Pick & Ban in Siege X: Is it the future of esports?

Rainbow Six Siege X is a huge step up for the first-person shooter, especially for the competitive community. With a new esports tab and operator ban system, there’s a lot to understand about the next chapter of the Tom Clancy FPS.

The Pick and Ban system will completely change how Ranked matches play out, so let’s take a closer look at how it will affect competitive Siege, and, eventually, esports as a whole.

The Pick and Ban system was implemented in the Siege X update on June 10, 2025, so players are still getting accustomed to its nuances. Instead of operator bans taking place at the beginning of a new match, each team can now vote to select a character to ban from the opposing team’s roster before every round.

Bans reset when teams switch between attacking and defending, so you’ll still be able to play as a defender you banned while you were attacking, for example. The new system allows you to strategically pick off operators that are causing your team trouble mid-match, so it’ll likely shift the meta and give less popular characters a chance to shine.

Pick and Ban will probably result in a long-term meta shift, as players may save their best operators for later rounds to prevent losing access to their main characters. Whether you’re new to Siege or you’ve been playing since the start, Pick and Ban will have a major effect on how you approach choosing an operator, especially in Ranked.

Popular characters, like Zero and Finka, could be commonly banned in the Pick and Ban system. However, we don’t expect the most popular operators to be the primary target of Pick and Ban. Instead, the most difficult characters to counter will probably be banned first, even if they’re not as commonly used.

Mira is a defender who can create holes in walls to watch or attack unsuspecting opponents, so she’ll probably be banned often in competitive matches and tournaments. Operators who can impair vision, equip a shield, or track opponents might also be commonly banned.

There are dozens of possible characters that players will hone in on when choosing an operator to prohibit, but the great thing about Pick and Ban is that bans can be adjusted mid-match, so every game will have a unique lineup of available characters. Some lesser-used operators might even become more popular in Ranked as a result, which could include characters with weaker gadgets like Twitch and Alibi.

The meta in Rainbow Six Siege X is affected by many factors, and a new ban system will certainly have a huge effect on how players approach combat. As previously highlighted, some operators will now become more popular due to the ban system, while powerful characters will likely be less used at the beginning of a match to prevent being banned early.

This will result in teams requiring more versatile strategies in case their favourite operators get banned. Players need to learn more characters now, which may shift Siege towards a meta where players rely less on operator-specific gadgets and more on weapons that can be used with multiple attackers or defenders.

The introduction of destructible ingredients across each modernised map could also result in fewer operator combos and a greater focus on strategies that rely on weaponry or secondary gadgets that aren’t locked behind a certain character, like Barbed Wire. The esports meta will likely become less focused on individual operators in 2025, and upcoming tournaments could help display this shift.

Other hero-based shooters, like Apex Legends, have also implemented character ban mechanics in recent years. The Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) recently added a system that bans the most-picked character from a series at the end of each match.

Unlike in Siege, opposing teams can’t choose who gets banned in Apex Legends, but the ALGS ban system also results in a situation where the most powerful characters are often banned first. Siege’s Pick and Ban may inspire similar mechanics in other esports titles, like VALORANT. Some games have implemented character ban systems for esports competitions, but not for everyday play.

Pick and Ban proves that a voting-based ban system can work for Ranked play, as opposed to using it exclusively for esports, so hopefully, we’ll see more of these mechanics due to their recent popularity in Siege X and the ALGS.

Competitive video games that focus on a roster of selectable characters will always be somewhat unbalanced by default. Some heroes are simply more powerful than others, and the meta shifts in every patch. Systems like Pick and Ban allow players to take control over who they face, and as a result, the meta of the game at large.

The Pick and Ban system represents a move towards increased agency for competitive players, as it puts the control in the hands of real fans. As esports gain popularity, we may see more ban systems implemented to help counter unbalanced character pools in competitive shooters, and Siege X offers a fresh format that could inspire the next generation of FPS titles.