Hunter's Mark - Art by Ginés Quiñonero from the Fifth Edition Banu Haqim preconstructed deck.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs

FOUR NEW PRECONSTRUCTED DECKS SOON AT YOUR STORE!

November 1 is the official release date of the new Fifth Edition preconstructed decks; Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel and The Ministry. It's hard to know exactly when they will arrive at the shelves of your local store, but it should be somewhere around  that date, so the official legality date for normal VEKN tournaments for the new cards in those decks are 30 days later: December 1.

Please, if you have the possibility, organize some kind of launch event. These new decks should be on par with the other five Fifth Edition decks (Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue), so consider using those too. And if you arrange a launch event, please take some pictures and post about it in all kinds of social media, hashtagged #vtes - this awakens interest, and helps the community grow!

REMINDER: VTES ONLINE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2021 COMING UP

This Lackey tournament will be played on six dates during November, with the final on December 11. News is that Black Chantry Productions sponsors prizes with store credit at Drivethrucards.com, and that the registration has started at the official VTES Discord server.

REMINDER: THE SPANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The interest for this November 27 Alicante event went through the roof, so organizers have now opened up the venue for a new maximum; 120 bloodthirsty Methuselahs can now attend, and 100 have already registered! And take a look at those Edges, aren´t those the nicest you´ve seen in a while?

ULTRA PRO SPONSORS EUROPEAN TOURNAMENTS

... or to be more exact, tournaments within the EU. If you are organizing a tournament that will have more than 20 or so participants, check out this post at the VEKN.net forum on how to apply and what you need to get this support. Big thanks to Finland National Coordinator Janne "Lönkka" Lönnqvist for making this possible!

PLAYER INTERVIEW: ALEX ROMANO, NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION 2021

Briefly mentioned in the last newsletter, the North American Championship 2021 was played in late September at the Origins game fair in Columbus, Ohio. All the Week of Nightmares and Origins winners were:
WoN Sunday: Kelly Schultz - Tzimisce Dracon
Wow Monday 1: Brad Cashdollar - Gangrel Stanislava
WoN Monday 2: Kelly Schultz - Baali The Unnamed + Maleficia
WoN Tuesday 1: Ben Peal - Malkavian Fifth Edition precon
WoN Tuesday 2: Vinny Castellaneta - !Malavian toolbox
WoN Wednesday 1 (charity draft): Guy Russo - !Malkavian
WoN Wednesday 2 (North American Cup qualifier): Darby Keeney - Followers of Set Tempt-O-Rama
Origins Thursday 1: Darby Keeney - Baali Huitzilopochtli
Origins Thursday 2: Darby Keeney - Giovanni Khazar's Diary
Origins Friday 1: Karl Schaefer - Imbued Chainsaw
Origins Friday 2: Kelly Schultz - Inner Circle vote
NAC: Alex Romano - Protean !Toreador
Origins Sun: Kelly Schultz - HarbingersThe Capuchin blocker

Hello Alex, congratulations on the championship victory! Thanks for the opportunity to ask you some questions. First, tell us about your background in VTES please. How long have you been playing?

Thanks for the opportunity to share. I started playing VTES in 2002, when I was 12 years old because Decipher tanked the Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game, so I had to find something else to do and I saw a purple Vampire on a card and was instantly hooked. It was Rake to be exact. About a year after starting, I got grounded from going to comic shop because my grades were slipping LOL, so I stopped playing for a long time.

I took a prolonged break and returned to the game in 2010 at my same local shop. My playgroup luckily is able to play at least every two weeks and we hold tournaments a few times a year. I have played in a lot of tournaments, probably upwards of 40-50, Week of Nightmares not included.

Tournament winning deck: "It's about time"

Crypt (12)
3x L'epuisette 4 aus cel pro Toreador antitribu:4
3x Malabranca 9 obf AUS CEL PRE PRO Toreador antitribu:4
3x Ondine "Boudicca" Sinclair 9 obt AUS CEL PRE PRO Toreador antitribu:5
3x Redbone McCray 6 cel pro AUS PRE Toreador antitribu:4

Library (90)
1x Archon Investigation
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Erciyes Fragments, The
1x Fear of Mekhet
1x Fetish Club Hunting Ground
1x Giant's Blood
3x Palla Grande
1x Powerbase: Montreal
2x Protean
1x Rack, The
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
4x Vessel
2x Villein
1x Wider View

4x Art Scam
2x Enchant Kindred
4x Entrancement
1x Eternal Vigilance
2x Under Siege

1x Carlton Van Wyk

4x Earth Control
4x Instantaneous Transformation
2x Scalpel Tongue

15x Earth Meld
6x Form of Mist

1x Eagle's Sight
2x Enhanced Senses
4x Eyes of Argus
3x Forced Awakening
2x Precognition
4x Quicken Sight
2x Spirit's Touch
6x Telepathic Misdirection

That's a rather original deck you won with, Toreador antitribu with Protean. Have you played it a lot?

