As much as I love my BR, Magnum/AR starts did work much better in the Beta in my experience for several reasons
- The magnum isn't as oppressive cross-map due to less zoom, shorter red range, semi-auto is less forgiving than 3 round burst
- Shallower mag, 5sk with 10 rounds in the mag as opposed to 4sk with 12 bursts.
- Perfect TTK slightly faster than BR, but slightly less usable meaning it can contend with smg/br/DMR at medium range and beat the AR/SMG. At close range the magnum struggles against the SMG/AR but can stil contend, but fares equally against the BR/DMR. At long range it seems to be able to trade poke with a BR but ultimately would lose I feel, and the DMR would of course trounce it at long range. I feel like these interactions are quite good for a starting weapon, it offers great utility without being overly usable, forgiving and long ranged.
Magnum starts seem like a perfect answer to the stale standoffish gameplay we saw in the Beta during BR starts.