The new World Champions look back on the World Championships of Warhammer 2025

The World Championships of Warhammer 2025 have drawn to a close, and four new champions have been crowned.

More than 700 players from 48 countries descended on Atlanta, Georgia last week for four days of rolling dice, making friends, and celebrating the international events community.

We caught up with our four champions after they won their finals, to find out how they feel and what makes the World Championships so special.

Richard Siegler – 2025 World Champion of Warhammer 40,000

Team USA’s Richard is a long-time Warhammer tournament champion, and in fact won all three Warhammer Opens in 2021 – in Orlando, New Orleans and Austin. He’s also been ITC champion twice. 

After claiming the World title with his Adeptus Mechanicus army, he said: "I'm feeling amazing. It's been a long time since I won one of the big events, but it feels great to be back.

“Last year I made the top eight with my Adeptus Mechanicus and got a Golden Ticket from that. I don't play too many singles events, but I came here playing my Adeptus Mechanicus once again, and they got some awesome buffs in September. It felt great going into this event.”

Richard defeated three-time London GT champion, Belgian Liam VSL in the final clash.

He said: "I played against one of the absolute best players in the world, Liam VSL. Everybody lives in fear of him in Europe, and he's been a dominant force over there, so it was great to pit my skills against his."

Richard’s army is based on one he has been using for some time, and that he has a lot of experience with.

He said: “I've been typically running Skitarii Hunter Cohort for a while, but I added some tech in this one, the autocannon Ironstriders, as well as 30 Sicarian Infiltrators, which I previously haven't run. But I try to play the best defensive control style. I want my opponent to put their waves of damage on my half of the board, and then my return fire is enough to take care of them.”

"The best part about the World Championships is being able to play against players that I normally wouldn't get to play against, like Liam, like many of the other non-American players, it's absolutely amazing to meet them and make new friends. And the people that I've made friends with over the last two years of the world championships, I got to see them again, and so you get to hang out with new people and build those relationships.

“So that's by far the best part, is the community coming together from all over the world."

Richard also shared some advice for players who also want to go on to compete at the World Championships. “If you want to turn up and win, the best thing I can recommend is playing against the best players that you know. You’ve got to win a lot and you’ve got to lose a lot of games to start winning the big ones.”

Jean-Baptiste Aymes – 2025 World Champion of Warhammer Age of Sigmar

Jean-Baptiste won Best Overall for Warhammer Age of Sigmar last year, and was one of 56 members of the French team who came to Atlanta in 2025. He clinched the title with his Hedonites of Slaanesh by defeating his countryman Martin Feingold in the Grand Final.

He said: "I’m on a cloud. I did not expect this coming here. Last year, I performed very well, but coming here I didn't expect to come this far, so it's awesome." 

Jean-Baptiste praised his French teammates who cheered him on in the final. He said: "I think we in France have a good community. The people are awesome and there are a lot of things going on. We go to tournaments, meet people, and raise the level, maybe. It’s very cool to have all those people surrounding us, helping each other, and motivating us."

He also praised the atmosphere at the World Championships, and the players that he met along the way. “At the level of this event, all of my opponents really want to win, but all of them were examples of fair play and awesomeness.

“It's awesome to meet international people, and to meet them again. Many of them were here last year, and then we met again for the Team World Championships. And then coming here and greeting so many people, and so many people coming to be like, ‘Hey, it's nice to see you again’.”

To those who want to compete at major events in the future, he said: “Just take the chance. Just go to meet people, go find some new people and new communities. Try some tournaments, you will see everyone is awesome.”

Selecting his army, Jean-Baptiste just chose one of the armies he had that he liked the look of the most! He said: “I have two armies that I have painted well. With Kruleboyz I won Best Overall last year, and my other army is Slaanesh, so I decided to take them. There was a points drop just before, so I was like, okay, I can really do something. 

“There were so many matches that were so close. I had some pretty tough games all the way. There were lots of things that my army doesn't like. I had to learn during the whole tournament how to handle those things because I was not ready for some. That went well. Thankfully, I'm a fast learner!”

Fernando Marcos – 2025 World Champion of Kill Team

Fernando – better known in the community as “Ace” – took the title for Kill Team with his Mandrakes by defeating 2024 World Champion Dan Barton in the Grand Final.

He said: "I am feeling super good. I'm exhausted because the game was so, so close at all points. But I am super, super happy."

Ace was able to finally lift the trophy for Spain, after two years of just missing out. He said: “I'm super happy for Spain, because this is the third year we got into the final. The last two, we got second, and finally, we have the Championship for my country so I'm very happy.

“This is for my whole community. There is no way I would be here if it's not for my community, for all the people that have been playing with me for the last six years. So I am super proud to be able to represent them and to bring them home the trophy.”

He also praised the camaraderie that comes from the whole Warhammer community, and how the World Championships bring people together. He said: “The highlight of the whole tournament for me is the community. We have all the people you know from the Discords, from the online communities, finally getting to meet them, it has been amazing. 

"My opponents have been super good, super close games all of them. I win most of them by one, two, three points. The highlight is the community, always the community."

His advice for those who want to compete at the World Championships in the future is to engage with other players. He said: “Keep trying. I have been trying for four years. Keep improving with your community, share your secrets with people. That's the only way you can improve. Ask your friends after the game what went wrong, how can you improve.

“Stay in touch with the community, listen to stuff about Kill Team and try stuff by yourself. There's so many things that you can do to practise with your buddies, practise with your community and be active on Discords.”

Jaroslaw Kwasniewski – 2025 World Champion of Warhammer Underworlds

Poland’s Jaroslaw led The Wurmspat to victory in the Warhammer Underworlds Grand Final, defeating Michael Kislyi, Austria's lone representative at the World Championships.

After claiming the title, he said: “I’m overwhelmed, that's for sure. Happy, very happy. And tired!

“I was always playing uphill. The first turns were definitely on Michael's side, especially in the first game. I made a mistake in the first round. I could have pushed him, but I didn’t, and I was pushed away from the treasure. That was crucial, but I made sure in the second game that it wouldn't happen again.”

The only game that Jarosław lost all tournament was his third-round match against England’s James Ellis – and the pair ended up playing again in the Last-16 round of the Championship Bracket on Saturday. 

He said: “I thought a lot about that match: What I did wrong, what could I do better? I took the notes, improved my play style and had the ability to face him again and win. That will be a standout moment for me.”

Jarosław is a huge fan of the Warhammer Underworlds format. He said: “I came here from other card games. I’d always wanted to join Warhammer tabletop games because I played Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay almost my whole life, but I'm just too lazy with the painting. With Warhammer Underworlds being a smaller system with fewer models, it was perfect for me. Along with the cards.”

Jarosław has this advice for players who want to get to the World Championships in future: “Start with a local community. Come to the store, get some first games. It’s not easy to master it, but it's worth it. It's definitely worth it.”

And he’ll be back next year to defend his title? “Definitely, definitely!”

Our congratulations to all four of our World Champions, and all of the other players who made it to Atlanta. Just by securing a Golden Ticket, they were all winners, and we’re sure we’ll see many of them again.

The World Championships of Warhammer will return in 2026. We’ll be revealing when (and where!) here on Warhammer Community soon. In the meantime, stay tuned for more event information, including the first Warhammer Opens of 2026.