Yes, I have played this deck probably around 100 times over the years, it is a favorite of mine. I chose it for this tournament because generally at NAC day 2 you see some hyper aggressive decks and lots of allies, both of which this deck deals with very well. Surprisingly I did not see any Emerald Legionnaire decks at any of my tables, but I did have a couple of games, including the final with an Antonio d’Erlette Nephandi deck. This deck is great at blocking key actions and making a lot of pool. It rarely ever loses a combat if you don’t want to, and as long as there is an absence of Immortal Grapple. It has a surprising amount of bleed power with the combo of Palla Grande and the few Presence bleed cards in the deck, and generally, with the spot stealth combined with Form of Mist, you will get the bleed through when you want to. Also, once the Erciyes Fragment hits the table you have a lot more options to generate bleed or stealth with both in-clan and the off-clan disciplines.
    Ideally your predator is an Animalism combat deck with big vampires, because if you don’t want it to, it will basically never oust you. Even more so though is a non-factor predator, as I had in this final. Prey-wise I don’t mind much, other than a deck I can’t keep up with as far as getting its victory points.
    Easily the most important thing to think about is when to lock. Whether it’s acting or blocking, a key thing I learned years ago was, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Once Under Siege is out you really have to weigh which actions to use those counters for, it shouldn’t be a throwaway block or else you end up stretching yourself thin. Sometimes the best turn for this deck is to just gain pool via Vessels or Art Scam and just stay unlocked. It requires patience to navigate this correctly as it isn’t a power bleed deck.

How were the preliminary rounds for you?

The preliminaries were actually not great for me. I got one VP at the first table before getting blown off the table by Mark Loughman’s stealth-bleed. The second table was basically only ever going to result in a 0.5 VP from me as my predator was playing a Scobax Cybele deck and my prey was playing The Dracon blocks literally everything ever attempted. The third game was much better though, as I was able to get a table win and slip into the final as the fifth seed with 3.5 VP and a win. Before it was announced, I thought I had no chance of squeaking in.

So, the final then, what were the players and the decks?

The final was a seriously intense game. Luckily my seat was decided, and I didn’t have to give it too much thought at all. It looked like this: Mark Loughman (Lasombra Stealth bleed) > Alex Romano (!Toreador with Protean) > Brad Cashdollar (Tremere with Animalism wall) > Matt Coombs (!Salubri with swords wall) > Darby Keeney (!Tremere Nephandi swarm)
    Honestly when we sat down, I did not feel confident. Brad is notoriously tough to oust, and Mark’s deck can move very quick and, although I block a lot, it isn’t consistent enough to stop every bleed of 6 from getting through. My plan was to sit back and play the victim until the tide turned my way, just take my turns gaining pool and slowly influencing out my crypt.

How were you feeling about how the game evolved?

As the game developed, it became evident very early my path to victory. Mark brought out a small Lasombra and only Computer Hacked me for a bleed of 2 before I had a minion out. That was literally the last forward action he got that game as Darby absolutely obliterated all of Mark’s vampires with a Frontal Assault the next turn. He was left with one ready vampire in which he made Nocturns to block the forthcoming Nephandi swarm. As this was happening, I was able to influence out all four of my vampires and get two Vessels and The Rack on Malabranca as well as an Under Siege into play. This basically means I gain a minimum of 2 pool each turn and the Nephandi will not oust me unless I make a massive mistake.
    One massive key swing in this game then occurred. Mark, crippled and down to around 2-3 pool was basically a foregone conclusion. Darby did not have The Unmasking in play at this point and I was holding two Entrancements, so without even needing a single action modifier I stole two of his four Nephandi, which led to many Nephandi-on-Nephandi battles. a. k. a. the worst combats of all time.
    Brad was sitting around 7-8 pool at this time, and I drew a Fear of Mekhet which had Gabrielle Di Rhigetti’s name on it. This is a key point in the game because. as I said. this deck can be more about patience than anything. I did not play the Fear of Mekhet on the first turn I had it and lulled Brad into a false sense of security. On Matt’s turn Brad blocked one of the Salubri with a blade and an additional strike on him. and Dr John Dee went down. This left him with Gabrielle with two blood on her and Lord Tremere with three or four blood. I had a Palla Grande in hand as well as three Form of Mist I had been saving up.
    So next turn hits and I play the Fear of Mekhet. Gabrielle dies and on the next go around I drop Palla Grande and blow through Brad. This was the first point I genuinely felt confident in winning. barring a timeout as Darby was the higher seed. From there I was able to get Matt after many turns of effort and only one minute and seven seconds left on the clock. Darby conceded and that was the game.

Wow, that seemed like a great game, congrats once again. So, in general, what does the new North American champion think about the future of VTES?

I think the future of VTES is bright, obviously this year we had reduced attendance at the NAC, but we all know why that is. We had a few first-time attendees and, in doing so, showed the game is ready to take the next step. Black Chantry does a great job of promoting and producing cards for the game, next year possibly having a dedicated demo person for the game probably wouldn’t hurt, but again I understand why we couldn’t this year.
    I want to dedicate this tournament to everyone we have lost in the last few years as it has been hard on VTES. Fernando César, Dave Settie, Timothy Woods and, unfortunately, many others I cannot recall. May you all rest in peace and never be forgotten.

