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.
We have another BIG week for Competitive Innovations. Not only was this past Weekend Adepticon, one of the largest AOS tournaments in the world, but we also got another Major in the Netherlands, the Gauntlet and a smaller event in Sweden.
Adepticon Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Championship 2025
195-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Milwaukee, WI, United States on March 27 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Due to the size of the event, we’ll just be focusing on the top 5 undefeated players.
The Showdown
Mission – Focal Points
Dylan Therriault – Cities of Sigmar
Army List - Click to Expand
bumpin’ that vs.
Jon Anderson – Idoneth Deepkin
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Thoughts
As someone who has played against Dylan (and this exact COS list) I would be predisposed to give it to Cities of Sigmar right out of the gate. The list, when played correctly, is intense with the ability to constantly respond to threats by reshifting their forces in their opponent’s turn to place their army in the most advantageous position.
And yet, it is a more defensive list. It tends to want to wait for opponents to make a move then respond and deal with their ill conceived charges. Idoneth are really good at charges, possibly one of the best, which gives them an opening here. The mission is also very adaptable, with the center objective changing to fit the home or flanks as needed which gives the very mobile Idoneth a few ways to approach the attack.
In the end, Idoneth win and only by the smallest of hairs. A very intense Adepticon.
Result
Idoneth Deepkin Victory – 47 – 45
Jon Anderson – Idoneth Deepkin – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Cavalry Midrange
Thoughts
This tries and hits all the cav units in Deepkin, which all have specific roles to play.
The Warrior Eidolon supports the Cav by giving them all +1 to wound within 12″, while the Leviadon gives a 5+ Ward in the event they get struck back. Ishlaen Guard are the more defensive of the two, inflicting a -1 to attack on the enemy, while Morsarr do Mortals on the charge.
The Allopexes are a less seen alternative these days but they come with a solid ranged attack that also slows down enemy infantry and Monsters by reducing their charge dice by 1.
Overall, a list with answers to a lot of problems when put in the right place.
Eli Sweatt – Beasts of Chaos – 2nd Place
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Dragon Ogors
Thoughts
We’re still gonna see some Beasts of Chaos until they ride off into the sunset, but this time we get something new other than Bestigor spam.
Dragon Ogors are surprisingly brutal. 12 attacks per unit with Crit Mortals means an average of 4 mortals each time, and some decent Rend behind the rest of the swings, too. Centigors are solid Anti-Cav, for the very prolific Cavalry in the game right now. Bestigors are still present, because even if not spammed they’re just a straight up good hammer.
Rounding things off, Cockatrice help set up crucial charges by inflicting Strike last on targets before the hammers charge in, while Ungors can filter out enemies as chaff.
Anothony Margo – Sons of Behemat – 3rd Place
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
King Brodd and his followers
Thoughts
It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen Sons of Behemat in the 5-0 spot so good job to AOS Coach!
Brodd is the centerpiece of the army thanks to being a very effective beat stick who has an excellent prayer that gives one of three buffs, all of which are quite solid depending on the situation. The Beast-stomper is your best response to other Monsters, while the Warstomper deftly handles hordes of infantry. The Mancrushers then round things off by giving something to sit on objectives or filter out units that won’t bog down your main force.
Joshua Zirl – Maggotkin of Nurgle – 4th Place
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Glottkin Leading Blightkings
Thoughts
I probably don’t need to tell you this list is tough. The Glottkin is the focal point of the list, with an incredible 24 wounds and a 5+ ward, it’s a powerful Warrior-Wizard who reduces the control of enemy units and can counter-charge with multiple units who foolishly remain too close to it. Bloab is the secondary wizard, mostly useful that he increases the (admittedly sometimes meager) damage output of other units.
Bloab most benefits the two units of Blightkings, who get a ton of Damage 1 attacks which are now doubled thanks to Miasmas of pestilence from Bloab while the Lord of Blights increases the rend if the enemy is foolish enough to charge the Blightkings.
The Rotmire Creed and Horticulus help get Disease spreading early, the Rotmire through shooting attacks and Horticulus by planting some forward trees.
Jered Nolie – Ossiarch Bonereapers – 5th Place
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Katakros midrange
Thoughts
This is an interesting list that tries and make the most of OBR’s high point costs by dipping a bit into everything. Katakros becomes the focal point of the list, by expanding Relentless Discipline to 18″, buffing 3 units with +1 to save and increasing their Control (More useful than it sounds given the low model count).
The Deathriders are the primary hammer, doing 30 attacks at Rend -1 Damage 2 on the charge, they’re going to be the recipients of most of the buffs like Empower Nadirite weapons.
Soulreaper creates an interesting package when combined with the Immortis Guard. With the Bodyguard Honor Guard ability enemy players who charge at the Soulreaper will get hit with -1 to attack and -1 to wound, and the Soulreaper in turn gets to do simultaneous fight with the Immortis Guard (granting them +1 to hit). They can also flex +1 to wound or 5+ Ward in the fight phase making it a highly adaptable group.
The Harvester mostly exists to get dead Immortis Guard and Deathriders back on their feet, and the Stalkers make solid objective holders due to being pretty resiliant with their -1 to be hit.
The Gauntlet – Age of Sigmar – Hosted by Threshold Tactics
117-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hoofddorp in The Netherlands on March 29 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Paul Dam – Flesh-eater Courts
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vs.
Maiky Bon – Blades of Khorne
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Thoughts
Khorne has started to pop up a few times in CI and when it does it seems to have shied away from the bigger stuff. Tons of Chaff work well for Khorne, it slows the enemy down and fuel their mechanic.
On the other side of the field the Flesh Eater Courts don’t have quite as many models but they are highly maneuverable and have recursion to keep bringing things back. The Morbheg knights are also prone to do a lot more damage on the charge than most of the things in the Khorne list, which likely leads to the crushing victory for the FEC.
