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.

Welcome back for day 2 of this week's Competitive Innovations in the Mortal Realms. Not sure what caused so many events this past weekend but we got another 5 events to cover! So let's jump in. Today we'll cover:

• Southern Smash GT 2026 - Australia
• Sheffield Slaughter Age of Sigmar 2026 - United Kingdom
• 2026 Big Beef Beatdown AoS GT - United States
• DaBoyz GT Golden Sprue 2026 AoS 1v1 - United States
• Colton's Speed Dating Service - Canada

Southern Smash GT 2026

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Camden Park, SA, Australia on February 20 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Bountiful Equinox

Kyle Tregloan - Disciples of Tzeentch

vs.

Adam Williamson - Helsmiths of Hashut

Thoughts

Unfortunately, the Helsmiths player doesn't have a ton of guns (though the blunderbusses are going to do work) so they're going to have to scrap with the Tzeentch player and all their debuffs. The dominator engines and and Bull Centaurs are probably better hammers than anything Tzeentch has, but with the -1 to hit and to wound debuffs they're going to struggle a lot more to do consistent damage compared to the Tzaangor Enlightened. It ends in a win for Tzeentch.

Result

Disciples of Tzeentch Victory - 70 - 63

Kyle Tregloan - Disciples of Tzeentch - 1st Place

Credit: Liebot - https://instagram.com/liebot_pics

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Tzeentch Daemons and Tzaangors

Thoughts

To be clear, this is still using the old book.

The Lord of Change is, naturally, the center of the list. A great caster and grants -1 to be hit to all the Horrors around it (and itself). With the Heroic Trait and Artefact it can also get into the thick of things, granting a -1 to be hit again (it won't stack, but means All Out Attack does nothing) and the artefact granting 2D6 attacks. Throw in the -1 to wound from Wyrdflame host and its really hard to kill.

The Horrors aren't very strong, but with all those debuffs they suck to carve through. The Enlightened come in to offer a really strong hammer that can pick up a lot of units quite easily with 3 damage attacks if you set it up.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 (or better) records. They were:

• 2nd - Matthew Slattery - Soulblight Gravelords (4-0-1): Radukar the Beast and Vengorian Lord with Askurgan Trueblades and the Summerking's Entourage.
• 3rd - John Fazakerley - Blades of Khorne (4-0-1): Baleful Lords
• 4th - Patrick Neven - Blades of Khorne: Foot Mortals focused on Skullreapers and Bloodreavers.
• 5th - Joel Mcgrath - Sons of Behemat: Beast Smasher, Warstomper, SoG Kraken Eater and 5 Mancrushers.
• 6th - Adam Williamson - Helsmiths of Hashut: See Showdown.

Sheffield Slaughter Age of Sigmar 2026

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, United Kingdom on February 21 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Krzysztof Zylawy - Blades of Khorne

vs.

Daniel Schulten-Hirst - Sylvaneth

Thoughts

This definitely seems in the Sylvaneth's favor. Khorne just lacks the same mobility options Sylvaneth have and tend to take a more brute force approach. They do have larger numbers, which could work to their advantage. Sylvaneth however have way more options to charge, leave and secure objectives. As long as they can preserve their biggest units they will tend to have more of an advantage in a fight.

Result

Sylvaneth Victory - 67 - 40

Daniel Schulten-Hirst - Sylvaneth - 1st Place

Belthanos. Credit: chimp

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Sylvaneth Elite

Thoughts

As always, Belthanos is the king here, if nothing else because he gives 3 units run and charge but also one of the stronger hammers in the army. Drycha is his queen, a very strong hammer to run along side him which gets a ton of attacks that cut through wards. The Kurnoth hunters round things off with another solid hammer, especially if an opponent tries to charge you.

The Revenant Seekers are an odd unit, they do punch above their weight, and also support other units by giving them extra dice on a rally. They're also very mobile, so great for stealing objectives.

The Branchwych is a caster but she most crucially gives strike first to a unit when near a Wyldwood, which makes opponents hesitant to charge your terrain. The Revenant gives a 6+ Ward but more importantly has bonuses on unbinds and dispels, making the ideal defense caster.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Andy Hughes - Soulblight Gravelords: Prince Vhordrai and Vampires.
• 3rd - Vinosh Bagabathesewaran - Idoneth Deepkin: Sea Eidolon and a mix of Thralls and Morsarr Eels.
• 4th - Krzysztof Zylawy - Blades of Khorne: See Showdown.
• 5th - Simon Eccles - Flesh-eater Courts: Ushoran and Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist with an assortment of units.
• 6th - Nick Tinklin - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Glottkin with Heroes and Rotswords, and the Helsmith's Battery RoR.

2026 Big Beef Beatdown AoS GT

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Omaha, NE, United States on February 21 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Dustin Forman - Flesh-eater Courts

vs.

