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.

It's another big week for CI in the Mortal Realms. The events are a bit smaller, but we still got 5 of them from around the world. This week we have:

• Invasion 2025 AOS
• 5 Alarm GT 2025
• Crucible 2025 GT
• Rise of the Everchosen 2025 - GT & Final
• Sparkle Party Death Match XIII

Invasion 2025 AOS

52-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Agder, Norway on September 20 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Grasp of Thorns

Lars Tore Dybdahl - Stormcast Eternals

vs.

Benjamin Flodda - Skaventide

Thoughts

Skaven have been tearing up the charts lately and Stormcast haven't been too far behind. Thanks to the Scourge of Ghyran warscrolls both armies have enjoyed a bit of a resurgance. The Skaven have a bit of an advantage here both in numbers and having a bit of ranged fire to pick off enemies from a distance. The Stormcast will struggle to charge into the Skaven castle and come out ahead as they have enough chaff to filter out enemy units.

The Stormcast do hit very hard, so with some tactical positioning and well timed charges they can hit the core pieces hard and potentially win on objectives, but the Skaven come out ahead with a decent lead.

Result

Skaventide Victory - 73 - 53

Benjamin Flodda - Skaventide - 1st Place

Warplock Jezzail. Credit: Pendulin

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Skaven Good Stuff

Thoughts

This is pretty much the archetypical Skaven list right now. The Screaming Bell either adds +2" to move or -1 to be hit to the castle depending on what turn it is. Combined with the Bell endless spell, that's -1 to be wounded as well, making it hard to pick up anything.

There's been a recent uptick in bringing a Plague Furnace with some Plague Monks and Clan Rats to help screen out the enemy. The Prayer for Plague Priests can either add +1 to saves or +1 to wound to Plague Monks depending on what's needed in the moment, meaning they can be quite durable to chew through.

The Rat Ogors and Brood Terror are the primary damage dealers, they hit like a truck (especially into infantry) and can lay decent suppressing fire with their flamethrowers. The Jezzails help ping targets from afar to try and weaken the enemy before they get into melee.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the top 8 include:

• 2nd - Henrik Waage - Kharadron Overlords: KO good stuff. Frigate, Ironclad, Gunhauler and 2 units of skywardens.
• 3rd - Idar Moss - Kharadron Overlords: basically the same list again. This ones got Drekki.
• 4th - Mateusz Zubrzynski - Kharadron Overlords: Yep, similar list again. Some Arkanauts here I guess?
• 5th - Lars Tore Dybdahl - Stormcast Eternals: See Showdown.
• 6th - Eirik Søraa - Ogor Mawtribes: Foot Ogors.
• 7th - Lasse Kalberg - Kharadron Overlords: This ones actually pretty different! No Frigates or Skywardens, triple Gunhaulers instead and Neave Blacktalon with her crew.
• 8th - Stian Engebretsen - Idoneth Deepkin: Eels and Sharks

5 Alarm GT 2025

48-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Sparwood, BC, Canada on September 20 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matthias Krushel - Kharadron Overlords

vs.

Carson Whitlock - Ogor Mawtribes

Thoughts

Real upset here. The expectation is that KO would demolish this one, since they're pretty much the darling of the meta right now. But no, instead the Ogors hold strong.

While their saves are pretty bad, it is a lot of wounds to chew through and a few bad rolls would ruin them. They're also not relying on Wards so KO won't be shutting those off or anything. They also have their own gun in the form of the Ironblaster to pelt the enemy with before combat, so they can exchange fire before that Frigate charge. It also has the Mantrapper, a hero we don't see a lot of, which shuts off flying.

Result

Ogor Mawtribes Victory - 54 - 46

Carson Whitlock - Ogor Mawtribes - 1st Place

photo credit: Keewa

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Foot Ogors

Thoughts

As in all foot Ogor lists, this is just a lot of wounds to chew through. Even if you get through the Gnoblars, you're left with the Ironguts and Gluttons which hit hard and take a beating too. The Greasy Deluge spell makes it so enemies are -1 to hit, which improves their survivability even more. The whole time, an Ironblaster is shooting Damage 5 shots at you to clean through your big stuff.

