Hello! Michael here. Today’s article happens to release on (4 days after) Staggerer’s Third Year Anniversary, so before we get started with the actual useful information I wanted to give a quick opening speech!
VERY EPIC OPENING SPEECH
Thanks a lot to everyone for the continuous support of the blog! 2025 was by far Staggerer’s best year so far, with more people visiting than in the past two years combined AND doubled! Obviously, next year we aim to improve – expect (hopefully) more articles and always expect better quality!
Staggerers also expanded this year to include the great Leonchampion aka Ben who has been doing great work so far – a huge milestone!
However, (there isn’t always a however but this is one of the sad cases there is), life has slightly other plans. Personally 2026 is a pretty important year for me with some big events coming up or likely on the horizon which unfortunately means that I won’t be as active until the second half of the year. I sincerely apologise for this…
But there is a silver lining! Due to my inability to dedicate as much time as I used to to Underworlds, I want to announce that we will be looking for guest (or even permanent) writers for this blog! If you have anything you want to write about and want a place to put it up please do feel free to ping me on Discord and we can talk 🙂
With that, here’s to an even better 2026 than 2025 and once again thanks a lot for your continued support 🙂 hopefully we keep meeting and exceeding your expectations!
Now onwards to the actual article.
STAGGER CARDS
As per tradition (2024, 2025) the anniversary article must be stagger focused. Unlike the past two years I will actually try to make the article useful this year!
Stagger cards are criminally underutilized. I genuinely thought there were like two in the game but before scrapping this article idea I gave it a quick look and learned there were ELEVEN. Every warband in the game utilizes each of them to a different degree, but which warband would fit each card the best?
I will focus on several factors for each card:
- Deck+warband compatibility. Don’t worry, I won’t propose Over to You in Sepulchral Guard because you won’t run RF Sepulchral Guard. I hope.
- I will try to not name the same warband for different cards.
- I will make sure the warband has something special to enable it for the card. Raging Tremors should be in every deck, but is there any warband who can do it extra well?
Let’s start with a rarely used card.
Sudden Blast isn’t very popular which is valid, it’s not the best card in the game but it isn’t too bad either.
We need a warband who can run Pillage and ideally can end up adjacent to someone in a power step, so they can use the stagger in the activation. It would also help if the warband actually needed the accuracy boost. There is one warband which IMMEDIATELY came to mind for me.
Otherwise known as the ‘PnP Merchants’, the Grymwatch are very devious with Pillage. They meet all the requirements I listed above with the slight caveat that 2/3 ‘splash decks’ for them have an arguably stronger Stagger card (Raging Tremors/Fake Out/Parting Shot). Still, if I had to take Sudden Blast in a warband it would be the G-Watch.
In The Name of the King allows for a power step Raise adjacent to an enemy for a Stagger+Flanked. Additionally, Grymwatch is well known for their uncanny ability to hit a 2 Sword attack but extra accuracy makes the opponent tilt less when it happens, which means Stagger is necessary for them. We don’t want mad opponents.
Raging Tremors is literally the most versatile card here, being located in the most versatile deck while also having very little limiters.
For this card, we want a warband who makes CtC very good, who can ideally leverage the multiple stagger tokens this card can give out, and who want the stagger. So while Cyreni’s Razors fit the first two criteria they don’t really need more accuracy tech. So what warband would it be?
My first thoughts ran to the Headsmen’s Curse. They make CtC pretty op because of Countercharge and Set Explosives being very useful in the warband. Additionally, they happen to have the highest damage guy in the game, meaning they REALLY want the extra accuracy for the could-be-better 2 Hammer attack.
The one issue with Headsmen is they don’t meet the requirement for the multi-use part of the card as they center around a big guy who usually swings only once a round. However, this illusion is quickly dispelled when you remember that in later rounds (where the multi-use actually comes online) the Bearer of the Block is basically a second Wielder and he enjoys the Stagger too. In addition, the Wielder himself is probably close to the targets meaning odds of many swings are high.
While Headsmen are great with it really any warband with Big Boys can leverage it. Mollog was a close runner up but the fact that Headsmen have two Big Guys compared to one from Mollog made them take the lead. In addition, Stagger is more often relevant to the Wielder than to Mollog and his Nasty Critters.
