It has been some time since the last comprehensive report in December. Interim data was shared periodically on social media. The current meta phase began in early January following the latest Rules Update. This report covers data collected during March and April 2025, allowing time for the meta to stabilize and trends to become clearer.
A significant development, previously reported on by community member Iba, is the creation of a dashboard for easier access to these statistics. The development and maintenance of this tool require substantial effort. If you find it valuable, please consider a small donation to support this work.
Resources:
Information on the Sample:
- Date Range: March & April 2025
- Games total: 1198
- Tournaments total: 34
This report will focus on the top 12 entries in each statistical dimension for clarity. The complete statistics are available via the linked data sample.
The structure of this report deviates from a warband-centric approach. In the Nemesis format, deck combinations play a fundamental role in defining strategy and execution, with the warband serving as the vehicle for these decks. Therefore, analyzing deck performance first, followed by warband-deck combinations and then warbands, provides a perspective that prioritizes the strategic core (the decks) over the tactical delivery system (the warband).
Before proceeding, I extend my gratitude to all anonymous contributors, the tournament organizers (TOs) who submitted their event data, and particularly to Michał from the Polish community for his significant assistance in integrating major events and supporting the project.
Project Update: I’m really happy with the project’s current productive phase! However, for long-term sustainability, I know I need help. I’m actively seeking individuals interested in contributing to help the project grow. The work is engaging and the workload is manageable. If you’re interested in getting involved, please email me! I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Podium Statistics
This section presents statistics on the decks and warbands that achieved top placements in tournaments within the sample period.
Decks
Podium points are calculated as follows: 1st place = 3 points, 2nd place = 2 points, 3rd place = 1 point. The ‘Weight’ represents the sum of player counts from the tournaments where the deck combination achieved a podium finish.
The majority of podium points were awarded to combinations utilizing components from the Embergard Core Set, specifically Countdown to Cataclysm (CC) paired with another deck from this set. The combination of Pillage and Plunder (PP) and CC accumulated the highest points total. Blazing Assault (BA) combined with CC also performed strongly in terms of podium finishes.
The combination of BA and Reckless Fury (RF), which was prominent in the previous meta, remains a significant contender in podium placements.
Wrack & Ruin (WR) and Edge of the Knife (EK) appear in the ranking, but their success in reaching the podium is less pronounced compared to the top combinations.
Emberstone Sentinels (ES) appears twice in the top 12, securing a third-place finish. This indicates that objective-holding strategies remain viable, although the data suggests less diversity in the decks used for this approach at the top tables.
Warbands
Zarbag’s Gitz have achieved a high level of success in podium placements, accumulating the most points in this category. Their performance is linked to their effectiveness when paired with the top deck combination PP + CC.
The success of Borgit’s Beastgrabbaz and Grinkrak’s Looncourt in podium finishes may also be attributed to their synergy with PP + CC or PP generally. These warbands show notable potential.
Jaws of Itzl secured the second-highest points total, indicating that aggressive strategies remain effective at achieving top tournament results. Their performance contrasts with that of Grandfather’s Gardeners, their sister release, which had significantly fewer podium points.
While the top 12 list suggests some diversity, the point disparity between Zarbag’s Gitz and the rest of the field is considerable.
Deck Statistics
This section moves from podium data to statistics derived from the entire sample of games.
Meta Score is calculated as the share of games won among the total games played by a specific deck combination. It provides a measure of a deck combination’s overall presence and success rate within the meta. Charts in this section are sorted by Meta Score. The Meta Score can be translated into a percentage of all games by dividing by 10.
The data shows that PP + CC and BA + CC together account for nearly 50% of all games played in the sample. Including ES + CC, approximately two-thirds of all games utilize a combination involving CC. This trend, anticipated by me based on earlier observations on Discord, indicates that the game’s meta is significantly centered around the initial Core Set decks.
Edge of the Knife demonstrates a higher play rate than might have been expected, particularly when compared to Wrack and Ruin, which was released earlier. The future development of popularity between these two decks will be interesting to observe.
Blazing Assault combined with Reckless Fury maintains both popularity and a moderate success rate, suggesting that adjustments made to RF were justified and well received.
Generally, winrates between 45% and 55% are considered indicative of balance in Games Workshop game design. However, these deck combination statistics represent aggregated data across numerous warbands. Winrates such as 55% for PP + CC or 61% for ES + PP can potentially mask more significant imbalances when these decks are paired with specific warbands, leading to much higher winrates in those specific combinations.
