Chaos Magic in Old World: Competitive Breakdown

Yesterday, two players asked me if Chaos magic is actually bad because you never see it in typical competitive lists. Honestly, it’s a very common question. They kept seeing over and over again in competitive lists how it was always just double dragon lists, over and over again.

They never saw a Chaos list using magic with good results in competitive events.

So I guess there are more people with this doubt, and I said… well, let’s write a post about this. And while we’re at it, if you like it and I see it gets shared, I’ll write a post in the same style for all armies.

But only if it actually helps you.

I’m here to help, not to mess around.

Anyway, let’s get into it.

Chaos Magic in Warhammer The Old World

In this post we’re going to see what the Chaos Sorcerer brings, what each lore brings to this army, what synergies you can actually get and why magic-based lists are rarely seen in competitive environments.

The Chaos Warriors army has access to four lores: Battle Magic, Demonology, Dark Magic and Elementalism like many others, but with two key differences:

They also have access to an exclusive lore that only they can use.
In addition to each lore’s signature spells, each Chaos mark has an additional alternative signature spell (instead of swapping a spell you rolled for the lore’s signature, you can choose to swap it for your mark’s signature).

But… BUT…

Why are the Chaos signature spells so bad?

When we look at Chaos magic, the first thing we see is that the mark costs points and grants certain benefits. Many times, the benefit we want from the mark doesn’t match the signature spell we are looking for. For example, I want the benefit from the Mark of Nurgle, but the signature spell from Tzeentch… and that’s not possible.

So what mark signature spells do we actually have?

Chaos Undivided Signature: Winds of Chaos

The Mark of Chaos Undivided gives access to a spell that reduces enemy Movement by 1 or 2 (1 if you roll a 7–8 when casting, 2 if you roll 9+). It has good range (21) and low difficulty. The problem is that the effect has almost no relevance for the type of meta units being played, which are very mobile. This spell can be useful against low-mobility armies like Dwarfs (but Dwarfs in competitive play run gyrocopter lists, so nope).

Slaanesh Signature: Acquiescence

The Mark of Slaanesh makes the enemy suffer Always Strikes Last. This is very interesting for a combat army like Chaos. Also, difficulty 6!

So why isn’t it used? Because the Mark of Slaanesh gives a mediocre benefit and, on top of that, the spell has range 12 and is a hex. That means you might use it one turn, but once combat starts, you won’t be able to cast it again.

ALSO, important note (people usually don’t notice this): it lasts until the end OF THAT COMBAT PHASE, so you cast it in your turn, you fight, and in the opponent’s turn it no longer applies.

It’s just garbage, especially knowing we have better options.

Nurgle Signature: Fleshy Abundance

Difficulty 7, gives +1 Toughness. It has range SELF and affects not only the wizard but also their unit.

So far, this is the best one we’ve seen, but… is it good?

No.

It is a Remains in Play spell, and that means the opponent can dispel it when you cast it AND ALSO at the start of each of their turns WITH BASE DIFFICULTY. So it’s very easy for them to dispel it on a 7+, meaning you’re only going to use it during YOUR TURN, if they didn’t already dispel it when you cast it.

But… FINALLY we get to the good spell. The best of the best:

Tzeentch Signature: Blue Fire

The Tzeentch spell, Blue Fire of Tzeentch, is the best of the signature spells. The problem is that the Mark of Tzeentch is not particularly interesting in many lists. To get value from it, you usually need to include a unit of Chaos Warriors as a bunker or Chaos Marauder Horsemen and, if not, you are basically wasting the effect (if you are inside a unit of Unit Strength 10+ that also has the mark, you get +1 to cast. You also get Magic Resistance (1) and Flaming Attacks).

It’s worth noting here that, with Chaos, when we want Magic Resistance (2) we buy the Collar of Brass for 20 points (which is common and can be repeated as many times as you want).

The effect of the spell is very good: Range 18, 1D6+3 hits at Strength 4, AP -2 and Flaming. It’s probably one of the most destructive magic missiles in the game.

So you’re getting between 4 and 9 hits that actually matter, with difficulty 9, like many other spells that are not as strong.

So the question is… what do these signature spells actually have synergy with?

Well, I’m going to explain that right now…

Battle Magic in Chaos Warriors: the direct damage wizard

This lore has a signature spell that improves combat ability, Hammerhand, which deals 2D3 Strength 4 hits with AP -2. It’s not bad at all, it has low difficulty and boosts us in combat, but the reality is that it doesn’t really have synergy with anything for a wizard (maybe in a level 1 Daemon Prince if you feel like it).

But let’s look at it from another perspective, and that is that the magic missile of this lore (Fireball) IS NOT the signature spell and therefore we can roll it and swap ANOTHER SPELL for the Tzeentch magic missile.

