Khador 2015, Part 13 - WTC Khador lists

... a semi-outsiders totally unbiased and omniscient observations. As if.

You know, there's something good to be said about me having done this last year - I have something to compare to. It's like getting the second result of an experiment under lab conditions! So, to reiterate:

Keeping that in mind - I think there are too many people playing Khador for that to be a valid statement (thirty, to be precise). I'll judge the list by the following colour chart - and a number of KMIs (key model indicators) that'll reveal itself throughout the essay), and give my reasoning later.

Really Boring
Very Boring
Boring
Kinda Interesting
Interesting
Very Interesting

   That's professional, objective research right there! But since I'm the scientist, I set the parameters by which the data is analysed - so let's bring it on!

For safety reasons: I'm not judging the lists to be "done well" or "done badly", I'm merely going by how much reading the lists makes me want to see it played.

In addition, we'll compare observations made between last year and this year (and if I can manage, 2013), as to make some purely theorymachinical (that's a word if there ever was one) predictions.
Prefrontal note: all the lists will be found HERE, once they're integrated. How I got them already? Page5, ladies & gentlemen.

So, let's get it on. Actually, a quick warning: All the statistics do not include any alternate/backup/reserve player's lists.

Australia Platypus - Sheldon Pace
   The Vlad2 list is chock-full of feat targets - which is something I can understand. And I'm a Vlad fan, so colour me interested.
   The Butcher3 list looks like a bog-standard Butcher3 single-Jack build - except there's Kossites in it. Nice. If any games of this army are being streamed, I will have to watch it.

Belgium Blonde - Dirk Pintjes
   The Butcher3 list is obviously inspired by JamieP/Trent "Nah Mate, I'm playing Cryx" ;) Denison, and Spoilers: there's a bunch of those, which makes my interest drop. It has double Dragons, which is another kind of bore.
   The Butcher2 list is the full retard - nine units of Doom Reavers. Also, more spoilers: The average amount of Doom Reavers in MDoW went UP - either nine units, or eight units and Ruin.

Czech Republic - Daniel Bogdanoski
   Daniel is - limitations of the written medium dictating - the first player with the Sorscha2/Butcher3 pairing, which is the most common pairing this year around. The Sorscha list is a really classic build, good into Cryx especially.
   The Butcher 3 list is a triple Jack (w/ Ruin) build.

England Lions - Jamie Perkins
   Classic Sorscha2 list, his very own Butcher3 list design. Nothing more to be said, I guess. I am interested in this, though, b/c Jamie went back to the Motherland, so we (kinda) now have a faction champion again.

England Roses - Jim Gradwell
   I am trying to be not be more bored everytime this pairing comes up. Even though the lists differ in a few points (Malakov and Ruin with Sorscha, triple Juggernaut and regular Pikemen with Butcher), it's really hard. And kinda disheartening. But that maybe just me.

Finland Blue - Tatu Purhonen
   Tatu must've made good experiences with last year's Butcher list, because he's basically taking the Clamwall and the 3-Jack build to another level and runs two Devastators, Beast 09, and Ruin.
   MDoW is the full retard, which is - kind of - the only downer.

Finland White - Teemu Aro
   Yeah... can't really... say anything. Butcher3 list looks non-standard, but that's about all.

France Asterix - Pierre Arnauld De Seze
   The Butcher list looks classic, the Sorscha2 list looks like it was built in part against Cryx, Malakov & Spriggan seriously speak for that lists cracking power. I also like Harlan Versh. ;)

Greece Prime - Paris Boubouras
   So here's a first unique - and thusly in the grand scheme of this year irrelevant - Caster choice: Irusk1. Double Dragons, IF Kovnik, magical support - looks interesting. Really interesting (or rather: offbeat) though is the Butcher3 list: two Kodiaks, Boomhowlers, two Ogrun Bokurs. Fingers crossed!

Italy Leonardo - Andrea Cesana
   Both lists we have seen before: MDoW w/ eight units and Ruin, Sorscha2 classic w/ Conquest.

Netherlands Heros - Tom Starren
   Wait... what... who... Harkevich? Theme Force? Double Fieldgun? So, Tom - a regular of the WTC, having participated in 13&14, chose THE BEARD for WTC. I'm quite liking the build, Conquest, Jacks, Mechaniks, and Winterguard as cheap, warm bodies. I hope he does well, especially with this list (Butcher2 is standard for this year). One of my favourites for this year.

