Competitive Innovations in the Mortal Realms: Haha Zombies Go Brrrrrrrr(ains) (2023)

Four tournaments for readers this week, all featuring some interesting and unusual matchups – it's been a turbulent month in terms of the metagame with what we thought were the top tier (KO and Gitz) having to share the crown with some contenders... let's see which takes the top spots this week.

68-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Casale Monferrato, Piemonte IT, May 6, 2023. All rosters for this event can be found atThe best couples for the coast.

Accounting

Matching and Mission –

Mirko Anzalone – Bloodlords:
Army list - click to expand

Mirko 'Mac' Anzalone

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– War Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Sub-Faction: Bloodlords
– Great strategy: The day is ours!
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Blood Cleaver (110)*
Realmgore Ritualist (100)*
– Prayers: Killer Instinct, Unholy Flame
Bloodmaster (110)**
- In general
– Prayers: Blood Sacrifice, Blood Bond
– Champion Aspects: Fueled by Ghurish's Rage
Bloodthirsty Unbridled Rage (330)**
– Artifacts of Power: Ar'gath, King of Blades
Slaughter Priest (110)**
- Bloody axe
– Prayers: Bronze Flesh, Killer Instinct
THE BATTLE LINE
Claws of Karanak (100)*
Claws of Karanak (100)*
Blood Warriors (190)***
– Champion of blood
– Ikononoša
– Paired up axes
– Goreglaive
Krvavice (360)***
– Bloodreaper
– 2 x Icon Bearer
– 2 x Hornblower
THE OTHER
Mighty Skullcrushers (200)*
– Skull hunter
– Stjegonosac
– Hornblower
– Enchanted axe
Garrek's Reavers (70)*
Bloodcrushers (180)**
– Ikononoša
– Hornblower
- Blood hunter
ENDLESS SPELLS AND SUMMONS
1 x bleeding icon (40)
LAND
1 x Skull Altar (0)
NUCLEAR BATTALIONS
*Battle regiment
**General
***Galletski veterans
TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS: 2000/2000

in regards to

Vittorio Canzani – Pretenders Host:
Army list - click to expand

Player name: Vittorio Kanzani
Allegiance: Slaanesh
– Host: Pretenders
– Grand strategy: Glutton for Depravity
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Keeper of Secrets (400)*
- In general
– Commanding Trait: The Power of Kindness
– Great Aegis
– Artifact: Crown of Dark Secrets
– Universal Spell: Flame Weapon
Mask (140)*
Shrouded Epitome (190)*
– Awareness of the magnificent: Phantasmagoria
– Champion Aspect: Fueled by Ghurish's Rage
UNITS
22 x Blisbarb Archers (300)*
11 x Blisbarb Archers (150)*
11 x Blisbarb Archers (150)*
5 x Blissbarb Seekers (200)*
10 x Slickblade Trackers (400)*
ENDLESS SPELLS AND SUMMONS
Enchanting Mirror (60)
NUCLEAR BATTALIONS
*Battle regiment

TOTAL: 1990/2000 SCORES: 132

LEADERS: 3/6 BATTLE LINES: 3 (3+) BEHEMOTHS: 1/4 ARTILLERY: 0/4
ARTIFACTS: 1/1 INFINITE SPELLS AND INVOCATIONS: 1/3 ALLIES: 0/400

REINFORCED UNITS: 2/4 DROP: 1

He thinks

A fair mix of units make up the Khorne contingent, combining some of the damage from the Daemon side with the efficiency/durability of the Mortal side. But compared to this Slaanesh list, it's much more about loyalty abilities - especially accessLust for murderto get units into combat in the hero phase and lock down those Blissbarb archers.

The Slaanesh list is very much looking to play away and get you off the board, with two notable hammers being Keeper of Secrets and a unit of 10 Slickblade seekers. The problem Vittorio will have though is creating depravity, as outside of the Bloodletter unit there isn't a significantly large unit that is also fairly easy to kill. Slaanesh usually has the mobility advantage in most matchups, but this Khorne list can give him the edge and I expect shenanigans outside of the movement phase to be the primary deciding factor here.