Result
Flesh-eater Courts Victory – 42 – 27
Paul Dam – Flesh-eater Courts – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Ushoran and his Knights
Thoughts
So the center of this list is going to largely be conducted by Ushoran and the Morbheg knights. Ushoran is an invaluable support piece who offers very flexible buffs from Epicenter of Delusion and expanding Feeding Frenzy’s +1 attack to 24″ instead of 12″. He also scraps really well should he need to. Morbheg Knights, like most cav, are incredibly powerful on the charge especially with the other buffs from Ushoran and the increased movement and wound roll from the Deranged Transformation spell.
The Cardinal helps get Ushoran up to 6 heroic deed points on turn 1, while the Infernal Courtier and Crypt Flayers can harass the enemy from a distance and are also excellent with maneuverability with their flight. Beastflayers are a cheap speed bump but against Monsters they really come into their own, so they can be excellent when needing to fill that gap.
hugo jonquiere – Sylvaneth – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Sylvaneth Big Boys
Thoughts
This list bypasses all the bullshit and just drops some of the biggest things on the field at the enemy. Well, OK, they still need to be clever and pick their targets but all of these enemies are capable of hitting really hard, then slinking away to heal back up near the Wyldwoods.
Alarielle is the caster and a sold fighter to boot. She’s nearly impossible to kill between her town 2D3 self heal and 3 healing from the Formation trait. She also helps pad out the rather meager list of units by bringing back a dead model. Belthanos can grant run and charge to 3 units anywhere on the field and turns a terrain feature into a (counts as) Wyldwood. Spirit of Durthu is particularly good at wrecking other monsters but, frankly, can take down just about anything. Finally, the Kurnoth Hunters are excellent at standing their ground to hold your objectives with Anti-charge.
Hugo Rikken – Disciples of Tzeentch – 3rd Place (Undefeated)
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Dual Birds with Demon Hordes
Thoughts
This list can be a genuine pain in the ass to engage with. Kairos, the Lord of Change and Changeling take turns hurling spells at the enemy that cause mortal wounds and inflict Wyrdflame, while the Flamers spit to cause the same status effect. Wyrdflame causes D3 mortal wounds on a 2+ and -1 to wound in the subfaction making it very easy to get out of control if the opponent doesn’t waste Rally attempts on it.
The Horrors become very difficult to get past with that -1 to wound, it’s a lot of wounds to carve through and is going to take even longer thanks to the splitting. If you’re unfortunate enough to get hit by Transformed by Spawn it’s very easy to place it in the center of the enemy army, locking several units into combat until they remove it.
The entire army is all about control and keeping the enemy stuck in the mire while being pelted with mortal wounds.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players in the top 8. They were:
- 4th – Ronald Bunnik – Nighthaunt (4-0-1): Lady Olynder and Awlrach leading the Nighthaunt Good Stuff of Bladegheists, Grimghast and Hexwraths.
- 5th – Antoine Dumont – Disciples of Tzeentch: Kairos with lots of Tzaangors and a guest star of a Tzeentch Daemon Prince.
- 6th – Ivan Carbonel – Stormcast Eternals: Krondys with Palladors and Longstrikes.
- 7th – Michel Jacobs – Ironjawz: Ardboyz and Brutes crew.
- 8th – Stefan Gmür – Lumineth Realm-lords: Stoneguard and archer support led by dual Mountain Spirits
Fantasia Fanatic XLVII
32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Västerbottens län, Sweden on March 29 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Mission – Limited Resources
Anton Sandström – Stormcast Eternals
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vs.
Abbe Al-Hayali – Seraphon
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Thoughts
This matchup definitely seems to favor Seraphon. Seraphon tend to excel against smaller, more elite armies where their chip damage adds up. A few D3 Mortals here or there can quickly widdle down multi wound models like the Stormcast, leaving them struggling to capture as many objectives. The Stormcast do have easy access to 5+ and 6+ Wards, and to negate the abilities once on a 4+, but a few bad rolls will quickly eat through their numbers.
Both armies have access to deep strike, teleport, and high movement units which is crucial on a 6 objective mission like this so board coverage isn’t really favoring either side. The Seraphon eventually take a pretty hefty lead forward.
Result
Seraphon Victory – 14 – 6
Abbe Al-Hayali – Seraphon – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Dual Frog Power
Thoughts
This list is a bit different from the traditional Seraphon list. Instead of the Skink Starseer it goes for a second unnamed Slann for more casting prowess. The unnamed Slann can give Kroak a +3 to cast which is pretty absurd in a world where unbind bonuses are basically non-existent.
The emphasis on Saurus Guard is an interesting play. The Saurus Guard are far from bad, but generally more than 1 unit is seen as unneccesary. With 2 units though, they can defend both Slann, and be brought back at half size. They’re incredibly resilient with their 3+ Save and 5+ Ward, they can easily mire most enemies and do decent damage to boot.
For anything the Saurus Guard can’t take care of the Kroxigors punch like a truck. The remainder of the list exists to slow down the enemy and keep them controlled, with Terradon Riders preventing run, and Hunters of Huanchi reduce the enemy Charge dice by 1. These keep the bigger threats away long enough to bomb them with mortal wounds from the Slann.
The Best of the Rest
There were N more players on X-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Alexis Herbeck – Stormcast Eternals: Krondys with a mix of infantry like Castigators, Vigilors and Prosecutors.
- 3rd – Anton Sandström – Stormcast Eternals: See Showdown.
- 4th – Per Sigvallius – Gloomspite Gitz: Troggs and Squiggs with some of the new Wolf cav playing Outriders.
Wrap Up
Thanks again! See you next week!
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