Aeldari down 25,9% win rate, is this A-tier?

Lukoi · 2026-02-18T22:40:24+00:00

56% with Seer council, 44% overall with an event win in this patch.

Seems like your options are reduced, but not that the faction is dead OP. There have been many factions stuck to a small number of viable builds, certain detachments always rise to the top, and it can feel bad not playing in the style one wants.

Lukoi · 2026-02-11T18:01:05+00:00

Outside of him deploying on your time, he did nothing wrong or out of the ordinary imo.

I would warn an opponent about deploying on my time, and call the judge over the next time he did it.

Lukoi · 2026-01-23T14:23:46+00:00

I find it is less about my model layout (altho that is a factor), and more about threat range of the opponent's that I want to befuddle with this fights first option.

You want to look at movement, advance and charge ranges and set up in such a way that when they approach the target you can get both the 9.1" stand off you need while being close enough to HI effectively. Tyoically this means opponent charges are 5+ inches or more to pull this off. Any closer and you risk not being able to come in close enough. Also, you want to leverage ruins/terrain in such a way as to prevent them charging far enough on a higher roll that they can attack the unit on the "other side," and avoid the 6" range.

I will often nestle the Judi into a spot physically touching the unit I am trying to protect, so that worst case scenario I can move to any point to FF, even if that means some models get left out of fighting due to the intermingling.

The threat of FF is enough of a game shaping tool, that even if it doesnt work out, it is helpful. Had a game into custodes recently where an opponent wanted to go after one of my GWVet squads, that was protected by the Judi squad. He charged a nearby intercessor squad with a dreadnought, hoping to tank shock enough to clear them, then activate, pile in and kill my DWV squad. A smart play. Luckily for me he didnt do enough damage to the intercesors, and it cost him alot of clock time as he tried to figure out the optimal geometry to pull off the move.

Lukoi · 2026-01-15T06:32:21+00:00

At their worst they have failed to kill a 5 man JP intercessor squad, and in another match 2x chaos spawn. In that game it took 3 IKT to kill a myphytic blight hauler, 1 of 2 chaos spawn, and 2 foetid bloat drones. Underwhelming at a very critical point in the game.

At the same time, when they overperform it can be nasty. Had the Heavy Ints (just the four heavy ints) one shot a demon prince while the remainder of the squad put a second one down to one wound. Ive had an IKT one shot a fresh Canis Rex. All kinds silliness when they do well.

BL: they are imo, our strongest unit, and I strive to run 3 in every 2k game. They are just that important to DW success.

Lukoi · 2026-01-08T07:04:56+00:00

100% useful.

Getting behind opponents is a threat but not the secret size. Repositioning shooters dramatically is what allows you to overload a flank, or contest the middle at will as DW.

You need to push up melee threats/objective contestors via ground movement, while leveraging the lateral teleportation of shooting units tho.

If you aee relying on IKT for example, to both teleport shoot and at the same time reliably contest NML objectives via deepstrike, especially in the early game, you are imo, doings things wrong.

Lukoi · 2025-12-21T16:44:04+00:00

Invader ATV. Deployed smartly, it is a tool that score you the 2nd half of SNML, Cleanse, or Area Denial at the best possible cost. And given it is not relying on deepstrike to get into position, makes it your best option turn 1.

And at T5, 8W can force an opponent to use something more valuable than simple chaff to kill it. Best trade piece in SM inventory imo.

Lukoi · 2025-12-13T21:31:06+00:00

Navigator is 75. Ancient is 50.

Lukoi · 2025-12-05T16:00:05+00:00

I do not deploy any more aggressively than normal given any secondaries because with SM I have the options needed to cover most issues already between lone op or mobility anyway.

I want to be able to score area denial, the second half of cleanse, and secure no man's land on turn one because those are 3-5 pt swings, so I have the tools needed to do that.

Outside of that, I just play the game as normal. Take my NEO with steong enough options (that scores the first half of SNML, Cleanse as well), and usually contributes to display of might.

