How would you list the different factions in strength right now? Up to the release of the Fourth Waystone and March of the Damned.

Here's mine, not a lot of tournament play here, so a lot of this is what I see on paper. And of course, this is all IMO, and what I would expect in a tournament environment. You regular tournament players should come in and tell us what you think.

#1: Dwarf:
Great throughout the entire game. Can do everything (except rush) and can do it well. They also have the best reset.

#2: Orc
Solely for rush alone. In a tournament, Orc will run through a ton of decks, just because they aren't equipped to deal with rush.

It's kind of funny though, because Orc has some good options for support destruction and a solid reset. I don't think their late game is very good, because they have few good sniping options. (God **** you Wilhelm, putting Beardburner in quest!) Grimgor is a showstopper though, that's for sure.

#3 Empire:
The most consistant early game. They have really good options for setup in the first two turns. Their reset, while the most powerful, is kind of a newb cannon, but if you're feeling creative, you can build around it.
They have the best disruption of the Order races with Rodrik's Raiders and infiltrate. Unlike Dwarf though, they do have weaknesses: They are squishy (I know I celebrated when I saw that first 2 HP character under 3 cost) which creates some problems matched up against Dark Elf. And they don't have great options for damage in the battlefield. Knight's Panther is definitely a step in the right direction though.

#4 Dark Elf:
Also an excellent early game, Shades are nuts, Vile Sorc's are nuts. Slave Pen is an excellent addition as well. Easily the best control in the game (if you can keep them down). My only issue with Dark Elf is once someone plays that lucky Contested Stronghold, or Mining Tunnels and build those cards back up, you're SOL. All your work for naught, (now we know why Malekith was so angry.) They have zero good options for pricey supports, and no reset to speak of. Withering Hex is a step in the right direction though, and actually quite good in the early game. Naggaroth Spearmen is great late game, if you can keep him from getting killed/returned to hand/corrupted by the novel of cards your opponent probably has in his hand by this time.

#5 High Elf:
6x better, though still 5th. They've gotten a GREAT new first turn option against all but Orc (Dreamer + Dragonmage Ascension), and good late mid to late game options with indirect damage.
Their utility is better than Orc and DE, through access to Demolition and Skinks of Sotek. Lizardmen in general seem to do really well for High Elf. The Spawn of Itzil makes indirect damage a bit scarier too. They have lots of great combos that are just horribly fragile (mass healing death, wake the dragon+gift of aenerion, dreamer nonsense, etc.) so when left unchecked, their ranking will soar. Their reset is cool, it can be beneficial to you because of the back to hand, but this also makes it less useful vs rush.

#6 Chaos
Definitely the black sheep of the game. Bad early game, bad late game, no reset, little utility. Corruption is good, but not as a theme in itself. It's best coupled with Rush which Chaos cannot do, or card disruption which Chaos cannot do.
You can make them work in tournaments, but you have to be lucky and draw into your core resources early. They do have some fun cards though, and some cool combos. (Berserker Fury + Valkya) (Blood Summoning + Skaven/Rat Ogres) Raise Dead + Bloodthirster)

Dwarf
Empire
High Elf
Orc
Dark Elf
Skaven
Undead
Lizardmen
Bretonian
Witch Hunter
Wood Elves (coming January '11)
Chaos

Good read Kefka, but I would switch places between Empire and Orcs. Just to much Order love lately: Derricksburg Forge, Called Back, Wilhellm of Osterknacht, Rodrik's Raiders, Friedrich Hemmler, Knights Panther...

No good options for damage in battlefield? Like being rushed as an Orc by Hellblaster fueled Militia?

And of course Long Winter, newb cannon you say? How can Orc defend against Verena playing one development a turn, when he gets it on second turn with Will of Electors/Long Winter?

As for Orcs, sadly, they're pure rush. Sure, none can stand before 2 turn 2 sellswords+spider riders+ waaagh, repeated in 3 turn. But that's pure chance. Orcs do have good reset or at least had. Now it's helping the good guys more than them

Few good sniping options - that's true. Also like one good (non combat) support? Grimgor's Camp anyone?

Orcs depend on good, cheap units. Current meta is units hate heavy.

You are hilarious f7eleven. Chaos does seem to be that bad, huh?

Virgo said:

True, and all good points. However, the Helblaster decktype and the Verena decktype are two different animals, so you're only really going to be able to efficiently take advantage of one or the other. Dwarf and Orc both have all of their best eggs in one basket. Show me your definitive Empire deck, and lets pair it up against the Orc rush and analyze from there.

