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! After some rest and recuperation from Adepticon we're back to our Age of Sigmar coverage at Competitive Innovations. We've got 3 decent sized events from all across the Anglosphere as we hit Canada, the US and Scotland.

This Week's Events

• False Alarm 2026 - Canada
• Tax Man Cometh III - United States
• Battle For GreenHollow: Age of Sigmar - Scotland

False Alarm 2026

58-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Sparwood, BC, Canada on April 11 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Jarod Brown - Hedonites of Slaanesh

vs.

Lionel Miranda - Maggotkin of Nurgle

Thoughts

This is a surprising upset given Nurgle has been in a very strong place since the book came out, but a lot of credit probably can be given to the list just having the perfect tools to deal with Nurgle.

Obviously, Slaanesh has the speed that Nurgle lacks, but this list has more than that. Thanks to Syll'Esske, they're packing a spell that gives a -1 to Wards, which obviously impacts Nurgle's army wide 6+ (5+ in many cases) and helps cut down their biggest defensive buff. The army is filled with tools to gain buffs on units contesting objectives they don't have, like the Seeker and Painbringer's +1 to rend. So while Nurgle might be able to secure objectives, they will struggle to hold them for long.

Result

Hedonites of Slaanesh Victory - 60 - 25

Jarod Brown - Hedonites of Slaanesh - 1st Place

Credit: RichyP

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Slaanesh Mortals

Thoughts

This list is surprising and deceptive in its lethality. As we discussed in the intro, the army has a lot of tools to try and deal with contested objectives, so the name of the game is to try and lure the opponent into settling on objectives, and then pounding them back to the stone age.

In addition to the extra rend for Painbringers and Seekers, you also have the Lord of Pain's +1 to wound for mortal units for Mortals within 12" when contesting an Objective. If you have to hold your backline? Twinsouls get some great buffs when charged, and the Fiendbloods can drop in even on the opponent's turn to snipe a neglected objective from under their noses.

Jacob Purdon - Lumineth Realm-Lords - 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Hurakan Spirit of the Wind. Credit: Rich Nutter

The List

Archetype

Hurakan Herohammer

Thoughts

Warhost of Duality is a good pick for the low model count here, since it lets the player pick 2 units to fight with back to back, increasing chances of being able to remove an enemy unit in combat and lower risk of losing the few models you do have.

So with that said, we have a ton of units here great for combat, Ellania and Ellathor, Vanari Dawnriders, Riverblades, Light of Eltharion and Severith with a generic Spirit of the Wind give you a ton of flexibility. Supporting them are the Windmage and Ellania/Ellathor to cast important buffs/debuffs.

The entire army has high movement and/or fly, so it can avoid combat on its own terms and try and clutch it when they know they can remove a dangerous unit.

The Best of the Rest

There were 9 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd - Matthias Krushel - Lumineth Realm-Lords: Lyrior with Light of Eltharion and Wind Chargers, guest starring Callus and Toll.
• 4th - Lionel Miranda - Maggotkin of Nurgle: See Showdown.
• 5th - Cole Winsor - Disciples of Tzeentch: Kairos with Tzaangors and Acolytes.
• 6th - Carson Whitlock - Ogor Mawtribes: Infantry Good Stuff.
• 7th - Michael Nonomura - Ossiarch Bonereapers: Vokmortian with Deathriders and Stalkers
• 8th - Dom Elson - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Glottkin and Belga with Rotswords and Pestigors,\.
• 9th - Ellis Bialowas - Kruleboyz:Bit of everything from the Kruleboyz book.
• 10th - Dylan Haiav - Flesh-eater Courts: Ushoran and Ghoulking on Terrorgheist with various infantry.
• 11th - Graham Cox - Maggotkin of Nurgle: Rotigus and Belga with Blightkings and Plaguebearers, with a Daemon Prince.

Tax Man Cometh III

41-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Edmond, OK, United States on April 11 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Bountiful Equinox

Daniel Patterson - Slaves to Darkness

vs.