As mentioned above the Mantrapper is a Dark Horse pick that's pretty big in the current KO meta. Its ability shuts off flying and being able to ground one a KO Frigate goes a long way on cutting off some of their most dangerous abilities on the charge.

Jarod Brown - Lumineth Realm-Lords - 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Credit: Silks

The List

Archetype

Lumineth Herohammer

Thoughts

A little less Herohammer-y than we're used to; they don't have Bladelords which is a mighty big risk but play it right and you might not need them.

The Wardens and Stoneguard help hold objectives, being mighty tanky on their own while Riverblades can jump over the enemy to assassinate Heroes. Ellania and Elathor are really strong Warrior Wizards who can change stances to be offense or Defense as needed while the Light of Eltharion chops shit up. The Enlightener hits multiple units with Speed of Hysh to quicken the pace. the Scinari Cathallar helps mitigate the low model count by manipulating Control (and being a cheap caster to boot)

An unusual addition is everyone's favorite new RoR the Profiteers. If you can make room for these guys they're very flexible, able to add another teleport to the army, healing, shut off wards or reduce control to 1.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 3rd - Matthias Krushel - Kharadron Overlords: See Showdown.
• 4th - Ridge Hanna - Slaves to Darkness: Varnaguard and Knights with some Darkoath Support.
• 5th - Adam Wills - Kharadron Overlords: Dual Frigate good stuff.
• 6th - Brayden Wrubleski - Flesh-eater Courts: Ushoran and Ghoul King on Terrorgheist with a mix of Horrors, Knights and Beastflayers.
• 7th - Calvin Osterdal - Kharadron Overlords: KO good stuff, with dual frigates and the Blacktalons.
• 8th - Carl Ong - Ossiarch Bonereapers: three reinforced units of Harbingers and the KO ROR to teleport them. Insane shit.

Crucible 2025 GT

35-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Orlando, FL, United States on September 20 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Kevin Lathers - Fyreslayers

vs.

Jordan Raney - Skaventide

Thoughts

Another upset, I'd really assume the Skaven would have this because it's just good. All the usual good stuff that's shown up here at least once every week for the past month. While not unbeatable, it tends to demolish most everything it comes across.

And yet here we are, a Magmadroth focused Fyreslayer list with a hint of spice in the infantry and it takes a very sizeable lead over them. The Magmadroths are very powerful and can win in a straight up fight, and by not putting all their eggs in that Magmadroth basket they have a lot of options for dealing with multiple threats.

Result

Fyreslayers Victory - 61 - 45

Kevin Lathers - Fyreslayers - 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Magmadroths, with some infantry support.

Thoughts

This is a very interesting list. The Magmadroths are the main hammer here; the Sons hit like an absolute truck as long as the Runefather is in combat, damaged or Destroyed (So basically all the time), gaining +1 to damage. The Runefather, in turn, boosts everyones attacks by 1 once per game, really clutch for that key charge.

Now many lists settle for just the Magmadroths and call it a day. This throws in a bunch of infantry and are effective as well. The Flameseekers and Poleaxe Berserkers are extremely solid in melee and thanks to the KO regiment of Renown their one big weakness, their speed, is accounted for allowing them to get on objectives that might otherwise be out of their reach.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - McKenzie Ewing - Soulblight Gravelords: Horde based with tons of Deadwalkers, Skeletons and Vargheists.
• 3rd - Jordan Raney - Skaven: Skaven Good stuff.
• 4th - Ben Bala - Ossiarch Bonereapers: Two units of Harbingers and Two Crawlers supported by the KO RoR.
• 5th - Bill Hennessey - Seraphon: Slann with Aggradon Lancers and Kroxigors with Callis and Toll.
• 6th - Sean Page - Gloomspite Gitz: Squiggs, Troggs and Snarlfangs.

Rise of the Everchosen 2025 - GT & Final

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Monterotondo, Italy on September 20 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Guglielmo Famiani - Slaves to Darkness

vs.

Federico Azzali - Nighthaunt

Thoughts

The Nighthaunt have a huge advantage here with their shooting. The Slaves to Darkness tend to want to charge in and hit hard, and the Pyregheists can keep just out of range of that to ping away at the Marauders and Chaos Warriors before closing in on Archaon and Be'lakor.

