It’s time to look at the Summer tier list for Kill Team!
Today’s Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team article covers my Summer 2023 tier list! Once again I rank every kill team, basing it off tournament data, my experiences as well as the latest balance dataslate! Let’s see how much the tiers have changed!
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.
F Tier – Breaking new ground due to the power of the S Tier.
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 and the global Kill Team stats by Hotsauceteddy.
Q3 Summer 2023 Tier List
So here’s the tier list in full, left is the newest one with the right being the Q2 Spring 2023 tier list. First off, I’m only doing 1 tier list this time, representing combined results of open and Into the Dark (ITD) play. Also, to represent the power of the S Tier, instead of making a new tier above S Tier (negative 0 tier?) I pushed everyone down a tier. Such is the state of the meta right now. 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.
S Tier
Fellgor Ravager – Where to start, originally the big bad of Kill Team until Ashes of Faith dropped about 3 weeks later. Still a dominating kill team with amazing raw stats and rules. Frenzy tips them over the edge into S Tier and co-dominating the meta. Almost undefeatable on ITD too. With the way Frenzy currently works, just way too strong. For them to drop out of S Tier, Fellgor Frenzy would either need to not trigger on activated operatives (as coined by Charles in our batrep) and/orrrr Frenzied operatives cannot control/contest objectives or score Tac Ops. Just a very powerful kill team that is doing great with popularity, podiums, winrates and event wins. The real GOAT.
Chaos Cult – Easily the best kill team in the game right now, narrowly beating Fellgor by just a bit. 15 operatives, powerful rules, powerful operatives, and great Tac Ops. This kill team has it all! Not even that hard to collect too. Hitting the game with a high usage rate, winrate and podium data, you need to factor in Cults because they are going to be everywhere. Almost no bad matchups and also pretty much undefeatable on ITD. It’s rough. To knock them out of S Tier and dominating the game GW would need to: make the Iconarch buffs only affect Devotees, Devotees need to kill in melee to mutate, Mutants downgrade to a +6 DPR, Devotees to Mutants get d3+1 wounds with Mutants to Torments get 2d3 wounds instead of full heals for both. Even with these changes Chaos Cult would likely be one of the best kill teams in the game. Just too oppressively strong currently and are everywhere, which is likely to only grow more in the next 3 months.
Inquisitorial Agent – Now this team may be a surprise to some but they are easily the 3rd best kill team in the game right now. However, I must acknowledge that they do brake my own tier list rules. Inquisition are really hard to play but when done so, they shut out so much of the meta. 13 operatives with 13 activations (or 12 and 12) along with tons of AP2 guns. They shutdown elites. Not only that but Absolute Authority is currently busted. Just destroys teams that rely on key ploys. Hierotek Circle, to name just one team, can’t even play while this team exists in its current form. Thankfully the fix is easy, Absolute Authority at once per game keeps it thematic yet in-check and if the team continued to be a problem, then cap them to 2 plasma weapons per Kill Team. This team is hard to play but they are fairly popular, have won events and have a 60% winrate. Compared to Fellgor and Cults, Inquistion are much harder to play but are still a dominating force shaping the meta right now.
A Tier
Kommandos: Loving the Bomb Squad and Kommando Grot change, being able to spec up to 11 activations has done wonders for them. Popular and do well in to Fellgor and probably Cults. If it wasn’t for the state of the S Tier, they’d probably be S Tier right now. A very good team that mainly worries about Cults and elites.
Void-Dance Troupe: Only in the A Tier as S Tier is too strong for them despite receiving no nerfs. They love the new Crit Op changes, especially the extra CP. Having 27 APL with decently durable bodies that all have fly is amazing. Plus they are great at hunting elite kill teams.
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.
