I grow weary whenever I see an article or forum topic with this heading. Because in my eyes, and this is only my opinion, this tells me players just want to win. And secondly that they want to moan about losing.
Competition seeks to find the best overall player. Certain dex's have a higher proportion of better units but it doesnt mean these players will win. Yes its a dice game but thats just part of the game. Tactics, i feel, play a much bigger role. Look at the last 8 of the LVO. From what I remember Space Marines, Blood Angels, Nids, Eldar, Space Wolves, Chaos Marines, Daemons, Knights, Guard, Inquisiton and Grey Knights were all represented. Not one army looked the same. So how is one Dex really that much better than the other? How is the game not competitive? Messi is arguably the best footballer in the world. This doesn't mean Barcelona/Argentina will win every game; he is only one player just like a mantle of the laughing god autarch on a jet bike with his 2+ re rollable cover wouldn't win the game on his own. Sports teams vary so much in terms of player depth and ability I think this serves as a good analogy for 40k dex's. They vary but sports teams and fans don't moan about the state of the game. The teams practice and buy/trade players to adapt to the game.
Maybe people don't understand what competition is, maybe this should actually be the talking point. If you want a balanced game where it is literally the wits and tactics of the person in charge that wins, then play chess. But I bet you don't want to play chess because well 40k is cooler and funner, in my opinion.
Also the rock, paper scissors argument seriously? I mean come on. If you understand your meta then that's just doing your research. Sports teams do it all the time so why can't 40k gamers? Thing is if you want to play the units and lists that aren't very well represented in the meta, this shouldn't stop you. But do not play the whole "I'm holier than thou because I play a fluffy list", that's just annoying. Take a look at football (soccer). Spain's system of tika taka got them nowhere for years. The game was all about speed, strength and skill...not short passing. The Spanish team didn't turn around to FIFA and go "the game is broken and unbalanced because we can't play the football we like to play". They kept their system, they perfected it, made it work against the current meta and then won a European championship, the world cup and then retained the euro again...Just saying. I've played a few armies. I currently use my dark eldar who I think don't have as much punch or survivability than most other armies but I haven't moaned and I don't think that makes them less competitive. I still win games with the dark eldar and I lose them too. I feel like the 40k community is all about just winning at the moment. Look for a death star list and not actually buying the models you like and playing with them and working out tactics on how best to employ them in your army. When the new dark eldar codex came out I thought the mandrakes got better. When I played with a unit in my next game I realised that they weren't what I thought they were. I even cursed and said never again shall they see the field. But after that heated moment I played with them again and again and have worked out how I can best use them. And I feel like they act as an important part of my tactics.
In England we have the League cup which all teams go into. From the premier league, championship, league 1 and league 2. And guess what. Yes it's unlikely a league 2 team will win the tourney/cup. But there's every chance. Players build good lists and what's the problem with that? Manchester City have the most money in England so they buy the best players. But do other teams moan that they've got one of the best teams/lists...no. They get on with it. They play and see what happens. Again Man City will probably win no trophies this year. Having the most money, buying the best units/using the "best" lists doesn't mean you will win. Whenever I see "40k isn't competitive" i read i lose a lot and when I win it's because I use a broken list. You for me are the problem.
I agree that terrain should vary in a tournament. For me the way around that is to have a home and away roll. The players pick a table each. The player who wins can pick the table they play on. If you play away though you get more points, like away goals in the champions league . Ye it's more difficult cuz most people would pick a table that suits their army but so what. That's the essence of competition. Little advantages and big ones here and there.
Competition feeds people looking to win. That's the point! You want to win. But if you lose. Take away positives and look at why you lost. But do not blame the game, yes it has its pitfalls, but it's still perfectly fine.
The biggest problem for me is people want 40k to be something it isn't. So in that sense either play with people of like mindedness or stop moaning.
Just my 2 cents. Have at me trolls