Is Competitive Play Dead in 6th Ed.? Part 1

NO. That's right, competitive play is not a thing of the past. Period.

Every army has its competitive builds, and its units that aren't so good. But some people can't get that through their thick skulls. 

Click the title for more.

I've lost track of the number of times I've seen people posting on forums, or in the comments section of blogs, about how 6th ed. has killed off the competitive side of the game. Posts like "6th ed is great, but it's still just a game of Rock Paper Scissors in the end" or "d_monik said - "why can't they go back to posting competitive list articles like in the good old days?" Simple - this is 6th edition. The rules are now awful, there are no competitive lists but Tau, and basically everyone is no longer playing." are really getting on my nerves, and it was the second one there that pushed me to write this.

I'll answer the quotes above first, before going on to explain myself. The first one is obvious enough: if you believe that, then you should just play that rather than paying as much as we do to be in this hobby. The second one is more difficult. I do believe however that it is totally wrong. I can't speak for every local meta, but here in Dublin, I have seen EVERY army played competitively. From Tau, to Sisters, each army is played here, and they are played competitively. I believe the reason that Tau are considered by some to be overly powerful or the only competitive army, is because they are relatively easy to play. The only thing you need to know is what to shoot with which guns, and target prioritisation. Even a relatively new player can play Tau well with a little practice. Other armies simply take more getting to know.

I'll give a little anecdotal evidence and end part one. One of the armies most complained about is Dark Angels. One of the best players in my FLGS plays Dark Angels and I have yet to see him lose. He plays ravenwing heavy, with some tactical squads, and a handful of vehicles. And he kicks ass with it. He's played since the new codex dropped, and though I didn't see him at the start (I had exams), I heard he lost a few times. He got to know his list, and his codex, though and now he wins regularly. 

Another army that supposedly sucks is the chaos marine dex. Unless you use heldrake or cultist spam.  I had a brief spell with the chaos marines before the summer. I built (not painted!) a 1500 points list based around Khorne. I've read numerous articles saying that berserkers suck. I won with them, because of how I used them. I presented my opponent with 5-6 close combat orientated units charging on turn 3. That's a scary prospect for any player. And it worked. Despite people imparting their "expert" advice on why not to use these units, they are usable, good even if in the right hands. 

This is already getting too long, so part two will be up soon. This will give more detail, on why I think competitive play is still very real, despite having changed greatly.