Richard Aumann is the 2025 Oceania Grand Prix winner!

Over the Oceania Continental Championship weekend, also the Oceania Grand Prix finals were held, where the 5 top performing players on the Grand Prix circuit this year met and played a final round to determine our circuit winner. This is a report from the winner RichE:
 
The GP circuit was first thought about before OCC Sydney 2024. After seeing Ke Carlton in the “Clash of the Titans”, I thought wouldn’t it be great to have an invitational event. I was staying in an Airbnb with other organisers/travellers and ran the idea past them. It got late in the year but Rathpex was determined to get something going. It morphed into a GP idea and the circuit was born. As Melbourne was holding a tournament in March anyway, we converted that tournament into GP Melbourne to give the other Princes time. Perth followed in April, Sydney in May and Brisbane June. We finished in September in Auckland.

We started in Melbourne where I made the final and received a crucial 0.5 VP in the final. This would be the tie breaker with TJ as we both finished on 41 points equal 2nd place.


Going into the final Steve Harris was consistent in the GP circuit finishing with 36. Fourth was Rathpex on 40 points. Then TJ 41, RichE 41 and Ke 62.

The GP circuit was first thought about before OCC Sydney 2024. After seeing Ke Carlton in the “Clash of the Titans”, I thought wouldn’t it be great to have an invitational event. I was staying in an Airbnb with other organisers/travellers and ran the idea past them. It got late in the year but Rathpex was determined to get something going. It morphed into a GP idea and the circuit was born. As Melbourne was holding a tournament in March anyway, we converted that tournament into GP Melbourne to give the other Princes time. Perth followed in April, Sydney in May and Brisbane June. We finished in September in Auckland.

Steve sat first. He was playing weenie Dementation stealth-bleed.

Next to sit was Rathpex he seated second with what appeared to be a weenie-Dominate bleed with Stanislava.

Next was TJ. He sat down with a Path of Caine combat deck. He sat as Steve’s prey.

On seeing TJ’s deck I (Banu Haqim Kasim combat) was not keen to be next to TJ. So I thought I would have better luck being Rathpex’s prey and preying on Steve’s weenie SB.

Ke sat last. He thought it through and figured that between Dom bleed and Kasim Combat was the best spot, away from TJ. Ke had a Guruhi MMA plus hand size combat deck.

In turn one, Rathpex was number one. He brought out a one cap.

Ke went to two transfers.

My starting crypt was 9, 7, 5 and 2. I went to three transfers on Farah Sarroub Prince of Detroit. I was thinking, I don't need to get out a vampire straight away. I have combat, so I’ll prepare.

Steve brought out Midget and had an extra transfer.

TJ transferred four.

Turn 2, Rathpex bled, transferred out New Blood, and Samson. Do I contest New Blood later in the game?

Ke transferred 4.

I brought out Farah. Steve bled with Midget, and transferred Uncle George into play.

TJ was under pressure, and brought out Anousha, The Manic.

Turn three, Rathpex bled, transferred onto Stanislava, seems to be Dom.

Ke influences out Iniko the Black Lion with permanent +1 stealth.

I stand, 4 transfers to Kasim.

Steve bleeds with Uncle George, blocked. Anousha torpors Uncle George, but George plays coma. Both go down. Adelaide is transferred into play.

TJ transfers.

Rathpex discusses a deal and Anousha is rescued by New Blood.

Ke plays Founders of the Ebony Kingdom to move 4 blood on a younger Laibon in the uncontrolled region.

I transfer 4 to Kasim (now on 8). 

Steve's rescues Uncle George with Adelaide. Three vampires, looking threatening … 

TJ brings out his second seven cap, which is Kalyani , Agent of Doom.

Turn five, Rathpex has now got eight on Stanislava.

Ke transfers 1 for Nagila Were, Guruhi.

I transfer out Kasim.

Steve's got Midget, Uncle George, Adelaide, Bleeds, transfers.

TJ rushes backwards, bins Uncle George. 

Turn six. Rathpex brings Stanislava into play and rescues Uncle George.

Ke Founders again, brings Nana into play. So he's looking pretty strong. 

I sit for now.

Steve bleeds with the Colonel.

Andy rushes backwards.

Turn seven. Rathpex’s Stanislava bins Iniko the Black Lion. New Blood munches. New Blood has Banu Haqim support to live. Stanislava gets aggravated hands for a turn.

