Competitive Innovations in 9th: The Sequel is Always Worse

In 2013 the movie Pacific Rim released to theaters - it was a monster movie directed by Guillermo del Toro that pitted giant monsters called Kaiju from another dimension against humanity and its hastily constructed Jaegers, equally monstrous machine warriors under the control of two or more neural-linked pilots. It was a fun, original, and visually spectacular monster-movie with a bevy of talent to boost its wafer-thin plot and dialogue. As a film it knew exactly what it was and didn't waste time trying to dig for a deeper sensibility - it was purely about apocalyptic scale combat and the awesome imagery of giants dueling to the death. It was an instant cult classic.

Then in 2018 the sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising was released. Seeking to cash-in on the success of the original, the sequel spends an inordinate amount of time building up a backstory for characters that is at once rushed, two-dimensional, and somehow irritating and joyless. None of which involves the high-stakes action that the original delivered early and often. The dialogue has the feel of what a teenager imagines constitutes an adult relationship, filled with clumsy jokes and odd speeches that is more akin to a young Anakin explaining why he hates sand than a bunch of cool Top-Gunesque heroes of humanity swaggering around and doing cool shit in big robots. This is of course before we get to plot holes so big you could pilot a Jaeger through them. Ultimately, it's just not fun and it's kind of boring - by the time the action starts to pick up you find yourself already thinking about anything but the movie in front of you. And once you lose the fun, there just isn't much left.

So here we are on the the second week of Competitive Innovations - my sequel. There's the same big bads duking it out, our Kaiju that go by the codewords 'Malacepter' and 'Harpy' thrashing around on tables and wreaking havoc in cities across the world. But in this second week the same old lists and outcomes are no longer interesting if they ever were - it's tedious. Small bright spots shine here and there that show the promise of what could be in this meta before being drowned in a sea of chitin and same-y builds.

The sequel is always worse - this will be no different.

Motor City Mayhem

170-player, 9-round Supermajor in Southfield, Michigan. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Death & Zeal

Charlie Andre – Tyranids – Kraken Raveners and goodstuff



vs.

Joel Wilson – Tyranids – …



Thoughts

Author’s Note: Full disclosure, Charlie Andre is a teammate of mine. The game was streamed live and can be found online - I did not watch it prior to this writeup. 

While Tyranids are a whole thing at the moment, I’m just going to say that Joel Wilson had probably the hardest schedule I’ve ever seen in a single event. On his way to the top table game, he played Matt Root, Jack Harpster, Nick Nanavati, Ben Cherwien, and Brad Chester, before playing Kyle Parry in the semi’s and then closing with the top-table game into the Charlie Andre - truly an excellent run.

Enter Charlie Andre's own version of a Tyranids list wherein he apparently tried to handicap himself with by taking a Haruspex - I included an image of one below as it's likely to be so rare that many of you may never actually see one. The key advantage Charlie has over Joel is the speed of his Raveners in a Kraken build - as he is much more capable of outmaneuvering or threatening an objective from beyond Joel's threat range. However, Joel is bringing three Malaceptors to bear to the fight, as well as a tougher block of Obsec infantry and a tougher set of support units than Charlie which may allow him to force objectives and strain Charlie's ability to fight late in the game. Given the GW-style layouts of these boards, however, it's possible that Charlie mitigates the ranged threats through careful placement thereby forcing Joel to commit first.

Ultimately, this game is anyone's guess and likely comes down to some key rolls and clutch movement that befits two players having played 9 rounds of the some of the toughest 40k this year.

Result

Tyranids (Andre) Victory – 90 - 88

Charlie Andre – Tyranids – 1st Place

Haruspex. Credit: Rockfish

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Kraken Raveners and… a Haruspex?

