Kill Team Q2 Spring 2024 Tier List

It’s time to look at the first tier list for season 3 of Kill Team!

Welcome to today’s Warhammer 40000 Kill Team video where I cover my latest tier list! Look at how the most recent balance dataslate has affected the state of the game, as well as the release of the Nightmare kill teams: Nemesis Claw and Mandrakes! I rank every team from compendium to bespoke for our new Spring meta!

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.

E Tier – Just…bad. Like a D Tier but worse. Desperately need buffs. You may not win games, but you’ll win the hearts of your opponents.

As a side note, I will not be including kill teams which have been replaced as per the balance dataslate. This may upset some people but this tier list is mainly for competitive play.

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.

Q2 Spring 2024 Tier List

As with all my recent tier lists, this represents the power of teams on season 1, season 2 and season 3 killzones! While Kommandos and Fellgor Ravager have taken a few hits, they still remain two of the best kill teams currently. Hordes remain strong while elites struggle, although elites are doing slightly better now with an easier-ish match-up into Kommandos. Hierotek and Pathfinders jump up to top dogs too. As always I still include compendium teams because people do still play them at events globally but I’ll have a bespoke only tier list for my Patreon peeps.

Important note, kill teams are generally placed in order of release within tiers, it is not an indication of strongest to weakest in a tier!

S Tier

Kommandos: Remain a consistently strong threat as none of their biggest strengths have been hugely affected. Just a Scratch is still 1 CP with not working vs crits only causing a slight annoyance against certain teams, still 11 activations and still have a great set of tricks and wounds. Despite the choppa nerf, you just drop the Breacha Boy for a normal Boy and take a single sledgehammer.

Pathfinders: The best shooting kill team in the game just got better. Drones opening doors on ITD was already great but getting a Recon Drone for a single operative now is crazy. Offers too many great combos for these Tau warriors at the suffering of everyone else. Enjoy it until it gets removed as everyone now must embrace the Gun and Recon Drone buddy cop adventure of a lifetime. Also absolute crazy in Bheta-Decima.

Hierotek Circle: Arguably S Tier now but only with the Chronomancer despite the nerf to the nanomine. Being able to dash out and through it allows more counter-play but Chronomancer is still the best for how much it adds to Hierotek. Technomancer is good into elites but still doesn’t add the oomph like the Chronomancer does. Psychomancer unfortunately remains the weakest of the 3. Still requires a lot of planning but with the flat 2+ reanimation, it allows you to be way more aggressive ensure punishing plays.

Fellgor Ravager: Remain arguably the best kill team currently. Frenzy remains unchanged and the nerfs they got only slightly annoy the team and punish bad play rather than outright nerf. Until Frenzy is re-worked to not work vs being killed in melee or something, Fellgor will remain on top. They have been the best performing team in the stats for the past 3 months and I don’t think that will change currently.

A Tier

Hunter Clade: A solid team that balances combat and shooting equally. Quite an honest team with no blast attacks. No longer the monsters they were before, Hunter Clade remain a strong yet fair kill team. Do decently into the top teams via shutting down re-rolls but it’s still an uphill battle. Haven’t been performing greatly at events recently but that’ll hopefully change for this meta.

Warp Coven: Now a very strong team, the Rubric buff is great but the key strength comes from the Tzaangor changes to 9 wounds who now have better break points. Psychic powers continual lasting till they next activate is great. Still have a few bad match-ups but very solid overall now.

Novitiates: Novitiates remain very strong. They have the best dice modification rules in the game which keeps them as a very viable threat and still win ITD with 2CP for Defends of the Faith. Elites indirectly being weaker only helps them as a whole.

Wyrmblade: Doing great with their new changes. Have been performing great over the last 3 months and play incredibly well on Open and Bheta-Decima while still doing okay for ITD. A very tricksy kill team with lots of re-rolls to ensure very reliable shooting and combat.

Elucidian Starstriders: Still very strong with lots of tricks, requiring player and positional skill to get the most out of this kill team. They do well into most of the meta, still worrying about elites, although they do love how toxic this meta is to elite kill teams. A big threat on ITD partly thanks to still being able to use airstrikes (somehow) and surprisingly flexible on Bheta-Decima.

