Rainbow Six Siege Operation Crystal Guard Tier List: Best Attackers and Defenders Right Now
Operation Crystal Guard (Year 11 Season 2) is, in the community’s own words, “the biggest shakeup Siege has seen in a while.” A rework to Dokkaebi, weapon nerfs that gutted Ash’s pick rate, and a wave of defender buffs have all landed in the same patch on Rainbow Six Siege, so the operator tier list looks noticeably different from last season. Here’s where everyone lands right now.
S-Tier Attackers
Ace, Dokkaebi, Grim, Nomad, Ram, and Solid Snake headline the attacker side this season. Dokkaebi’s rework is the headline change, turning her from a niche intel pick into, by most accounts, the single most ban-worthy attacker in the game right now. Ace and Grim remain reliable hard-breach and recon picks respectively, while Ram and Nomad give attackers strong map-control tools for pushing onto site.
S-Tier Defenders
Aruni, Denari, Goyo, Melusi, Mira, Skopós, Smoke, and Vigil make up S-tier on defense, the deepest top tier the defender side has had in a while. Vigil and Goyo are the biggest risers this patch, both benefiting directly from this season’s balance changes and now anchoring sites far more consistently than before. Mira and Smoke remain the steady, high-floor picks that top-level teams default to when in doubt.
A-Tier, B-Tier, and Who to Avoid
A-tier attackers, Blackbeard, Blitz, Buck, Deimos, Gridlock, Maverick, Striker, Thatcher, and Twitch, remain solid, flexible picks that didn’t move much this patch. On defense, A-tier includes Bandit, Clash, Ela, Fenrir, Kaid, Mozzie, Mute, Thorn, Tubarão, and Warden.
The biggest faller this season is Ash, who drops out of the top tiers entirely after weapon nerfs cut into her close-range duels; she now sits in C-tier alongside Flores, IQ, Jackal, Osa, and Sens. On defense, Echo, Jäger, Sentry, and Wamai round out C-tier, all still usable but outclassed by this season’s stronger picks.
For the complete breakdown with full reasoning behind every placement, check out Dexerto’s Operation Crystal Guard tier list.
Jumping back in for the new season? A Steam Wallet Code (US) covers Battle Pass or operator purchases on PC, a PSN Gift Card (US) works the same way on PlayStation, and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (US) code covers Xbox.
How to Adjust Your Picks This Season
If you’ve been locking in Ash out of habit, this is the patch to finally drop her; the weapon nerfs hit her entire identity as a fast-entry fragger, and there isn’t an attachment combination that fully compensates. Pivot to Ram or Nomad for a similar aggressive, map-control playstyle that hasn’t been nerfed into the ground.
On defense, if your squad doesn’t already have a Dokkaebi counter planned, expect to see her in almost every match until a future patch tones down her rework; coordinate your intel denial accordingly, since she’s currently warping how most ranked lobbies open their first thirty seconds.
Goyo and Vigil are also worth re-learning even if you wrote them off in past seasons. Goyo’s buffs make him a far more reliable site anchor now, and Vigil’s kit synergizes well with the slower, more deliberate defensive rotations that this meta rewards. Both are strong starting points if you’re building a new five-stack strategy around Operation Crystal Guard.
Ranked or casual, expect this list to hold for most of the season unless Ubisoft ships an emergency balance hotfix, which has happened in past seasons when a rework like Dokkaebi’s proves too strong.