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Charlie spent most of a 10-hour overnight car ride stuffed in with four other cool dudes, painting his models to an acceptable standard under the dim glow of a Volkswagen’s backseat light, dealing with a driver determined to hit every pothole. In addition to that, Charlie played most of his games by handicapping himself to the tune of 195 points or exactly one Haruspex. Know that not a single person let him forget that he took a Haruspex, like an idiot, to this event. In the end it was Charlie who had the last laugh as the Haruspex did nothing all tournament long but did, in fact, not die and therefore scored a lot of points on To The Last.

The Rest of the Best

There were seven players either 8-0 or 7-1 in contention on the final day, they were:

• 2nd – Joel Wilson – Tyranids: See showdown
• 3rd – Manik Gudimani – Tyranids: Manik is new to the 40k scene this year and put together one hell of a run opening the event by trouncing his opponents 500-256 with his Leviathan goodstuff list. His run came to an end in a tough semifinals loss to the eventual champion but I don’t expect it will be long before Manik is back on the horse shooting for the finals again.
• 4th – Kyle Parry – Harlequins: Light Harlequins leaning heavy into Skyweavers with three squads of 5 and a full accompaniment of Troupes to support. Exceptional speed, versatility and excellent generalship saw Kyle all the way to the semifinals where he ran into a buzzsaw of Joel Wilson’s Tyranids – I’m told he took 69 mortal wounds (nice) in that game, a thing Harlequins famously love. Kyle lost to the runner-up in the semi-finals.
• 5th – Jamie Beaton – Tyranids: A Kraken list that reminds me strongly of the John Lennon Kraken list from the Dallas Open. The Pyrovores combine with Raveners to create a very intimidating screening and counter-charge threat that has the capability to dominate the midboard. Jamie lost to the champion in the quarterfinals match.
• 6th – Sam Procopio – Blood Angels: Sam is down from the land of maple and poutine for his first ever US event. The second Blood Angel to top-finish in as many weeks, Sam brought a heavy core of Sanguinary Guard with a few extra tools in Eradicators, Aggressors, and a Land Speeder Storm/Scout unit for a more balanced approach in a terrain set that advantages his ability to sit tight and then quickly close to smash his opponent's face. Sam lost a tight one on stream to Kyle Parry's Harlequins in the quarterfinals.
• 7th – Brad Chester – Craftworlds: One of the elders of the Craftworlds, Brad brought a Hail of Doom / Masterful Shots list that relies heavily on a of Shuriken toting individual units like War Walkers and a Wraithlord supported by a duo of 5-man Shuriken Cannon jetbike squads and a bevy of the usual caster and character support. A mean list that can drop a surprising amount of damage and threaten the center before jumping away to safety. Brad lost to the runner up in the quarterfinals match.
• 8th – Joe Rammuni – Orks: You love to see it folks – sometimes a hero enters the arena to take an underperforming faction to the promised land and in this case Joe was that hero. Leveraging Ghaz, a couple of Wazbom jets, and a whole mess of Goff Beast Snaggas and Squighog Boyz he successfully took down two different Tyranid lists before losing to Manik in the main event, and again in the final cut. A heroic run nonetheless. Joe lost to Manik in the quarterfinals match.

Game of Westeros XI – 40k

85-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Västmanlands, Sweden. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

We note that the Tyranid was in effect for this event.

The Showdown

Matchup

Jesper Unander-Scharin – Tyranids – Leviathan goodstuff + Exocrine



vs.

Johan Norrman – Dark Angels – Deathwing Oops All Terminators

Thoughts

I find myself very familiar with this style of Dark Angel list that Johan brings to the table as it is something that our previous event winner ran often in the previous year to great success. However, make no mistakes, it is a skew build and that means that it comes with some significant disadvantages that can be mitigated but not corrected. In Johan's case, its susceptibility to mortal wounds and the inability to dictate opponent's movements. 

