Study Guide: Worlds 2024

With two and a half weeks to go until Adepticon, focus on the World Championship for Star Wars: Legion has never been higher. Everyone anxiously awaits their shot for a chance of calling themselves the best player in the world!

In this article, I will discuss the upcoming World Championship and hit some major points around the event:

• The format (as we understand it) and how it affects you the player.

• Some general do's and don't's for this tournament/general convention tournaments.

• What lists you should expect to see.

To start off, let's talk some specifics about the structure of this tournament. At the time of me writing this, there are still a number of unknowns, so I will try my best to only speak on things that I have solid information about in an effort to keep you all informed as best as possible. However, most of the information regarding the tournament can be found here.

Part 1 – The Format

The first day will have 272 players playing 3 rounds of Swiss (and I would expect there to be not a soul less, as +4 spots via the LCQ will supply even more players for the opening day of the tournament). Then, day 2 will consist of only 32 players (essentially all players who went undefeated on the first day) playing another 3 rounds of Legion. Lastly, the final day will take only undefeated players again with merely the top 4 to play 2 more rounds, leaving us with a single undefeated player crowned champion.

This tournament, as currently written, is essentially single elimination. The world champion will have to go undefeated throughout the entire weekend, contrary to the two previous winners of Adepticon. Once you begin a day, you are still entitled to at least 3 games of Swiss (possibly 4). However, once you lose you are no longer eligible to win the tournament.

Now, you might be doing some math and concluding that after 3 rounds on the first day, there will not be an even 32 players. In fact, if you do the equation ((276/2)/2)/2, you'll get the number 34.5. That means that there will be at least 34 undefeated players after 3 rounds on Friday. There will be a forced "shadow" 4th round at the end of Friday to determine who moves on from there. The original format had the cap at 256, which would've left an even 32 players after 3 rounds, but I assume they didn't realize the sheer number of people who have invites and later increased the maximum player threshold to 268 and again to 276.

*Edit: Evidentially, via the new Head Judge's words on The Legion Discord, there will be 4 rounds on Day 1 and the Top 32 will be taken from there, meaning you don't necessarily have to go undefeated Day 1.

Another important thing to know before going into the tournament is the actual gameplay structure. Most of the legion community has grown accustomed to the 150-minute end-of-round structure, with an added 15-minute interval before calling hard dice down. Previously, the time was always called out by the TO for everyone to hear, usually at important marks like the 90-minute, 1 hour, 30-minute and 10-minute mark before the "end-of-round" announcement was made.

According to AMG and Adepticon, AMG staff will be the Head TO of the event rather than the previously mentioned John Griffin (who organized the event in previous years). With the info AMG mentioned in the "rules" section on the Adepticon site that I linked here and above, the Galactic Conquest Event tournament format that AMG created will be in effect. I highly encourage you all to read this through thoroughly, because this is not at all anything like what legion tournaments have used in the past in a couple key categories. Most of it is self-explanatory, like "use official dice, official tools and official models." However, what is vastly different is the determining of time in a round and how the game ends after "time in the round" is called. All of it is stated in the aforementioned document, so please give it a read!

As we all know, this tournament is not a clear black and white indicator of who is best because of the nature of the game. Luck and some general good fortune are always necessary in order to place first in any given major event. This is a dice game after all, so nothing is ever guaranteed. This fact applies to all Legion events, and also leads us to the first of our Do's and Don't's....

Part 2 – Do or Do Not, There is no Try

DON'T get overly emotional about the events that transpire on the tabletop. While this tournament is definitely a competitive one, there will only be a single winner. In fact, half of the players will lose the very first game they play, therefore being effectively eliminated from contention. While this can be a somewhat tough pill to swallow, we must always remember what this is at its core: a game. People traveled all of the way to Adepticon because of the love they have for this game and winning is simply a bonus. Be kind and courteous to all, and simply have a great time!

DO bring all of your tools! Now, your first thought might go straight to movement and range tools, understandably so. What I mostly mean are your other tools, like your silhouettes, barricades and payload carts (if anyone still plays that objective). These are such easy things to forget yet are still totally necessary to have ready to go. Again, this is a competitive tournament, and not having a silhouette handy could prove frustrating for both you and your opponent if it is needed.

DO have quick and easy access to move your minis from table to table. I'm sure most everyone in attendance will have been to a convention style event before, but I still see this everywhere I go. Some people carry a cumbersome case around that will house the entirety of their faction or armies for other games they might plan to play over the weekend. I recommend separating your armies, if possible, and just bringing only what you need. It can be incredibly frustrating for your opponent when you have to burn already scarce time simply getting things in/out of your case and ready to play.