Gellerpox Infected: The (Ross)Gellerpox Infected remain a super strong kill team. Apparently fine because they only stomp new players along with Troupe (although Intercession were hit because they affected new players too much…) but the fact that Rust Emanations and the +5 DPR (Damage Prevention Roll) of the Nightmare Hulks was not addressed mean the team is still a huge threat to deal with, plus they had a >60% winrate for 6 months straight on top of good usage and event wins. I think they’re still great and will usually win games if they survive unscathed TP1. Still incredibly hard to deal with once they get in your face. Only just losing out to Cults and Fellgor because of their immense power. Even Inquisition are tough due to turning off key ploys and all that shooting.
Elucidian Starstriders: Still very strong with lots of tricks, just not overwhelmingly so but also somehow got buffed. They do well into most of the meta, still worrying about elites. Also have decent play into the top teams on open play but struggle when switched to ITD.
Intercession Squad: The most popular team in the game with a solid win rate and the highest podium rate in the game. Got a confusing set of nerfs that mainly affected their melee play. Still great at shooting stuff to death but now with a few tricks removed. They even still do well into the top teams until they reach you in close combat. Doomguy for life!
Imperial Navy Breachers: The best alpha strike team 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 but the S Tier really messes them up. Oddly Inquisition is their biggest for but I can see lots of Breacher players just switching to Inquistion with Breachers instead.
B Tier
Veteran Guardsmen: Knocked down to B tier due to the S Tier. Love the Loot change but not surprised anymore that Games Workshop hasn’t changed the spotter so it can’t flip conceal orders if you’re behind heavy cover, maybe if we had a more balanced meta. Regardless, this team is still great a board control with their 14 bodies as well as all their great ploys and rules. Not too shabby in combat when needed too. Although I think you’ll see a Breacher repeat where Vet Guard players just switch to Inquisition.
Novitiates: Novitiates remain very strong. They have the best dice modification rules in the game which keeps them as a very viable threat.
Corsair Voidscarred: These Aeldari pirates remain perfectly balanced, as all things should be. As with the Troupe, these Aeldari love hunting elite kill teams too. Theoretically good into Fellgor but stats prove otherwise. The less said about Chaos Cult, the better. Maybe they’ll get their heavy gunner and gunner together as a result?
Legionary: Mark of Nurgle’s damage reduction being capped to 3 minimum instead of 2 is a pain but the Legionary are still great. A solid team that operates well individually, does shooting and combat to a great standard with a good spread of general Tac Ops archetypes serves them well. Now seeing more people adapt around going Tzeentch, Khorne and even Slaanesh. Helps show the team’s strengths at adapating. Still, being 12 wounds mostly hurts a lot now.
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). The new S Tier really hurts them, especially on ITD. Inquisition completely mess up this team too by always turning off Vanguard or Bolter Drill etc. Rough times for a great team.
Blooded: A good kill team that now loves the Seek and Destroy changes. 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.
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, with all their prior buffs the Kroot remain a great threat to everyone, except for the oppressive S Tier (looping record). Oddly all over the place month-by-month with the stats.
Hand of the Archon: Now going down to B Tier overall, 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 S Tier hurt more. A very good team that still requires lot of player meta-game knowledge to get the most out of Hand of the Archon.
Hierotek Circle: Hierotek are not in a great spot despite being a great kill team. Maybe A Tier but just on the edge, deffo at least tied for best in B Tier. S Tier warps them so much, especially Inquisition who shutdown all of their tricks. They have play on open due to alpha-striking Chronomancer or Despotek but ITD is such a washout vs Cults and Fellgor. Even on open too as long as the boards aren’t badly designed. Just such a shame to see a good team in this state.
C Tier
Pathfinders: Still the best shooting kill team in the game. B Tier on open but D Tier on ITD so this is a nice middle-ground I feel. Although they really cannot beat Fellgor. Markerlight spam is still your bread and butter and 12 operatives only stings slightly. Just very confused why they are consistently doing horribly now.
Kasrkin: Kasrkin were doing really well with their current buffs. This meta, however, has wrecked them. Fellgor aren’t too bad but that poor Cults matchup. Even Inquisition aren’t easy. Just a Hierotek situation but worse.
