Preview art from Fall of London by Mitch Mueller.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE PRODUCTION UPDATE MAY 2022
Greetings, fellow Kindred! It's been a good while since I provided an update on where we at Black Chantry are at with Vampire: The Eternal Struggle releases and what's down the road. Last year, we had the release of the Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel, and Ministry pre-constructed decks, as well as the successful Kickstarter for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Unleashed. Additionally, we made available on Drivethrucards.com the legacy reprints of Followers of Set, Giovanni, Lasombra, and Ravnos, and Latin translations of the Fifth Edition decks.
So far this year, we've made the English language versions of the Fifth Edition decks available on Drivethrucards, as well as legacy reprints of Pander, Salubri, and Tzimisce. April saw the release of the New Blood introductory decks for Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue. We're presently waiting for the artwork to be complete for the Fall of London storyline set. Mike Nudd is the lead designer for it, and he also is a co-author of the Fall of London book for Vampire: The Masquerade. We're expecting a summer release for that set.
We have a change in plans for what's coming after Fall of London. We had originally planned to release a follow-up set for the Camarilla, filling out the Group 6 crypts and adding new library cards for them. However, with the heavy Camarilla themes of the New Blood decks and Fall of London, we felt we'd be oversaturating you with Camarilla-related cards. We're presently planning for these cards – including the new Justicars! – to be in your hands in first quarter of 2023.
Coming after Fall of London, planned for the fourth of 2022, is another wave of pre-constructed decks. This time they'll be Ravnos, Salubri, and Tzimisce, updated accordingly for the Vampire: The Masquerade V5 canon. We're presently vetting the templating and mechanics of the cards and we'll have them sent off for playtesting in June. We'll have more information for you about those as we get closer to their release.
Heading into 2023, there's the aforementioned Camarilla follow-up set, and following that we'll have pre-constructed decks for the Lasombra and Hecata. We'll also be wanting to release follow-up sets for all of the clans, as we're definitely not done creating crypt and library cards for them. I'm frequently asked when we'll be making new cards for the Sabbat. We're very early in the concept and planning stages for the Sabbat, so they're further down the production timeline, but we're definitely excited for them.
I wish you all great summer nights and I look forward to seeing you at tournaments this year!
- Ben Peal, Product Director Black Chantry Productions
TIME TO PRE-REGISTER FOR THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP!
Good times for fans of tournament VTES coming up! Many championships in June, including the North American Championship and the Spanish Nationals with HUGE expected attendance. And please don´t forget to sign up for the European Championship in Helsiniki in July - the pre-registration is at the official site. Do this to help the organisers, and you can also see the exciting list of already registered Methuselahs that you will oust!
BILL TROXEL IS THE ATLANTIC CUP 2022 CHAMPION!
A report from organiser Lionel Panhaleux:
The Atlantic Cup was held on the 21st and 22nd of May, a massive online tournament with more than 50 players. The struggle was real, with a great variety of decks. The Brujah G6 were very much in the place with 4 decks, as the Malkavians and their antitribu with 7 decks. The Baali were very present too, with three The Unnamed decks and 4 vote decks featuring Arishat and G6 princes and Barons – variations around Bram van Stappen´s “Princes of Anarch” that won the Belgian Nationals last year in the hands of Emiliano Imeroni.
The Giovanni continue to be loved, but did not score much - we've seen Del Giorgio using Protean and Isabel and her friends bleeding or trying to invoke Khazar's Diary. The big classics were also represented, with a couple of !Ventrue Grinders, Girls, Parliament of Shadows and Goratrix Wall. Anarchs are very much in fashion, and more niche builds were present, like Anarch Gargoyles with their Razor Bats and Seterpenre playing so many Anarch tri-disciplines. They were also a few (four) Emerald Legionnaire decks, accompanied by Kurshid, or Summoned through History, or more unexpectedly, with a few Imbueds.
The bar for the finals was 1 game win and 6 victory points.
Bill Troxel won with his very hatable deck called “Dumpster Fire of Pure Hate”. He explains: “As a hater of the Imbued, I see this deck as representing many of the worst aspects of the game, hence the title. Other unlikeable facets include Veil of Darkness (hardest card-text in the game to abide by), Liquidation, Unmasking, and of course, Emerald Legionnaire. If the mechanics of Ashur Tablets weren't antithetical to the workings of this deck, I would have searched for a way to include them as well.” More of Bill´s own comments can be found at this thread at the VEKN Forum.
Congratulations Bill, champion with an impressive 5 victory points in the final. For those who did not see the finals, the replay can still be seen at Twitch.
