Welcome Dear Reader to the first of (hopefully) many meta analysis articles brought to you by the Stat Check team. Stat Check recently partnered with Goonhammer, and as promised that means we’re bringing you even more competitive 40k content! Today we’re going to be looking at the meta for the upcoming Frontline Gaming Las Vegas Open (LVO) 40k Championships.

For other lovely LVO coverage, please click the links below:

• Top of the Mornin’ from the top of the curve, part 1
• Top of the Mornin’ from the top of the curve, part 2
• Where to Find LVO Coverage

What to Expect From This Article

LVO’s rules deadline was December 31st, 2022, meaning that the format doesn’t include any of the recent changes from January’s rules and points updates – specifically, the Arks of Omen GT Missions, Q1 Dataslate, and Munitorum Field Manual. What this means is that while LVO isn’t going to tell us much about the upcoming Arks season, it will give us an excellent snapshot of the end of the Nephilim season.

We’ve gone through the 973 submitted lists from the event, created a breakdown of the major factions involved, and highlighted interesting lists from each archetype present.

The Overall Meta

Let’s start with the overall meta structure. Once we’ve removed people who failed to submit lists, the final faction breakdown looks like this:

Space Marines make up the largest of the factions present at the event, which is consistent with their representation through the tail end of the Nephilim season – they make up 14% of lists at LVO and have made up 14% of lists during the last three months of GT play. Meanwhile Chaos Space Marines, Tyranids, Chaos Soup, and T’au Empire round out the top 5 factions in representation.

Overall, the meta is looking very diverse, with a healthy representation from almost every faction (there are only 6 Adeptus Mechanicus players) and a reasonably good diversity in list archetypes. Even Astra Militarum, who were relegated to using their 8th edition codex and supplements, have 25 players.

Rob: As we finish out the Nephilim season, it’s worth taking a look at how those numbers changed over the course of the year. Marines ending up at 14-15% of competitive armies is likely to be an all-time low for the event – last year’s LVO had 19% representation for Space Marine armies, which was down from what will likely be an all-time high of 27% in 2020 during “Iron Hands Winter” (note that LVO 2021 was cancelled as a result of COVID).

Marine armies have been in decline throughout the year, while on the whole Armour of Contempt armies have hovered around 35-40% of the meta, with a big boost from the release of Codex: Chaos Space Marines in Q3. When it comes to the all-inclusive “Chaos Marines” stat up there, note that Thousand Sons and Death Guard made up 21% and 23% of Chaos AoC armies in Q4, respectively.

Space Marines

Despite struggling for much of the Nephilim season (Space Marines have averaged a 42.3% win rate in the Nephilim season), Space Marines still make up a sizable amount of the meta, accounting for 1 in 7 lists.

Of these lists, Blood Angels make up the lion’s share, with 41 lists. While Space Marines have struggled as a whole, Blood Angels have seen some success over the last few months, winning the Grinning Demon Series GT in December and the US Open Kansas in November.

Blood Angels lists revolve around their fast moving, hard-hitting, and durable Sanguinary Guard (they have a 2+ armour save and benefit from Armour of Contempt – for now). They have very reliable secondaries in Fury of the Lost and Relentless Assault.

For an example of a Blood Angels list to keep an eye on, see Sam Procopio’s list below. Sam is coming off of a victory at the Grinning Demon Series GT in December, as well as a win at the Toronto Winter Open (though this event used Arks of Omen rules).

Sam Procopio's Blood Angels - click to expand

How the list works:

• Sanguinary Guard are good especially with Armor of Contempt driving their 2+ save to effectively a 1+ against weapons with AP. Stack that with say cover and then a FNP against mortal wounds (see the warlord trait Soulwarden) and the native benefits of being a Blood Angel (+1 to wound on the charge and +1 to advance and charge rolls), having D2 weapons and modest ranged firepower? You’ve got a powerful unit worth being shoved into lists 3 at a time.
• Death Company have a variety of benefits, one is that Forlorn Fury lets you pre-game move them up to 12” which then lets them hit your opponent’s line turn one; the other big one is that you get wonderful secondary scoring (in Nephilim) via Forlorn Fury where you get 3VP in a turn where they kill a unit and then score a point when they die as well!

Chaos Space Marines

A (relatively) new challenger for the Nephilim season, Chaos Space Marines have come out in force for LVO, representing the second largest contingent of players. As compared to the last three months, where they made up 8.1% of players, Chaos Space Marines have dipped slightly, making up 7.4% of the LVO meta.

Of the traitor Legions in attendance, the Emperor’s Children are the most represented. This army boasts excellent fight phase tempo control – the entire army has Mark of Slaanesh, which gives them the ability to fight first while also having access to the ability to make opponents fight last – and excellent shooting in the form of Noise Marine Blastmasters.

As an example of an Emperor’s Children list to watch, take a look at Anthony Vanella’s list.

