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 two brand new kill teams. The S Tier has changed up quite a bit as well as most of the tiers in general! Hierotek Circle has gone all the way from D to B Tier while S Tier is dominated by the Blood and Zeal teams as well well as a lot of other Chaos kill teams!
S Tier
Sanctifiers: New on the scene, despite the Lead the Procession nerf, Sanctifiers remain arguably the best kill team in the game. Still have amazing mobility, damage, damage negation, and interruption abilities, they’ll need a few more nerfs before being truly balanced. Good players will lock you out of the game and dance around you better than Aeldari players. You can do so much with the team to just stop your opponent playing, it’s wild.
Goremongers: Goremongers are arguably the best melee team in the game. They’re fast, hit hard, and can heal, with great Tac Ops too. Even the elite match-up isn’t as bad as people originally thought. They blend any kill team that aren’t Space Marines but are a threat to everyone.
Chaos Cult: Now up to S Tier, still being able to spawn two Torments a TP along with them and Mutants gaining Accurate 2 is a huge boost. Sure, Torments can’t throw explosive grenades now but that’s not really a huge loss. The team still has tons of board control and melee threat with Torment bombs.
Legionary: With the power of Fickle Fates providing Ceaseless shooting and Relentless for Undivided operatives, Legionary dominate in their new close-range sphere. Still have amazing melee operatives, equipment, and rules, they provide great counters into most of the top meta teams as well!
Warpcoven: Warpcoven remain as the best elite kill team, and likely are 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. Even the nerf to Capricious Plan won’t hurt them too much.
Plague Marines: The Death Guard faction are very durable with a powerful grindy playstyle. A great pick for new players and experienced alike, Plague Marines just require a more planned and careful approach now instead of sitting back or carelessly moving up. They also provide a great counter to all the melee teams as well as a decent opponent to Sanctifiers. Cloud of Flies nerf hurts but it makes it entirely a defensive ploy now.
A Tier
Angels of Death: Going up to A Tier, 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. Dueler is very powerful, likely too powerful, and with Aeldari teams getting nerfed, AoD only gets stronger while being one of the best counters into both Sanctifiers and Goremongers!
Nemesis Claw: he Night Lords remain in A. Despite seeing a minor nerf to Return to Darkness on Gallowdark killzones, 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.
Phobos Strike Team: Phobos 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 but also the powerful melee 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.
Brood Brothers: Brood Brothers remain very powerful, lots of shooting power and mobility tricks, with the Magus being one of the best leaders in the game. They’ve been over-performing consistently for the past 3 months and saw no nerfs, so continue to ride that train! However, Sanctifiers and Goremongers will be a problem for them.
Blades of Khaine: Blades of Khaine remain great, one of the few Aeldari teams to ignore nerfs entirely. They still have powerful Aspect Abilities and are a very flexible kill team. Do well into all other opponents and are now likely the best Aeldari kill team!
Corsair Voidscarred: Despite seeing several nerfs to their defensive playstyle, Corsairs remain very strong with access to 2 piercing 2 weapons, mobility, and mass power weapons. They still hunt elites like no one else, but will struggle into the more popular larger horde teams currently.
Fellgor Ravager: Seeing several nerfs that bring them down back to how they played last edition, Fellgor also dislike how much less accurate they are. However, they are a still a great melee team that gatekeeps a lot of other kill teams from competition. Elites did get much harder for them however, but they still occupy A Tier.
Hearthkyn Salvager: The toning down in the reliability of their alpha strike and reduced movement on the Jump Pack Warrior means Hearthkyn players will need to be more respectful of opponents and adapt their playstyles. Yet they still have amazing shooting and powerful defence. They are a bit weaker now but are still a very strong kill team.
Inquisitorial Agent: Saw no nerfs and with abilities like Absolute Authority, Inq will still be hard counters to lots of kill teams. They do great into elites and other popular meta picks. Plus they can still do reliable shooting and melee damage. Hard to play but still a strong choice.
Void-Dancer Troupe: Despite having some more nerfs to their melee while also going back to 2″ climbs, Void-Dancer Troupe are still great. Their mobility is still strong as well as being very command point efficient. They can easily out-trade opponents with Murderous Entrance and their Fusion Pistol. Void-Dancers remain a threat, they just have to be a bit more respectful of opponents.