The key about fighting this style of Deathwing list is keeping out of the (surprisingly fast) reach of the large Terminator blocks while isolating and overwhelming the smaller, often combat-squadded groups. Usually these are working in tandem, interlaced squads so as to best take advantage of key stratagems that force first-rank only fighting or splitting of attacks and interrupts. They don't shoot well, and they don't play much in the psychic phase. However, they hit like a ton of bricks in combat, and with every Terminator benefiting from Armor of Contempt and transhuman physiology, they are a monster to try and shift in the shooting phase - once they do catch you, their ability to rapidly pile-in, consolidate, and use movement to advance up the board can easily pen you in if you're not suspecting it. They can be an utterly crushing army and a frustrating one to deal with at range.

Unfortunately for Johan, Jesper has multiple tools to handle his tough bois - multiple avenues for significant mortal wound output, including a Malaceptor that can pick up whole groups of Terminators with a single successful cast, a Harpy that can move block key units and lanes while suffering only small arms fire in return, and a mobile combat monster that can isolate small groupings and pull a unit of Terminators off the board in one combat phase and strip Johan of his capability to hold backfield objectives.

Unfortunately, I think in this game Johan literally walks into a buzzsaw that he has little capability to control.

Result

Tyranids Victory – 20 – 0 (WTC Scoring)

Jesper Unander-Scharin – Tyranids – 1st Place

Maleceptor. Credit: Rockfish

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Leviathan goodstuff with an Exocrine

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Exocrine. It’s kind of interesting, it can bring a lot of heavy firepower on it’s average 8 shots at S8 AP-4 and 3D, probably ignoring cover. The Observer Organism strat allows the Exocrine to explode its hits on 6 for an additional hit but even still the Harpy is common a player’s preferred choice due to its mobility advantages as well as potential for mortal wounds. That said, the Exocrine has a place as a tougher monster that can hold down an objective in the backfield while the rest of the force moves forward – an advantage the Harpy cannot cover.

Karl Abrahamsson – Grey Knights – 2nd Place

Grey Knight Kill Team
Credit: Pendulin

The List

Archetype

Nemesis Dreadknights & Interceptors

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

A classic Grey Knight list by this point with no real surprises, but a new lease on life with Armor of Contempt. Forgoes a mortal wound Librarian for a Chaplain but otherwise packs all the potency of the usual Dreadknight heavy lists. Like many of our top power-armor based finishers, this is an army that is awaiting a nerf to the Tyranids menace to realize a true renaissance, but as long as the option to dodge exists it performs very well into our meta – having taken on Craftworlds, Sisters, Thousand Sons, and more.

The Rest of the Best

Twelve other players finished 4-1 or 3-0-2. They were:

• 3rd – Jacob Holmström – Tyranids: Hive fleet Jormungandr that leans heavy into the shooting phase with a double Exocrine, double Harpy, and double full sized squad of Pyrovores. Jormungandr provides some interesting defensive buffs for an army that wants to leverage its ranged options and gives a deep-strike stratagem that plays nicely with Pyrovores. His only loss came in round four against the tournament champion.
• 4th – Mikael Klangeby – Deathwatch: (Author's Note: I don't know Deathwatch so I requested an assist - Peter 'The Falcon' Colisimo enthusiastically jumped in to provide an in depth analysis unit-by-unit breakdown that for the sake of this section I had to cut down considerably). The list is mostly your normal AOR one. Generally the list is going to be in white scars turn 1 and white scars successors or space wolves turn 2 to make sure the heavy thunder hammers get to where they’ll do the most damage - people are frequently caught off guard by how fast it moves as it is an army full of gotchas. In some matchups it will be choosing salamanders to soak damage. The two indomitor squads allows him to be a bit more aggressive with the unit running inceptors as he has the backup squad that can play clean up later game. Thanks Peter!
• 5^th –  Dag Samuelsson – Tyranids: Leviathan leaning heavy into Warrior blocks with the usual support.
• 6^th – Olle Önning – Tyranids: Leviathan ranged list leaning heavy into Pyrovores and Exocrines and Harpys. His only loss game in round four against the top-table runner-up.
• 7^th – Mathias Lyngarth – Tau: Bork’an sept wide on Crisis Cyclic/Plasma and a Riptide. His only loss came in round three against the top-table runner-up.
• 8^th – Johan Norrman* – Dark Angels: See Showdbown
• 9^th – David Klang – Tyranids: Leviathan list bringing some additional HVC Carnifexes in tow for additional fire support. His only loss came in round three vs the tournament champion.
• 10^th – Tim Nordin – Thousand Sons: Cult of Duplicity leveraging dual Contemptors and two large blocks of Scarab Occult Terminators. The list bring the durability with the combination of All is Dust, Armor of Contempt, and damage reduction strats to go with the heavy mortal wound and small arms output - it's a slow moving bruiser of a list with some capability for mid-game redeployment.
• 11^th – Kim Hånberg– Tyranids: Behemoth list with a wide set of minimal sized units supported by a trio of Screamer Killers.
• 12^th – Johan Nicolaisen – Tau: T’au sept with two deep Crisis units supported by Longstrike and copy of Broadsides plus supporting cast. His only loss came in round five against the runner-up.
• 13^th – Jonas Axelsson – Necrons: Relentlessly Expansionist/Eternal Conquerors custom dynasty leaning heavy into Necron vehicles with three Tesseract Arks and two Doomsday Arks.