The tournament winning deck: “Dumpster Fire of Pure Hate”
Crypt (13 cards, min=15 max=24 avg=4.92)
1x François "Warden" Loehr 3 def jud Judge:4
2x Jack "Hannibal137" Harmon 4 def jud Defender:4
4x Jennie "Cassie247" Orne 5 inn jud vis Visionary:4
1x Marion "Teacher193" Perks 4 red jud Redeemer:4
4x Mina Grotius 6 cel FOR NEC Harbinger of Skulls:3
1x Nicomedes 5 aus for nec vic Harbinger of Skulls:4
Library (90 cards)
Master (29)
1x Barrens, The
1x Church of Vindicated Faith, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fortschritt Library
1x Fragment of the Book of Nod
9x Liquidation
4x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Specialization
4x Unity
4x Wider View
Conviction (13)
3x React with Conviction
7x Second Sight
3x Strike with Conviction
Ally (14)
2x Carlton Van Wyk
10x Emerald Legionnaire
2x Vagabond Mystic
Equipment (6)
2x Crusader Sword, The
1x Heart of Nizchetus
3x Ivory Bow
Power (8)
1x Champion
3x Discern
4x Vigilance
Action Modifier (3)
1x Call of the Hungry Dead
2x Change of Target
Action Modifier/Combat (5)
5x Breath of Thanatos
Action Modifier/Reaction (1)
1x Spectral Divination
Reaction (3)
1x Determine
2x On the Qui Vive
Event (8)
1x Nightmares upon Nightmares
1x Recalled to the Founder
4x Unmasking, The
2x Veil of Darkness
Thanks to all organisers, players and sponsors!
DOUBLE DEMO GAMES IN ZARAGOZA!
A report by Raúl Perfecto, Prince of Zaragoza
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La Goblinera
On May 7, 2022, we had the opportunity to present the New Blood pre-constructed decks at the Club de Rol La Goblinera located in Zaragoza, Spain. Coordinated by the club managers, we reached an impressive participation of 15 Methuselahs, which meant three tables of play with all five Camarilla clans in contention.
At the tables, there were both new players and former Methuselahs who had their cards gathering dust in a drawer. In common, the illusion shown by all, since the vast majority are also fans of the World of Darkness game saga.
A highlight: the great playability of the New Blood decks. A First Blood deck was also delivered. This material is the perfect invitation to start or to re-engage in the game.
We add a few photos to illustrate the great atmosphere enjoyed at the event.
Allow me to thank all the participants, La Goblinera for organizing everything and the Ancillae Iñigo Orbegozo and Alejandro Galve, who generously gave their time to teach the attendees how to play.
El Quinto Elemento
On May 14, 2022, we ran more demo games at the Quinto Elemento game shop in Zaragoza, Spain. Once again, 15 Methuselahs turned out to learn how to play VTES. However, since we had already run out of New Blood decks, we used First Blood decks instead. The demo games were a total success.
In summary, we can say with great pride that the Zaragoza VTES community is more undead than ever!
Are you also interested in demoing VTES but need some help? Have a talk with your local game store or gaming event, and with your local Prince or National Coordinator, or with Black Chantry directly!
DEMO GAMES AT MODENA PLAY!
Like we told you in the last newsletter, the Italian national coordinatior Simone Zanni organised demo games at big games fair Modena Play in Modena, Italy on May 20-22. He tells us it was a great experience! Everyone that played a demo got a free New Blood deck, and a lot of new and lapsed players were reached! He used some variant rules to make the demo games go faster: 20 pool, first victory point ends the game and 4 transfers for everyone from start.
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SEALED DECK TOURNAMENT IN MEXICO CITY!
We want to mention this, as it is a variant tournament event that is a bit more beginner friendly than the normal ones. Organiser Luis Jiménez tells us:
This was a tournament-like event with 15 players at Orc Stories in Mexico City, playing only with New Blood decks, opened at the event. It was a really fun and enjoyable gaming experience, the new embraces were really comfortable and two of them made awesome games against experienced Methuselahs. Thanks to Black Chantry for the prize support for these kind of events!
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RULES Q & A
Black Chantry Rules Director Vincent Ripoll answers some rules questions:
Q: "Bleed bounce" cards such as Deflection, Telepathic Misdirection or Bait and Switch state that they are only usable "after blocks are declined." What does it mean exactly? Does "Declining to block" mean that you haven't tried to block with anything? Or does it still count as "Declining to block" if you attempt to block but your minion gets out-stealthed?
A: Methuselahs can decline to block if they don't attempt to block at all, or once they are done with all their (unsuccessful) block attempts. A Methuselah cannot decline to block in the middle of a block attempt, but once there's no more ongoing block attempt (usually because it has failed due to a lack of intercept or a card that makes the block fail), that Methuselah can simply state that they don't make any further block attempts: they “decline to block”.
