the reality is when i competed in 2014 and 2015 the top masters in my weight class didnt come to the masters Nats and picked comps closer to home.They were far better than me and incumbents so would of been an automatic choice for Wilks for international events.However usually he picks 2 teams with 4 spots open in each category i think so if you were a battler like me,it was necessary to do the bigger comp to get your name up there.
I had no idea noone else was coming and resigned myself to being an also ran,because i assumed the big names were coming.i still trained with a purpose so was surprised when the nominations came out 3 weeks before the comp that my name was the only 1 in my category in 2014.
Chris if you have international designs its best you do the masters nats but i see and understand where you are coming from.i was lucky i had money in the bank.i had no debt and lived economically so could afford to splash a bit of cash out.