Welcome to another Top 4, players! 

With Warhammer Underworlds organised play starting across the world, we thought we'd provide a bit of insight into what works at our events.

We had a nicely mixed bag at yesterday's event, though Garrek's Reavers and the Chosen Axes were notably absent. Khorne's footsoldiers are having a hard time in the current meta, and the Fyreslayers perhaps haven't had time to find their ideal build. Here's the breakdown: 

We were pleasantly surprised when all four attending factions found a place in the top 4 finishers, which clearly shows it's more about the plays and the decks. So let's take a look at some cards! 

Starting us off is 4th place finisher Michael, commanding Ironskull's Boyz.

Michael's objectives deck was beautiful in its simplicity and played straight into the Orruk's strengths: go 'ard and krump stuff! 

Objectives

• Denial
• Conquest
• Too Dumb To Die
• Swift Advance
• Ploymaster
• Crushing Force
• Ders More Of Us
• Punch Up
• Good Scrap
• Biggest An Da Best
• Call Of The WAAAGH
• Get Da Boss

Powers

• Daemonic Weapon
• Great Fortitude
• Awakened Weapon
• Great Strength
• WAAAGH
• Ard Ead
• Eadbutt
• Unkillable
• Brutal Frenzy
• Brutal Swing
• Kunnin But Brutal
• Brutal But Kunnin
• Avin A Good Time
• More Choppin
• Last Lunge
• Gorkamorka's Blessing
• Leadin By Example
• Duel Of Wits
• Sidestep
• Distraction

Duel of the metal suits!

A new face on the scene for us at JustPlay, Skritch Spiteclaw scuttled his way into 3rd place under the watchful eye of our pal Jamie, reminding me eerily of a lab rat in the moments before it learns to escape the maze. Some lightning-fast manoeuvres and timely ploys mixed into a hold-based deck proved the Skaven are not to be taken lightly! 

Objectives

• Hold 1
• Hold 2
• Hold 3
• Hold 4
• Hold 5
• Tactical Supremacy 1-2
• Supremacy
• Making a Statement
• Ploymaster
• Escalation
• Skritch is the Greatest, yes-yes
• Determined Defender

Power Deck

• Shifting Shards
• Ready For Action
• Nervous Scrabbling
• Confused Priorities
• Sidestep
• Earthquake
• Confusion
• Rethink Strategy
• There Are Always More
• Illusory Fighter
• Great Strength
• Great Speed
• The Shadowed Key
• The Blazing Key
• The Fractured Key
• The Dazzling Key
• Shadowglass Darts
• Acrobatic
• Skitter-Skurry
• Great Fortitude

Blood and Glory...

Clawing their way through the soft earth and into our hearts and minds, and second place, came Harry's Sepulchral Guard. I've heard a lot of times that these boney nuisances are really good for defeating a specific opponent, but can really struggle to build a good take-all-comers deck. Not so for Harry! He went for an objective holding strategy too, throwing more into it than the Skaven, as is the skeletons' right. A good spread of power cards allowed reactions to most things, without casting such a wide net that the right cards never showed up.

Objectives

• Hold 1
• Hold 2
• Hold 3
• Hold 4
• Tactical Genius 1-3
• Tactical Supremacy 1-2
• Tactical Supremacy 3-4
• Skills Unforgotten
• Precise Use Of Force
• Determined Defender

Power Cards

• Ceaseless Attacks
• Ready For Action
• Rethink Strategy
• Confused Priorities
• Restless Dead
• Earthquake
• Terrifying Screams
• Sidestep
• Dance Macabre
• The Necromancer Commands
• Great Speed
• Great Strength
• The Shadowed Key
• The Blazing Key
• Awakened Weapon
• The Dazzling Key
• Frightening Speed
• Helpful Whispers
• Shadeglass Hammer
• Great Fortitude

That brings us to our winner! Jai, in command of his Stormcast. And who better to tell you what's what than the man himself? 

"Honestly I didn’t think about winning! I’m relatively new to Shadespire. I owe a lot to the quality of my regular opponents who push me to the next level. It was tough day with some intimidating opponents and some very swingy matches.

"I learned a lot from this event and will be making some modifications such as adding a trap card to put more things into one-shot range without relying on Great Strength. The first card I dropped right after the tourney ended was Immovable Object and I will likely be replacing it with Alone In The Darkness or something similar.

"Any movement shenanigan cards are always going to be the first cards into a deck for me. Earthquake alone helped me bring back a lost game against a difficult match up for the Stormcast, The Orruks.

"My opponent used Shattered Ground, I used Earthquake knowing my valiant “Eternals” would be getting butchered in one hit by Gurzag. The loss of 1 life for me wasn't too much of an issue but making all his guys one-shottable to an Inspired Severin (with Awakened Weapon) made all the difference!

"I was able to charge and kill the boss, spend a glory to put Great Strength onto Severin then drop Ready for Duty for an additional attack: doing a 3 damage Mighty Swing to two other Orruks (I also had a Tireless Assault in hand as a last resort) That move alone swung the game right back to me."

As for the event itself?