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Competitive Innovations in 9th: Clowns, Speed runs and the inflation of ego.
The Coventry GT 3-day
155-player, 8-round Supermajor in England, GB on November 04 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.The Showdown
Mission: Recover the relics
This matchup should actually be much easier than it appears for Mike and his Light Saedath Harlies. However a pretty rough ruling the event used throws an added wrinkle in here: Specifically, the event ruled that if you have the Swift Strikes trait, you can Advance and then still Battle Focus. This allows the Swooping Hawks to move an even more incredible distance, making this matchup immediately much more difficult.
The Harlequins' side of this is pretty familiar ground - it's something we've seen dozens of times over by now; it's a top-tier list being played by one of the absolute best in the UK. It is fast, more durable than it should be, comes with easy secondaries and is threatening in every phase. Mike did not appear to struggle at all in the matchup as he won by quite a big margin, sealing the deal on the event.
Colin Power - Asuryani:
vs.
Mike Porter - Harlequins:
Thoughts
This was Mike's third time playing this matchup over the weekend so by now he was well versed in how to play it.Result
Harlequins Victory - 92 - 68
Credit: Ben Hampshire
Mike Porter - Harlequins - 1st Place
The List
Archetype
Light clownsFinal Round Matchup
92 - 68 Victory against Colin Power - Asuryani.Thoughts
Winning a 155-person event takes so many things to go your way, plus a massive amount of skill and practice. Mike originally wanted to look at a Twilight list; however after seeing the event terrain layouts and measuring some critical distances between buildings he settled on transports and troupes to ensure he could get to where he needed to be reliably. Innes did him a big favor when he eliminated the chaos knights from the running as its one of the hardest matchups for Light clowns to go into. Anthony's chaos list was the most challenging obstacle of the weekend as boats do not reliably remove his units in cover and Anthony absolutely can and will table Harlies. The game plan needed to be score early and often and hold on to objectives. Congratulations Mike! I would shed 0 tears if your list was run over by a truck.
Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones
Jake Wilstrop - Thousand Sons - 2nd Place
The List
Archetype
Sand people scare easily but always return in greater numbers.Thoughts
A solid secondary game, particularly against armies packing a psyker, combined with a strong shooting and psychic phase make for a very threatening army to run into. You need to be able to find ways to keep up with Wrath of Magnus while finding ways to shut down their psychic phase and remove these terminators before they get into range of you.The real question I have is how tired Jake was of seeing knights; he played them in half of his games. Thousand Sons can struggle against Imperial Knights; they don't have Wrath of Magnus in the matchup and can struggle to bring down big knights if they can't get multiple units within 18" for mortal wounds and shooting may not always get there. On the plus side, Jake got lots of practice in his three matches against them.
Hybrid Metamorphs. Credit: Rockfish
Innes Wilson - Genestealer Cult - 3rd Place
The List
Archetype
Galaxy brain trading gameThoughts
I always love to see GSC pop up in the results and this time it pops up being played by Team Scotland goodest boy Innes Wilson. The list leans on, As Innes said: "Broodswarm broken."It is nearly impossible to stop Innes from scoring. When played correctly you are trading 20-man units to make space for your acolytes to pop up and RND/show up with +1 to wound. Innes is scoring so many points so quickly and unless his opponent has incredible movement they really cannot go out and stop him from doing it - his lone loss was to Vik's swift strike hawks list. The primary becomes very easy to reliably out score people on as there is so much forward pressure, the bikes put out solid fire with good movement. The list seems to have answers for basically everything except for swooping hawks. Placing this high up with this army is really something worth celebrating; as I had said last time, the inherent problem with GSC is that your entire event can just fall apart due to a single failed charge so everything needs to be so perfectly planned out. Your trades and your pressure have to be in the exact perfect place at the exact perfect time or you just lose. The margin for error is so narrow here that it keeps many people from playing this faction. Well done Innes and thanks for putting a list on here I actually feel like talking about.
Credit: Kevin Stillman
Nassim Fouchane - T'au Empire - 4th Place
The List
Archetype
The Ultimate speed runThoughts
I will start by saying I am very disappointed that Nassim did not play in both the 2- and 3-day events simultaneously. When all was said and done, Nassim reportedly played only a combined 3 hours and 41 minutes of 40k over his 8 games. This just in: Tau go BRRRRRT.Tau in the hands of someone like this is basically just an excuse to buy more time to drink and shit talk your friends at other tables, which I know for a fact Nassim did.
Congrats Nissan Fettuccini!
The Best of the Rest
There was one more player on an X-1 record:- 5th - Dan Ahern - Faction: Tyranids - Dan's only loss was to Anthony and his CSM. Raveners and harpies in a Kraken detachment, Dan was looking to put a ton of pressure on people and play the primary hard.
- 6th - Anthony Vanella - Faction: Chaos Space Marines Noise marines and Abaddon. At this point I am unsure if Anthony is just living on the streets with his army, bumming rides from one big event to the next over there in the UK. After seeing how events are run there, and how often they have huge events, he may never return. His losses were to Mike Porter and Nassim; a very good run for the American.