This is equivalent of the defending Methuselah to "pass" instead of declaring a block attempt, letting other Methuselahs the opportunity to block with cards such as Eagle Sight.
Once every Methuselah has declined to block, the impulse goes back to the acting Methuselah who can increase the bleed or pass, then to the defending Methuselah to can play "bleed bounce" cards, etc.
As reminded on those cards, changing the target of a bleed creates a new blocking opportunity for every Methuselah, starting with the new target of the bleed and following the sequencing order (see the Rulebook). For instance:
A declares a bleed action against B with Nonu Dis.
B, who controls Kuyén and Martina Srnankova (+1 intercept during bleed actions), tries to block with Kuyén.
A plays Swallowed by the Night for +1 stealth.
B does not increase Kuyén's intercept: the block fails. B could attempt to block with Martina Srnankova but decides to "decline to block". Other Methuselahs pass too.
A plays Aire of Elation to increase the bleed.
B plays Bait and Switch to change the target of the bleed to C.
C can now attempt to block the action.
By using this stratagem, B "forces" A to play stealth in order to hinder C once the bleed is redirected to him or her. However, if someone cancels the Bait and Switch as it is played, then B cannot backpedal and try to block with Martina since the block opportunities are over.
Q: Some cards ask the Methuselah to do “A or B” during the unlock or master phase, for instance Ex Nihilo (“During your master phase, this vampire burns 1 blood or is burned.”) Does the Methuselah get the choice between A and B?
A: Yes (this is a reversal for some cards). Those cards will be reprinted with “do B unless you do A” to make the choice more explicit. Some cards such as Fear of Mekhet don’t leave the choice and are explicitly written so (“During this vampire's unlock phase, they burn 5 blood. If they cannot burn the blood, they are burned.”)
Q: If Kuyén (with the text “Animals (allies and retainers) cost Kuyén 1 fewer blood or pool.”) recruits or employs an animal using Piper or Pack Alpha, is the cost of the animal reduced?
A: Yes, the cost applies as normal, this includes any applicable cost reduction or increase. Some cards (e.g., Charisma) only reduce the recruit or employ actions. In that case, the cost of recruiting an ally or employing a retainer through Piper or Pack Alpha is not reduced since those are not actions.
Do you have rules questions? The easiest way to get them answered correctly is to ask at the VEKN Forum, in the VEKN Facebook group or on the VTES Discord, sometimes by the rules director himself!
VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE STOOL OF THE MONTH
... rumored to belong to Dennis D of Belgium, but never trust VTES rumors!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MAY 2022
• See the update from Ben Peal at the top of this newsletter!
• With lots of new cards up on the "pick and choose" VTES Legacy Card Singles service on Drivethrucards, the most common question to the Black Chantry customer support is, by far, "Will there be a European print-on-demand place soon?". The answer is: Unknown! Black Chantry have searched for such a printing partner facility since the company started, but so far with no luck. Do you have advice? Don´t hesitate to contract !
• The Fall of Sabbat set is being translated to non-English languages. June is printing time!
• Both Anthology 1 and the 25th Anniverary set is being reprinted.
• The five deck Fifth Edition box is being reprinted this summer, along with a updated rulebook.
• The bloodlines cards that did not appear in Heirs of the Blood are next up for upload on Legacy Card Singles, so those cards are now scrutinezed for rewordings, retemplating and maybe even nerfing!
- Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
Lost Kindred bundle
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
VTES card sleeves
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Stores only)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
Fifth Edition: Malkavian
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu
Fifth Edition: Toreador
Fifth Edition: Tremere
Fifth Edition: Ventrue
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim
Fifth Edition: Brujah
Fifth Edition: Gangrel
Fifth Edition: The Ministry
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Our two picks for highlights from the past month are:
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong was released, available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. This is a narrative-driven, single-player game where you take on the role of a vampire investigating Kindred-related mysteries in Boston.
• There´s a new Hunter: The Reckoning rulebook preview available for free download at Renegade Game Studios. This meaty excerpt explains some key concepts of the game, such as The Reckoning and The Drive. One wonders if anything of this finds it´s way into VTES soon?
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (booked so far) are in:
Spain x4
France x4
Czech Republic
Online
United States x14
Denmark
Finland
Chile x2
Poland
Italy
Brazil
For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!
CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
You can complain about the game or you can learn the rules.
John Boltons art for the 1996 classic The Sabbat card
Mitchell, the Headhunter, now in print again.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
MORE VTES NOW ON PRINT-ON-DEMAND!
Since earlier, cards for Assamites, Giovanni, Lasombra, Followers of Set and Ravnos are up on VTES Legacy Singles at Drivethrucards, and now also cards for Panders, Salubri and Tzimisce are available. Totally it´s 159 cards in this April update, including many player favourites such as War Ghoul, Legacy of Pander and Neutral Guard.
