2024 UK Masters Recap

It’s all wrapped up! The 2024 UK Masters took place last weekend, and—as always—there were plenty of surprising twists and heroic moments on the tabletop. If you missed my pre-event predictions, be sure to check out my earlier Masters Preview Post for context on a few players I was keeping an eye on. Let’s dive in and see how it all shook out.

The Final Standings

Topping the tables in undisputed first place was Radoslaw Brylowski with Halflings. He went a perfect 5–0 and finished with the highest Elo of 1815. It’s pretty clear now that Halflings are more than just a “kitchen-sink synergy list”—they’re a serious competitive threat when played well. Radoslaw combined their synergy with aggressive board presence to lock down all five rounds.

Tom Robinson, running a lean Undead list, took second place at 4–1 with an Elo of 1713. His atypical approach featured only eight scoring drops, but he pushed them exactly where they needed to be and ended up second overall—just as I mentioned in the preview!

Rounding out the podium is Ian Sturgess at 4–1 (Elo 1692) with Trident Realm of Neritica. Trident Realm is showing up strongly in tournaments lately, with Ensnare making them tough to shift, and Ian leveraged that to great effect (will we see more tidal swarm spam in future tournaments?).�

Chris Lynch and his Northern Alliance landed just behind Ian, also 4–1, at 1682 Elo. In fact, Chris’s only loss came in Round 4 against Tom Robinson’s Undead—so if one or two dice rolls had gone differently, Chris might have ended in that second-place spot.

Highlights (and Surprises!)

• Halflings remain the stars of this Masters, finishing on a perfect 5–0. It wasn’t just their synergy that impressed; Radoslaw’s ability to position and project board control forced opponents to play reactively.
• Tom’s “weird drop” Undead repeated its success from other events. He runs fewer scoring units than a typical Undead army, but what’s there absolutely hits like a hammer (and yes, I’m biased and love zombie trolls, so I feel vindicated). Though he fell to Radoslaw in his final match, he still left the tournament with a solid second place.
• Trident Realm is on the rise. With Ensnare, Stealthy (in many builds), and plenty of melee punch, we’ve been seeing them near the top for a few tournaments now. Ian Sturgess finishing in 3rd is just the latest example.
• My other spotlight players were a mixed bag:
  • James Williams (Order of the Green Lady) ended mid-table at 2–2–1. While it wasn’t the highlight result he’d hoped for, he put in some strong showings.
  • Alistair Oliver Vowles (Abyssal Dwarfs) picked up a respectable 3–2 record, finishing 11th overall.
• Florence Anna Maunders, coming off a fantastic finish at the UK Clash of Kings, had a tougher run this time at 2–3. She faced Chris Lynch in Round 1 on the streamed Death by Dragons channel, and that early setback (plus some unlucky rolls) meant she never quite found her footing. Make sure to watch the replay to see how Chris’s first-turn pressure pinned her Sylvan Kin down.

Faction Trends

Overall, Empire of Dust and Undead had the biggest representation. Empire of Dust players collectively went 8–6–1, while Undead armies took 5 wins out of 10 games. Notably, Basileans were also out in force but ended with a lower win rate. Meanwhile, the League of Rhordia struggled at 0–5, showing that while the faction can pack a punch on paper, you still need a solid plan to make them shine in a tough field.

Final Thoughts

This year’s Masters confirmed two things: Halflings are still scary good, and atypical lists like Tom Robinson’s Undead build can do very well in the right hands. We also saw Trident Realm perform strongly again—no surprise at this point!

Thanks for reading, and congratulations again to Radoslaw on his dominant 5–0 victory. As always, big thanks to the tournament organizers, players, and streamers who made the event a blast.

If you haven’t read it yet, check out my Masters Preview Post for a fun look at some of the early predictions. For those who want to see the full data, you can find a link to the post-tournament spreadsheet:

Until next time, happy wargaming!