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Competitive Innovations in 10th: It’s All Over Bar Da Krumpin’ pt.1

By James "One_Wing" Grover

With Pariah Nexus packs now landing on doorsteps around the globe, I’m hoping this is Leviathan’s true final outing, and that next week we’ll have hot news from the Pariah Nexus to share. Because of that, and because Shadow of the Erdtree isn’t going to play itself, we’ve got one more Showdown-less week before (presumably) the Sisyphean avalanche of content resumes in a new metagame.

This week, this last Leviathan week, we’re looking at the following today:

  • Münsterland Major
  • San Diego Grand Tournament
  • The Battle For Middle Wisko GT
  • Dicing Death GT
  • Kirtonian Total Carnage V

On Friday we’ll have the rest with Lowest of Men:

  • ITA 40K SINGLES GT 2024
  • Laughing Dragon Grand Tournament
  • The Route 66 40k Grand Tournament
  • Slaanesh Summer Slam Ironman GT
  • Luxembourg Open 40k – Golden Ticket Event

Münsterland Major

92-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Rheine, NRW, Deutschland on June 22 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Matthias Bellmann – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Shooty Tsons

Thoughts

Thousand Sons are a fitting winner for the biggest event of Leviathan’s last week, as they’ve been going from strength to strength this year. Honestly, that may well continue into Pariah, as they got off pretty lightly in the Dataslate considering how strong they are. It does also seem plausible that Forgefiends (as seen here) will have a place in the new meta too, as they’re great into Custodes, and with discounts on Terminators and Mutaliths there’s also a greater possibility of skewing a Tsons list hard towards chunkier stuff. Tzeentch’s plans look set to continue well into the future, and since Matthias has been such a standout with this faction in 10th’s first year, I’m sure he’ll be back with more soon enough!

Tim Schneider – Leagues of Votann (Oathband) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Ymyr Conglomerate Cthonian Beserk. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Beserk Spam

Thoughts

Speaking of factions that didn’t really get touched in the dataslate, we’ve got Votann in second place, mitigating the main weakness of their Vehicle-heavy builds (getting rushed) with a huge number of enraged hammer-murderers ready to leap out and splatter anything that gets too close. It also helps prise foes out of buildings in a pinch. In Pariah you do, of course, have the addition of Yaegirs to help with screening and board control, and I’m sure we’ll see builds like this build some in. Great way to solve the problems for Leviathan, and once again we hope to see Tim back soon in Pariah!

Mathieu Clerc – Leagues of Votann (Oathband) – 3rd Place (Undefeated)

Trans-Hyperion Alliance Hernkyn Pioneers – Leagues of Votann. Credit: Colin Ward

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

All-rounder Votann

Thoughts

Completing the undefeated podium we have another Votann build, this one sporting a more conventional package of all-rounder tools, and using lots of Scouting bikes for early presence. This is where hot-swapping in some Yaegirs is a very live prospect, and I’ll be fascinated to see what the eventual balance ends up being. Well done to Mathieu on third.

Christian Schachmann – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 4th Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Classic Skysplinter

Thoughts

In fourth place, we have another fairly tuned all-rounder version of an archetype, tuned to euro-style terrain by going heavier on Venoms and cutting out any additional big hulls like Ravagers, as the smaller craft are much easier to maneuvre, and can make great use of heavier boards to stage and stay hidden. I don’t expect builds like this to change all that much in the future, just find a few extra points for Scourges, but these lists look like such a blast to play that I’m sure no Drukhari fans are complaining all that much. Congratulations to Christian on the top four finish.