Result

Bloodlords win – 17 – 3

Mirko Anzalone – Bloodlords – 1st place

Description

See Calculation

Archetype

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A little bit of everything, really

He thinks

The list proves just how deep the book is for Khorne players, as there are plenty of choices in the 'chaff' section of the book that you can tailor to your needs. Take Claws of Karanak – 20 points higher than a typical screen in Bloodreavers, but their pregame move gives them a niche as a means of pushing out the castle a bit to protect the guts from armies like KO that want to deep strike and unload with 12-18″ ranged sniping .

There are some anvils in Skullcrushers and Blood warriors, as well as the typical utility we've come to expect from Khorne hero picks. The most surprising inclusion here are the Bloodcrushers, who have often been overlooked for their lethal build, but do a respectable amount of damage in Bloodlords where their blades deal lethal wounds on 5s instead of 6s.

Roberto Callegari – Jaws of Mork – 2nd place

Description

Army list - click to expand

Roberto Callegari
Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
– Military sub-faction: Ralje Morka
– Grand strategy: Take what's theirs
– Triumphs: Indomitable
– Triumphs: Indomitable

LEADER
1 x Skragrott, the Watcher (210)*

1 x Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)**
– Artifacts: Moonface Mommet
– Spells: squig bait

1 x Squigboss (100)**
- In general
– Command traits: Wet hand

1 x Squigboss (100)**
– Champion Aspects: Tunnel Master

See Also

The top three AoS lists for Woehammer AoS GTEscalation League Handful of Points: Session Four - Handful of DiceWarhammer Age of Sigmar: Top 10 Best Soulblight Gravelord Units - GameCragSoulblight Gravelords – Blood Dragon auf dem klassischen Winged Nightmare – unbemalt • 46,99 EUR

THE BATTLE LINE
20 x star funnel (360)*
– Squig Hopper Boss
– Reinforced x 1

24 x herd of whitefish (260)*
– Reinforced x 1

24 x herd of whitefish (260)*
– Reinforced x 1

24 x herd of whitefish (260)*
– Reinforced x 1

LAND
1 x Bad Moon Loonshrine (0)

THE OTHER
6 x sneaky sniffers (130)*

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1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150)*
• Allies

Basic battalions:
*Battle regiment
**Command escort
– (Magnificent: additional triumph)

***Galletski veterans

TOTAL POINTS: (1920/2000)

Archetype

Squigs recursion

He thinks

A typical core of Gitz buff pieces is here, with the basic units that can be built here being a Squig Herd and a unit of Hoppers (instead of Bounders), although there is no Grinkrak often seen paired with Squig Herd units. It's a board control list that fits very well with most melee armies in the game, and the ability to recycle units has given this style of list play into the alpha strike KO/Lumineth lists we've also seen.

The best of the rest

The other top 8 had a ratio of 4-1:

• Position - Player Name - Faction:
• 3. – Vittorio Canzani – Slaanesh: See the showdown
• 4. Andrea Epis – Ogor Maw:Stonehorn spam that does quite well in heavy lists that have had recent success
• 5. – Filippo Vivirito – first Ogor Maw:Small changes, but basically the same list as Andrea's
• 6. – Giuseppe Dargeni – Unknown: no list provided on BCP
• 7. – Luigi Mauri – Unknown: no list provided on BCP
• 8. – Gianni Criveller – Lords of the Kingdom of Lumineth:Helon s Teclisom i 40 Sentinel

58-player, 5-round major tournament in Westminster, MD United States on May 6, 2023. All listings for this event can be found atThe best couples for the coast.

Accounting

Matching and Mission –

Emma Mangels - Dynasty Works:
Army list - click to expand

in regards to

William Hatch – Legion of Blood:
Army list - click to expand

He thinks

Oh my god, Vyrkos can give zombies 5+ Ward!?

