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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Battle Rites of Spring pt.1
It's a bit of an in between week, with a mixture of initial forays into the new metagame and a few remaining holdouts from the old one. Early signs are the C'tan are still extremely good (shocking, we know), but on a more positive note there seems to be a bit of an uptick in experimentation with non-Ultramarine Astartes, which is nice (and also different Necron setups, to be fair). Plenty of diversity among the top finishes too, so perhaps we're getting a season of renewal.
This Week's Events
Part 1 on Wednesday:- The Colorado Cup '26 - Warhammer 40K
- 12th Barrie Bash
- Warzone Wellington 2026
- Op luck of the Irish GT
- Free State GT 2026
- Aemona Open Nationals GT, 40k
- Ides of March 2026 [40k GT]
- Warhammer 40K Spring GT
- Adeptus Bastardes II
- Palladium Games Presents "the dumpster fire gt" Spring Edition
- Altos Terra Capilla Segundo GT
- TORNEO RELAMPAGO
The Colorado Cup '26 - Warhammer 40K
189-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Brighton, CO, United States on March 14 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.The Showdown
You know for some reason when I went to search the library of existing VS banners I was really sure Iron Hands vs, Tyranids wouldn't be in there for like two seconds, then I remembered that 9th Edition existed.
Take & Hold - Tipping Point
Matt Evans - Tyranids (Invasion Fleet)vs.
Ben Neal - Iron hands (Hammer of Avernii)
Thoughts
This is one of those fascinating Showdowns where you look at one side and think "wow, that's a really interesting spin on that detachment that leans in on a unique angle", then look at the other side and it's the same and it completely no sells what the other side is doing. That's very much what we have here - the Tyranid Invasion Fleet build is super cool, going hard on the Detachment's ability to set up multiple angles of Primary domination, which would crush enemy monster mash lists and give some dakka Marine lists pause, and it doesn't matter in the slightest because it runs face-first into two full bricks of Iron Hands Assault Terminators, who are going to sit on two objectives all game and beat anything that comes near them to death.There is simply nothing in the Tyranid army that kills the Terminators efficiently, and they absolutely can kill anything they touch, especially as both units can have the better of Lethal or Sustained up essentially all the time, and thanks to Vaar's double Oath. The only thing they might miss on is a Norn, but they have the models to physically body block those from getting onto objectives to flip them, which buys them time to put the boot in. They also have real shooting behind that front line, which the bugs have precisely zero ways to reach out and interact with, which accumulates to make this a vicious mismatch for the Tyranids. If they play cagey they probably won't get tabled or anything, but they have no way to prevent the Marines from holding two No-Man's Land objectives essentially indefinitely, and any attempt to try and stop them will probably just make things worse.
I'd say their only hope was for the Marines to go first and a Shadow turn to zero them on Primary, but even that shouldn't work if the Iron Hands are smart, as they have a sticky objective Stratagem that they should absolutely be spamming for exactly this reason, and that returns the situation to one where the Tyranids being unable to meaningfully touch more than one mid-field objective kills them. Shame to see an interesting bug build come up short, but it's a very clever build on the Marine side too, and won a resounding victory here.
Result
Iron Hands (Hammer of Avernii) Victory - 89 - 66Ben Neal - Iron Hands (Hammer of Avernii) - 1st Place
Credit: head58
The List
Archetype
Terminator Tarpit HammerThoughts
A bold new setup takes the trophy here, using the might of Iron Hands Terminators to brutally lock down scoring and shield shooting. This obviously paid off in the Showdown, and it'll be very strong into any melee build that can't threaten to lift a whole Terminator squad at one, which is most of them because 4W is such a good number to have in this metagame. It should also be great against C'tan, who really struggle to punch through the wall fast enough, even if unlike the Tyranid threats they can mostly shrug off the melee damage. This looksvery different to most Marine setups and really uses the detachment's toolkit to the max, congratulations Ben on taking the win with something exciting and new.John Vuchetich - Necrons (Starshatter Arsenal) - 2nd Place (Undefeated)
Necron Warriors with Gauss Flayers
The List
Archetype
Warrior Starshatter C'tanThoughts
