When Ubisoft's developers unveil a new operator, the majority of players instantly think about the character’s potential to destabilize the game’s meta. It’s an understandable thought, though, as players are used to a certain way of playing the game. It’s even more comprehensible for those who experienced Lion’s early days: a new operator can certainly make someone go insane.
Looking back at the last three years of Rainbow Six Siege, it’s fair to say that four of the last nine brand-new operators released to the game have shaken the well-established meta, including Azami, Solis, Fenrir, and Tubarão. All of these characters have gone through intensive research by Ubisoft’s developers to balance them according to the game’s needs.
We can’t ignore the other five operators, though. Although Brava has perfectly adapted to the game and hasn’t needed any major nerf, Ram was released with one less BU-GI Auto Breacher than the number initially expected, Grim’s buffs saw the Singaporean sitting as the fourth-most played attacker at the Six Invitational 2024, while Deimos instantly became a leading force at information-gathering tasks at the BLAST R6 Major Manchester.
Certainly, Sens is the only operator on the list that has gone unnoticed for both casual and competitive players – the non-binary character is the attacker with the lowest presence and lowest win delta rate at PC matches on Platinum and above.
When Sens was released to Rainbow Six Siege, professional teams decided to give it a chance. After all, Sens’ gadget could be used to waste plenty of defensive utility and the coverage created was bigger than the one gotten from a smoke grenade. However, it feels like the player base already gave up on the Belgian operator. At the Six Invitational 2024, Sens had a pick rate of 1.3% while the attacker’s pick rate at the BLAST R6 Major Manchester was 1.5%.
But, what about Skopós? Will the Greek character shake the meta or will her wheelchair get stuck in the mud? While the attacker has only been tested for a fortnight, I expect Skopós to be a competitive wildcard while also being the perfect balance between competitive and ranked play, and here’s why.
Unique game mechanic that isn’t broken
While Skopós' concept has no precedent in Rainbow Six Siege, it’s not overpowered – and that’s extremely important to understand.
When the Greek operator was unveiled on August 25, the uniqueness of her gadget shocked the majority of fans. Some of them thought Skopós shells would allow her to have two lives and killing her would automatically teleport the robot’s soul to the one that was working as a camera. It doesn’t work like that and anything different would have probably made Skopós an OP operator.
Skopós concept makes her the game’s most versatile operator, at least on defense. She can do absolutely everything; from playing as an anchor to roaming, there’s nothing she can’t do. However, she won’t stand out in any of her potential functions – and that’s why I think she won’t be either broken nor useless. She’s just there.
As an anchor or a flex, Skopós doesn’t bring any gadget that can make a difference – she has got impact grenades and proximity alarms. However, her ability V10 Panthen Shell can be used as a shield to obtain extra protection and more vision than a standard deployable shield. Covering it with gadgets like Jäger’s ADSs or Wamai’s disks can work out and force attackers to waste utility. Additionally, players have access to the camera deployed on the secondary robot, which means while deactivated it works both as a shield and a bulletproof camera.
On the other hand, Skopós can be used as a roamer and a defender for late flanks by placing her secondary V10 Panthen Shell outside of the site for late-round plays or roaming tasks. Doing so also forces the attackers to spend time looking for the robot and could even force them to bring operators like Brava or IQ to spot it quickly.
Although that’s the main idea behind playing Skopós, it should be very easy to counter the Greek operator when it’s played like that: attackers only have to find and destroy the second shell. Attackers can also decide to not destroy the secondary shell and place a Claymore in front of it; with the deployable shield covering it, Skopós will never know that the explosive gadget has been placed there, and swapping robots would instantly kill her.
Moreover, as time goes by, players will get familiarized with where the secondary shell is often located. For instance, Oregon’s big tower, Clubhouse’s strip club, or Bank’s basement are some of the spots that could be used. With these always being the same, the time spent on locating the secondary shell should get smaller in the near future as players will get used to them.
However, a magnificent way of using Skopós that I believe we will see often in professional matches is leaving Skopós secondary robot hidden inside the site while the Greek operator plays as a roamer in very specific locations. For instance, Skopós could be used to delay the attackers’ take of one particular room on the map and, when the Greek operator is cornered, quickly switch to the secondary robot. By doing this, Skopós would waste the attackers' utility and time while preserving her life.
Plain and simple, despite having multiple ways of playing Skopós, I expect the great number of counters will make it difficult for her to actually use the second shell as a moving operator. Instead, it will be used as a way of pushing the attackers to waste time looking for her, or as an attacker-utility consumer. Mastering her gadget could basically be constantly checking and moving the secondary shell around the map to actually preserve it until the end of the round, where its importance would really be tested. The opportunities are infinite!
With both options being viable and the mechanic being something any other operator can bring to the table, I expect Skopós to be a wildcard operator and even a must-pick in some very specific sites; however, the Greek operator is balanced and won’t need major updates (maybe to her PCX-33), which means Ubisoft have done a great job. Skopós won’t shake the meta and will probably be an operator that competitive players will bring every now and then. But, how could her release impact the casual experience?
Casual versus ranked experience
Ranked players will be relieved to know that Skopós isn’t a game-changer. At the same time, Skopós should be a breath of fresh air for casual players.
Undeniably, Skopós offers a unique gaming experience in Rainbow Six Siege. It’s not another gadget with smoke grenades or any other concept that’s already absurdly common in the game – this is completely new.
Additionally, Skopós PCX-33 is the perfect gun for a casual player. It’s new and its recoil is extremely easy to learn and control – considering the gun’s damage and recoil pattern, I expect casual players with a hunger for action to insta-lock the Greek operator.
Therefore, while competitive players will have the chance to use Skopós as a way of surprising the attackers and forcing them to slightly change their strategy to take a certain bomb, casual players will be able to have fun with the new mechanic.
Potential impact on future time-limited game modes
Skopós may be a blessing in disguise for Rainbow Six Siege’s future time-limited game modes. I expect the Greek’s ability to be somehow implemented in the future in brand-new time-limited game modes, where all players on one or both teams have the ability to change bodies.
Seeing unique abilities being adapted and implemented in time-limited game modes isn’t something we haven’t seen before. For instance, Azami’s release on March 2022 was followed by the Rengoku event one month later, where all of the operators had the ability to throw different types of kunai – including fire, smoke, and explosive kunai.
Another example can be found in Oryx. His Remah Dash has been adapted in different time-limited game modes, including MUTE Protocol, where it was named as Power Dash. Or, let’s not forget about Doktor’s Curse, where all the attackers had access to some kind of Sledgehammer.
Therefore, it makes perfect sense to think that Ubisoft could introduce a time-limited game mode in the future where players use Skopós’ unique mechanic. Imagine some of the game’s operators adapted to look like robots fighting against each other; wouldn’t that be cool?
While these are only a few ideas before Skopós release, I truly think Ubisoft have created one of the coolest operator concepts in the game without breaking it. The Greek operator will be introduced to the game on September 10, when Operation Twin Shells will be fully released.