The 2019 LVO is promising to have the biggest finish yet! I’m bringing you the Top 8 Players and their lists in this Day 3 recap. With some color commentary and interesting facts brought by yours truly.
One thing I love about the top tables at this LVO is the diversity. In years past (looking at you 7th) we had the same factions, list concepts and players plaguing the top tables at events around the world. This year, we have a lot more parity. More than a few favorites to make the top 8 suffered defeat at the hands of people they normally wouldn’t play against. A phenomenon I love, and global events like NOVA, Adepticon, and the LVO encourage. There was some controversy (honestly, there always is) and every game didn’t go smoothly. However in my opinion, from what I saw on the tabletop, and based off of their performances at this event alone I believe each player in the top 8 deserves to be here.
Without further ado, here are your top 8 in seeded order.
#1 Seed Michael Snider: AM/IK (“The Castellan List”)
- I’m going to have to apologize for a little bias in advance. Michael is a player who has seen his fair share of close heart breaks. He has three 5-1 performances at the LVO, and has come just shy of making the top 8 once with a 9th place finish in 2017. In years past Michael has tended to over perform with under powered armies and really burst onto the scene as a dominant player when he took the “Bark Star” list in 7th edition with his team mate Brandon Grant to multiple GT finishes. His 203 point performance is the 4th highest among players with at least 5 wins, and looks posed to finally win with something he has never had before in these situations. Luck, and a hyper competitive list.
#2 Seed Alex Harrison: Ynarri/Eldar Trickery
- Allow me to address the water bottle sized elephant in the room. Alex Harrison made the top 8 more than half a year removed from his 2018 season controversy. I won’t go down that particular rabbit hole, click on this link if you want to know more. What I do want to talk about, is Alex Harrison’s 2019 LVO performance. Think whatever you want about the guy, but he took down two of the best Ork players in the tournament, and two all star players running one of the premier lists at the event. Steven Pampreen, and Nick Nanavati. All with dozens of people crowded around his table and under a judge microscope. He built a list that would get him to the top, and give him the tools to beat the Ork lists we expected to plague the top tables. Give credit where it’s due, this was a spectacular tournament performance. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Eldar Wind Riders may be making a comeback to fight the new horde meta.
#3 Seed Justin Lois: AM/IK/Mech (“A Castellan List”)
- Before Justin Lois and others get on me. I understand Justin’s list isn’t THE Castellan list. It has some cool aspects I like that set it apart. However it is still a variant of the Castellan list, and thus, the second Castellan list in the top 8. At least, that’s what the internet warriors are going to be typing in their letters to GW. Joking aside, Ad Mech look like the benefited the most from the CA points changes with three 5-0 records going into round 6 and a couple of strong performances from pure Ad Mech lists on the top tables. Look for the rusty Mars bots to make top 8 appearances in future tournaments.
#4 Seed Brandon Grant: AM/IK (“The Castellan List”)
- I’m proud to call Brandon a team mate, mentor, and friend. He deserves to make the top 8 after all the hard work he has put in. Now, having said that… I really wish Brandon would have ran literally any other list. Couldn’t he just have run pure Space Wolves to really shake things up? Or literally any other Imperium list. I mean, we all know he can win with it anyways.
#5 Seed Sean Nayden: Ynarri/DE
- Our first survivor of the brand new “Ghost Round” to make the cut into the top 8. Not much else to say about a guy who has made it to 5 straight LVO top 8s. I understand the diversity in the top 8 doesn’t look so hot at the moment, but Sean’s list is not your typical Eldar soup list. Though no “Lictorshame” I still think Sean is over due for an LVO win with a unique list. In my opinion he has to be the favorite to take home everything.
#6 Seed Will Abilez: Tau
- This is Will’s second top 8 at the LVO, and once again his Gundam Tau conversions are all the rage. I think this was a bit of a surprising result for a lot of analysts and tournament players. Though Tau did get a buff in CA, I think the “Magic Box” meta and general feel of the codex lead a lot of people (myself included) to believe that Tau would be stuck in a gatekeeper role. Will’s result proves otherwise, and going 7-0 with any list is quite an accomplishment for the faction and the player.
#7 Seed Joshua Death: Chaos Soup
- There is a lot to like about Josh Death’s list. It has all the tools it needs to succeed on the field and an entire toolbox of hundreds of reserve points to summon the tools it needs. Josh Death scraped through all 6 games undefeated with one of the lowest scoring performances I’ve ever seen out of an undefeated player. The good news for Josh is points scored in the top 8 only matter if they are higher than your opponent’s. There are no tie breakers that can effect his positioning anymore.
#8 Seed Matthew Allee: “Boring” Eldar
- With a win over the Knight Lancer pictured above Matthew became the only player to make the top 8 without posting 6 wins. I’m afraid I don’t know much about Matt, but every year we get someone into the top 8 who I have never heard of, and then they prove why they deserve to be there. Matt is running your standard boring Eldar/DE list (his words not mine), but I think honestly that’s a good thing. Net lists are here to say, and though you can think whatever you want about running them, it still takes a skilled general to make the top 8.