Ben Bauman - Maggotkin of Nurgle

Thoughts

Again, new Nurgle has new army surprise advantage against the opponent. While the Monster mash FEC is quite terrifying, Nurgle has a lot of tools to blunt them. The Rotswords in particular love being charged, and when near a tree have the ward saves to shrug off some serious blows. They also just have way more units they can afford to lose, from the Blightkings to the Nurglings.

Result

Maggotkin of Nurgle Victory - 62 - 36

Ben Bauman - Maggotkin of Nurgle - 1st Place

Instagram: bair_paints

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Nurgle Good Stuff

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Dustin Forman - Flesh-eater Courts: See Showdown.
• 3rd - Hurdis Davis - Blades of Khorne: Baleful Lords
• 4th - Joe Krier - Flesh-eater Courts: Ghoul Kings on Zombie Dragons and Terrorgheists, with lots of Terrorgheists and a Zombie Dragon.
• 5th - George Coe - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Rotigus and Belga with lots of Plaguebearers and Helsmith artillery.
• 6th - Beau Syas - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Rotigus and Great Unclean One with various infantry and a Daemon Prince.

DaBoyz GT Golden Sprue 2026 AoS 1v1

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Schenectady, New York, US on February 21 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Ben Cutri - Idoneth Deepkin

vs.

Harry Isaksson - Seraphon

Thoughts

It's a cavalry battle! While the Allopexes (and Morrsarr Guard) are really wanting to charge, the Aggradons can take it or leave it. Sure they get a charge bonus but they tend to better in protracted fights, and can still do some decent damage even if charged. That said they would prefer to charge in this instance, because Allopexes get a pretty gnarly ranged attack and then can swoop in for the kill.

So as always with these kinds of fights, the battle is gonna come down to who gets that crucial charge and based on the score, we can guess who.

Result

Idoneth Deepkin Victory - 71 - 48

Ben Cutri - Idoneth Deepkin - 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Allopexes

Thoughts

The Eidolon is important for setting up the enemy lines for a proper charge. While the Allopexes are gnarly, they can be quite delicate so you really want to put things in your favor. The Eidolon is a strong caster with a warscroll spell that reduces the sabe on three enemy models within 12". This lets the Allopexes shred through hardier foes without risk of getting hit back.

The Morrsarr Guard are also a nice charge piece that are quite a bit tankier. The Ikon of the storm lets everything retreat and charge again, so they don't get stuck in.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Ethan Beers - Flesh-eater Courts: Ghoul King and Gorewarden with lots of foot troops.
• 3rd - Harry Isaksson - Seraphon: See Showdown.
• 4th - Corey Begley - Soulblight Gravelords: Vampire Lord with Blood Knights, Blades of the Hollow King with Deathrattle and Vengorian Lord with Askurgan Trueblades.
• 5th - Oscar Savastio - Flesh-eater Courts: Ushoran and Ghoul King on Terrorgheist with a mix of monsters and Beastflayers.

Colton's Speed Dating Service

26-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Nanaimo, BC, Canada on February 21 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Creeping Corruption

Carson Whitlock - Ogor Mawtribes

vs.

Taylor Gougeon - Skaventide

Thoughts

This is an interesting match up. Both are High Wound, low Save melee threats, between the Rat Ogors and Gluttons it's a tough match up. That said the Ogors probably have a bit more of an edge, it's a lot more meat to chew through and while -1 to hit really hurts them, they care less about the -1 to wound Skaven can inflict. So waiting for the odd turns when the Screaming Bell is giving 2" of move instead if a clutch play.

Result

Ogor Mawtribes Victory - 56 - 36

Carson Whitlock - Ogor Mawtribes - 1st Place

Credit: Fancy Necromancy

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Foot Ogors

Thoughts

This is straight forward as can be. The Butcher is a wizard that grants run and charge to nearby units (great for making up for their slow move speed), and the Slaughtermaster can hand out 5+ Ward or +1 attack. Both grant access a pretty solid spell lore that can grant +1 attack, 1 to be hit or healing.

Ogors are not known for their finesse, Gluttons and Mawpack have poor saves but a lot of wounds, not to mention some really solid attacks. The Ironguts are for your dangerous threats, good save, stronger attacks, and fight twice once per game.

The Ironblaster rounds things out with a strong ranged threat, while the Gnoblars exist simply to screen out threats to it.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd - Taylor Gougeon - Skaventide: See Showdown.
• 3rd - Rory Phipps - Maggotkin of Nurgle:
• 4th - Alex Butler - Hedonites of Slaanesh: Shalaxi and Keeper of Secrets with Daemonettes and Slickblade Seekers.
• 5th - Kyle Leroux - Sylvaneth: Belthanos and Drycha with Kurnoths.
• 6th - Matthias Krushel - Kharadron Overlords: KO good stuff with Gotrek ally.

Wrap Up

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