The Friday Decision
Your faction decision is already made. What you're doing today is confirming it was the right one — or accepting the cost of what you're bringing instead.
Here's what the data says heading into this weekend: Pantheon of Woe Necrons are the safest undefeated pathway through any 60+ player GT bracket. That's not an opinion. David Hall won Clutch City GT with 133 players on the back of three Katah Shards, Flayed Ones and Tomb Blades eating objectives on turn one, and Ophydian Destroyer reserves creating late-game pressure that opponents couldn't fully plan for. The list punishes mistakes consistently, across six rounds, against a wide field. That consistency is the asset.
If you're registered for a mid-tier GT this weekend and you're not on Necrons, you need a clear answer for why not.
Decision tree for GT list selection by event size. Green borders indicate confident go decisions; amber marks active routing nodes; red flags outcomes requiring more preparation before registering.
Two Necron Builds, One Right Answer
Cursed Legion is real. Matthew Re going 5-0 at Geekfest Winter War and losing only on tiebreakers confirms the build has teeth. Six Scorp Destroyer blobs with technomancer murdermind attachment is genuinely threatening — the destroyer cult keyword stacking creates damage output that Pantheon of Woe doesn't naturally access.
But here's the distinction that matters for bracket projection: Cursed Legion rewards reps. The mechanical escalation through destroyer cult synergies has tighter decision points than Pantheon of Woe's passive Katah aura buffing. Lone operative stacking through Hex Mark Destroyer and Necrosuar Amitar, Immotech CP generation — these systems run smoother in Pantheon because the ceiling is more forgiving. If you have forty-plus games into Cursed Legion, bring it. If you're switching builds heading into a major event, that's a liability you're choosing to carry.
Bring Pantheon. Know your Cursed Legion matchup from the other side.
The Super Major Question
If your event is 100+ players and seven rounds, the calculus shifts.
Ultramarines have claimed both authoritative super major results this weekend — Manchester Super Major and Cherokee Open 2026, two undefeated 7-0 records under the Blade of Ultramar detachment. That's not a fluke. That's a faction seizing the top bracket at the events that actually define the meta ceiling.
Necrons are still finishing — secondary and tertiary placements at super majors aren't nothing. But if you're in a 133-player field and you're projecting your bracket, you need to plan for Ultramarines in rounds five through seven. The question isn't whether you'll face them. The question is whether your list can close against their output volume at that round count.
High-output melee is the identified answer into Blade of Ultramar. World Eaters and Chaos Knights punish static shooting. Mobility plus action economy beats raw damage at distance over a seven-round stretch. If you're bringing Necrons into a super major, you need your infiltration scout package to do work early enough that Ultramarines can't dictate engagement range on their terms.
What You're Actually Preparing For
Three specific things before you pack tonight:
- Infiltration counter-deployment. Flayed Ones and Tomb Blades are the Necronentry vector. They pressure objectives turn one and your screening needs to be deliberate, not reactive. Know where your units are going before you sit down.
- Blade of Ultramar prevalence at large events. If you're round five or later in a 100+ player bracket, assume you're facing it. Rehearse that game in your head before you're across the table from it.
- Chaos spike variance. Death Guard and World Eaters are winning individual events. They don't scale consistently past six rounds, but they'll be in the field. Mortarion with a demon prince core and plague marine lethal crit setup has genuine durability — don't treat it as a soft matchup.
Lock In Before Friday Ends
The competitive window is narrow. Ultramarines have changed what the top of the bracket looks like at super majors. Necrons still control the mid-tier GT landscape with more consistency than anything else in the game right now. Everything else — Dark Angels, Drukhari, Orks, Genestealer Cults — wins at thirty players. It compresses fast.
Know what event you're at. Bring the right weapon for that specific fight.
| Opponent | Likelihood | Must Know | Win Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| S Necrons (Pantheon of Woe) | ★★★★★ | Screen infiltrators T1 + deny C'tan aura triangle | Control objectives turns 3–5 |
| A Ultramarines (Blade of Ultramar) | ★★★★☆ | Apply melee pressure, deny static positions | Action economy beats raw damage output |
| A Cursed Legion Necrons | ★★★☆☆ | Disrupt Destroyer Cult keyword chain early | Trade into Skorpekh blobs before stacking activates |
| B Tau Retaliation Cadre | ★★☆☆☆ | Close range fast, deny Fire Anglon sightlines | Table pressure beats standoff game |
| B Death Guard | ★★☆☆☆ | Avoid clustering (blast weapons), control range | Out-maneuver — don't try to out-tough Mortarion |
Priority matchup reference for GT weekend. Likelihood reflects bracket encounter rate at 60+ player events. Tier rating indicates overall matchup difficulty relative to a Pantheon of Woe Necrons list.