Alex Spathopoulos’ 6-0 Chaos Space Marines took the Palm Springs Classic army lists crown, leading an all-Chaos top three.
Chaos didn’t just win the 2026 Palm Springs Classic; it took every podium spot. Overall, Chaos Space Marines finished first, Emperor’s Children landed in second, and another Chaos Space Marines army took third. No loyalist or xenos list got near the crown this year.
Alex Spathopoulos was the only player to finish a perfect 6-0. So if you’re trying to figure out where the new edition’s meta is heading, the top tables at this 40k GT seem to be pointing in one direction with Defilers and named Chaos characters that keep showing up near the top,
So, let’s break down all three army lists and see what got them there.
Palm Springs Classic: Top 3 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- Chaos Space Marines and Emperor’s Children took all three Palm Springs Classic podium spots: The Dark Gods owned the new edition’s top tables, with no loyalist or xenos army making the top three.
- Alex Spathopoulos finished 6-0 with a Huron-led Renegade Raiders attrition list: He was the only player in the field to finish without a loss or draw.
- Defilers and Huron or Vashtorr character packages appeared in two of the three winning lists: The same heavy Chaos tools kept showing up where the wins were.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can go through the event using real pairings and battle point data.
Alex Spathopoulos’s Renegade Raiders Chaos Space Marines Ground the Field Down
Alex was the only player at Palm Springs to finish 6-0, using a Renegade Raiders Chaos Space Marines list built to grind opponents down. This Reconnaissance army trades bodies, controls the middle, and lets its characters handle the serious killing. There isn’t a big gimmick hiding here either; it just wins the important fights and keeps enough models on the board to finish out the scoring.
Renegade Raiders Roster Breakdown
Huron Blackheart is the Warlord and holds the aggressive side of the army together. Vashtorr the Arkifane and a Lord Discordant on Helstalker add two more large threats that can hit hard and take return fire, too. The Lord Discordant carries the Dread Reaver enhancement, while a Warpsmith helps keep the vehicles running.
Overall, the infantry handles the grind as expected, with a Chosen brick and Masters of the Maelstrom taking care of the close-range work. While two Chaos Rhinos move a Cultist Mob and Traitor Guardsmen squad into position as disposable screens. Raptors and Red Corsairs Raiders can also break away to pressure backfield objectives, so Alex doesn’t have to leave his strongest units sitting at home.
A Defiler provides the heavy shooting, while two allied Noise Marine units add more ranged damage than Chaos Space Marines usually bring. Altogether, the army has something for every phase, which is exactly what a list needs to go 6-0.
How Renegade Raiders Wins the Attrition War
The plan is simple for this army, really. Keep trading until the opponent runs out of useful models. Huron and the Lord Discordant move up to start fights, the Defiler and Noise Marines put in damage from range, and the cheap infantry stay on objectives while the expensive units do the killing.
Alex didn’t lose a game across all six rounds, finishing with a 92-point final-round win over Zach Manago’s Grey Knights. When an army can compete in both the shooting and assault phases like this, opponents don’t have many safe options left to engage it.
Alejandro Garcia’s Court of the Phoenician Emperor’s Children Flooded the Board
Alejandro finished second at 5-0-1, and his Emperor’s Children army took a completely different approach from the winner. While Alex relied on large threats, Alejandro brought lots of bodies. This Purge the Foe list wants to put more scoring models on the table than its opponent can realistically remove.
Court of the Phoenician Roster Breakdown
Fulgrim leads the army as Warlord and handles just about anything he reaches in melee. Three separate Lord Exultants each join an Infractor squad, giving the army three durable, self-contained units that can advance together without folding the first time they take damage.
More Infractors and a Tormentor squad fill out the battleline, with two Chaos Rhinos available to move units wherever they’re needed. Two Defilers provide ranged support, which helps a body-heavy army pressure shooting lists before they start clearing out the infantry.
The repeated units aren’t an accident, either. Each brick does the same basic job, forcing the opponent to answer the same problem again and again until they essentially run out of answers.
How the Court of the Phoenician Wins the Board
Overall, the Emperor’s Children want to control where the fights happen, and a wall of Infractors makes that much easier. They move up, charge, and keep attacking after falling back thanks to the army rule, making them difficult to trap or shut down.
Alejandro’s only dropped points came from his round-5 draw against GitHammer teammate Victor Campos, but he finished the event with an 80-73 win over Zayd Alshoushi’s Necrons, securing second place.
Victor Campos’s Murdertalon Raiders Chaos Space Marines Owned the Midboard
Victor finished third at 5-0-1 with the most character-heavy Chaos list of the three. He named it “Welcome to 11th, the edition where everything is made up, and the points don’t matter,” which gives you a decent idea of how he’s treating the new rules. This is exactly the kind of build that only works when the player understands the 40k meta and knows exactly what each piece is there to do.
Murdertalon Raiders Roster Breakdown
Vashtorr the Arkifane is the Warlord here, backed by a loaded set of characters. Huron Blackheart, a Lord Discordant on Helstalker, and a jump-pack Chaos Lord with the Pact of Cursed Pinions all apply pressure in different ways. The jump-pack Lord leads a unit of Warp Talons, giving Victor a fast melee threat that can arrive almost anywhere.
The rest of the army is built to contest the middle with the Masters of the Maelstrom and a Chosen unit, which provide durable objective holders; two Cultist Mobs screen the approach; and two units of Chaos Bikers grab ground early. Two Defilers provide the ranged threats, while a Red Corsairs Raiders squad handles flanking and utility work.
Because the army uses multiple detachments from Murdertalon Raiders and Veterans of the Long War, Victor can take the specific tools he wants, too, without forcing the entire list into one playstyle.
How Murdertalon Raiders Wins the Midboard
The army uses speed to stack more threats in the middle than an opponent can comfortably handle. Warp Talons and Bikers move onto key areas during the opening turns, the Defilers punish clumped units, and then the character package takes over once melee starts.
He followed up his draw with a 91-71 final-round win over Xavier Michel’s Chaos Space Marines, securing the last podium spot for a third Chaos army.
Final Thoughts on the Palm Springs Classic Army Lists & the Warhammer 40k Meta
An all-Chaos podium this early in the new edition is definitely a result worth watching. Chaos Space Marines and Emperor’s Children both have the tools to control the board, hold the middle, and win long attrition games. Palm Springs showed what those armies can do too, when strong players push them through a full GT.
Anyone preparing for this kind of field needs ways to clear cheap screens quickly and outscore the Defilers before they settle into strong firing positions. Either way, either the new balance dataslate, or next week’s GT results should show whether the rest of the meta has found an answer to Chaos, or if they will continue to dominate well into 11th edition.
🔗 Related Reads:
- How to Play Chaos Space Marines
- How to Play Emperor’s Children
- Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- More Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- 40k Tournament Guide
- Warhammer 40k Factions Guide
- Latest 40k Balance Dataslate
- Munitorum Field Manual Points Updates
What do you think of the all-Chaos Palm Springs Classic podium?
