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There a list of codex's based on there current potential?
I keep hearing that the three best at this point are:
Necrons, Eldar, and Tau, but haven't really seen a comprehensive list, or reasons why there currently so good.

Its not the codex's them selves but the power builds within.

Eldar are generally top dog since they have one of the most annoyingly broken transport and VERY tough MC and further annoyingly strong objective nabbers

Necrons are insanely hard to dislodge and kill though there killing power is in the middle ground

Space marines have a few good power builds and some very good aircraft (talons and centurion stars)

Tau have been on the down low from what i saw but they have a very strong and very killy riptide and broadsides

few others i cant think of off the top of my head.

I wouldn't say Tau are among the top dog anymore, as 7th brought them down a few pegs. They're only annoying when people play 3-5 Riptides, as that gets boring.

Eldar are a solid dex as far as power, then you throw in the Wraithknight and Wave Serpent, and it gets silly.

Necrons are less silly in that not any one thing is too OP, but they gained a lot more usable units and a huge resilience boost with their new dex.

Space Marines will always be good, because GW.

Eldar, Chaos Daemons and Necrons are generally considered the top 3.

DA and CSM, the worst ones (not counting stuff like Militarum Tempestus, Assassins and Legion of the Damned). Inquisition can hod its own and Harlequins... dunno.

The others are in a mixed bag, with Orks being one of the worst and SM on the top

 Vector Strike wrote:
Eldar, Chaos Daemons and Necrons are generally considered the top 3.

DA and CSM, the worst ones (not counting stuff like Militarum Tempestus, Assassins and Legion of the Damned). Inquisition can hod its own and Harlequins... dunno.

The others are in a mixed bag, with Orks being one of the worst and SM on the top

I wouldn't say that Orks, or even Dark Eldar are BAD, they're just a bit more difficult to win with. Straight up bad codexes are DA and CSM, as you said. Tyranids aren't terrible, as they won the LVO, I just think their book is poorly balanced in itself.

Like Desubot said, a lot of the powerful lists come from the units and not the codex.

For example, Tyranids can bring one of the most powerful lists in the game right now. Multiple Flying Hive Tyrants backed up with a little support is absolutely devastating. But as a whole, the army is mediocre.

I would actually place Daemons in the top 3. They can bring a massive amount of psychic dice, summon new scoring units or heralds, they can give almost any unit a 2++. They have solid mobility and damage output.

As an army construction block, I think pretty much everyone agrees that right now, the best way to spend 765 points is a Leviathan Hive Fleet Detachment with 3 Flyrants and 3 Spores.

There are pure Tyranid lists getting good results with that allied to a CAD of Tyranids with anotther two Flyrants, Mawlocs, etc. a lot like the winning list at the LVO.


The most important thing to remember in such discussions is that what's best depends a lot on the mission format, and the answers you get will almost always be outdated, as people's opinions are based largely on past events.

In that sense, people will continue to overrate Eldar and Tau for their v6 dominance, when clearly Eldar has lost a lot of punch with v7 and DE v7 - anyway, time will tell.

Daemons will remain excellent as long as they have the Screamer Star, which at 800-ish points is near-unbeatable, the only reason it didn't win the LVO is that the LVO nerfed it down to 2++/4++ instead of its natural 2++/2++.

As tournaments gradually accept the force composition of v7 (i.e. any combination of CADs, alternatives and Allied - or even unbound), codex's and their power become more and more irrelevant.

For example, some may say the DA codex is bad, but the Fearless 4++ AM blob remains a very good buy.

Just like Space Wolves are ok, but their FA pods are just crazy good.



I think it would be extremely hard to get a proper idea of what codex's are really worth on their own as there has been no practical example of single codex play at the most competitive level for a long while, barring the very lucky NOVA winner Tony Kopach, who had one chance in ten at most to make it - and took it. His opponent that game was not running single source. Neither were most of the other players in the top 10.


And lastly, it depends on your points level.

At 800 points, I don't think you can beat either Leviathan Nids or ScreamerStar Daemons.

At 8000 points, Imperial Knights are the best titan hunters you could wish for, a flank march adamantine lance will wreck any titan without effort.

Yeah it differs if you want:

-a list based on the overall average power of the codex, in which case crons are one of the top dogs, along with knights, tau and eldar, as even mediocre lists in these can bring the pain against lower tier books.

-a list based on the most powerful builds (read: most broken stuff jammed into a list) available from the codex, in which case tyranids are walking tall right now, among a few others like eldar and daemons.

I can personally tell you that no-allies BA in the average power category are "okay, middle-ish" but fall to near-bottom in the competitive scene due to a lack of competitive builds that can do anything to the popular top builds.