Yeah you still want to make sure any excess water will slide out. I noticed with my flute it has a liedenfrost effect and glides across the hot steel.
I think the nozzle pointing directly up definitely has its benefits, you could do the same with a pipe and elbow, but you’d need to be able to get to the darn thing to remove a melted nozzle.
I think a single silicone carbide nozzle would be ideal, you’ve shown they last nigh on forever if you carefully clean the nozzle.
Eddy Ramos and Bruce Southerland made a really nice guide for an updraft gasifier.