DECKS TO BEAT: OCTOBER

A retrospect by Henrik Klippström

So, this is the twelfth and last installment in our monthly “Decks to beat” series, in which we have examined the winning decks of the tournaments with most players. They have been written by me and the great Rudolf Scholz. We hope that it has been somewhat awarding for you to follow during this period of very few tournaments and fresh tournament winning decks. Do you have ideas on similar articles for this newsletter? Maybe you are an expert deck builder and want to write such articles? Please, contact the editor at !

Year 1999 (because we found no decks from October 2000!)
"OK, What the Hell, a Ventrue Vote Deck" by Eric Nawrotzki
Deck type: Ventrue vote
Crusade: New Jersey – New Jersey, USA – October 30 – 13 players

Eric's own 1999 comment: “This Ventrue Vote Deck shares a fair degree of similarity to my Toreador vote deck, which won "Praxis Seizure: New Jersey". Once again defense was a prime consideration. It has Domain Challenges, Forced Awakenings, and Sudden Reversals to slow down the weenie tap decks (of which, for some strange reason, there were none). The Archon Investigations and Protected Resources and the Deflections to deal with the big bleeders (of which there were many). Since there are more Ventrue Princes the Toreadors, I went with more 5th Traditions and Minion Taps. The weakest part is still probably combat defense, but I was able to add Obedience to the Elysium and Majestys (and I did not encounter any combat rush decks).” (See also the official report.)

Crypt (12)
1x Democritus   10   DOM PRE aus cel for   justicar Ventrue:1
1x Emerson Bridges   8   DOM FOR PRE pot   prince   Ventrue:1
1x Gideon Fontaine   3   PRE   Ventrue:1
1x Heather Florent, The Opportunist 6   FOR PRE dom   Ventrue:1
1x Jazz Wentworth   5   PRE dom for   Ventrue:1
1x Natasha Volfchek   9   FOR PRE cel dom pot   primogen Ventrue:1
1x Ranjan Rishi, Camarilla Scholar 5   DOM PRE for   Ventrue:2
2x Sir Walter Nash   7   DOM FOR PRE   prince   Ventrue:1
1x Timothy Crowley   7   FOR PRE ani dom   prince   Ventrue:1
1x Wilhelm Waldburg   9   DOM FOR PRE aus cel   prince   Ventrue:2
1x Violette Prentiss   4   PRE dom   Ventrue:1

Library (90)
3x Archon Investigation
1x Blood Doll
1x Elysium: the Arboretum
6x Minion Tap
1x Information Highway
1x Protected Resources
3x Sudden Reversal
1x Tomb of Ramses III
1x Uptown Hunting Ground
1x Ventrue Directorate Assembly
2x Ventrue Headquarters

6x Fifth Tradition
5x Govern the Unaligned

1x Ancient Influence
2x Banishment
2x Consanguineous Boon
1x Disputed Territory
2x Domain Challenge
1x Kindred Restructure
10x Kine Resources Contested
1x Praxis Seizure: Cairo
1x Praxis Seizure: Geneva
1x Praxis Seizure: Seattle

4x Bewitching Oration
5x Voter Captivation

9x Majesty

10x Deflection
2x Forced Awakenings
4x Obediance
2x Second Tradition

2021 comments:

• While the classic Ventrue lawfirm is more of a vote/bleed toolbox, this deck leans mostly on the vote strategy.
• Fifth Tradition: Hospitality suffered errata a bit later (in 2002 with the reprint in Camarilla Edition), but the card is still somewhat playable, although I would prefer a bunch of Freak Drives to do so.The deck is 90 cards, which is too much for a competitive deck in 2021, and it’s also a bit too master heavy (21 master cards, 6 of them out-of-turn masters, no trifles, as trifles didn´t exist in 1999).
• 3 Archon Investigation in a deck with 10 Deflections tells us that the New Jersey meta must have been very bleed heavy. Today you seldom see that card in decks that have bleed bounce. Yet with this setup, Protected Resources looks a bit too strange.
• There´s actually a Classic Decks article about this deck in the January 2018 newsletter – check it out

Year 2005
“Lasombra presence slim fast” by Lucas Bonroy
Deck type: Lasombra with Presence vote
French ECQ Emergency Preparation – Paris, France – October 22 – 50 players

Crypt (12)
1x Alvaro, The Scion of Angelica   9   OBT POT dom pre   archbishop Lasombra:2
3x Ambrosio Luis Monçada, Plenipotentiary 10 DOM OBT POT PRE aus for   cardinal    Lasombra:2
3x Francisco Domingo de Polonia   9   DOM OBT POT PRE pro   archbishop Lasombra:2
1x Gratiano   8   DOM OBT obf pot   priscus    Lasombra:2
2x Jessica (ADV)   8   AUS CEL OBT PRE   bishop    Toreador antitribu:2
1x Michael Luther   4   aus pre   Toreador:3
1x Sela (ADV)   7   POT PRE cel obt   archbishop Brujah antitribu:2

Library (74)
2x Blood Doll
1x Elysian Fields
1x Giant's Blood
1x Infomation Highway
7x Minion Tap
8x Zillah's Valley

2x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
2x Ancilla Empowerment
4x Banishment
2x Cardinal Benediction
2x Domain Challenge
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power

2x Approximation of Loyalty
2x Blanket of Night
3x Iron glare
2x Private Audience
5x Shadow Play
1x Shroud of Absence
4x Shroud of Night
1x Stone Travel
2x Tenebrous Form
5x Voter Captivation

