Welcome to another installment of Starting Hex, a series about Warhammer Underworlds. This is a particularly exciting article for me because if you read this as soon as it comes out, I'm probably either at the airport or already in the air flying to Atlanta for the World Championships of Warhammer! I managed to (barely) get a ticket at NOVA this year, so I'll be playing alongside some of the world's best players – or at least the world's best players who were willing to travel to the United States right now. I've also been lucky enough to talk with some of the players attending the event and took the opportunity to bug them with some questions.

Thanks to my lovely wife for supporting me on this (somewhat last minute) trip. I love you, babe!

For anyone who wants to follow along with the event from home, you can check out the Underworlds event on Best Coast Pairings to see standings, match pairings, and who all is present from each country. The event is also being officially live streamed which you can watch on the What the Hex?! YouTube channel – the commentators this year are Phil from the aforementioned What the Hex?! team as well as Jerod from Battle Mallet. Tune in, ask questions, and cheer for your favorite warbands/countries/players!

Credit: Games Workshop

Underworlds at the World Championships of Warhammer

For those who aren't aware, the World Championships of Warhammer is an event hosted by Games Workshop near the end of the year. It is a sort of capstone event to celebrate the entire year of gaming across multiple GW systems – it has the incredibly popular 40k narrative event along with multiple invitational tournaments for 40k, Age of Sigmar, Kill Team, and Underworlds.

Players for these last four events will need to have qualified earlier in the year. This usually takes the form of winning an event, so everyone present will be among the top tier of players in their chosen game. It means competition is fierce and it's supposed to be a way to showcase the best players playing their game of choice for the world to see.

There's an emphasis on the world, in particular. This is the World Championships, after all, and Games Workshop has taken inspiration from other multi-national events by having the players not only strive to do their personal best, but also to represent their country. Each country with any players in attendance will be competing with the other countries for overall rankings at the end of the event combined across all of the game systems. There's an elaborate rubric that determines how many points each player can earn for their country, and there's also a cap to how many players can contribute to their own country's rating. This helps keep a more even playing field when certain countries have an overly large representation at the event compared to others.

The event runs over the course of four days – starting on Thursday, November 6 and running until Sunday, November 9. The first two days consists of three rounds being played each day in pools that have been created to be as internationally diverse as possible. The stated goal here is to not pair anyone into another player representing their own country. After these two days have played out, the top finishers from each of these pools will advance to the championship rounds on the weekend. Players who did not make the top cut will instead be seeded into each other to continue to play out the event – even though they aren't in contention for first place, players here can still earn points for their country and can still earn various awards at the end of the event. Plus it's even more games against fantastic players, which is an opportunity that I know I'm excitedly looking forward to! Regardless of where players settle on the last two days, each day has two rounds of games scheduled.

What's Different about Underworlds at WCW?

Some of the new hexes that will be prevalent in (at least some) games at WCW! Credit: Jake

Aside from the structure of the event, there are a few notable things happening at WCW for Warhammer Underworlds in particular. If you're a fan of the game, it's probably not news to you that there was a massive release of new content just before the event – it just so happens that the rules cutoff was one day after all of the new Spitewood stuff released. What a coincidence!

This means that WCW will be one of the first events to allow all of the Spitewood changes. Since it is so soon after this release, there has not been an official FAQ or rules updated released to cover it all. This means there are still some uncertainties about how some mechanics interact, how some cards are supposed to work, and how some unclear wording on warscrolls is to be interpreted. I personally think it's a little awkward to ask players to fly in from around the world to effectively playtest new rules, but that's a topic for another time.

Other than the new shiny releases, it's basically going to be an Underworlds clash as normal. The event is using the Nemesis format, so players will be bringing their warband of choice along with cards from two different Rivals decks to build their nemesis deck. Rounds are going to be best-of-three with a very generous allotted time of three hours for each round. It seems like they're syncing all the different game systems up, but given that 40k and AoS games tend to take substantially longer than Underworlds, it means Underworlds players get to take their time and have very comfortable rounds – I definitely foresee finishing up a best-of-three match and realizing there's still over an hour before the next game is scheduled, so the opportunity to walk around, stretch my legs, and re-hydrate will be greatly appreciated.

