This is the top three AoS lists for the Gateway Open Age of Sigmar 2026 that took place in the US between the 8th and 9th of August 2026. It saw 52 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before we jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I want to invite everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Fyreslayers
Scales of Vulcatrix (20 Points)
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 5
Battle Tactics: Blazing Onslaught and Legend of Parch
Prayer Lore – Zharrgrim Blessings
Manifestation Lore – Magmic Invocations
General’s Regiment
Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (340)
• General
• Thickened Scales
• Droth-helm
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (240)
Hearthguard Berzerkers with Flamestrike Poleaxes (220)
• Reinforced
Regiment 1
Auric Runemaster (160)
• Ash-beard
Hearthguard Berzerkers with Berzerker Broadaxes (200)
• Reinforced
Regiment 2
Auric Runesmiter on Magmadroth (280)
Regiment 3
Auric Runesmiter on Magmadroth (280)
Regiment 4
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (240)
Faction Terrain
Magmic Battleforge
Kevin Lathers: The SoA Runeson on Magmadroth may reign king in the meta, but it seems that old dog still has some gas: Austin finishes here with an impressively unique list consisting 5-Magmadroths, but rather than spamming the new SoA (or old SoG) Runeson on Magmadroths, this one takes 2 of ye olde SonDroths.
Lacking the damage boost ability and instead having a monster-only control score reduction rampage, the regular SonDroth is a pale shade of his cousin, but he’s also 240 points which allows you to take an extra unit of reinforced Hearthguard Berserkers which hit harder than any magmadroth.
These are supported by two Runesmiter Droths which can hand out prayers for +1 hit (upgraded: +1 attack) while also handing out +1 wound (on a 3+) as an ability.
Combine this with the Runefather Droth’s once per game attack boost and a unit of Broadaxes could be theoretically swinging for 5 attacks per model. Potent.
And wrapping it all up: the Runemaster, adding some needed prayer power and enhancing the Battle Trait Runes.
This creates a list where battlefield control can be had very quickly, even at the top of round 1, with the speedy Magmadroths and sealed with bricks of Hearthguard Berserkers. Opponents can’t hit back due to the runes and can’t escape dune to runes+prayers (the new lore having a hero phase movement prayer).
Especially in these battleplans this creates a very potent list that exerts impressive board control while handing opponents no tools to take it back. Even if they start to break through it won’t be until far too late in the game.
Kruleboyz
Trophy Finga
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of the Swamp
Manifestation Lore – Manifestations of Gorkamorka
Battle Tactic Cards: Siege of Ashes, Blazing Onslaught
General’s Regiment
Kragnos, the End of Empires (580)
• General
Killaboss on Corpse-rippa Vulcha (240)
• Slippery Skumbag
Kruleboyz Monsta-killaz (120)
Kruleboyz Monsta-killaz (120)
Murknob with Belcha-banna (80)
Regiment 1
Gobsprakk, the Mouth of Mork (240)
Breaka-boss on Mirebrute Troggoth (190)
• Sly ‘Un – (10) Points
Gutrippaz (300)
• Reinforced
Scourge of Aqshy: Killaboss with Stab-grot (130)
• Woggly Bogstikk
Faction Terrain
Skaregob Totem
Eli Sweatt: It is strange I’ve been playing KB since they were release, the reason I started playing AoS as a whole, and I will say right now they feel the best they have ever felt both power and flavor wise. Almost all the units feel good for what they are costed and right now play really well into what I believe are the big bads of this starting GHB meta. The list plays Blazing and Siege, Siege is easy to start and with the vultures movement or the sly’un teleport we do the 2nd step of Siege with a little planning. Blazing is very easy to do as long as you get past the first step. This was an issue for me as I underestimated my armies output. I was ending Games by tabling my opponent and not getting past the first step of Blazing. Trophy Finger was my pick for battle formation to juice 3 monster’s with companion attacks, although I really like claw in tournaments I assume most terrain won’t allow me to get my monsters on top of them to get the full use out of it.
As for units it basically is a spread of all the good stuff, for the infantry you have two monstakillaz because they are just great stat wise. A brick of gutrippaz to tank and be the largest hammer when fighting with the ashy killaboss plus crits on 5. The Ashy killaboss who even without the gutrippaz deals a lot of mortals once you get fury levels going. I also gave him the Woggly Bogstikk for easy mortal in my hero phase to help try and get the first step of blazing going. Last of the infantry is the Murknob to be the man in the tower.
