Legion World Championships 2025 Top 8 and Recap

Adepticon 2025 was a triumph in many more ways than one this year.

First of all, it was held in a venue and surrounding area that can be described as something more than “a big hotel in between three highways.” For any of you who didn’t make it this year but had been to the Schaumburg, IL version previously, it’s night and day dude. Not only were there far more hotel options within walking distance (usually covered walking by the way, even across several blocks) but you could find food that wasn’t from a questionable in-hall vendor (the in hall stuff was better this year too anyway) within the short time you get for a lunch break after the first round. There was also space, SPACE GANDALF. I even was able to find an actual part of the con that had ample sitting room and was quiet enough to do an interview with Will Shick using my crappy lapel mics and an iphone.

Second of all, we got a mountain of awesome Legion news. Because of this article and my new and mountainous task of updating the buyers guide (AGAIN) I’m not even gonna be able to do a summary article of it but instead will direct you to Atomic Mass’ own site (which also has hi-res images) as well as the episode of Notorious Scoundrels I made with Mike at the end of the con to record our opinions on them instead. The best part of that news in my opinion is the revelation that the starter sets will be an incredibly good deal and are planned to debut at an MSRP under 100 USD. This will be an incredibly great way to get into, or back into, this game we love so much. We are going to do a future Scoundrels episode to get into the details, but my early suspicion is that this is the best deal in miniature war gaming PERIOD.

Third, I’m glad to say that I strayed away from Ewoks (which I was not confident in ever getting past round 4 with and thus didn’t want to torture my opponents) and instead went with a list that has almost as many wounds with less than half the models, Wookiees and Triple Fluttercraft! Even though I had to concede my last game in the Top 64 (I had already lost my second game that day anyway so I was out of the running) it was enough to get 4th GAR, Top Wookiee, and ONLY Fluttercraft in the whole thing.

I will go into some details on the episode of Scoundrels that will post 4/9 or so but the short version is this. Fluttercraft: Great. Wookiee Chieftain: Fine but overpriced. Wookiees themselves: Fine but overpriced and good God AMG please make them worth taking over ARCs in literally any context in a regular GAR list. Wookiee Command Cards: Riot Control Squad level bad, I had to win games with basically no commands that mattered and that kinda sucked. My main goal really was to just get a few people to tell their friends about Fluttercraft though, so I think I accomplished that. If you want to see my streamed game, where I mostly successfully did things flutters are supposed to do and pulled out a win against a Maul Shadow Collective list, then you can check it out here.

Anyway let’s briefly do some data!

Thanks to RowdyOctopus for the numbers above! This is where myself, Dashz, and likely a large part of the legion community would have ranked the factions before the con started, so at a larger scale, I honestly don’t think there were any surprises at all. I will say though, even though this was an event where it certainly felt like there were a few meta monsters (Sleepers/Op Luke and Dooku/Aqua sort of having a slap fight to see who the more-powerful duo is) I think we should recognize that this is light years better from a balance perspective than it would have been if the November update never happened. It’s true that the introduction of Sleepers and Aquas since that time would have dulled GAR a fair bit but…can you imagine where Empire would be if they had to deal with all this PLUS 13 act Anakin sniper spam? Sheesh.

It’s a good time also to give quick shoutouts to last year’s champ Olly Dier who was top Shadow Collective (9th overall)

as well as Alan Beard who was top Empire with Tempest Force (13th Place Overall)

Very cool lists from both players, and in the end, I am relieved that Empire finished in the Top 16 when it could have been easily much worse for what appears to be the weakest faction, one that I hope will get a boost in a couple of weeks.

Above, we have a nice chart made by Raknar on TLD (and a loyal TFT Patreon, thanks Raknar!) that shows how win rates have changed in the last 7 months or so. The funny thing about all of this…is that we’re about to get a rules update in less than a fortnight, which means that it’s dicey to draw any conclusions about the future represented by the “Worlds meta” until we actually know what that future is. Between a card updates, rules updates, and changes in available units (we already know generic commanders and generic Super Tacs are going away in favor of the upcoming customizable commander/operative expansions, who knows what else is gonna go down) we’re about to get the second biggest change to the game since the CRB in late 2022, only the leap to Legion 2.6 last July will top it, so it’s an exciting time!

