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.

Hello everyone! It’s been a few weeks, between some technical difficulties making it hard to automate the process of scraping for lists and some unfortunately timed illness I’ve been out of the game for a bit. The good news is we’re back and what a time for it! We’re in June, the first set of Legends have gone off into the sunset and the new Soulblight book is finally street legal!

The seasons still going, with the GHB about two weeks off, so let’s see where things have hashed out at the end.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Throne of Skulls

58-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Nottingham, England on May 31, 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Darryl Peacock – Skaventide
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vs.

Jack Morton – Hedonites of Slaanesh
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Thoughts

A Slaanesh list, particularly an unusual one list like this is a nice sight to see. We don’t see the twins out in force very often, let alone in a (mostly) demons army.

The problem is theyre going up against a very strong chaff and ranged list with the skaven. The Skaven can keep themselves well guarded against the mostly melee orientated Slaanesh. A lot of the victory is going to come down to being able to snipe the Ratling guns from a safe distance and being able to pick their battles against the overwhelming horde of clanrats.

The victory goes pretty overwhelmingly to the Skaven.

Result

Skaventide Victory – 45 – 31

Darryl Peacock – Skaventide – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Dual Verminlords

Thoughts

Been a minute since we saw Skaven in the #1 spot. Refreshing to see.

The locus of this list is naturally the two Verminlords. Skreech Verminking is a strong support for lists that use multiple clans, as he can hand out a buff for each clan once per game. The big ones here are +1 to shooting for Skyre for the Ratling guns and +1 rend for Deathmaster and Verminlord Deceiver in Eshin. He’s also an incredibly powerful combatant and wizard, he’s the whole package.

The Deceiver is a strong Warrior-Wizard, able to do some serious damage up close and bypass undesirable fights. The Ratling Guns and Doomflayers are also forces to be reckoned with, able to pick up all but the most defensive units in the game.

Rounding things off is the 60 clan rats which gum up the board and make a lot of work for an opponent to pick up before they can actually get to the meat up the list.

Ed Johnson – Seraphon – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

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Archetype

Seraphon good stuff

Thoughts

Standard Seraphon nonsense. Kroak and a Starseer lead by casting their nukes on the enemy, while the Saurus Guard protect them. Lancers, Raptadons and Kroxigors are your hammer while Hunters of Huanchi help slow down the enemy while you get your meteors off.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the top 8 include:

• 3rd – Jack Morton – Hedonites of Slaanesh: See Showdown.
• 4th – Neil Samuels – Disciples of Tzeentch: Kairos and Lord of Change with lots of Tzaangors and a warstomper merc.
• 5th – Yohan Studer – Skaven: Thanquil and Verminlord Deceiver with Ratling guns, Clanrats and Night Runners.
• 6th – Marti Barker – Stormcast Eternals: Bastian with Longstrikes and Palladors.
• 7th – Jonny Simmons – Soulblight Gravelords: Vampire lord with Deathrattle, Blood Knights and Vargheists.
• 8th – Joe Catterson – Soulblight Gravelords: Nefereta and Vamp Lord on Zombie Dragon with a menagerie of Blood Knights, Barrow Guard, Askurgan Trueblades and Dire Wolves.

Gem Wargaming Aetherforce GT

58-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Dayton, OH, United States on May 31 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Austin Thimesch – Kruleboyz
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vs.

Jack Cawood – Slaves to Darkness
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Thoughts

We haven’t seen true pure Kruleboyz in a long time so this is a very exciting matchup. Unfortunately, not liable to be one with much staying power. The Slaves to Darkness list is just going to punch hard there’s not a lot that the Kruleboyz can do about it. They can do a fair amount of Mortal Wounds which is a great way of dealing with Chosen and Gobbsprakk is a solid way to mess with Be’lakor’s spells and get around his invulnerable save by turning his spells around on him, but the boltboyz are liable to struggle to do much damage and that’s a solid quarter of the list.

So sadly the Kruleboyz put up a noble effort, but it’s a slaves to darkness victory here.

Result

Slaves to Darkness Victory – 44 – 28

Jack Cawood – Slaves to Darkness – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Be’lakor and his Chosen

Thoughts

Varanguard are out, but Chosen stay. This is mostly what we’ve seen from Slaves to Darkness in 4th. Be’lakor leads the pack as a strong spellcaster who can also shut down the strongest threat once per game with The Dark Master. The Chosen are one of the most versatile units in the game, both as strong attackers and solid defenders.

They are however, slow. So the Gorebeast Chariots pick up the slack there. Their damage isn’t very impressive, but they move a decent click and then get to move 12″ on the Power Through. Great for grabbing those flack objectives.

Brendan Melnick – Soulblight Gravelords – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mannfred and the Deathrattle

Thoughts

The new Soulblight book is finally street legal so we’re gonna see a lot of new lists as people figure out what to do with it. This is one possible approach, where the focus is largely on Mannfred and a Wight Lord supporting 2 reinforced units of Barrow Knights.

With Mannfred it’s quite easy to inflict Strike Last on an enemy (with a spell) and then give him Strike First (with a rampage). When he kills a model, he grants all Deathrattle around him +1 attack, so that’s 31 Rend -1 Damage 2 attacks on the charge with crit mortals (So looking at an average of 10 mortal wounds). Ouch! The Wight Lord helps those Barrow Knights actually get there with a +1 to charge.

