TL 1:0 L5 
FW7M 1:0 FURIA 
BD 1:0 IMP 
FAZE 1:0 LOUD 
INTZ 1:0 LOS 
People had looked forward to the release of Year 11 Season 3 since Noor (back then codenamed as Fireworks) was first teased at the Six Invitational 2026—a defender whose ability was to fire projectiles on shields sounded like a strong counter to operators such as Montagne, Blitz, and Blackbeard.
Noor’s reveal was initially welcomed with fear due to his anti-hard breaching potential; although he was a shield counter, it felt like his place in the meta would be far away from this role and, instead, he would be an alternative to Tubarão, Bandit, and Kaid. However, Ubisoft rapidly corrected his gadget’s potential as they delayed its activation time when used on reinforced walls.
In the end, days after the Operation Split Fire Test Server opened its doors, Noor’s was deemed as a weak defender; great concept but too situational and clumsy.
Noor’s competitive debut had to wait, though, as an exploit combining his ability and deployable shields forced Ubisoft to temporarily ban the Egyptian defender. Eventually, Noor was finally playable in Rainbow Six Siege’s esports scene.
Shortly after Noor’s first competitive games, G2 Esports’ Jack “Doki” Robertson pointed out Noor’s potential on his social media—although talent members Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen and Jack “Fresh” Allen didn’t agree with him, arguing the Egyptian hadn’t had “significant value to justify his pick” yet.
Be as it may, Doki mentioned an aspect that must be considered: even if Noor isn’t played, his presence alone already influences ban phases. To see if this is true, we have compared shield ban rates in Stage 1 to the ones in Stage 2.
In the Europe and MENA League 2026, Montagne (59%) was the most banned operator in Stage 1. In Stage 2, the French attacker has a ban rate of 49%. Blitz’s ban rate has also fallen, from 16% to 8%. Finally, Blackbeard’s ban rate has increased from 5% to 9%. Overall, the numbers are pretty similar.
In South America’s top flight, the numbers are almost identical from one stage to the other. Montagne’s ban rate has stayed the same (56%) whilst Blackbeard’s is almost identical too, going from 12% to 11%. Meanwhile, Blitz’s has fallen from 13% to 6%.
The biggest difference is seen in North America. Montagne’s ban rate has fallen drastically, from 38% to 9%. Blitz’s has gone from 15% to 3% and Blackbeard’s has gone from 16% to 5%.
However, shield pick rates are pretty similar from region to region as they are all between 14 and 25% — except for Montagne’s 8% pick rate in Brazil.
As North American teams aren’t banning so many shield operators when defending, this gives them a strength: they seem to be more flexible when it comes to operator ban phases.
Instead, North American teams are focusing on banning Solid Snake (58%, 21% more than in EM and 35% more than in SA) and Ace (48%, 12% more than in EM and 21% more than in SA). Another attacker that’s worth mentioning is Ying, who has a 27% ban rate in North America but 21% and 8% in South America and Europe and MENA, respectively.
It’s not like Noor has taken over North America’s top flight. In fact, BLAST R6 Major Salt Lake City champions DarkZero Esports have yet to play the Egyptian defender. Shopify Rebellion and Cloud9 have only played the defender thrice each, whilst Wildcard and 100 Thieves have only played it twice.
In Europe and MENA, G2 Esports has been the team to play Noor the most, as they have used the defender seven times so far. Six of those seven rounds ended in wins, with the only exception being the basement defence on Clubhouse against Shifters that Roberto “Robby” Pintarelli secured for the Swiss esports team after a 1v3 clutch.
Noor is far from being the powerful shield counter that Ubisoft once promised in the animated teaser displayed at the Six Invitational 2026. However, competitively, Noor’s release seems to influence the presence of shield operators in the game—even if he’s not played.
For more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene, make sure to check out Siege.GG.