It’s time to look at the latest tier list for the new edition of Kill Team!
Welcome to today’s Warhammer 40000 Kill Team article where I cover my newest quarterly tier list for Kill Team! Based off of tournament and personal experience, as well as reviewing every team, I rate every faction in the game! Find out who are the best and the worst for tournaments and events!
If you want, I’ve done a more in-depth video on the subject which you can watch here:
Explaining the Tiers
So the tiers are pretty simple:
S Tier – A super strong kill team, one you’re very likely to see at a tournament that will definitely make the top cut and/or win an event too. Possibly broken but in realty just the best team(s) to play and only really lose to other S Tier teams match-up wise, ergo having very few to no bad match-ups. Usually with a very high winrate, popularity/usage rate and good podium rate (getting 1st to 3rd at events).
A Tier – A very strong kill team. Very likely to be seen in a tournament that will make a top cut and even win the whole thing. Commonly finishes a 4 round tournament with a 3-1. Not as strong as a S Tier kill team but one you have to definitely keep in-mind for when aiming to play competitively.
B Tier – A strong kill team. Likely to be seen in tournaments and can make a top cut. Could win as well but not reliably. Definitely a team you need to remember for when playing in events Has more bad match-ups than the S and A tiers.
C Tier – An average kill team. Usually should be able to go 2 wins 2 losses in a 4 round tournament. May make the top cut but unlikely to win. You may need to remember these teams for events but it’s not a necessity.
D Tier – Bad kill teams. Weak due to either poor rules or mechanics. Unlikely to win with, commonly going 1 win and 3 losses at an event.
Also tiers do not represent skill. Someone who has spent a long time playing the same lower tier kill team is likely to beat someone hopping onto a higher tier one for the first time. This is just a general guide for players trying to find what the best kill team is for them to play or to watch out for at tournaments. These have all been charted by me based on the above factors as well as my tournament experience with the game.
Factions within tiers are also ranked by release from oldest to newest, it’s not an indication of power as generally factions are very close together when it comes to power rating for each tier.
The New Tier List
On the left is the old tier list and on the right is the new. We’ve had a lot of changes, not to mention several brand new kill teams. The S Tier has changed up quite a bit as well as most of the tiers in general! Blades of Khaine have gone all the way from D to A Tier while S Tier is dominated by the Aeldari teams!
S Tier
Warpcoven: Despite the 13 nerfs they received, Warpcoven remain as the best elite kill team, although they are no longer the best faction in the game. Fate Itself remains an incredibly powerful ploy and while the team lost its hyper-flexibility along with easy Seek harassment, Warpcoven remain a flexible team with lots of tools. They can go wide with Tzaangor or small with Rubrics, have great Tac Ops, and are still quite formidable.
Void-Dancer Troupe: One of the big 6 factions that were the best last quarter only received a minor tap to Mirror of Minds. As a result, Troupe are likely the best Kill Team in the game right now. Crazy good mobility along with CP efficiency and auto crits via their Severe Blades, all their tough match-ups got nerfed for the most part. Now we embrace the clown meta as ordained by GW.
Corsair Voidscarred: With elites no longer being able to ignore Piercing 2, the Aeldari Corsairs are winning again. 2 Piercing 2 weapons with a Piercing 1 gun plus tons of Power Weapons makes this team truly fearsome. Along with the free Dashes and the Shaderunner teleporting through Gallowdark walls, not to mention their interruption abilities, people will now be able to fully understand the fear and damage presented by the Corsairs.
Fellgor Ravager: The space goats received a very minor nerf which doesn’t really affect how they play. But now with the rise of Aeldari means the rise of Fellgor. Frenzy, continuing to remain untouched, remains broken and incredibly powerful, allowing the team to gatekeep a lot of kill teams out of the meta. Elites are still a threat, however, but now we move into a more rock/paper/scissors meta where Fellgor players will hope the Aeldari players beat the elites, and then lose to the goats from outerspace!