Hugh Angseesing, CEO of Black Chantry Productions, why did you prioritise these clans for print-on-demand now?
- We have put clans and disciplines on Drivethrucards as they have rejoined Vampire: the Masquerade Fifth Edition and we can see which cards won’t be being reused in a future retail set – for example Vicissitude cards will instead be represented with an amalgam power for the new Tzimisce.
Are there any plans to put more “staples” on print-on-demand, so one can order a whole custom-built deck?
- More cards will be added, and this will include more staples. However, our focus is getting cards which are not available in retail up first.
A lot of VTES players live in Europe – is there any hope for a print-on-demand service on other continents than America soon?
- We continue to work with Drivethrucards to locate a print-on-demand printer in Europe, which is about 60 percent of the VTES community. Covid and rapid changes to costs have slowed that process down along with printers not being totally comfortable with the “on demand” bit, i.e. please, don’t print 1,000 Eyes of the Dead just in case…
However, note that UK and EU buyers now should have value added taxes calculated at checkout to reduce much of the risk of ordering overseas, though I understand postage is still more than we would like.
What comes next for print-on-demand?
- Our rules director AND layout guy Vincent Ripoll are working on the next cards to go up on Drivethrucards, and that is more bloodlines cards. The process involves us looking at the card set we have chosen and checking that we have the artwork or deciding if the artwork can be refreshed. Sometimes brand new art is needed, but a card needs to sell about 1,500 copies to breakeven, so some cards might not be worth creating new art for! Then we review the card for simple changes, for example, cost reduction or perhaps added stealth, and then modernising the card text to fit current wording templates.
About that last bit, we’d love to hear from YOU if you have simple recommendations for cards going up to be fixed. But our focus with design and playtesters is on new cards rather than updating everything that has come before!
Concerning such modifications, this time only three cards have significant funtional changes:
• Lambach (ADV): Unlocking is now optional.
• Radu Bistri: Gaining blood is now optional.
• Szechenyi Jolán, Mother of Horrors: Unlocking her is now optional and happens during the discard phase.
These changes will be tournament legal on May 27, 2022.
To make it easier to navigate the offer, a complete list with all Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Legacy Singles is available separately.
Note also that all nine Fifth Edition preconstructed decks are now available on Drivethrucards, in English, Spanish, French and Latin!
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2022 IN HELSINKI IS _ON_!
Finally, Finland gets to welcome you to a EC. The official website is updated with information about Helsinki, Ropecon and the tournaments, and the pre-registration will begin soon. Stay tuned for that in May!
Follow the EC in social media:
• Facebook: Vampire: the Eternal Struggle European Championship 2022
• Twitter: 2022Ec
• Instagram: vtesec2022
SEVERAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS COMING UP!
SPANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
June 4 in Zaragoza, Spain
For details, please visit V:TES España Noticias y Eventos
FRENCH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
June 5 in Metz, France
For details, please visit Championnat de France 2022 VTES
DANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
June 11 in Store Andst, Denmark
For details, please visit V:TES - Danish National Championship
Also, of course, keep an eye on the VEKN Event Calendar - VEKN sanctioned events are always registered there!
ATLANTIC CUP 2022 COMING UP!
This will likely be one of the largest online VTES tournaments this year, played on Lackey May 21-22. Learn more on VEKN Forum: Atlantic Cup 2022 and register on discord.gg/QD3GbBuKS2.
NEW GREAT VTES CONTENT
• Know anyone going to big games fair Modena Play in Modena, Italy on May 20-22? There will be VTES demo games hosted by Camarilla Italy (large Vampire LARP community) and Italian National Coordinatior Simone Zanni. Welcome to that booth, and please send curious people there!
• Karl Schaefer of KGS Cards is doing wonders for VTES. Not only does he distribute the game, but he also writes nice articles, most recently a “Evaluating”-series about the New Blood packs. Check them out!
• We have mentioned the AWESOME French-language Carnet d´un Diableriste in this space before, but we have to do it again. Last month it had unboxing-videos of the New Blood packs. Totally great – what wouldn´t we do for this content in English?!
• VDB is one of the best online card utility tools, maybe the very best. You probably know that already. But now it has changed URL, so update your booksmarks, etc – now it´s at https://vdb.im
• The Antediluvians are awakening! VTES blog Gaming with Brett S is posting again! Recently new posts are “Quick-Start Guide Update!”, “What we leave behind: A farewell to Serpentis” and “Our powers renewed: A welcome to Protean”. Great to see more original content like this again – VEKN approves, and will share!
