GW Confirms the Best & Worst AoS Armies in the Meta

By Travis Pasch | March 29th, 2024 | Categories: Age of Sigmar, Cities of Sigmar, Games Workshop, Tabletop Gaming News & Rumors, Warhammer Army Lists, Warhammer Community

According to the data from Games Workshop, these are the best (top winning) and worst Age of Sigmar AoS armies in the meta up to March 2024!

GW has been keeping a closer eye on the meta recently and is trying to keep everyone around that 50% win rate with the Dataslates, Rules Commentary, and FAQs. However, the game has a lot of rules and mechanics, so not every army will always stay balanced. If you remember, the current General’s Handbook lasts for an entire year instead of the usual six months, which means GW should have a good handle on the balance of the game right now.

GW Confirms the Best & Worst AoS Armies at AdeptiCon’s Meta

Here is the latest on the Warhammer meta at Adepticon for AoS and 40k.

However, there were some very interesting trends revealed for Age of Sigmar in the Games Workshop studio interview.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that Flesh-eater Courts did really well at the event. However, the Hedonites of Slaanesh came out as an interesting counter to the army. Not only were they a solid counter to one of the best armies out there, but they also won the event! In the last Metawatch, they only had a 51% win rate, and with the recent changes, they came out on top of one of the biggest events of the year!

Not much else has changed since the last Metawatch for AoS, but it is interesting to see armies like Lumineth Realm-lords have viable choices for almost every unit. Bonereapers are still very strong, but a lot of armies were still doing decently. However… with a new edition of AoS dropping soon, we don’t expect them to really make any changes to the game before that drops. So, hopefully, you are enjoying the meta that’s happening now.

GW Confirms the Best & Worst Age of Sigmar AoS Armies in the Meta

Here is the latest on the Age of Sigmar meta according to Warhammer Community

With the Battlescroll barely in the rearview mirror, the majority of the available data is from before its release. The majority of factions in the game are sitting within the 45-55% target win rate, with a few outliers that are being monitored.

This is a pretty balanced meta in terms of win rate, as there are only a few outliers from the 45-55% “sweet spot.”

The Cities of Sigmar have just started to feel the impact of their changes, and the Warhammer Studio is keeping tabs on their performance as more data comes in. However we can see how the new Battletome: Flesh-eater Courts is performing very favourably – perhaps those chivalric ghouls have been emboldened by the return of Ushoran?

The Cities of Sigmar are clearly above the rest with a 56% win rate, but even that isn’t horrible. They are followed by the new Flesh-eater Courts, which are also quite strong, with a 53% win rate. Bonereapers have been doing well for a while now, so it’s not a big surprise to see them at the top.

While GW aims for 45%- 55%, many armies are well below the 50% win rate. Again, not every faction can be the best, but a large swathe of armies are below 50%. Unfortunately, Kruleboyz has been pretty bad for a long time now, and they continue to bring up the bottom of the meta.

We also recently saw the Age of Sigmar Las Vegas Open results, so let’s see some of the top lists that dominated so far in 2024!

Top Age of Sigmar Armies at LVO

The sheer number of different factions represented in the top 10 – nine, with only Cities of Sigmar appearing twice – speaks to a very level playing field in Warhammer Age of Sigmar. Even armies that had previously made less impact in tournament gameplay, like the Kruleboyz and Stormcast Eternals, put in a very strong showing this time around, with both reaching the top tables in the wake of targeted improvements.

Again, this sounds like the meta is super healthy, with so many armies taking the top ten spots at LVO 2024. They talk about how almost every army is in the 45%- 55% range that they want. Plus here’s a breakdown of the top four armies from LVO!

After a huge refresh and unit expansion last year, the Cities of Sigmar have hit the ground running, with two very different lists making it to the top table. The overall champion, Jeremy Lefebvre, made great use of many new units from Freeguild Steelhelms and Cavaliers to a pair of Freeguild Command Corps and even Hexbane’s Hunters from Warhammer Underworlds.

The Cities of Sigmar got a huge range refresh not that long ago, and it looks like it was super helpful, as Jeremy was able to take the top spot with them!

The runner-up was commanded by Gavin Grigar and made ample use of Steam Tanks to run rough-rimmed over infantry and monsters alike in earlier brackets.

Even though they said only two armies made multiple top 10 placings, they took 1st and 2nd, so they are doing quite well.

In third place, Fabien Barbusse’s Khorne list featured a fascinating mix of units with many characterful inclusions from Warhammer Underworlds and Warcry. Magore’s Fiends, the Claws of Karanak, and the Godsworn Hunt all showed up for the party, alongside a terrifying complement of champions.

Blades of Khorne took third, and in the last Metawatch, they had a 53% win rate. However, they are still doing quite well in the meta.

Finally, the top four was rounded out by a classic airborne list of Kharadron Overlords captained by Jeremy Veysseire. The mix of Grundstock Thunderers and Arkanaut Frigates will be familiar to many longstanding Kharadron players, led by the quintessential Leader trio of an Arkanaut Admiral, Aetheric Navigator, and Aether-Khemist.

Like the Blades of Khorne, the Kharadron Overlords were doing well in the meta back in 2023, so it’s no surprise they are still taking top spots.

Age of Sigmar Metawatch For August 2023

The new Metawatch for Age of Sigmar comes from Warhammer Community.

Soulblight Gravelords and Ossiarch Bonereapers are excelling due to a good cross-section of units to choose from, which are all viable. Though a handful of subfactions are represented more than others, even the lesser-used Avengorii for the vampires, and Null Myriad for Katakros’ armies are pulling their weight.

GW tries to keep all the armies in a 45%-55% range, and this time around, there are only three armies above the 55%, but with Bonereapers at 61%, they are smashing right now. While only having three armies above the win rate range isn’t too bad, six armies are far below the 45% threshold (and three right at 45%.)

The one army that is always hard to keep at a good win rate is Stormcast Eternals, considering they are played so often and many times by newer players.

Overall, the Cities of Sigmar are probably the strongest army right now, but the meta seems to have settled down and plenty of armies made it near the top.