B Tier
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.
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. The Clear the Line buff even makes them a decent threat in melee too now!
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.
Farstalker Kinband: Kroot remain an excellent kill team and likely the best 12 operative kill team. They’re fast and can hit semi-hard due to all the re-rolls they have now. Elites are still a problem, and brazen elites can quickly push through and delete the team sadly, which keeps them in B Tier.
Gellerpox Infected: With all their new buffs, Gellerpox are in a great spot. They’re a real threat again and will be a menace to anything not elite. However, they suffer due to Nightmare hulks being movement 5 and the power of Razor Wire/Stuns, which hems them in quite a lot.
Hierotek Circle: Remaining unchanged, Hierotek Circle are a solid B Tier team. With practice, they can consistently punch up to beat more powerful teams but are locked into the Chronomancer playstyle. They’re also not very forgiving and poor reanimation rolls can screw you over.
Hand of the Archon: The Razorwing nerf was semi-expected but the Stimulated Senses change really knocks the team down into B Tier. You now can’t be as aggressive as you wanted to be before, which isn’t great for a tempo-based team. They’re still really good but just far more unforgiving now, sadly.
Hernkyn Yaegirs: Jumping up to A Tier, the Masterful Bladework change and other buffs help so much. Shotgun Warriors will generally be the go-to but the team is so much more damaging now and can play Seek finally. Might be even A Tier material, Yaegirs are in a great spot now.
Kommandos: 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. Orks love the Aeldari nerfs and have decent game into elites. All around solid choice currently.
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.
Pathfinders: Shooting up into B Tier, Pathfinders are a real threat again. They may even be stronger than currently placed, but suffer into dedicated melee teams which currently mostly beat the Tau. However, they have crazy TP1 shooting and crazy shooting in general. The time to Find the Paths is now.
Tempestus Aquilons: Going to 11 operatives is crazy good for the team. While they remain in B Tier due to some A Tier threats, Aquilons really threaten elite teams now and their Relentless ploy is so easy to use now. They completely invalidate Kasrkin now and are just very powerful currently.
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.
Wrecka Krew: 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!
Ratlings: Down from A to B Tier with the Tripwire changed, however the team is still very solid. Just locked into their hype-defensive playstyle. 3 Ogryns will always be a problem for the opponent, a long with all the shooting the team can pump out.
C Tier
Elucidian Starstriders: Dropping down to C Tier due to the state of the meta, they remain slightly 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.
Kasrkin: Doing much better with great overall buffs. Really good at shooting now and have an actual identity. Issue is they still just lose out to a lot of other kill teams now, despite their favourability into elites. It doesn’t help that Aquilons are now just the better option too.
Novitiates: Novitiates drop down due to the overall meta state, 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.
Scout Squad: The knife buffs help a lot and the team is very solid overall. They’re just quite hard to play and can fall apart if you mess up your Forward Scouting abilities. They still suffer into some key meta teams but can be quite the threat when played well.
D Tier
Hunter Clade: Just need some desperate buffs. The most honest kill team in the game, Hunter Clade are not in a great spot. Leaders got buffed but even their free ploy won’t do too much. Hopefully the next Balance Dataslate is kinder to them.
Imperial Navy Breachers: Breachers can now spend 1 CP to move through Accessible terrain for free, which is great? They still have big problems and need some more buffs before they become a real threat again.
Vespid Stingwings: Vespids are finally fully playable again but still struggle to do anything meaningful with the Crit Op. They are basically locked into the Kill Op and their shooting is quite unreliable. They still need a few more buffs but at least they’re no longer the worst Kill Team anymore.
Tier List Overview
With the latest Balance Dataslate, the Kill Team meta is a lot better now but not as good as it was prior to Blood and Zeal. Tiers are very close, meaning player skill remains the true importance, for the most part. Sure, Sanctifiers are likely to dominate the game for the next 3 months but there is a semblance of a meta. And it is better than it was prior to the Balance Dataslate. Most under-performing teams got big buffs so we could see some more shakeups as the next 3 months develops. Plus we have the Typhon teams to come as well!
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? 