The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) has just announced the finalists for the 2012 National Magazine Awards, and among the usual suspects (The New Yorker and New York), there were a few surprises.

For one, Vice received it’s first ASME nom, for General Excellence no less, alongside The New Yorker, New York, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ in the General-Interest Magazine category, which is kind of the equivalent for getting nominated for “Best Picture” at the Oscars. It’s certainly a feat for the magazine which started out as an underground publication that prided itself on being anything but mainstream. We’d like to think it’s all thanks to the mag’s fascinating exploration of canine bondage, or their coverage of London fashion week on acid, but you know, that could be just us.

Also of note is that only two fashion titles–Glamour and W–got nods for General Excellence. W received more ASME nominations than any other fashion mag in 2011, and 2012′s list confirms that EIC Stefano Tonchi is indeed on a roll–much to the chagrin of competitor Vogue, no doubt.

Vogue, who was nominated alongside W last year for General Excellence in Women’s Magazine, is conspicuously absent from that category this year, only receiving honors for their photography work. (Maybe next year, they’ll get nominated for Feature Writing for their hard-hitting article about Manhattan mom Dara-Lyn Weiss putting her 7-year-old daughter on a diet. Hey she already has a book deal…)

But W and Vogue will get to face off again in 2012: Both titles have been nominated for Feature Photography. W, for a spread featuring Tilda Swinton and shot by Tim Walker, called “Planet Tilda,” and Vogue for “Lady Be Good,” featuring Amber Valletta and photographed by Steven Klein.

Click through to see the full list of nominations: