César "Goyo" Ruíz Hernández is a Mexican Rainbow Six Siege operator who was introduced in the Operation Ember Rise expansion back in September 2019.
Since then, Goyo has been a target for many nerfs. He was initially released with three Vulcan Shields, which quickly dropped to two. Later on, Goyo's TCSG12 was also nerfed, lowering damage from 84 to 54. He also lost his impacts, as these were changed for proximity alarms.
At the beginning of Year 6, Ubisoft promised a rework for Goyo's Vulcan Shield. After experiencing some delays, it is finally in the Test Server.
No more shields
Although Goyo's gadget does the same job, it has changed: the shields have been removed leaving the canisters alone. These can be deployed on floors, tables, even walls, and can be detonated by shooting at it — just like before.
Goyo losing the shields is a big pill to swallow. Shields are an important part of Siege defenses to hold positions or to make attackers lose utility. Having two extra shields made Goyo a pivotal operator in some schemes. Not anymore.
This has been seen as a nerf for some, but is it really a nerf? Or has this change made Goyo stronger?
Entry denial
Entry denial operators are pivotal in Siege. The most famous one is Smoke, who can throw canisters filled with a gas that stands in the air for 10 seconds — which means he can deny attackers from pushing a door for 30 seconds. Tachanka can do something similar with his Shumikha Launcher.
Goyo is different. While Smoke and Tachanka are the only ones who can activate the gadget, Goyo's canisters can be triggered by any operator on the battlefield. Shooting at the red part of the canister will detonate it, covering the near area with flames that stand for 20 seconds.
What's even worse, in the case of having two canisters together, the explosion of the first canister won't trigger the second, which means Goyo could place his four canisters in the same area and activate them one by one, covering the same area with flames for 80 seconds — almost half a round.
Obviously, these canisters can be triggered by attackers too. These can be removed with explosives or Twitch tasers. However, the canisters can't be removed without these releasing the fire.
This is a perfect example of Goyo's potential. Goyo's shields were pivotal in some defensive schemes, yes, but now his gadget can stop attackers for a really long time. Goyo could be a very interesting choice in maps like Kafe (see Tweet provided before), Bank (waste attacker's time by holding blue stairs), or Villa.
Right now, this version of Goyo is exclusive to the Test Server. Honestly, the canisters now might be too strong, so a nerf might also be on the makings. Reducing the flames time (20 to 15, even 10 seconds) or the number of canisters (from four to three) should be options to consider.
However, as of now, Goyo remains like a very strong operator in certain situations. The TS and the feedback from the players will be crucial to determine if a nerf is needed, or if Goyo's newest version can be launched in the live version of the game.