Okay, the longer version is that these are two similar board style lists, but one of them is set on tarpit and swarm targets with bodies, and the other wants to break units that don't go right back. I will leave it as an exercise for the reader as to what is what.

Result

Victory of the Vyrkos dynasty – 12 – 8

Emma Mangels – Vyrkos Dynasty – 1st place

Description

See Calculation

Archetype

Zombiji idu brrrrrrr(ains)

He thinks

Vyrkos is such an odd man out – between being able to give their command traits and artifacts to unique units, and just a series of heroic actions that seem innocuous enough until you look a little closer.

Yasee, GW didn't put the sumonable keyword as a condition forPack Alphaheroic action, meaning you can add D3 models to any unit with the Deadwalkers keyword and increase it above the maximum unit size... meaning you can add D3 models to a corpse cart unit or a Korsargi unit. Crazy.

Anyway, the corpse cart gives zombies back their lethal wound ability that they lost in the new book, making them somewhat respectable in melee combat, and with the new lethal wound recovery ability they have, they've become Pink Horror-Tier in the sense of 'what the hell doesn't I want to deal with it'.

Jacob Brandon – Beasts of Chaos: Allherd – 2. mjesto

Description

Army list - click to expand

Archetype

Gors na turneji

He thinks

Speaking of Tar Pit-style armies, Beasts have their own version in Allherd Gors, which is capable of returning D3+3 models at the end of each battle shock phase. With access to a 4+ basic save this can make them deceptively ready against armies that aren't capable of doing 30 wounds through a 4+ save in one turn, and Jacob brought 70 Crazy Goats.

Other than them, the army is just a support unit to help the Gors make their way up – the Chaos Gargants provide monstrous rampages and a -1 save for them, and the Shamans are here to throw out rituals and use those nice spells from their spell lore.

The best of the rest

The rest of the first 8 were 4-1:

• Position - Player Name - Faction:
• 3. – Carl Ong – Kharadron Overlords:This Urbaz list keeps 15 Thunderers and an Ironclad with a core of buff pieces, but runs two Gunhaulers for its battleline and says 'lol' at the very idea of ​​running an Arkanaut even as a cover
• 4. – Michael Vagenos – Robovi tame:The Ravagers Archaon build that was speculated about when the book came out late last year is finally hitting the tables, spamming a lot of Splintered Fang
• 5. – William Hatch – Soublight Gravelords: See the showdown
• 6. – Kaleb Walters – Ossiarch Kostoreapers:15 Deathriders and 20 Morteks form the core, with dual Mortarch and Harvester helping this recursive Crematorian list work
• 7. – Nicholas Walters – Ironjawz:Bloodtoof piggy spam, s 10 Brutes
• 8. – Joe Shoemaker – Ironjawz:Bloodtoof piggy spam, with a few more piggys and 10 Ardboyz

A 30-player, 5-round major tournament in Rainham, England, GB on May 6, 2023. All listings for this event can be found atThe best couples for the coast.

Accounting

Matching and Mission –

Hazel Moon – The Best of Ogor Maw:
Army list - click to expand

in regards to

Benjamin Savva – dinastija Kastelai:
Army list - click to expand

He thinks

Hazel is back with her incredibly effective monster truck roster, this time pitted against a rather themed and cool vampire-focused roster piloted by Ben Savva. The vampire list works by momentum - it gets boosts to its vampire units as they kill units, with powerful abilities like extra attacks or damage unlocked by defeating particularly large units... Wouldn't you know it, that's all Hazel has in the list.

However (and this is a big but), this requires them to actually kill the unit, and unfortunately for Ben, Stonehorns are very difficult prey thanks to their inherent 5+ Ward. Ben has a lot of punches, but it's all spread across multiple units and if he gets stuck in a prolonged fight, he'll likely turn to dust.

