November 2026 Rules Update: Summary and Analysis

Michael: Hello-hello! Michael here, and today we are back with a NEW UNDERWORLDS RULES UPDATE! As usual, I will go over every single change as well as provide a quick meta analysis onto it, with Quint putting in a couple words as well.

This one was published by GW in honor of Worlds and we haven’t been told it’s illegal to spread, but if it is, this article will mysteriously disappear off the face of the internet.

This update includes a lot of rules clarifications and a change to the FAR list, but no new errata, which is quite sad but not backbreaking. So – what are we waiting for? Let’s get into it!

FAR FETCHED STUFF

There is a new FAR list!

Bladecatcher is back to being Forsaken.
– Lol. Imo this wasn’t necessary but I guess with other changes it’s an implied Forsaken anyway.
– Quint: Very good for the game, especially with the amount of warbands that rely on cleave and ensnare and the way it regulates high-defense warbands. The removal of bladecatcher inevitably nerfs warbands like Starblood Stalkers, as more people will run Sharpened Points/Deadly Aim. BA/RF was still rampant. It still is pretty good but it should be way less oppressive. I don’t even really care if it’s balanced now i just wanna see another pairing win worlds atp.

Michael: And the following cards are new R’s: Cautious Attitude, Coordinated Deathblow, Haymaker, Headlong Charge, Twist the Knife.

• Cautious Attitude
  • Nexus was NOT a problem, and even if it was, Cautious Attitude was NOT that OP. Pretty bad change imo for a deck already that was not on top. It is arguably the strongest upgrade but it was also the upgrade the deck was played for (when splashed), so this hurts it A LOT splash wise as well and not enough in it’s main purpose as a semi-hold deck.
  • Quint: Very happy with this change, as this card was incredibly stupid for a lot of reasons, mainly on fighters like Klaq-Trok. Nexus of Power will still be pretty good but just a lot more fair now.
• Coordinated Deathblow
  • Michael: A nerf to DS (which is good) but not the right one imo, the biggest issue with it is still the insane reliability of objectives. Also you have like 8 playable upgrades so like no one cares.
  • Quint: OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH. With BA/RF gutted this would be the next best deck but luckily they nerfed one of their best cards. DS still has plenty of tricks but now we don’t have to worry about Gitz infestation anymore. Also interesting to see the difference between me and Michael on this one, as I don’t think the DS objectives are that bad…
• Haymaker
  • Michael: A welcome nerf but unnecessary imo, as the only person who ever played RS consistently is Ironsouls… who don’t need a nerf yet.
  • Quint: Pretty weird change, I wasn’t really scared of Raging Slayer but I guess that the five Ironsouls players are crying right now. Sorry guys.
• Headlong Charge
  • Michael: YAAAAY – VERY welcome – Headlong Charge was insane, and is probably the reason that Bladecatcher is gone now.
  • Quint: Another RF nerf. This was one of my favorite Zephyrites cards which will now never see play again, but probably for the best, cause the diabolical aggro bullshit you could do with this was bloodboilingly annoying. Also, why is it 0 bounty? Way better this way.
• Twist the Knife
  • Michael: A nice nerf but the issue with BA is still the devious surges. Also this is probably like one of the worst cards to hit since you just put in Great Strength instead – I would have loved a Wings of War hit, but anything is good at this point.
  • Quint: yay, stupid grievous card nerfed. Yeah not much to say, this card was really stupid. For me it was either nerf this or Lure of Battle.

Michael: Overall, I am a fan of the vision behind these changes but imo there could have been more impactful strikes. Still – the fact that they happened is great 🙂

---

For some reason none of the changes are highlighted in the rules update. This can either mean that ALL of them are new, or that it’s a mix. So to be safe I’ll go over the major ones and the ones with no major impact I just won’t write much analysis.

THE WILLY-NILLY

There’s 3 random rules changes at the start of the doc which I don’t think matter.

• Stand Fast now reduces damage by 1
  • This technically means that unmodifiable attacks can now be modified by Stand Fast…?
    • Insane Thanatek nerf here, as part of what made them so OP was Thanatek being unstandfastable against.

ABILITY TO ABILITIZE

• You can’t resolve abilites in unresolvable ways.
  • The important text here is ‘might not’ – looking forward to players taking a law course in order to argue that one ability is actually maybe potentially unresolvable. I am NOT a fan of the word ‘might’ here. Like does it affect dice…?
• Abilities that began resolving but become unresolvable just fizzle.
  • This is how it was played before.
• You must fully resolve all abilites.
  • Ok
• You cannot pick unresolvable effects in multi-choice cards.
  • HUGE buff to Damned if you Do and Ominous Rumbling – WnR players hyped ^^
• You CAN charge without a legal target if you have any abilities that allow you to charge.
  • I don’t get what the word ‘additional abilities’ means here – do they have to be open info or just the deck pairing?
• You can use a persisting ability in the last power step.
  • Ok
• You CANNOT play cards unless every part of the card is resolvable.
  • I think this was already the case but if not then cool!