3x Majesty

5x Deflection
4x Obedience

2021 comments:

• A very classic Lasombra + Presence deck, slim as the name suggests, only 74 cards. Highly aggressive, it relies much on getting its bloat with Minion Tap (today probably Villein) and Voter Captivation going. It is sensitive to combat (especially stealthed rushes, although uncommon) and very fast bleeding, and of course a real wall prey, for example an Auspex weenie (no block denial cards like Seduction).
• The inclusion of Cardinal Benediction suggests the creator tries to secure the vote lock if the game gets long, possibly afraid of other vote decks. Note that, if Gratiano becomes Cardinal, he still can cast his 1 extra ballot in the Prisci subreferendum, thus he might be able to claim 6 votes for your side. That card might be a bit underplayed.
• An interesting exclusion is Kine Resources Contested, usually the standard damage-dealing political card, then and now. Instead there are no less than six “1 damage per minion card” (Anarchist Uprising, Ancilla Empowerment and Domain Challenge), maybe because swarm decks were expected. I´d probably swap 4 of those for Kine Resources Contested, unless I expect swarms.
• It looks stable – don´t hesitate to bring it to a tournament today, although you should have a close look at your meta and modify the deck if needed.

The European Championship 2010 was was a spectacular event. EC Day 1 had 155 players (winner Erik Torstensson playing “Girls will find”, the First Chance Qualifier had 149 players (winner Jérôme Goyet with a Magaji combat deck), and one might say that Brian Mortiz winning deck of EC Paris Day 2 (also Laibon!) is more “prominent”, but with our selection criteria we instead take a look at this one:

Year 2010
“Rising Dementia” by Csaba Greguss
Deck type: Malkavian/!Malkavian Kindred Spirits stealth-bleed
EC 2010 Last Chance Qualifier – Paris, France – October 29 – 172 players (!!)

Crypt (12)
2x Apache Jones   5   DEM aus for obf   Malkavian antitribu:4
2x Jackie   3   DEM   Malkavian antitribu:4
2x Midget   3   DEM obf pre   Malkavian antitribu:3
2x Morel   6   AUS DEM OBF   Malkavian:4
2x Tony   6   AUS DEM dom obf   Malkavian:3
2x Uncle George   5   DEM aus dom obf   Malkavian antitribu:3

Library (70)
1x Antediluvian Awakening
1x Archon Investigation
1x Fortschritt Library
1x Misdirection
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
3x Wider View

1x Blood Trade
1x Break the Code
1x Nightmares upon Nightmares
1x Rising, The
1x Thirst

4x Call, The
15x Kindred Spirits
2x Sibyl's Tongue

2x Learjet

2x Cloak the Gathering
7x Confusion
3x Deny
8x Eyes of Chaos
2x Faceless Night
2x Lost in Crowds
3x Mind Tricks
2x Spying Mission
2x Swallowed by the Night
2x Touch of Clarity

2021 comments:

• 4 game wins in a 172 player tournament and 5 victory points in final, that must be some kind of record, right?!
• Just another Kindred Spirits deck, this time groups 3 and 4, you say? Well, sure, but apart from the result two things stand out: Firstly, the Gehenna event module with The Rising was innovative in 2010, stopping bloat effectively. Secondly, Lear Jet is unusual. Many try it, but it’s not easy to make it work.
• To all of you who frown upon this type of deck – try playing one! Total focus, very little political leverage, and no one will ever help you out of a bad spot. It’s not easy to win with!

The European Championship was in September this year, so we can look at something else:

Year 2015
“Girls will find... Inner Circles” by Jorge Delgado
Deck type: Baali MMPA stealth-bleed
Spanish NC 2015 – Badía del Vallés, Spain – October 25 – 54 players

Crypt (12)
1x Adana de Sforza    11 CEL OBF POT PRE PRO aus   inner circle   Brujah:4
4x Aksinya Daclau    9   ANI FOR PRE PRO cel tha   Gangrel antitribu:4
4x Cybele    10 ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA   Baali:4
1x Lucian, The Perfect    11 ANI AUS DOM OBF POT PRE   Guruhi:4
1x Lutz von Hohenzollern 11 AUS DEM OBF PRE pot   inner circle   Malkavian:4
1x Rafael de Corazon    11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE   inner circle   Toreador:4

Library (60)
1x Archon Investigation
9x Ashur Tablets
1x Coven, The
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
2x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington
4x Liquidation
1x Metro Underground
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
6x Villein
1x Wider View
4x Zillah's Valley

1x Anthelios, The Red Star
1x Scourge of the Enochians

1x Call the Great Beast
2x Entrancement
2x Unleash Hell's Fury

2x Aire of Elation
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
2x Faceless Night
4x Into Thin Air
2x Spying Mission
2x Swallowed by the Night

1x Majesty

1x Lost in Translation

2021 comments:

• Arguably the tightest “power package” deck concept ever, “Girls will find” is aggressive but rather stable against most opponents, especially when facing players that aren´t used to it and know what to do to stop it.
• Vulnerable to rush combat decks – Unleash Hell´s Fury and the mighty Jake Washington is just about your only hope.
• Took a heavy blow when Anthelios was banned in 2016, but it is still viable.
• Nowadays the most extreme variants of the deck run 20+ Ashur Tablets to have them trigger almost every turn.