Result

Victory of the Ogor Maw tribe – 28 –

Hazel Moon – Ogor Maw Tribes 1st place

Description

See Calculation

Archetype

Monster trucks

He thinks

Lucky for me, I already discussed this list last week, so you can just come back to itlast week's articlesince it's unchanged - congrats on back to back wins Hazel!

The best of the rest

There were 4 other players with a ratio of 4-1. They were:

• Position - Player Name - Faction:
• 2. – Owen Jackson – Kharadron Overlords (Barak-Urbaz):30 Thunderers delivered via Bridge and Ironclad - pretty good
• 3. – Philip Springall – Kharadron Overlords:Proving that it is possible to succeed with a more combat-oriented build, Philip runs 0 Thunderers and instead 18 Endrinriggers in two Frigates
• 4. – Luke Skelton – Maggotkin of Nurgle:Spam with Be'lakor to further enrich the list
• 5. – Ben Savva – Soulblight Gravelords: Watch the showdown

28-player, 5-round major tournament in London, Ontario, CA on May 6, 2023. All rosters for this event can be found atThe best couples for the coast.

Accounting

Matching and Mission –

Mark Palinski – Legion of Blood:
Army list - click to expand

in regards to

Steven Wiedemann – Lumineth Realm-Lords:
Army list - click to expand

He thinks

Who would win in a fight, an army of shiny armored, glorified wizards... or one brazen Wight with an amulet that just keeps screaming and the ability to (potentially) rise up the first two times he's killed. To be more specific, the Wight King becomesBy invitationit gives him really interesting gameplay because he can be called back the first time he dies. The Amulet of Screams deals D3 mortal wounds on a 3+ to any enemy unit that successfully casts an unbound spell within 18″ of the wearer, and as the Wight King can now hide in a tomb, it can pop out and punish the spellcasting and then be summoned again the first time dies.. but there is more! Ghurrish Rage means he can just ignore the first time he dies on a 3+ anyway, making him especially annoying for Lumineth players.

And that's the crux of this matchup for me - Steven runs a lot of wizards without Teclis for Ward 5+, which makes that little hassle a problem to deal with. 40 Sentinels will certainly help deal with the two ethereal monsters running around, but board control will remain an issue for the full five rounds.

Result

Legion of bloody victory – 30 – 9

Mark Palinski – Legion of Blood – 1st place

Description

See Calculation

Archetype

Ethereal Hammer of the Hero

He thinks

The army is concentrated around three things - they are 10 Blood Knights, Neferat and VLoZD. Neferata can give a unit better Ethereal with her spell, making it immune to negative save modifiers while still benefiting from positive modifiers. This means a 2+ unrepairable save and a nightmare for most armies unable to deal significant mortal wounds. VLoZD hasCloak of mist and shadow, giving it the Nighthaunt style of Ethereal, but fixed at 3+... which is still fantastic and more than worth losing access to positive modifiers.

In addition, the list forces chaff for board control and the aforementioned Scream King to be a complete mockery of opposing armies' spells.

The best of the rest

There were 4 other players with a ratio of 4-1. They were:

• Position - Player Name - Faction:
• 2nd – Steven Wiedemann – Lumineth Realm-Lords: Watch the showdown
• 3. – Matt Kowalyk – Soulblight Gravelords:Another double ethereal list, this one with less chaff and 20 Grave Guard
• 4. – Jake Seguin – Cities of Sigmar:This old book continues to grind, with 10 Guardians and Incarnate giving Hallowheart's spellcasting core some anvils
• 5. – Shawns Murri – Fyreslayers:A mix of Magmadroth + Hearthguard build and Vulkite build, skipping Flameguard in favor of body

Wrap

That's it for the week! Soulblight takes the lead in terms of Meta attention this week, with previous favorites like Gitz and KO taking a step back. If Soulblight's board management capabilities are truly cemented, it will mean quite a shift in list-building priority if your intent is to try to have a good matchup with the upper bracket stuff… we'll see how the next few weeks play out.

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