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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Grey Nice

By James "One_Wing" Grover

We’re in a bit of a holding pattern this week, as there weren’t too many big events and (as sometimes happens when a balance update hits) people have fallen back on some reliably brutal builds to stomp on anyone getting too clever with new ideas. That’ll all change this coming weekend because we have the US Open Dallas, which will be a spectacular showcase for the new metagame in all its glory, so make sure to tune in for the results from that.

For now, we’re going with a quick one – no Showdowns because they’re all pretty familiar on top of everything else (and it’s also crunch time at the Business Factory on top of everything else), just the normal run-down of results from the following:

  • Corsair Open GT
  • II Jugar x Jugar Homoludicus
  • Conquest Italia – Showdown – Warhammer 40.000
  • Midwest Conquest GT 2024
  • Turbulent Warhammer 40K ITC Grand Tournament
  • Carnage – Season 2 – Round 3 – Warpsurge

Let’s take a look.

Corsair Open GT

62-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in München, BY, DE on May 10 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Fritz Peters – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion) – 1st Place

The Silent King
The Silent King. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Hypershooty Hypercrypt

Thoughts

Exhibit A for sledgehammer builds here, this is very much the end of Hypercrypt that aims to hose you clean off the table, and it’s got the tools to do that pretty much whatever you’re playing. Expect to see the Silent King a lot more post-Dataslate, as he stayed the same price and was already pretty strong, and the combination of shooty units alongside him here can handle pretty much anything the opponent is swinging with – Doomsdays are great into Meganobz (D4 is enough that with a bit of variance you’ll sometimes still one-shot one in Waaaagh) and general big stuff, while Immortals give you insurance against any sort of Boyz horde, and can make short work of units like Sisters to boot. It’s also worth saying that 10 Immortals with a Chronomancer, Szeras and a Reanimator are surprisingly good at rolling with the punches that popular lists are throwing out, as minus one AP and minus one to hit all the time really adds up.

Necrons appear to be still going extremely strong post Dataslate, and Fritz is very much leading the charge there, congratulations.

Kevin „planB_God“ Zöllinger – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 2nd Place

Black Templars Impulsor. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ironstorm Templars

Thoughts

Another shooting hammerblow build here, adding newly cheap Vindicators to the standard mix of Ironstorm tools to diversify profiles a bit. Otherwise, this is all pretty familiar, but also more than capable of just hosing foes off the table. Congratulations to Kevin.

Stephan Pfenni – Blood Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 3rd Place

Blood Angels Aggressors
Blood Angels Aggressors. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Gladius All-Rounder Blood Angels

Thoughts

A bit more of a broad base of stuff here, but still very much a build that will sweep foes from the table on a go turn if they’re not prepared for it. Advance/Charge on the Aggressors out of the Redeemer and the big Death Company unit creates some serious threat range that the enemy has to consider, and you’ve got a nice broad mix of firepower and objective tools supporting that. Worth continuing to highlight that the Predator Destructor is the best it’s ever been, sound of the summer, 2024 year of the Destructor etc. because you just can’t go wrong with them (and look forward to AP-3 ones in Renegade Raiders soon, that’ll be neat), and I’m guessing the Aggressors are back thanks to the rise of the Greenskin menace, which Blood Angels do famously love killing. As ever with a GTF build – it’s good units with a nice versatile Detachment Rule, and well played Stephan taking third.

Niklas Fritschen – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 4th Place

Plague Marine – Credit: RichyP

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Crunchy Death Guard

Thoughts

Seriously, Predator Destructors. Are they legal in your army? Take two. Unless you’re Thousand Sons I guess, and that might just be no one bothering to try yet.

Anyway, it definitely is a formula that works for Death Guard and one that’s been followed Niklas here, along with the popular Death Guard plan of presenting mostly hulls as targets out the gate (other than very cheap chaff), and that’s proven as effective as ever here, locking in 4th place. Congratulations!

The Best of the Rest

There were 3 more players on 5-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Arne Zerndt – Thousand Sons: Lots of Characters, five Rubricae MSUs, one Rhino and three Cultist units. Pretty much the list that owned me last week.
  • 6th – Jens Gottfried – Genestealer Cult: Pure Infantry horde.
  • 7th – Manuel Wayand – Death Guard: Three packed Rhinos backed by three Brigands and some Predators.

II Jugar x Jugar Homoludicus

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Tkila RR – Grey Knights – 1st Place

Grey Knights Nemesis Dreadknights. Credit: Colin Ward

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Dreadknights and Terminators

Thoughts

Another list that’s big on knockout punches, whether they be from avalanches of Mortal Wounds, five Dreadknights, or some Terminators if you’ve somehow hidden from those other two things. This is an alarming amount of violence to be able to unleash on someone, and despite theoretically being targeted for nerfs, Grey Knights seem extremely well positioned in the new metagame, helped by an excellent matchup into pretty much any flavour of Orks, who struggle with both their output and army-wide 2+ saves with access to Truesilver Armour. Great work from Tkila.

The Best of the Rest

  • 2nd – Jordisquitos AEPDA Red Ribbon – Orks (Bully Boyz): Three Meganobz squads with various Characters, a Nobz brick, and a unit each of Snaggas and Boyz, almost all riding Trukks.
  • 3rd – Pepe Andreu – Grey Knights: Ultracrunch Grey Knights with six Dreadknights and two Redeemers.
  • 4th – Pharaeh Vega – Grey Knights: A more rounded Grey Knight build with four Dreadknights and an MSU each of Paladins and Terminators.
  • 5th – Ferran Donoso – Chaos Knights: Lots of Dogs with some Nurglings and one Beast of Nurgle in support.

