#boardgames

Last week I attended my first proper Grand Clash which was a part of the first day of the London Grant Tournament (LGT). I’m not here to write about the organisation of the weekend, which has been covered extensively elsewhere, but just the games. I played against four brilliant opponents and had a thoroughly enjoyable day. 

Based on my performance in previous tournaments I felt that I really needed to review my deck and playstyle. My deck has previously always straddled the fence between objective grabbing and killing, but I’ve always had more fun playing aggressive objectives, so I went with a full Garrek’s Reavers aggro build.

Round 1 - Garrek’s Reavers Vs. Garrek’s Reavers

The first round was a mirror match, for which I’ve had mixed results in the past. My opponent had a very solid aggressive deck and knew how to play with it well. I did feel that my dice and deck were against me somewhat at the start of the day, so I had a bit of a rough start, but learnt about how to play with my new deck quickly.

Result - 0-2 (Loss)

Round 2 - Garrek’s Reavers Vs. Steelheart’s Champions

Next up I played against aggressive Stormcasts. I’d only played defensive Stormcasts previously and in the first match I was taken by surprise and punished! Having a better sense of what I was up against and playing more conservatively in the following two matches I was able to beat them and win the round. The Reavers really proved their effectiveness with their superior speed and numbers when they are used correctly.

Result - 2-1 (Win)

Round 3 - Garrek’s Reavers Vs. Ironskulls Boyz

The third round was the match-up I dreaded most. I had never beaten Ironskulls Boyz before, even if I hadn’t truly played them since some significant changes in the meta. I managed to sneak a victory by one glory point in the first match. In the second match I started really well, causing three damage each to three of his boys in the first couple of activations. I wasn’t able to capitalise on it however and he turned the tide and beat me. It all came to the third match which I won a little bit more convincingly.

Result - 2-1 (Win)

Round 4 - Garrek’s Reavers Vs. Sepulchral Guard

The final round for the day was against Sepulchral Guard. I always enjoy playing this warband because they are so different to the others and each person seems to use them very differently. In the first match I did everything wrong and was really disappointed with my performance. I obviously lost. In the second match I learned from my mistakes and played much more optimally. I had good control of the whole match and secured a comfortable victory. It all came down to the last match and we both knew it would affect our placement in the rankings. We both played our top game and every moment was tense and exciting. With the final end phase we realised we had a tie! A great end to a brilliant round.

Result - 1-1 (Draw)

Final Results

I was really pleased with my performance and how much it had improved from previous tournaments. I placed 12th out of 35 which I was happy with and it meant that I secured a few extra goodies from the official GW prize support. Each event I play makes me fall in love with this game more. I just want to keep playing regular events and collecting more of the awesome prizes.

Chessex Maple Green Borealis! ✨

More Unicorn Ice

Have some Slimy bois and dice!