DON'T limit your Adepticon experience to just Legion! Sign up for the vast pool of other events going on within the con. There are all sorts of different play modes, different games, painting classes and a huge vendor hall to peruse. Make sure that you block out time to enjoy the con and all it has to offer.

Part 3 – And now you will die....

Now that the official stuff is out of the way, onto the exciting stuff: seeing which lists to watch out for and why. Concluding my analysis of a given list archetype, I'll be assessing each a portion of the "Worlds Pie" (A.K.A the percent chance I give them to win it all when not factoring in the pilot of the list).

As a preface, I handpicked the 14 best list archetypes I believe are currently in the game. Even if I assess that a given list has a very small piece of the Worlds Pie, it is by no means a knock on the list. Again, only one (or maybe none) of these lists will actually win worlds, and the player usually carries the list, not the other way around. I also included the records/winning percentage of these lists from the past 3 biggest Swiss style tournaments of 2024 (Cherokee Open, Las Vegas Open, Nordics WOQ). Don't put too much stock into the exact numbers, but the sample size is decent enough and the records generally show you what is/isn't popular.

Empire

Darktroopers

Win Percentage: 43.75% (21-27)

Strengths: Incredible firepower, incredibly resilient when opponent lacks Impact

Weaknesses: Lacks bodies for Objectives, prone to anti-armor skews, surrounding list is usually bare bones.

Countered by: Any list with a plethora of Impact/Critical

To kick things off, I'm assessing my only 0% list on the entire Worlds Pie. I know that Darktroopers are still vaunted in parts of the galaxy... but not in the part where competitive legion players dwell. They are plenty good enough to make the list, but not nearly versatile enough to win the whole thing.

List reference: Finn's Runner-Up Nordic's '24 List

Worlds Pie: 0%

Blizzard Force

Win Percentage: 60.4% (29-19)

Strengths: Incredible offensive output, Vader shenanigans, incredibly favorable battle deck

Weaknesses: Mediocre defensive viability, limited Objective-grabbing units

Countered by: Clone Dodge spam, Pykes

Blizzard force is still every bit as strong as it was a year ago.... ok, maybe not THAT strong, but it is still extremely good. Even though this Battleforce was taxed nearly 50 points from its former version, nothing mechanically has really changed. Being forced to play Commander Darth Vader over Operative Darth Vader feels more like a lateral shift, as Commander Vader is incredibly strong and brings a lot to the table. Most lists that line up across the table from Blizzard still won't be able to handle the raw firepower they dish out expect for Pykes and Clone dodge balls, which can somewhat brunt the firepower long enough to effectively return damage. Blizzard will present a lot of tough questions and can very easily take things all the way to the final table.

List reference: Josh Grimmer's Nova Winning List

Worlds Pie: 8%

Bounty Hunter(s) Gunline

Win Percentage: 41.1% (51-73)

Strengths: Long range Pierce access, very strong Bounty Hunter options, versatile

Weaknesses: Occasionally unreliable corps, average defensively

Countered by: Highly mobile objectives, Ewoks, Experimental Droids

This archetype is a bit broad, but I think still is very easy to understand. It is a gunline built around at least 1, and often times 2, Bounty Hunters (and 1 is almost always going to be Boba Fett). Don't let the win percentage deceive you, either, as some incredibly strong builds can be formed around this archetype. The list has decent corps offensive output via access to Shoretroopers, good long range pierce options with the scout snipers, and heavy hitting bounty hunters like Boba, IG-88 and Bossk that can make this list very deadly.

This sort of list is somewhat worse than where it was positioned last year, but in an odd way it has gained some stock as the bigger dice pools and High Velocity access give this sort of list options into Dodge spam that others simply do not have. They also can be built in so many versatile ways that allow them to generally be better positioned than other Imperial archetypes. Do not be shocked to see one of these go all the way.