Thanks for reading!

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: OCTOBER 2021

• The four new preconstructed decks are soon at your fingertips (see above), as should the Promo Pack 2021 cards be, if you attend the right events.
• As earlier decks, these new preconstructed decks will have helpsheets downloadable from Blackchantry.com, in English, French and Spanish.
• After some complications, the last Unleashed Kickstarter backers have now received their cards. There is a small surplus printed which will be sold in some way soon - more news on that when it is ready.
• Artwork for the Fall of London set is dropping in, and the design team headed by Ben Peal are doing some last tweaks on the card designs as this is written. Release: Early 2022.
• The new First Blood-type set will be called New Blood. These cards are being templated, both reprints and new cards. Release: Early 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 (Stores only)
  Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Stores only)
  Fifth Edition: Toreador (Stores only)
  Fifth Edition: Tremere (Stores only)
  Fifth Edition: Ventrue (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

Wow! The World of Darkness team over at Paradox really made October the "Month of Darkness" they promised. This was 30-ish activities and announcements, for example:

• A Dark Pack Community Discord server was opened, connecting World of Darkness content creators.
• The MET Vampire: The Masquerade - War of Ages Kickstarter project was launched.
• Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt is expanded with "Act 2".
• The first issue of the VTM comic book "Winter´s Teeth" was made available as a free download. Try it out!
• Really cool lo-fi music collection with a special Vampire feel was put on Youtube.
• On October 14, a new Brand Update was published, with news on the new editions of Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Hunter: The Reckoning (also, more about the latter on October 26).
• The Storyteller´s Vault was opened for community created content.
• An official World of Darkness account launched on Spotify with no less than 18 large mood playlists - one for each vampire clan, and more!
• A teaser of the upcoming VTM sourcebook Second Inquisition appeared at the Renegade Game Studio store.
• The last episode in the five-season-long VTM-chronicle LA by Night streamed, accompanied by a brand new loresheet for you to download.
• Dark Pack opened for video games too, with Vampire Jam!

Puh, that was a lot, and those were only some hightlights - check out the "Month of Darkness" page for more.

CALENDAR

Upcoming events:
VEKN still refrain from generally encouraging physical tournaments. Follow local regulations on what events are possible. Notice that online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!

For more information on upcoming events see the VEKN Event Calendar.

You get out what you put in.

"Organized Resistance" by Martín de Diego Sábada from the Brujah Fifth Edition preconstructed deck.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

THE RETURN OF LIVE UNDEAD TOURNAMENTS

It is still crucial that any VEKN events are organized in line with local health regulations, but during September some countries have loosed their restrictions and a number of major tournaments were held. It is hard to ask of the organizers to file thorough tournament reports to share in these newsletters, and the community is happy with the events being run appropriately and a tournament winning deck eventually ending up in the archive. We try to update you with more info on events in the future, but for now we settle for quick mentions of the champions here:

• North American Championship 2021: Congratulations Alex Romano! (Winning deck at VTES.net)

• Polish National Championship 2021: Congratulations Łukasz Ho Thanh! (Winning deck at VTES.net)

• Czech National Championship 2021: Congratulations Daniel Gargulák! (Final round video at Youtube)

• Danish National Championship 2021: Congratulations David Luhaäär!

• UK National Championship 2021: Congratulations Hugh Angseesing!

VTES HAS A NEW OFFICIAL DISCORD SERVER!

The original announcement by Lionel Panhaleux:

“Exciting news! Today we are opening Black Chantry's Official V:TES Discord server! The plan is to make one big, centralized place where we all can get games going on our time zone easily and to unite the community in a single diverse environment where we all can learn and have fun playing V:TES. There are dedicated language channels, so you'll always be able to play games and discuss V:TES in your preferred language. We hope to see you there!”

https://discord.gg/cafUcrDP8k

The upcoming online World Championship will be held on this new server:

THE SPANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE MASSIVE!

Reports say that 90 players already have registered for the November 27 Spanish championship in San Vicente del Raspeig - VTES is hot in Spain! Possibly a lot of this extra early interest is because the organizers tempt with some special promo cards. Read more about this event (in Spanish) at it´s VEKN.net forum thread.

DECKS TO BEAT: SEPTEMBER

A retrospect by Rudolf Scholz

What is your favourite new card, be it art-wise or effect-wise? I like Aline Gädeke’s blue eyes, and cannot wait to bounce the first bleed with Bait and Switch. Yet again, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to look back: at the tournament winning decks with the most participants from September 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. Be prepared to meet Legacy of Pander, Darkness Within, Chameleon, and Kindred Spirits. 
Year 2000
“Legacy of Pander” by Rob Treasure
Deck type: Pander vote 
English NC 2000, GenCon UK 2000 – Manchester, England, GB – September 3 – 30 players

Notes by Rob: “The deck is still frighteningly effective, even after people have had several years to get to grips with it.” 

