The Northern Grand Tournament for A Song of Ice and Fire Miniatures Game took place at Darlington in the UK. There was a great turnout of 32 players with some unexpected lists across multiple factions that is considered off meta. The event was hosted by Dead Meta Gaming who are a fantastic presence in the community and stream regularly, they go by Dead Meta Gaming on various socials such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. The 2-day 6-game event saw many factions fight for the win but only one army got 6 wins. Thank you to ASOIAF-Stats.com for providing all the stats for the tournament so we can peek into the lists and games.
5th – Free Folk (Mag the Mighty/Styr) – Belgeroth
Free Folk did not end with the nerf to Mance Rayder. Mag, Styr and Varamyr are commonly agreed to be the best the faction has to offer and Belgroth proves this by equally using Styr and Mag throughout the event. He won against a fellow Mag, Harmen Uller, Khal Drogo, and Addam marbrand, but fell against another Harmen Uller and Howland Reed but judging by the points these games were close.
Free Folk ended the event with a 63% win rate out of 16 games, Styr having a 80% win rate albeit with only 5 games, and Mag had 7 games with a 57% win rate. I don’t believe there is enough data here to know where Free Folk stands, but they might be, dare I say it? Balanced? Some decent win percentages but nothing crazy for how many games were played.
4th – Greyjoys (Balon Greyjoy/Euron Greyjoy) – Masarath
Greyjoys are widely considered to be struggling in the game in both performance and list building creativity. However, Masarth, following in the footsteps of renowned Neutral player Winter is Coming, has proven that a good player can do well with a bad faction. What an incredible performance by Mickey to get Greyjoys to the top without needing to rely on Ironborn Bowmen too much. Choosing to bring Balon for most of his games was a welcome refreshment from Euron and Baelor. Masarth went live on Monday on Tourney Ground and spoke about his games explaining that there were small mistakes that resulted in his losses against Sarge’s Lannisters and Harbo’s Martells.
Greyjoys ended the event with a 43% win rate out of 14 games, Balon having a 60% win rate albeit with only 5 games which was also the same stats for Euron too. Asha and Baelor played 3 games each and walked away with a 33% win rate, and poor Victarion played 2 games and lost both. Again, not enough data to know the true state of the faction, and Masarth being one of the best players in the world helped boost the stats up. CMON needs to do something about the dwindling faction that may replace the Neutrals in reputation.
3rd – Starks (Brynden Tully Mounted/Howland Reed) – timwhitney
Tim is regarded as one of the best painters in the community winning awards at both the LGT’s and various other events over the history of the game. He came so close to winning best in faction for the Starks even beating the person who eventually won the award earlier in the event. He lost to Sarge’s Lannisters and gained a rare Draw against Ankerman’s Greyjoys.
Starks ended the event with a 62% win rate out of 26 games. Howland Reed was taken the most with 8 games and a 75% win rate, this was followed closely by Greatjon with 7 games and a 71% win rate. Others were Rickard, Eddard, and both Bryndens. The data around Starks seems to show that they are decent even after receiving quite a lot of hits in the recent update. Most Commanders sported a 60% or better win rate with Howland and Greatjon leaping ahead. Perhaps the newly released in the UK Mormont Bruisers and Crannogman Bog Devils helped here with a sprinkling of them throughout the players? There isn’t much out cry about Starks being too good, nor is there anything about them being too bad. Perhaps they are in a good place and a few changes to the roster would allow for even more diverse list building.
2nd – Starks (Brynden Tully Mounted/Greatjon Umber) – Psychoste
Stephen is regarded as one of the best Stark players due to his consistent performances with the faction in multiple events. Best Stark was the most fought over award with Stephen, Tim and Dan all putting in stellar performances to achieve it. Stephen lost one game out of the six against Howland Reed, but it was down to points destroyed. It really shows how incredibly close games were at the event.
Since I have already discussed the win rates for Starks, I wanted to talk about how Stephen’s performance is inspiring. Starks aren’t considered the best faction but have leaped ahead of the likes of Baratheons, Free Folk and even meta-Commanders like Kevin. If you’re an experienced player like Stephen, you can do well with mostly anything. So, whether you have been dealt a bad hand with the current rules set for your faction, becoming experienced helps your chances at a high performance in events.
Honourable Mention – quina2525 (Targ), Lateralus (Baratheon), Sarge Jungle (Lannisters), and Scaddman (Martell)
John (Quina) came 6th with two wild and insane Daario lists, one of them was stuffed to the brim with Stormcrow Mercs with the Unsullied Officer Attachment. John ended up taking home the best in faction for Targaryens which was the most picked faction alongside Starks at 18%. There was also a prize for most improved player which went to John for his stellar performance with the mercenaries.
Philip (Lateralus) finished 7th with Baratheons using his Eldon list with two Champions of the Stag, two Wardens, and some of the best NCUs Renly could send. There is no wonder that in two games he lost one Warden Unit and two others he lost none. Baratheons were the most represented faction at 12% so this was also a tough award to secure.
Adam (Sarge) finished 10th with two Lannister lists considered to be a blast from the past in the High Sparrow and Gregor Clegane. Adam performed extremely well taking four wins on the first day beating both timwhitney and Masarth who ended up finishing higher after day two. Lannisters were the second most represented faction at 15% and to achieve this award without bringing Kevin is outstanding.
Kieran (Scaddman) finished 15th with Martells bringing the dreaded Harmen Uller and Obara Sand. Kieran is most known to be a brilliant Night’s Watch player, so it is pleasantly surprising to see him branch out. Whilst he did achieve the best in faction award, he was followed very close behind by Adam (Harbo1993) being 1 SP behind.
1st – Night’s Watch (Jon Snow/Benjen Stark on Foot) – z4carlo
Jon Snow. Carlo. This is a recipe for destruction. Carlo is a brilliant player and could do well with most lists, but pair him with the most powerful list in the game currently and it would be difficult to bring him down. Now a lot of people brought off meta lists and Commanders to the event which is only going to go in Jon’s favour. It seems like every game was won comfortably, but Othell and Roose led Martells where the most difficult for Jon. So, does Jon need to be nerfed? Or is it NW in general?
Night’s Watch ended with 71% win rate out of 14 games, this was a similar stat at the AWGT and Adepticon events. However, Jon had 73% at both events and at this one here ended with 82% out of 11 games, which is crazy good and makes him a target for a nerf. Othell was taken 5 times and ended with a 60% win rate. I think if Jon is nerfed, Night’s Watch will struggle for a good Commander but a lot of the Units and NCUs will remain the same. If you rework Quick Fire, increase some of the NCUs in points, and perhaps nerf the Vanguard then we will be at a good place. However, that leaves Night’s Watch with very little. Does the whole faction need a rework?
The event went down a charm thanks to the organisers, I must attend the next one to get in on the action as it looked like everyone was having a blast. Following the event was a bunch of praise on their socials for how enjoyable it was. Congratulations to the organisers for running such a successful event.
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