Meta Snapshot 4/27/2026

 

Hello fellow 40K enthusiasts! Welcome to my Meta Snapshot article, in which I look at the top three lists from all the GTs with 20 or more players held over the past weekend so we can tell who the top factions were! The results here were collected from 17 events with 20+ players, with a total player base of 635.

I think it's fair to say the big story of the weekend was Defilers. Taken as a whole, all the Chaos Marine factions (both the mainline CSMs and the cult factions) had 20 Top 3 finishes, and out of those, 17 lists had Defilers in them. All told they ran 35 Defilers between them, for an average of 1.75 Defilers per list. 2 was the most common number per list, with 2 lists with just 1, and 5 lists with 3. They are all over the Chaos Marine meta-faction like a rash.

With that background, I expect it will come as no surprise to learn that the Top Faction of the week is Chaos Space Marines, with a total of 8 Top 3 results, broken down as follows: 

PlacingPactbound ZealotsSoulforged WarpackRenegade Raiders
1st111
2nd3
3rs11

The winning Renegade Raiders list was one of the lists with no Defilers in it, but it had a pair of Forgefiends in it, which fill a similar role. All the rest had a minimum of 2, and the 3rd placed Soulforged Warpack and 2nd place Pactbound Zealots lists had 3. Defilers seem to have supplanted big squads of Chosen as CSM players' preferred heavy hitters. One can see why. Chosen's offense is mostly in the Fight phase, whereas Defilers can throw down in both the Shooting and Fight phases. They're also hella faster, and are considerably tougher, at Toughness 11 with 18 Wounds and a 3+/5++. They hit harder into big things too, with plentiful access to Strength 10-16 D6+1 Damage attacks in both the Shooting and the Fight phases.

Beyond the Defilers, it's hard to generalize unit choice in any meaningful way. 4 of the lists with Defilers had Vashtorr in them, which is not hard to understand. Lords Discordant popped up in a couple of the lists too, which I haven't seen before.

Don't sleep on Chosen though, because that winning Renegade Raiders list with no Defilers had 25 Chosen in it.

The Number Two faction of the week is Necrons. Defying the Defiler Renaissance, Necrons finished the weekend with 6 Top 3 results, broken down thusly:

PlacingsHypercryptStarshatterAwakened
1st11
2nd11
3rs11

The Necron lists broke down into two broad categories: Starshatter Arsenal and not Starshatter Arsenal. The reason I say this is because the big thing the not-Starshatter Arsenal lists had in common was multiple C'tan. One of the Awakened Dynasty lists had the Nightbringer and Deceiver, and the other two had all three of the named C'tan. The Hypercrypt list had all three of the named C'tan and two Transcendant C'tans. Yeesh, talk about a fun sponge.

The Starshatter lists didn't include multiple C'tan, though one of them had the Nightbringer. Instead, their crutch units were the Silent King and multiple Doomsday Arks. 

Again, like with CSMs, beyond those crutch units it's a little hard to generalize what Necron players are likely to bring, because they have a deep bench. The one thing I'll add is that I saw Nekrosor Ammentar in 5 of the 6 lists, so it's probably worth the effort to be familiar with that guy.

It may surprise you to learn that Ultramarines got knocked out of the Top Three factions this week. The Number Three faction of the week is actually Thousand Sons, with 4 Top 3 finishes broken down as follows:

PlacingsRubricaeGrand CovenWarpforged
1st11
2nd1
3rs1

Unlike the previous two top factions, Thousand Sons have a pretty shallow bench, so all these lists have a lot of units in common. The point of divergence seems to be what big pieces each player brought to use. The top list (it took 1st place at the biggest event), the Rubricae list, had 25 Rubric Marines and 20 Scarab Occult Terminators. It didn't even have Magnus in it. The winning Grand Coven list had 20 Rubrics, 10 Scarab Occult Terminators, and Magnus. The Warpforged list had 25 Rubrics, 3 Defilers, and one each of Forgefiend, Maulerfiend, and Mutalith Vortex Beast, and again Magnus was conspicuous by his absence. The Grand Coven list that took 3rd place had Magnus, a Winged Daemon Prince, one Defiler and two Vortex Beasts.  Utility units were some combination of Sekhetar Robots, Tzaangors, and Tzaangor Enlighteneds. 

Here are the next 6 factions ranked by performance.