• To finish this section: How cool is the below VTES trophy?! Found on Reddit, we really don´t know more. If you made it, or painted it, or adore it - comment everywhere :)
VTES DEMONSTRATION GAMES AT FICZONE
Speaking of great efforts to spread VTES, here´s some words from José Juan Ortiz Fuentes:
On the 2nd and 3rd of April 2022, Ficzone, the most important international film, comic book and game festival in southern Spain, took place in Granada, with around 30,000 people in attendance from different cities throughout the country.
A few Methuselahs from the city had the opportunity to attend on Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., to promote our beloved game by teaching VTES to anyone willing to give it a try.
In the morning, we had no clue of how many people would be interested in learning the game. In fact, we had brought our decks to play some games while waiting for possible Embraces to show up... We were greatly surprised when, shortly after starting our first game, the first interested group of people dropped by, followed by more and more people. By the end of the day, we had already taught 41 people to play VTES!
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For these demos we used the First Blood decks, which are ideal in this type of event. We gave one of them to each participant, as well as some of this year's promo cards. We tried to spend no more than 35-40 minutes for each group of participants, getting them started with a general introduction to the game (story, background, etc.) and then playing no more than 2-3 effective turns (with vampires in play) per player, focusing mainly on the phases of the game, vampire stats (fundamentally disciplines), and having played some bleed, politics and combat.
At the end of the day, we raffled a Pact with Nephandi deck, some Nefertiti advanced promos, and a few First Blood decks.
We have to say that VTES was spectacularly well-received, exceeding our expectations by far. The participants were delighted with it, being aware of the complexity of its rules, and super happy at the end of the demo games.
So, although we were half hoarse and exhausted by the end of the event, and we will not know how many of these players will end up playing regularly with each other (time will tell), we left the festival proud and extremely satisfied with the great reception and acceptance of VTES and, of course, for having shared that day with some great people who have made us spend a memorable event that, without a doubt, we would definitely repeat.
Until next year, Ficzone!
Oh, of course we have to thank Ginés, Hugh and Arnau for having provided us with all the promotional material used (cards, decks, etc.). Without you this would not have been possible, thank you very much!
Are you also interested in demoing VTES but need some help? Have a talk with your local game store or gaming event, and with your local Prince or National Coordinator, or with Black Chantry directly!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: APRIL 2022
• The Pander, Salubri and Tzimisce cards are now up on VTES Legacy Singles at Drivethrucards - see the top of this newsletter. Next up are more bloodlines cards.
• The five New Blood introductory decks were officially released on April 17, and so they will be tournament legal on May 17. They are now available in stores all over the world.
• CEO Hugh guested long interview in Vtes México Youtube channel - practically everything anyone ever wondered about anything was answered there. Must-see-TV!
• Fall of London is not ready for print yet, but release is still mid 2022.
- Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
Lost Kindred bundle
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
VTES card sleeves
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Stores only)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
Fifth Edition: Malkavian
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu
Fifth Edition: Toreador
Fifth Edition: Tremere
Fifth Edition: Ventrue
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim
Fifth Edition: Brujah
Fifth Edition: Gangrel
Fifth Edition: The Ministry
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Three highlights from the past month:
• Paradox Interactive are taking the Vampire Jam one step further with World of Darkness Unbound! This allows you to create your own digital game based on the Vampire: The Masquerade IP and even monetize it, as long as you follow a licensing agreement and the rules of itch.io.
• The Second Inquisition sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade is now available at Renegade Game Studios.
• Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt from Sharkmob was released in April, so why not go crawl some rooftops in Prague?
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (booked so far) are in:
Spain x4
USA x3
Brazil x3
Mexico
Online (International)
Chile
France
UK
Hungary
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Portugal
Sweden
For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!
CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
No one cares what you do. They care what you can do for them.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs
NEW BLOOD RELEASE AND LEGALITY DATES ARE SET!
The spoiler season for New Blood is soon over when this reaches your eyes, and you need a release date. It will be April 17, so the tournament legality date for the new cards from this set is May 17. One of those new cards is the lovely (and thirsty) Ameila Locke depicted above with excellent art from Ken Meyer Jr. Enjoy!
GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENTS STARTS AGAIN - FIRST OUT: MALMÖ, SWEDEN
The European VTES Grand Prix circuit is restarting, and now a new city is added. On Saturday July 2 we play in Malmö, as a part in the big gaming event Malmö Game Week Unplugged. Hugh and Henrik from Black Chantry Productions will attend, as will hopefully absolutely all VTES players from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and everywhere else! Beautiful Malmö is the largest city in sourthern Sweden, close to Copenhagen, why not make it a stop on your summer vacation and oust some Methuselahs?
Details: Facebook VTES Grand Prix - Malmö 2022, and we will update you in appropriate channels when we know more about Malmö Game Week Unplugged and the rest of the Grand Prix season.
JAMES SALT IS THE UK VTES 2021 CHAMPION!
