Irresistible Force Warhammer Fantasy Masters 2010

Irresistible Force has decided to broaden the 2010 Warhammer Fantasy Masters and make it a truly national tournament. Over the last few years many of the states of Australia have been running their own Masters style event for their own players and whilst efforts have been made with the rankings engine to spread the IF Masters invites there is a natural tendency for the eastern states to dominate the rankings due to the abundance of large tournaments in those areas.
 
When I originally formed the concept of the Masters back in 2004 I always envisaged it would involve the top 10 players from the Irresistible Force rankings with invitations awarded to the winners of top  tournaments around the country. Whilst establishing Masters style events in each state was the most desirable situation I knew it would always take time for the tournament scene to mature enough for this to be the case. Fortunately due to the initiative and hard work of several people we now have the situation where there is a South Australian Masters, a Western Australia Masters (Ultimate) and a Victorian Masters. To continue his trend and complete the hierarchical tournament structure the Irresistible Force team is proud to announce we will be running a Queensland and NSW/ACT Masters in 2010.
 
So with all things considered and with a truly national set of Masters events, the invitations for the 2010 National Masters will be awarded as follows:

• Top 10 players from the Irresistible Force Australian rankings.
• Winner of the South Australia Masters.
• Winner of the Victorian Masters.
• Winner of the Western Australia Ultimate tournament.
• Winner of the NSW/ACT Masters.
• Winner of the Queensland Masters.
• Highest ranked New Zealand player on the Irresistible Force NZ rankings.
• Previous year’s Masters winner.

Note 1: In the event that an odd number of players qualify based on the invitations above then the #11 ranked player in the Australian rankings will be awarded an invitation to even the numbers. Note this makes it possible for 18 players to qualify in the event that the previous year’s winner does not finish in the top 10.

Note 2: Should the winner of a state Masters event be unable to attend the invitation will pass down to the 2nd player from the state Masters tournament. Should they also be unable to accept their invitation then the invite will pass down to the next player on the Australian rankings.

Note 3: Irresistible Force will be publishing a set of conditions each state will have to meet before their Masters event will qualify for an invitation and this will be a working document with the state Masters organisers. This will be released shortly.
 
Note 4: The National Masters will continue to be run in one of the three eastern states of QLD, NSW, VIC.
 
Finally it is hoped that over the coming years the tournament scenes in ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will grow to warrant the establishment of their own Masters events. When/if this occurs we will consider expanding the Masters field to cater for these invitations.
 
I am looking forward to season 2010 more than ever before and with the launch of a brand new international rankings site with a host of new features imminent it is sure to be the best tournament season of Warhammer Fantasy ever in Australia and New Zealand.
 
Regards,
Andrew Galea