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How To Master The Pistol Round in- VALORANT
The pistol round is vital if you want to have a good match in VALORANT. Here’s how to make the most of it.
Pistol rounds are one of the most important rounds in VALORANT as they’ll typically decide how the first few rounds of each half will go. Despite a pistol round appearing straight forward on paper, there’s quite a bit of strategy and nuance to the round.
What is the pistol round?
TThe pistol round takes place at the start of each half, and provides players with 800 credits. At that level of economy, the only weapons available are pistols and whatever utility you wish to buy.
The pistol round plays an important role in terms of tempo, since winning it will provide you the financial advantage to win the next round with ease. With the potential momentum a pistol round win could give to your team, it’s important for each player to understand what they should be buying and how they should play.
The Weapons
Before going over what each player should consider buying, let's go through a brief rundown of each weapon.
VALORANT Weapons
© Riot Games
Classic
The Classic is the default weapon for players. The weapon is an effective pistol at medium range as well as at a close range thanks to its alternate fire which shoots three shots out at once like a shotgun. Considering how effective the gun is, most players will feel fine spending credits on their abilities and relying on the Classic to get them through the round.
Shorty
At 300 credits, the Shorty is the cheapest weapon players are able to buy during the pistol round. Despite its short range as a shotgun, the potential to one-shot kill a player without armor makes it a strong option for agents with great movement like Jett or someone holding a tight angle. Overall, while the Shorty has its uses in the pistol round, you’re more likely to see the weapon as a secondary by players with a long range weapon to have a strong option for short range fights.
Frenzy
The Frenzy is an automatic pistol that costs 450 credits. The weapon is ideal for entry fraggers as it’s an effective gun at clearing corners. However, if you’re the type of player who’s not particularly attracted to the run and gun playstyle or simply enjoy playing a bit slower, this is a weapon that you’ll likely be avoiding.
Ghost
With a price tag of 500 credits, the Ghost is the most versatile weapon that’s available during the pistol round. Effective at close and far ranges and with the ability to 1-tap armorless players less than 30 meters away from you, the Ghost can do it all during a pistol round. However, due to its cost, it’s a tough buy to justify and will only really be a good option for agents that don’t really need their abilities to be effective.
Sheriff
At the cost of 800 credits, VALORANT’s version of the deagle should only be bought by players with full confidence in their ability to hit shots. If you know you can hit your shots, then the Sheriff is a great option despite the high risk of dumping all your credit into the gun as it’s able to kill anyone with two body shots.
What should you buy?
Along with agent abilities, the 800 credits at your disposal can quickly disappear for the pistol round so it’s important to really consider what to purchase. Ultimately, it will depend on each player and their preferences but here are some things to consider.
First off, if you’re playing a Controller like Omen or Brimstone on defense, you should ideally spend your credits on smokes and a light shield instead of buying a gun. On the flipside, if you’re attacking and playing an Initiator like Skye or KAY/O, then maybe some flashes to help your team push onto sight might be a better investment than buying a gun.
Another thing to consider if you’re on defense is where you’re going to position yourself. While it may be fun to buy a Shorty and try to get a cheeky kill, it’s probably not the best use of your credits if you’re playing from a position that’ll put you in long range fights and you should consider something like the Ghost instead.
All in all, there are a lot of possible purchases you can make as a player for a pistol round but at the end of the day the best way to figure out what you should buy is to communicate with your team. Once you understand the plan for the round, you’ll be able to make a better informed decision about what you should buy.
General tips
Ultimately, winning a pistol round will come down to you and your team’s ability to play together as a team and how well you can hit your shots just like any other round of VALORANT, but there are some other general tips to help improve your chances.
Don’t save credits
Although there isn’t necessarily a wrong way to spend your credits during a pistol round, the worst thing you can do is not spend any credit at all. Ultimately winning a pistol round will give you enough credits to purchase an SMG in the next round while losing the round will put you in a rough spot even if you saved the 800 credits. Ultimately, the best thing to do is to spend up your credits and make sure you’re putting your team in the best position to win the round.
Buying shields isn’t always necessary
While buying a light shield is a great way to help keep you alive a bit longer during pistol rounds, the 400 credits could go towards something a bit more impactful. As with any other decision made for the pistol round it’s important to consider what your role on the team is and what the opposing agents are. If you’re the one that’s going to enter sites first or if the enemy team has agents with damaging abilities like Raze or Viper then a light shield may be a good investment to help keep yourself alive a bit longer. But if you’re just going to take aim duels or have abilities that can slow down or outright stop pushes, you might want to consider investing those credits elsewhere.
Practice makes perfect
As cliche as this advice may sound it is the best advice to take. The best way to win pistol rounds is to ensure that you’re able to win your engagements as much as possible. So take the time to learn how to use whichever gun you plan on buying, find good spots to hold and make sure that you can hit your shots!
Now that you have a better understanding of how to play the pistol round, it’s time to queue up and put what you learned into practice. Best of luck on your climb and hopefully these tips will help you win more games!
