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 got a handful of midsized events this weeks, and it's a very green week. Every showdown is either Nurgle or Ironjawz (And one is both!). This week we'll be covering:

• Oklahoma Open - Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament
• DaBoyz GT Rochester 2025 AoS 1v1
• 15/16.11.25 Age Of Sigmar: Doom Fire 2-Dayer!
• AOS 1vs1 - La conquête de Ghyran

Oklahoma Open - Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament

53-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Norman, OK, United States on November 15 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Lifecycles

James Matthews - Maggotkin of Nurgle

vs.

Ben Bauman - Ironjawz

Thoughts

This is pretty much who's going to get the charges at the best time. Both armies are fantastic on the charge phase, but can also take a hit on the chin in turn. The Plaguebearers can tank hits while the Beasts charge in and do the real damage, and let Rotigus catch up to reduce their rend.

That said, this list of Ironjawz is rough. It's going to do a lot of damage on the charge and roll right on through, especially if Kragnos can get into Rotigus. So the Ironjawz take a pretty significant victory in this one.

Result

Ironjawz Victory - 67 - 42

Ben Bauman - Ironjawz - 1st Place

Megaboss on Maw-Krusha. Credit: Rich Nutter

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Kragnos and his Green Sons

Thoughts

Pretty much the entire crux of this list is just use Kragnos to get things into combat as fast as possible. Everything on this list (well, except the shaman) has a lot of wounds and hits hard. So why not have Kragnos inspire them to get a 3D6 charge? They don't need a lot of setup, though the spells from the Shaman aren't unappreciated.

Alex Cotter - Gloomspite Gitz - 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Archetype

Troggs

Thoughts

Yeah man it's just troggs. Point it at the thing and hit it. Troggoths are tanky and hit hard, thanks to their 5+ ward and healing. The Troggboss can cheer them on off to the side to buff their attacks, while the Dankhold Troggoth has a fun little tech piece where it can wade into combat even if your opponent didn't want it to. Trugg hands out random buffs, which can be a tad unreliable but none of them are unwelcome.

Skragrott is included because controlling the moon is handy, and Sunsteala Wheelas, while maybe not on theme are just too good. Especially if your opponent is dragging their feet to get into combat with the Trogg show.

The Best of the Rest

There were 8 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd - James Matthews - Maggotkin of Nurgle: See Showdown.
• 4th - Joe Vucic - Cities of Sigmar: Free Guilders
• 5th - Jonathan Schlieszus - Daughters of Khaine: Krethusa and foot aelves.
• 6th - Carter Babbs - Lumineth Realm-Lords: Herohammer Ellania and Ellathor, Severith and Light of Eltharion with Bladelords.
• 7th - Benjamin Brown - Disciples of Tzeentch:  Kairos with Tzaangors of all kind and a daemon prince.
• 8th - Sean Seyer - Slaves to Darkness: Gaunt Summoner and Abraxia with Theridons.
• 9th - Randall Minnick - Soulblight Gravelords: Nefereta and Blood Knights and Deathrattle.
• 10th - Bob Martin - Blades of Khorne: Mortal troop spam with Voltklaw's Enginecoven for some ranged firepower.

DaBoyz GT Rochester 2025 AoS 1v1

44-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in West Henrietta, New York, US on November 15 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Creeping Corruption

Scott Hawke - Maggotkin of Nurgle

vs.

Anthony Trentanelli - Skaventide

Thoughts

These are both very odd lists, but I'd have to give it to the Skaven even at a glance. The beasts of Nurgle are very good, deceptively strong even, but they don't have the firepower to go into three Hell Pit Abominations, much less the two reinforced Stormfiends ready in the wings. The Skaven's Bell Endless Spell and the Screaming Bell is also going to make it a nightmare to hit them thanks to the -1 to hit and to wound.

Result

Skaventide Victory - 75 - 44

Anthony Trentanelli - Skaventide - 1st Place

Brood Terror. Credit: Rockfish

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Melee skaven!

Thoughts

This list is deceptively tanky. The Hell Pit abominations can take a lot more hits than it looks and they have so many attacks, and they're particularly effective against infantry. They're also a huge pain in the ass to kill, since they have about a 1 in 3 chance of simply not doing that when they hit 0 wounds. And that's three of them to deal with.

If the enemy moves up behind them, the Stormfiends can pop up behind them. They used to be a seen as a gun unit, due to their very effective ranged weapons. But now their warscroll ability with Grinderfists let them pop up in either players turn, so the minute you leave that objective behind, bam, there they are. And then they punch you. And thanks to the Skaven battle traits they can come back at half strength and do it again.

Ridge Hanna - Gloomspite Gitz - 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Archetype

Kragnos and his small sons

Thoughts

It's pretty easy to see what this list is aiming to do. Kragnos gives an extra die on charge rolls, and Boingrot Bounderz love to charge. With their charge bonus on the lances and crit mortals on the mount (Thanks to the Squigboss) they can be very effective, even if they die soon after. Kragnos can of course join them, as he hits like a truck too.