Warband-Deck Statistics
This chart provides the most granular view, detailing the performance of specific warband and deck combination pairings. This is arguably the most critical data for understanding the meta at a detailed level.
The data indicates that Zarbag’s Gitz combined with PP + CC is the most dominant pairing by Meta Score and the second most performant by winrate, achieving a 70% winrate in the sample. Despite this high success rate, this specific combination accounts for only about 10% of all games played.
A key observation from this chart is that 10 out of the 12 most dominant warband-deck combinations utilize Countdown to Cataclysm. This highlights the central role of CC in the current meta, providing a stepping stone for the core strategies of Underworlds.
Warband Statistics
This chart presents overall statistics for individual warbands, aggregated across all deck combinations they were played with in the sample.
Both Zarbag’s Gitz and Jaws of Itzl are notably more popular than other warbands in the sample. While Jaws of Itzl are dominant, their overall winrate scrapes by the lower end of the 45% to 55% range in both this chart and the warband-deck statistics. Zarbag’s Gitz, conversely, are both the most played and the most successful warband overall in this dataset.
Regarding the warbands released alongside Embergard, every warband except Zikkit’s Tunnelpack appears in this ranking, suggesting a generally successful integration into the meta. Their relative performance appears reasonably balanced.
The data also indicates that horde warbands can perform effectively in the current edition, likely supported by the strength of the decks ES and PP. This further supports the perspective that deck strength significantly influences warband performance.
Additionally, both Thricefold Discord and Gorechosen of Dromm maintain notable popularity and success rates despite previous adjustments.
Conclusion
State of Play
To put it plainly, the current meta is fundamentally about Countdown to Cataclysm (CC). A significant majority of games involve some variation of this deck, and while PP + CC is clearly the most potent iteration, the dominance of CC itself is the defining feature. Four months into this meta, the game’s strategic landscape feels largely determined by who can best leverage CC. The diversity observed often arises from how different warbands serve as vehicles for CC’s objective-scoring engine, and with which other deck it is combined to maximize scoring further, allowing each pairing to feel somewhat unique despite the shared core.
The three primary playstyles in Warhammer Underworlds – Aggro, Flex, and Hold – are represented in the current meta. However, the ‘Hold Objective’ strategy is limited in terms of deck combination variety.
Oracle of Embergard
So, based on what the data is showing, here are the main things I think need to happen in the next Rules Update:
- Zarbag’s Gitz need a significant nerf. This is going to be tough because the Design Team usually doesn’t mess with fighter cards, and Zarbag’s fighters feel pretty overtuned. That leaves hitting their Inspire condition and maybe putting some serious limits on their core abilities like Scurry and Volley. Honestly, and this might be an unpopular take, Zarbag feels like a bit of a leftover from the old edition. Getting them truly in line with the current game is hard. So maybe… just ban them in Nemesis?
- Countdown to Cataclysm needs to be nerfed – maybe even a mechanical tweak. Those cards that are basically auto-includes in every deck should definitely land on the Restricted list for Nemesis. And that option to just not move the Cataclysm Counter? That probably needs to go.
- Most decks should have a few cards on the Restricted list. The number should be higher for the decks that are showing up as the most powerful combinations (like CC, BA, PP). The goal is to make it less appealing to just stack these top decks together, which would also help make newer releases like WR and EK more attractive options.
Looking ahead, the new deck Realmstone Raiders is coming out soon. Its Plot card looks really strong and pretty universal, giving any strategy that makes attacks some nice card advantage. The previewed cards seem quite good too. This has me a bit concerned, as I can see a situation where this deck just replaces CC as the go-to, especially if it drops without any Restricted cards. It feels a bit similar to Hungering Parasite back in the first edition, which also brought a very powerful mechanic via its Plot.
Final Words
I wish to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has submitted their game data. Continued submissions are essential for the project’s ability to provide accurate and timely meta analysis. Data from both individual casual games and organized tournament events contributes significantly. The new dashboard offers increased visibility for TOs and highlights their crucial role in supporting the community, hopefully making contributions more attractive
Please share information about this project with other players. I welcome any feedback on these statistics and analyses. While preparing these reports requires considerable effort, I aim to provide interim updates on platforms like Reddit and Discord when possible. Finally, I encourage anyone interested in contributing to the project to reach out. Your assistance would be greatly valued.
