The new season begins on Monday, the 18th of March.

As we leave the secrets of the Deathwing behind, we shift from ‘For the good of the Chapter’ to ‘The Greater Good’ with the commencement of Shadowsun Season.

Alongside a new Battlepass, we are introducing a new Supreme Commander: Commander Shadowsun. She will be the first Warlord to have two versions: a standard Warlord and a Supreme Commander. Much like the existing cards that function as both Bodyguards and Warlords, both iterations of Commander Shadowsun will exist independently. For further information on Commander Shadowsun, stay tuned for her upcoming blog!

With that exciting news revealed, let’s delve into the changes!

Balance Changes

T’au

Overall, T’au as a faction are in a stable and favourable position within the meta, boasting a diverse mix of successful warlords and bodyguards in decks. Hence, this season, we’ve made broad adjustments across their spectrum of options, providing a gentle nudge to certain cards that have been less prominent.

Meion has always struggled to find a sweet spot. As an epic, one would expect decent stats to complement the rarity; however, with no attacks, they are all going into Wounds. With more 2-point cards entering the game, we’re giving Meion a final push to see if they can fit into this slot more effectively. Bringing the wounds down is just to match the new reduced cost.

With ample Outflank options available to T’au, the Hound has faced challenges in competing for this spot. Therefore, we’ve redefined its role to serve as a punchy, cost-effective damage dealer. Now offering valuable counter-attack potential, as well as Melee coverage for T’au’s predominantly ranged decks, he should have a much more useful role in T’au decks going forward.

Cheap Barrage cards often struggle to maximise damage output with a limited on the field. Given the turret’s strong Wounds total for its cost, increasing its range aims to optimise its value during its brief presence on the board.

The Piranha has almost the opposite problem. With the “Scoutflank” trait combo, the Piranha makes a significant turn-one impact when it hits the field. However, it’s held back by not being able to reliably stay on the field, which you would want for its cost. A bump in Wounds will increase its versatility and help it leave turn one in better shape than limping!

T’au boasts numerous potent ranged options, yet maintaining staying power at lower costs remains a challenge. Strengthening the battlesuits, particularly the bulkier broadsides, underscores their intended resilience, offering a clearer distinction between high-impact single-shot units and sustained damage dealers.

Released alongside the Berserk trait, the Krootox initially thrived in a meta with lower damage output, where stacking bonus attacks was feasible. Currently there’s no guarantee that that’s the case, so it’s getting a bit more health to help gain those stacks. Also an all round attack increase means that the Krootox doesn’t need to just rely on taking damage to be effective. Finally with the awesome new model update, I want to make sure we see more of Khagguk out in battles!

Aeldari:

As already mentioned there is a challenge with cheaper Barrage cards. Here the decision is a bit more straightforward with Aeldari to keep them on brand. Take out only a little bit of Glass, but put all the rest in Cannon. You can’t spell “Aeldari” without “Glass Cannon”! Right? Either way, even if Ealion won’t hang around for long, he’s going to have a definite impact.

Triple-attack cards often struggle to deliver meaningful damage due to their distributed stats. To bolster Avandir’s effectiveness as a damage dealer, we’ve significantly buffed all his attacks, aligning him with his intended role as a versatile threat on the battlefield.

Necrons:

While recent balance changes focused on Necron Medicae cards, we’ve broadened our scope to encompass the wider pool of support cards. Despite Sinister Shield’s playability, its price point compared to similar cards calls for a slight reduction to ensure its competitiveness within the game as a whole. In general taking a broader approach to Necrons, focusing on the tools they do and don’t have access to, is definitely worth taking further.

With the previous commentary in mind, we come to the Nightscythe. There is only one other Necron taunt card, the Ghost Ark, but that is relatively new and so won’t be fully usable for many players. The Nightscythe however is a long standing card. For those who know the differences between their Necron croissants the Nightscythe is the support flyer, able to transport and revive units, so its current role as a damage dealer is a bit off. Converting it to the current ‘transport convention’ of Taunt then solves both a lore and in-game problem for Necrons. Of course high cost Taunts can be less appealing so we’re taking a reasonable amount of points off, but instead of bringing all its stats down, it keeps its impressive 343 Wounds at max level. That said it is still able to deliver a big ranged hit of 79 too. If you want a Taunt card that will definitely be able to take the hits, then Necrons now have one. Something especially valuable in higher points campaigns and events, and an unrivalled stopping power synergy with Manifest Nightmare.