Anyway enough musings let’s get to what you clicked for!

The Top 8 Lists

It would not have surprised me were you to tell me that 5 Rebels, 2 CIS, and a single GAR list were the Top 8 this year, it WOULD have surprised me if I knew that they would form a nice little pyramid when it came to their final placement…with the Rebel lists on the bottom and the GAR on top!

Then if you forced me, or you, or most other people aside from the winner himself (and his supportive wife Caitlyn of course, who competed as well and made the Top 64!) to guess what would have been in that list…well, I think it’s fair to say we would have been somewhat off. But more on that in a second, let’s cover the rest of the Top 8 Entrants. I either talked to or got DM’s from everyone here to gain a little bit of insight into each list, how’s that for bloggin’?

Tom “malakili” Vander Veiden – Top 8 (Rebel Op Luke Single Bus Bad Batch)

Tom was a gunline player who correctly came to the conclusion that long-range shooting only lists are deader than disco, so he decided to put the time in and learn how to play one Mr. Jedi Luke Skywalker. In case it’s not already obvious to you, dear reader, Luke Skywalker is a multi-tool inside of another larger multitool inside of a switchblade as a character. Between Disengage, Force Push, Mind Trick, and his two “thinking man” commands (Serve and I Am A Jedi), he can just bend the battlefield to his will. Six months ago, Anakin was unequivocally the king Jedi of Legion, now it’s a tough call between Jedi Luke and Dooku (yes I realize a Jedi not named either of them won the whole thing, but he was not leaned on quite as much as these two in the various lists). To play Bad Batch, which can nearly solo one side of the board, on top of that, along with a Sleeper Cell ferried by a bus to keep it safe, feels downright criminal but here we are.

Ultimately, Tom like me (we’ll get to this) and many others at Worlds fell victim to the guillotine known as “Nicolas Bucaille’s Aqua Droids” when they wiped out an AT-RT and the sleeper cell hiding behind it as a last-first action set between the first and second round, which was way too much attrition to deal with.

Tristan “Floorbasher” Britt – Top 8 (Rebel Good Stuff Single Sleeper Edition)

Slinger supers man, is there a better way to spend less than 60 points? I honestly think not. I want to take a moment to remind you of where I was on the very first episode of the new season of Notorious Scoundrels when it came time to rank Slingers as a super squad:

That’s me on the top left, being an extremely good video dude and holding my sign upside down, and yet here I am, labeling the only super squad that made the Top 8 with a big old BUY. Did you know that Tristan’s slinger squad basically one-shotted a Dewback with a primitive weapon to win a game at the last second??? Take that Mike!

Tristan’s list has a nice variety of units and is well equipped to take down armor between three AT-RT’s, Bistan, and of course a Sleeper Cell that has so many dice armor becomes completely negligible. Han apparently took another game on his back by spending the entire time running away from Dooku with a scanner, which sounds hilarious to be honest. Then of course, there’s Chewie, who continues to be a great value to soak up just enough wounds until it’s chargin’ time. Unfortunately Tristan ran into a list that had a bit more order control on a couple units that are even more hateful to armor than anything on this list, Tristan was kind enough to share with me that he appreciated the expose on that particular person that I’m now brave enough to admit I wrote earlier this week.

Austin Miller -Top 8 (Rebel Op Luke Double Bus)

Austin needs no introduction, fresh from us scrubbing the remnants of the Las Vegas Sphere’s influence, he was clearly set up to take on the world again with a list that is quite similar to the one he was Runner-Up with at the LVO invitational a few months ago. It’s got all the fixin’s of some good old fashioned Rebel BS: Op Luke, Triple Sleepers, two buses to score and block the way, and lots and lots of bodies. Pour one out for the generic officer by the way, he made it all the way to the Top 8 and soon he won’t even exist anymore! I’m sure it’s fine, Austin will pick up one of those customizable commanders, name him Luke Cook, and will take HIM to the next worlds Top 8.