A Tier
Legionary: Receiving heavy nerfs, Legionary remain very strong but no longer broken. They received heavy knocks to their durability and healing but now occupy a new space: Ceaseless/Relentless shooting vs ready operatives! This makes Legionary shooting even more deadly, especially with Undivided operatives who now gain Relentless with the new Fickle Fates. Coupled with Nurgle and Tzeentch no longer being the best Marks to run, Legionary will remain a strong threat to the meta with their new powerful niche.
Blooded: Blooded are in a great spot, elite teams fear them more and Blooded do decently into other hordes and Aeldari teams. They play their Tac Ops well and offer a flexible kill team composition that helps you tailor to the opponent. The only downside is that they are a Yassified (Year 1 Classified) kill team but Blooded players should be really happy right now.
Phobos Strike Team: Phobos enjoy the nerf to elites and play well into the rest of the meta. They’re an incredibly good team due to all their rules and being movement 7″ but the 12 wounds makes them super vulnerable to Aeldari teams. Oddly the glass cannon of elites, you have to play them near-perfectly as any mistake can cost you a game, but outside of that Phobos remain very strong right now.
Wyrmblade: Also one of the more powerful horde teams. Saw no nerfs and pack tons of Ceaseless re-rolls via their faction ability. Cult Agents are still incredibly strong and the team has a solid Tac Op game. Requires careful planning but Wyrmblade are an oddly forgiving team and also very deadly to the opponent.
Hand of the Archon: Our first Aeldari team in A Tier, HotA are in a great spot. 2 Piercing 2 weapons and with Pain Tokens being granted upon injuring enemy operatives, they’re so good right now. Still lacking a bit of reliability when compared to other Aeldari teams, HotA excel into elites while also being able to handle larger teams quite well. A very explosive tempo team.
Hearthkyn Salvagers: Hearthkyn were already doing well and having most of their even to bad match-ups getting nerfed is amazing. They’re even better into elites now and do well into Aeldari teams. They have to watch out for Fellgor and the explosive movement from Troupe, but the Kyn are loving how things have turned out right now.
Inquisitorial Agent: Despite the heavy operative nerfs, Inq still have incredibly powerful ploys. You are capped to 3 Piercing X weapons and lost the strategy phase dashes, but Karskin are still your auto-pick. The kill team effectively always has Ceaseless up when shooting or fighting and can use their powerful ploys to still check lots of the meta.
Blades of Khaine: I was wrong, BoK were not as bad as they were to be in D Tier but they now sit firmly in A Tier. Dire Avengers lost Accurate 1 but gained Balanced instead which makes them much more deadly with Shuriken weaponry. They’re still a very complex and expensive team to play, but they love how the meta has ended up (although they do need to watch out for other Aeldari teams).
Nemesis Claw: The Night Lords remain in A. Despite seeing a minor nerf to Comms Jammers, they remain a very powerful elite team. However their Tac Ops aren’t ideal and lack reliability until enemy operatives are wounded. Yet Vox Scream and Prescience makes them one of the best kill teams in the game, just missing out on S Tier.
Plague Marines: Now sitting firmly in A Tier, Plague Marines have to now push up safely to get the most out of their Icon. Outside of this, they still remain very durable with a powerful grindy playstyle. A great pick for new players, Plague Marines just require a more planned and careful approach now instead of sitting back or careless moving up.
Ratlings: Scarpering onto the scene, Ratlings hit in at A Tier. However, unfortunately, they have only one valid playstyle that keeps them here: sitting back behind a wall of equipment and not engaging fully until TP3. This makes the team incredibly inflexible but it is also, sadly, the best way to play them. There are teams that can crack this and Volkus can be quite hard due to how short everyone is. Yet Ratlings love GW Gallowdark maps due to them being open shooting galleries and Scarper along with 3 Ogryns/Bullgryns can make it hard for a lot of teams to manage Ratlings.