Crypt (12)
1x Jost Werner   6 AUS PRE ani   Toreador antitribu:2
1x Lena Rowe   3 aus obf pre   Pander:2
1x Christine Boscacci   2 dom vic   Pander:2
1x Frederick the Weak   2 pre   Brujah antitribu:2
1x Gillian Krader   2 ani dem   Pander:2
1x Mitchell, The Headhunter   2 obt pot   Pander:2
1x Angela Decker   1 pre   Pander:2
1x Antoinette DuChamp   1 cel pre   Caitiff:2
1x Basil   1 obf   Pander:2
1x Huang, Blood Cultist   1 pro   Pander:2
1x March Halcyon   1 for   Pander:2
1x Royce   1 dom   Pander:2

Library (90)
1x Archon Investigation
1x Barrens, The
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Effective Management
2x Elysium: The Arboretum
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Humanitas
2x Information Highway
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Misdirection
3x Presence
1x Sudden Reversal
1x Tribute to the Master

1x Entrancement
4x Legal Manipulations

1x Deer Rifle
2x Leather Jacket

1x Tasha Morgan

3x Banishment
7x Consanguineous Boon
1x Conservative Agitation
1x Disputed Territory
2x Dramatic Upheaval
6x Kine Resources Contested
9x Legacy of Pander
1x Rumors of Gehenna

3x Awe
2x Bewitching Oration
2x Change of Target
2x Cryptic Rider
3x Forgotten Labyrinth

3x Dodge
4x Fake Out
8x Majesty

6x Wake with Evening's Freshness

2021 comments: 
– Well, some things never change … Weenie swarm vote can be extremely dangerous if left alone. Why? Usually, you can start “doing things” by turn 2, very often this means you do them unnoticed by any minion => unblockable. Political actions which are undirected actions at +1 stealth many times are “unblockable” as well, since stealth-bleed decks or rush combat decks don’t include any intercept. 
– The key card of a Pander vote deck is Legacy of Pander, a rare card of the Sabbat and Sabbat War sets (released in 1996 and 2000). Successful referendum puts the card in play, and it provides any non-titled Pander with 1 vote. There can be multiple copies in play but they don’t stack, and because of this you work with a few back-up plans to reach vote lock. 
– This deck features the Presence based action modifiers Awe and Bewitching Oration. Because less than 50 percent of the vampires have Presence, some Master: Discipline cards are included. It obviously worked out, but nowadays you prefer to go for Crusade cards and Día de los Muertos. The latest trend is to add titled vampires like Korah or Arika. It is also possible and powerful to make the events Fall of the Camarilla and Fall of the Sabbat work. 
– Note that until 2001, ANY ready vampire could be chosen as target for Banishment which made this political action a very powerful weapon in the hand of weenies. Elysium: The Arboretum allowed you to end ANY combat involving a vampire you control. And the VP-sniping political action Dramatic Upheaval got banned in 2005.
– I recommend taking a close look at Darby Keeney’s tournament winning deck “Tatu Signal, The Wake Effect”. It is a very pragmatic 61 card deck with a pure Pander crypt. I doubt if it makes sense trying to make the Presence angle work today, even though it is always nice to include Jost Werner, a special task force. ;-)

Year 2005
Untitled deck by Andrea Del Cont
Deck type: Midcap Lasombra stealth-bleed
Italian ECQ – Bologna, Italy  – September 18 – 55 players

Crypt (12)
3x Henri Lavenant   7 DOM OBT pot qui   Lasombra:3
3x Banjoko   5 DOM obt pot   Lasombra:3
2x Gratiano   8 DOM OBT obf pot  priscus  Lasombra:2
2x Tobias Smith   7 DOM OBT PRE pot   Lasombra:3
1x Guido Lucciano   5 OBT dom obf   Lasombra:2
1x Ignacio, The Black Priest   4 dom obt pot   Lasombra:2

Library (79)
2x Blood Doll
1x Direct Intervention
3x Dominion
1x Elysian Fields
1x Obtenebration
3x Path of Night, The
1x Regarhagan's Hold

1x Blooding
1x Dominate Kine
1x Far Mastery
6x Govern the Unaligned
1x Rampage
1x Sanguine Instruction

1x Carlton Van Wyk

1x Watchtower: Greatest Fall

3x Change of Target
2x Conditioning
3x Foreshadowing Destruction
3x Shadow Play
3x Shroud of Night
7x Tenebrous Form
5x Threats

6x Darkness Within
6x Oubliette

5x Deflection
2x Eyes of the Night
3x Forced Awakening
3x Redirection
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness

2021 comments: 
– In last month’s Decks to beat article I talked about the struggles early Lasombra stealth-bleed decks endured. In 2002 and 2003, the Camarilla and Black Hand sets introduced a few group 3 midcaps of this clan with superior Dominate. 
– Superior Dominate is so much stronger than basic Dominate. You can “Govern down”, and play Seduction on any vampire, Bonding for stealth and bounce bleeds with Deflection without locking the vampire.
– Yet this deck does not exploit that. It looks like Andrea preferred to “fight for beads”: He wants his vampires to play Obtenebration cards for free (3x Path of the Night), prefers Threats instead of Conditioning, makes use of Dominion and even includes Regarhagan’s Hold and Watchtower: Greatest Fall, both of them are unique appearances in the TWDA, kudos!
– It looks like Andrea had an idea about the tournament’s metagame: He included 12 combat cards and no Delaying Tactics, the latter usually is an auto-include in stealth-bleed decks. I would give up two combat cards for two Delaying Tactics. Forced Awakening should become On the Qui Vive. I prefer the master trifle Cadet, maybe two copies, above the action Blooding.
– I would increase the copies of Govern the Unaligned since it more or less is the only pool gain mechanism in this deck. Seduction would be more offensive than Change of Target.
– Regarding the fight for beads, I recommend reading the article “Blood, Pool and Grinding Beads” by Paul Jones.


