Hello, competitive Warhammer fans! SaltyJohn from TFG Radio here to discuss what’s been going on this week in the ITC.
This week I wanted to bring you a closer look at the top 20 in the ITC right now and what they’re playing currently. I know this information is readily accessible to everyone but a lot of people don’t take the time to look at it. So every now and then I like to go ahead and put a lot of it on display all at once for us to see. There are a lot of Space Marines in the top 20, a lot of Imperium. Before we jump into the top 20 though, let’s look at the top 10, where we have to get past the top spots to get to a player not running Imperium!
Vik Vijay has been the top spot for a few weeks now. Running on that first-place finish at one of the first Major’s of the season he is going really strong still.
Mike Porter recently kicked ass and took names at the North East Open. I watched a few his games on stream, one of which he took down a pretty well tooled up Grey Knight army. It was some impressive 40k playing.
Markus Hinson comes in 3rd place, also representing Space Marines. He is running high on 3 first-place finishes at decently sized RTTs and respectable 16th place finish at a GT. I am sensing a pattern, are you?
Ash Loftus isn’t running straight up Space Marines. In fact, at the North East Open he ran Astra Militarum with Blood Angels. A Vostroyan (!?) Brigade, Tallarn Battalion with Tempestus Scions, and a Blood Angels Vanguard with Astorath, Smash Cap, Sanguinary Ancient, and 2 squads of Sanguinary Guard. Nasty list.
James Pilkington in 5th place brings us back to the Adeptus Astartes dominance. With respectable finished at 4 events, two of which are Majors he has a solid placement in the standings so far.
Phil Barfoot comes in at 6th place and is our fist non-Imperial player! Have you noticed how many of the top 10 so far have been playing in the Beachhead Brawl or the Northeast Open? Hmm…
Stephen Box has been killing it with Blood Angels. If you don’t follow him over on Vanguard Tactics you really should! Anyone taking first place at a GT with pure Blood Angels deserves some credit and attention.
Tyler Parker, in 8th place, brings us to our first player who hasn’t relied on Power Armored transhumans to win games! Representing Asuryani solely Tyler has put in some real work, even taking 2nd place at a GT with them!
Ryan Snyder in 9th place isn’t playing Space Marines but his heavily armored gold armored transhumans aren’t too shabby either. With 5 events under his belt and a 3rd place at Dicehead he is doing well with the Emperor’s Janitorial staff.
Rounding out the top 10 currently is Ken Knox. Ken Knox brings us full circle in the top 10 back to Space Marines, in particular Iron Hands. With a 1st place finish at a Major and 2 first-place finishes at RTTs he could be giving the other 9 at the top a run for their money soon.
The top 20 bring us more diversity in terms of armies being taken, but the smattering of Space Marines is ever-present as well. Here are the top 20 in the ITC right now.
There are some familiar names in the top 10 and a few more in the top 20. I am going to throw up each of the rest of the top 20, spots 11-20, up here as well. The events the went to are listed so if you have a paid subscription to BCP, or a friends who does, you can access their lists by simply looking up whatever event(s) listed under their names that interest you.
3 players using Tyranids, or GSC, based lists to good effect in the top 20. 2 Aeldari based players, 1 Mechanicus, 1 Chaos, and 3 other Imperium based armies including some Adeptus Astartes. Perhaps the top 20, especially the lower half, is indicative of where things are going as we progress further into the season and further away from the older and more dominant version of the Space Marines books. It will be really interesting to see what the top 20 looks like by the end of March when the Space Marine changes have had a chance to fully seep into the Meta!
As always, let me know what you think in the comments, in particular, what’s your take on the makeup of the top 20? Does it give you hope, or make you further despair? Need a drink or perhaps a comfort object as a result? Don’t hold back now…
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