Gavin Grigar won the Age of Sigmar Championships event at the 2022 Las Vegas Open last weekend and with that victory also secured first place for the 2021 ITC season, capping of a phenomenal year that also saw the Texas Native winning Games Workshop US Open Austin event, the 2021 Hammerfest GT, and the Atlantic City Open. We sat down with Gavin following his success at LVO to talk about his 2021 season, his list, and what’s next for him in 2022.
Thanks for speaking with us, and congratulations on your success! How does it feel to win your first ITC Championship?
Gavin: Thanks for having me! A bunch of words come to mind but the one I think fits best is “surreal.” I started playing AoS on a whim about halfway through 2019 and placed decently at a few Texas Masters circuit events, and in 2021 when everything started to pick back up I decided to travel as much as I could. I didn’t really even find out about the ITC until some buddies told me about it after I did well at ACO. Surreal.
Gavin’s Las Vegas Open List
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar
– City: Living City
– Mortal Realm: Ghyran
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Doralia ven Denst (115)*
Sorceress (95)*
– General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of Leaves: Ironoak Skin
Freeguild General (100)*
– City Role: General’s Adjutant
Battleline
30 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (315)*
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Dreadspears (90)*
– City Role: Honoured Retinue (Must be 5-20 models)
10 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (105)*
Units
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (460)**
– Reinforced x 1
4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)**
– Drakerider’s Warblade
– Reinforced x 1
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Hunters of the Heartlands
Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 125
Drops: 3
A lot was made about Stormdrakes and all-dragon lists in the run-up to LVO, but you opted instead to take only a single unit in your Cities of Sigmar list – a move that paid off. What went into your decision to play that list?
The decision was driven by the same thought process that everyone also had, I think. The dragon warscroll is insanely good and coincidently what is the best way to build around it. As strong as the SCE book is, every build I put together from it that was super heavy on dragons wound up having problems against wound density, particularly when those wounds were bolstered by wards.
What went into the list building process? Did it spring fully formed or did it require a lot of tooling to get it just right?
When putting together a list I really like to diversify my damage, damage application and toolkit so that I’m never left without options in game. Living City checks all these boxes with a great faction toolkit and an almost limitless roster of units. Initially it started with two units of dragons, then it had one unit and a knight draconis and then after the points changes FAQ I was basically back to square one (In hindsight 285 point dragons was a bit of a mistake). After the changes I wound up settling on crossbowmen/fulminators/dragons. These units paired together give you a great mix of bulk, high rend and mortal wound damage and some of the best application in the game with the faction rules from Living City. Once those main elements were established the peripheral tech fell into place with some fine tuning.
Which opponent did you find you struggled with the most? Is there a particular army playstyle that your list had to work harder against?
Oliver Dempsey from the Season of War lads gave me all I could handle in round 2. A combination of his army structure, which was a 2-drop Daughters of Khaine army, and the mission (Power Struggle), was one of the combinations I was worried about navigating. Add in a talented pilot and you get a nightmare scenario. He forced me to go first (the only time I went first all tournament), and then won priority from round 1 to 2 after playing aggressively the first round and killed basically everything sans 1 hero and the fulminators/dragons. I was able to scrape my way back into the game with some fortunate rolls and what decided the game in the end was Oliver miscasting with Morathi while she was on one wound. Wild game.
With regard to the army: Any planned changes going forward or going for a total rewrite?
I never play the same army twice so changes are in the cards. I do look forward to seeing other people’s takes on the concept though!
You’ve changed armies a number of times since third edition dropped, jumping from Seraphon to Daughters of Khaine to Beasts of Chaos and Cities of Sigmar. What drives your choices for an event? Do you have a favorite among them?
I have a problem. I think every faction in the game is in its own way interesting and worth pursuing competitively. Dragons presented an opportunity to play really beautiful models (with crazy strong rules to boot!), and I’m definitely looking for that combination in the next army that I wind up playing. Did I mention that I have a problem?
Seven months into Age of Sigmar’s third edition, how do you like it, and how do you feel about the current meta? Is the game in a healthy place, competitively?
Speaking with limited experience, AoS is in the best competitive state that I can ever remember it being in. Every army is competitively viable when built and piloted properly and no single faction feels overwhelmingly powerful (Dragons are a little strong, though). The core mechanics such as redeploy, battle tactics and universal battalions/abilities have added a layer of depth to the game that is exciting to explore.
With the 2021 season behind you, what’s next?
I was fortunate enough to be selected by the USA Worlds team in the fall so I’m definitely looking forward to testing my play against the other countries attending the world championship later this year. After that only time will tell! Now where did I leave my Gloomspite Gitz…
That wraps up our interview but we’d like to thank Gavin again for speaking with us, and congratulate him one more time on his success. If you have any questions or feedback, drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.