The Vengorian Lord also supports as another beat stick and caster, who can also help heal up Mannfred as a bonus. The Direwolves and Vargheists finish the list off as highly mobile objective grabbers.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the top 8 include:

• 3rd – Luke Edinger – Nighthaunt: Lady Olynder with Khrulghast Cruciator and a Lord Executioner with Dreadscythe Harridans and Bladegheist Revenants.
• 4th – Davis Bailey – Stormcast Eternals: Krondys with Praetors and Ionus with Stormdrake Guard.
• 5th – Ouen Mali – Seraphon: Seraphon good stuff.
• 6th – Austin Thimesch – Kruleboyz: See Showdown.
• 7th – Carlos Munoz – Ogor Mawtribes: Monster Trucks.
• 8th – Michael Rausch – Gloomspite Gitz: Moonclan spam and some Snarlfang riders and Doom Diver Catapult.

2025 Bugeater AoS GT

41-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Omaha, NE, United States on May 31 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Limited Resources

Charles Belt – Ossiarch Bonereapers
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vs.

Michael Smith – Seraphon
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Thoughts

That’s a really interesting OBR list. OBR traditionally struggle with Seraphon as they output a ton of wounds, the Archai can bat away the mortals from spells there are mortals from other sources that they are much more vulnerable to. Including an FEC RoR gives a faster vanguard force that can bring the fight to the enemy a lot quicker than the OBR can.

It’s a surprisingly close fight for the OBR, but ends in a Seraphon victory.

Result

Seraphon Victory – 40 – 34

Michael Smith – Seraphon – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Seraphon good stuff (Infantry Edition)

Thoughts

So the usual suspects are here. Kroak to drop bombs on the enemy, and the Starseer to be a familiar he can cast through to expand his range. The Saurus Guard keep him from being instantly shot off the board, while the Kroxigors are the primary hammer. It’s unusual to not make some of your hammers the many cavalry available to you, but Krox rock hard. Hunters of Huanchi and Terradon Riders both serve to slow down the enemy to delay they escaping your meteor bombardment.

The Bastiladon is a less popular pick, but hardly a bad one. An incredibly resilient monster who does a ton of mortal wounds in melee? Absolutely! Solid pick.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Carter Babbs – Soulblight Gravelords: Vhordrai with Barrow Knights, Blood Knights, Dire Wolves, Skeleton Warriors and Fell bats.
• 3rd – Joe Krier – Disciples of Tzeentch: Lord of Change, Fateskimmer and Changecaster with a menagerie of daemons.
• 4th – Brad Petersen – Slaves to Darkness: Be’lakor and a Gaunt Summoner with a mix of Theridons, Chosen and Knights.
• 5th – Jose Arredondo – Seraphon: Bold play of 2 Skink wizards with no slann and lots of Krox and Raptadons.
• 6th – Jason Burau – Maggotkin of Nurgle: Glottkin and Rotigus with Blightkings.
• 7th – Charles Belt – Ossiarch Bonereapers: See Showdown.

Torchlight Age of Sigmar GT

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Burlington, ON, Canada on May 31 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Better Part of Valour

Frederick Schmidt – Stormcast Eternals
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vs.

Devin Courtman – Soulblight Gravelords
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Thoughts

So the Soulblight book is finally getting out into the wild so we’re bound to see some wild lists as people figure out what they want to do with it.

In this case we got numbers, lots of numbers. The Askurgan Trueblades get a lot of pretty decent attacks for their cost, and Prince Vhordrai makes them even better at it. So in addition to being just a lot of numbers, which Stormcast struggle against, they’re not pushovers either. A lot is going to come down to how many the Palladors and Longstrikes can pick up before charging in, lest they get swarmed. Karazai in particular is vulnerable to their Anti-MONSTER.

Despite the tie score, Frederick and his Stormcast took the day due to scoring 5 battle tactics over Devin’s 4 which results in a tie breaker, so it was a real nailbiter of a game.

Result

Stormcast Eternals Victory – 42 – 42

Frederick Schmidt – Stormcast Eternals – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Karazai and Stormcast Good Stuff

Thoughts

This list pretty much just looks at the best stuff in Stormcast and condenses it down, no filler.

Karazai still pulls his weight despite his very high price tag, with the bodyguard Honor Guard ability he can cause -2 attacks to anyone who tries to attack him, but still a -1 if he takes the initiative so he wins out either way. The Palladors are nasty, able to deep strike in, shoot, charge and shoot again before fighting. Finally the old standby Vanguard-Raptors are still some of the best shooting units in the game, particularly if they get a good shot at a hero thanks to their Anti-HERO weapon.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Devin Courtman – Soulblight Gravelords: See Showdown.
• 3rd – Mark Palinski – Idoneth Deepkin: Eidolon leading an Allopex, Leviadon and 2 squads of Morsarr Guard.
• 4th – Yury NoDawmage – Slaves to Darkness: Be’lakor with 2 Squads of Chosen and Chaos Warriors.
• 5th – Oscar Savastio – Nighthaunt: That is so many Pyregheists. 8 units worth, along with a Black Coach lead by 2 Cruciators and Reiknor.
• 6th – Michael Sabetti – Sons of Behemat: Kragnos, King Brodd, and a Warstomper along with the Ironjawz Pig RoR.
• 7th – Kyle Shermet – Blades of Khorne: Skarbrand leads a contingent of just about every mortal infantry unit in the book.

Wrap Up

It’s good to be back and thank you for your patience! We will be resuming our weekly schedule and I promise we will be back next week with more events!

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