The Gitmob subfaction lets the wolves actually punch by giving them +1 to their rend, and the Sunstela Wheelas do some mortals by charging over the enemy.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd - Ben Cutri - Idoneth Deepkin: Sea Eidolon with Allopexes.
• 4th - Scott Hawke - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Rotigus with Lords of Affliction and Beasts of Nurgle. Guest Starring a Daemon Prince.
• 5th - Oscar Savastio - Nighthaunt: Lady olynder with a lot of Pyregheists.
• 6th - Michael Sabetti - Seraphon: SoG Carnosaur with Saurus Jail.
• 6th - Myrcella Vodka + Cranberry - Stormcast Eternals: Lots of Annihilators. They annihilate.

15/16.11.25 Age Of Sigmar: Doom Fire 2-Dayer!

38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, United Kingdom on November 15 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Tony Kirby - Ironjawz

vs.

Alden Plows - Lumineth Realm-Lords

Thoughts

This is a tough one; the Ironjawz list is tough. That's a lot of Ardboyz, who are as their name implies incredibly tanky. They want to set up on objectives and then just be the biggest pains in the asses to remove. The Lumineth have side thats tanky, and a side that has a lot more flexibility with movement, but the damage on the wind side isn't that great. It's mostly to soften up the enemy before they get too close. Ardboyz don't care about Wards and can rally back a lot, so it's going to be two anvils trying to take one another out.

Result

Lumineth Realm-Lords Victory - 49 - 46

Alden Plows - Lumineth Realm-Lords - 1st Place

Avalenor, the Stoneheart King. Credit: Rich Nutter

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Stone and Wind

Thoughts

This is a rather different list than we're used to seeing. Mostly taking parts that used to work during the launch of 4th and making the most of them in their current state.

One side is rock, the bulwark. The Alarith subfaction allows the player to use Enduring as Stone for free, giving -1 to wards. If Avalenor is charged, that's another -1. He then can throw out +1 attack to all the Stoneguard, who are have 5+wards and hit like, well, hammers.

The wind side is for speed, Severith lets the Windchargers run or retreat and then shoot and charge. They bypass wards which makes them clutch going into something like Nurgle or Death armies. They can be hard to pin down, since the Move llike the Wind Facet of War allow them to deploy away in the shooting phase.

Light of Eltharion is a bit of a switch hiter, he can hang back with the Alariths to defend objectives or be sent up early, since he can be respawned easily thanks to the Windmage.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Timothy Martin - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Bloab with Blightkings and Blightlords, with a Daemon Prince.
• 3rd - Steve Murphy - Sons of Behemat: Brodd with a Gatebreaker, Warstomper and Beastsmasher.
• 4th - Stuart Russell - Slaves to Darkness: A big boy list of Archaon, Mutalith Vortex Beast, Slaughterbrute and an allied Warstomper. Oh and a Centurian Marshal with some Knights.
• 5th - Vitto Manetti - Skaventide: Screaming Bell with Rat Ogors and Brood Terror. Also has a warlock with Doom-flayers and Warpvolts.
• 6th - Cameron Eaton - Lumineth Realm-Lords: Enlightener and Light of Eltharion with Wardens and Bladelords.
• 7th - Tony Kirby - Ironjawz: See Showdown.

AOS 1vs1 - La conquête de Ghyran

38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Canéjan, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France on November 14 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

(Helmsmith icon WIP)

Mission - Grasp of Thorn

Sébastien Lejeune - Maggotkin of Nurgle

vs.

Kevin Even - Helsmiths of Hashut

Thoughts

With Helmsmiths just coming out it is difficult to assess what their strength is. Nurgle isn't the most competitive army right now either, which does make their exact power harder to assess.

Hashut does have a ranged advantage here, between the Warmachines and the Blunderbusses. Even in melee, the Bull Centaurs can charge in and whip ass with mortal wounds. That said, Nurgle has a lot of ways to blunt it. They don't much care about rend, since their saves are (mostly) so bad they rely on their wards anyway, so they're not as worried about the bull centaurs as others might be either. Rotigus can also eat away at Hashut's high saves, giving a path to break through.

Result

Maggotkin of Nurgle Victory - 71 - 37

Sébastien Lejeune - Maggotkin of Nurgle - 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Rotigus with Plaguebearers (and Hashut Rockets)

Thoughts

SoG Rotigus is one of the best upgrades Nurgle has gotten ahead of their book in a few weeks. His -1 to save Aura (which can be made bigger over time) helps compensate for Nurgle's pretty lackluster combat ability, and he's a decent fighter himself so he can join the fun.

The Harbinger, now with a proper lore, can use the Infectious Surge prayer to speed ability to move the army along. While the Blightlords are the primary hammer here, this list forsakes having multiple hammers by having plaguebearers slow down the enemy. Their crit mortals and (effectively) improved rend thanks to Rotigus means they can slow down the enemy by keeping them tied up.

The surprise inclusion is the new Helmsmiths of Hashut RoR. While the enemies are tied up fighting plaguebearers, the rockets can fire from behind. The Deathshrieker does some decent damage while the Tormenter shuts off commands. Pretty potent stuff.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Antonin Heland - Blades of Khorne: 5 Bloodthirsters
• 3rd - Frederic elustondo - Gloomspite Gitz: Squigs and Wolves.
• 4th - Adam Fromont - Ironjawz: Kragnos and his big green sons.
• 5th - erwan castel - Ossiarch Bonereapers: Katakros leading Stalker spam.
• 6th - Kevin Even - Helsmiths of Hashut: See showdown.

Wrap Up

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