The Birmingham GT 2026 Winrates and Rankings impact

Gonzalo Ausimour
Jul 9
5 min read

The Birmingham GT Super Major was the first proper look at the shape of 11th Edition.

Big events don't just crown a winner. They stress-test a brand new meta, table by table, round by round, before anyone really knows what works yet.

With 192 players recorded across the event, 28 factions on the tables, and 177 games played from the opening rounds through to the final bracket, Birmingham gave us a genuinely large sample to read the new format by. Not just one bracket final, but a full weekend of data.

And the numbers had plenty to say.

Sam Wins Birmingham

First, the headline result.

Congratulations to Sam Nash, who took down the Birmingham GT with Thousand Sons, finishing 1st overall after a perfect 7-win run across the event and bracket rounds.

The Birmingham podium was stacked:

Sam Nash Thousand Sons
Theo Hayat Chaos Space Marines
Florence Maunders Tyranids
Jack Downing T'au Empire
Toby Bennett Space Marines (Astartes)
Joshua Townley Drukhari
Ross Tully T'au Empire
Vik Vijay Thousand Sons
Andy Quas-Cohen Necrons
Glenn Connolly Blood Angels

Sam Nash's run was the story of the weekend. Thousand Sons, built around a Defiler and three units of Sekhetar Robots, and a perfect record across every recorded game: Culminating in the Round 6 bracket win to take the whole event.

That is not a fluke. That is a list and a player performing across the full weekend.

The Top Five Got Rewritten

The first 11th Edition Super-Major has done exactly what we expected: it has started to reshape the rankings.

Five rounds in Birmingham were enough to reward those who hit the ground running, while players who missed the event immediately felt the pressure of an active leaderboard.

Before Birmingham, the top five were:

Mani Cheema
Ben Jones
Greg Chamberlain
Scott Morris
Christopher Langton

After Birmingham, the top five became:

Mani Cheema
Ben Jones
Greg Chamberlain
Theo Hayat
Scott Morris

Theo Hayat was the biggest mover at the top of the table. His undefeated performance with Chaos Space Marines saw him climb into the top five, continuing the consistency that has made him one of the UK's standout competitors.

Meanwhile, players like Sam Nash, Florence Maunders, Jack Downing, Toby Bennett and Joshua Townley all enjoyed excellent weekends, adding valuable ranking points after finishing the event undefeated.

As always, the biggest events don't just reward those who perform well: they also affect everyone who isn't in the room. Every Super-Major represents a huge opportunity to climb the rankings, and Birmingham proved that the race for King of 11th is off to a strong start.

After just one Super-Major, the leaderboard is beginning to take shape. But with an entire edition still ahead, every event will offer another chance to climb... or another opportunity for someone else to take your place.

The Birminghman Meta: What Actually Won Games?

The Birmingham 40K Super Major was not just another weekend of games. It was the first proper look at the shape of 11th Edition at a huge UKTC major.

Across the event, we had 190 players, 27 factions, and 435 recorded games.

Necrons were the most popular faction in the room with 14 players, followed closely by T'au Empire, Space Marines, and Thousand Sons on 13 players each, then Tyranids on 12.

But popularity and performance were not always the same thing.

The obvious headline is Sam Nash. Thousand Sons, built around a Defiler and three units of Sekhetar Robots, and a perfect 7-0 record across the entire event, capped off with the final win.

That is not a faction spiking for one bracket game: Thousand Sons as a whole went 37-24 across 13 players for a 60.7% win rate, one of the strongest returns from any faction with real numbers behind it. Sam Nash's run was a genuine reflection of the faction's weekend, not an outlier carrying it alone.

Dark Angels had the single strongest win rate of the event. Six players combined for an 18-8 record, a 69.2% win rate.

Orks also had a very strong weekend. Eight players brought them, finishing 25-15 overall for a 62.5% win rate.

Drukhari backed that up too, with five players going 15-10 for a 60.0% win rate, while Adeptus Mechanicus quietly posted the same 60.0% mark across two players.

T'au Empire deserve a mention for managing to be both one of the most played factions and one of the better-performing large factions. With 13 players, T'au finished 33-28 overall for a 54.1% win rate, a healthy return from one of the most represented factions in the event.

Space Marines told a similar story: 13 players, a 34-28 record, and a 54.0% win rate.

On the other side, some popular factions had tougher weekends. Aeldari brought 10 players but finished at 40.0%. World Eaters, also with 10 players, sat at 41.9%, and Adeptus Custodes, with 10 players, finished at 44.2%. Tyranids, despite being one of the most played factions with 12 pilots, finished on the softer side at 44.8%.

Special shout outs to our smaller factions with big results: Leagues of Votann went 13-9 for a 56.5% win rate across five players, and Chaos Daemons matched T'au's win rate almost exactly at 53.3% across six players.

On the flip side, Genestealer Cult had a rough weekend, finishing 1-7 for a 12.5% win rate.

Force Dispositions Come to Warhammer: How Did It Go?

Birmingham was also the first time any of us actually played with Force Dispositions. The mechanic is brand new to 11th Edition, so this was the first real data set the format has produced, and the room split its picks fairly evenly across all five: Priority Assets, Reconnaissance, Purge the Foe, Take and Hold, and Disruption.

Priority Assets edged out as the strongest pick of the weekend at 51.6%, with Reconnaissance close behind at 51.1% and Purge the Foe (comfortably the most popular choice in the room) sitting almost dead even at 50.4%.

Take and Hold came in a touch below breakeven at 48.9%.

Disruption was the clear outlier, dropping to 39.5%, the only disposition to finish meaningfully below the pack.

It's one event, so take it as a first data point rather than a verdict. But for a mechanic nobody had tournament reps on before this weekend, that's a genuinely useful baseline to build from.

You Can't Score Points From Home

BIRMINGHMAN Still Mattered

Birmingham was another reminder of one of the core principles behind the UKTC Rankings: you have to be in the room.

Every Super-Major is an opportunity to strengthen your position, but only for the players who make the journey. Those who attended Birmingham gave themselves the chance to earn valuable ranking points, while those who stayed home watched the leaderboard continue to evolve around them.

The race for King of 11th won't be won in a single weekend, but every weekend counts.

KING OF 11TH: The Race Has Begun

The first 11th Edition Super-Major is complete, and the King of 11th Rankings are already starting to take shape.

Birmingham was the first chance to earn major ranking points, and the players who seized that opportunity have laid down an early marker for the season.

Of course, one event doesn't define an edition. There are plenty of Super-Majors still to come, and every one of them offers another opportunity to climb the leaderboard.

But the message is already clear.

The race for the King of 11th is underway... and it's not waiting for anyone.

See you at the next one

Coming up, we have a veritable host of events up and down the country - and tickets are selling fast! Make sure you secure your spot before they're all gone! This month we are launching the Bedford Super-Major and the first event of 2027 with the Nottingham Gt, both of which launch on Friday 26th @ 2PM. Set your alarms for that and be ready to buy when the tickets drop.