Welcome back readers to the UTC recap for Kill Team. May has been a somewhat quiet month, so we’re rewinding back to the weekend of May 18-19. While going over what the meta looked like for the week of May 21-27. May has been marked by new releases and a fair number of larger tournaments, with shooting-centric teams once again on the rise!
This weekend saw only one GT level event for Kill Team in the Bay Area Championships. Where the 55+% win rate of the Nemesis Claw came front and center. In fact the Bay Area Championships had some other interesting outliers in Warp Coven taking third while their faction suffered! Kill Team remains a game of pilots over team faction with win rates providing useful information but only presenting some of the picture.
It does seem that the meta remains reasonably healthy as Kill Team’s winners and losers week to week continually shift. This weekend saw some generally underperforming teams, hit the meta hard. In Farstalker Kinband, and Hunter Clade performing past their week to week averages. Players looking for a challenge can probably find one there. Meanwhile outside of the new hotness, Nemesis Claw Elites continue to suffer as a collective. It does bode well for the game when the meta has such large swings in win rates from week to week, as anything could happen! It’s definitely been a breath of air compared to the Kommando menace of the last year!
Goldmine Games Kill Team Massive Mayhem (Best Coast Pairings)
Goldmine Games sees their local TO James Grubb host a three-round 10-person tournament. With the event taking place so close to Games Workshop’s Dallas Open, it’s no wonder the turnout was a little lower. However, the players still looked like they had a great time!
- Eric H, GMG- Void Dancer Troupe
- Johnathan P- Inquisition Agents
- Justin H- Phobos Strike Team
Here is what TO James had to say about the event
“Our 10 man tournament at Goldmine Games featured 10 unique teams all vying for the top prize: The Zebrawood Daddy Caddy and Goldmine Games Team Jersey. We had a lower turn out this event with 4 people having to drop due to the tornados that came through earlier in the week and happening the same weekend as the Dallas Open but it was a great time with my teammates rolling some dice! Always happy to run events at such an awesome store (who provides all of the terrain we play on).”
Ten unique factions, and Void Dancers taking the final W are great to see. Especially in Texas, where the Kill Team scene continues to grow.
Railsplitter Ruffians – May Kill Team Event (Best Coast Pairings)
Goonhammer co-contributor ArmorofContempt ran his monthly event to the scene of 14-players over his standard 4-rounds. Continuing to push the competitive focus of his scene, with some surprising results to boot!
- Dylan G, FishandFungus- Hearthkyn Salvagers
- Jonathon R, Railsplitter Ruffians- Wrymblade
- Ryan L, Railsplitter Ruffians- Blooded
Our own ArmorofContempt had this to say:
“Growth of Kill Team in Central Illinois continues to be strong as our event reached a respectable 14 players drawing from both St.Louis and Champaign-Urbana. This event shared the Saturday with a Chicago area event that drew a 24 player turnout, meaning that we are still able to get strong support even when the Windy City isn’t able to blow players Southwards. Our winner this month was Dylan Gill who showed everyone that Hearthkyn are not to be counted out, and that where they lack raw power they’re a sturdy and reliable team more than capable of grinding down opponents over 4 rounds.”
The results of the Railsplitter’s deserve some inspection, as Hearthykyn remain a team that have some incredible struggles. They do seem particularly well suited to duking it out against horde-ish teams as the combination of high armor saves, ramping damage, and good ploys let you overwhelm your opponents. However you’re still crippled by the 5 inches of movement, and perhaps Dylan G has the secrets. As an undisputed winner with four rounds bravo to Dylan!
Dice Dojo Spring Open (Best Coast Pairings)
Chicago’s TO extraordinaire Rob P, ran the largest event on the UTC in mid-May sporting 23-players playing through 3-rounds! While it means us onlookers won’t see the final match against Vet Guard and Voidscarred. The 3-round limit does keep tournaments more approachable for most.
- Nick M, Venture Minis- Veteran Guard
- Eric M- Corsair Voidscarred
- Kevin K- Team [Redacted], Intercession
TO Rob had this to say:
“Chicagoland Game’s Dice Dojo Spring Open Kill Team tournament was a testament to the variety of Kill Team. We played three rounds across Open, Close Quarters, and Hazardous boards. Of the 23 players, we saw 17 different teams. Some players were trying out the new hotness from Season 3. Many players learned a lot about Mandrakes, both how to win with them and how to beat them. Resisting the siren’s song of new teams, the 3-0s of the day were players piloting their old reliable teams. Kevin Kell came in 3rd with his Imperial Fist Intercession squad, which was also a finalist for Best Painted. Even with a rocky round 1, Eric Miller continued his strong performance with the Corsairs he took to 14th at Adepticon. The winner was Nick “What Nerf?” Myerson (aka Venture Minis) who took their beloved Vet Guard to another 1st place finish. Francesc Massanes’s Hierotek Circle (finished just hours before the tournament) took Best Painted. Keep an eye out for Dice Dojo’s Summer Open, scheduled for August 3rd!”
Chicago sees a very intriguing top 3, with only 3-rounds the 3-way tied record really has me miss that fourth round. It’d be very cool to see where each of the top 3 would land in a final fourth round. With Intercession performing poorly across most of May. Can the Corsairs polish off the Veteran Guard? Would local menace Nick M crush that fourth round? We’ll never know, but its great to see Chicago’s attendance numbers so high!
Upcoming Events
June 01
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B.Strat June Monthly KT 2024 (Brooklyn, NY, BestCoastPairings)
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Q2 Atomic Empire KTT (Durham, NC, BestCoastPairings)
Notably, we are still looking to get more Kill Team events up on the UTC calendar. If you’d like to be featured, reach out and we’ll get you set up asap!