Technically this is a stagger card!
Not much warbands like to use Reckless Fury BUT are also fragile, a crucial condition for playing this card.
Luckily, GW has blessed us with a warband that DOES have fragile-ish fighters but can also give out multiple Charge tokens. The Thorns of the Briar Queen have long been memed as the ‘Swarm RF warband’ due to Soul Warden conveniently giving out two charge tokens, making RF actually playable. They did get hampered with the new version of the warband making Soul Warden only once per round, as it was before, which means a maximum of 5 Charge tokens without card support per round. RF is still playable with this!
The Thorns are also deviously fragile. While two dodge is decent, their two health isn’t, which means they fall like flies. A perfect opportunity to play Over to You and give the enemy a stagger token (which you don’t actually have a way to generate outside of delving!)
Another technically Stagger card which actually Staggers more often than not.
For this card, we want a warband who a) likes stagger, b) likes Wrack and Ruin, and c) wants the ping/can make active use of the ping. There is a very clear answer here for me personally.
The Exiled Dead, named Staggerer of the Year in 2024, are the best warband by far. They love Stagger with their Overload mechanic, as it gives them extra Grievous on hit! Post nerf ED are also very strong with Wrack (partially cause they can no longer play PnP) which makes the fact that this card is in a ‘bad’ deck not a problem. Finally, the opponent actually has to think a lot with this card – do they risk giving you +1 Damage TWICE, or take a guaranteed damage once?
While they don’t really need the ping, it can be layered with other pings for a truly dynamic combo. And pings are always great.
Another ping/stagger card, yay! This was probably the hardest card to pick a warband for, as if a warband wants Fake Out it’s not really for any specific reason.
The optimal warband for this will have a) Edge of the Knife as a good deck for them, b) be able to make use of the ping, c) be able to consistently hit Underdog status in order to buff the odds of the card.
This one was very hard to decide but I settled on Zarbag’s Gitz. They have a lot of Tempered fighters making EotK very strong with them. They also have a potential for some poke damage from the archers, which means that they kind of benefit from the ping as they need to hit less 1 DMG attacks to kill. Finally, their inspire condition as well as their low wound count means odds are you will be Underdog quite a bit.
Another thing for Gitz that makes this card very good for them is Scurry, allowing them to get adjacent to two separate enemies and attack one while pinging the other.
Grymwatch were a close runner up, as both Gitz and Grymwatch make good use of BOTH Sudden Blast and Fake Out, but in the end Grymwatch losing Underdog on the Raise made them take Sudden Blast with Fake Out going to Gitz.
Ok genuinely how in the living daylights am I meant to decide the best warband to make use of this.
Well, a warband must first a) be accurate, in order for Realmstone Raiders to be a good pick for them, b) be able to leverage Stagger, meaning they have to be inaccurate? Yeah, a slight paradox. Oh, and c) they should ideally like the fact that there is NO limitation on this card.
I think Crimson Court are best suited here. First of all, they do have a bit of decent accuracy on-demand with their warscroll abilities, on top of Duvalle being very accurate even when uninspired. They also realllly want to hit attacks to uninspire, which satisfies condition B. Finally, despite being the fastest bunch in the game, they want to be able to stagger ahead of charging in, so that meets bonus condition C!
There were A LOT of other warbands I could pick, especially ones that could leverage the Raid mechanic to play it mid attack. Some POTENTIAL runner ups including Sepulchral Guard but then I forgot their Relentless Blows ability got removed so they couldn’t do an attack-stagger-attack. Rippa was also up there, but unfortunately you cannot attack-stagger-bite as the bite happens before the Raid. Thundrik and Kurnoth’s Heralds both have double attacks but they are ranged so no Raids.
So I thought Misstep was hard to choose but then this abomination presented itself!
For this card, we do have a set of pretty clear conditions: a) be accurate, b) be able to run Raging Slayers without throwing, c) be VERY hard to hit or make the opponent less accurate. Pretty simple, right?