The other half of the list is the monsters. Currently Gobsprakk is amazing, although still a little fragile, being a 2 power caster with an amazing spell that also helps with start blazing is great. Him getting that quality of life change allowing him to have that extra 3d6 unbind per phase really makes opponents not want to cast spells and risk their wizards blowing up (the 3d6 unbind is an special reaction that follows the Rule Of 1. I feel the need to point that out because some people believe he can spam 3d6 unbinds). The Killaboss on vulture is a true terror due to Kragnos he dominates most flanks and with slippery skumbag gets to pick his fights. When combined with kragnos and trophy finger I greatly underestimated his output as he was suppose to be the person getting Blazing’s first step but tended to overkill thing. The breaka boss was my rage farmer, since he heals and I tend to roll 1 at places of powers. Yet with sly’un he is a loaded gun/aimed warhead on the table. If I don’t use sly’un to do siege step 2 at some point he is behind enemy lines going in to trade up or reinforce and shift a fight back into my favor. As for the fake destruction/fake beast of chaos god, Kragnos enables mobility for the army, is a very good consumer of fighting with rage dice, and is hard to attack due to the fight-last dirty trick meaning late game he is almost always swinging first at what plans to hit him. If Kragnos isn’t your thing, this list can easily take him out and replace him with another killaboss on foot (for redundancy), 20 more gutrippaz, and a marshcrawler. Little slower 5 drop style. But yeah it is a great time to be green and a fan of Mork.
Sylvaneth
Lords of the Clan
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 5
Spell Lore – Lore of the Deepwood
Prayer Lore – Lore of the Spirit-Song
Manifestation Lore – Krondspine Incarnate
Battle Tactic Cards: Burning for Vengeance, Flanking Firestorm
General’s Regiment
Scourge of Aqshy: Treelord Ancient (290)
• General
• Spellsinger
Regiment 1
Spirit of Durthu (340)
• Glamourweave – (20) Points
Arch-Revenant (110)
Regiment 2
Warsong Revenant (170)
Gossamid Archers (120)
Regiment 3
Belthanos, First Thorn of Kurnoth (290)
Kurnoth Hunters with Greatswords (430)
• Reinforced
• Aspect of Harvestboon – (10) Points
Regiment 4
Drycha Hamadreth (250)
Faction Terrain
Awakened Wyldwood
Luis Mendoza (Warhammex): Congratulations to David Erger on his 4–1 finish! This Lords of the Clan list distributes its capabilities across several independent pieces rather than concentrating them into a single combat engine. The Treelord Ancient, Spirit of Durthu, Belthanos and Drycha form the Monster core, while the reinforced Kurnoth Hunters with Greatswords provide an additional infantry threat. This gives the army several ways to apply pressure without requiring the same unit to solve every engagement.
The list also operates across several phases. The Treelord Ancient with Spellsinger and Drycha provide magical pressure, while the Warsong Revenant adds access to the prayer lore. Drycha is particularly useful as a positional disruptor: Merciless Ambush provides direct battlefield projection, while Terror of the Deep Woods restricts enemy Run and Retreat moves around her. Durthu with Glamourweave supplies a consistent melee threat, while Belthanos and Aspect of Harvestboon improve the projection of the reinforced Greatswords through additional mobility.
The Arch-Revenant and Gossamid Archers fulfil a different role. Their interaction provides opportunistic additional shooting and post-activation movement, but their main contribution is positional utility. Their mobility allows them to screen, contest territory and pursue scoring conditions without committing Durthu, Belthanos or the Greatswords to low-value positional tasks. This connects particularly well with Flanking Firestorm, where separated objectives, battlefield corners and enemy territory create several scoring routes for mobile units.
Burning for Vengeance adds another layer of flexibility by offering conditions based either on battlefield distribution or concentration around the enemy Fugitive. The army can therefore shift between spatial control and direct pressure depending on the game state rather than committing to a single scoring route. The choice of Krondspine Incarnate similarly adds a dedicated answer to enemy manifestations, allowing the army’s Wizards and Priest to preserve their resources for other functions instead of carrying the entire burden of the manifestation game.
The resulting structure separates combat, projection, disruption and scoring across different elements of the army. Its primary combat pieces can remain focused on high-value engagements while cheaper mobile units address positional requirements, and several independent threats reduce the army’s reliance on any single activation or combat sequence. David’s 4–1 finish provides the competitive result for this approach.
Sons of Behemat
Taker Tribe
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Prayer Lore – Brodd’s Bellows
Battle Tactic Cards: Blazing Onslaught, Burning for Vengeance
General’s Regiment
King Brodd (520)
• General
Beast-smasher Mega-Gargant (470)
• Furious Temper
Mancrusher Gargant (130)
• That Boy’s not Right – (10) Points
Mancrusher Mob (350)
Regiment 1
Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant (410)
• Kingslaughter Cowl
Mancrusher Gargant (120)
Jacob Schopper: This was my first GT with the big lads after picking them up with the new Scourge of Aqshy (SoA) rules. Sons of Behemat (SoB) was blessed a great immediate threat in the new SoA Gatebreaker, some Mancrusher love, and a brilliant prayer lore. What more was there to love.
This list runs Blazing Onslaught and Burning for Vengeance as its tactics. A good ole cops and robber situation. If there are 2 things the SoB are good at, it’s killing and controlling. Throughout my 5 games at GWO, I always made my fugitive a target that I knew my opponent was gonna have to make the choice of playing without or being brought straight to me. Starting burning wasn’t very hard as I took the regular Mancrushers to make use of their run and charge and use Brodd’s personal prayer for + 2” of movement when it felt necessary. Starting Blazing could be slightly tricky but thanks to The Terrible Toes prayer, shooting from the Kraken-Eater and Mancrushers, and the new rage dice mechanic, it gave me 5 phases in which I could rely on scoring.