Jonathan Schlieszus - Daughters of Khaine

Thoughts

This uses the old Daughters of Khaine rules, to be clear. To be frank, Slaves to Darkness just have a much tankier strategy that would allow them to hold their ground against Witch Aelf charges, and since Daughters of Khaine take a while to really ramp up thanks to their Blood Rites, their Knights and Varanguard can push up early to try and pick up units, so Krethusa has to waste time reviving them earlier in the game when they'll be less effective.

Result

Slaves to Darkness Victory - 78 - 41

Daniel Patterson - Slaves to Darkness - 1st Place

Be'lakor, the Dark Master. Credit: SRM

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Slaves to Darkness Good Stuff

Thoughts

This list is mostly simple, relying largely on Be'lakor and the Chosen to do the work. Be'lakor does it all; he's a Wizard, a solid fighter and practically shuts down the most dangerous unit in the opponent's army for a turn with The Dark Master. The Chosen follow up as the big boogeyman of the army, swinging really hard with Crit Mortals (twice, once per game) and thanks to the Dread Banner, they shut off Commands. This makes them hard to kill and defend against if the opponent doesn't approach with a plan. Varanguard similarly get to hit with strong hits twice once per game.

The rest of the army is weaker but that makes them excellent at sniping objectives. Fellriders and Knights especially, but they're not entirely slouches. If they get the charge off they can deal with some medium sized threats and chaff hanging out on the flanks of the board.

The Best of the Rest

There were 7 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd - Axton Hastings - Stormcast Eternals: Stardrake with Stormdrakes, Desolators and Vanguard-Raptors.
• 3rd - Jake Bentrup - Lumineth Realm-Lords: Lyrior with Vanari and Hurakan Units.
• 4th - Dyllan Holmes - Helsmiths of Hashut: Dominator Engines and Artillery.
• 5th - Joel Follmeyer - Stormcast Eternals: Iridan with Prosecutors, Reclusians and Vanguard-Raptors.
• 6th - Jonathan Schlieszus - Daughters of Khaine: See Showdown.
• 7th - Caleb Hastings - Seraphon: Spawn of Chotec spam.
• 8th - Matt Taylor - Ossiarch Bonereapers: Nagash with Archai and Triaxes.

Battle For GreenHollow: Age of Sigmar

24-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Scotland, United Kingdom on April 11 2026. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Freya Smart - Lumineth Realm-Lords

vs.

Lorcan Lynch - Slaves to Darkness

Thoughts

The Lumineth here simply have all the tools to deal with the problem. While Slaves to Darkness do present a strong opposition to melee armies, being a powerful mix of anvil and hammer, the Lumineth simply don't need to engage here.

Thanks to the Sentinels and Wind Spirit, they can just shoot at the Chosen, Warriors and Knights before they get close, and dip out before charging in with their own Dawnriders when the time is right. The fact Dawnriders have Crit Mortals is another point in their favor, helping clear through the high armor saves of the Slaves to Darkness.

Result

Lumineth Realm-Lords Victory - 73 - 43

Freya Smart - Lumineth Realm-Lords - 1st Place

Vanari Dawnriders Credit: Joshua Saunders

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Vanari and Hurakan

Thoughts

The overall goal of this list is to ward off anyone from getting too close with the Sentinels and Wind Spirit. With their powerful ranged attacks they can shred through weaker units and even give stronger ones a bit of a black eye. Once the time is right they can rally the Dawnriders with their Crit Mortals and Charge to smash through even the toughest of foes.

Backed up by the Light of Eltharion and Ellania and Ellathor, also no slouches in combat, they can clean up even the strongest of enemy units. A list with a very simple plan, but effective nonetheless.

The Best of the Rest

There were 2 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd - Robbie Cairns - Blades of Khorne (4-0-1): A Bloodthirster leading mostly bloodletters with a sprinkel of mortals as sacrificial fodder.
• 3rd - Sol Campbell - Ogor Mawtribes: Mostly foot ogors, with a Frostlord on Stonehorn thrown in.

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