For the second year in a row, Gavin Grigar is the champion of the Age of Sigmar ITC. Gavin was generous enough to answer a few questions from us.
We’ve interviewed you before but for those here for the first time, tell us a bit about who you are. How did you get into Age of Sigmar? Was it your first game or were there others before?
Thanks for having me back! I first got into competitive 40k in 2018 with a few of my friends. It was ok. I found that the atmosphere wasn’t really what I was looking for, as a lot of the skill expression at the time was based around trap card mechanics and access to the latest and greatest wholesome and balanced army. Around the middle of 2019 my friends started trying “the other GW game”. It was fantastic, and I haven’t looked back since.
As winner of ITC, you juggled a lot of armies to get there. Were there any particular armies or lists you had the most fun playing with this past year?
As I’ve played more AoS I’ve found that I really enjoy builds that castle, set positional traps and bring a malleable toolkit that is versatile enough to build a plan no matter the situation. Seraphon and Daughters of Khaine check all of these boxes, but the combination of lore, aesthetic and crunch elements that Morathi possesses makes her my favorite character in AoS.
Continuing off of that, any favorite events?
So many good ones, but my favorite event was Tough Crowd’s invitational. They rented a castle. It had mini golf in the basement. Enough said.
Pivoting over to focus on LVO, it was a super competitive event as always, what was your most challenging match?
Round 5 against Mike Vagenos was really close. My army would rather deal with a 1/4 of your army at a time, and Mike made me deal with his entire army all at once (Nurgle Flies). If he wins turn 2 or 3 priority the game would have been much different.
Also at LVO were there any matchups you were hoping to avoid?
Nothing specific, but generally speaking the Tempest Eye list needs to stay connected to the priority roll, as with a double many of the high pressure melee armies in the game can kill my screens and disrupt my firebase. The list also struggles with mobility at times, as it projects threat from roughly 24 inches away.
Going into the new season of ITC, any thoughts about how you’re going to move forward? It happens to coincide with a new season, does that affect your ideas in any major way?
Focus will shift to worlds in June. Initial reads are mission structure will influence list design more than the incoming GC mechanics will, and armies that fight well in the center will be powerful. Excited to see the development of the meta though!
Anyone you’d like to thank? Anything you’d like to plug?
Everyone in the AoS community have been beautiful people since I’ve started going to tournaments. Specifically my club mates and Team America have been integral to my growth as a player and a person. Those Tough Crowders are all right too I guess. Excited for the next one!
Thank you again Gavin for answering another interview with us!