1.) Order

2.) Chaos

f7eleven said:

How do you know?

Aryan said:

I think he just hates Chaos that much.

I've gotta say, I agree with your rankings for the most part kefka. Although I think DE is slowly creeping up on empire to be tied for best control deck.

Verena is a pretty ballin' card to be honest. Obviously not good vs. dwarves, but it will usually be able to catch about any other deck sooner or later.

@ Virgo Squig pens is a pretty awesome support for orcs. Easily on par or maybe better than grimgor's camp.

Grove said:

Pretty awesome especially against Empire

Although you can put in quest, it kills Orcs best opening: Grimgor's Camp+We'z Bigga!+Squig Herders

Kefka here's my "definitive" orc deck:

3 Veteran Sellswords
3 Crooked Teef Goblins
2 Fungusbrew Goblin
3 Spider Riders
3 Clan Moulder's Elite
3 Lobber Crew
3 Squig Herders
3 Stunty Smasha

Tactics (15):
3 We'z Bigga!
3 Smash-Go-Boom!
3 Pillage
3 Foot of Gork
3 Waaagh!

Supports (12):
3 Warpstone Excavation
3 Choppa
3 Contested Village
3 Grimgor's Camp

Dammit, should be 2 Night Goblins, not Fungusbrew.

That looks like a fast ork deck.

Lots of development hatred, running the stunty smasha over snotling pump wagon? Personally I like to run orcs with a damaged units theme, (spidah huntin/ war paint). I can certainly dig the super support/development control though, especially if you have peeps who love dwarves/verena too much.

Grove said:

Running Stunty Smasha over Followers of Mork. I've never been using Snotling Pump Wagon, it's worse than Spider Riders/Clan Moulder's Elite by far and having too many battlefield only units may result in: I lose after mulligan

Spidah Huntin is just worse Choppa, and just like for War Paint, I have no room for it. Also I run only 2 cost or cheaper units since Slayers of Karak-Kadrin/Called Back.

And yes, the deck is suited against Empire/Dwarfs. HE and DE have never been a problem.

But this isn't Deck Building. Anyone care to share their races strongest builds?

Here's a DE favorite of mine, adapted with some of the new cards. It's like the Naggoroth one I posted before, except more streamlined.

Walking Sacrifice x3
Dark Initiate x3
Shades x3
Vile Sorceress x3
Dwarf Slaves x3
Naggaroth Spearmen x3
Mortella x1
Seasoned Corsair x3
Wight Lord x3

Warpstone Excavation x3
Contested Village x3
Slave Pens x3
Har Ganath x2
Treasure Vaults x1

Innovation x3
Hate x3
We Need your Blood x3
Withering Hex x3

I like this deck, because it rules the early game. Hate ruins first hand draws, and if you're lucky enough to have a We Need your Blood in hand, you can hopefully get in a parting blow against a unit before your turn starts.

I like to put Slave Pens in quest, so I can count resources, and burn a guy in kingdom afterwards and add him to my card total. I would've loved to add in Vanguard of Woe or Crypt Ghouls for this purpose, but I added Dwarf Slaves to hopefully trigger Dark Initiate a turn early, and to a lesser extent, get a really nice innovation in the first couple of turns.

Dwarf Slaves, Initiate, Innovation, Slave Pens is probably my favorite first turn draw.

Mortella is great because everyone runs innovation, picking up a stray demolition or called back is really nice too.

It's pretty unit hate-heavy, which isn't always a great idea, but unlike Chaos, almost all of the hate is a byproduct of the units, so it leaves the tactic slot free and makes the control less reliant on tactics.

It's weak offensively, but it also isn't going to get rolled over by MROS. Naggaroth are there for clean-up after you clear a zone with Wight Lords or Corsairs.

â—Kefkaâ— said:

I really like this deck. I'm still a member of the DE discard school, myself.(with the addition of wight lord, slave pens, and numberless graves. I call it my Matthew McConaughey from Dazed and Confused deck) How do you feel about a DE/Undead power manipulation deck? It's a slower deck build, but I like the Enraged Varghulf and the always terrified Spirit Host.

Good job on the tiers. It's spot on. Ranks 2-5 seem to be only one to three cards away from each other . And while Dwarves don't have rush, they do have a turn 3 explosion with the slayers.