19 proud Methuselahs turned up at Patriot Games in Leeds on March the 5th to battle for the UK 2021 (played in 2022) championship belt. No proxies, gloves off and claws out! Head organiser was UK National Coordinator Paul Jones.
James Salt took an impressive 3 game wins in the preliminary rounds (with a wall deck!), and he had more to give...
Standings after preliminaries:
1. James 3 gw 6.5 vp
2. Craig 2 gw 6.5 vp
3. David 1 gw 5.5 vp
4. Warren 1 gw 4.5 vp
5. Simmy 1 gw 3 vp
Comment on the final by the organiser: “The Gangrel were able to take advantage of the trademark slow start of MMPA (multiple master phase actions) and exclusively push forward against the Blood Brothers who are forced to hunt as they enter with no blood. This allowed the Gangrel to eat through the Blood Brothers pretty quickly, and left The Ministry with very little pressure. The Ministry pushed hard in to Ravnos, ousting them before they could call any Consanguineous Boons. 40 minutes into the game the Liverpool players had been taken out and team Leeds was in a 3-way. Aksinya Daclau gave the Ministry the exact amount of trouble you'd expect her to, and allowed the Gangrel to block their prey and take advantage of it using Claws of the Dead. Pretty soon it was down to just two players, and with Smiling Jack still there from turn 1 it wasn't long until MMPA was getting outpaced.”
Congratulations James Salt, 2021 UK champion with 4 victory points in the the final (The Ministry player Simmy got 1).
James' tournament winning deck: “Wolf Wall”
3 Casey Snyder
2 Massimiliano
1 Crow
1 Hanna Nokelainen
1 Joaquín de Cádiz
1 Kamile Paukstys
1 Martina Srnankova
1 Nathan Turner
1 Ruslan Fedorenko
1 Antediluvian Awakening
1 Carfax Abbey
1 Guardian Angel
1 Powerbase: Montreal
1 The Rack
2 Smiling Jack the Anarch
4 Vessel
2 Wider View
2 Constant Revolution
8 Thing
1 Dog Pack
4 Raven Spy
2 Form of the Bat
6 Claws of the Dead
4 Form of Mist
2 Pack Alpha
6 Bait and Switch
10 Deep Ecology
2 Delaying Tactics
1 Eyes of the Beast
4 Eyes of the Wild
6 Organized Resistance
1 Party out of Bounds
2 Protection Racket
1 Sonar
We´ll see if there will be a second, real 2022 championship sometime later this year. Thanks to organiser, helpers, sponsors and of course the fantastic players!
DO YOU WANT TO ORGANIZE THE VTES ONLINE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022?
Igor Breslin and Martin Weinmayer have been running the VTES Online World Championship tournaments for the last four years, but are now looking to step down. Are you interested in taking over? Or maybe help out? The VEKN, other players and Black Chantry will of course be there to support your efforts. Please mail !
THE FIGHT CLUB (PART 2)
By Aldo Fernández
PLAYING AGAINST COMBAT
Another issue, that we already pointed out in the previous article, is playing against combat.
Many people have difficulty playing against combat because, strategically, it can be more difficult than against other archetypes, especially since it is difficult to get help from other players at the specific moment you are being hit (after that, they will rescue your vampire or punish the Methuselah that plays combat, but your vampire will already be empty or burned, at which point you may be out of the game or close to it, depending on the deck you play and how much help you can get from the other players).
The combat strategy, which is already a different strategy from the others (since it attacks the vampire's blood and not the blood pool directly), goes in combination with the need to deal with the frustration and helplessness of having your vampires in torpor or burned and, generally, with the impossibility of being able to develop your game and cycle cards, in addition to the usually associated indifference of the other Methuselahs, either due to laziness or fear of being the next one to capture the attention of the combat deck.
Your deck usually packs some cards against bleed, political, block or ally strategies in a generic way (for example, bleed bounce/Archon Investigation, Delaying Tactics/passive votes of your own vampires, stealth or "lock" effects in the form of master and/or cards such as Mind Numb, or Entrancement/Far Mastery/Restructure, respectively), and this allows you to play the game regardless of whether you get any victory points or the game win.
These cards are normally given for granted in most decks as a basic part of either its strategy (action cards and action modifiers) or its defense (reaction cards).
However, only "strike: combat ends" cards or effects (S:CE from now on) are generally used as the sole strategy against combat, which in my opinion is huge mistake, since, when a combat deck is correctly structured and cycles properly, the S:CE bring absolutely nothing against it.
A good combat deck doesn't worry about S:CE, because it has Immortal Grapple, Psyche!, Telepathic Tracking, Dog Pack, Blessing of Chaos... (there are other cards that do the same and). They are decks, which, as we saw in the previous article, are designed to overcome these types of cards comfortably.
