This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Salt Lake Open 2022 that took place in the USA on 20th and 21st August. It involved 33 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

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The Top Three AoS Lists

Army Faction: Fyreslayers
– Subfaction: Greyfyrd
– Grand Strategy: Masters of the Forge
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Auric Runefather (125)**
– General
– Command Traits: Spirit of Grimnir
– Artefacts of Power: The Daemon Slayer
Battlesmith (150)**
– Artefacts of Power: Nulsidian Icon
Auric Runeson (80)**
– Ancestral War-axe
– Artefacts of Power: Axe of Grimnir
Auric Flamekeeper (90)****
– Artefacts of Power: Draught of Magmalt Ale
Auric Runemaster (125)****
– Artefacts of Power: Volatile Brazier
– Prayers: Heal
Auric Runesmiter (135)****
– Forge Key
– Prayers: Prayer Of Ash

BATTLELINE
Hearthguard Berzerkers (320)*
– Karl
– Berzerker Broadaxe
Hearthguard Berzerkers (320)*
– Karl
– Flamestrike Poleaxe
Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (160)***
– Fyresteel War-pick and Bladed Slingshield
Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)***

OTHER
Auric Hearthguard (250)**

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Molten Infernoth (40)

TERRAIN
1 x Magmic Battleforge (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Warlord
***Expert Conquerors
****Command Entourage
– Magnificent

TOTAL POINTS: 1965/2000

Ethan: Holy moly what a collection of lists this tournament presents! In the vein of Bill Souza this list uses many battalions in order to stack up bonus enhancements and abilities but that is where the comparison ends. Fyreslayers are uniquely suited to taking high drop lists in that they, unlike most armies, don’t care about taking first and can weather an enemy double turn thanks to their durability. This opens up a broad cadre of list building options with the sheer number of heroes present here not reasonable for those armies relying on Battle Regiment to have play.

Getting into the list itself, this Greyfyrd army runs a large contingent of cheap foot heroes, using a combination of the subfaction and battalions to outfit the heroes with a selection of the Fyreslayers’ rather stacked artefact list. Prayers are made more consistent, damage output is improved and items like the Nulsidian icon provide spell ignores in a meta still often visited by Nagash’s Favourite Sphere. At 1965 points this list will often get its triumph and the selection of inspired helps to ensure the large units of troops aren’t losing more than they need to to battleshock.
The hero selection here gives this lists an absolute keyring of tools ranging from forgekeys and latchkey grandaxes to the extra CP of the Runemaster and the deepstrike of the Runesmiter. Of particular note is the Flamekeeper, the hero released with the Fyreslayers’ recent FOMO box, which doesn’t often see play in the tournament scene. With such large units of foot troops, his abilities – which are activated at the start of the combat phase whenever 6 models have died near the Flamekeeper since the previous turn – are going off with alarming frequency to provide powerful effects such as:
– 6+ ward (meh)
– Fight on death (alright)
– Charge, including during the enemy turn (!!!!!!!)
– +1 damage (still !!! but less so)

The rest of the list is still exciting (when was the last time anyone saw Auric Hearthguard?) but less in-depth than the heroes. Auric hearthguard deepstrike with the runesmiter and shoot quite well while the remainder of the army racks up objective scoring with difficult to shift statlines and wound characteristics. Putting these in Expert Conquerors and Bounty Hunters is a nice bonus in a list that already has drops to high heaven and the list is capped off with the Molten Infernoth, which gives the list an easy way to achieve its Grand Strategy. The notable bonus of the infernoth over other options is that you aren’t obligated to move it meaning, as the game is coming to a close, you can elect to not attempt a move and thus eliminate the chance of rolling it off the board with hot dice.

Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals
– Army Type: Scions of the Storm
– Army Subfaction: Celestial Warbringers
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
– Holy Command: Thunderbolt Volley

LEADER
1 x Lord-Relictor (145)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Thundershock
– Prayers: Translocation
1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)*
– Meteoric Standard
1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)*
– Meteoric Standard
1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)**
– Meteoric Standard
1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)**
– Meteoric Standard
1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)**
– Meteoric Standard

BATTLELINE
5 x Judicators with Skybolt Bows (200)**
– Judicator-Prime
5 x Judicators with Skybolt Bows (200)**
– Judicator-Prime
5 x Judicators with Skybolt Bows (200)**
– Judicator-Prime

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Everblaze Comet (90)

OTHER
3 x Annihilators (200)*
– Annihilator-Prime
3 x Annihilators (200)*
– Annihilator-Prime
1 x Stormstrike Chariot (165)*
– Stormstrike Axe and Tempestuous Spear

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Ethan: I mentioned it in the Fyreslayers but my goodness we’re in funkytown. The subfaction here is largely irrelevant but useful for re-rolling a save?

Now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to the fun bit. The completely normal general here is a translocating Lord-Relictor and that’s where our dose of normal ends. Five Knight Vexillors. Count ’em. Five. For those not in the know (and who would be?) the Knight-Vexillor is the little Stormcast bloke with a banner. His ability? Do d3 wounds to everything within 6″ of a point anywhere on the board. So that’s 5d3 Mortals, averaging around 8-10 mortals to everything in range. This is then topped off with the Everblaze Comet which does d3, or d6, Mortals within a large area at a 36″ range. What a combo. In a double battle-regiment this list comes in at 2-drop, being one of the few lists that is likely to take the first turn, hitting anything remotely resembling a castle like, well, a storm? (I’m so sorry).

The rest of the list backs up this combination with tools to turn this opening blow into a knockout with a stormstrike chariot thundering around the board (I’ve moved past shame) while the Annihilators and their 2+ save come crashing into the opponents lines and punch a hole while tying things up for the judicators to rain down a squall of shots (we’re still going).

The only loss for this list was against Gargants and honestly, that tracks, considering how the list functions. While the list does incredible damage spread across a huge number of units, it would struggle to deal the concentrated pain required to take down wound-dense Sons of Behemat. What a list. Noe Aquino should be absolutely thrilled with this exciting result.

Army Faction: Ogor Mawtribes
– Army Subfaction: Bloodgullet
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADER
1 x Huskard on Thundertusk (335)
– General
– Command Traits: ‘Nice Drop of the Red Stuff!’
– Blood Vulture
– Artefacts: Skullshards of Dragaar
– Prayers: Pulverising Hailstorm
1 x Frostlord on Stonehorn (430)*
– Artefacts: Splatter-cleaver
– Mount Traits: Metalcruncher
1 x Hrothgorn (170)*
1 x Butcher (135)**
– Tenderiser
– Spells: Ribcracker, Molten Entrails
1 x Frostlord on Stonehorn (430)**
1 x Slaughtermaster (140)**
– Spells: Ribcracker, Greasy Deluge

BATTLELINE
3 x Icefall Yhetees (120)*
3 x Icefall Yhetees (120)*
3 x Icefall Yhetees (120)*

TERRAIN
1 x Great Mawpot (0)

OTHER
3 x Hrothgorn’s Mantrappers (170)*

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Peter: I’m starting this with a caveat! None of us know anything about Ogors…. Mind you we still get some of the comments wrong on lists we do know about so….

We have three characters on Stonehorns or Thundertusks who have a threat distance of 24″ (average 19″). These boys are tough with 13 wounds each, a 3+ save AND a 5+ ward. The Frostlords on Stonehorns can kick out an average of 18 damage before saves if they get a charge in.

The Huskard has the Blood Vulture which allows him to cause a free mortal each turn on any enemy unit within 24″. On top of this he has a tasty missile weapon which on its top bracket will roll 12 dice and will cause mortal wounds on 6’s (if the unit is less than 10 models), 5+ if the target had 10+ models or 4+ if it has 20+ models. He also has a command ability which allows other Beastclaw Raider (those Stonehorns) units within 12″ to re-roll their charges.

Hrothgorn and the Mantrappers are a clever inclusion for objective capturing and battle tactics as they can be set up in reserve and bought on in a friendly turn anywhere on the board more than 9″ from the enemy.