PLAYING THE GAME (WORLDS BTW)

• It is finally clarified in what order does an attack resolve!
  • Yaay! This does mean you get to do some cheeky shenanigans with some warbands but I won’t leak anything haha

WHO GOES FIRST

• It has been clarified that you use abilities like Delusions after the roll off, but it’s still unclear whether it’s before or after the choice to who goes first.

COMMON SENSE

• No comment.

THANATEK CAUSE CRIT GRIEVOUS

• Technically a Crit-Griev attack now is always considered to have +1 damage…
  • This is important for stuff that cares about damage characteristic of weapon.
• This says that Crit Griev works now only if the attack is succesful.
  • This seems like a direct contradiction of the rule above? Someone please explain haha
• Upgrades CAN give Cleave to unmodifable weapons
• However, you CANNOT use the Cleave if you have an unmodifiable weapon. (this applies to ensnare/brutal/grapple too)
  • This is a GENERATIONAL nerf to a lot of warbands.
    • Just saw Thanatek drop to his knees because like he has Cleave on his base statline, but now he can no longer use it. Which is extremely unwarranted imo.
  • Quint: This is incredibly funny to me, another big Thanatek wording L. It’s so funny to me that they where so scared of the interdimensional space dagger that they gave it the same treatment as the EXTRA ATTACK Rippa’s can just make xd. Not much else to say, just give Thanatek modifiable attacks man

DAMAGE STUFF

• You can’t use damage-inducing abilities if you can’t take damage.
  • I think this only affects Gardeners and some Wrack stuff – notably comboing with the Ominous Rumbling/Damned if you Do stuff.
• Slain is now after the success is determined.
  • Ok.
• Bounty is now reverted to normal when a fighter is slain.
  • RF buff cause Aim for the Top and Red Aftermath.

END IS NIGH NERFED

• Domains are discarded when they are finished with their effect.
  • This only applies for Low on Options, which is funny.

SURGES

• ‘Slain’ surges are now simaltenous as Overrun, so you can choose in what order to resolve them in.
  • Important for like 2 cards but I don’t know which ones.
• You can not use surges to score surges at the same time.
  • Important for Branching Fate / Accurate interaction.
• Opponents CANNOT block you from scoring surges by playing surges at the same time!
  • This is neat, but I again can’t think of any interactions off the top of my head.

REROLLS

• You can re-roll set dice.
  • Important for Out of Nowhere. Also implies rerolls happen last.
• You cannot set re-roll dice.
  • CTRL C+CTRL V the first sentence.
• You cannot reroll after opponent rolls dice.
  • Ok this brings up insane tech where if you roll faster than your opponent you block their rerolls – this is beyond OP.
    • (dont do this, it’s cheating)
• You CANNOT score surges with pre-reroll rolls.
  • BA in shambles.

WARBANDS

• Soulraid MUST push both minions.
  • Nerf – this means if one is unpushable, you cannot use the ability (as per other FAQs here)
• Farstriders can inspire with Improv Attack
  • Farstriders S+ tier now.
• Gorechsoen of Dromm get no blood tithe on Raised.
  • Nerf but I hate Dromm so yaaay.

• GWatch can now Raise+Inspire even if they lose underdog
  • Buff!
  • Quint: Finally some clarification for our Raise boys! Grymwatch got a good shadow buff due to this, which might be interesting, seeing as they also got confirmed that they actually benefit from being the Underdog now.
• Michael: Headsmen no longer draw cards on Raised kills.
• A leader’s attack is now an attack made by your leader.
  • Important for Brother in Arms – you can now raise with a stolen weapon if your leader was the attacker!
• Kainan gets no bone tithe on raised kills.
• Knives can no longer ‘save’ their rerolls for later.
  • This was already played!

• Krushas counterspell doesn’t stop the ploy being played.
  • Ploymaster stocks high up again.
• A blocking of Wings of War causes the Charge to fizzle, but you can make ANY OTHER ACTIVATION.
  • INSANE Krushas nerf. Instead of charging, you now pick ANY OTHER FIGHTER and they can activate, bar they can’t charge. This is wild.
• You can still charge if there is another fighter in range.
  • This is kind of insane as it stacks with the other ability just mentioned… I think?
• Skinnerkin can no longer charge over a fighter and push them in range.
  • I’ve never seen this tried but good to know I guess.
  • This does set the precedent that dice based abilites are treated as ‘failed to resolve’.

DECK CHANGES

• END IS NIGH is no longer usable if the opponent has no cards in hand.
  • This was already played like this so I don’t think this changes much.
• Bringer of Doom only works if equipped.
  • Generational nerfs, pickrate drops from 0–>0.
• Violent Blast is usable on an empty Stagger hex
  • This is very good to know, and a nice Cata buff.