Returning Players

All I have to go on is what the Games Workshop event team has put into the player packet, but fortunately I also have access to an even more knowledgeable resource – players who attended last year and are returning this year! I rounded up four returning potential champions and bothered them with some questions while they were trying to prepare for Worlds. I promise this was mostly for you, dear reader, and only partly so I could get a heads up on what I'm walking into.

Credit: Jake Bennington

Blake Law

First up is Blake Law, a name that some of you might recognize from Art of War and others from him attending multiple Underworlds events where he delivers the one-two punch of being a talented player and very skilled painter. Blake has also started contributing to Goonhammer in the form of thoughts on Underworlds and kickin' rad painted models. Keep your eyes peeled for more of Blake's work around here, whether Underworlds, 40k, or something else!

Goonhammer: If you're willing to share, what warband and deck pairings are you taking to the event? What drew you to make this particular choice out of the many dozens that are available and how quickly were you able to settle on your choices?

Blake: I was really torn, as I am sure most others were, on what to take. I ended up landing on Kurnoth’s Heralds. Honestly, it was a foregone conclusion once I had the models in hand. The sculpts were way too nice and I knew there was no way they were getting played immediately. I did some play testing with them, initially using the new Hunting Grounds deck. I didn’t find much success there, so I tried some more aggressive pairings. I honestly found one I really liked, so we will if it brings any success in this coming week!

Goonhammer: This event is situated right after a very large product release and as a result, we're going into an unstable and uncertain meta. Did this change anything in how you prepare for playing in an event?

Blake: I don’t think it actually did. I live in very rural Arkansas, so all my games are online versus my friends that I’ve met at events. I think it's way easier to reset your mind in that setting. Also, when you play versus elite players like WCW, it becomes a bit match up dependent at times. It would be very difficult to prep for every new warband. (I know some of you did – looking at you, Italian team!)

Goonhammer: Whether they're performance based or social focused, are you coming into the event with any goals in mind?

Blake: I won a best display award last year at WCW. My passion in the hobby is making cool displays and painting. That being said, I would love to break into the top 16 this year! Also, I have been cooking up what I think is a cool scene for the centaurs…

[Jake: I've seen some in-progress shots of this and it's insane. I can't wait to see it in person and for you to share it with folks online!]

Goonhammer: As a player who has qualified for and attended the World Championships of Warhammer in the past, is there anything from playing last year that you particularly enjoyed and are looking forward to again this year? Are there any things you plan to do differently?

Blake: My absolute favorite thing about worlds is meeting players around the world. I made many new friends last year, and I plan on talking to anyone who will listen.

Goonhammer: What was your highlight of Worlds last year that wasn't part of playing a Warhammer game?

Blake: It was 100% talking to all the players. It’s so cool that we are a world apart, yet come together with the same interests!

Goonhammer: Lastly, are you brave enough to throw out any predictions on how this year will shape up? Are there any particular warbands or decks that you think will perform well and make it to the podium? Do you think anything will have a disproportionate representation in terms of warbands or decks?

Blake: It’s gonna be the Wurmspat. They are great. Their stats are killer and they have a lot of pairings that work. Outside of that, I’d say Jaws of Itzl. They are still a mega strong warband, and I happen to know an excellent player bringing them this year!

Credit: Games Workshop

Craig "craigistential"

Next up is Craig, the two-time winner of the Maryland Goonhammer Open. Craig has managed to win the golden ticket from every Goonhammer hosted Underworlds event so far – granted, we've only run it for two years but that's still a 100% win rate! Craig also happens to be the first person I ever played in an Underworlds event. I got paired into him in a clash at my FLGS where he ruthlessly trounced me, but in a nice way.