While we’re in the Necron bakery (which of course they’re famous for), it makes sense to look at the other pastry shaped flyer. Again the Doom Scythe is a bit misrepresented as the ‘tanky’ offering with Regeneration, where really it’s the one that’s able to deliver serious damage. So we’re moving the Big Game Hunter from the Nightscythe onto the Doomscythe. That said, with the new role of damage dealer, it’s going to struggle with competing with other damage dealers in the same cost bracket. So, it’s also getting a good chunk taken off its cost to ease it more comfortably into its new role.

Servants of the Emperor:

Talking of Taunt cards, we’ve got another one up for a buff. At 11pts Sister Genevieve falls into that often awkward position of being unlikely to last more than one turn or maybe two. At that point it’s normally best to go for a cheaper option, or spend a bit more for a card that can last. With a good general buff that should help the core issue, and she now has fairly formidable attack stats so she can get in some decent damage with confidence.

Here we are again with another Taunt card! For those of you that know the Tanith’s story well, Colm never has it easy. Unfortunately we’ve done it in game too, and as well as giving him Taunt, he’s under statted too. So we’re fixing that. He’s still a punching bag (sorry), but he’s now a strong punching bag!

While looking at the Tanith, Elim is also a little bit behind where you would expect his stats to be for a Major. He’s therefore getting an all round attack buff. After all, Elim always knows where to drive the knife in.

Space Marines:

A once staple unit, Darrios has fallen behind in recent times. By providing a substantial all-around buff, we aim to reinstate him as a viable choice in decks, ensuring he remains a formidable presence on the battlefield.

Another Fear card, Adremo is now struggling to compete with a wealth of other similar options. Looking at his points cost, it’s no surprise given the other options in that bracket, especially against some of the popular named characters. Rather than try and make him compete, taking the price point down should place  him in a much more logical grouping and give him less hot competition for a slot.

Chaos:

As has been a recent theme for Chaos buffs, the focus on bringing Chaos Psychic back to the meta continues, although here in the form of a support card. Kha has always been a good pick: high wounds for durability, Ranged as his strongest attack (which a lot of psykers lack) and the psychic buff on psychic ready. All that said, he’s not often making lists, so a tune up to all of the above, most notably his damage output, should make him a solid pick.

Since losing Regeneration, Kattorax hasn’t been bringing as much of the tanky Nurgle feel as he used to, so adding a good chunk of additional health should keep him feeling as the damage sponge that Death Guard warriors are.

Orks:

One of my all time favourite cards! On the design side I really liked that at max level Kerrboom’s Wounds and Melee were exactly the same. With the release of omni-levels that was no longer the case, so I thought it was about time to put that right! Also any excuse to give the little guy a buff.

Following on with recurring themes from previous seasons, here’s another lower cost Ranged Ork card getting a buff. This change though is a bit more significant with the trait swap to Scout. Surprisingly, Orks only have one Ranged Scout at the moment, the Legendary Grot Tanks. Given that Ork Dakka is and always has been a strong Ork archetype it’s surprising that they don’t have a cheap low rarity scout access. Well now they do, and it should make Gutrog immediately much more desirable.

Tyranids:

The Black Lance has always been one that hasn’t quite gelled with existing builds. A bit too squishy and neither too versatile, or too specialised. Here we aim to take some of the squish out, and make his attack stats balanced to really hone in on that role as a versatile damage dealer. It also fits the model better which is the more melee orientated loadout, rather than the ranged one.

Similar problem again here with Nerys, and can often be the case for the cards in the 10-20pt range. The buffs here also help with Tyranid Psychic builds, which have never quite been right when attempting to go for a Psychic focused deck. Bit more Wounds, bit more damage, should make her more reliable and impactful.

And that rounds us off for this balance change! Hopefully the feeling of more meaningful changes continue this season, and we aim to continue on more traits and overall reworks for cards where appropriate. Honing in on gaps and faction issues as a whole, and sorting them card by card.

Happy hunting for the Greater Good!