The Best of the Rest

There were 13 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Christian Breuer – Thousand Sons: Characters, Cultists and Rubricae.
  • 6th – Pierre Debey – Chaos Knights: A Lancer and lots of Dogs.
  • 7th – Ruben Paul Goldmann – World Eaters: Eightbound spam with not a single Berzerker in sight.
  • 8th – Manuel Wayand – Death Guard: Rhinos full of Plague Marines, Destructors and Brigands.
  • 9th – Jan Dederichs – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): A shootier version of Raiders, maxing out on Obliterators and accompanying them with various shooting hulls, and applying pressure via the mandatory Warp Talons (as was, anyway).
  • 10th – Niklas Fritschen – Death Guard: Hefty Death Guard with mMortarion, Plaguebursts and Destructors, with a full unit each of Deathshrouds and Plague Marines to brawl as needed.
  • 11th – Dennis Gottschalk – Grey Knights: Ultracrunch with five Dreadknights and two Redeemers.
  • 12th – Malte Höfs – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): Rhino melee,  Warp Talons cheap shooty tanks (Destructors and Vindicators) and a bonus package of 2×5 Warpflamer Rubricae.
  • 13th – Paul Hilsdorf – Genestealer Cults (Index): Two of each big infantry brick infiltrating Aberrants, and a fairly heavy Astra Militarum contingent with Catachans and a Basilisk.
  • 14th – Bartek Spartek – Salamanders (Firestorm Assault Force): Vulkan and Adrax with a pick and mix of different options, many riding in a Redeemer, and the spicy inclusion of a Champion of Humanity Lieutenant with Bladeguard.
  • 15th – Christian Matschke – Adepta Sororitas (Index): All-rounder Index Sisters.
  • 16th – Niklas Niermann – Thousand Sons: Double Mutalith with Rubricae.
  • 17th – Jari Knudsen – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Land Raider spam (two Redeemers, one regular)

San Diego Grand Tournament

57-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Vista, CA, United States on June 22 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Grant Kauffman – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 1st Place

Credit: TheChirurgeon

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Crunchy Death Guard

Thoughts

Another Leviathan staple here, mixing Rhino Plague Marines with Brigands and various Daemon Engines has been a winning formula. Even this late in the game, Grant has found some new tech here – putting two Malignant Plaguecasters in a Rhino gives you an extremely funny store-brand Land Raider Redeemer in your own Shooting Phase, able to double up as a major debuff package in an emergency. Love that.

This build needs a little more re-tooling than some others thanks to hits on Characters and Nurglings losing their Action capabilities, and I think it’s likely that you end up taking solo Terminator Sorceror as a flexible scoring/murder price rather than the Plaguecaster Rhino, but I’m still thrilled to be pulled up by something novel at the end of a season – great work Grant!

Jeff Jew – Orks (Green Tide) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Painboy. Credit: Rockfish
Painboy. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Green Tide

Thoughts

Live fast, die young and leave an ‘orrible corpse. That’s the Ork way, and may be the fate of Green Tide, as the strong performances of builds like this have clearly been noted within the balance panopticon, and they catch a double hit from rules and points changes. I don’t think it’s entirely out of the question that some versions are still “good enough”, but it’ll depend heavily on whether they can cope with taking a knock at the same time as a resurgent Custodes start taking names.

With that in mind, I do think we’re likely to see more builds using at least one Battlewagon as seen here, as they help to control the order of engagement against other melee lists, and add some extra protection against shooting (plus you could do with more ways to put something chewy on an objective with Warcaller Meganobz going). Let’s hope the Boyz can shrug off some heft blows and put Jeff back in a top four in the near future!

The Best of the Rest

There were 9 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 3rd – Tre O’Rourke – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband): Extra crunchy World Eaters that dials back the Eightbound for two Maulerfiends and a Forgefiend.
  • 4th – Kyle Parry – Ynnari (Battle Host): Ultra go-wide Ynnari, featuring five Venoms full of Kabalites alongside small Aeldari shooting and scoring units, finishing up with a full Troupe squad with the Visarch as shock troops and counters to enemy melee.
  • 5th – Dillon Gonzales – Aeldari: Go-wide pure Aeldari with loads of War Walkers, Skyweavers and Spiders/Hawks.
  • 6th – Brandon Holm – Thousand Sons: Tsons that dials back Rubricae and one of the Exalted for a Mutalith and a bumper crop of Cultists/Enlightened.
  • 7th – Mark Ferek – T’au Empire (Kauyon): Breacherfish and shooty hulls.
  • 8th – Alex Spathopoulos – Space Wolves (Gladius Task Force): Loads of Wulfen, a Redeemer and lots of board presence/scoring stuff.
  • 9th – Wyatt Turk – Salamanders (Firestorm Assault Force): Another showing for Vulkan (here in his happy place leading Infernus Marines), Adrax and Bladeguard with a Champion of Humanity, this time an Ancient.
  • 10th – Nathan Carnes – Grey Knights: Three Dreadknights and a full Paladin, doubling down on heavy shooting with an allied Knight Castellan.
  • 11th – Nicholas Mane – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Double C’tan, triple Doomstalker, triple Wraiths.