As we watched the final, Austin recounted the tragic tale of the end of his run: he was essentially in a position where he would have won if a bus lived, and at the last possible moment an ordnance token scored a double crit on it which knocked it out and swung the game to Trent. Not nice dice!

Ty “Captain Needa” Neff – Top 8 (Rebel Double Airspeeder)

Here’s sort of an interesting one: a run down of all the speeders in the Top 64:

• Swoop Bikes: 12 units, top finish 9th place (last year’s World Champion Olly Dier)
• X-34 Landspeeder: 7 units, top finish the jerk you’ll read about below
• STAP: 3 units in one list which was 17th (Armand Meza)
• Fluttercraft: 3 units in one list played by one REALLY cool dude who placed 42nd (I’m a little sad I had to concede the last match for the interview, but I did it for the people)
• T-47 Airspeeder: 2 units…in one list, and it made the Top 8!
• BARC and Imperial Speeder Bike: Zero appearances, just as many as there were Riot Control Squads in the Top 64, hi Mike!

As the only other true (large base fast mover) speed freak who made Day 2, I have to tip my hat to Ty. T-47’s are actually harder to fly well than Fluttercraft despite being 4000% easier to build and transport; the reason for this is that they don’t get Reposition meaning that you have to plan your rounds out way more, and that you also have to sometimes accept not getting a shot that turn in order to score points. I don’t think Ty would be insulted by me saying that I think the T-47 actually deserves to be cheaper. I hate the fact that he had to spend 10 more points on each to give them Cover 2, but it’s certainly the right call to do so. But like…come on man, are these things really about as hard to hit as…a Landspeeder? Goodness that’s silly.

Mando and Bad Batch naturally punch above their already-hefty weight and clearly had a big job to hold things down on the ground, given that the rest of the list is pretty light when it comes to dice pools. Notice that he has push and assault instead of any of the much more fun commands he could grab from Leia or Mando? Well, sadly, any airspeeder player knows that you gotta order those things sometimes or else they very quickly die so it is what it is. Ty obviously understood this, he only lost 3 of them the entire tournament.

Brian Baer – Top 4 (Rebel Double X-34 plus Op Luke)

So, here’s a fun fact. Aside from the game I conceded, I only lost to two players. One of them, a cool guy who I’ll introduce below, I lost to on both Day 1 AND Day 2. The other was my second loss on Day 1, and it was none other than The Baer himself.

What can I say about the experience playing against Brian Baer that hasn’t been said about the experience of falling asleep face-first on top of a fire ant colony? Have you done that? Neither have I, but I can describe to you in detail what it feels like if you’re curious, believe me.

When I talk about my experience playing him in the article (that I’m now linking to for the fourth time, because he really does need to be shunned back into playing DOTA 2 with his spare time), I was only half joking. Did he actually laugh at me when he destroyed my beautiful toys (my ISP and one Fluttercraft)? No, but I could tell he wanted to. Did he “accidentally” try to activate twice in a row by the time I was already soundly beaten? Absolutely, the little varmint! Did I have to explain to him that Wedge exhausts? You bet I did, you’re welcome for not getting called on it the rest of the tournament by the way BRIAN. “Oh I’ve never played Wedge before.” Damn it, I’VE PLAYED WEDGE BEFORE AND I’M A (formerly) META-CHASING GAR-HOUND! “Mr. Rebel” my achin’ butt.