B Tier
Death Korps: Regaining Ceaseless on all orders along with Accurate 1 via Siege Warfare makes Death Korp a crazy good shooting team. Accurate 1 and Ceasless Krak grenades, Melta, Plasma, etc is a big threat. Dropping 1 Trooper to make Siege Warfare free all game will be a common tactic as 13 operatives are still a lot to deal with. However, the team still isn’t as much of a roadblock as it was before, especially with the weakened Sapper.
Kommandos: Being a little worse-off from where they were previously, Kommandos do not like the new Volkus vantage change along with the rise of Aeldari teams (too many crits). Kommandos still remain a solidly decent team and the Grot will still let you max Surveillance but you just have to be more careful with him.
Elucidian Starstriders: Weaker than last edition with Vhane being your most powerful operative. Assets are fairer to play against and now a little harder to use. The Assassin and Voidmaster losing their effectiveness slightly is painful but the team has enough tricks to compensate for it. Main worry for Starstriders are elites but that was always the case, although melee teams are still a big hurdle, namely Fellgor. The elite nerfs are great but seeing more Aeldari teams is not.
Imperial Navy Breachers: With the new buff to Brace along with free Attack and Defence Order, Breachers occupy a new defensive playstyle. Now even better on Gallowdark (where they already exceled), Breacher players should be able to enjoy the new playstyle, although must be wary of overextending.
Farstalker Kinband: Receiving Balanced instead of Accurate helps out specialists a lot and synergises well with new Prey. Elites are now more vulnerable and they play decently into Aeldari. Fellgor can be a big problem but Kroot have lots of Stun. However, Tac Op game can be tough when losing operatives due to limited APL management, even with Trophy.
Chaos Cult: Being able to spawn two Torments a TP along with them and Mutants gaining Accurate 2 is a huge boost. However, you have to be careful with your Torments still and find a way to reliably farm Mutants from Devotees. Cult is a lot better now but still aren’t easy to play, which is a good thing.
Mandrakes: Despite having no changes, Mandrakes remain one of the weaker Aeldari teams. The Volkus vantage change is annoying but you can still spend a CP to fight first if charged. Still amazing on Gallowdark and has all the interruption and teleport mechanics of old. Just a very difficult team to use well but can almost completely shutdown and out-maneuver the opponent when played well.
Tempestus Aquilons: Hot Drop working later in the game via setting up with Vantage points is great. Along with elite Piercing negation being nerfed, Aquilons are poised to potentially do very well. Still a little hard to play when opponents stall you TP1 and TP2, having effectively lots of Severe and Balanced along with two Piercing 2 weapons is very good.
Angels of Death: AoD drop down from S and sit firmly in B Tier. Oddly great into Aeldari teams via Tilting Shields, Stalker Boltguns will now effectively work into other elites! Main downside is the lack of additional rules for your Warriors like other kill teams have but AoD will still perform well.
Wrecka Krew: Tank Bustas bust onto the scene in B Tier. Wreckas are fun but reliable they are not. If you don’t roll 6s, they don’t function that well. However, they have amazing melee operatives and lots of utility. The two Bomb Squigs can be surprisingly useful, even if they randomly blow up and only hit themselves. Tac Ops aren’t great for Wreckas which also hurts them a bit but this Orky team is fun and powerful, but very wildly spikey as all good Ork teams should be!
C Tier
Pathfinders: Pathfinders are still very weird, Shas’La spam might still be their most viable build. Really need HIML (and maybe Targeting Optics) to be twice per turning point to at least raise them from their current spot. Oddly love the other killzones outside of Volkus. Elites being nerfed slightly is good and the rise of Aeldari/hordes should be good for the Tau, but we’ll see how that actually plays out.
Novitiates: The nuns with guns in space got hit quite hard but rightfully so. No longer requiring the opponent to do 9 damage in two hits to kill a Novitiate, coupled with damage negation not working against crits and needing to be on objectives to trigger plus weakened healing leaves Novitaites far more fragile than they were. However, they still have amazing damage output and operatives, they just have to learn how to make proper trades now instead of moving up and not dying.
