With the WGI Guard World Championships in the books, Dayton is set to become the epicenter of all things percussion this weekend. Fresh off of an intriguing regional season, plenty of high-profile competitive storylines are set to fall into place.

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Here are four burning questions for which we’ll be looking to find answers this weekend in Ohio.

PIW: How will the top five fall into place?

If last year’s any indicator, finding separation among the upper tier of Independent World groups truly comes down to a splitting of hairs. Last year’s top five—RCC, Rhythm X, Broken City, Pulse Percussion and Music City Mystique—were separated by just three points.

But, the top four were separated by just one, and the top three were separated by just 0.363.

Recent results out west indicate Broken City is out even stronger than last year after falling just short of Rhythm X in 2018 (.013 between the two in finals); prior to penalties incurred, the ensemble’s scores at the WGI West Power Regional topped those of both Pulse and RCC.

That said, there’s really no way to know how those three California groups will fare against their more easterly opponents until they all finally meet in Dayton on Thursday at UD Arena.

But at least for some kind of clear picture, here’s how it shakes out in terms of most recent WGI scores, with penalties taken out of the equation: Broken City (93.875), Pulse Percussion (93.500), Rhythm X (91.775), RCC (91.725), Music City Mystique (90.075).

Don’t be fooled, though; MCM’s last score was recorded on March 17, whereas its competitors all logged results as recently as March 24.

PSW: Can Chino Hills make it three?

Chino Hills reached a new level of dominance in Scholastic World last year when it hit a record-setting final score of 98.775, defeating the entire field by over 1.5 points and earned its second-straight gold medal.

But despite winning five of the last seven PSW titles, Chino Hills has its sights set on even more history; the southern California ensemble has yet to “three-peat.”

Realistically, who stands in Chino Hills’ way?

For starters, there are the fellow California powers like Arcadia and Ayala, which took third and fourth in 2018’s world finals. Those two groups competed with the defending champions at this weekend’s SCPA Finals out west; Chino Hills popped a final score of 95.525, defeating Arcadia by just shy of a point, which certainly isn’t an insurmountable margin.

Ayala actually took fourth this weekend, just 0.2125 behind third-place Vista Murrieta, and just ahead of 2017’s sixth-place WGI PIW finisher, Etiwanda. All three groups finished about three points shy of Chino Hills’ mark.

There’s also Dartmouth, last year’s silver medalist. The Massachusetts-based ensemble has yet to face a fellow World Class competitor on the WGI circuit this season, so they enter this weekend as a wild card in terms of how they fit into the big picture.

PIO: Can Matrix Open replicate its impressive 2018 run?

Matrix Open made an absolutely impeccable jump last season; after finishing in 14th in 2017’s PIO finals, the ensemble not only won gold, but did so by more than two full points over the rest of the field.

Realistically, it’s impossible to know at this point whether or not 2019 will see a similar result, as Matrix Open has yet to compete with any of its Independent Open peers. In the final set of WGI regionals, though, a handful of PIO groups posted impressive numbers, setting up for an interesting situation for them to try to dethrone Matrix Open this weekend.

Most notably, out at the WGI West Power Regional, Bakersfield College (89.550) and Red Wave Indoor (88.000) came close to the 90-point mark. The two both earned finalist positions a year ago.

Infinity 2, last year’s third-place finisher, most recently performed on March 17 and scored just shy of 85. That same weekend, Spirit–which took second a year ago—earned an impressive score of 89.175 at the East Power Regional.

Matrix Open’s next two closest competitors from a year ago—INov8 and ConneXus—both made the jump to World Class next year, so it’ll be up to the aforementioned groups and a handful of others to try and prevent a repeat champion in Independent Open.

PIW: How high can George Mason fly?

One of the more intriguing single competitive moments this season, to me, happened at the WGI East Power Regional on March 17. For the first time in a long time, that weekend George Mason University defeated United Percussion head-to-head—the two have faced off at plenty of East Coast events.

After trailing by a slim margin in the East Power Regional’s prelims round, George Mason opened up a lead of nearly a full point over United Percussion. A dramatic turn for anyone that's been watching the two compete for the last few seasons.

It’ll be interesting to see how these two fit into the overall landscape in Dayton. Will George Mason be able to improve drastically upon its third-ever World Class finals appearance a year ago (12th).

The competition among the Top 10 or so is sure to be red hot in PIW, but if GMU’s “upset” of United says anything, this could be a breakout run for the Virginia-based ensemble.