List reference: Luke Cook's Worlds Winning List (with some alterations, as it is now no longer legal) or Wes Wagner's WTC List

Worlds Pie: 11%

Imperial Remnant

Win Percentage: 51.1% (23-22)

Strengths: Diverse Battle Deck, incredibly strong offensive firepower

Weaknesses: Usually lacking activations, prone to an opposing lightsaber, lacks order control

Countered by: Lightsabers, Yoda Gunlines

Imperial Remnant is a bit of a tough nut to crack. It truthfully reminds me a lot of Experimental Droids, which we will discuss a little further ahead. The ranged firepower is really something to see, as taking Deathtroopers with a significantly discounted heavy weapon can prove to be... deadly hehe. Scout Troopers and Shoretroopers both get incredibly dangerous when they can equip the T21 Stormtrooper heavy weapon, and don't forget that this Battleforce can sprinkle in Darktroopers as well.

The free tokens on everyone ramps this thing up to 11... so why are they not better? It's because there is a clear lack of linebackers in the unit roster. They have no real counters to an opposing lightsaber getting into their lines and ripping them apart. If not for that one glaring hole, they'd be pretty darn perfect.

List reference: Dustin Grorud's and Tom Patten's LVO '24 Lists

Worlds Pie: 5%

Republic

Anakin Gunline

Win Percentage: 51.4% (55-52)

Strengths: Incredibly token efficient, strong offensive and defensive viability

Weaknesses: Incredibly stagnant, susceptible to High Velocity, Anakin's lack of playmaking for a Jedi

Countered by: Range 4+ Gunlines, Ewoks

Anakin gunlines were all the rage about 6 months ago. You'd see them in over half of all clone lists at tournaments, and they were performing with relative success. They are very defensive and have excellent token efficiency allowing them to maximize every single dice roll. Over time, people have realized that Yoda's playmaking ability tends to overshine beyond Anakin's plethora of spendable tokens.

While this gunline can act like a sturdy brick in any given game, that equally works against it as it can sometimes be immobile and lacks general flexibility that Yoda lists do not suffer from. This is reflected in its winning percentage, as with over 100 games played in the last 3 large tourneys, its winning percentage is hovering around 50%, which is totally respectable but not what you'd expect to see out of one of the top dogs.

List Reference: Sam Mchenry's Nova '23 Runner-Up List

Worlds Pie: 6%

Yoda Gunline

Win Percentage: 61.7% (82-49-2)

Strengths: Incredible Objective play, offensive/defensive potency, versatility

Weaknesses: Can quickly fall apart if defensive saves fail, low total wound count

Countered by: Rebel Pierce spam, Empire Bounty Hunter Gunline

Now THIS is podracing. Sure, I know that we talked about Anakin right before this, but that line makes most sense here when comparing the two Force users. While Anakin is 45 points cheaper, Yoda offers complete and total versatility arguably no other unit in the game can match. Want a beat-stick that can solo an opposing army? Yoda can attack twice a round. Need a support piece to keep your clones performing optimally? Force Barrier and Yoda's "Luminous Beings Are We" 3 Pip are perfect support pieces for any army. Need an upper hand to counter your opponent's Objective play? Yoda's keyword Guidance makes him incredible at just about any Objective you can imagine.

Expect to see nearly half of all clone lists running Yoda in some fashion. I won't reference the winning percentages much, but Yoda's is definitely worth mentioning. Not only does he have the 2nd highest winning percentage (only less by a tenth of a percent), but he has far and away the biggest pool of games played with him. Having that high of a winning percentage while being the most popular archetype in the game is incredibly telling. Because of my expectations of his continued popularity, he immediately inserts himself into the upper echelon of list archetypes and cuts himself the biggest piece of the Worlds Pie.

List reference: Josh Cook's LVO '24 Runner-Up List

Worlds Pie: 18%

Wookiee Defenders Battleforce

Win Percentage: 58.6% (41-29)

Strengths: Incredibly mobile, very disruptive to a gunline, strong objective play

Weaknesses: Weak defensively, very little ranged gunfire

Otherwise known as "The Wookiee" Battleforce, Wookiee Defenders are incredibly unique and offer a bit of a puzzle to your opponent we haven't seen duplicated very much in legion. This Battleforce can play any Battle Deck flop that is put in front of it, and it is incredibly difficult to dislodge the Wookiees once they have imbedded themselves in your army because of those free speed-1 moves. All this being said, they are VERY difficult to pilot well, and are prone to getting blown off of the table in the wrong matchup. I do believe that, with the right matchups and a great person piloting the list, it could make a bit of a surprise run to the finals.

List reference: David Leblanc's Top 8 LVO '24 List

Worlds Pie: 3%

Separatists

Magnaguard Spam

Win Percentage: 44.4% (20-25)

Strengths: Strong range 4 gunline, incredible linebacking options

Weaknesses: Lacks ranged pierce, weak Battle Deck, weak in a range <3 firefight

Countered by: Pyke Spam, Blizzard Force, Experimental Droids

This archetype consists of lists running two or more Magnaguards with a list then built around them.

