Is Valorant’s Marshal rifle better than CSGO’s Scout?

The Scout has been a fixture in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive since the game’s earliest days, but there is a new sheriff in town in competing game Valorant.

The weapons have similar uses and are often bought early in the game or during eco rounds. Both CSGO’s SSG 08 and Valorant’s Marshal excel at long-range combat thanks to their scopes, and they allow the player to move at almost maximum movement speed. When playing with either, it can sometimes feel like players are gliding. The weapons are deadly in experienced hands, but CSGO’s Scout has a very particular trait that makes it one of the most unique weapons in a competitive shooter.

Jump Scouting is CSGO’s most unique mechanic

CSGO’s SSG 08 Scout is a bolt-action rifle, and it’s capable of doing some pretty wild things when in the right hands. A single headshot will take down an opponent even if they’re wearing a helmet. But the Scout actually brings much more to CSGO than its ability to down opponents in one shot. The weapon does a minimum of 66 damage to enemy players, meaning that a few Scout tags can turn an eco round on its head. Professional teams with competent snipers often use this eco strategy, as viewers have seen from mousesports and Team Liquid over the years. The SSGs soften up enemies to make it easier for teammates to grab a kill with a light buy. But there’s one more thing that makes the Scout special.

Ever since its introduction, the Scout recovers its accuracy far faster than any other weapon in CSGO. Jumping accuracy works slightly differently in the shooter than new players might suspect. As soon as a player jumps, their equipped weapon becomes completely inaccurate. That would make sense since it should be difficult to jump and control an automatic rifle. CSGO’s accuracy values start to reset as soon as the user stops moving, so there is a moment at the top of the player’s jump where weapons are slightly more accurate in the milisecond it takes for gravity to take over. How long it takes for a gun to become accurate once stopping varies from weapon to weapon, so a little more accuracy in a split second is useless. Most of the time, it takes longer for the accuracy to return than it does for the player to land a shot.

CSGO’s SSG has the fastest accuracy recovery out of all weapons

But the Scout has a particular quirk that makes its famous trick possible. 

While it isn’t the most powerful weapon in CSGO, its accuracy recovery time after stopping is so low that by the time the player reaches the very top of their jump and stops moving upward, there is a split-second where the Scout becomes almost 100% accurate before gravity takes over. The special trait allows the weapon to jump shot with what feels like complete accuracy. 

But what about Valorant’s Marshall? It’s clear that Riot took some inspiration from CSGO when creating their shooter, but did they take the SSG’s jump mechanic too?

Can you jump shot with Valorant’s Marshal sniper rifle?

Not at all.

Valorant’s Marshal shares many of same traits of its cousin over in CSGO. It has a high base movement speed, and even with a body shot it deals 101 points of damage. That’s enough to kill an unarmored player on its own, or to instantly take out an enemy’s heavy shield with a single shot. In the same way, it’s a great option for force buys and eco rounds. It is also extremely accurate even when unscoped, giving skilled players the ability to grab some clips for the highlight reel. It’s the only weapon in Valorant that fires faster when zoomed in.

But while jumping, the Marshal can’t reliably hit a target directly in front of it. Just as with the majority of Valorant’s weapons, it would take a miracle for a player to land a headshot while jumping.

So which rifle is better? It’s tough to say. Both have their uses. The Scout has a better quirk with its jump shot, but the Marshal may be more reliable.

How much does the Marshal rifle cost?

Incredibly, the Marshal only costs 1,000 credits, making it one of the most affordable rifles in the game. So even though the Marshal can’t jump shot, there are some serious benefits to playing with one, even on full buy rounds. 

Can the Marshal kill players in one shot?

If players manage to hit an enemy in the head, the Marshall will kill them outright. It does 202 damage with a headshot, and that’s good enough for an instant kill. It’s great for a half buy situation, and players that are used to CSGO’s Scout and movement speed will feel right at home with the Marshal.

What are the Marshal’s stats in Valorant?

Players can get all the details on the Marshall, including damage, penetration values, and rate of fire right here.

• Price: 1,100
• Fire rate: 1.5 rounds/sec
• Zoom: 2.5x zoom, slightly more accurate when scoped
• Fire rate while zoomed: 1.2 rounds/sec
• Damage:
  • Body – 101 damage
  • Head – 202 damage
  • Leg – 85 damage
• Bullets before reload: 5
• Wall Penetration: Average

Even though it can’t jump shoot, the Marshal is a viable weapon in many situations. After the nerfs to Valorant’s Operator, the Marshal might even be a better weapon overall, especially when the player has backup. It’s the ultimate chip damage weapon, and it excels in that role.