Conquest Italia – Showdown – Warhammer 40.000

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Ciampino, Lazio, IT on May 11 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Daniele De Gemini – T’au Empire (Kauyon) – 1st Place

Tiger Shark AX 1-0
Tiger Shark AX 1-0. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Tiger Shark Tau

Thoughts

Ah memories. Terrible, terrible memories. We’ve not seen a Tiger Shark in the wild for ages, largely not since they were one of the many crimes Forge World inflicted on the 8th Edition metagame, but apparently I now need to learn what they do in 10th Edition. Hold please.

I guess? They’re a lot of points and are going to die fast to plenty of lists, but front-loading their output with six seeker missiles helps mitigate that a bit, and if you run into Orks they’re going to do appaling damage, as a bunch of their weapons are perfectly specced for the job. The main question is whether you ever run one without Tetras now that they’ve been liquidated from the range, and I honestly think it’s semi-plausible, mostly because they work very well with Pinpoint Counter Offensive in Mont’ka making up for the absence of Tetra re-rolls. I suspect it stays fringe, because it still has all the standard problems of a plane in 10th, but it’s an interesting curveball. Well done to Daniele for somehow giving me stuff to talk about in a build from a (finally) dead Index.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Ciro Canzanella – Necrons (Canoptek Court): A board control-focused Court build with lots of Wraiths to hold positions, two Doomstalkers and a couple of Transcendant C’tan to zap around causing mischief.
  • 3rd – Edoardo Rinaldi – Astra Militarum: A bit of everything, going in on a full squad of Armoured Sentinels to maximise the value from Reinforcements.
  • 4th – Andrea Lelli – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Triple C’tan, triple Wraiths, triple Doomstalker.
  • 5th – Andrea Guareschi – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead): Eight Gladiators, Scouts, not much else.

Midwest Conquest GT 2024

31-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Independence, Missouri, US on May 11 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Jeremy Capko – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 1st Place

Redemptor Dreadnought. Credit: Kevin Stillman

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ironstorm Dark Angels

Thoughts

Sorry Jeremy, company policy is that Dark Angels players are smart, sophisticated and handsome. I know that’s a blow, but it’s out of my hands.

Anyway, this is another hammer blow shooting build that aims to win shootouts with similar builds via the buffs from the Darkshroud. It clearly worked here, congratulations!

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Tedd Williamson – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): Destroyer-tastic Awakened with two full units each of Lokhust Heavies and Skorpekh, plus some Wraiths and the Nightbringer.
  • 3rd – Miles Engrav – Grey Knights: Heavy (if not ultra) crunch, going for five Dreadknights, a Redeemer. Two Purgation squads and a Terminator unit add a bit of extra flexibility.
  • 4th – Rylee Mckitterick – T’au Empire: Broadside and Ghostkeel spam.
  • 5th – Alex Vian – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): A defiant continuation of double Stormraven Dark Angels.
  • 6th – Chris Taggart – Grey Knights: Three Dreadknighs, a Redeemer with some Paladins in it and a full Draigo Terminator brick.

Turbulent Warhammer 40K ITC Grand Tournament

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, US on May 11 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Colin Kay – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 1st Place

Black Templars Repulsor Executioner. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Quadrepex

Thoughts

I’m pretty sure the Ancient Greeks would have been able to explain why repeatedly winning tournaments with this build where the design team can see is going to end in tragedy. Still, it’s pretty funny to watch this journey along the hubris to nemesis pipeline, so well done Colin.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Andrew Kimbell – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Lots of jump packs supported by two Captain/Assault Intercessor MSUs in a Redeemer and a pair of Gladiators.
  • 3rd – AJ Hanscom – World Eaters: Hard-hitting World Eaters that condenses the infantry down to two full units each of Berzerkers and Exalted Eightbound.
  • 4th – Cody Boe – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Silent King teleporting gun show with three Doomsdays and a Monolith.
  • 5th – Adam Downs- Chaos Space Marines: Mechanised Infantry, packing loads of Legionaries and a full Rubricae unit into various transports.

Carnage – Season 2 – Round 3 – Warpsurge

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Chris Cuerden – Thousand Sons – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Extra Board Control Tsons

Thoughts

Mostly business as usual from the Thousand Sons to round us out, with the only deviation from the norm being a slightly heavier contingent of chaff, providing plenty of models to soak up a first melee rush wave. Thousand Sons are so lethal when unleashed that a short window of opportunity is all they really need to hose stuff off the board, and in matchups where you don’t need to use the Tzaangors for that, they’re a good point denial tool if you double move them onto an objective. Thousand Sons continue to look like a top pick for the new metagame, and nothing here is dissuading me from that opinion, well done Chris.

The Best of the Rest

There were four more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Chris Taylor – Orks (Bully Boyz): Quality Bullies, going for Meganobz and 10/5/5 Nobz with a Warboss in each unit.
  • 3rd – Ashley Giles – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Double Wraiths and double C’tan, supported by a bumper crop of shooting from two Doomstalkers and 2×3 Lokhust Heavy Destroyers.
  • 4th – Adam Gladders – Orks (Bully Boyz): Meganobz and Nobz in Trukks and a Battlewagon.
  • 5th – Kyle Grundy – T’au Empire (Kroot Hunting Pack): A first showing for the new Codex out in the wild, going for 60 Kroot and some Farstalkers with buff Characters, supported by Hammerheads, Pathfinders and Riptides.

Wrap Up

An appetiser right at the end there – this week should bring us new Tau all over, and hundreds of players bringing their A-game to Dallas. See you next week when we dig into the results!

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