It’s time to look at the final tier list for season 2 of Kill Team!
Welcome to today’s Warhammer 40000 Kill Team article where I go over the updated end of season 2 tier list! Look at how the emergency balance dataslate has affected the state of the game, for the better! I rank every team from compendium to bespoke!
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 and the global Kill Team stats by Hotsauceteddy.
End of Season 2 Tier List
Once again back with a combined tier list representing teams in both open play as well as for Into The Dark (ITD) games. We’ve had quite the shakeup (thankfully) due to the latest emergency balance dataslate which has done a lot to make the game healthier. 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
Kommandos: Were already good before the last balance dataslate but even better now. Strangely designed open maps allow the super-abuseable Sneaky Git to be used up to 3 times and with 11 activations you can shutdown most players. A powerful mix with their only real fear being elites, so rise up my fellow Intercession and Legionary players. To keep them out of S Tier, they really need to lose both the Grot and Bomb Squig for 1 Boy and Sneaky Git capped to once per game. Don’t get me started on how the current ITD forward deploy wording allows them to alpha strike in ITD.
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. The too fear elites but also Kommandos.
Chaos Cults: No longer the best team in the game but likely tied for first or just behind Kommandos. The current set of nerfs just brought them down to “regularly broken”. 15 bodies and lots of ways to swarm the board quickly with strong melee. Nerfind healing so it doesn’t replenish all wounds when mutating and requiring Devotees to kill to mutate is probably all they need to stop making them feel so oppressive but still such a very powerful kill team. Especially on ITD!
A Tier
Void-Dance Troupe: Barely in the A Tier instead of S. 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.
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. The recent global nerfs have made them much better and the bane of Kommando players.
Elucidian Starstriders: Still very strong with lots of tricks, just not overwhelmingly so but also somehow got buffed (still). They do well into most of the meta, still worrying about elites. A big threat on ITD partly thanks to still being able to use airstrikes (somehow).
Gellerpox Infected: Kept in A Tier for now but I feel they might be B Tier 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.
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. A lot more happy with how the current meta is!
Hierotek Circle: No longer in-fear thanks to recent global nerfs. They have play on open due to alpha-striking Chronomancer or Despotek. A powerful team with great board control. Perhaps we may now even finally get a reduced range on the nanomine!
Inquistorial Agent: A Tier but only just out of S. You basically only go Navy now for 12 activations and the most tools. Absolute Authority remains great as it’s not capped at once per game so you can still cripple lots of teams TP1 and on wards like Phobos and HotA.
B Tier
Pathfinders: Still the best shooting kill team in the game. Kauyon is an interesting buff, very useful for Loot but Mont’Ka is still king. The new guard change is great, just a shame it came so late into Season 2, making it kinda moot. They can actually kill Fellgor Ravager now so not much to fear for the Tau anymore!
Novitiates: Novitiates remain very strong. They have the best dice modification rules in the game which keeps them as a very viable threat.
Veteran Guardsmen: 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. The Inquisitorial Agent change means more players will return to the guard fold. Cults are still a big threat but the meta is a lot better for this kill team now, although still B Tier for now.
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. Forever locked into being the most balanced kill team that can never move up or down.
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 and also the rise of Kommandos is a big concern for them too.
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 higher tier teams
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 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.
Exaction Squad: A lot better now but still missing some minor buffs to make them super solid. Put them into B Tier based on the current meta and success in events. Great into hordes and even elites thanks to P1 working at any range now. Cults and Kommandos are still a problem but a lot of teams have this problem. Only changes they need now are: Sniper hitting on 2s, manacles being 1EP and working on 8 wound or less operatives and non-shield melee profiles getting +1 to hit. Also please do something for batons, 2/2 is painful and somehow worse than fists. Still, a really fun team with lots of tools and the ability to mass-shutdown re-rolls!
Fellgor Ravager: Despite their huge and deserved nerfs, I still think Fellgor are top of B Tier. They’re not unplayable as people have decried but they require a lot more thought to use correctly. Also still a beast on ITD. Underestimate them at your own peril.
C Tier
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.
Wyrmblade: Wyrmblade are a weird team. If you don’t know how they work, they will generally beat you. I feel this is the best compromise. The meta still isn’t great for them and overall this kill team is very strange. Still falls apart if your Cult Agents go down early.
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. Being able to freely select Recon and Security now is a great buff though.
Kasrkin: Kasrkin were doing really well with their current buffs. This meta is still light on elites, which is not what Kasrkin want to see, so that’s why I’ve kept them in C Tier. A great and balanced team altogether.
Hearthkyn Salvager: Votann still remain on the lower end for bespoke teams. The new buffs are great but ITD is still rough for them. I think they’ll get better if season 3 moves away from ITD entirely but for now the Votann remain quite hard to play. Although still a lot stronger now than they were 7 weeks ago. Plasma knives are now great for counter-punching in melee and deterring charge blocking.
D 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.
E 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.
End of Season 2 Tier List Overview
Overall we’re in a great meta. Sure Cults and Kommandos are too strong right now and some teams still need a few more buffs but Kommandos are fixed by, partly, elites returning to the game (they still need nerfs) and people designing boards that don’t reward alpha strikes. The tiers are all very close so even a C Tier team has a chance against an S Tier team with the right tactics. This is the meta we should have had weeks ago and it makes the end to Season 2 on a much better note. I’ve had so much fun playing recently and so will you!
Now all we have to do is wait for the next balance dataslate and for season 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? 