Rainbow Six: Siege operators tierlist WIP

Attackers:
A-listers: Essential. Never go without them.

First Place: Thermite.
An essential part of every team, Thermite allows Attackers to breach any wall, barricaded or not. Backing his essential ability up with Frag Grenades and a capable, if recoil-heavy, rifle, there is no downside to taking Thermite.

Second Place: Thatcher.
With his controversially strong EMP grenades and capable rifle, Thatcher is no slacker. The absolute king of device destruction, any team with Thatcher has little to concern themselves with when it comes to ADS or shock traps. Not even unbreakable walls will stop his EMP grenades from disabling devices, making Jammers useless for preventing entry devices.

B-listers: Main composition of the team. Few flaws; unparalleled in their role.

Third Place: Ash.
Packing two excellent primaries, along with danger-free breaching charges, Ash sprints her way to the top. Where other operators may bog down in the fighting, Ash can rapidly relocate and operate almost entirely independent from the team. Moreover, she doesn't even need to join the combat due to the range advantage either her R4 or G36c brings. There are very few situations where Ash is not a boon to the team.

Fourth Place: Fuze.
For the wide variety of options he brings, and the always-strong Cluster Charges he packs, Fuze is no laughing matter. His rapid-fire AK-12 or his 100-round Machine gun only serve to complement the offensive power of his Cluster Charges, and while not specialized for it, he can take a shield in a pinch. Combine one of his charges with a hit from Sledge, and Fuze has the strongest two-man room entry in the game. Not bad for the only named Shield-carrier without an ability directly relating to his shield.

Fifth Place: FBI recruit.
For the same reasons Fuze is good, so is the FBI recruit. While losing out on Fuze's Cluster Charges, the FBI recruit is small, faster, and capable of bringing an equal shield. While not quite making up for loss of the Cluster Charges, the FBI recruit's option of taking one Frag grenade gives him a unique edge as the only shield to bring lethal consumables that don't require wall interaction. These advantages make him stand out as the single best shield following room entry, as he is the most capable of achieving melee or explosive kills.

Sixth Place: Sledge.
Nearly unlimited, unjammable wall-breaking ability combined with a capable rifle and Frag grenades? That would be Sledge, an always-relevant pick for Attackers. Held down by his hammer being essentially an improved Breaching Charge, Sledge takes the basic required abilities for an Attacker and pushes them to 11. Bringing him down however, is that while never a bad choice, there's always an operator that does what Sledge does better, save for the pure quantity of unarmored barriers he can smash down.

C-listers: The bench. Taken when a B-lister isn't.

Seventh Place: Blitz.
The only shield to bring a useful, albeit limited, ability that interacts directly with the shield itself, Blitz is no bad pick. Rather, he's over-shadowed as an operator that brings nothing but a shield simply because shields are not currently in a good spot. The added utility brought by Fuze's charges or the FBI recruit's Frag grenade outweigh the limited niche Blitz fills.

Eighth Place: Twitch.
Between a strong rifle and useful, albeit limited ability, Twitch remains potent as the second-best operator for destroying devices. Her drone's 10-damage taser also does wonders in the late-match scramble to finish off wounded or downed enemies, it's only drawback being the same health as a regular drone at the cost of a larger model and no jump. Held back by weaponry generally inferior to Ash's and an ability inferior to Thatcher, Twitch is nonetheless relevant as a capable, if over-shadowed operator.

Nineth Place: Glaz.
Situationally excellent, potentially useless, Glaz brings the role of dedicated sniper to the forefront. With a rifle that can take chunks out of walls and Castle barriers, plus a folding sight for use at all ranges, Glaz wins out on the marksman role over both Ash and Twitch due to the pure danger he can bring from the windows. A strong contender for "essential" on some maps, he's held back only by his niche role.

D-listers: Meme picks and garbage ahoy!

Tenth Place: IQ.
Strong guns don't make up for an almost entirely useless ability. With the incredibly potent AUG A2 as her stand-out, IQ does wonders when the sole object is killing lots and lots of hostiles. Problem is, that's not Rainbow Six: Siege most rounds. Her 552 Commando is otherwise a better AR33, and her Light Machine gun is almost entirely worse than Fuze's. Despite her body, there's no reason to take this operator.

Eleventh Place: Montagne.
If trading an operator's life for a nitro pack sounds like a good deal, then Montagne is top-tier. With an ability too slow to be useful and offensive power so low he may as well not exist, Montagne is a wasted pick. Besides all these issues, Montagne is also the operator with the single largest head hitbox -- and since that's the only thing exposed when a shield aims in, he can't even bring the headshot threat the other shields can, not without massive risk anyway. Where IQ is half redeemed by her weapons and could potentially be strong with changes to her ability, Montagne needs a full rework to be good.