It’s time to look at the latest tier list for 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/random order, it’s not an indication of power as generally factions are very close together when it comes to power rating for each tier.
The Tier Lists
On the left is the old tier list and on the right is the new. We’ve had a lot changes, as well as one brand new kill team. The S Tier has changed up slightly. Chaos Cult move back up, joined by Angels of Death and a very confused but happy Hierotek Circle. Wolf Scouts and Murderwing drop down to A Tier but still remain very good. Farstalker Kinband jump up to A Tier while Hernkyn Yaegirs drop down into C Tier. Elites overall are slightly weaker but remain strong threats.
S Tier
Fellgor Ravager: Fellgor remain one of the best teams in the game, again. Despite over-performing for the last 3 months and winning Adepticon, they saw no real nerfs. The power of Frenzy continues to be incredibly powerful and walls so many factions in the game. In match-ups where Flank isn’t great, you can still crush opponents with buffed Dominate. Maybe Games Workshop are just waiting for them to be Declassified?
Chaos Cult: Arguably the best horde team. They’ve been over-performing for effectively the whole edition at this point with multiple different players. Chaos Cult just have a lot of threats with great mobility, tons of activations, ways to apply static damage, and more. They love/hate the Dominate change but otherwise are still incredibly strong.
Angels of Death: Despite their fine win rate, AoD have been dominating at events and even won the 11 round Warhammer Open Maastricht! They’re the best Space Marine kill team plus are just incredibly consistent. Being able to take both the Heavy Gunner and Eliminator together is a great buff too. Back with very strong Chapter Tactics again, AoD are a faction to be feared.
Canoptek Circle: Despite Crawlers going down to 18 wounds, Canoptek remain in S Tier. They still heavily deny opponents points on Tac Ops from Seek and Destroy plus Infiltration, as well as effectively always winning on the Kill Op. Games will be a lot closer now but I can see turtle Canoptek still winning out. Their durability as well as damage output from the Crawlers and Geomancer cannot be underestimated.
Hierotek Circle: In another odd trend from the latest Balance Dataslate, it seems GW has given up trying to balance Hierotek. They are a little (read: very little) worse than before the first Kill Op change but now they’re back to effectively full power with a crazy strong Chronomancer and its abilities. Hierotek once again ignore the Kill Op, just like Canoptek. GW are back showing us Kill Team players why shapes are still so powerful in Kill Team.
A Tier
Corsair Voidscarred: 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.
Phobos Strike Team: Remain strong with their shooting and zoning prowess. Still have a few tricks but lose out to the more powerful teams in the tiers above
Imperial Navy Breachers: Amazing tanks with low damage outside of melta and chainfist. Skullspolsion is funny but Breachers just exist to grind. With Shotguns at +1 damage thanks to Close Assault, life is much better for Breachers. Plus they’ve been dominating at events and over-performing in the stats. Very powerful once again.
Farstalker Kinband: A very strong Crit and Tac Op team that just suffers with damage output. However, now that every Kroot is minimum 3/5 damage, they can finally better deal with 8 wound teams as well as elites, just dependent on you rolling those crits! Going up to A Tier thanks to overall global event performance primarily.
Kasrkin: Remaining in A Tier, Seize the Initiative is probably the most problematic toolkit of the team but it does allow them to apply a ton of pressure to teams that lack a strategy phase charge or movement tricks. Regardless, being shooty Aeldari is pretty terrifying, especially into teams you out-activate.
Hand of the Archon: HotA go back into A Tier due to their great tournament performance in the last Quarter. Their January buffs remain great and they’re a consistent team that play great into elite and horde teams alike. Plus they love the Dominate change.
Blades of Khaine: Blades of Khaine remain great. They still have powerful Aspect Abilities and are a very flexible kill team. Do well into all other opponents and finally got 3+ save Striking Scorpions!
Hearthkyn Salvagers: Thanks to being over-buffed in the April Balance Dataslate, Salvagers are now one of the best factions in A Tier. They demolish basically all elite kill teams and pseudo-fly in open killzones. Very terrifying now thanks to over-loving from GW.
Inquisitorial Agents: Inq still have all the tools to shut everyone down with Absolute Authority and so on. The real trick comes down to mastering all the correct anciliary support options for each match-up but Inq are in an amazing spot now but very hard to play
Mandrakes: Very strong due to the meta but also changes with Approved Ops 2025. Even with the January nerfs, they have amazing mobility partly due to their free dashes. Mandrakes are still a strong pick currently.
Nemesis Claw: Even with the slight nerf to In Midnight Clade, Nemesis Claw are the best Imperial Space Marine hunters as well as being awesome overall. Mobility tricks, powerful melee, great board control, these Night Lords are still an amazing faction to play. Also love hunting AoD.
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. The reduced range of the Iconward is annoying but the overall changes with AO2025 still greatly benefits Brood Brothers as a whole.
Tempestus Aquilons: Loving how they are still somehow 11 operatives, Aquilons remain a dominant meta threat with their mobility and firepower. Lose out to other horde teams but remain in a very strong spot right now.
Wrecka Krew: Being able to get +1 APL from performing charge actions helps the faction so much. Now Wrecka Krew don’t have to fear Stun grenades so much. Opponents must respect them more and Wrecka Krew have great 6 dice shooting. Extra Amour is now a weird side-grade and Aeldari/Power weapon teams are still a problem, but Wrecka Krew will get it done! The cap at 2 Wrecka Points hurts their shooting efficiency, however their melee remains extremely potent.
Goremongers: Gores remain great into any non-elite kill team. Even with elites they have a chance but are just more honest overall now. Still a great skew kill team that hordes have to fear.
