After seeing a post about Koreans in high elo think that shotguns (mainly the bucky) are too strong on r/VALORANT a couple months ago, I did an experiment to see if I could climb with shotgun only. Instead of picking the best movement type agents that synergize well with shotguns (Raze and Jett), I picked Sage since I was thinking I could use her wall aggressively to get off-angles against opponents. Also the name Shotgun Sage was funny to me.

I found out that Shotguns are really good, especially if you can master the bucky right click range. The amount of times I was able to get a one-shot was too many.

Utilizing shotguns definitely alter the style of play that most people are not used to and can surprise enemies.

Also Killing people with shotguns make people very angry which you can see some examples here: Video 1 & Video 2

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Below is what I found playing as Shotgun Sage (Montage of how I hit diamond)

Requirements:

• Play Sage every game
• Only use Shotguns: Judge, Bucky, and Shorty
• With round loss providing 1900 credits, I am able to force-buy every single round.
• I mainly played with my friends (duo to 5-stack) since I didn't want to ruin any random teammate's games, however when I did solo queue, all my teammates were super nice and loved the fact I was going as Shotgun Sage.

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Analysis

• I went 4-1 in my placements and got the rank of Silver 3 (For unrated games, I only lost once before I reached 10 wins).
• It took 53 games from Silver 3 to reach Diamond 1. I had a 73.5% W/L Ratio, 39 Wins - 14 Losses.
• I have a K/D of 1.39, Dmg/Round = 148, HS% = 17.5%, Combat Score of 266, Econ Score of 56
• On Defense, I mainly used the Judge. On Offense, I used Bucky only since the right click has farther range.
• Going shotgun only, I am able to store up my economy and constantly buy for my teammates.
• Even in high plat/low diamond, opponents did not know how to adapt shotguns. People got super tilted and would claim that shotguns are no skill, then start to use them, get killed, rage more, then go back to assault rifles.
• I also had weird experiences with the shorty - I shoot them with 2 shots and hit them with 11 pellets but only did 77 damage. I learned that with the shorty, you have to be almost kissing your opponent for it to kill them, once you start social distancing the shorty damage falls off drastically.
• On pistol rounds, I always went with Wall+Shorty. This leaves me with 300 credits which will allow me to always buy a wall the next round (win or lose).
• My playstyle changed, I learned how to fast-jiggle peek and shoot with the bucky. On defense, I always changed where my location and set-up.
• I found some spots where I can wall up which will allow me to get the perfect bucky-right click oneshot range.

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Tips on how to counter Shotguns

• Use your utility: the toughest agents were Sova, Cypher, Breach, Phoenix, and Raze. They are able to clear out corners where someone with a shotgun would hide. Also flashes counter shotgun play super hard.
• Play at a distance, if you know the optimal shotgun right click range, you will also know how far back to stand or if you need to play up close. There are many times where I would right click and it would only do 20 damage since the pellets didn't travel far enough.
• Play smart: the best example I can give is on the map Split. If someone is using a shotgun, they usually play in Mail Room (B-Heaven), therefore you can execute A and they will have a hard time retaking site.

I think that shotguns are very strong especially in force-buying rounds and the round after pistol. I honestly have no idea on how to nerf the bucky right click.