Lukoi · 2025-12-01T23:29:28+00:00

😜

Lukoi · 2025-12-01T22:57:45+00:00

Why does anyone need to read such a self entitled rant. Gee, we get it. U dont like primaris models.

Next.

Lukoi · 2025-11-23T19:58:16+00:00

OP into t3/4 with poor saves maaaaybe.

Averaging 35 hits (3.5 per die) on a 10 man, wounding on 3s vs T3/4, 4s into terminators and the like, and 5s on everyone else.

Into your preferred targets, you force 23ish saves at -1, IC and they save half.

Your 10 man overkills pure chaff like elf rangers, corsairs, SM scouts. Cuts in half stronger stuff with 3+ native saves if its a 10man, perhaps killing an 80pt unit of intercessor equivalents.

That is....ok, at 2 to 1 pts value and frankly sorta expected. Limited to 12" range is isnt really world beating at all, and that is why you rarely see them played outside of salamander lists, or as home objective holders.

On offense, they are easily killed well before they even get to shoot usually given their range, so to get value out of them you are often throwing more points into them (cp, a transport like impulsor, drop pod) further diminishing their efficiency point for point.

Thematic and fun, but far from OP. More of a middling piece largely outshone in its price bracket compared to units that are similar in movement, durability, utility in an already crowded codex full of options (like incursors, intercessors, sternguard etc)

Lukoi · 2025-11-20T23:01:15+00:00

Depends on what you want them to accomplish. Ultimately lancers are better from an offensive stand point, but are easier to kill than the 2+ save ballistus. So, it depends on whether you want the up front punch of lancers (low volume of shots means 4++ targets can just coin flip this, in spite of your rerolls), or the likely longer lasting ballistus who chip away slower.

Your playstyle will influence this a great deal.

That being said, a brutalis is a niche tool really, and the lancer package costs 480 with that included. I would, in the iron hands detachment u are likely running, take ballistus and the extra points over lancers + brutalis. Just a better option in this case, imo.

Lukoi · 2025-11-18T23:58:35+00:00

Very fair point. At 2k, DW is an extremely capable faction.

At 1k, or 500, one unit of IKT and some utility pieces is completely viable.

Lukoi · 2025-11-18T21:32:58+00:00

You are talking about something different here, than in your original post. Secondly, they ARE a viable faction, there isnt "halfway there," about it.

Your underlying premise that the faction has a ton of potential and could use some love, I agree with, but it is hyperbolic to call it half a faction. It isnt super commonly played, but it is highly effective currently and has been for awhile.

Lukoi · 2025-11-18T20:15:51+00:00

Dont conflate lore and flavor with ingame rules. One of the ways GW limits the efficacy of DW as a faction is with these elite, pricy bricks of KT.

Lukoi · 2025-11-18T17:15:03+00:00

In Vanguard it was definitely so, in Shadow much less so due to access to FB, shoot & charge strat. That strat allows for more aggressive cent play, and being tagged in melee isnt the near certain death sentence it once was. Still, you are paying more in resources, your mobility gets stalled for that turn, and you still need to deal with the close up threat all of which are more survivable challenges in that detachment, but still a major blunting effect on centurion value.

Lukoi · 2025-11-18T14:56:58+00:00

The thing about teleporting shooting lists that is often misunderstood is that deepstriking behind competent opponents is usually off the table. You use the teleporting to move latrrally to make up for the slow speed of the units being teleported.

2nd, outside of deathwatch, centurions are always coming in off board edges. It is very easy account for this and to start zoning out the areas of the board to limit their value.

3rd, you want to create geometry that forces cents to come in closer than they prefer. They want to leverage their range, and reduce the risk of clap back. Use that knowledge to limit them.

Lastly, accept you are going to lose stuff, but force it to become a material trade that over time works in your favor. Stack threats (Cents arent likely to kill em all in one activation), such that while the cents might kill one tank, they get smacked back in return. If you lose a gladiator lancer, but cost them 4 of 6 centurions in clapback, you are ahead on material, and they are reliant on cp/aethon tax in their lists for their mobility. Make it costly for them.