Also, if you do not have any vampires, you will not be able to play any cards. If you do not play any cards, your hand will always be the same due to lack of card cycling. That means that the combat player will cycle his cards and you will not, and will therefore have decisive advantage in resources and game development.
Faced with the frustration of not knowing how to play against combat, some people end up playing more combat, thinking that if they are going to get hit anyway, they will have to try to hit back even harder, which will cause the brutalization of metagames with the blooming of combat decks.
There are many ways to play against abusive combat decks (Multi-rush/Massive rush), but the best one is usually to cooperate with other players against it or to bring a deck prepared against combat.
We will see them below. 
WAYS TO PLAY AGAINST COMBAT
Cooperation
This is always the best way to play against a combat deck. If your vampires' Discipline spread does not have any cards to deal with the combat deck, try to cooperate with the rest of the players to prevent the combat deck from doing and undoing as it pleases with total impunity.
Rescuing vampires who have been sent to torpor, stealing powerbase-type resources such as Powerbase: Montreal or The Rack, crossing the table with politics or with harmful cards such as Sensory Deprivation, Mind Rape or Mind Numb, is usually the best way to fight against a deck who abuses the other four.
You have to be supportive of the Methuselah that is being rushed, because although the problem for a non-rushed player is not imminent, it will be when the first Methuselah has been fully rushed, since the massive multi-rush/rush deck only has one viable strategy to play: fighting continuously.
In cases where there are two or more combat decks, things get complicated. When one of the two decks is not dominant over the other, they will split the table abusing the non-combat decks. When this happens, you have to take other strategies, because it will be practically impossible to cooperate against one single enemy and there will be too many open fronts.
Prevention cards as a helping strategy
These cards are precisely the cards that make combat ineffective, as a general rule.
It is inevitable to think of Fortitude as the generic prevention Discipline, but right now there are more cards that can prevent damage.
Prevention is the most proper and obvious way to make combat inefficient.
Cards like Terror Frenzy, Fortitude prevention cards in general, Flesh of Marble, Obedience, Mental Maze, Charismatic Aura, etc. are extraordinarily powerful against combat, and allow you to buy some time so that other Methuselahs in the game can be the target of the combat deck, which before the imminence of other dangers and the frustration of not being able to fight you, will simply decide to fight vampires controlled by other Methuselahs.
Allies as a typical strategy against combat
Allies are often a problem for combat decks, especially for the ones that spend much blood and require Taste of Vitae to fuel up and keep going.
In addition, they can prevent the combat deck from reaching the targeted vampire, and with the help of The Unmasking and the FBI Special Affairs Division, they can become a huge problem for combat decks, especially if not properly built.
We rarely find cards like Orgy of Blood in the more solid combat decks, and even if we do, that card is simply ineffective against the new and stronger ally decks (Emerald Legionnaires and Nephandi).
Gehenna events
The event pack to literally destroy vampire blood or card cycling (Slow Withering, Blood Weakness, Veil of Darkness…) is usually extremely tough in case such Gehenna cards hit the table relatively early.
Most rush or multi-rush decks will suffer a lot if these cards are on the table, and even if their players know they have to get the controller of the Gehenna events off the table, the events themselves are going to make that difficult for them, in addition to the fact that the prey and predator of the combat deck will take the opportunity to exploit that weakness to get the it off the table relatively quickly.
Although this strategy is very effective against combat, it is no less certain that you will be the target of both combat and possibly the other Methuselahs.
Varied, subsidiary strategies, or with subsidiary effects, of the main strategy
There are many cards that, at a given moment, can strategically humiliate combat, and that will often grant you not only a few turns more, but also immunity. It is always a good idea to pack some as "singles" if they fit within your strategy, like, for example, Meddling of Semsith, Ponticulus, FBI Specials Affairs Division, Golconda, Chantry, Sensory Deprivation/Nightmare Curse...
Other more situational cards can be Scourge of Enochians against a Potence weenie deck, Fear of Mekhet against a Yaroslav Pascek deck, Elysium: The Arboretum against a Eurobrujah deck, Derange, because it can keep a vampire from playing specific clan cards, etc.
Many of them are devastating against some types of combat and can be totally useless against others. However, they are cards that, situationally, at given times and against specific strategies, can be definitive, and that are already very good by themselves.
More combat: Fight fire with fire
Even though I think this is significantly the worst approach, unfortunately, I am also of the opinion that it is the one that happens the most. This is because the player who was not playing combat to begin with, and had to face a combat deck, knows no other way to deal with it than the escalation of power.
