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.

This week we'll be skipping the US and heading north to its neighbor, Canada! We've got two events this week in Canada, one in Ontario (Season of War GT II) and one in Vancouver (Kippers' Melee). We also have an event in Paris, the Paris Wargaming Expo.

Paris Wargame Expo

55-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Paris, France on October 18, 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in MiniHeadQuarters.

The Showdown

Mission - Surge of Slaughter

Bedjy - Hedonites of Slaanesh

vs.

Captaincaresse - Sylvaneth

Thoughts

On paper I'd give this to the Sylvaneth. Hedonites have not held up so hot this edition and while you do see the occasional fluke, Sylvaneth have a more consistent win record. Sylvaneth are also better at striking and then fleeing, where as Slaanesh is frequently left high and dry if they don't kill their target on the first go around.

That said, Slaanesh isn't completely lacking in tricks. With Glutos they can be buffed up quite a bit, and he can be well shielded from the Sylvaneth's attacks. With all the Twinsouls and Sigvald, they can dice right into the trees and pick them up. Without many models, the Sylvaneth will likely be whittled down over time.

Result

Hedonites of Slaanesh Victory - 61 - 46

Bedjy - Hedonites of Slaanesh - 1st Place

Credit: Charlie A

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Glutos and Mortals

Thoughts

Glutos has been a bit of a sleeper hit in the army. Due to the way the current Obscuring rules are written, he can be hidden in obscuring terrain/objectives, granting his buffs to the army while not being targetable himself. The Shardspeaker can then hit a key unit with -1 to saves  while the Blissbarb Archers ping at it. If they don't kill it, it'll be left on its last legs. Then the Twinsouls and Sigvald swoop in and finish the job.

Shoshuro - Stormcast Eternals - 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Iridan the Witness. Credit: Matthew 'chimp' Ward

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Stormcast Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Scourge of Ghyran Iridan has become a strong presence in Ruination lists, even though in this list he supports fewer units. The Prosecutors are strong but can be a bit fragile; Iridan gives them a reroll on their ability shrug, while the Lord-Vigilant can deep strike in and let them fight immediately after him, giving a really strong swing when they drop in and charge 3D6. Even after that Iridan is still a very strong beat stick, and a priest so he can give that all too crucial teleport.

The Palladors also assist as powerful beat sticks, while the Vanguard-Raptors can shred units from a distance for the charge. Finally, the Liberators and Vigilors are cheap but surprisingly tanky objective holders.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 3rd - Captaincaresse - Sylvaneth: See Showdown.
• 4th - Kytes - Stormcast Eternals: Iridan the Witness with a mix of Tempestors, Reclusians, Prosecutors and Questors.
• 5th - Zul - Soulblight Gravelords: Ushoran, Cardinal and Gorewarden with Morbheg Knights and Horrors.
• 6th - Skevin - Skaven: 3 Master Moulders with Stormfiends, SoG Brood Terrors and 5 Hell Pit Abominations.
• 7th - Méfilia - Nighthaunt: Olynder with Pyregheists, Bladegheists and Grimghasts.
• 8th - Babiboul - Fyreslayers: Mix of Magmadroths and Vulkite Berzerkers and Hearthguard Berzerkers.

Season of War GT II

38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Toronto, ON, Canada on October 18 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Surge of Slaughter

Andrew Nicholls - Gloomspite Gitz

vs.

Devin Courtman - Soulblight Gravelords

Thoughts

This Gitz list is damn fun and I really wanted it to win but alas, that's also a really good Soulblight list. The wolves aren't great on their own, but in this subfaction they get rend on the charge and it's a lot of attacks. The Sunsteala Wheelas can drive over stuff and do some mortal wounds, possibly even hitting the important pieces behind the front lines.

That said the Soulblight stuff is just...good, Vhordrai and the Vampires hit like a truck and the Vengorian Lord and Lauka Vai can negate the one perk Wolves have in this subfaction, which is probably why they absolutely destroy this game.

Result

Soulblight Gravelords Victory - 77 - 30

Devin Courtman - Soulblight Gravelords - 1st Place

Prince Vhordrai. Credit: Matthew 'chimp' Ward

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Vampires

Thoughts

This is all Vampires, baby. Vhordrai leads the list by being a hella strong beat stick who also can buff up the Askugan Trueblades and Blood Knights with one of three buffs whenever they kill something. Radukar doesn't do much support without Deathrattle units but that's fine, he's also a really strong beat stick with 6 Rend 2 Damage 3 attacks (with crit mortals). His own spell also makes him -1 to be hit and wounded, so combined with his Nightguard granting him a 5+ Ward he's very tanky.

Including both Lauka Vai and a generic Vengorian Lord is very surprising but this lets them pull double duty weakening Rend in 2 separate places. They are, also, incredibly good beat sticks.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Michael Rausch - Fyreslayers: Runefather on Magmadroth and his two SoG Sons and some Hearthguard Berzerkers.
• 3rd - Michael Dodsworth - Fyreslayers: Another Michael with a similar list to the above one.
• 4th - Jean-François Normand - Idoneth Deepkin: Sea Eidolon with Allopexes and Morsarr Guard.
• 5th - Yury NoDawmage - Kharadron Overlords: Brokk and KO Good Stuff.
• 6th - Andrew Nicholls - Gloomspite Gitz: See Showdown.
• 7th - Ridge Hanna - Gloomspite Gitz: Kragnos and his Squig Army.

Kippers' Melee - 2025 Age of Sigmar

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Nanaimo, BC, Canada on October 18 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Linked Leylines

Matthias Krushel - Kharadron Overlords

vs.

Matt Chayba - Ironjawz

Thoughts

Despite the KO's reputation as "the shooting army," this KO list is very melee centric, allowing Skywardens and Vongrim's to do its work. Naturally, the Ironjawz are also melee centric. Both rely on tricks to get up on the front line fast, with the KO using the Frigate to transport their Skywardens forward and using Strike First, while Kragnos grants 3D6 charges for the Orruks. As this usually goes, a lot of it is going to rely on who can get the charge off first, but the KO also have way more bodies to hold objectives, which likely contributes their significant victory in this fight.

Result

Kharadron Overlords Victory - 73 - 20

Matthias Krushel - Kharadron Overlords - 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

KO Good Stuff

Thoughts

It seems the nerfs to KO have done little to slow them down as the same basic formula still bears fruit. Brokk leads the list as he can hand out +1 attack to the Skywardens and Vongrimms, both of which are deceptively better melee combatants than you'd expect. Even the nerfed Frigate, which only gives First Strike to one unit now, is still pulling its weight in letting you fight with one unit after the other. The Null-Khemist is a good utility piece, since he helps deal with wizardry and the line, the thing KO traditionally don't have a way to deal with.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Frederick Schmidt - Disciples of Tzeentch: Lord of Change and Changecaster with a truckload of horrors, and Skarbrand guest starring.
• 3rd - Matt Chayba - Ironjawz: See Showdown.
• 4th - Taylor Gougeon - Flesh-eater Courts: Ushoran, Cardinal and Ghoul-King on Terrorgheist with Crypt Guard and Warriors
• 5th - Matt Beasley - Soulblight Gravelords: Mannfred, Cado and a Vengorian Lord with Deathrattle troops.
• 6th - Dale Johnson - Daughters of Khaine: Bloodwrack Shrine with...what the? 13 Avatars of Khaine? Oh and the Blacktalons I guess.

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.