Year 2010
“Chameleon Snakes” by Mark Loughman
Deck type: Nakhthorheb Chameleon 
NAC Last Chance Qualifier – New Orleans, Louisiana, US – September 24 – 34 players

Notes from Mark: “Credit where credit is due. I had built a Chameleon module into a Ayo-Anarch deck a while back, and as such was familiar with the mechanics of it, but Matt Wedge took it to a new level. He proposed a mono-Snake deck accelerated by Eternals of Sirius. I've spent the last 8 months learning to build and play 60 card decks, more in the style of Jay. I went Group 4 for this, because Nakhthorheb's inherent multi-acting is so strong. Thanks also to Darby for some tweaks in the Master mix. I would probably delete one of the support snakes in favor of a second Cagliostro … synergy between him and Nak is huge.”

Crypt (12)
5x Anarch Convert   1 -none-   Caitiff:ANY
4x Nakhthorheb   10 OBF PRE SER   Follower of Set:4
1x Porphyrion   9 CHI OBF PRE SER for   Follower of Set:5
1x Arnulf Jormungandrsson   8 OBF PRE SER aus cel   Follower of Set:5
1x Cagliostro, The Grand Copht   8 OBF PRE SER nec pot   Follower of Set:4

Library (60)
7x Eternals of Sirius, The
1x Ferraille
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Secure Haven

6x Chameleon
2x Entrancement
1x Fee Stake: Boston
1x Fee Stake: Corte
1x Fee Stake: Los Angeles
2x Fee Stake: New York
1x Fee Stake: Perth
1x Fee Stake: Seattle
1x Form of Corruption
2x Legal Manipulations

3x Banishment
1x Firebrand
1x Kine Resources Contested
1x Reckless Agitation

1x Bewitching Oration
2x Cloak the Gathering
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Faceless Night
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Into Thin Air
2x Perfect Paragon
4x Swallowed by the Night
4x Truth of a Thousand Lies
3x Voter Captivation

2021 comments: 
– This is one of these combo decks you want to build with only 60 cards in order to make the combo work reliably. Speed cannot be underestimated when trying to make Chameleon work. 
– As Mark described above, Nakhthorheb is a brilliant “chameleonist”: He can act twice per turn, e.g. play a Fee Stake and Chameleon, and he is a big capacity vampire. In addition he can be speed-influenced with The Eternals of Sirius. 
– Banishment interacts nicely with Chameleon. Of course this deck encounters some or severe problems when surrounded by big capacity vampires.
– Options for changes and additions could be: Blithe Acceptance, Reformation (because of the interaction with Nakhthorheb) and Enkil Cog.

Year 2015
Untitled deck by Lucas Oliveira
Deck type: Malkavian stealth-bleed
Steely Tenacity, Brazilian CCQ – Fortaleza, Brazil – September 20 – 18 players

Crypt (12)
3x Morel   6 AUS DEM OBF   Malkavian:4
2x Gem Ghastly   6 DEM OBF aus   primogen  Malkavian:5
2x Hagar Stone   6 AUS DEM obf   Malkavian antitribu:5
1x Santaleous   9 AUS CEL DEM OBF   Malkavian:5
1x Bloody Mary   8 AUS DEM OBF pre   primogen  Malkavian:5
1x Lord Fianna   8 AUS DEM OBF cel pro   Malkavian:5
1x Drozodny   7 AUS DEM OBF pre   bishop   Malkavian antitribu:5
1x Bela   3 DEM ani obf pro   Malkavian:5

Library (89)
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elder Library
1x Giant's Blood
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Secure Haven
1x Sudden Reversal
3x Vessel
2x Wash

1x Bitter and Sweet Story, The

16x Kindred Spirits
1x Restructure

1x Muddled Vampire Hunter

8x Confusion
3x Deny
5x Elder Impersonation
9x Eyes of Chaos
4x Faceless Night
6x Lost in Crowds
3x Spying Mission
4x Swallowed by the Night

Combat (6)
6x No Trace

1x My Enemy's Enemy
3x On the Qui Vive
5x Telepathic Misdirection
2x Wake with Evening's Freshness

2021 comments: 
– Dementation/Obfuscate stealth-bleed is a reliably strong weapon in VTES. It is important to realise that many group combinations offer you this choice. Here we have groups 4 and 5; you might want to compare it with the deck composed of groups 2 and 3 featured in April 2021 Decks to beat article.
– Most of the vampires have superior Obfuscate, thus you get the best out of the action modifiers and out of No Trace. In an Auspex-heavy environment, Hide the Mind would be a nice addition.
– Wake with Evening’s Freshness should be Eyes of Argus, and at least one copy of Delaying Tactics should be included. The rest is fine, even though some consider it an unnecessary risk to bleed for 4 (Kindred Spirits + Eyes of Chaos), because that is in Archon Investigation range. Good luck bleeding!