 

Priority Orders - Mayday

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission - Conversion

Steven Roberts – Tyranids – Behemoth goodstuff + Tyranofex and Screamer-Killers



vs.

Aidan Brocklehurst – Adeptus Sororitas – Bloody Rose with Morvenn Vahl, two large Battle Sister squads, and support

Thoughts

Sisters have shown to be an army that have some play into Tyranids - an army capable of bringing a lot of different looks with small, flexible and hard-hitting units that are buoyed by their Faith dice system and leverage surprising durability thanks to their Armor of Contempt change. Moreover, the Sisters have always been capable of bringing a decent amount of melta to the table. Of all the factions - Sisters are the one that have a feel most closely aligned to the Craftworlds, a faction that also has some play into Tyranids. In this match I'm a lot more unsure - Aidan brings just a single Retributor squad packing the heat to handle the big bugs, but one of his two Battle Sister blocks brings some melta that is going to be sheltered by ablative wounds and will likely be screening for a Morvenn Vahl that is just itching to hit a big bug in the mouth.

By comparison Steven is bringing a mix of heavy firepower and heavy combat in his Tyrannofexes, Harpy, and then Scream Killers. The challenge for Steven will be in positioning to draw line of sight - the Harpy will almost assuredly never face a significant threat back thanks to Encircle the Prey but it's also going to be limited in its damage output due to the MSU nature of Aidan's list. If Steven loses, it feels like this game will be one of a death by a thousand cuts.

Result

Tyranids Victory – 88 – 51

Author's Note: The initial publication erroneously identified the Sister of Battle as the winner.

 

Steven Roberts – Tyranids – 1st Place

Tyranid Warriors. Credit: Rockfish

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Behemoth goodstuff with a trio of Screamer Killers

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Brings a little more shooting than some lists and Behemoth gives the army some additional combat capability with strength and damage boosts. When an infantry unit (Raveners/Warriors) dies, Behemoth allows them to effectively trade-up similar to Dark Harlequins as long as they make engagement using the Unparalleled Ferocity stratagem.

The Rest of the Best

Four other players finished on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Sam Nash – Adeptus Custodes: Near mirror back-to-back 2^nd place finishes for Sam this weekend – his Shadowkeepers leaning into the dataslate changes with multiple Custodian Guard and Sagittarum Custodians supported by Trajaan and two of each Galatus and Achillus dreadnoughts. Sam’s only loss, again, came in round 4 against the runner-up
• 3rd – Oliver Wheeler – Adeptus Custodes: Another Shadowkeepers infantry heavy build that trades a lot of the dreadnoughts of Sam's list for some Praetors and Caladius Grav-Tanks
• 4th – Craig Douglas – Tau: Shadowsun and Crisis - all of the Crisis. There's a couple of Broadsides and Kroot in here, but it's mostly Crisis. So much Crisis.
• 5th – Aidan Brocklehurst* – Adeptus Sororitas: See showdown

 

Slagmark FYN 40k Tournament

34-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Aarup, Denmark. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup

Alexander Dzougov – Harlequins – Light Harlequin Boat Spam



vs.