Battle Magic also has Pillar of Fire (the vortex), which even though it is Strength 3, has AP -2 and 3D3 hits. It’s quite useful.

With this we already have 3 ranged damage spells. What can we complement them with if we want a level 4 wizard?

Arcane Urgency

This is the movement spell of the lore. It has difficulty 9 and range 15, and allows a unit that has already moved to move again.

This lets you bring a combat unit, a monster or any threat directly into the enemy’s face, or move twice without losing the ability to cast magic missiles.

The problem is that you cannot cast it before moving. That means you have to commit your movement without knowing if the spell will succeed. If it fails, you might leave a unit exposed and get charged.

Problems and anti-synergies of Battle Magic with Chaos

The biggest problem with Battle Magic is that the rest of the spells are quite bad for Chaos. The enchantment gives a 5+ ward save to the wizard and their unit.

This means that, if you take him in a unit, OK. If you take him alone, the spell is completely irrelevant because Chaos Sorcerers already have a 5+ ward save by default thanks to Chaos Armour.

The hex of this lore is Curse of Arrow Attraction, which lets you re-roll 1s to hit with shooting (we are CHAOS, we don’t use shooting. We use swords and axes).

The remaining spell forces the target unit to take a Panic test. Range 15, difficulty 8. It’s useless, I won’t go any further into it. Let’s move on to THE LAST INTERESTING SYNERGY of Battle Magic.

Warpfire Dragon with Battle Magic

The Warpfire Dragon can take Battle Magic, Demonology or Dark Magic. It can be a wizard or not. In many cases, level 1 is enough (you can make it level 2. The reality is that all 3 options are good).

Battle Magic works well on it because the signature improves its combat, Fireball allows it to harass while positioning and using its breath weapon, and it can target hard-to-reach units thanks to its Large Target line of sight and long range.

Also, the 5+ ward save buff is actually useful on the dragon, since its special rule does not prevent it from benefiting from ward saves itself (it says that no OTHER friendly or enemy unit can use ward saves within 3 inches of it).

As we can see, Battle Magic is interesting for a direct damage wizard and for the Warpfire Dragon but… we have more interesting options. Here I present another completely different kind of wizard.

Demonology in Chaos Warriors: the most buffed units in the frozen deserts of Chaos

This lore has one of the hardest hitting magic missiles in the game, The Summoning, with 2D6 Strength 4 hits, AP -1 and difficulty 9. That is its signature spell, but… two things:

The problem is that if you choose this signature, you are giving up the Tzeentch one, which is better for direct damage (although you wouldn’t have to pay the 10 points for the mark to get a good magic missile if you choose The Summoning).

The second problem is that the vortex of this lore is very bad, so it is usually swapped. This means there is no more direct damage in this lore and therefore The Summoning has no real synergy, although we will come back to it later when talking about magic items.

What is Demonology actually good for?

This lore is designed for a combat wizard, with buffs and hexes:

Gathering Darkness

It has a hex that gives -2 Initiative, -2 Leadership and removes Inspiring Presence from the target unit until the next turn.

It has difficulty 9 and range 12, it is REALLY GOOD.

What else?

Daemonic Familiars

A combat spell that deals 2D6 Strength 2 hits with no armour saves (very good against high armour targets) which, for a wizard that will go into combat with his unit, does have synergy (unlike Hammerhand). It only has difficulty 8, which for a level 1 wizard can be a bit tough, but with a level 3 or 4 wizard (which is usually used for this lore) it works quite well.

Daemonic Vessel: the first buff

And I say level 3 or 4 because almost all the spells in this lore have synergy with each other for combat, and it is worth taking as many as possible to create a brutal combat unit.

This spell is cast by the wizard on himself and his unit, giving +1 Strength, Attacks and AP. Difficulty 9.

The limitation is that IT CANNOT BE CAST on a different unit, which is why it is important that the wizard is prepared to go into combat, and that is helped by the previous spell… but not only that one, also this one:

Daemonic Vigour

+1 Movement, Toughness and Initiative.

This one can be cast on a different unit. It has Range 15 and difficulty 9.

All these spells we have described so far work well on characters in chariots, monsters, cavalry or infantry. Very versatile in that sense, they allow you to build your wizard however you want.

But we still have one spell left in this lore, and this one ONLY works with infantry. And it works VERY WELL…

Shadow Steed: putting Chaos Warriors in your opponent’s face on turn 1

This movement spell is brutal. It gives the ability to fly 12 inches to an INFANTRY unit (it does not have to be the one the wizard is in, it has range 15 and difficulty 8).

This allows you to move infantry 24 inches or even 36 in marching column, but it can only be cast within the front arc like any other movement spell, so keep that in mind when deploying (if your wizard is on a chariot or outside a unit it doesn’t matter because he has 360º line of sight, but if he is in a unit or on a monster, you must take this into account).

