Discuss the operators - Montagne

[The3rdWalker 1,268]

This series has been re-created to facilitate the gameplay, metagame, and strategy discussion that often gets buried or lost in the abundance of others posts that flood this sub.

The goal of this series is to not only give new players a primer on an operator, but also for midlevel or competitive players a chance to share the knowledge that they have accrued in their experiences and maybe let people know something that they did not know before.

Today's operator is Montagne.

• Iceycat's Montagne Guide 
• Montagne Wiki

The community has outlined a couple of things that they want to converse about with every operator, but feel free to branch out should you feel a piece of information warrants its own discussion.

• The operator’s primary or ideal role in the team. (DISCLAIMER: Operators can be played in a number of different ways. There is no single way to play an operator. This is probably the most subjective segment of the discussion series, and hopefully will spark debates or help us learn things we did not know before.)
• The operator’s gadget and how it will help the team achieve its goals. Please share any tidbits you may know to help expand discussion.
• The operator’s loadout, and how best to optimize it. This includes primaries, secondaries, and secondary gadgets.
• What maps and game modes does this operator do well on?
• What maps and game modes does this operator struggle with?
• What teammates synergize well with this operator?
• What opposing operators check or counter this operator?
• What strategies have you adopted while playing this operator? What is something that a new player should know * when playing this operator, or what is something you know that would help a veteran player take that next step?
• What is your overall opinion of this operator? Where would you rank them among the other operators?

[The3rdWalker 1,268]

Part of the problem I think is that teammates and the player apply the mindset of Blitz and think Montagne can just barge in and hold his own. I feel that people don't trust Montagne to do his job and Montagne playes don't trust their teammates enough to do theirs.

With the widening of the shield extensions, Montagne doesn't need to do the side-to-side dance, which also makes it easier for teammates to shoot from behind him. But I still see a lot of dancing going on.

Here's three tactics which I've seen him be very useful.

• Pointman - Extend the shield, walk right through. Call out targets while teammates file in behind and shoot over his shoulder, or stay behind long enough to get to another piece of cover. Sure, Nitro Cell risk, but if sneaky-peeky isn't going to work, he's a good door-kicker.
• Flank Guard - Basically, protects the main attack from any counter-attacks from the side. Found this through a match on Plane. I scouted the bio container and found Kapkan, flashed him and jumped in, not realizing Mute was also there. Thankfully, Monty came in behind me and shielded me from what would have otherwise been a flank, and after dispatching Kapkan I was able to finish off Mute too.
• Flanker - It takes some coordination, but Montagne (and Blitz) can attack the enemy from the opposite side without getting friendly fire because of the shield. Alternatively, they can flank and seal off an exit. Found this playing Border. Was clearing the last two defenders off a bomb site and found them at a doorway trying to get past Montagne. Easily took them out without any risk to Monty.

[The3rdWalker 1,268]

General tips:

• Don't walk around with your shield extended all the time. You won't be able to react to nitro cells if you do. Instead, deploy the extended shield in response to heavy fire, or just before executing a play that requires it.
• Stun grenades are much better than they used to be. It's much easier to dynamically clear a room after throwing stun grenades in now. Take the heavy side of the room after throwing a couple of 'bangs and feel the adrenaline. (I don't advocate going dynamic as a bread-and-butter tactic, as it's still really risky, but when the clock's running down and your squad can't get angles on the remaining opponents in a room, it's ideal.)
• The revolver is great for downing enemies with body shots (two or three at close to medium range is enough for most opponents). Be aware that you probably won't hit anything at all if you're under any amount of fire, and if you're playing with people who probably won't back you up (e.g. solo queue or friends are being jerks) the P9 is better for taking on multiple opponents at once due to better accuracy and simply having more bullets per reload.
• Try to avoid walking sideways as much as possible and don't change directions too often. It makes the lives of your teammates behind you a lot easier. Smooth and predictable movement is key in a teamplay situation.
• Montagne's weapons are very... Iffy. The revolver can be good, but it isn't always good. If you want reliable and consistent accuracy, with a higher mag, use the handgun. The revolver is one of the worst weapons in the game, and having to reload after six shots as a shield is pretty detrimental.

Uses for extended shield:

• Recon. Everyone knows this one, but for posterity's sake, you can use your extended shield to reconnoitre OpFor positions without fear of being shot. Coordinate with your team, ping locations and call out opponent stances (standing, crouching, prone) and whether they're using cover (e.g. "Got one crouching, peeking left of deployable shield".
• Cover. Another obvious one -- you can be a moving wall of cover for your allies. Create a safe spot in a hallway to place a breaching charge, protect a DBNO ally as they crawl to cover, advance with someone at your shoulder. Further to the last point: tell your allies to direct you and tell you where they are, because they know best where you'll be able to protect them. Having them use callouts like "I'm leaning out to your right. Move to the left" will save your allies some headaches and you from getting bullets up your butt.
• Obstacle. We've all seen our fair share of Montagnes blocking entire doorways with their extended shields (usually accompanied by references to Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones). Just be aware that the more players left on the opposite team there are, and the earlier in the match it is, the less viable this tactic becomes, because the first thing people think when they see a Montagne in a doorway is "who's got nitro?"
• Distraction. A classic tactic is to split your opponent's focus as much as possible, so that they can't react as quickly to anything you or your allies do. For example, walk straight into a room with a roamer and back into the opposite corner. Once you have the roamer's attention, call in an ally to hose them down with bullets. Even if the roamer suspects you have an ally waiting outside, they can't turn their back on you in case you unextend and shoot them. Get used to roamers simply running away when you do this.

What do we mean "heavy side of the room?"

• Rooms can be loosely categorised into one of two types: centre door or heavy/light.
• Centre door means that there is space to either side of the entry point before each corner. In turn this means that there are two near corners, and you can't see them from outside the room.
• Heavy/light means the entry point is close to a corner of the room, and there is only one corner that can't be seen from outside. The side of the room with the blind near corner is called the heavy side, because that's likely where most of the enemies will be. The light side is the side that the entry point is on.
• During a dynamic entry and room clearance, it's generally considered best practice for the point man to clear the heavy side, and the number 2 man to clear the light side.
• This article probably explains it better than I just did, and it has diagrams.