• Battering Ram cannot driveback undrivebackable people.
  • Ok.
• Battering Ram doesn’t work against auto-stand fast abilities.
  • Notably GW used ‘Elusive Mirages’ in the wording, which means they know Thanatek exists.
• Closed Down now only counts as holding if you end the move/push on it.
  • Ok.
• You can Brother in Arms a fighter otherwise out of range.
  • A nice DS buff!
• Brother in Arms uses: the runemark that the stolen weapon has, the attacker’s modifiers (Keen Eye/Accurate), attacker abilities (Headsmen Raise), and the attacker’s upgrades. And if a weapon is an upgrade with abilities like CRIPPLING BLOW they also work.
  • Yeah I summed it up already.

• Behind Enemy lines works on every feature token.
  • Very nice buff.
• Fake Out is now nerfed and Stagger only works if damage is dealt.
  • Pretty sad but not major.

• Self explanatory.

• Crippling Blow works as written.
  • Nice!
• You can no longer push through Friendly territory to inspire with Bounty of Ghyran.
  • Pretty sad but HG doesn’t have any multi-pushes so not major.
• You can now charge out of Friendly territory with Bounty of Ghyran!
  • Insane buff! Always nice to have!
• Ready or Not works as written.
  • It’s still really bad.

• Domination is confirmed to work in a bad way, you need 3 different tokens to score it.
  • This is pretty tragic for NoP.
• Close the Vice confirmed to count when the attacks are made.
  • This is a nice buff!
• Same for Audacity
  • Ditto.
• Lone Wolves confirmed to work as budget-Alone in the Dark
  • This was how it was already played but still pretty sad.
• Into the Deepwoods got a mild buff in that it’s the token that has to be in the territory, not the fighter.
  • Technically a sidegrade but now allows for in-territory guarding!

• Excavating Blast only has Stagger if you make the attack in enemy territory.
  • Ok.
• Canny Sapper confirmed to go: Teleport – Ploy. The ploy must be resolved.
  • This means that a Canny Sapper + Confusion now has to land you adjacent to a fighter and same is true for other cards – this is a nerf.
• Ditto to above.

• No heal with What Pain if can’t be staggered.
  • Ok.
• A fighter who can’t get Staggered can’t move with Senseless Haste active.
  • This would have opened up funny control builds but sadly it only affects Friendly Fighters so…
• Wrong-footed Stance affects Flyers.
  • Time to rewrite Misrecarded.

• Armour Piercer and Brightstone Vigour are NOT runemark-affected.
  • Good to know! The printed characteristic is what caps the damage.
• Raider’s Rapture works as it has been played the past year.
  • Ok.
• Raid-ed cards are not played if it is not played.
  • This makes total sense tbh. Not much else to say.
• You can choose if you want to Raid first or do surges first.
  • A nice buff, though I can’t think of examples this is important.
• You can’t instantly benefit from upgrades by Raiding them onto a fighter.
  • Pretty sad, but it makes sense.
• You can’t use glory from surges to equip a Raided card.
  • Again, sad, but makes sense.

• Vicious Brawl now confirmed to need to be in a triangle shape.
  • Ok.

• Misfortune not usable twice during a charge.
  • Gardeners (and Kyros) in shambles.
• Unstoppable now causes you to ‘take’ 0 damage.
  • This is a pretty hard nerf, especially for the funny Desperate Defense/Unstoppable combo.
  • Quint: Unstoppable is the weirdest here, where it actually does count as taking damage for things like Bloody and Bruised or Unsafe Ground. Very weird but intruiging nonetheless.
• Michael: Anything controlled by a player dealing damage scores Bloody and Bruised.
  • This is a nice piece of information to have, technically a buff.
• You can’t re-roll even if you don’t switch a symbol with Henchman.
  • Nerf, but makes sense.

---

CONCLUSION

So… yeah. Lots of changes.

In general, BA/RF probably got hit the hardest with the FAR changes. The FAQs didn’t really help anyone out that much, it did hurt a lot of warbands.

I guess Thanatek did deserve these nerfs cause they WERE the second most OP warband in the game but still, feels bad man 😦

I hope we get some more Underworlds content and errata soon though! The fact that we got at least this is great 🙂

Quint: BARF is gone! The king is dead, long live the king! I now genuinely don’t know what the best deck is. I think it might be PP, since it didn’t get hit with any nerfs except for a few rulings on Canny Sapper that where pretty self-explanatory already. It’s gonna be a lot of testing in the deckbuilder, but I won’t reveal my hand too early so my thoughts stay a surprise till worlds. Overall I am really happy with this change though, as the most annoying and “braindead” style of play has been nerfed pretty badly, and I think that decks will overall be more interesting and dynamic than before. As always, have a good day and good luck with your trip to worlds or your local scene!

Michael: With that, thanks for reading! If you see any issues with the article shoot me a message on Discord – I made this really quickly so it might have some errors. As usual, hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you again soon 🙂