Finally, to my bread and butter. I've been playing different iterations of Magna spam for years now, tinkering with all sorts of surrounding pieces in my lists. A Magna with a RPS rocket launcher heavy weapon is some of the best 106 points you can spend in all of legion. Compliment the Magnas with a Bounty Hunter like Bossk or Cad Bane and some B1's equip with the E5s heavy weapon and you can form a very potent gunline with a lot of raw wounds.

As much as I love these lists, it can get slammed by heavy hitting offensive juggernauts like Blizzard Force and doesn't have a fraction of enough firepower to cut into something like a Pyke Spam list. It is incredibly solid, but by far not one of the top contenders in the race for the top archetype.

List reference: Austin Miller's LSO '23 Winning List

Worlds Pie: 2%

Experimental Droids

Win Percentage: 58% (29-21)

Strengths: Incredible ranged damage, versatile Battle Deck

Weaknesses: Low activation count, flimsy when forced to make saves, little/no anti-armor access

Countered by: Armor skews, Ewoks

Now that we discussed my favorite list in my favorite faction, let's get to the REAL best list in CIS. Experimental Droids was seen as a total letdown when they were previewed... but boy were we wrong. This list has INSANE offensive output, specifically from the juiced-up BX Commando Droids. These BX Droids are the motor to this sports car. Feeding BXs either extra aims or extra dice can make their dice pools absolutely devastating for an opposing gunline, and they even can pick units apart at range 5 by beefing up their sniper shots. With the surge token effects, Experimental Droid players can utilize the increase in speed to gain favor on a number of otherwise terrible objectives and deployments.

While Magnaguards are technically an option, the Battleforce exclusive ones are incredibly points inefficient, leaving the list without a great linebacking option. I have seen players building their lists with 1-2 BXs with the swords instead of shields, which definitely mitigates this issue quite a bit. However, those shields can sometimes be pivotal in keeping the BXs as healthy as possible. While I think that this list can EASILY make a run to the finals, I don't see them showing out in high numbers opposed to archetypes in more popular factions, automatically docking their final score.

List reference: Tyler Pridgen's Cherokee '24 Winning List

Worlds Pie: 6%

Rebels

Cassian/Ahsoka

Win Percentage: 55.5% (10-8)

Strengths: Long range Pierce/High Velocity access, strong range 4+ gunline, strong command hand

Weaknesses: Efficient but small dice/damage pools, fragile defensively, weak Battle Deck

Countered by: Ewoks, Wookiee Defenders, Separatists

For all of the hype this list has garnered, it is shockingly unpopular. I personally believe this is the best gunline that Rebels can muster, as it has all the foundations of a good competitive gunline: solid range 4+ firepower, strong ranged pierce and a gnarly linebacker/playmaker in Ahsoka Tano. The Command Card synergy between Ahsoka and Cassian is shockingly strong, as giving things like a free Recover and Danger Sense 1 to Ahsoka or a free Aim to Cassian via both of their 3 pips feels very strong. However, the list is incredibly stagnant and falls apart when forced into mobile objectives. On any given game of Key Positions or Intercept the Transmissions, this list can feel overbearing. I can see this list posing a number of problems for other archetypes in this article, but I don't see it making an overly strong case to go all of the way.

List reference: Michael Smith's WTC Rebel list

Worlds Pie: 3%

Ewoks

Win Percentage: 61.4% (27-17)

Strengths: Objectives, raw wounds + Low Profile, Command Card play

Weaknesses: Susceptible to large dice pools, lacks anti-armor tech, incredibly difficult to pilot, zero ranged firepower

Countered by: Spray weapons, Black Sun Spam

Ewoks are the toughest puzzle to solve amongst all of these archetypes. It obviously lacks important qualities in certain areas, like ranged firepower, but it makes up for it in its ability to play objectives in conjunction to the activation advantage it usually has. This is a perfect example of a list that specializes in a couple specific areas, and it does those things better than any other list in the game. With the enormous upside comes the actual playing of the list, which is extremely difficult. It takes a very disciplined and seasoned player to really make this list fire on all cylinders. I expect to see a lot of Care Bears at Worlds, so do your best to prepare for the bonfire.

