Welcome to Competitive Innovations, our weekly feature for a number of game lines across the tabletop wargame space. Each week our army list and tactics experts canvass the top tournaments for their game of specialty, looking at the week’s top match-ups and how they played out on the tabletop to let you know what’s hot, what’s not, and what might be coming next as the competitive meta evolves year-round.
Sparkle Party Death Match XII
71-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Seattle, WA, United States on March 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Dylan Therriault – Cities of Sigmar
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bumpin’ thatvs.
Mason Knox – Flesh-eater Courts
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Thoughts
This feels like a rough battle for the Flesh-Eater Courts, with (discounting the Courtier) only four real playing pieces on the table, all of which are pretty valuable. By comparison, Dylan’s Cities list is absolutely crammed full of units, including some pretty potent anti-wizard damage from the Ven Densts and Callis & Toll. Not what you want to see with two thirds of your points invested in 2 large wizards.
Board control is also an obvious problem for the FEC here. It’ll take cagey play to take back objectives at the right time, and Morbid Conjuration will be working overtime to screen and keep units busy. As it stands, it looks like bets should be on Cities to take this one home.
Result
Cities of Sigmar Victory – 46 – 41
Dylan Therriault – Cities of Sigmar – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
All of the fantasy races work together, but separately
Thoughts
In the end, it was a close-run victory for the Cities, suggesting that the anti-wizard units didn’t really get brought to bear efficiently. Lots of enemy units on the table also means plenty of targets for Nagash’s unlimited spell, so lots of opportunity to chip units down. That core line of reinforced Hammerer blocks is a real challenge to get through though, and ultimately Dylan’s list just has a lot more flexibility to engage across the board.
Galen Ven Denst is brat.
Matthias Krushel – Daughters of Khaine – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Snake-heavy with Witch Aelf support
Thoughts
a 5-0 to Matthias here too, with a nice efficient (if horribly-named) Daughters of Khaine list. Morathi/The Shadow Queen, the Ironscale and Blood Sisters is a tried and tested combo at this point, with the killing power to get through most things if they’re played right, and Scáthcoven giving the Melusai potential strike-first on longer charge rolls. They’re backed up by a pair of units of Witch Aelves, which can move fast to take the flanks before diving back into the board and being suprisingly effective in a fight themselves. The Cauldron makes the aelves hit more, and harder through its own abilities as well as the prayers of the Slaughter Queen on top.
The Best of the Rest
There were 10 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 3rd – Carson Whitlock – Ogor Mawtribes: honest-to-goodness foot Ogors, not a Stonehorn in sight.
- 4th – Robbie “Bear” Steinbring – Stormcast Eternals: Sentinels list with 12 Vanguard-Palladors and…Astreia Solbright?
- 5th – Mason Knox – Flesh-eater Courts: see Showdown.
- 6th – Michael Bernstein – Seraphon: Slann, Starseer, double Hunters, Kroxigor, Raptadons.
- 7th – Stark Pister – Stormcast Eternals: Krondys, Palladors, Longstrikes. A classic.
- 8th – Adam Bloom – Idoneth Deepkin: Eidolon, Leviadon, loads of eels, and the Blacktalons RoR.
- 9th – Alexander Gonzalez – Blades of Khorne: a load of buff guys on foot. No demons.
- 10th – Michael Tunes – Soulblight Gravelords: Named character heavy with Mannfred at the front, damage courtesy of 40 Grave Guard.
- 11th – Mike McAbee – Maggotkin of Nurgle: Glottkin, Bloab, Slimux, and Blightkings.
- 12th – James Terwilliger – Soulblight Gravelords: A mix of vampires and skellies.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament
71-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on March 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Nicolas Tassone – Slaves to Darkness
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vs.
Chris Riley – Bonesplitterz
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Thoughts
Bonesplittaz in the year of our lord 2025. Somebody has to win the hotly-contested “last person to ever play Bonesplittaz at a tournament” award, I guess. Chris’ Bonesplittaz list is cunningly constructed to avoid some of the faction’s weaknesses by spending as many points as possible on models that aren’t Bonesplittaz, namely Kragnos and Da Hurtlin’ Hogz. That’s half the list! Still, Boarboys’ free Power Through combined with Kragnos’ 3D6″ charge aura mean this list can really pin the enemy down turn 1 and get units into problematic places, then pop the Waaagh! and try to last through the response.
It’ll need to be a foolproof plan, because Chris is facing Nicolas Tassone. Nicolas is a recent AoS World Champion, and he’s turned up with a finely-honed one drop Archaon list. This feels like a tough matchup for the Bonesplitterz, with everything on a 3+ save they’re going to struggle to get the damage through.
