help you turn games around.
Want to fix that? Here’s our guide on all CS:GO shotguns available in the game.
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What Are The CS:GO Shotguns?
The CS:GO Shotguns category includes four different weapons:
- Nova
- XM1014
- MAG-7
- Sawed-Off
Each shotgun has a moderate-to-large spread and is generally only reliable at close quarters. While it’s impossible to fight with shotguns at long range, the trade-off is that they possess incredible firepower. In some cases, one shot can be an instant kill, provided you know how to use the weapon.
One of the reasons that Shotguns lack popularity, is that they are only useful on certain maps. Since each shotgun provides armor penetration, they are perfect for catching the enemy team unaware from around the corner. Likewise, if you plan on clearing a tight bombsite, running in with a shotgun can let you quickly clear out the area and secure the win. On the other hand, if the map features large, open areas, shotguns become a high-risk weapon. Even the most accurate shotgun is not enough to fight at larger distances, and if you force buy only shotgun for a round, chances are you’ll simply be useless to your team.
This doesn’t mean, however, that shotguns are somehow useless. On the contrary, even the cheapest shotgun has a kill reward which can help you quickly make back any money spent. Also, even the most expensive shotgun is still significantly cheaper than some of the more popular assault rifles. This means that if you’re in a tight spot with your funds if you know how to play with a shotgun, you can quickly make back your money and even get ahead.
Finally, many players don’t know how to play around shotguns, and generally don’t expect a shotgun to appear on the enemy team. This applies even in high CSGO ranks, such as Global Elite, more so where players expect others to simply use meta solutions. This means that a skilled player can ambush their enemies with a shotgun for instant kills. Most players don’t expect to be one-shot by the enemy running out of a smoke grenade with a high armor penetration shotgun, killing them instantly.
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All CS GO Shotguns
As you can see, in some situations shotguns can make a great alternative to the standard machine guns that most players use in a match. Here is an in-depth look at all the CS GO shotguns currently available in the game:
Nova
Nova is the most basic shotgun in the game, available to both teams. Due to its low price of $1200, it’s often purchased early-on in the match, commonly after a successful pistol round. While not the most efficient weapon to use on armored opponents, with its tight spread Nova is great at short-to-medium range, allowing you to effectively plow through unarmored opponents. While the shotgun is very useful early on, it’s sadly lacking in armor penetration, meaning that you will have trouble when going up against armored opponents. Combined with the low fire rate, outside of early rounds Nova isn’t the best choice. Still, the gun has an impressive kill reward of $900, which means that after killing only two players you’l come out ahead. If the map features tight corridors or places where you could otherwise catch the enemy unaware, Nova can be a great purchase for early game.
XM1014
Slightly more expensive at $2000, the XM1014 has the highest fire rate in the game. In addition, when using the XM1014 you can simply hold down the fire button, and the weapon will continue to quickly fire a series of shots until you run out of ammo and have to reload. The weapon is very useful at both short range and medium range, with a small fall-off of damage at medium distances. Although it’s one of the best weapons to stop a bombsite rush, the XM1014 doesn’t have the firepower of other shotguns in the game, dealing only a total of 120 damage, and that’s providing that all the 6 pellets fired from this gun connect to its target. This could mean that you might need 2 to 3 shots in order to take out an enemy, which can leave quite a lot to be desired from a CSGO shotgun. Still, if you feel like the enemy team might be rushing the bombsite you’re defending, the XM1014 can be a good choice.
MAG-7
Available only on the CT side, the MAG-7 is possibly one of the best shotguns in the game. Although it might lack in fire rate and reload time, MAG-7 has the highest armor penetration and damage out of all the shotguns in the game. As a matter of fact, if you manage to hit all of the shotgun’s pellets up close, you can even instantly kill a fully-armored enemy. While the shotgun has one of the largest damage fall-offs at a distance, it also happens to be one of the most powerful weapons up close. With high-risk-high-reward, at the low price of $1800, MAG-7 can be a great choice to quickly turn the game around.
Sawed-Off
Costing $1200, the Sawed-Off is a great alternative to Nova if you’re playing on the T side. With a high damage and high fall-off at longer ranges, Sawed-Off is a Terrorist alternative to Nova. The gun has the largest spread possible from all the shotguns in the game, while also packing a solid punch. Like MAG-7, Sawed-Off can also let you kill an enemy with a single hit, provided all of your pellets hit the enemy. This, however, can prove to be quite difficult, since the gun has a very large spread, high reload time, and is generally somewhat inaccurate. Still, for the price it can help you kill some Counter Terrorists early on.
In Conclusion
Although shotguns aren’t the most popular weapons currently in the game, a skilled player can easily use them to outmatch the enemy. If you ever want to score some awesome-looking skins for any o the shotguns on this list, be sure to visit Skinsmonkey, where you can trade CSGO skins for the best prices, anytime, anywhere, and even get free CSGO skins!
A true gaming enthusiast, especially Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rust. At SkinsMonkey, he is involved in creating game guides based on his own experience.