Killi Paaske – Tyranids – Leviathan MSU with Carnifex Heavy Support

Thoughts

If there is one thing that Tyranids do well it's that, well everything they do they do well. But in this matchup they in particular can take advantage of one of the greatest weakness of Harlequins - their sensitivity to mortal wounds. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed when I looked at these two lists is that the mortal wound output of Killi's is certainly well above most armies, but it's not as high as many Tyranid armies that we've seen in this weekend's placings. Additionally, much of Killi's army is built for ranged attacks - the Harpy's, Carnifexes, even the lone Biovore which will all find themselves all struggling to land weight of fire that brings enough shots to punch through the bevy of Light boat buffs and rerollable saves. In contrast, Alexander's return fire may be absolutely devastating, as none of the infantry Killi brings is particularly durable in their minimum-sized blocks and the focused fire of the Voidweavers is more than enough to minimize the threat of the Harpy's and then Malaceptor before they even become relevant while being mobile enough to restrict the sight lines from Killi's Carnifexes.

While Killi is definitely the better combat fighter in this match, I like Alexander's chances to mitigate threats at range before they even have a chance to fight or simply outmanevuer the slower Tyranid force, and selectively steal objectives from a list that will struggle to hold down ObSec on points.

Result

Harlequins Victory – 89 – 76

 

Alexander Dzougov – Harlequins – 1st Place

Credit: Ben Hampshire

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Light Harlequins Boat Spam

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

One month ago it probably isn’t – in fact it was probably more headache-inducing than anything. But now? Well, now there’s a new bully on the block and the enemy of our enemy is our friend.

The list is the spiritual successor to the original Light Voidweaver spam lists - leveraging the powerful guns on the deceptively durable platforms with their innate hit-restrictions and Luck of the Laughing God. The list is fast, durable, and powerful close-in and at range where it is more than willing to pick you apart and force you to move forward under heavy Voidweaver fire. The only difference between this and the terror lists of February is that its a few boats lighter than those early incarnations, and while Harlequins have certainly been overshadowed by the Hive Mind of late, don't let that fool you, they're still exceptionally deadly as Alexander continue to show us.

The Rest of the Best

Five other players finished on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Chris Ludvigsen – Drukhari: A double-patrol (I believe), Chris runs out a combination Dark Technomancers Cronos list with a Souldbound/Twisted Hunters Kabal that leans heavy into poision and Dark Lances to combat the Tyranids menace. His only loss came in a tight game against the top-table runner-up.
• 3rd – Rasmus Olesen – Tau: T’au Sept leveraging Shadowsun and three large Crisis units with a mix of Plasma, Fusion, and Cyclic Ion. Three individual Broadsides provide backfield sitting fire support. His only loss came in round four against the tournament champion.
• 4th – Killi Paaske* – Tyranids: See showdown
• 5th – Karl Silvfer – Grey Knights: Mixed Dreadknight Paladin list that also brings Draigo and leans heavy into the combination of Purifying Ritual and To The Last with the Armor of Contempt bonus on the Paladins

Qualifier 2 – Torneo ITC

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Milano, Italy. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup

Daniele De Gemini – Tyranids – Leviathan Warrior blocks and goodstuff



vs.