RankingFactionPlacingDetachment
4:Emperor's Children1st2 Coterie of the Conceited lists
2ndCourt of the Phoenician
5:T'au Empire1stMont'ka, Retaliation Cadre
3rdMont'ka
6:Orks1stGreen Tide
2ndWar Horde
3rdTaktikal Brigade
7:Ultramarines1stCeramite Sentinels
3rd2x Blade of Ultramar
8:Death Guard2ndVirulent Vectorum
3rd2x Vir Vec, 1 Champions of Contagion
9:Adeptus Custodes1stTalons of the Emperor
3rdTalons of the Emperor
10:Black Templars2ndCeramite Sentinels, Bastion Task Force

And here's the rest of the factions that had Top 3 placings.

Also RansFaction and detachment
1stDrukhari Spectacle of Spite
2ndAdeptus Sororitas Hallowed Martyrs
Tyranid Invasion Fleet
3rdDeathwatch Black Spear Task Force
World Eaters Khorn Daemonkin
Dark Angels Wrath of the Rock

Here's the list of events with their Top 3 armies.

Fantasia Fanatic XLIX 40k: 99 players, 5 rounds
  1. Thousand Sons Rubricae Phalanx
  2. Chaos Space Marines Pactbound Zealots
  3. Deathwatch Black Spear Task Force
I GT León Iberian Open: 44 players, 5 rounds
  1. Ultramarines Ceramite Sentinels
  2. Necrons Hypercrypt Legion
  3. Necrons Starshatter Arsenal
Skövde Battle Forge VII: 39 players, 5 rounds
  1. Emperor's Children Coterie of the Conceited
  2. Leagues of Votann Hearthband
  3. Death Guard Virulent Vectorum
Dearg Doom VI: I can't believe its not Cork: 46 players, 5 rounds
  1. T'au Empire Mont'ka
  2. Emperor's Children Coterie of the Conceited
  3. Ultramarines Blade of Ultramar
The 2026 South-West Swordwind Grand Tournament: 28 players, 5 rounds
  1. Orks Green Tide
  2. Thousand Sons Warpforged Cabal
  3. Dark Angels Wrath of the Rock
Olympic Miniatures: Springtime Slaughter GT at Red Octo: 38 players, 5 rounds
  1. T'au Empire Retaliation Cadre
  2. Adeptus Sororitas Hallowed Martyrs
  3. Ultramarines Blade of Ultramar
I GT Lanzarote - Kanarian Open: 32 players, 5 rounds
  1. Chaos Space Marines Soulforged Warpack
  2. Black Templars Ceramite Sentinels
  3. Necrons Awakened Dynasty
Cross-Swords War At The Westward X: 40 players, 5 rounds
  1. Chaos Space Marines Renegade Raiders
  2. Orks Green Tide
  3. Orks Taktikal Brigade
40k Brawl - April 2026: 26 players, 5 rounds
  1. Adeptus Custodes Talons of the Emperor
  2. Necrons Awakened Dynasty
  3. World Eaters Khorne Daemonkin
Team India/Pakistan x Team Sigil GT: 22 players, 5 rounds
  1. Thousand Sons Grand Coven
  2. Chaos Daemons Daemonic Incursion
  3. Death Guard Champions of Contagion
GOLDEN TICKET EVENT Prestige Wargaming Grand Tournament: 27 players, 5 rounds
  1. Necrons Starshatter Arsenal
  2. Death Guard Virulent Vectorum
  3. Chaos Space Marines Soulforged Warpack
Double Decker Decimation 2026: 32 players, 5 rounds
  1. Drukhari Spectacle of Spite
  2. Tyranids Invasion Fleet
  3. T'au Mont'ka
Oz-Con 2026: 48 players, 5 rounds
  1. Emperor's Children Coterie of the Conceited
  2. Chaos Space Marines Pactbound Zealots
  3. Thousand Sons Grand Coven
Richmond Reroll 40k GT: 24 players, 5 rounds
  1. Necrons Awakened Dynasty
  2. Black Templars Bastion Task Force
  3. Chaos Space Marines Renegade Raiders
Squig City: Casino Royale 2026: 90 players, 5 rounds
  1. Chaos Space Marines Pactbound Zealots
  2. Chaos Space Marines Pactbound Zealots
  3. Adeptus Custodes Talons of the Emperor
It's nice to see Ultramarines drop down a few notches, but I wasn't looking for them to be replaced by another flavor of Chaos Marine. If this week's results are anything to go by, we may be in for a Defiler meta for the end of 10th edition. 

That, fellow enthusiasts, is what I have for you today. I'll make the effort to keep you appraised of what's doing well in the meta. I hope you find the information helpful to you. May all your games be fun ones!

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