I rush Adelaide going forward.

Steve, with Midget, Uncle George, and Colonel bleed. TJ defends.

Turn eight. Rathpex rushes with Stanislava binning Nagila. Stanislava plays Imperial Decree. I’m stoked as I have seen limited rush to date. I’m in shock. It's obviously a rush deck and I thought it was a bleed deck.

Ke makes a deal with me that he won't rush me with his first two rushes. And then he rescues Nagila.

I rush Uncle George taking him down.

Steve bleeds TJ and he defends. 

TJ rushes Stanislava and Stanislava goes down taking Anousha with her.

Turn Nine. Guruhi rescues Anousha.

Banu rescues Stanislava.

Steve bleeds.

Anousha rushes Stanislava, Stanislava goes down again.

Turn Ten. Rathpex is desperate to cycle, tries to convince Banu that rushing him with the 1 cap famous vampire is worth it to cycle a card. Rathpex rushes, Banu move to long, wave. Rathpex doesn’t get want he needs and is despondent. Ke tries to cheer up Rathpex.

Ke defends.

Banu leave Stanislava in torpor. 

Steve bleeds into TJ.

TJ ousts Rathpex.

Turn 11. Ke defends.

Banu bled Steve to 7 pool. Influences out Warmaksan and New Blood.

Steve tries to lunge on TJ (again).

Turn 12. Ke breaks deal with Banu and rushes New Blood, justifying that New Blood is not Banu. New Blood goes to torpor.

I was holding Haqim’s Law Retribution for a turn or two. Now I play it, lunging on Steve who had tapped out. Banu with the oust. 

There was 12-15 minutes left. There was further torporing but no game changes. I managed to stay in the game and win on count back against TJ.

We tied in preliminary rounds and in the final. Tough on TJ. Amazed and shocked.

I would like to thank Plenty of Games for hosting, all the finalists, organisers, judges and everyone who attended our first GP circuit.

Here is my deck: “W Kasim Combat 2.3 241025” by Richard Aumann

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Anarch Convert 1 -none- Caitiff:ANY
1x New Blood 2 san Blood Brother:ANY
1x Bijou 3 cel tha Assamite:6
1x Farah Sarroub 7 aus obf CEL THA Assamite:6
1x Nayarana 4 cel THA Assamite:6
3x Kasim Bayar 9 aus pot CEL OBF THA Assamite:6
1x Kassandra Tassaki 6 obf CEL THA Assamite:6
1x Khadija Al-Kindi 6 CEL OBF THA Assamite:6
1x Oluwafunmilayo 8 AUS CEL OBF THA Assamite:6
1x Warmaksan 5 cel obf THA Assamite:6

Library: 90 cards
Master (23 cards)
3x Archon Investigation
9x Ashur Tablets
3x Priority Contract
6x Villein
2x Haqim's Law: Retribution

Action (8 cards)
8x Hunter's Mark

Political Action (2 cards)
2x Anathema

Equipment (1 cards)
1x Bowl of Convergence

Action Modifier/Combat (4 cards)
4x Swallowed by the Night

Combat (45 cards)
2x Flash
6x Infernal Pursuit
4x Psyche!
4x Pursuit
5x Quickness
5x Rego Motum
2x Side Strike
14x Hunger of Marduk
3x Blur

Reaction (7 cards)
7x Second Tradition: Domain

Thanks for this report, and thanks to all the lovely organisers, sponsors and players!

Gino Sepulveda is the 2025 South American champion!

Organiser, champion, beautiful playmat and key card.

Report by Daniel Bravo, VEKN National Coordinator of Chile:

On Saturday, October 25th, the SAC was held in Santiago, Chile, at the Piedra Bruja store, bringing together 19 players. Among them, we had the pleasure of sharing the event with Daniel Motta, a player who travelled all the way from Brazil to play in Chile.

Three rounds were played, and the level of competition was very high – it wasn’t clear who would make it to the final table until the end of the third round. The same happened with the players who reached the anti-final.

The final table was composed of:
Daniel Motta, our friend from Brazil, playing his Stanislava deck, who achieved 4 VPs and 1 GW in the three rounds.
Sebastián Aguayo, with his Barons with Protean deck, earning 5 VPs and 1 GW.
Jackson Iribarren, who entered with 5 VPs and 1 GW, playing Ministry – Platinum Protocol.
Gino Sepulveda, who entered with 6 VPs and 1 GW, using his Anarch Gangrel V5 deck.
And the top performer of the tournament, Ignacio Vásquez, who entered with 8 VPs and 2 GWs, piloting his Hecata deck with zombies and ghosts.