Netherlands Heros - Marnix Baas
   Butcher3 with triple Jack, Vlad2 with Doom Reavers, Outriders, Riflecorps, Drakhun and Eliminators - I like the Vlad list. Chock full of feat targets for different situations, HoF Outriders for plowing the road... nice.

Norway Blue - Espen Dahl
   Here's another unique choice: Vlad1.With two Spriggans, which I feel is an unexplored territory. The Butcher 1 list looks a little strange with 2x Doom Reavers, but it gets quite out of hand with the inclusion of Rosch & Brine & a Roadhog - this means there's Sprint available to the list. Ahem. Let's try that again. See, it's Butcher2, actually, which makes it a lot less strange, and a lot more interesting to boot. B1 with Sprint is one thing - B2 is a really different Beast. By his own words, it provides "some crazy angles", and that's easy to see once you go beyond thinking about it as a safety measure, and start applying it as an aggressive element pre-feat. Anyway, B2 outside of tier - that's something that hasn't happen since 2013.

Norway Red - Terje Boye
   The Butcher3 list certainly off beat with the Conquest in it, and then there's Boomhowlers and Alexia1... hm. Butcher1 is Claws of the Dragons, triple Dragons (which is kinda the pimped up lowrider among lists. So much money invested). Roughly interested says it best.

Poland Leaders - ? Martin Mycek ?
   This Butcher3 list is one I like, because it stands out. Butcher, Ruin, 2x Doom Reavers, and then Press Gangers, Hawk, Rockbottom, Alexia1... and Kossites, woohoo! Just to be explicit: That's 32 AD models, and 6 Ambushers.
   I guess I'll cover the eZ lists as a whole later on, but this one I'll dub "Spray Control" - WGI & Joe, Outriders, Ternion. (as opposed to the "AMS"-build: All Magical Shotguns). It also features Armour Cracking with Aiyana & Holt and the Nyss Hunters.

Russia Wolves - Victor Nelipovich**.
   His lists sport a choice rare among WTC Khador players: Kayazy Assassins. Sorscha is a dude-spam, made obvious through the presence of Alexia1. Old Witch is the classic build... I'd normally consider that risky, but if/when you see the amount of Cryx, this may just work.

Scotland Bru - David Kane*.*
   This is one of the Zerkova2 lists that sports TAC & Valachev, a personal favourite of mine. With Doom Reavers, Behemoth, Great Bears, this list sports some good ARM cracking, some really good crowd control, but I'd consider the ARM cracking moderate in comparison to the other list. That other list is another unique 'Caster choice, being Irusk2 - between Black Dragons, Aiyana and Holt and Battle Lust, and Ruin, this is the real ARM cracker. It also has a Field Gun for FFE.

Sweden Nobel - Olov Winroth**.
   Olov is a fellow blogger (Check "For Maiden and Motherland"). The Sorscha2 list is kinda "the same old", but the eZ list... Malakov with Ruin is an intersting choice, the rest comes quite close to the "AMS" build. I do like Alexia2, Eiryss1 and Tac w/ Val, mainly because they're uncommon choices.

Switzerland Red - Mauros Markwalder
   Mauros rocks Sorscha1 - yet another unique choice of this year! The Sorscha2 list is quite similar to Victor's list (no Alexia1, though), Sorscha1 rocks Kayazy Assassins, pEiryss, Behemoth, Greylord Outriders - sounds good. Let's hope it works out.

Wales Storm - Ben Driscoll
   Ben's Butcher1 list is CotD - but it goes with two BD units and one regular unit - and Manhunters. Now there's sth odd. Zerkova2 looks like a mixed bag, though this may simply be because this list supposed to be more of a general drop (so if CotD won't work out, this list will give him a fighting chance).

So, in summary: my favourites for this year are Greece Prime, Netherlands Heros, Norway Blue and Poland Leaders. I'll also monitor Scotland Bru and Sweden Nobel. When i first made my notes about the teams and compositions, I was really afraid that it was going to be a really boring affair (Sorscha2/Butcher2/Butcher3 as far as the eye can see, as those three make up more than 50% of the Caster choices), but it came around. One thing of note: There are four no-shows this year: Zerkova1, Karchev, Strakhov, and Vlad3, which is one more than last year. Six Casters were chosen only once, which is four more than last year.

Here are some stats generated from the data provided by the WTC website for you:

#Khador Players/Teams: 2015: 21/50, 2014: 30/52, 2013: 12/32

Finally: Don't get me started on Sweden Dynamite. That team is ridiculous!