As of right now, the Guardian doesn't hold up well against the other rifles in most situations. Riot has already stated that they didn't want it to directly compete with the Vandal and the Phantom, but people compare the Guardian to the Bulldog and say that the Bulldog is better, in terms of flexibility at least. The Bulldog's automatic fire allows it to spray down at close range and its ADS can pick off enemies from afar, while the Guardian is tailor-made for long range combat. The fact that the Guardian has a highly contested niche makes the Guardian undesirable for its price tag and is almost never played. A lot of people have also said that the Guardian is just a scaled up version of the Sheriff and there is some merit to that. However, there is definitely more going for the Guardian besides faster fire rate that comes with its price tag(e.g. being able to fire 3 round bursts and still be pin-point accurate). If I were to make the Guardian more effective in the game, I would either buff the Guardian's fire rate back to its beta version while retaining its 2400 price tag or rework it into an autosniper/autocannon(higher dps, lower fire rate). Maybe the reason why it isn't popular is simply because it is a DMR and they usually do not fare well in an first person shooter, or maybe it just hasn't been given much of a chance and is actually more viable than others credit it for.

What are your thoughts on the Guardian?