Anthony Vanella's Emperor's Children - click to expand

How it works:

• Noise marines are very good shooting units, probably the best shooting units in the Chaos Space Marine codex (blastmasters are 3 shots at S8 AP3 D3 (D4 within 24”) which is good into most profiles). Especially when you can give them re-rolls from abaddon and the daemon prince. They also can fight if they need to, thanks to access to fight first from Mark of Slaanesh, the Icon of Slaanesh granting +1 to hit, the Champion’s Powerfist, and plenty of chainsword attacks.
• Terminators, you love to hate them. Chaos terminators though once you’ve dropped the Black Rune on them (-1 to be wounded, perils on doubles within 18”), Illusory Supplication from the Dark Apostle (can only be hit on a 4+ no re-rolls), and the ability to regenerate dead models (via our friend the Master of Possession) makes them just hate and no love (well, depending on what side you’re on at least).

Tyranids

The boogeymen of the Nephilim season, boasting a 58.7% win rate across the entire season, Tyranids are out in force for this farewell to Nephilim. They make up 6.9% of the LVO meta, a slight uptick from their presence over the last three months (6.3%).

Tyranids have had a banner season, winning a plethora of events and consistently placing in the top of events across the whole Nephilim season. In spite of nerfs across two dataslates, they remain a force to be reckoned with. Following the nerf to the Leviathan Hive Fleet trait (losing transhuman on Warriors, Zoanthropes, and Neurothropes), Kraken has emerged as the Hive Fleet of choice. With Hive Tyrants that can advance and charge 25 inches then Overrun back to safety after killing their targets, Sporocysts and Biovores spawning seemingly unlimited Spore Mines, and Zoanthropes pumping out mortal wounds, the Tyranid toolbox is overflowing.

For a list to keep an eye on this weekend, see John Lennon’s Kraken list. Lennon’s season has included a 4th place finish at the US Open Chicago Super-Major and a win at the Crucible 10 Major.

John Lennon's Kraken Tyranids - click to expand

How it works:

• Spore mines got nerfed for a reason and this list archetype is why. Spore mines explode on a 2+ when a model moves within 3” of them causing 1 mortal wound on a 2-4 and D3 mortal wounds on a 5-6. Enemy models can pass through them but cannot end on top of them, this lets you funnel your opponent around the board by blocking them or to screen units. This can be especially useful against things like knights where you can prevent them from being able to leave their deployment zone. The sporocyst can generate 6 spore mines (within 18” of the sporocyst and 6” away from enemy models) and each of the biovores can generate D3 spore mines (within 48” of the biovores and again 6” away from enemy models).
• Kraken raveners are exceptionally dangerous units able to natively move 12”, with access to advance and charge through Onslaught. In Kraken they get D3+3” advances, or make them auto-advance 8” using the Kraken specific stratagem. Then they can overrun if they kill their way out of engagement range (which they often do thanks to 5 attacks at S6 AP5 on the charge, probably hitting on 2’s thanks to the Direct Guidance warlord trait).
• Characters, beware of all the characters. Especially the Parasite stealing your objectives thanks to Alien Cunning giving it objective secured and count as 5 models.

Chaos Soup

Who doesn’t love soup? This writer when they’re trying to sort through list archetypes! There’s a smorgasbord of options available to list writers, but we’ve distilled down the lists into a few major archetypes, as seen below.

Chief amongst these archetypes is the Thousand Sons and Flamers of Tzeentch combo, which makes up almost half of the Chaos soup lists. Thousand Sons bring a strong psychic phase, durable Objective Secured Scarab Occult Terminators, while Flamers contribute fast-moving, hard-hitting shooting that stand up to most return fire thanks to their 3+ Daemonic Save. Add the ability to double cast Infernal Gateway or Bolt of Change and the combination is particularly potent.

Following this archetype, most of the rest of the Chaos soup lists consist of “X + Flamers” – further reinforcing GW’s commentary about Flamers of Tzeentch being a tad too strong prior to adjusting them in the January dataslate. After these lists comes the Dog Walker build, with 7 lists consisting of Abaddon and some flavour of Chaos Knight War Dog spam.

For a list to keep an eye on, look at Vik Vijay’s Chaos list. Vik is coming off of a 1st place at the Leicester Super-Major and a string of successful tournaments on the other side of the Atlantic.

Vik Vijay's Chaos Soup - click to expand

How it works:

• Flamers are very good D6+3 shots at S5 AP2 D1 means that each unit puts out 5D6+15 shots that auto-hit, rerolling wound rolls of 1 near Fateskimmer. Being assault they are able to move quite quickly while maintaining their level of firepower. Finally the 3++ daemon save against ranged attacks means that the flamers are also quite durable at range and charging them is not without risks either due to the overwatch threat.
• Cult of duplicity means teleporting rubric marines who are themselves rather durable thanks to +1 to their save against D1 weapons (All Is Dust) and Armor of Contempt reducing incoming firepower. These same two rules in addition to psychic buffs crank terminators to 11 from a durability perspective because you can tack on a 4+ invulnerable save (weaver of fates) and make them -1 to be hit (Glamour of Tzeentch).
• Also let’s not lie to ourselves, you can’t try to get around their improved durability against mortal wounds from psychic powers thanks to every unit having a deny. Having psykers in your own army can quickly become detrimental as it feeds into secondary options such as Wrath of Magnus where they score points if you can’t beat their output in the psychic phase.