It turns out even if you kick all the C'tan synergy out of Starshatter, adding a couple of them on top of an already powerful setup still rocks. This build does distinguish itself from the pre-slate versions by using Warriors instead of Wraths, which gives you a bit more of a solid Primary denial fallback if your damage output flops (which it can, kind of, now), but it's mostly business as usual, and a solid indication that Necrons are going to continue to be a top player in the metagame. Well done to John.Marshall Peterson - Necrons (Canoptek Court) - 3rd Place (Undefeated)
Immortals. Credit: Rockfish
The List
Archetype
Immortal Canoptek C'tanThoughts
Although, as above, the popular detachments remain strong, the changes to Starshatter do help bring more varied Necron setups to the fore, such as this one from Marshall. It's not the first time he's taken it to the top, but I suspect you'll see more imitators in the new environment. This list combines Szeras and Ammentar's auras with Canoptek-ified gauss Immortal/Plasmancer squads to create truly universal damage dealers, able to shred wounds off pretty much anything at a decent clip, especially factoring in easy access to Ignore Cover in Canoptek. As I mentioned above with the Iron Hands, one of the ways you can beat C'tan is by handing them a defensive profile they can't work through, but there is essentially no target that's fully robust against this build if it's standing on an objective, which is a great asset. That doesn't mean it's unbeatable - I think some full send melee builds might be able to roll it over, for example, but it does a really effective job of addressing some common Necron counters. Well done to Marshall for rounding out an undefeated podium.Andrew Champion - World Eaters (Berzerker Warband) - 4th Place
Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones
The List
Archetype
Berzerker HordeThoughts
A return of the big Berzerker horde to complete this top four, and yes to be clear this is absolutely the build you want for trying to roll over the many Immortals above. The sheer numbers also give it an angle into C'tan that more all-rounder Warband setups lack, as you can bog them down with sheer numbers and/or kill them with Lethals. Interesting to see if this makes a more concerted comeback - I guess the previous reduction in the power of Grizzled followed up by a few less Victrix squads being out there probably doesn't hurt its chances either. Well done Andrew.The Best of the Rest
There were 15 more players on 5-1 records. They were:- 5th - Scott Ketcham - Adepta Sororitas (Champions of Faith): Sacresant shieldwall with Retributors behind it.
- 6th - Joshua Birchfield - Chaos Daemons (Scintillating Legion): Quad Birds and Be'lakor.
- 7th - Jake Herrod - Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Mid-weight all-rounder Ultramarines with a Storm of Fire Hellblasters squad, Lancers, a Vindicator, and double Victrix with new Calgar and a Captain.
- 8th - Phillip Schwan - Ultramarines (Blade of Ultramar): New Calgar Hulltramarines with a small Terminator Assault Squad for the big man to lead around.
- 9th - Camden Holt - Leagues of Votann (Mercenary Oathband): A fairly go-wide take on Oathband with double Fort and double Kapricus/Yaegirs, with a full Beserk squad to use the melee Stratagems.
- 10th - Mike Lynch - Genestealer Cult (Host of Ascension): Horde host with lots of big Neophyte squads, many MSUs, and one large squad of Metamorphs for a bit of melee heft.
- 11th - Mason Mutz - Orks (War Horde): Melee pressure War Horde with double big Boyz, one with Ghaz and one in a Battlewagon.
- 12th - Matt Evans - Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Durable scoring Invasion Fleet with two big Termagant squads, two Norns and Tyrant Guard to go with Swarmy and a Hive Tyrant.
- 13th - Bryan Gorny - Thousand Sons (Rubricae Phalanx): Double Scarab block, lots of Rubricae, and a couple of Predator Annihilators.
- 14th - John Kilcommons - T'au Empire (Mont'ka): Triptide, Pathfinders and some Devilfish-riding Infantry.
- 15th - Trae Burnett - Chaos Space Marines (Huron’s Marauders): Big presure units (Terminators and a full Chosen squad) followed by Rhino-riding brawlers/Noise Marines, with the Masters to slot in somewhere.
- 16th - Ted Michalakes - Chaos Space Marines (Huron’s Marauders): More Chosen, Noise Marines and Masters, here with an extra Discolord.
- 17th - Treynor Wolfe - Ultramarines (Blade of Ultramar): New Calgar Hulltramarines.
- 18th - Evan Begner - Necrons (Starshatter Arsenal): the Silent King, the two big C'tan, and then one each of Wraiths and a Doomsday with plenty of utility support.
- 19th - Lane Nusbaum - Astra Militarum (Combined Arms): Triple Dorn and double Bullgryn.