Wyrmblade: Wyrmblade are a weird team. I wanted to rank them lower but if you don’t know how they work, they will generally beat you. I feel this is the best compromise. A Tier was already rough for them but I don’t think they can beat the S Tier outside of maybe Inquisiton?
Exaction Squad: Exaction Squad are one the first “counter” kill teams we’ve seen, in terms that the really punish GEQ kill teams and those that rely on super conceal. Elites are still their bane, however, especially those above. They do have some play into Cults and Fellgor but that only really applies on open boards. I think their new buffs help them a lot and Exaction Squad may actually be B Tier but I’m very unsure on that.
D Tier
Warp Coven: Probably still the most complex team to play. The Rubric buffs remain good but the kill team just lacks something for open play. It’s just odd, especially how Legionary kinda do what they want to do but better. Showing their age as being once of the first White Dwarf teams. Love ITD but feel weaker on open.
Hearthkyn Salvager: The Votann burst onto the scene as likely the weakest bespoke team in the game. The extra inch helps a lot (hah) for their movement but the team feels like they are missing something overall and general players will find them really limiting to play. Hopefully in the next balance dataslate they all gain +1 wound and Grudge Tokens get buffed to change a hit into a crit or a miss into a hit.
Talons of the Emperor: Still solid. Doing alright for ITD but struggling on open.
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.
Hive Fleet: Tyranids remain the same as always, a Xenos toolbox that just wants a bespoke update.
Deathguard: No real change. Live and die based off their DPRs but solid nonetheless. Remain one of the most popular compendium teams.
E 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 do great a rushing up the board against more melee-orientated threats. Except against, well, you know who.
Aeldari: With the extra body rule, all Eldar kill teams still remain good. Just not as powerful as their bespoke alternatives.
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.
Grey Knights: I’ve been convinced by Chaos Gate Daemonhunter that these guys need a bespoke update now. Still good, especially on more open boards.
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.
Genestealer Cults: Even if you love the more monstrous mutants, Wyrmblade are just better.
Space Marines: Just play Intercessionor Phobos.
Deathwatch: Should also be their own bespoke team, remains very solid.
F Tier
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.
Necrons: Hierotek are literally a much better alternative now.
Q3 Summer 2023 Tier List Overview
If you ignore the S Tier, we have a great meta. However, we cannot and thus the entire tier list is warped by them. Normally the tiers are very close together but the S Tier teams are so much stronger than what we have now, there is a noticeable gap between the S Tier and A Tier. While we wait for the September balance dataslate, I’ve seen people doing open only tournaments (due to Cults and Fellgor being near unbeatable on ITD) as well as championing making unsafe dropzones too (this is bad, shooting into dropzones TP1 is not healthy or balanced). All we can do is ride it out.
Once again, Inquisition are barely in S Tier but are still very strong when you figure out how they work. Cults and Fellgor are much stronger and easier to play. Main issue we have now is Kill Team has never really been in this situation before. Usually we get 1 meta-defining team at a time which still has its own counters and weaknesses. Currently we have 3 meta-warping teams that all bend the meta in different ways so the only real reliable counter is to play the S Tier at tournaments if you’re looking for a win. Now I’m not saying the S Tier teams are unbeatable but you are relying on factors that are outside of your control to reliably beat them with weaker kill teams (boards that allow shooting into dropzones, barely any terrain on open, bad dice rolls consistently, and big pilot errors).
We are currently entering Kill Team’s peak tournament season for the next 3 months with several big global events (with a lot offering golden tickets too). The change to Loot is going to be hard to actually see due to the warped meta we have but I do expect a huge wave of Cults players globally. My main advice for tournament go-ers is to prioritise ways to beat the S Tiers, especially if you aren’t using those kill teams because you are very likely to run into at least 1 of the 3.
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!
Can You Roll A Crit? 