Road to the World Championships Interview Series: AoS Golden Ticket Winner McKenzie Ewing

Golden Ticket Winner Profile

Player name: McKenzie Ewing 

Age: 31

Country of Origin: USA

Where you won your ticket: Warzone Teams Atlanta

Interview Questions

Let’s start with the basics. We’re about a month out of the event so what army are you bringing to the World Championships, and why did you choose them? If you haven’t picked an army what are you thinking about? 

I decided to bring Sylvaneth. The army is one of my main three, Lumineth and Idoneth being my other two. I chose Sylvaneth mostly because it was to pivot to something different and I could pilot well. Currently Sylvaneth have a lot of interesting plays into the current meta, specifically with the change to trees. Now that Lumineth Hurakan build has been addressed (rightfully so) I think it gives way to other armies that can shine. With the combined mobility, recursion, and terrain manipulation using trees to turn off shooting lanes. 

Is your list going to be more influenced on the hobby/conversion track or are you looking to maximize your effectiveness on the table? 

My list will be a combination of favorite models and hobby. I have always been a fan of the bugs in Sylvaneth and will be bringing them in combination with Alarielle herself. I personally am not a huge fan of Kurnoth hunters at this time but I do think with either a points adjustment or warscroll adjustment (give them their 3+ save back GW) would make them better in the current meta. 

Menagerie of Flies- click to expand

Run us through your list a little bit. What made you choose this list, and why do you enjoy playing it?

So Alarielle is a power house for Sylvaneth that requires a lot to kill, especially with the amount she heals during the course of a turn (3d3 for both player turns is a lot). 3 cast wizard and can revive my units should something go wrong. As stated before, I am a huge fan and always have been a bog fan of the spiteriders. Lancers in tandem can swing with Alarielle causing a devastating amount of initial damage and then both being able to leave combat using power through and Strike & Fade, makes for a very lethal combo that eventually you can full send and descend the big swarm on what’s left of your opponents army. Dryads are a wonderful wound sink that are excellent at holding an objective. The recent buff with Wyldwoods makes it WAY easier to assure the dryads maintain their -1 to hit and wound, not to mention an aura from warsong that gives out a 6+ ward if you are wholly within 12’ of them. Also to note, warsong reduces wards by 1, so if you have a 6+ ward it doesn’t work anymore, hello death armies. The gossamids act as a tactic/objective unit same as the tree revenants, capitalizing on the mobility within the army. The design of this list is to strike at weaker targets to then expose my opponents core units to attempt to deliver the killing blow while scoring tactics. I also chose morbids conjuration as shackles are still effective at slowing my opponent down so that I do not have to worry as much about unwanted charges. 

You got your ticket in a 4th edition event. How do you like the 4th edition of Age of Sigmar? 

I think AoS 4 for all of its kinks is probably the best the game has ever been from a design standpoint. The amount of interaction between both players makes for a more engaging game. Obviously no game is perfect and there are things that AoS 4 still needs to address (Cough Covering fire) but all and all I am happy with 4th so far. 

Are there any battleplans that you’re hoping to avoid? Why?

Star strike, and it’s not because I could accidentally let my Alarielle die if she is .001 mm touching my tree. That mission is very RNG and Sylvaneth want to dictate the tempo of the game early on to then secure the victory in the later stages of the game. With the objectives being randomly placed, it can create a very good situation for me or a very bad one depending on who I go against. Otherwise, I feel that the faction has great play into most missions. 

What was your road getting to the event like? Was it something you were aiming for?

Honestly it has been a very fun road. I primarily played Lumineth all year since the end of 3rd going into 4th and I have had a blast playing them. Every event we all want to win it and I would be a liar if I said I didn’t try my best to do so. I just kept giving it my all- good, bad and ugly until I was able to accomplish the goal. 

How are you preparing for the event? 

I have been getting some TTS games in and plan to get some IRL games in to get a feel for the list in a live setting. My goal is to try to get 3-5 games in a week to assure I have a good handle on the list. 

How do you expect the competition to be different from other events? Is there anything you’re doing differently to prepare?

Honestly, I’ll approach it like I do any event and any opponent, treat them with high respect and play them like I would anyone else. This is going to be a collection of the best Warhammer players in the world, there will be no easy matches so the goal is to just do my best, as I would in any other setting. 

How do you expect you’ll do at the event? What’s a “good event” look like for you, record-wise?

If I can make new friends, make sure both me and my opponent walk away having a good time, and go positive or break even score wise I think that for me is the ideal goal. Obviously things can shift around, but the top top goal is to have a great time and make new friends. 

How do you feel about competitive play in this GHB season? How does the meta feel to you right now?

Right now the game feels spammy. There isnt a lot of diversity within the top lists which make for a lack luster top table in my opinion. Now I do think a lot of that has to do with index hammer which creates the environment to take the thing that performs the best and dominate with it. Ultimately I do think that shooting meta needs to be addressed and spam meta. It just needs some more time to shake out, at the end of the day my opinions are irrelevant vs what the developers and playtesters have with a more refined outlook with the data they receive from events. 

How much do you miss Blizzard?

The only thing I miss about blizzard is watching the sheer horror of my opponents face when they attempt the cast blizzard and either primal miscast blow up their army or roll nothing but 1s and kill their wizzard. Good times, good times. 

Thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions. Good luck at the event!

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