Gellerpox Infected: Solid A Tier even with the Rust Eminations change. Nightmare Hulks now carry the team entirely. Everying else is vulnerable to being killed quickly so it becomes a game of how long the Hulks last. Still got great rules and Tac Ops though. Kommando and Fellgor match-up got a lot easier and can even play around nanomine to an extent.

Inquistorial Agent: A tough kill team to play but with incredible versatility and tricks. Lots of tools depending on which auxiliary option you take. Probably a great pick for those want to jump off from Veteran Guardsmen.

Nemesis Claw: The best elite team in the game. Great Tac Op selection with lots of great rules and abilities. Primarily melee-focused but still great and effectively beat all other elite teams too. Kinda dependent on how many prescience tokens you roll but still great.

Mandrakes: Just out of S Tier due to how badly the team does on Bheta-Decima, ironically, and when facing certain other melee teams like Fellgor. Almost broken on ITD and definitely S Tier there. Such a powerful team with crazy ploys, operatives and mobility. Can shutdown most of the meta currently and are likely to be a very dominating presence. Just watch out for elites.

B Tier

Veteran Guardsmen: The received nerfs knock Vet Guard down from S to B Tier. Still solid and remain strong with the great board pressure they can apply. Melee is still weak but overall I expect them to solidify in the middle of the meta.

Corsair Voidscarred: The perfectly balanced kill team. Now being even better at alpha striking, the team also got better on ITD which they already did well on. Hordes can still be tough but Corsairs can definitely play into where the meta is shaping currently. Are especially great at beating Kommandos and Hierotek now too.

Blooded: A good kill team that loves Seek and Destroy. Not undefeatable but overall has a lot of good matchups into most of the meta now. Not much has changed so they remain static. Losing popularity but still doing well.

Phobos Strike Team: Probably the most efficient action economy kill team in the game, their Bolters are now always doing full damage and still have all their other buffs. What locks them back is having okay faction Tac Ops and still no really decent high damage ranged output and being vulnerable to combat (especially power weapons). Inquisitorial Agents still unfortunately lock Phobos out of higher tiers.

Legionary: Back in B Tier but almost replaced by Nemesis Claw who do what they want but better. Still a great flexible team but now starting to show their age and struggle into the current meta.

Imperial Navy Breachers: Remains one of the best alpha strike teams in the game, they do have more bad match-ups now but you can’t sleep on their insane first activation plays which will delete stuff as usual. Blitz and Close Assault just deletes so many foes. Have to worry about elites less and enjoy how their basic shotguns can shred hordes. Still not a fan of the current meta as the top teams remain hard for Breachers to deal with reliably.

Kasrkin: Kasrkin are the bane of 10 activation or less teams. The new elite point change gives a BS 4+ operative with an AP2 weapon a 94% chance to kill an enemy operative with 10w or less. Insane. Ignoring obscuring and the support grip change was powerful enough, making Kasrkin even more fearsome on ITD. The main gatekeeper to every elite team in existence.

Hand of the Archon: This team still excels at open board play. A lack of comms and reliable APL modification is the biggest pain but still a very tricksy and powerful kill team in the right hands. ITD is still pain but the Inquisitorial Agents are still a huge pain for them. A very good team that still requires lot of player meta-game knowledge to get the most out of Hand of the Archon.

Hearthkyn Salvager: Hearthkyn are in a much better spot and continue to be a huge threat. However, the rise of hordes is pain as this kill team excels at dismantling elite teams but struggles into those that out-activate them. Overall, still in a much better spot than 3 months ago. The Dozr is much better and the Lokatr is amazing now. Probably A Tier but definitely top of B Tier.

Chaos Cult: Dropping down to B Tier but still an imposing threat. Have to be careful with how operatives are used now but Chaos Cult remain incredibly strong. 14 bodies with amazing melee threat is still a lot for people to deal with.

C Tier

Chaos Daemons: Even with 12 Daemons, they struggle against a lot of the bespoke teams. Their shooting just isn’t as good as it was due the state of shooting power currently. However, they are still an intimidating threat with 12 Daemons.

Hive Fleet: Tyranids remain the same as always, a Xenos toolbox that just wants a bespoke update.

Imperial Guard: Strong as always and dodged the balance dataslate erasure. So basically, the bane of all Kasrkin up until recently. Still good but pretty much entirely represented in bespoke teams.