Goonhammer: If you're willing to share, what warband and deck pairings are you taking to the event? What drew you to make this particular choice out of the many dozens that are available and how quickly were you able to settle on your choices?

Craig: After a non-zero amount of waffling, I landed on the Starblood Stalkers, paired with Emberstone Sentinels and Countdown to Cataclysm. I considered Wurmspat and Emberwatch. I eyeballed Mollog's Mob and Kurnoth's Heralds. Ultimately, I landed on the lizards. They are new, and new is exciting. Plus I love their aesthetic (no disrespect to Duinclaw, but Otapatl is the best mini in the game [Jake: I will not sit by idly for this Cephanyr slander!]). More practically though, they have nice stats, a strong warscroll, and a focused gameplan — all of which feels coherent and works well with the deck's tools.

I don't think it's overly clever or sneaky, but I like what it offers in a lot of match ups.

Goonhammer: This event is situated right after a very large product release and as a result, we're going into an unstable and uncertain meta. Did this change anything in how you prepare for playing in an event?

Craig: Preparing has been a bit of a roller coaster. Before the new content dropped, “Plan A” was Emberwatch with Blazing Assault and Reckless Fury — the combo I ran to win my ticket. But when the new warbands were revealed, I soured on it quickly. Several of the 5+ fighter warbands jumped out as strong options, and having so much of my objective glory tied to a "everyone is charging" gameplan felt like I’d be coming to the table at a disadvantage vs. things like Zarbag's Gitz, Thorns of the Briar Queen, Exiled Dead, Elathain's Soulraid, etc.

So, I started trying to gauge what else looked strong (that I already owned and had painted) and messed with a few different deck combos for each. But just as I was getting my footing with that, things changed again with a release day FAQ and rules updates. By that point, I had enjoyed the games I had gotten in with Starblood, and I figured that my limited prep time was better spent trying to grasp one warband's nuances versus exploring the field more broadly. I tested a little with Edge of the Knife, but Countdown to Cataclysm and Emberstone Sentinels quickly emerged as my favorite deck combo. The addition of the Aqua Ghyranis Tokens gives a nice boost to the Cataclysm counter — which makes the ploy pings more reliable and Utter Conviction a nasty late-game upgrade.

Goonhammer: Whether they're performance based or social focused, are you coming into the event with any goals in mind?

Craig: Last year at Worlds I went 5-5. So this year my goal is to go 6-4. The biggest thing I got out of the event last year was just a sharper understanding of the game after facing some really good opponents. So this year, I want to play my best and feel like I'm once again leaving Atlanta better than I went into it.

Goonhammer: As a player who has qualified for and attended the World Championships of Warhammer in the past, is there anything from playing last year that you particularly enjoyed and are looking forward to again this year? Are there any things you plan to do differently?

Craig: I love how much time we have to play games. We get three hours to play each round, so there's none of the clock watching or scrambling you get at most qualifying tournaments (which I understand is often necessary due to various logistics considerations and constraints). It's nice to play thoughtfully against great opponents on the game's biggest stage, without any external stressors to interfere with the experience.

I don't know if there's anything I plan to do differently, but hopefully having been to this rodeo before I won't have jitters in those first few games. I started 0-3 last year and I was starting to think, "Oh god, am I really going to end up losing every match?"

Goonhammer: What was your highlight of Worlds last year that wasn't part of playing a Warhammer game?

Craig: The biggest highlight was easily meeting some cool people from all over the world, who I could quickly bond with over a shared love of this game.

I played folks from Australia, Poland, England, and Canada. Between recapping event highlights and lamenting about the Dromms that many of us also brought, we talked about the politics of Cheese Mafias, the merits of pop punk music and the unimpeachable wonders of Tex Mex food. It’ll be great to see some of those people again, while also being joined by some local pals who qualified this go around.