Also, getting this spell off is REALLY important in many lists: you should deploy your wizard far enough back so that, if your opponent goes first, they cannot move their wizard into dispel range when you cast this.

Keep in mind that movement spells are cast DURING THE MOVEMENT PHASE, so you can cast it outside enemy dispel range and then move in without problems or, if you start within dispel range, move out and then cast the spell.

This allows you to put a unit of Chaos Warriors directly in the enemy’s face.

Because of everything described, for combat wizards, Demonology is better than Battle Magic because you don’t have to deal with useless spells and there is very strong synergy but, what about the Warpfire Dragon? Is Demonology useful on it?

Warpfire Dragon with Demonology: better than Battle Magic?

Demonology has high casting values, so it is not ideal for level 1 or 2 wizards. Also, the buffs are not well used on a flying monster that is not inside a unit but still, there are people who like Demonology.

I don’t, but it’s not HORRIBLE or unplayable.

Ok, so we have a lore for ranged damage and one for combat. What do we want Dark Magic for?!

Dark Magic in Chaos Warriors: hand in hand with Lore Familiar

Here I’m going to be very quick:

The signature spell is completely useless. Lots of range but very little damage (Strength 3, partial hits on 4+, small template… garbage with range, but no real synergy with an army like Chaos).

Other spells in this lore don’t bring much either: Phantasmagoria is garbage, Soul Eater with its Strength 3 is complete garbage and Stream of Corruption is garbage (because it has Strength 3 and also does partial hits on 4+ with a breath template…).

So, is the whole lore garbage?

NO.

The spells that are actually useful are the movement spell (Infernal Gateway), which allows you to reposition characters AND EVEN TAKE THEM OUT OF COMBAT. This spell, depending on your list and strategy, can be completely useless or very useful. Think about it.

The crown jewels: Battle Lust and Word of Pain

This lore has two really powerful spells that combine very well with combat units:

Battle Lust, which gives Frenzy and Hatred to a unit at range 12 and difficulty 9, and Word of Pain, which reduces Strength and Toughness by 1 (range 18 and difficulty 10, one of the best spells in the game).

This lore is useful if you combine the good spells and avoid the bad ones. It works especially well if you use Lore Familiar for this reason. In fact, I would never consider playing Dark Magic without Lore Familiar, but I would consider it WITHOUT level 4.

There are usually not 4 good spells in this lore because… ok, let’s say I build a list where the movement spell makes sense, then I would take Battle Lust, Word of Pain and Infernal Gateway… but… what else? I guess if I really want a level 4, I would give him the Mark of Tzeentch to get the magic missile, which even if it doesn’t have real synergy, is good on its own (well, the Toughness reduction from Word of Pain always combines with everything).

With this we have analyzed the three main Chaos magic lores from the launch of the game. BUT there is another lore, the new one from the Arcane Journal after 2025. I wrote a post about it when it came out, here it is (it’s called Shadowlands).

What do magic items bring to Chaos magic?

You also have to take magic items into account. You can build a direct damage wizard combining Battle Magic (Pillar of Fire and Fireball) with the Tzeentch signature spell as we’ve seen but, you can ALSO add The Summoning.

What?

Rod of the Damned

Chaos has a magic item called Rod of the Damned for 40 points that casts the Demonology signature spell with Power Level 2.

This basically turns your wizard into a machine gun.

Skull of Katam, Grimoire of Ogvold, Sceptre of Power, Spell Familiar and Ruby Ring of Ruin

There are other boosting magic items (they give +1 to cast, to dispel or increase the number of spells the wizard knows) but they don’t have clear synergy and they’re quite expensive for what they do, both for low level and high level wizards.

The Ruby Ring of Ruin is always a good option, but if our wizard is a direct damage one, he already knows Fireball and can’t cast it twice, so you would need to give this item to another model THAT IS NOT GOING TO MARCH normally (which is why I don’t like it on a Demonology combat wizard).

Anyway… this has been an extremely long post. It’s been a lot of work, it took me days, so I’m asking you to share any post you think might help other players (if you share it on Reddit you’ll make me the happiest person alive; I have a terrible Reddit account and I can’t post there, even though subreddit mods tell me it’s fine, the automod bans me :D).

Help me help more people.

To finish, let’s answer the question of why Chaos players don’t bring wizards:

Because they just don’t fit.

Because everyone plays two dragons and each one costs 500 points, so there are no points left to include wizards. There’s just no room.

Are wizards unplayable? No.

Are wizards bad? No. They’re even fun.

But the Chaos army itself isn’t that strong, so people try to compensate with the power of dragons for the mediocrity of the troops, and that’s why we don’t see wizards (and that’s why I stopped playing Chaos, I don’t feel like playing Double Dragon).

See you in the next one.

Chaos Magic in Warhammer The Old World: Make it work