Two weeks ago, the World Championships of Warhammer was held in Atlanta, where a contingent of the best Warhammer Age of Sigmar players descended upon the event like hungry squigs on a panicked git.
It was one of the biggest tournaments in the game's history, and the skill level on show was impressive. Warhammer Age of Sigmar Lead Game Developer Matt was there in person to cast an eye over proceedings, and he has now returned to catch up with Warhammer TV’s Nick as they discuss the top performers.
The World Champion crown was taken by Nicolas Tassone, who led Archmage Teclis and his Lumineth Realm-lords to victory with a high-skill list that focused heavily on apocalyptic spell-slinging and left very little room for error.
In a magical meta, the Archmage has rightly claimed sorcerous superiority. While the Scinari Calligrave and Cathallar empower their spells with Primal Dice, Teclis overwhelms the enemy’s magical defences with the sheer quantity of spells. Mobile units of Vanari Dawnriders make a fast and flexible screen, surging forward to capture objectives and score Battle Tactics.
Tom Mawdsley managed to command a Skaven list into second place, quite a feat for the perfidious ratfolk – who are currently on the lower end of the win-rate spectrum. Tom’s list makes great use of the Grey Seer on Screaming Bell, placing three in front of his Clanrats, and using Plague Censer Bearers to follow up for a devastating attack. This tempts enemies to attack his tolling terrors, giving him more chances to activate A Stirring Beyond The Veil and usher in a Verminlord or two for his opponents to deal with.
Gloomspite Gitz, Soulblight Gravelords, two Ossiarch Bonereapers lists, Ogor Mawtribes, and Orruk Warclans make up the top eight. Three of these lists come from factions sitting at average win-rates, proving that skilful generalship can uncover hidden depths – and that no faction is comprehensively solved.
The most successful lists were made by people driving the meta through their own list-building ingenuity and meticulous tactics rather than following tried and tested methods. Matt and Nick go deep into the theory and practice in this week’s Metawatch video.
We’ll see you in two weeks for a dispatch from Kill Team.