Vitiated metagames, that are turned into war zones with the impossibility of playing any other deck archetype in a solvent way due to the massive presence of combat, make the game lose a lot of interaction and, above all, interest for players, who, seeing that they do not get to play the deck they want because of the demands of the pre-established script end up worsening the metagame of the area and finally, in many cases, quitting the game.
Assume you are going to be hit
This is not a bad strategy in a healthy metagame, and instead of modifying your deck choice or the deck itself, you assume the percentage risk of being dealt a combat deck on a table as your predator.
In that circumstance you have to assume that you are not going to get any victory points. And, if you manage to scratch one thanks to other players, then that is what you take.
You can have a bad tournament and get beaten up at multiple tables, but in the long run it is a no-brainer strategy if you're in a low-combat or balanced-combat metagame.
It is important to know what strategy you have chosen against combat decks when designing your deck, because, just as you pack some bleed bounce cards against bleed decks, or some Delaying Tactics/Poison Pill or titled vampires against political decks, and cards that steal allies or punish Methuselahs for the number of vampires and minions they control, or cards to get through wall decks, you must pack those cards that protect you against combat, and also be aware that there are four more players at the table who can help you.
Finally, it should be noted that combat is a strategy as viable as any other, but due to the way these decks develop their own game, it makes it difficult for non-combat decks to be able to face combat decks if they have not thought thoroughly about how to stop them.
And in case you finally cannot stop a combat deck, the feeling of frustration for not having played should quickly disappear, and you should improve your deck style and your way of approaching combat decks, because combat is never the problem. The problem is usually not knowing how to face a combat deck, and the solution is always much simpler than what it seems. Understand combat and, from there, you will understand how to stop it.
Throughout my years as a VTES player, I have lost more games to Arika, Monçada, AAA, Antonio d'Erlette and his Nephandi, Lucian, or Horatio and his flesh-crafted friends than to pure combat decks.
I have played against many combat decks and I have always known how to face such games, either by means of the cards in my own deck, or by the help of other players. A different matter is whether or not I have won any victory points at those tables. However, what I have always had crystal-clear is how to deal with them.
The great key to combat is not to fear it irrationally, but to be clear about the plan that we have preconceived to face it when assembling and playing your deck, and to carry it out during the game with determination and solidity.
I hope that this article (in two parts) has been minimally illustrative for you, and remember that it is simply my reflection based on my experience as a player, which is surely nuanced by the infinite existing metagames. So, it is not a dogma of faith and it only intends to leave something in writing for those people who want to play with combat or assume that they must play against combat, always from the position that combat is one of the main strategies of the game and that, in a healthy metagame, it must be present, like any another strategy, and in the same proportion.
Did you enjoy this article? Are you, like Aldo, an experienced VTES player who want to write an article for this newsletter? Let us know! Mail !
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MARCH 2022
• As noted above, the New Blood mini-decks will be in stores in mid April. This is an introductory set aimed at new players, but yet it contains new crypt cards and some juicy reprints, some with brand new art that is revealed in the ongoing social media spoiler season - don´t miss it!
• The Fall of London set still needs some polishing. Unlike New Blood this contains more complex cards that hopefully will excite experienced players, so extra steps are taken to avoid problems. The preliminary schedule now says release in mid 2022.
• The next batch of Legacy singles for Drivethrucards (Salubri, Tzimisce and Pander) is now templated. It is now being uploaded to the site, and after a test print and physical proofreading it will be made available for you all!
• Product Director Ben Peal tells us he will have more time to work on card design for later sets now, so hopefully some new stuff (mainly for a Camarilla follow up set) can be shown to playtesters soon. Some of that art has already been delivered, and it looks FANTASTIC.
- Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
Lost Kindred bundle
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
VTES card sleeves
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Stores only)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
Fifth Edition: Malkavian
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu
Fifth Edition: Toreador
Fifth Edition: Tremere
Fifth Edition: Ventrue
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Stores only)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Stores only)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Stores only)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Stores only)
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Lots of things are happening in the World of Darkness right now, both around digital games like Swansong and Bloodhunt, but as hardcore VTES fans we tend to focus on the lore-related material that might have impact on VTES in the future:
- We are still very hyped with the sourcebooks for Vampire: The Masquerade that were announced at RenCon last month, mainly the Vampire: The Masquerade Player´s Guide and Blood Sigils. Outstar summarized these news in the March 11 World of Darkness News show.
- The PDF version of Second Inquisiton is now available for those who have preordered the book!
- The cover for the upcoming Hunter: The Reckoning Core Rulebook was revealed, created by Mark Kelly, also a very productive VTES artist. Isn´t it wonderful?
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (booked so far) are in:
Brazil x5
Chile
Finland
France x3
Italy x2
Mexico
Poland
Portugal
Spain x6
USA x5
For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!
CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
When the chess game is over, the pawn and the king go back to the same box.
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