I think it’s a clear option. What warband has insane accuracy, insane defense, is 3 fighters (so can run Raging Slayers?) If you said Dromm, click off this article now! I wouldn’t ever think of putting Dromm here. Anyways, Wurmspat are the bane of my existence (second to Dromm of course) but they do take the cake here. They have an unholy accuracy on top of all being 2 Shields when inspired for whatever reason. Raging Slayers somewhat pairs with them as well, which makes them best suited to leverage this card at low risk of downside.
Da Kunnin’ Krew were almost picked but then I remembered they cannot really run Raging Slayers effectively. Still, they are very hard to hit and are accurate themselves.
This is one of my favorite cards in the game which has consistently made it into 0 of my many Hunting Grounds decks, which is a shame.
The conditions for this card are a) the warband must run Hunting Grounds well, b) the warband must profit from Stagger, c) the warband must be able to force enemies into Staggerable positions.
Call me crazy, but I think Da Kunnin Krew is best suited for this card. They do Hunting Grounds fairly well, at the very least, it’s not a throw pick for them. Next, they don’t profit that much from Stagger but it’s always helpful when rolling ‘everything but sword’ attacks as it pretty much guarantees a Perfect Strike everytime. Finally, they are VERY good at forcing adjacency to themselves or tokens. The warscroll is designed for it, with A Kunnin Plan and both the defensive abilities making enemies very likely to end up next to you.
Unfortunately, Gitz and Grymwatch were all taken, but both of those also suit the requirements of the card quite nicely. They pair well with PnP which forces aggression on top of having high fighter counts. The Kunnin’ Krew ONCE AGAIN is second choice here, as they have good ways to force adjacency with their warscroll. Grandfather’s Gardeners are second most suited for this card. They are famous for their inaccuracy, and they all have Range 2, meaning they can get multiple hits off on several targets! However, they have no way to ‘force’ adjacency unlike DKK.
Our first upgrade on the list, this isn’t what you normally think of as a ‘stagger’ card.
The conditions for this upgrade are that the warband must a) be able to use PnP, b) be able/want to get into enemy territory, c) need a ranged attack. Ideally they want the stagger token to.
I genuinely think the Farstriders are the obvious pick here! First of all, they can do PnP just fine with their absolutely insane mobility on the warscroll – trust me, it works. Next, all but one of their abilities require you to be in enemy territory, incentivising invasion. Finally, they don’t need the Ranged attack per se. However, it does help a bunch with they inspire condition as well as being an accuracy buff to Eagle-Eye and Swiftblade uninspired (and arguably Swiftblade inspired too).
Once again Grymwatch were an obvious pick here but they already won Sudden Blast. Even if they hadn’t, I would have probably put Farstriders as first.
The ‘try not to pick Exiled Dead challenge’ is very hard here…
The conditions here are a) be able to run Wrack and Ruin, b) be able to get value out of the Stagger/push, and c) be able to use this card without much downside of it being a core ability.
When you think of warbands that can fit criteria C I get either Hexbane or Exiled Dead, one of which already appears on this list. However I can think of a better warband than Hexbane (shocking) to use Barge – Hrothgorn’s Mantrappers! They love Wrack and Ruin for some Trap shenanigans and displacement stuff, with Barge actually being one of the best cards in the deck for Hrothgorn!
Their ability to use the trap for two damage on top of having a big guy to leverage the accuracy from the Stagger makes Barge have a clear best warband for it.
And finally, the last Stagger card in the game – a very good one indeed!
For this card, I say these are the following conditions: a) be good at EotK, b) be able to die AND benefit from it, or c) have a fighter you really need to protect.
And for that I nominate Hexbane! They do EotK pretty good, having 4/6 fighters start Tempered and the other 2/6 having 4 bounty invested in them, making them prime targets. They also benefit a lot from dying due to their inspiration as well as Marked mechanic. Finally, as I said already, they have a lot of bounty concentrated in 2 fighters, so a deterrent is necessary. On top of that they actually benefit a lot from the Stagger reroll – and the ping of course, but that isn’t the focus of the article.
A lot of warbands love parting shot but I would still say Hexbane is the best of the best at using it – only Grymwatch with their Raise shenanigans really even came close.
And with that, thanks a lot for reading – not only this article, but this blog for the past three years! Here’s to another great year – with better quality and more quantity (hopefully) than last year. With that, I hope to see you again soon!
Staggerers - A Warhammer Underworlds Blog 