Goonhammer: Lastly, are you brave enough to throw out any predictions on how this year will shape up? Are there any particular warbands or decks that you think will perform well and make it to the podium? Do you think anything will have a disproportionate representation in terms of warbands or decks?

Craig: This is maybe cowardly in its lack of specificity, but I'm guessing the winner will bring something that zags from the general consensus around what is "good" or "strong" among the recent releases. So much new stuff has come out in the last 30 days, and that’s going to shift the meta in ways that no one can fully understand yet. I bet that some brave soul will believe in a warband or combo that the rest of us overlooked.

Credit: Jake Bennington

Davy Calkins

Davy is a long-time co-host of the What the Hex?! podcast and blog which has been covering Warhammer Underworlds long before I had even picked up the game. In addition to being a phenomenal pillar of the game and his local scene, Davy also made quite a splash this year by winning not one, but two major events – he took first place at the Madtown Throwdown in Madison as well as NOVA just a few months ago. Davy's also officially a Cool Dad; his son attends multiple events with him and it's always a pleasure to interact with either of those two gentlemen.

Goonhammer: If you're willing to share, what warband and deck pairings are you taking to the event? What drew you to make this particular choice out of the many dozens that are available and how quickly were you able to settle on your choices?

Davy: I landed on Thundrik’s Profiteers with a build I’m calling Fully Entrenched. That would be Emberstone Sentinels and Hunting Grounds. I dabbled with a few other options, including Thorns, Kunnin Krew, Soulraid and Gardeners. Honestly, I had the most fun with Thorns, but I’m a little embarrassed by my paint job on that crew. It may seem silly, but I think you gotta play true to your values. And anyways… with only a couple games from each option, I ended up falling back on the Profiteers as a warband that I knew pretty well. Hunting Grounds has a surprising number of glory in it for drive-backs which pairs nicely with high accuracy, low damage attacks.

Goonhammer: This event is situated right after a very large product release and as a result, we're going into an unstable and uncertain meta. Did this change anything in how you prepare for playing in an event?

Davy: Oh, absolutely. I might have stuck with “dancing with the one that brung ya” and brought the Kunnin' Krew if there wasn’t such a big sea change. Eventually it began to feel like there were so many new variables and with limited time I had to stop worrying about checking in on everything. Getting some reps in with the new decks felt important just to have a sense of where opposing scoring might be coming from.

Goonhammer: Whether they're performance based or social focused, are you coming into the event with any goals in mind?

Davy: This has been a weird year for me. I’ve never felt less motivated to try to podium at events than I have this year. My joy from the game has come from trying new things, experimenting with builds, and exploring different warbands. And of course, ironically, this is the year that I’ve had the most competitive success. There’s probably something in there about the psychology of competition, at least as far as this particular brain is concerned. Even after qualifying, I was unsure whether I’d be competing or needed for the stream. Thanks to the valiant representation from Battle Mallet, it’s going to be the former.

Based on what I’ve done all year, I’m just going to go and play the game in front of me. I’d say my real goal is to conduct myself in a way that I can feel good about when the day is done. At the end of the weekend all but one of us are going to go home having come up short of the championship. I can control how I react on that journey, however it turns out. People did great last year, but I saw an example of behavior where someone let their emotions overrun them, and I remember thinking, “this is not how I’d want to remember my experience at this level.” I really enjoyed the social aspect at NOVA this year, and I’d like to hold myself to a standard that honors the time and spirit of those fine folks.

Goonhammer: You were at last year's event as one of the (very talented) streaming team. I feel like this had to have given you a unique view into the event and the players attending it. How do you feel about being back again this year but being on the other side of the table? Do you think you picked up anything from your time commentating last year that will help this year?

Davy: If I took away one thing from streaming last year, it’s that there are no easy games. Every competitor we had on the stream was impressive. Even in the one-sided matches, you could see the level of play was extremely high, on both sides. Any wins are going to be hard earned, and should be cause for some pride. Similarly, no shame in losing.

