Hello, fellow Warhammer 40k fans! SaltyJohn from TFG Radio, and one of the Las Vegas Open Head Judges, here to bring you my weekly article on the ITC. This week let’s take a quick look at the top 10 going into So Cal Open.
The So Cal Open is the last of the uber Major tournaments of the year. While there’s a few more Majors to come like the Pro Table Top event, they won’t pull in the numbers, nor the quality of players you’re likely to see at So Cal. In fact, outside of the LGT and LVO, So Cal Open this year is pulling in the best players.
Brandon Grant has won this several times before and he will be in attendance again this year. That said he hasn’t had the same successes this year as last, when he won the Las Vegas Open to cap off his epic run. Jim Vesal who has been running roughshod over the ITC thus far this season will be at So Cal Open, but with a much different list than we’re used to seeing him pilot. Mass Plaguebearers just aren’t what they used to be and it would seem Jim has adapted to the new meta. Let’s take a quick look at the top 10 in the ITC, as it is possible a shake-up could occur depending on the results of the So Cal Open.
It will be interesting to see how the changes to Iron Hands in the last FAQ change how people play. It looks like roughly 20% of the field will be Space Marine lists of some type, meaning if you have a decent counter to them then you could see yourself doing well, or you could end up dodging them. I doubt we will see the insane win percentages of the last few weekends of tournament 40k where Iron Hands were just dominating and Space Marines, in general, were mopping the mid-tier tables clean. If I were prone to prediction making I would think that the Iron Hands players will still perform well, but if I am predicting a Space Marine list to win I would lean toward White Scars at the moment. As long as the White Scar player was able to acquire Assault Centurions that is.
The big news of the past week has been the Iron Hands FAQ and all the leaks coming out of the previewers about Imperial Fists and Salamanders. Both of those supplements look poised to make a big splash in the meta too. While perhaps the green spray paint meme above isn’t quite accurate I wouldn’t be surprised if we say a lot of players with their generic custom Space Marine chapters jumping ship to one of the other Supplements in light of the FAQ. Especially if Iron Hands don’t perform well at So Cal Open this weekend. This week’s article is short so check back next week for a So Cal Open follow up, hopefully, there will be just the right amount of salt and drama to make for a nice long article filled with spicy memes!
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