T’au Empire

T’au have been a persistent factor in the meta ever since their release in early Nachmund. Here at LVO they make up 6.4% of the meta, a small increase from the 5.6% they’ve made up over the last three months.

With an almost perfect split between Farsight Enclaves and T’au Sept, T’au players remain divided on the best way to play the faction. With hard-hitting Crisis bricks and Riptides dominating T’au lists, they have the tools to tear through even the most durable of armies. This event also marks the last opportunity for Sun Shark Bombers to start on the table, as with the latest dataslate AIRCRAFT must start the battle in strategic reserves.

While there are many notable players playing T’au this weekend, readers should take a look at British import Nassim Fouchane’s Farsight Enclaves list. He’s recently done exceptionally well in the UKTC meta, taking 2nd place at the London GT and 3rd at the Leicester GT Super Majors.

Nassim Fouchane's Farsight Enclaves - click to expand

How it works:

• Sun Shark Bombers are great at projecting firepower from a fairly large threat range. They move 20-50” and shoot 12 S8 AP2 D2 shots, 2 S7 AP2 D2, and 2 S9 AP3 D2D3 (the latter being once per game). They can also deliver markerlights (giving +1 to hit) and can drop bombs (up to 10D6 on a unit or 6D6 on a monster/vehicle (per model if that’s also unit), causing mortal wounds on a 4+).
• Riptides pack a punch with their Ion Accelerator giving 6 shots at S8 AP4 D3 (8 shots if they nova charge for extra shots). They also are very efficient at getting out of trouble by being able to move 2D6 during the charge phase, effectively letting them jump out of cover to line up shots and then back into cover to prevent return fire.
• Let’s not even get into crisis suits also strike and fading meaning the whole army can jump in and out of terrain the whole game.

Leagues of Votann

The Leagues of Votann are the youngest faction in the game, but that hasn’t stopped them from attracting a sizeable player base. Leagues are the 7th most common army at the LVO, just 4 players shy of the T’au Empire’s representation. The Leagues have come screaming into the local meta, eating a substantial nerf in both points and rules leading up to the codex getting it’s full release. The Leagues make up 6.0% of the LVO meta, a moderate increase from the 3.5% of the meta they’ve made up over the last three months.

Leagues of Votann players have wholly embraced the Ymyr Conglomerate as their League of choice. With the Invulnerable Save (4++ on Hekatons/Hearthguard and a 5++ on everything else), extra weapon range, and conditional extra Armour Penetration, this subfaction is equipped to deal with the current meta quite well and it has shown in early tournament results. Boasting a 54.9% win rate over the last three months and over 800 games on record, they’ve quickly become a faction to watch.

As an example of a successful Leagues of Votann list, look no further than Nicolas Ohlsen-Johnson who recently won Merry Slaaneshmass 2022, a 94-person Major this past December.

Nicolas Ohlsen-Johnson's Ymyr Conglomerate

• Hekaton land forts are extremely durable thanks to being T8 alongside a 2+ armor save, void armour reducing incoming AP by 1 while preventing your opponent from re-rolling any wound or damage rolls against them. If that wasn’t enough they also have a 4+ invulnerable save thanks to the Ymyr sub-faction bonus. Wait, there’s more thanks to the Brokhyr Forge-Master upgrade they can get +1 to hit, heal up to 4 wounds a turn, and thanks to the Master Armorer warlord trait can reduce the damage of one attack per turn to 0 when a saving throw is failed.
• This is in addition to them carrying 8 22” S7 AP2 D2 beam shots, 2 34” S8 AP3 D4 beam shots (that turn into 2 hits a piece outside 15”), and 6 S7 AP2 D2 auto-cannon shots. This damage can then be boosted via various stratagems, such as the Ymyr-specific stratagem Pulsed Beam discharge where each hit causes a mortal wound (for one beam weapon) or Core-Buster Fire Pattern where if you hit with one beam weapon each other beam weapon that hits causes a mortal wound on a 4+.
• Oh and Beserks exist. With built-in charge rerolls, fight on death, a feel-no-pain (5+ against anything not D1, 4+ against D1), and 3 S10 AP3 D3 attacks per model in the unit! Sure they hit on a 4+ but for 1CP they can re-roll all hit rolls!
• Wait also 10 Beserks can fit in each of the Hekatons! So if the hekaton dies the Beserks come out to play!

The Top Players

Now the fun question Dear Reader – how does the above compare to the top players attending the event? We’ve gone and taken the top 100 ITC-ranked attendees and done a similar breakdown below.

Some similarities, some differences between the two sets of lists. Both flavours of marines dip in representation, while Tyranids, Chaos Soup, and T’au Empire dominate the prospective top tables. Death Guard, Drukhari, and (pure) Thousand Sons are all absent from the top 100 lists.

What’s Next

That’s all for now – we’ll be back after the event to take a look at how the results turned out for each of these factions and how it compared to their performance through the Nephilim GT season. In the meantime, there will be more coverage here on Goonhammer and on the Stat Check podcast this week – stay tuned!

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.