Goonhammer: What was your highlight of Worlds last year that wasn't part of playing a Warhammer game?

Davy: My personal highlight was the incredible engagement from the community watching the stream. Seeing folks get so excited for big plays, for smart positioning, and for their home nation players’ successes. We’ve been doing What the Hex?! for just shy of 7 years, and we’ve never had something quite like that. The feeling of a global community was incredible.

Goonhammer: Lastly, are you brave enough to throw out any predictions on how this year will shape up? Are there any particular warbands or decks that you think will perform well and make it to the podium? Do you think anything will have a disproportionate representation in terms of warbands or decks?

Oh man, in case I haven’t made it clear, I have no idea what’s going on. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d be looking at a skilled Thorns of the Briar Queen pilot or Elathain's Soulraid aficionado to really impress. As for decks, I think Deadly Synergy has pretty surprising range of warbands it works with, and some great tricks. Anyone going the distance has to be prepared to solve a really wide variety of threats – from big boys like Mollog's Mob to swarms like Thorns of the Briar Queen and the Grymwatch, to elite aggro like Jaws of Itzl, to home field squatters like the Starblood Stalkers. I can’t wait to see how it goes.

Credit: Jake Bennington

Michael "fishmode" Fisher

Last, but absolutely not least, is Michael aka fishmode. If you've ever heard of the Spent Glory blog, that's the brain child of Michael. He spends a ton of effort in continually providing support to new and returning players to Warhammer Underworlds. Along with that support, he's responsible for the Love Letters series where players get to gush about their favorite warbands, a slew of alternative gameplay modes, humorous articles along the lines of the Underworlds Bachelor competitions, and a comprehensive monthly summary of what's happening online for Underworlds in multiple communities.

Goonhammer: If you're willing to share, what warband and deck pairings are you taking to the event? What drew you to make this particular choice out of the many dozens that are available and how quickly were you able to settle on your choices?

Michael: Even though I took second place in prior Grand Clashes with The Dread Pageant and The Emberwatch, I've effectively retired those warbands (and literally haven't played once with them since those events ended). I was looking for a new challenge, because this game to me is about creative expression and the novelty of experience rather than grinding something to perfection.

Starblood Stalkers with Emberstone Sentinels/Countdown to Cataclysm was one of the pairings I was narrowing in on when the rules updates for Worlds were locked in. This was in part because I haven't played a ton of Hold this edition and was having a lot of fun with Starblood Stalkers in my preview practice as well as substantial success. I flirted with ES/Edge of the Knife since I would have four tempered fighters and they have a couple good objectives to overlap with Emberstone Sentinels stuff, but not explicitly better than ES/CC. Maybe if I had more time to practice I could figure something out.

Goonhammer: This event is situated right after a very large product release and as a result, we're going into an unstable and uncertain meta. Did this change anything in how you prepare for playing in an event?

Michael: While they also opened up the option to use multiple plot cards, I had already settled on Emberstone Sentinels as a starting point and didn't bother to explore my options there. I will probably have to battle some crazy double-plot combos like CC/EotK or Raging Slayers/Deadly Synergy, but whatever man. Let's have some fun and not worry so much. It's not like they've never completely upended the game as we understand it mere weeks before Worlds before or anything. If I win or lose, I'm not planning to stress myself out about the hundred implications of each change to the game.

I had already settled on something fun and strong enough, and I wasn't about to worry about it. The only real effect was the token placement change that came by surprise a week before cutoff. I didn't want to have to use one of my potential two drops on a neutral token and didn't want to tip my hand by placing one in neutral. Neutral territory also invalidates my home territory skink reroll, so better to commit to holding at home and/or enemy. As a result, my original deck (which included Slow Advance and Shocking Assault) would have to change.

Goonhammer: Whether they're performance based or social focused, are you coming into the event with any goals in mind?