The Coventry GT 2-day
113-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on November 05 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.The Showdown
Auto scoring secondaries vs flamer spam daemons. The question Necrons ask is: "Can you kill enough of them with flamers before they score their secondaries?" On the other side, Necrons definitely have the weight of fire to just put down daemon units, plus solid mobility and armywide Ld 10 to hold off some of the more punishing morale effects daemons can put out.
This game was very close, going down to the wire 89-83, meaning it was probably decided on a couple final turn moves to secure the needed 6 points.
Byron Sidhu - Chaos Daemons:
vs.
Denis Naberezhnykh - Necrons:
Thoughts
It's Necrons, they score extremely well for doing very little which often turns into a stat-check before the game even begins. On the other hand, the stats on Daemon units are pretty good, and with some hot saves they can weather most any attacks in the game. The Bloodthirster is one of the bigger threats for the Necrons; capped at 8 wounds per phase it's almost certainly going to make it into melee and cause problems for the army, as even in the best-case scenario that Transcendant C'Tan is going to get 4 mortal wounds off in the Movement Phase, though charging in could help buy a turn or two. More than likely the Necron strategy is to bog down the Bloodthirster while killing everything else.Ultimately these dynamics made for a pretty exciting finish to a hard fought event, with only a narrow margin of victory for the Necrons, who were held to fewer than 90 points.
Result
Necrons Victory - 89 - 83
Skorpekh Destroyers. Credit: Pendulin
Denis Naberezhnykh - Necrons - 1st Place
The List
Archetype
Score max on secondaries while playing TFT on your phoneFinal Round Matchup
89 - 83 Victory against Byron Sidhu - Chaos Daemons.Thoughts
I fell asleep reading the list.
Emperor's Children Noise Marines. Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones
Josh Roberts - Chaos Space Marines - 2nd Place
The List
Archetype
I think this is the mirror of the list Anthony Vanella ran.Thoughts
Great list, really strong into multiple factions and in the hands of a good player it can be the horse that takes you the distance. Noise Marine units can be incredibly deadly at short ranges/in melee, and being ObSec Troops is just icing on the (perverted) cake. Emperor's Children aren't exactly rocking a stellar set of secondary options for their faction so a lot of the value here comes from strong board control and surprisingly high damage output from small troop units.
Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones
David Gaylard - Chaos Daemons - 3rd Place
The List
Archetype
Flamers: goodThoughts
Flamers are too good for their points. They've made up the backbone of every competitive daemons list and half of the Chaos Marine lists we've seen over the last couple of weeks. Add in a couple of HQs and Troop choices to taste - the Bloodthirster with the 8-wound-per-phase cap is a nice touch that can be a real pain in the ass for armies that don't have a strong psychic phase or movement phase mortal wounds plan. Otherwise it's clear that flamers work so no need to go too far and reinvent the wheel.
Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones
Simon Edwards - Thousand Sons - 4th Place
The List
Archetype
Magnus did nothing wrongThoughts
MAGNUS? I love it. I am so happy to see this, two of my teammates tell me Magnus sucks. Now I can simply say Magnus does not suck, your smooth brains just can't play 5D chess. Simon went 5-0 beating 'Nids, two sisters lists, Drukhari, and guard to end it. All of these lists should have answers for Magnus, few of them should have issues with removing rubric spam, and yet none of them could take the 1k Sons down. I'd really love to hear how some of these games played, though typically with Magnus on the table the answer comes down to "how many of your 4+ invulnerable saves did you make in a game?"What's particularly interesting about Thousand Sons is that taking Magnus can hamstring them on secondary play for Wrath of Magnus, though the opponent list Simon pulled likely made it easier, since you won't typically be running Wrath of Magnus against Sisters or Drukhari, and it can be a bad play against Tyranids.
The Best of the Rest
There were 14 more players on X-1 records.- 5th - Mark Crombleholme - Necrons
- 6th - Ryan Cook - Astra Militarum
- 7th - Luke Quadling - Blood Angels
- 8th - Konrad Bartkiewicz - Asuryani
- 9th - Robert Kimpton - Druhkari
- 10th - Sid Sidhu - Imperial Knights
- 106th - Stu Black - Adeptus Astartes
Please nerf Shock Tactics
Flames of Autumn 40k Major @ Tables and Towers
51-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Tables and Towers, Westminster, MD, US on November 05 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Credit: Andrew Gonyo
Andrew Gonyo - Farsight Enclaves - 1st Place
The List
Archetype
The return of trip-tideFinal Round Matchup
76 - 66 Victory against Aidan Barkley - Iron Warriors.Thoughts
Similar but different to Nassim's tau list. Gonyo adds 2 devilfish and another Riptide instead of taking two units of Crisis Suits. Sunsharks are extremely good, riptides can do some serious work, and the bodyguard unit is a really good addition. If Gonyo ever goes second and does not like the shooting he sees on the other side of the table and feels threatened he simply takes three units off the table and puts them in reserves via the Tau's redeploy stratagem. This ensures his key units will always get to fire.Gonyo is one of the nicest people in 40k - I played him when I was new to the hobby. If you ever need your faith restored in humanity just get a game with him. I am truly happy to see him back at it, winning events.