Talons of the Emperor: Still solid. Amazing for ITD but struggling on open.

Deathguard: No real change. Live and die based off their DPRs but solid nonetheless. Remain one of the most popular compendium teams.

Void-Dancer Troupe: Losing fly was a big nerf and Quins deffo feel the pain. Arguably need a free traverse and 1CP Domino Field, otherwise the likely remain top of C Tier but in a world of pain.

Intercession Squad: A very popular team that now have kinda been punished for it? Still great at shooting stuff to death but now with a few tricks removed. Hordes being buffed just makes it worse for these weaker and more balanced Intercession players.

Farstalker Kinband: The best kill team at maxing Tac Ops early due to the FAQ allowing them to take Recover Item, Balance the Books and Implant. Despite all their changes, Kroot still struggle to reliable kill for pressure and oddly still fall apart once rushed down. Just a shame.

Exaction Squad: Enjoying the prior improvements along with the great buffs for the leader who becomes even more important to the kill team. Shields getting combined into a single profile is nice but I would have preferred the non-parry profile getting +1 to hit. Exaction Squad just feel like being in a weird spot overall, good at control but can be surprisingly inflexible as well as finding it hard to max Tac Ops reliably.

Strike Force Justian: Effectively Intercession Squad but without Chapter Tactics and faction Tac Ops. Justian kind of have opposing good and bad match-ups to Intercession and end up just slightly weaker than them. Still a threat and can be surprisingly tanky.

Scout Squad: Sadly remaining to do badly overall. Just needs some minor tweaks to be great but also struggle into lots of the meta at the moment.

Blades of Khaine: An incredibly weird kill team. So fragile yet with lots of potential. The more people figure out how this kill team plays, the worse they do. Just has so many bad match-ups with the popular teams.

D Tier

Aeldari: With the extra body rule, all Eldar kill teams still remain good. Just not as powerful as their bespoke alternatives. Except Dire Avengers, for some reason?

Drukhari: Living on 10 Kabilites with 2 Blasters and a Splinter Cannon. Wyches flex for melee threat too. Good but just play Hand of the Archon.

Orks: Yeah they have some meme builds but Kommandos are just better.

Genestealer Cults: Even if you love the more monstrous mutants, Wyrmblade are just better.

Grey Knights: A fun shooty team that just struggles being 11 wounds.

Sisters of Battle: Remain exactly the same too, a very solid kill team.

Heretic Astartes: Honestly thought these would get removed now we have Legionary and Blooded but still solid. 3 CSM and 8 Cultists still has some play. Just no as good when compared to either bespoke kill team.

Space Marines: Just play Intercession, Scout Squad or Phobos etc.

Deathwatch: Very flexible but once again with similar problems as Grey Knights.

E Tier

Necrons: Hierotek are literally a much better alternative now.

Tau: Just play Pathfinders. Stealth Suits aren’t going to be a thing, stop trying to make them a thing. Oddly Breachers are quite fun on ITD.

Kroot: Time to retire this golden kill team for the Farstalker Kinband.

Q2 Spring 2024 Tier List Overview

Our new meta is better than the one for the last 3 months, with all the Tiers (sans S Tier) being very close to each other. The unfortunate lack of big changes to Fellgor and their Frenzy likely keeps them top for the next 3 months while Kommandos will still be a strong competitive threat. Hierotek are very powerful now too while Pathfinders play great on Open and will dominate anyone unfortunate enough to play them on Bheta-Decima.

Elites still struggle overall and we need to see how the Nightmare teams affect the meta, specifically the worryingly powerful Mandrakes. Bheta-Decima remains a balancing problem with current wordings allowing visibility abilities to work still (visibility is only blocked when checking for Line of Sight with current wording), leading to Pathfinders making BD a miserable playing experience while also being hard to play on for 20 out of the 30 bespoke teams we have. It remains a worryingly warping killzone, more than ITD ever did.

Regardless, general play should be fine. Top tables at competitive events is likely to remain very similar but such exists the current meta. It’s great to see teams like Warp Coven doing much better and maybe Wyrmblade may become a big problem for lots of teams. We might even get the Termination kill teams soon which would add even more shakeup!

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!