Adding a Little Fun to the NOVA Invitational

8/13 Update - BRACKETS!
http://challonge.com/NOVA15

Make YOUR Predictions!


This year, we're hosting our 5th NOVA Invitational for 40K.

We wanted to spice things up, so it's a little different this time around.

First and foremost, it's an Elimination/Knock-Out Event. This was actually done mostly for Invitational players themselves, who tend to not enjoy 5 rounds of 40k if they lose one or two early when they have another 8 to go in the GT during the same weekend. So, we've changed it - you're either still in it to win $1,000, or you're in the clear. Those who wish to still play more games against top tier opponents will have the freedom, tables, and even events (in the form of Highlander Quickenings) to do so with.

Next, we canvassed the global community and involved more folks in making the event back into a true Invitational. The original event was, but in the interim years it's become more of a haphazard qualifying system, whereby you could be invited if you won a major event of some kind. The hiccup here came when players who won events could not attend at the last minute, resulting in us scrambling for whichever subs we could find. Instead, we took the sum total of a players' efforts into account, canvassed the West Coast and other locations for inputs on who the top players of the times are, and reached out for those who were well-qualified, interested, and - importantly - able to actually attend.

Finally, we seeded the field and are creating a bracket on Challonge.com
The community as a whole will be able to see players, their chosen Factions (army lists will remain secret until go time), and their seed / first round opponents / bracket path, and participate in a bracket challenge. The seeding was done poll-style by a combination of myself, Neil Gilstrap (11th Company Podcast and this year's NOVA 40K and Invitational Head TO), and Reece Robbins (head of ITC, Frontline Gaming, LVO, BAO, etc.).

Since the event is single elim, 5 rounds, with 32 players of roughly equal skill in a dice-based game, seeded pairings don't have much of an impact beyond that already incurred with random pairings (the only alternative). Taking this course adds more interest to the Invitational, and enables the community at large to participate by submitting bracket selections and the like.

We'll be revealing the brackets and the seedings shortly, but here's this year's finalized Invitational Roster, in Alphabetical Order:

1. Aaron Aleong
2. Alan Bajramovic
3. Aidan Barkley
4. Sean Barkley
5. Ben Cromwell
6. Werner Born
7. Chip Boyd
8. Justin Curtis
9. Tyler DeVries
10. Max Dubois
11. Alex Fennell
12. Jared Friedman
13. Frankie Giampapa
14. Alex Gonzalez
15. Doug Johnson
16. Tony Kopach
17. Paul McKelvey
18. Nick Nanavati
19. John Parsons
20. Zach Pawlikowski
21. Brett Perkins
22. Dallas Rapoport
23. Julio Rodriguez
24. Nick Rose
25. Matt Schuchman
26. Todd Silber
27. Evan Slagle
28. Ron Smiley
29. Mike Taylor
30. Brad Voorhees
31. James Watkins
32. Jim Yeh

Who do YOU think will come out on top this year?