While Be'lakor can slow things down from Kurdross or the Black Coach for a turn that still leaves a ton of Pyregheists and Lady Olynder doing the work. Even if they charge them, they can leave and still shoot thanks to their subfaction!

Nighthaunt take a big victory from this.

Result

Nighthaunt Victory - 63 - 46

Federico Azzali - Nighthaunt - 1st Place

Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief. Credit: Rich Nutter

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Pyregheists pew pew

Thoughts

The general thrust of this list is pretty easy to pick out: Pyregheists. They have a solid shooting attack, and can sprinkle some mortal wounds on top while buffing their control score before moving in. Thanks to the subfaction, even charging them isn't a sure thing since they can retreat and still keep shooting.

Supporting them are the (sort of) married couple, Olydner and Kurdross. Olynder is one of the best casters in the army and her warscroll spell shuts off basically all positive modifiers on an enemy unit, making opponents who try and buff a unit into the stratosphere effectively neutered. Kurdross and the Black Coach meanwhile are the real beat sticks of the army, they're who you send in once the Pyregheists do their job.

The Spirit Hosts round things off offering a 4+ Ward to the couple to make sure they don't get removed from the board too early.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Lorenzo Baccifava - Soulblight Gravelords: Prince Vhordrai with Blood Knights.
• 3rd - Simone Martino - Skaven: Lord Screech Verminking with a unit of SoG Good Stuff.
• 4th - Guglielmo Famiani - Slaves to Darkness: See Showdown.
• 5th - Andrea Cuntró Chiari - Ossiarch Bonereapers: Not a joke, It's just Nagash, Katakros and a unit of Archai.

Sparkle Party Death Match XIII

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Seattle, WA, United States on September 20 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Lifecycle

Stark Pister - Stormcast Eternals

vs.

Frederick Schmidt - Ossiarch Bonereapers

Thoughts

On paper this seems pretty well made for the Stormcast. The combination of Deep Strike, Ranged attacks and mortal wounds generally tend to make mince meat out of the Ossiarchs. The mobility necessary to keep up with Lifecycle is a real handicap for Ossiarchs.

Surprisingly this goes well for OBR despite that, likely due to the high Ward and -1 to be wounded thanks to the Soulreaper. If OBR can carefully maintain its castle it has the means to weather charges from the  Stormcast and come out ahead.

Result

Ossiarch Bonereapers Victory - 51 - 30

Frederick Schmidt - Ossiarch Bonereapers - 1st Place

Katakros - Credit Scops

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Katakros Elite

Thoughts

As always, Katakros is the center of this list. His +1 to save to 3 units is huge, and his ability to boost control and potentially interrupt command abilities isn't bad either. Plus he hits like a truck when he pops off.

The primary hammers in the army are the Archai and Deathriders. Ideally you buff them with +1 to save then send them in and power through to bring them back to the castle, as both units can pick up most anything in the game but become huge targets if left alone. The Immortis Guard keep the wizards and Katakros alive with +1 to their ward, meaning up to a 4+ Ward in the combat phase.

The choice of two smaller wizards, using the new SoG spell lore is an interesting dark horse, but not without merit. Losing 5+ criticals sucks but you get +1 to attack instead, plus the new drain spell with the Boneshaper works really well with high wound models, like the archai and Deathriders, to give them an option to heal that isn't rally.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Matt Slemon - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Rotigus, Harbinger and Daemon Prince with Blightkings.
• 3rd - Stark Pister - Stormcast Eternals: See Showdown.
• 4th - Jeremy Lamoy - Cities of Sigmar: Free Guilders
• 5th - Michael Tunes - Ossiarch Bonereapers: The rare double Mortarch list with some Archai, SoG Mortek Guard and Immortis Guard.
• 6th - Gloomspite Gitz: Troggs and Sunstealas with a few Troggs as a Brick.

Wrap Up

We had some surprising disruptions this week as seemingly guaranteed contenders were beaten back by dark horses. The new Battlescroll isn't out yet, but that's likely due to the impending (second) LVO of 2025/ We're just under 2 weeks away, so who knows what that will bring?

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.