The Battle For Middle Wisko GT

38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Wausau, WI, US on June 22 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Wesley St.Hines – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 1st Place

Tempestus Scions. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Scion Spam

Thoughts

See when I saw the faction name I was prepped to have to write something pessimistic but never mind – this is about as ready for the new world as a Guard list can be, eschewing a lot of the staples for wave after wave of Scions dropping from the sky, with a mix of tanks for early board presence. That means it packs a hell of a counterpunch, and is extremely ready to benefit from the new version of Born Soldiers if any sort of elite infantry metagame arises. Honestly, just keep doing what you’re doing Wesley!

The Best of the Rest

There were 7 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – John Vuchetich – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Double C’tan, double Doomstalker, triple Wraiths, using the left over points from the Doomstalker for some scoring stuff.
  • 3rd – Oliver Smith – T’au Empire (Mont’ka): Breacherfish and hulls, distinguished by the addition of lots of Pathfinders.
  • 4th – Orin Daniel – Chaos Space Marines (Pactbound Zealots): Cheap shooting and brawler melee from Rhino Chosen and some Possessed.
  • 5th – Brandon Ochoa – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Extra boat-tastic Skysplinter featuring three Raiders, three Venoms and two Ravagers, packing the Transports with all the normal delightful treats.
  • 6th – Dakota Kramer – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Jump packs galore, including a full Sanguinary Guard unit.
  • 7th – John Miller – Leagues of Votann: Loads of Sagitaurs (mostly full of Beserks) and bikes, one big Hearthguard brick.
  • 8th – Brent Brown – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Triple Caladius and three Infantry blocks.

Dicing Death GT

34-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Portland, OR, United States on June 22 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Lukas Troller – Orks (Green Tide) – 1st Place

The Beast: Evil Sunz Ork Trukk. Credit: Charlie Brassley

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Shooty Green Tide

Thoughts

More Green Tide over in the States, but as Green Tide builds go, this one is pretty ready for Pariah. You do still need to find some points for the Character hikes, but Lukas isn’t relying on the unkillable Meganobz and has a bit more diversity in how he can play the game thanks to adding two units of Flash Gitz. Very pleased to see that they are still getting so much airtime despite my pessimism when Da Kaptin went away, and I suspect they’re going to be an increasing staple given none of the rules changes really hit them. Well done to Lukas for (mostly) future-proofing (I even wonder if this is a planned post-Pariah list that just added the Mek to use up the left over points).

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Jeremiah Bergdale – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Extra wide Skysplinter with loads of Venoms and other small pesty units in support.
  • 3rd – Max Schwarzer – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): All-rounder Sons, mixing Lemartes’ jump pack hammer with a foot Death Company brick and some Eradicators, plus two troubleshooting Captain/Assault Intercessor units in Impulsors.
  • 4th – Taylor Marker – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Monster mash with Be’lakor, Shalaxi and an upgraded Keeper/GuO, supported by a few Infantry units.
  • 5th – Tanner Hebert – T’au Empire (Mont’ka): Breacherfish, Riptides and a full unit of Broadsides for maximal firepower.
  • 6th – Daniel McNicholas – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): Rhino Brawlers, Warp Talons and Vindicators.

Kirtonian Total Carnage V

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on June 22 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Aaron Mosquera – Orks (Bully Boyz) – 1st Place

Meganobz. Credit: Rockfish
Meganobz. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Bully Boyz

Thoughts

Strike up the mournful bagpipes for a second Ork archetype that’s on the way out, this one properly nuked from orbit, at least in its current form. Meganobz definitely didn’t need both a rules and points change, and I wouldn’t expect to see three units in most builds. If Bully Boyz does survive, I imagine it’ll be versions making use of Squighog bricks and Trukk Nobz, maybe with one big unit og Meganobz in a Tellyporta. It was fun while it lasted though, and well done to Aaron for ensuring they don’t go silent into the long night.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Bradley Rees – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): All-rounder Grey Knights adding various small Infantry units to four Dreadknights and Crowe’s Purifiers.
  • 3rd – Ewan Davies – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Skarbrand, a GuO, Be’lakor and (importantly) a Rendmaster overseeing lots of Bloodcrushers.
  • 4th – David LaPorta – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): Double Chosen Renegades backed by Predators, a Warp Talon brick and 2×5 Havocs in Rhinos (very similar to the build that won UKTC Bristol).
  • 5th – Mark Pattinson – Imperial Knights: Ready for a big Knight comeback here, Canis Rex with a Warden and Gallant for overwhelming pressure.

Wrap Up

Part 1 complete, part 2 with out (final?) Leviathan list reviews on Friday – see you then!

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