12th Barrie Bash
58-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Thornton, ON, CA on March 14 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.Nick Jagiello - Astra Militarum (Grizzled Company) - 1st Place
Lord Solar. Credit: Rockfish
The List
Archetype
High Damage GrizzledThoughts
Grizzled Company is still here. This is the high damage version. Previous metagame I preferred the Bullgryn version. Will that still be true in the new metagame? Probably still need a few weeks to figure that out. Both are great, and this iteration earned Nick a trophy, congratulations!Ben Greenlay - Grey Knights (Warpbane Task Force) - 2nd Place
Grey Knights Razorbacks. Credit: Colin Ward
The List
Archetype
Warglaive WarpbaneThoughts
A rare sighting of Warpbane in second place, and it is worth saying that Grey Knight win rates did, finally, recover just a little this week, albeit at a low enough player count that it could be a blip. Ben's build combines some normal Warpbane hits with a lean towards hulls, including both Razorbacks and some Armiger Warglaives alongside the normal Dreadknights. I'm assuming the play with the Armigers is to provide a middle-of-the-road bait option; not so expensive that you're distraught if the opponent smoothly eliminates it, not so sqishy or low OC that it's trivial to flip a point back from (and also able to speedily deny an objective to a C'tan in an emergency). It seems to have worked well here, with Ben carving through multiple C'tan builds and several other powerful lists, only stumbling against T'au who presumably just enjoyed an even more target rich environment. Well done Ben!Dan Morris - Genestealer Cult (Outlander Claw) - 3rd Place
Credit: Keewa
The List
Archetype
OutlanderThoughts
Outlander claw returns in third place, bringing the ultimate in high-speed Primary denial (and a fair bit of chip damage) back to the top tables. This list is almost unparallelled in its ability to put 10 OC somewhere in a hurry, and it's enormously tough to pin down and eliminate thanks to movement and defensive tricks. It does have a vulnerability to some categories of full send melee setups (I'd expect Bastion Templars to be able to roll it, for example), but it's exceptionally good into lots of popular lists, and even in its rougher matchups has the classic Genestealer fallback plan of an opponent missing an oncoming trick and getting picked apart. Fun to see a blast from the past returning in style, great job Dan.Zachery Riegling - Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) - 4th Place
Credit: Evan "Felime" Siefring
The List
Archetype
Melta MartyrsThoughts
Sisters close out our second top four, sporting a Hallowed Martyrs build that's even denser on the melta weaponry than normal. This leans it extra hard into the Martyrs plan of using a respawning Character (Celestine is here to double dip on that) to bait foes into doing something, then brutally punishing them with a counterattack. Anything that has killed a unit is not going to be long for the world with three Retributor squads around, which makes this absolutely brutal into any sort of hull build, though it is again pretty vulnerable to hordier strategies (Zachery's loss was to the GSC above). Clearly are some changes afoot as people figure out where the metagame stands, and this extreme anti-heavy skew is a fascinating part of that overall puzzle, great work from Zachery.The Best of the Rest
There were 2 more players on 5-1 records. They were:- 5th - Tim Deetlefs - Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): Castigators and lots of Retributors and Sanctifiers with Transports to play with.
- 6th - Pat "ponyboy" Johnson - Chaos Daemons (Scintillating Legion): Triple bird with extra utility and tarpitting from double Pinks, also a Neverblade Daemon Prince.
Warzone Wellington 2026
43-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand on March 13 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.Michael Stewart - Adeptus Mechanicus (Haloscreed Battle Clade) - 1st Place
Tech-Priest Manipulus. Credit: Rockfish
The List
Archetype
Shooty HaloscreedThoughts
Our next winner brings an exceptionally shooty AdMech build to the table, bringing guns for every situation. Need to kill C'tan? Double Ironstriders. Marines? Plasma Destroyers. Hordes? Still kind of the Destroyers and an Electropriest squad. The army has a plan to solve any problem with gun-based violence given enough time, and supports that with loads of small harrassment/scoring units that can ensure that it gets that time, creating a daunting prospect for foes to try and challenge. No one managed (though some Orks came very close in the final with a go-wide list), leaving Michael as champion, great work.The Best of the Rest
There were 7 more players on 4-1 records. They were:- 2nd - CJ Kane - Drukhari (Spectacle of Spite): Go-wide-ish Spectacle with an extra Archon to presumably zip round with Kabalites in a Venom doing free Grenades.
- 3rd - Sean Sullivan - Deathwatch (Black Spear Task Force): Triple Fortis and double Indomitor with one Judiciar/Veteran squad, and Artemis dropped into one of the other units.
- 4th - Wez Jesson-Moore - Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): Triple C'tan and a fully buffed-up Warrior setup.
- 5th - Matt van Wijk - Orks (More Dakka): An amusing testimony to just how silly More Dakka was, this is a very go-wide Ork army that seems to be built entirely around access to the extra Waaagh Stratagem, and barely touches guns at all.
- 6th - Liam Ma - Grey Knights (Banishers): Extra-heavy Banishers with double GMDK, a full Paladin unit with a Grand Master toting the Sixty-Sixth Seal, and a Land Raider Redeemer packed with Crowe's Purifiers.
- 7th - Liam Sampson - Adeptus Custodes (Lions of the Emperor): Double Custodians, double Bikes and Canis Rex.
- 8th - Karris Fleming - Death Guard (Virulent Vectorium): High-thread Vectorium with double Plague Marines and a full Deathshroud unit.