List reference: Tza's WTC '24 List

Worlds Pie: 15%

Pierce Spam

Win Percentage: 54.2% (32-27)

Strengths: Versatility, Efficient offensively

Weaknesses: Weak defensive viability, mediocre dice pools

Countered by:

This is a list that has two or more sources of ranged Pierce outside of its hero units.

This is another fairly broad category, similar to the Bounty Hunter Gunline for Empire, but it is still easy enough to understand. This list leans into some heroes and backs them up with either sniper strike teams or full teams, getting a decent amount of Pierce on the table to utilize. These lists are tricksy, toolsy and generally versatile. Because of the nature of Rebels, it is not overly tanky on defense, but the Piercing units in healthy numbers allow for fairly consistent and efficient damage output. I don't rate it high to win it all, but it's got enough tools to make a Cinderella run.

List reference:  Mike Barry's Cherokee list

Worlds Pie: 2%

Shadow Collective

Black Sun Spam

Win Percentage: 47% (8-9)

Strengths: Wrecking ball offensively, great at specific objectives

Weaknesses: Low activation count, only one play style

Countered by: Pierce spam, Bounty Hunter Gunline

This is the true "W key" list in legion. Its only objective is to completely murder you and leave you walking away from the table in a haze. If a Black Sun game goes longer than 4 rounds, it is because Maul grabbed the middle Recover the Supplies box and is currently running for his life. It tells you exactly what it's doing the moment you walk up to the table, and it is merely a matter of if you can mitigate the onslaught or not.

However, one of the best abilities that you can have in this game is versatility, and this list doesn't have a lot. There are no guns beyond range 2, so if it needs to chase for any reason it could struggle to catch an opponent without receiving too much return fire. When piloted well, this list can feel unstoppable. However, I don't see it being prevalent enough to give it a super favorable chance as it's not very popular to play amongst the community.

List reference: Lyla Claire's WTC List

Worlds Pie: 4%

Pyke Spam

Win Percentage: 61.8% (47-29)

Strengths: Amazing on both defense and offense, will win the attrition battle almost every game

Weaknesses: Can lack playmaking (Bossk lists), Objective play relies entirely on Maul (Maul lists)

Countered by: High Velocity, Experimental Droids

Last, and CERTAINLY not least, we come to Shadow Collective's Pyke Spam. This list is the biggest boogeyman residing in Legion because of the guarantees it has. Sure, the ceiling for it isn't as high as with a Yoda list or even something like Blizzard, but gosh darn is this thing just raw efficiency. Free tokens every round and Danger Sense make it feel like nothing dies, and the Disruptor dice pool with a Capo in the squad averages >5 hits/crits before any sort of dice mods. The list is mundane, but it absolutely works.

Versions using Bossk over Maul have been more popular of late, which leans into what the list does really well. Granted, Maul offers more flexibility and Objective options... at double the price. I will say, I personally believe the versions that use Capos in their Pyke units rather than just the extra Foot Soldiers are significantly better because of the surge token and the extra courage, but essentially both versions of Pyke Spam have seen success. Be ready to see this at Worlds and have arguably the strongest argument to win the whole tournament.

List reference: Kentucky Dan's Runner-Up Cherokee List

Worlds Pie: 17%

Here's a look at the complete Worlds Pie:

Alas, the number crunching is done. Huzzah!

In my opinion, Yoda has the best shot at winning the tournament... at only 18% of the pie. In previous years there seemed to be bigger boogeymen archetypes that were warping the meta, but this is by far the most open meta I have seen in years. There is no true boogeyman list, despite how good Pykes and Yoda can be. There is a true ecosystem of rock-paper-scissors that I tend to be seeing, where a lot of the best lists also have natural predators lurching around that could potentially dethrone them at any given moment. Notice how every list I mentioned has weaknesses and counters: no list is truly dominant at the moment. Be ready for the Wild Wild West to take place in a couple weeks.

I am overly excited for this coming Worlds. Despite the tournament effectively being single elimination, I am going to have a great time and try my best. My personal goal is to simply make Day 2 and see where things go from there. I can't wait to see who our 2024 champion will be, whether we have a new face of Legion or if there will be a three-time.

Thanks for taking time to read my nonsense. How wrong will I be? Only time will tell. If you see me at worlds, feel free to give me a shout! Before then, be sure to appropriately cook your dice (saltwater in the microwave for 4 & 1/2 minutes serves me best), procrastinate painting your minis and get ready for Adepticon!

Thanks again, and may the Force be with you!