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The codex has terrible fliers and non-flier AA options - and without allies, can't remedy this.

I really don't think the fliers are terrible at all, but even if this were true, so what? Fliers don't when you games. In fact, in the top tier, they are only prominently displayed by one codex (Necrons). A Codex that is struggling against the rest of the top tier because people haven't figured out that Tesla Destructors that don't even come onto the board until turn 2 are generally a pretty inefficient weapon against the current meta.

There are all sorts of flawed and skewed misperceptions like this in the competitive seen. I have zero AA in my primary Necron build and it has never cost me a game. Not once. Why? Because I completely ignore fliers and focus on what I can most efficiently kill to win the match.

This is just one example, but it still illustrates the point. DA struggle because all MEq (and particularly TEq)are struggling right now. The intra game dynamics favor more bodies over "elite" infantry. That's just the way it is.

However, there are tools to mitigate these disadvantages. Both in the codex itself and through the ally options. DA do have things other Space Marines don't. Trying to pretend they offer zero advantages simply paints an incomplete picture (you did acknowledge the propensity to spam small arms fire though).

Basing any of your conclusions on the most popular build right now are exactly what I'm identifying as a flaw in your reasoning. It's one build, or rather, one family of builds. I've barely spent anytime theorycrafting DA at all but I can tell you there are huge changes I would make to the list design I see coming from most of these builds. They generally fall into two camps. New players who are new, can't blaim them there, or old farts who are tied to "pure" wing lists for their own reasons, but impose severe self limitations to their list design because of this. Since the dex dropped I have seen very little press (or tournament exposure) from the competitive community revolving around anything accept the Banner of Devastation. So, if you want to say Banner of Devestation, pure death and ravenwing, and nubs are doing poorly at tournaments, I can agree with you there. But don't pretend that a single year after the Codex dropped we are even close to exhausting all of its potential.