The Best of the Rest
There were three more players on X-1 records. They were:- 2nd - Aidan Barkley - Iron Warriors: Slightly different take on the Abaddon terms list. I like it, really threatening list.
- 3rd - Matt Lorah - Adepta Sororitas: Allow me to help keep the GH bias alive: Sisters are stupid. BR sisters, standard missile trading list.
- 4th - Larry Oliver - Tyranids: Now that Levi nids are dead and gone (not entirely) Kraken seems to be the version popping up. Triple Tyrannofex is some serious energy. I like it.
- 5th - Jeffrey Kolodner - Adepta Sororitas: Another Sisters list, this time running Valorous Heart for extra durability along with a heavy dose of Paragon Warsuits and Mortifiers. At least it looks different from the standard lot.
Mid-MO Maelstrom
47-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Ashland, MO, US on November 05 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Be'lakor - Credit: RichyP
Sam Henley - Chaos Daemons - 1st Place
The List
Archetype
Flamers: real goodFinal Round Matchup
85 - 76 Victory against Ryan Olson - Asuryani.Thoughts
Another slight variation on the triple flamer daemons list. Just a really strong archetype right now, adding big bird in is something I enjoy seeing if for nothing else my pure love for the model. The big value the Lord of Change brings here is the ability to throw out an obscene number of mortal wounds using the Infernal Gateway and Bolt of Change powers.
Credit: BuffaloChickenDan Sammons - Tyranids - 2nd Place
The List
Archetype
Kraken sporesThoughts
Kraken is just the best way to run nids now that Levi is gone and Dan is using all the good stuff just with a different subfaction. The Sporocyst is a nice touch as it boosts synapse, has guns, and puts out 6 spores a turn, though it really only needs to put out spore mines to justify its cost. You can do some fun things with the Sporocyst combined with the Biovore, creating hundreds of points in surplus value in the form of spore mines that can do astonishing numbers of mortal wounds and generally block (or at least strongly deter) movement to key areas of the board.The Best of the Rest
There were two more players on X-1 records. They were:- 3rd - Ryan Olson - Asuryani: Hail of doom, tons of fast moving fragile bodies that put out a good amount of shooting. Ryan's only loss was at the top table to Sam.
- 4th - Ryan Verbeck - Tyranids: Ryan is refusing to let Levi go. He also brought a sporocyst to go with zoanathropes and double tyrannofex.
Bembel Clash #5
38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hirzenhain, HE, DE on November 05 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Credit: Docsucram
Pierre Sinke - Harlequins - 1st Place
The List
Archetype
Light ClownsFinal Round Matchup
20 - 0 Victory against Mario Schwab - Imperial Knights.Thoughts
Just more Harlies, a very strong faction. Pierre opted to add another unit of skyweavers and a couple voidweavers; this was most likely just a local meta adjustment, and it clearly did the job it needed to do, and helped carry him over Imperial Knights.The Best of the Rest
There were three more players on X-1 records. They were:- 2nd - Mario Barkeeper - Hive Fleet Jormungandr: must not own any venomthropes so decided to run Jormungandr. This list went undefeated beyond a single tie round 2 vs Imperial knights. Jormungandr players are basically a psyop to prevent GW from nerfing Tyranids by making their results look more reasonable.
- 3rd - Michael Geringer - Blood Angels: Pretty standard Blood angels list running a hammer unit and then 2 sang units. Geringer chooses to add some inceptors in for a decent shooting threat combined with their solid movement which gives him options for secondary scoring.
- 4th - Florian Schmidt - Harlequins: Twilight with 3 units of starweavers and 3 death jesters. Their loss came round 1 ending the run early for them.
Hobart GT 2022
36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hobart, TAS, Australia on November 04 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Credit: Liebot - https://instagram.com/liebot_pics
Matt Morosoli - Chaos Daemons - 1st Place
The List
Archetype
Flamers: are you tired of seeing them yet? I am.Final Round Matchup
99 - 37 Victory against Liam Hogwood - Emperor's Children.Thoughts
Matt's scores were extremely high in almost every game, he absolutely dominated every matchup this weekend with this list. Matt is one of the top players from the country running one of the best list archetypes at the moment. He appears to have been on a mission to leave no doubt that he is the best in the room on this weekend. This list is notable in that it jettisons Be'lakor for skarbrand and additional Bloodletters, giving it a nastier melee punch than many lists. Part of the key here is Skarbrand acting as a Locus, which can help shift in the Bloodletters later in the game.The Best of the Rest
There were three more players on X-1 records. They were:- 2nd - Lance Glover - Hive Fleet Kraken: Double Harpy ravener spam nids. Really dangerous list, their only loss was to Will and his Imperial knights.
- 3rd - Will Milton - Imperial Knights: Tons of angry little robots running around shooting and chopping at you. The list hopes to just overwhelm you with moderately durable annoying robots.
- 4th - Stuart Trainer - Genestealer Cult: Another Myriad Cult GSC list, similar to Innes Wilsons in that it is running around with 6+++ on the bikes, mini-transhuman on the troops and +1 to pile in/consolidate and it ignores hit modifiers on its industrial weapons.