Michael: While I would love to perform well, I'm taking a warband that's brand new and I have very little experience with, while taking a deck pairing that's been hit with several nerfs and sits at a ~45% win rate across this edition, and I also have very little experience with that as well. What could go wrong? If I come away with a 0.500 average I'd be ecstatic, but I'm not really going for competition wins. I'd love to meet some cool people and play some close games, maybe make a few friends along the way, and explore this entirely new meta together.

I (with my 3 year old daughter's help) painted up some 1995 WHFB skink archers to match my poorly painted Starblood Stalkers from 5 years ago. If nothing else, I can give them to my opponents as a thank you token to remember what's hopefully a good time for us both.

And, you know, twist some arms to get people to write Love Letters about their experiences and decks for SpentGlory.com.

Goonhammer: You were at last year's event as one of the (very talented) streaming team. I feel like this had to have given you a unique view into the event and the players attending it. How do you feel about being back again this year but being on the other side of the table? Do you think you picked up anything from your time commentating last year that will help this year?

Michael: This is actually a tough question, because everything was so new last year with Second Edition dropping right at the event's start. What I learned last year was mostly just figuring out the new game, and while we have another wide open unknown meta again, it's not as completely new. The biggest takeaways are that this world has a lot of players a heck of a lot better than me, and I expect I'll learn that lesson again in spades.

Also, streaming/sportscasting is way harder than it looks. Playing is something I theoretically know how to do so I'm hoping my head will be more focused.

Goonhammer: What was your highlight of Worlds last year that wasn't part of playing a Warhammer game?

Michael: Twenty or so of us went out to dinner after Friday night, right after the pods wrapped and Top Cut had been decided. It was cool being at a table with all these big names and people I had heard of but never had the chance to meet, and while there were way too many of us and it was way too loud to talk to everybody, I spent a long while talking to G from Alberta about whether or not to ever take above the minimum deck size in the new edition. I don't say this lightly; I think he's an actual genius. I've met a handful in my life and I would put him right up there. The dude is wicked smaht.

Goonhammer: Lastly, are you brave enough to throw out any predictions on how this year will shape up? Are there any particular warbands or decks that you think will perform well and make it to the podium? Do you think anything will have a disproportionate representation in terms of warbands or decks?

Michael: My man Drex/Andrew will give everybody the Mollog's Mobbing of a lifetime and make the top cut. Thorns will do well with some builds but poorly with others, and their requisite finesse will cause many people to stumble with what could be a podium warband. Grymwatch were busted good before and still will be – the extra restricted card in Pillage won't be enough to stop them. Wurmspat are overhyped (still good though). Elathain's Soulraid will be frequently seen in the top cut. People continue to sleep on Ylthari's Guardians. There won't be many Zarbag's because the meta-chasers will go elsewhere. There will be truckloads of Deadly Synergy at the event, and it will do disproportionately well. A bunch of people will try to make double-plot decks work but inexperience will probably make them perform below expectations. Italians will clean up and none will fall below 5-5.

But most importantly, and I say this with extreme confidence, the sportsmanship and chill vibes will be off the charts and Underworlds will again prove it's the coolest community Games Workshop has.

Oh, and I'm beating Brian in the Pink Slips Match and taking his Golden Daemon-level painted warband home with me.

Pink Slips Match?!

You read that right. Michael brought up the tradition between members of What the Hex and Underworlds Underground where they play a match and the winner takes the loser's warband. This will be the third time such an event has occurred and if all goes according to plan, I believe it should be streamed at some point on Wednesday evening EST. Check the What the Hex?! YouTube channel around then and maybe you can join us!

I'd like to wish all the competitors good luck. The Underworlds community has routinely been a beacon of positivity which isn't always common in many game communities. I look forward to hanging out with my existing friends as well as my future friends as we play this fun card/miniature/board game.

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Tags: warhammer underworlds | World Championships of Warhammer