Nicola Valle – Tyranids – Leviathan Warrior blocks and goodstuff

Thoughts

This is the closest to a mirror match you'll get this week as two nearly identical Tyranid lists clash in the final game. Unfortunately, I did not find the final mission for this event, but what stands out to me between these two lists is the lack of Tyrant Guard in Nicola's list which I think puts him at far greater risk when going second. Though faster, Nicola lacks some the ranged capability that Daniele is bringing to the table with his Warrior blocks, Biovores, and Tyrannofex that offer him an advantage in the early game and allow him to force his opponent to engage or be chipped away. Nicola does, however, bring two Harpy's that can offer some limited ranged threats - though it's unlikely they'll find a target without putting themselves in a position to be sacrificed turn one.

Ultimately, I think this game is one that advantages the palyer going first - but given the near mirror but slight ranged advantage of Daniele, I believe his list is the winner more often than not.

Result

Tyranids (De Gemini) Victory – 67 – 55

 

Daniele De Gemini – Tyranids – 1st Place

Credit: PierreTheMime

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Leviathan Warrior blocks and goodstuff

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

The large Leviathan Warrior blocks can take an absolute pounding and continue to move forward, forcing objectives and softening up an enemy at range before charging in to finish. Besides the mini-transhuman, the Warriors can take advantage of an invulnerable save or a feel no pain via the Synaptic Link options, as well as having access to damage reduction. Not too shabby for cheap T5 3W infantry.

The Rest of the Best

Four other players finished on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Nicola Valle* – Tyranids: See showdown
• 3rd – Riccardo Ghio – Grey Knights: A mixed list of Paladins, Drogo, and Nemesis Dreadknights with supporting infantry – leverages the Grandmaster Dreadknight abilities and Paladin’s incredible durability to move forward, score, and simply exist with a near auto-30 on secondaries between To The Last and Purifying Ritual. His only loss came in round four against the runner up.
• 4th – Giorgio Castelli – Dark Angels: Oops almost all Deathwing Terminators. Brings in some Eradicators and backfield objective sitters to allow the full force of these Armor of Contempt bullies to plod forward. His only loss came in round three against the runner up.
• 5th – Andrea Barberio – Adeptus Sororitas: Bloody Rose balanced list with Paragon Warsuits and melta Retributors. A significant amount of high Strength, high AP, and high damage that seeks to counter the Tyranid menace.

Le Grand Clash

46-player, 5-round Supermajor in Montreal, Quebec. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Author's Note: I missed on this event this week and while we won't do a full write-up I do want to acknowledge the top performers.

The Placings

• 1nd – Francois Lalonde – Craftworlds: 5-0
• 2nd – Will Paul – Tyranids: 5-0
• 3rd – Steve Gagne* – Adeptus Custodes: 4-1
• 4th – Sebastian Geoffrion – Tyranids: 4-1
• 5th – Jeremy Atkinson – Dark Angels: 4-1
• 6th – Franck Lortie – Grey Knights: 4-1
• 7th – Sebastien Besner – Tyranids: 4-1
• 8th – Mathieu Boutin-Bastien – Space Wolves: 4-1

Final Thoughts

My tour of duty is done for now, although big Goon may seek to stop-loss me in future weeks. Until then I’ll turn the reigns over to the next clown out of the hopper. In these past two weeks I’ve stared deep into the abyss breach and kaiju stared back at me and now I want off this boring, uninspired ride.

Last week some readers left feedback that it would be nice to shift from the constant stream of dominant factions to highlight some more unique and interesting players/factions at the events. First, thank you for reading and providing your feedback! Second and for my part, I agree. However, this column is a heavy lift and with every week seemingly having more and larger events the fundamental tension is between the appropriate spotlighting of tournament champions and top performers that is the core ethos of this column and the desire for the column to be interesting. Truly, my respect to James 'Wings' Grover who for months shouldered the burden of this weekly article - it's not an easy endeavor and he's been a champion putting these out each week. Perhaps future authors may find the time necessary to introduce a new section or reinvent the column, but for now I leave you with this - a bad sequel.

Have any questions or feedback? Want to make a clever joke about display boards? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.

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