Raveners: A very powerful melee team due to their wounds and constant healing. Stat-check lots of factions while finding new success with Dominate from AO2025, plus that got buffed too! They’re harder to play with the loss of Implant but still do great with their denial type of play the quickly racks up points late-game.
Wolf Scouts: Despite all the recent nerfs, Wolf Scouts remain incredibly strong. Now requiring positional thinking due to the reliance on the huge storm bubble, they can pin down so many opponents. The Frosteye is less effective against elites but remains incredibly punishing to hordes.
Celestian Insidiants: Despite being hard to play, they’re a great a late-game team. Vulnerable to fast rush-down teams, once setup Insidiants are difficult to kill and clear. Warriors are especially efficient here so correct team construction is key.
Murderwing: Dropping down into A Tier, Murderwing remain overwhelmingly powerful on Volkus. More manageable overall now, however, they still have incredibly damage output and APL manipulation. Malicious Narcissism is now only useful against opponents that out-activate you but the Retrieval and run away playstyle will likely be best for Murderwing.
B Tier
Kommandos: Kommandos are mostly carried by the new Nob changed. Being able to double fight at 5 attacks with the Big Choppa helps the faction so much. Means they’re finally much better into elites and can reliably double-kill hordes.
Hunter Clade: Hunter Clade have proven to be very strong. They have some neat powerful combos and have a very respectable shooting and close combat threat.
Void-Dancer Troupe: Despite their prior nerfs, Void-Dancers have shown that their mobility and powerful ploys. Not as durable as they used to be against shooting teams, but still great overall.
Legionary: Despite the nerf to 4APL Tzeentch, Legionary remain a strong choice. Powerful operatives and Marks of Chaos still do a lot of work.
Blooded: Perfectly balance Blooded remain in the B Tier as their name suggests.
Elucdian Starstriders: Enjoying their January buffs, Starstriders are a great kill team once again. Still vulnerable to the melee gatekeep kill teams and must respect elites, the rogue traders remain a faction people must respect now.
Exaction Squad: Exaction Squad remain a solid B Tier threat. Shooting is much more deadly with the Grenade Launcher, Cybermastiff is more efficient, and so is the Revelatum. Tac Ops are still a little rough but otherwise things are great for the Arbites.
Scout Squad: The April buffs have elevated Scout Squad to B Tier. They are even more command point efficient now and the leader not needing visibility to hand out +1 APL is amazing too. You’ll likely be skewing into Shotguns all the time, but they’re in a much better place now.
Vespid Stingwings: Vespid are amazing on Volkus but where Tomb World and Gallowdark turn off their faction ability, there’s not much that can be done until that is tweaked.
Plague Marines: Being able to consistently apply Poison Tokens to 2 operatives per TP at 7″ is now very good in addition to Bolt Pistols basically everywhere. Poison Vents are strictly amazing now but overall Plague Marines are just way more consistent. A very dependable defensive threat.
Ratlings: Scarper buffs make the team super mobile despite their 5″ move. Still have some flaws but play the Tac and Crit Ops so well. They really hate the Dominate change though.
Sanctifiers: They now take way more skill to be played effectively but still have powerful aura-stacking abilities and great durability for normal humans.
Deathwatch: Remaining in B Tier from their prior nerfs, Deathwatch are a lot harder to play now. They still have very powerful operatives and abilities, but are just more inconsistent now. Especially as they cannot shoot and fight anymore on counteract.
Battleclade: Now super threatening with their April buffs. Battleclade dominate most factions they out-activate now and are kinda oddly fast too. They still take a lot of planning and suffer against factions that out-activate them, but overall they’re very strong now.
XV26 Stealth Battlesuits: Stealths remain in B Tier. They dominate elites and struggle into hordes. Their April buffs help but not enough to push them up a Tier.
C Tier
Death Korps: Death Korps are kinda just stuck in C Tier. Other hordes do their job but better and they overall struggle with the edition changes. Still have great consistent shooting damage.
Novitiates: They got a nice buff in April but Novis remain in C Tier. Still can surprise some factions but otherwise remain static.
Wyrmblade: Wyrmblade are fine but are just being aged out of the game. Still rely heavily on their Cult Agents but otherwise fine.
Warpcoven: Despite the April buffs, they struggle to do much at 5 operatives effectively. Definitely need some more love to maintain the reduced kill team size.
Hernkyn Yaegirs: My personal favourite of the two Votann, Yaegirs have a lot of play with AO2025. Still very CP intensive and struggle in super tough teams. They’re not doing well from the stats and got no buffs. Just in a rough spot currently.
Spectre Squad: Hitting on to the scene at C Tier. They’re probably top of C Tier but are still quite weak. Spectre Squad are fine, solidly balanced. However, the rest of the meta is still far too powerful for them, especially for a faction with no melee and that has effectively no power once the Meltagun dies.
D Tier
Pathinders: Even with the January buffs, Pathfinders are just not doing well. In a tough spot as a declassified team, plus easy to break with the wrong buffs. Unfortunately in D Tier.
Gellerpox Infected: Gellerpox are just in such a rough spot now. Not really managing after the severe nerfs, they need some more love to be relevant again.
Classified Tier List
No real change when looking at only classified factions. Blades of Khaine drop down to B Tier, and Ratlings drop down to C Tier. Otherwise pretty much the same.
Tier List Overview
Overall, the meta is in a better place. We still have broken teams but the game is more skill-dependent now. It is disappointing that basically all of the S Tier are effectively old returning offenders. Maybe it will all change in July. Regardless, the Dominate change is very powerful and confusing, affecting a ton of kill teams in strange ways. Spectre Squad land into balanced safety, so hopefully future teams do the same. The next 3 months are going to be very interesting for Kill Team.
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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? 