That’s it for this time. Thank you for reading! 

VTES STRATEGIES: THE SUBTLETY OF POLITICS

Some thoughts from Mexico again – this time about a beloved game mechanic:

In Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, in addition to defeating your opponents through bleeding, there are other strategies to weaken the power and influence other Methuselahs weild in the game environment. One of the most effective strategies is undoubtedly the political one. In addition to being one of the aspects that is most closely linked to the roleplaying game that VTES is based on (Vampire: The Masquerade), in order to play politics, it is necessary to develop or perfect a series of skills that have to do with the social dynamics between players.

Playing politics in VTES represents actions that your minions carry out in the world by mobilizing vampire society as a whole, and for this you need vampires who represent that power in the game, which is achieved in various ways: holding a title within the sect to which they belong, using their disciplines, or through the support of powerful and influential allies who can tip the balance of power to one side or the other depending on your interests as a Methuselah. Politics is the essence of the Eternal Struggle among vampires.

The threads of politics can be subtly moved by making alliances with other players to gradually achieve your goals by offering deals or benefits for their help, controlling strategic places of power, or being the obvious power if controlling many titled vampires on the table. Things can be done either by deciding with an iron fist or by using your best negotiating skills to achieve your goals in each game.

Recommendations to play politics and not die trying:

1) Be patient. Building an empire takes time, so take small but firm steps to position yourself properly throughout the game.

2) Be blunt. When you carry out an action, have the resources necessary for your political actions to be effective, because otherwise you may be in for a nasty surprise.

3) Keep an eye on the development of the table. It is never necessary that, due to an oversight, an important action goes to waste. Check the votes on the table, who is also playing politics, who has the Edge, etc.

4) Keep a cool mind. When playing politics, you come to moments when your decisions affect the entire table (and those affected may not like the result). The outcome of your moves must lead you to victory.

And remember: VTES is a game. Sometimes playing politics leads you to situations in which emotions are overflowing, and your opponents may dislike the consequences of your actions very much. Stay focused on the game and wisely dispense favors and perks to win the support of the table, and when you're ready, play your political control stratagems decisively to emerge victorious in the Eternal Struggle!

Eduardo García Ayala, @LaloVtes

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BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: SEPTEMBER 2021

This was a busy month! Some highlights:

• The next four preconstructed decks (Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel and The Ministry) are at the printer. All cards and deck lists have been spoiled. The shipping date is the release date: November 1. So these new cards will be tournament legal on December 1!

• A new batch of Legacy Card Singles was made available at Drivethrucards, this time Ravnos and Chimerstry, some with errata. More are being prepared.

• All the cards in the 2021 Promo Pack have been spoiled and should have reached at least some organizers and stores.

• The Unleashed Kickstarter is still under delivery, but hopefully the last on the list will have their packages when they read this.

• Black Chantry´s Ben Peal was the head organizer at the North American Championship and the Week of Nightmares at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. The attenance was low because of the pandemic, but 13 tournaments were played, so still a lot of VTES. Karl Schafer wrote a report about these events at KSG-cards.com.

• Soon all artwork for the Fall of London-themed mini expansion is in, so cards can be templated and proofed. Release: Early 2022.

• A new version of the First Blood packs is being prepared. Not all reprints, but with some new cards. Release: Early 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 (Stores only)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Stores only)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Stores only)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Stores only)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (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

The brand new "Sabbat: The Black Hand" for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition is written by Justin Achilli, Alan Alexander, Khaldoun Khelil, and Karim Muammar. It starts like this: "Here is the most important sentence in this book: The function of the Sabbat in Vampire: The Masquerade stories is to threaten the status quo. The presentation of the Sabbat for the Fifth Edition of Vampire is as antagonists. The Sword of Caine is undeniably a monstrous evil that even the Kindred fear, a sect of vampire supremacists who set aside the perspectives of the still-living, believing themselves to be more than mortals."

This sets the tone. It will undoubtedly arouse feelings in the VTM community, but for VTES players it matters less. Methuselahs accept any minions, "monstrous" or "evil" matters little, as long as they convey power!

The 132 page, gorgeously illustrated book contains:
• Introduction (About mood and theme)
• Chapter 1: Setting Fire (General information)
• Chapter 2: Apostates of a Cruel Church (Details the Paths of Enlightenment, new discipline powers and rites)
• Chapter 3: Burn Brightly (More about behavior, objectives, titles etc.)
• Chapter 4: The Gehenna War (Origin and current events, all over the world)
• Chapter 5: Storyteller Resources (More on how to use the Sabbat in your chronicles)

We know that the Black Chantry design team has been digesting for a while now, trying to decide the future for the Sabbat sect in VTES. I know they appreciate your input. Exciting times await!

Also: Have a extra look at www.worldofdarkness.com this coming month, they are doing lots of exciting stuff in this special "Month of Darkness"!

CALENDAR

Upcoming events:
VEKN still refrain from generally encouraging physical tournaments. Follow local regulations on what events are possible. Notice that online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!

For more information on upcoming events see the VEKN Event Calendar.

"Wherever smart people work, doors are unlocked."