The first player eliminated was our friend Daniel Motta, who quickly left to pick up his wife at the Costanera Shopping Center, saying goodbye to all the players. It was truly an honor to share the event with him.

The Hecata weren’t able to finish off the Ministry, and after a brief lapse, the Gangrel took out both the Hecata and the Ministry, leaving a Barons vs. Gangrel table. However, the Barons had no way to attack the pool directly. After several turns, they decided to end the game due to time, which made Gino the new South American Champion 2025, with 2.5 VPs in the final table.

We want to thank Tienda Piedra Bruja for the space, the patience, and the commemorative playmats for the tournament. Thanks also to all participants –  especially the women players. Daniel Motta mentioned that there are more women participating in Chile than in Brazil. A warm hug to our Brazilian friends!

This are words from Gino Sepulveda:

The 2025 South American Championship had fewer players than its previous edition, but in exchange, we enjoyed a great atmosphere – friendly yet still very competitive. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Daniel Motta from Brazil, a very nice person and an excellent player.

I decided to play my deck “Gangrel Anarco Things”, a deck I know very well since I didn’t have time to test other builds, and I’ve reached several finals with it. The deck is fairly simple to play, quite forgiving, and focuses on bringing out lots of minions through Things to wear down the prey while blocking key actions – since it’s not a deck that blocks everything.

For the deck’s construction, I have to thank two great players and friends, Walbert and Felo, for their valuable feedback, and the amazing “VTES Conce” group for all the playtesting.

My first two rounds ended by time, and I only managed to get 2 victory points in total. However, I knew I could win the third table – and I did. The third game was hard-fought, as I had a tough battle against Consuelo, who had me against the ropes for several turns. She’s a new player who has grown a lot and keeps improving every time she plays.


I was unlucky to start the final table, but I wasn’t too worried since I chose to be preyed upon by Sebastián with his Barons Gangrel deck, which isn’t fast at applying pressure. He was quite busy defending against deflected bleeds and Stanislava’s plays, so I was able to slowly build my setup while Jackson eliminated Daniel, the great player from Brazil.

Then the table got stalled for both Hecata and Ministry, as they couldn’t break through the control defenses. I managed to oust the Hecata player thanks to a Monkey Wrench, and on the next turn, I ousted the Ministry, who only had two pool left. By that point, I had six minions and about 23 pool.

In the 1v1, the Barons deck couldn’t break through my defense and would eventually fall to attrition. Since it was late and we were all exhausted, we agreed to end the game in a draw — which secured my victory with 2.5 victory points.

Finally, I want to thank all the participants, especially the people I played with, Piedra Bruja, which is a great store that fully supports our community, and Daniel, our National Coordinator, for all his work and for continuing the efforts started by Faroock, our former Coordinator.

Tournament winning deck: "Gangrel Cositas SudAmericano" by Gino Sepúlveda A.
https://vdb.im/decks/a9772918e

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel:6
2x Casey Snyder 6 PRO ani cel for baron Gangrel:6
2x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x André the Manipulator 6 FOR PRO Gangrel:5
1x Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for Gangrel:6
1x Nathan Turner 4 PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Joaquín de Cádiz 3 for pro Gangrel:6
1x Lillian 3 ani pro Gangrel:5
1x Malcolm 2 ani Gangrel:5
1x Ruslan Fedorenko 2 pro Gangrel:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (14; 4 trifle)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
1x Carfax Abbey
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Gangrel Revel
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
2x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
3x Vessel
1x Villein
1x Zoo Hunting Ground

Action (19)
2x Army of Rats
1x Constant Revolution
16x Thing

Ally (1)
1x Double Deuce

Equipment (3)
2x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Sniper Rifle

Retainer (4)
1x Mr. Winthrop
3x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (2)
2x Monkey Wrench

Action Modifier/Reaction (3)
3x Form of the Bat

Combat (20)
3x Donnybrook
13x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist

Reaction (24)
4x Bait and Switch
5x Deep Ecology
4x Eyes of the Wild
9x Organized Resistance
2x Protection Racket

Thanks to Daniel and Gino for this report, and thanks to all volunteers, sponsors and participants. The Chile National championship is on November 29 – drop by if you have the chance!