Gellerpox Infected: Gellerpox got far more playability with the Technocurse and damage negation buffs but still have one key weakness: Razorwire. Opponents can easily block off parts of the board with that and other equipment. Coupled with movement 5″ on Hulks with no more free Dashes via Drawn to the Hum, the team just finds it hard to move up and get charges.
Kasrkin: No buffs and only a nerf via how they work in Inq makes Karsking something something. Oddly, they should do well at elite hunting now due to the Piercing negation going but Kasrkin are just in a weird spot. The rise of Aeldari is not great for them but maybe they will end up playing better now? Sadly still better in Inq, sigh.
Exaction Squad: Space Cops remain good but with a struggle into elites. Aeldari teams are also not great for them but Exaction do well into other hordes and are our Fellgor killers. They remain this odd meta counter-pick that annoyingly still has too many common bad match-ups to be truly dominant.
Scout Squad: Now being able to use 6 Forward Scouting abilities, with a new once per game Comms ability and buffed equipment, Scouts still struggle slightly as a 9 operative team. Elites are still a problem and seeing more Aeldari is not great for them. Maybe they do need 1 more operative but currently, they offer a more interesting way to play. Would be great if their Heavy Gunners got Heavy (Reposition) though.
Hernkyn Yaegirs: Yaegirs are the best team in C Tier. Sadly they only have one big reason as to why they are here: horrible Tac Ops. Unless Seek and Infiltration get changed or Seek changes to Recon, Yaegirs will struggle as their Tac Op game is basically non-existent. Otherwise they have all the tools to do well: damage negation, great ploys, abilities, and the bane of Aeldari teams. Issue is you can’t play well when you’re always at least 3 to 4 VP down with no good pick for Primary Op.
Brood Brothers: The GSC remain a little weaker but are solid. Decent shooting with lots of re-rolls, main issue is being overwhelmed by aggressive teams, whether they be elites or anyone else. Still good but so weak to melee, even your Patriarch can only do so much.
D Tier
Hunter Clade: Despite their received buffs, Clade remain too honest while everyone else plays without any downsides. If everyone had downsides while their core abilities were up then Clade would be fine, however, until their Imperatives worked as they did last edition, I just can’t see the Admech team doing that well. They have the core fundamentals of being an amazing flex team but are just held down by their own faction rules.
Hierotek Circle: Crashing down from S Tier to D Tier. Healing now reduced to 2 to 5 wounds when coming back to life is rough but all the Crypteks being nerfed (why Technomancer) hurts so much. Chronomancer is the only viable Cryptek now and Tesla Weave, while needing the nerf, makes it much harder to stage with the team. Any mistake will cost you now. Hopefully the team gets a minor buff in the next slate so they’re in a much better middle-ground than either being amazing or horrible.
Vespid Stingwings: Vespid are fun now, lots of fun. They are not competitive though, sadly. Being capped at 2 APL along with 9 offensive operatives hurts too much. They really need an option to use Communion Points for +1 APL along with maybe even +1 operative. Vespid are way more playable than they were at the start of the edition, especially now that their Piercing guns may work vs elites now, but they still need more help.
Tier List Overview
With the new Balance Dataslate, the Kill Team meta is a lot better now. Tiers are very close, meaning player skill remains the true importance. Sure, it is annoying that Quins saw no real nerfs and that them along with Fellgor will likely dominate the meta, but elites are not gone, just no longer dominate. Instead of an Aeldari meta, we’re more in a rock/paper/scissors meta but not that extent. Regardless, the changes in general have been great and instead of 6 viable teams, we have at least 25!
Now that everyone is mostly used to the changes from the new edition, the next 3 months should be a lot of fun! There are several big events coming up and way are likely to get more teams too. It’s just so much more fun to play now, which is amazing, as the metagame was getting pretty stale and boring.
Before I go, feel free to check out my Discord as well as my Patreon if you want to give me some more support!
So remember, until next time, no matter what the tiers say, stay away from tier 15 and you’ll always be able to roll a crit!