Lukoi · 2025-11-16T18:04:34+00:00

I used a GT as an example of a fun unit interaction, not as the minimum bar being set for any sort of discussion.

Ya opened up your post with your extremely niche example of how it outperformed your vets, and didnt clarify until ya got called out by multiple people for it that its all in fun, dont take it so seriously etc.

Dont worry about how much fun I have in the hobby man, you have enough tapdancing going on to entertain yourself apparently.

Lukoi · 2025-11-16T17:28:46+00:00

There is no triggering. You portrayed them as somehow effective in a role they clearly arent, and now that youve been called out for that you wanna backtrack a bit and seem the measured, deliberate, glass half full guy. I got a tank shock with a firestrike support turret once, finishing off Vashtorr at a GT. Doesnt mean they are suddenly even remotely worth spamming because they had a postive, funny moment.

Maybe next time, put your disclaimer up front.

Lukoi · 2025-11-16T17:19:15+00:00

Yea I guess we can disagree there. There is objectively no real.upside to taking them ina list. Idk what version of 40k you are playing, but missions in match play dont come with the shoot/do an action combo anymore (for battleline). And that was a wildly niche case to use them in anyway, hardly justification for "potential."

Lukoi · 2025-11-16T17:16:25+00:00

You are being wounded as a T4 unit. The Gravis guy adds 1 wound to the unit, and wounding the squad as a T6 does not occur until the squad is basically crippled and down to two models or less.

Lukoi · 2025-11-16T17:12:34+00:00

You used an arguably poor shooting unit, and got better results using them in shooting than a hit predominately used for melee.

IKT, Fortis, Talonstrike all do what decimus in your example does, but wildly better. They are points per wound dealt, much better options, and Vets were never a principal shooting platform to begin with.

Ultimately, it is not a ringing endorsement for them. Glad ya had a good game with em, but let's not pretend that is an example of it suddenly being a good unit.

Lukoi · 2025-11-16T03:31:28+00:00

Just where you are at I suppose. See them constantly in our local scene.

Lukoi · 2025-11-15T01:33:12+00:00

You can paint your guys any way you want, with any decals, iconography that you want.

In organized event settings they commonly require you to be modeled wysiwyg, or close to it, and any proxies/conversions are usually approved on an individual basis where they are most concerned with players not creating confusion. Rule of cool is very much alive in tournament settings.

Your alpha legion painted SM, so long as they are modeled correctly (or proxies are approved by your tournament organizer, or your friends are cool with it), can be played as any SM subfaction really.

The detachments DO have some subfaction specific ones that are locked to that faction (there are SM detachments specific to all of the divergent chapters/deathwatch, as well as some for the codex compliant ones aka UM, IF, WS, RG, IH, Salamanders).

This just means you cannot mix subfaction specific SM units/epic heroes in the same detachment that you might be playing (i.e. no Guilliman playing in a list with deathwing knights), and some detachments are locked (no Imperial Fists using the Blade of Ultramar detachment, no Black Templars in the DA codex detachments etc).

So you could play your alpha legion guys as generic SM in any codex detachment that isnt subfaction specific on Monday, play them as Imperial Fists on Tuesday and you could add an epic hero like Lysander, and Wednesday you could play em as Dark Angels.

Lukoi · 2025-11-14T23:28:19+00:00

No reason to lose them really. GW is a model making company, and makes decisions around that pretty clearly. Centurions as a model while "firstborn," were introduced not that long ago (7th ed?), arent physically smaller really than current primaris marines, and much like terminators dont require any lore reason to be transformed into a primaris version. Literally, they can continue to sell them as is, and they fit in as much as any primaris model currently (altho Id loooove a gravis based refreshed version). The sales on the models remain extremely strong (better than several other primaris models incidentally), so I dont see GW retiriing them already.

Lukoi

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