Looking at the core of the list, we see Brodd as he is so necessary, especially given the new prayer lore. I was constantly stocking prayer points in my opponent’s turn to get myself ready for the big fight in my turn when I needed a 6+ ward and ignore battle damaged, or making an enemy strike last so I could focus on crushing two units at once. Brodd usually, I kept back in certain situations as I would sometimes need to risk trading pieces and then sending him in to keep momentum in my favor. Next up is the Beast-Smasher, my personal favorite of the Megas. Being able to send him into monsters and not having to worry about if I was going to kill them or not was so nice. Especially combined with the Furious Temper for +2 attacks on all weapons and then giving him the Mantle of Tusk and Horns as my second artefact for a free +1 to hit aura for go turns. The Kraken-Eater was another great addition to the list. Being able to kick objectives away from my opponents and make it to where they can’t get to them, or kicking them forward next to other objectives where I wanted to be made it hard for my opponents to steal points. Having another option with the shooting for scoring blazing was nice as I could pick my targets a little more wisely instead of making my choice obvious for my opponent to defend against. I gave him the Kingslaughter Cowl for the +1 attacks to melee weapons while he was in combat with a hero. Where points were, this felt the most fitting as I knew I would be getting him stuck in. The Mancrusher Mob I would say was the MVP of this weekend. They were in so many places when I needed them to be and got the job done every time. I know how much output they can have and I still underestimate it.
Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Manifestation Lore – Forbidden Power (20 Points)
Battle Tactic Cards: Siege of Ashes, Burning for Vengeance
General’s Regiment
Be’lakor, the Dark Master (450)
• General
Chaos Chosen (520)
• Reinforced
• Brand of the Unaligned – (20) Points
• The Dread Banner
Chaos Knights (240)
Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (210)
• Darkflame Pendant
• Radiance of Dark Glory – (20) Points
Regiment 1
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (130)
Chaos Knights (240)
Chaos Legionnaires (80)
Chaos Lord (100)
Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica
Daniel Patterson: This is my iteration on my 2-Drop Belakor Chosen list from last season for the new Scourge of Aqshy (SoA). With Slaves to Darkness (STD) points decreases, and by downgrading my Varanguard to another MSU Chaos Knights, I was able to add a Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (CLK) and a unit of Legionares to have another unit to effectivley use rage dice and an extra body for all these new, much harder, battle tactics. CLK also offers a great body to carry the Dark Radiance trait for some chip healing (flat 3 for Belakor) and the new Darkflame Pendant that reduces damage from all melee attacks to 1. My Dread Banner Chosen are utilizing the new SoA infantry enhancement, Brand of the Unaligned, to give me another Mark in my hero phase, letting me Mark two units now in Round 1, and re-Mark my Chosen later to get a more techy mark like Tzeentch for later in the game.
I picked up the (4-1) with some very tight games and even had a chance to play for the (5-0) in the final round! In Rounds 2/3 I won some key roll-offs to give away first turn against other two drops and then won prio rolls for big doubles in Rounds 2/3. I then got my comeuppance in round 5 where I lost the initial roll-off to a nasty Kreulboyz with Kragnoas 2-Drop list that doubled me into Round 3 after my alpha strike failed to kill enough to seal victory. Here is a quick breakdown of my matches:
(1) Cites of Sigmar: Played against a newer player to the army, but still a very hard matchup. Zenestra and Steelhelms make it challenging to crash their castle and their shooting makes you feel like you need to go in before you get whittled down. Close game.
(2) Sons of Behemat: Still a good matchup for STD, but they have a lot more play with their SoA stuff, being able to walk in and out of combat, and throw D6 3/2/rend3/4dmg boulders once per game. Big round 2 double helped seal it.
(3) Daughters of Khaine: 30 Blood Sisters melee snake and 10 Blood Stalker shooty snakes list. These ladies hit hard and have a nasty combat ability to make you fight last if they roll lower than your HP. I had a big double and killed 20 melee snakes, the bow snakes, and some heroes, but his other 10 came in out of obscuring, buffed to the moon, and lifted my Chosen. Then he got his own double, retreat and charged with their crazy blood blessings from my CLK who had ascended into a Daemon Prince and was pinning them, then came in and killed Belakor. Very close game.
(4) Stormcast Eternals: He moved his castle of infantry into the center and my Khorne marked Chosen where able to get in and smash. I had a clutch counter-cast on my Shards of Valagharr manifestation to keep him from deepstriking within 9in of them that helped protect Belakor from Yndrasta and his Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows dropping out of the sky.
(5) Krulboyz: This army is a brutal matchup for STD and it’s gotten even worse. 1+/2+ fight last/reduce charge damage from their battle trait’s Dirty Tricks when they are near their terrain feature are very tough to deal with, especially with two MSU Knights that rely on charging to get damage 2. Krulboyz also has a ton of HP to chew through and throw a lot of mortal wounds. I went for a Top of 1 alpha strike after losing priority to try and get in before he could get his defenses up, but didn’t kill enough and an enemy double into turn three sealed it!
Final Tournament Placings