The Yhetees, while not great at dishing out damage can run and charge if they’re with 16″ of a Thundertusk when they do so. They also have the annoying ability to pile in from 6″ away instead of the usual 3″.

Both the Butcher and Slaughtermaster know additional spells thanks to their Bloodgullet allegiance and both have Ribcracker which deducts 1 from a an enemy units save. Molten entrails allows a Ogor Monster to add 1 to the damage of their mounts attacks (great on the Stonehorns), while Greasy Deluge forces an enemy unit to deduct 1 from their attacks.

Sprinkle in things like the Splatter-Cleaver which allows you to heal nearby Ogor units D3 wounds if you were successful with any of that models attacks. And a Nice Drop of the Red Stuff which is a command ability that allows units within 12″ of the general an additional 3″ pile in (9″ pile in for Yhetees).

All of this adds up to a tough and hard hitting army

Allegiance: Khorne
– Slaughterhost: Baleful Lords (Host of Chaos)
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Bloodstoker (80)****
– Artefact: Talisman of Burning Blood
Bloodstoker (80)****
Bloodsecrator (125)***
– General
– Command Trait: Thirst for Carnage
– Artefact: Black Brass Crown
Skarbrand (380)***
Valkia the Bloody (135)***
Slaughterpriest (100)****
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
– Prayer: Blood Sacrifice

Battleline
10 x Bloodreavers (80)**
– Meatripper Axes
10 x Bloodreavers (80)**
– Meatripper Axes
10 x Bloodreavers (80)**
– Meatripper Axes

Units
5 x Wrathmongers (145)*
1 x Chaos Chariots (100)***
– Greatblades
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
1 x Chaos Chariots (100)****
– Greatblades
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
4 x Khagra’s Ravagers (125)*
– Spell1: Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
– Allies
9 x Untamed Beasts (70)***
– Allies
9 x Untamed Beasts (70)****
– Allies

Behemoths
Jabberslythe (150)

Endless Spells & Invocations
Hexgorger Skulls (50)
Prismatic Palisade (40)

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Expert Conquerors
***Warlord
****Warlord

Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Artefact

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 265 / 400
Wounds: 135
Drops: 16

Ethan: I’m going to coin this list the “Skarbrand launcher”. A multitude of battalions provide a slew of artefacts to this list, mitigated by the untamed beasts’ pregame move ensuring that objectives are contested from word go. The Baleful lords subfaction is usually utilised by “Oops, All Bloodthirsters” builds, however this list has eschewed such choices in favour of a hectic collection of units which all seem to be built around the uniting goal of “Skarbrand runs and charges at anything on the board”.

In the Heroes section, the arcane tome and ghost-mist, in combination with the prismatic palisade create powerful counterplay against shooting lists, ensuring the army’s lack of ranged options aren’t punished before it has a chance to walk up and beat you to a bloody pulp. The combination of Bloodsecrator, Wrathmongers and Valkia ensure that the Reavers punch above their very cheap cost and, with the benefit of additional attacks, the chaos chariots become a threat, aided by their incredible movement to be a scary prospect across the board. Bloodstokers double down on the theme handing out more movement bonuses to their willing whipees. The keyword for this list is mobility and it has it in spades. Castle build? This is the trebutchet, and the keystone boulder is a running and charging Skarbrand, enough to put fear into the heart of even the most seasoned Living Cities player.

Now, let’s talk about the Jabberslythe. I don’t quite get it? For 150 points, Sean knows something I don’t. It can make a high-output unit absolutely self destruct with self inflicted mortals or kill something that is killing it, Magmadroth style, but I’ll be real with y’all: I’m not sure what this does in the list. That said, it’s a very cool inclusion and provides a wonderful end point for a top 3 article discussing some of the most thrillingly different lists I’ve seen in the last few years. AoS is feeling spicy right now for the Johnnys of the world, with the GHB’s maturation proving that initial overreactions to Bounty Hunters were exactly that. Exciting times!

Final Tournament Placings