Result
Slaves to Darkness Victory – 42 – 28
Nicolas Tassone – Slaves to Darkness – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
One-drop Archaon and Knights
Thoughts
A decent margin of victory for the forces of Chaos. Charging Chaos Knights will pick up a decent number of Bonesplitterz even with the 5+ ward up, and with an experienced pilot behind the list careful play will have ensured that they don’t get bogged down.
The Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount isn’t seen so often in competitive S2D lists, but it makes a lot of sense here. By being fast enough to keep up with the Knights and Archaon to get the most out of the Radiance heals, and the Conqueror’s Crown will help him to take objectives off of smaller units to counteract the potential downsides of a list with such a small number of pieces. Clever stuff.
Jack Armstrong – Stormcast Eternals – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Reclusian-heavy Sentinels of the Bleak Citadel
Thoughts
Jack is another player with a wealth of podium finishes, and this is reminiscent of other lists he’s run in the past – find the thing that’s good, and bring a lot of it. 18 Reclusians is a lot of wounds to chew through, especially when two of the three units might have a 5+ ward at any given point (battle formation plus Envoy of the Heavens).
Tornus adds another dimension to the list, making the Reclusians’ rally command much more efficient as well as healing or making them -1 to hit in the combat phase.
The Best of the Rest
There were 11 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 3rd – George Elton – Fyreslayers: Forge Brethren, lots of foot dwarfs.
- 4th – Dean Lymath – Flesh-eater Courts: Ushoran and knights, plus the Beastflayers.
- 5th – Simon Burdett – Flesh-eater Courts: Wouldn’t you believe it, it’s Ushoran and knights, plus the Beastflayers.
- 6th – Jack Ship – Ironjawz: big blocks of Ardboyz and Brutes, backed up by the Kruleboyz RoR.
- 7th – Mike Whitley – Ironjawz: four Maw-Gruntas, plus a few foot units.
- =8th – Tom Bunnell – Ogor Mawtribes: Cow car park.
- =8th – Simon F – Sons of Behemat: Brodd, Kragnos, Gatebreaker, three Mancrushers.
- 10th – Alex Forsyth – Sons of Behemat: exactly the same list, bar some regiment switching.
- 11th – Chris Riley – Bonesplitterz: see Showdown.
- 12th – Michael Wilson – Gloomspite Gitz: Kragnos and a lot of Fanatics.
- 13th – Darryl Jones – Slaves to Darkness: Legion of the First Prince with a lot of Bloodletters.
Rocky Mountain Open 2025 – Age of Sigmar Champs
45-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Brighton, CO, United States on March 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Wyatt Moran – Flesh-eater Courts
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vs.
Noe Aquino – Stormcast Eternals
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Thoughts
Both lists feel like they’ve been built with a touch of creativity – Noe’s Stormcast especially. Reclusians and Prosecutors are decent, sure, but the Ruination Brotherhood Army of Renown often gets left by the wayside in favour of the more flexible Sentinels of the Bleak Citadel battle formation. There’s a lot of investment in low-mid tier heroes, especially a mandatory Iridan, and no enhancement is going to be as good on a Terminos with a block of Reclusians as the Quicksilver Draught.
The FEC list by comparison hews closer to the classic Lords of the Manor lists we’ve seen throughout the edition, with Ushoran, a couple of foot heroes and a bunch of Morbhegs all putting in a shift. Ghouls, Cryptguard and the Varghulf Courtier all make an appearance too though in place of the fairly common reinforced blocks of Crypt Horrors, or even more Morbheg Knights. This list will look to castle up and dominate on the objectives, reaching out to strike with Morbhegs and the Courtier on the flanks.
If it goes right for the Stormcast, the Prosecutors can reach out to alpha and jam the board up while the infantry moves into a controlling position, but it’s an uphill battle against retreating/charging Knights and large blocks of Ghouls.
Result
Flesh-eater Courts Victory – 46 – 26
Wyatt Moran – Flesh-eater Courts – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Ushoran, Morbhegs, and Ghouls.
Thoughts
A decisive win for the Flesh-Eater Courts. Twelve Morbhegs can put out enough damage that the rest of the army can focus on castling up around the objectives, using the small heroes to ramp Ushoran up to 6 Noble Deeds points before lashing out with him and the Ghoul units if necessary.
Nothing in the Stormcast list bar the Reclusian block really has the killing power to get through a block of six Morbheg Knights or forty wounds worth of Crypt Ghouls, and the Army of Renown choice means that the Terminos/Reclusian fight-first combo is off the table. With multiple ways to bring models back to units, bring units back onto the board, and Ushoran’s 24″ Feeding Frenzy aura, the FEC prove too much for the Stormcast to handle.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 5-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Mark Aescht – Flesh-eater Courts: Ushoran, Herald, Archregent, Horrors, bucket full of Morbhegs.
- 3rd – Matt Kahlle – Skaven: Fleshmeld Menagerie AoR – Thanquol, Ratling Guns, Stormfiends.