To talk about the list and not the man (we’re better off that way), MY GOD THOSE SPEEDERS ARE ANNOYING. They get to just double tap the crap out of any and all units within range 4 (read; everyone just about) and deliver up to 4 essentially or completely unanswered shots by the END of round one because the jerk has order control on the stuff that really matters. On one hand, it is neat that we had a top 4 list where Wedge was the only Commander, on the other hand…I got nothin’. DAMN YOU BRIAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love ya Brian!

Nicolas Bucaille – Top 4 (CIS AquaDekaDooku)

Nicolas, who was born French and is now living in Canada, was one of five fellows who bravely crossed the border from Quebec. If it weren’t for a sick twist of fate, that he was matched with Sam Solo in the very last round of the Top 64, I suspect that both of them would have made it in. Luckily, however, the rest of us got to benefit from those two playing each other in one of the most animated and friendly, while also highly competitive games of Legion I’ve ever seen.

I had the pleasure of playing Nicolas once during my Heat round and then again during the Top 64, and neither game was close at all. My only regret was that in our second game I had to play on the same wide-open, anti-Wookiee table that I lost to Brian on the day before, which took my chances from 1% to 0%. I know very well how scary this list is, I played a version of it that used Magna’s instead of B2’s (Nicolas’ is better trust me) and it just has everything. Nicolas, however, realized more than I ever did when I made and ran a similar list how important order control on double-aimed Aquas can be to get the attrition battle rolling in the early game…I would have maybe considered putting LTA on one of them, but both is a bit of a revelation. The HQ gives him control over 4 corps troopers, then Dooku can Direct to himself, then use Standing Orders for one Aqua and the Direct from the Super Tac for the second Aqua. That leaves you with the Dekas, one B2, and the Super Tac in the bag the latter of whom can then activate emergency comms and strategize to have two aims to share for the Aqua shots.

What you’re left with is Aquas coming out last and each making a shot of 9 very-very-modded dice with Impact 2. Then, he can play Mechanized incursion Round 2 to really get that last-first action going. It’s a hell of a list, he’s a hell of a player, and I have only one thing to say to him: J’ai beaucoup de regrets concernant le placement de mon Chef Wookiee pendant deux parties de suite, et j’apprécierais que tu ne dises à personne à quel point j’ai été idiot dans sa position. Bravo, Nicolas.

Trent Hale – Runner Up (CIS AquaDekaDooku)

Aaaaaaand here’s AquaDekaDooku again. That’s just fun to say isn’t it? This list is somewhat similar to Nicolas’, but it sheds some order control in exchange for a somewhat more powerful Range 2 game with two Black Suns, who conveniently can be healed up by CIS’ still-very-cheap medical droid in order to keep the attrition snowball on Trent’s side. When you add in the Emergency Stims you have a unit that is very hard to get real wounds on, which matters quite a bit when each body is two super-modded dice let me tell you.

Trent related to me that this list is a Sleeper-killer, he took out 11 of those jerks throughout the tournament. I can see three reasons for this: Black Suns have even scarier dice pools (sometimes) and can last longer in a brawl, Dekas can suppress and take standbys, and then of course there is Dooku who can just cripple two units in one activation when Sorry About the Mess and some bag luck is the only way to get out of it. I gushed about Op Luke earlier, but for the true King of the Force Users, my money is on the count. It’s true that he has a little less anti-opponent utility on most turns, but it’s the Direct and the natural surging to block along with Makeshi that slightly gives him the edge in my opinion. He’s a beast and a half, and the dude doesn’t even have Jump or Charge! Trent also told me that he never lost any games where he could play defense, which unfortunately for him was not the case when he ended up on Close the Pocket in the finals against…

Isaiah Wallace – 2025 Legion World Champion (GAR – Obi, Cody, and Double ISP)

Be still my heart! If I was a real journalist, allow me to explain to you why this win is truly a storybook one, especially to me:

• He won with the second weakest faction in the grand scheme (and yes, zoomed out, this was true at Worlds as well)
• He won with the Jedi most people think of SECOND in that faction (or third if you’re an Indiana Hipster)
• That Jedi had his best bud nearby
• He won using a variation on a list he’d been playing for months, so it feels extra-earned
• That list used two vehicles that aren’t super-common, and used maybe the least-commonly used weapon ON them in doing so
• He’s a local to me in the Seattle area
• He is a Flutter connoisseur as well (see below)
• His most common training partner is also his LIFE partner, his wife Caitlyn who finished in the Top 64 herself meaning that the best male and best female player at 2025 Worlds came from the same house
• He is a genuinely cool and humble dude who many of us had to reassure several times during his journey that he, in fact, deserved to be there.

