40k GT or Narrative Event

Jawaballs called me the other day, and while chatting about other things he mentioned he'd be in my neck of the woods for the Nova Open. (Time to break out the scotch library) It surprised me when he said he was going to just play games, and not participate in the gt. I've been thinking about switching from the gt to the narrative event for a while myself. I love the idea of being able to bring my Ultramarines with tallarn Mumak allies. The narrative event would let me do that. It would also remove me from the stress of playing so many games in the gt. don't get me wrong, the back room of the gt, where all the low brackets play, is loads of fun. The problem is having to sustain crushing defeats repeatedly on the first day in order to get there. It is unavoidable. The first day is rough! So maybe I should go the narrative route. Anyone else thinking the same?