Op luck of the Irish GT
39-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Santa Rosa, CA, US on March 14 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.Nick Farmer - Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion) - 1st Place
Necron Doom Scythe. Credit: Pendulin
The List
Archetype
Doom Scythe HypercryptThoughts
Look, I said there was Necron variety, I didn't promise it wouldn't be deeply upsetting. This list brings back Hypercrypt, able to put a bona fide shooting alpha strike wherever it needs to be on the table by teleporting around the Scythes, which also ruins the foe's ability to stage safely. If blasting stuff isn't needed, or if the enemy has no good way of engaging the planes (say they're World Eaters or something), the army can also teleport around the Nightbringer or durable scoring units as needed - people have clocked recently that the Canoptek Reanimator is an incredibly good thing to just park on objectives, as it's much more durable than a 75pts model has any right to be, and will heal itself if not killed in one fell swoop. It's different, it's deadly, and it smashed through some tough matchups on the way to the win, well done Nick.The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:- 2nd (4.5-0.5) - Clint Ozbirn - Black Templars (Gladius Task Force): The good clean fun of double Crusaders and triple Templar RepEx.
- 3rd (4.5-0.5) - Brian Benn - Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Extra-shooty Martyrs with Castigators and shooty Infantry.
- 4th - Josh Meeker - Chaos Space Marines (Huron’s Marauders): Shooty Marauders with Obliterators and Noise Marines, plus one big Terminator unit and the Masters (presumably here going with a Legionary squad in a Rhino).
- 5th - Emma Park - Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Shooty Martyrs with three solo Mortifiers as disruption pieces.
- 6th - Charles Depew - Orks (Da Big Hunt): Hefty melee hunt with lots of Snaggas, lots of Squighogs and Ghaz with Meganobz.
Free State GT 2026
35-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Holton, Kansas, US on March 14 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.Matthew Doughman - Imperial Knights (Valourstrike Lance) - 1st Place
Credit: Corrode
The List
Archetype
Close Enough, Welcome Back House RavenThoughts
A real blast from the past here that asks the question - what if we just Advanced some Knights around the table blowing everything up? What if that, apparently. It's not super complicated, but two Castellans stomping round at speed with a Crusader in tow gives you shooting to solve most problems that exist, especially with No Cover to drop on one of them. This list feels pretty ready to carve up the Marine melee hordes that feel strong into many of the other lists we've seen today, and enemy heavy builds will have to show at least some respect to the double volcano lance setup. I've felt for a while that the Castellan has been a little bit under explored, so maybe it's finally time for them to really shine. Congratulations Matthew.The Best of the Rest
There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:- 2nd - Chase Campbell - T'au Empire (Mont'ka): Mont'ka pressure with Triptide, Breacherfish and the Twin Lance.
- 3rd - Dan Sammons - Astra Militarum (Grizzled Company): Double Dorn, double Bullgryn and Leman Russes.
- 4th - David Valle - Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): Quad C'tan and herohammer.
- 5th - Broc Bowman - World Eaters (Berzerker Warband): All-melee Warband with Angron.
- 6th - Matt Neeley - Death Guard (Virulent Vectorium): Vectorium Mortarion Goodstuff with a Plague Marine unit.
- 7th - Joe Guzowski - Orks (Bully Boyz): Many Meganobz, Ghaz, and double Battlewagon.
Aemona Open Nationals GT, 40k
34-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Ljubljana, SI on March 14 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.Filip Jakob Pogacnik - Adeptus Custodes (Talons of the Emperor) - 1st Place
Adeptus Custodes – Custodian GuardCredit: Pendulin
The List
Archetype
Talons Land Raider/Custodian SpamThoughts
Another contender from the previous metagame continues to thrive here, largely shrugging off the mild nerfs and continuing to dominate boards with the mixture of durability, staging and melee threat. Really doesn't want to run into double Castellan, mind. So uh, watch out for that if anyone else starts doing it. Congratulations Filip.The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:- 2nd - Thomas Faulkner - Aeldari (Spirit Conclave): Wraithlords, Wraithblades, Wraithguard, lots of Warlocks of various flavours, and many bike MSUs.
- 3rd - Ivan Rozga - Thousand Sons (Grand Coven): Magnus Grand Coven with a big squad each of Rubricae, Scarabs, and Robots.
- 4th - Zan Pockar - Astra Militarum (Grizzled Company): Guard hits marching two by two, Dorns, Kasrkin, Bullgryn and Vanquishers.
- 5th - David Kraljić - Blood Angels (Rage-cursed Onslaught): A fairly diversified Rage-Cursed setup with Vindicators and some inferno Vanguard Veterans alongside the normal melee hits.
- 6th - Tomislav Turic - Genestealer Cult (Host of Ascension): Very hordey Host.