Does it get any better than that? No. It should be noted that Isaiah had to win a couple REAL squeakers in the Top 64 round to get here, don’t believe me? Check this out jabroni:

Two games decided by a TOTAL of 25 kill points?! Stop it dude, you’re drunk. No but seriously you’re great.

We are gonna have Isaiah on Notorious Scoundrels next week so you’ll get even more details then but I purposefully had dinner with the guy and then accidentally had breakfast with him after the end of the tournament so I’ve already got some stuff for ya. If you’ve really been paying attention, you might have remembered that some brave dude took double ISP triple flutter-bomber to the LVOIS. He did…not quite do as well there, going 2-4, and correctly (IMO) deciding that flutter bombers just don’t work in this meta given their lack of impact and vulnerability at Range 2 when they have to be all in the fight. Following that, he devised a new list centered around Obi and two ISP’s because he and Caitlyn were planning on going to Worlds and he knew he needed something more suited to the meta. Well, guess who he played with version one of his list?

That’s right, it me.

We played a league game at his home store in Bothell, WA about a month ago where I was playing AquaDekaDooku. It’s funny to look back at that game and it’s a testament to Isaiah’s flexibility as a player how different that list was: it had an ARF trooper (which by his report got so thoroughly “dumpstered” that he would have cast them aside even if they were legal for Worlds), an AT-RT, a clone super squad (Mike, just so you know I gave him the full diatribe on why I suggested he have two squads instead), and perhaps most significantly beam cannons on both the ISP’s. Well, as you might guess, those beams did next to nothing against an Aqua wall, and Isaiah confirmed to me that was the game that led to him deciding to switch to missile pods. In reality though, the credit for his most influential opponent should obviously go to Caitlyn, who also plays Aquas (with Grievous!), meaning that Isaiah was super well prepared for two Aqua lists in the Top 4. He described to me how they would get through games quickly at home by getting to the point where it seemed like the outcome was decided then setting up for another one: the ideal way to truly practice in my opinion.

As above we’re gonna have him on the cast but I want to give Isaiah some mega bonus points for the fact that in using Cody and Obi he arguably had two VERY good 2-Pips (he got 5 extra attacks off with Cody 2 one time, no joke) and then…he had these others.

• Obi 3: “I used it to start the game, the surges were sort of helpful sometimes”
• Cody 3: “Did you ever use the move?” I asked with a mouth full of a delicious chicken sandwich from 3rd Street Market “No”
• Cody 1: “Did you ever spend the observation token for the extra effects?” I asked, “The only time I really relied on it that I remember is my final game of day 2, when I was trying for the extra impact on a 1 health AAT, but he made all 4 saves so it didn’t end up mattering”
• Obi 1: “It gave me some tokens, I never got to spend a standby token”

So there ya go, in a world where OTHER lists are throwing their weight around with a bunch of extremely swingy command cards here you have Isaiah with little else other than grit and wits to get him through. Congratulations man, and as well to all the rest of the Top 8!

A Bright Future

Legion has been going through a bit of a metamorphosis but I am excited to say that I think it’s emerging to be better than ever. Stay tuned here on The Fifth Trooper blog and our podcast Notorious Scoundrels for all the latest, including NEXT week with the World Champ himself and the week after THAT with “The Wills” to discuss the April 15 rules update. You ain’t gonna be gettin’ that anywhere else folks, so stick around…and watch out for The Baer.