- 4th – Thomas Burgett – Slaves to Darkness: Gaunt Summoner with Chosen in the Silver Tower, plus more Chosen, Knights, Sorcerer Lord, and 2 chariots.
- 5th – Kaden Frickel – Maggotkin of Nurgle: Demon heavy, with some Blightking support.
- 6th – James Koons – Stormcast Eternals: more traditional Citadel list – Ionus, Longstrikes, Terminos with Reclusians, etc.
Hawg Pit GT
30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Springdale, AR, United States on March 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Jered Nolie – Ossiarch Bonereapers
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vs.
Keegan Graves – Skaventide
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Thoughts
Right off the bat this immediately feels like a huge problem for the Ossiarchs. Mission dependent, OBR badly want to remain consolidated and not stretch themselves too thin, which limits their movement despite them being a lot quicker than you would expect. They also do not have many units or ranged attacks, which limits their ability to deal with threats in the enemy’s backline.
Meanwhile, Skaven are tailor made to exploit this. With access to solid ranged attacks, deep strikes and general mobility, they can run circles around the Ossiarchs who will struggle to catch up to them. This leads to a slaughter where the Skaven absolutely decimate.
Result
Skaventide Victory – 46 – 14
Keegan Graves – Skaventide – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Eshin-Skryre Teamup
Thoughts
The combination of Eshin and Skryre lead to some strong versatility in this list. The primary hammers are the Doom-Flayers and Ratling guns, with the twin verminlords able to also put out more than a fair amount of hurt.
The Doom-flayers are wildly unpredictable but if they get the charge they can often shred through most things like tissue paper, especially infantry. Ratling guns are, naturally, one of the most feared units in the book with their absolute buckets of dice for shooting. Lord Screech Verminking is a solid fighter, but his real strength is acting as support for any of the various clans, making him a very adaptable piece. Finally the Verminlord Deceiver is a very strong skirmisher who has teleportation and Scurry Away to choose his fights at the right time and leave bad situations.
Rounding things out are the clan rats which naturally function as barriers (and a place to hide the Ratling guns at start) and Night Runners which make very stealthy objective grabbers as theyre relatively safe from ranged attacks.
The Best of the Rest
There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – LaRon Roberts – Stormcast Eternals: An actually very different list with the new Iridan and Tornus with lots of Reclusians, amongst under skirmishing infantry.
- 3rd – Jered Nolie – Ossiarch Bonereapers: See showdown.
- 4th – Garrett Keck – Slaves to Darkness: Belakor and a Gaunt Summoner with Theridons and Varanguard.
- 5th – Don Trice – Sons of Behemat: Brodd with a Warstomper, Gatebreaker and 4 Mancrushers.
False Alarm GT 2025
28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Sparwood, BC, Canada on March 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Cole Winsor – Lumineth Realm-Lords
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vs.
Ridge Hanna – Beasts of Chaos
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Thoughts
The Lumineth have lost a lot of steam in recent months, mostly as spirit foxes lost the ability to move about on their opponents turns and the army’s went up. This made it harder to fill the list with the chaff necessary to be effective. Lumineth is a very technical army that requires precise focus on movement to hamper foes abilities to be effective and to assassinate key targets with Riverblades.
Turns out, Beasts of Chaos are a perfect army to counter something that requires that much precision. Their spells are perfectly designed to interact with such a setup, by halving the movement of key pieces with Stranglethorn, and forcing them out of alignment with Devolve. It’s also just a lot of bodies and Lumineth is more of a precision scalpel, even if here the focus on Cav makes a very solid hammer.
Overall the Beasts leverage their strength for an overwhelming victory.
Result
Beasts of Chaos Victory – 46 – 23
Ridge Hanna – Beasts of Chaos – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Bestigors
Thoughts
We have about two months and change until Beasts of Chaos ride off into the sunset. Bestigor spam is still the, well, best option for the army even with the Crits on 5+ instead of a bonus attack with All out Defense.
In short, the goal is to overwhelm the opponent with tons of bodies with lots of attacks, using the position control afforded by the Bray Shaman casting Vicious Stranglethorns and Devolve and then granting the Bestigors Run and Charge to bring the fight on their terms. The Ungors round things off as objective holders while the Chariot makes a solid mobile attack piece.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Pendleton Cox – Seraphon: Kroak and Starmaster with Seraphon good stuff.
- 3rd – Matthew Hopkins – Stormcast Eternals: Karazai with Praetors, Longstrikes, etc. You know the drill.
- 4th – Dom Elson – Ironjawz: Infantry focused, mostly Ardboyz but 2 big pigs backing them up.
- 5th – Derek Ali – Sons of Behemat: Kragnos and Brodd with a Beast-smasha and some Mancrushers.
- 6th – Cole Winsor – Lumineth Realm-lords: See Showdown.
Wrap Up
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