Words by Rodrigo “Faroock” Iturrieta, VEKN National Coordinator of Chile:

On December 8th, 39 Methuselahs participated in the 2023 Chilean National Championship of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, which was held at the Mr Hotel (ex Hotel Neruda) in Santiago, Chile.

During the tournament we had the excellent opportunity to show the card game to Magic: The Gathering Commander and Flesh & Blood communities, since tournaments of these games were played in parallel. Additionally, demo tables were run throughout the day teaching VTES to all who were interested.

Standings before the final:
1. Hernán Rodríguez 2 GW and 9 VP
2. Matías Barros 2 GW and 8 VP
3. Sergio Ordóñez 2 GW and 8 VP
4. Juan Oyarce 2 GW and 8 VP
5. Luis Espejo 2 GW and 7.5 VP

Congratulations Luis Espejo, 2023 Chilean champion! He scored 4 victory points in the final, while Juan got 1.

Final standings and all finalist deck list are available at bcncrisis.

Tournament winning deck: "Khazar NACh"

Crypt (12)
3x Tupdog 1 POT VIS Gargoyle:3
1x Cristofero Giovanni 3 nec pot Giovanni:2
1x Francesca Giovanni 4 dom nec pot Giovanni:2
1x Gloria Giovanni 4 DOM nec Giovanni:2
1x Isabel Giovanni 5 DOM NEC pot Giovanni:2
1x Lia Milliner 3 dom nec Giovanni:3
1x Marciana Giovanni, Investigator 2 dom Giovanni:2
1x Mario Giovanni 3 nec pot Giovanni:2
1x Paul DiCarlo, The Alpha 2 pot Giovanni:2
1x Rudolfo Giovanni 3 NEC Giovanni:2

Library (90)
Master (23; 5 trifle)
2x Acquired Ventrue Assets
1x Coven, The
2x Direct Intervention
4x Jake Washington
5x Liquidation
2x Not to Be
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Cape Verde
4x Vessel

Event (3)
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
2x Unmasking, The

Action (26)
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
8x Embrace, The
12x Khazar's Diary (Endless Night)
5x Sudario Refraction

Ally (22)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
11x Draeven Softfoot
1x Felix "Fix" Hessian
1x Gianna di Canneto
1x Giulia Giovanni Abruzzina
1x Gregory Winter
1x Leonardo, Mortician
1x Mylan Horseed
1x Ossian
1x Repo Man
2x Shambling Hordes

Action Modifier (6)
6x Call of the Hungry Dead

Reaction (10)
5x Deflection
3x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive

Many thanks to the organizers, who made this tournament an historical event at Chile. And also, many thanks to all the sponsors:

The Austrian National Championship 2023, also known as “Middle European Cup” was played with 24 players at Salim’s Cocktailbar Vienna on November 25.

Standings after round 3:
1. Milos Krstic (Serbia)
2. Martin Weinmayer (Austria)
3. Peter Talmacsi (Hungary)
4. Lukáš Simandl (Czech Republic)
5. Arnold Riegler (Austria)

Congratulations Milos Krstic of Serbia, getting 3 victory points in the finals!

Finalist Martin Weinmayers comments: “It was basically decided by me avoiding the combat deck sitting crosstable, and Milos was naturally forced to do the same, sitting as my prey. which left me in a difficult position, but then again, I built that deck to work against stealth decks. It turned out I was a little too overconfident.

I played highly aggressively to deny Giotto any resources while trying to soak or deflect the unnamed deck behind me. Unfortunately, Turn 4 Secure Haven crushed my hopes of getting help from Massasssi. Giotto playing Maris Streck and getting Giants Blood on her kind of sealed my fate in this final. (The intercepts denied me my ousting chance with Legionnaires.) About 1:30h into the game, Ventrue Royality managed to oust Massassi with heavy bleeds. Despite having a decent fight, I finally crumbled under the pressure and got ousted second. Giotto managed to soak up the unnamed bleeds long enough to finally oust the Ventrue royalty. The Unnamed conceded to 8 Legionnaires with 5 minutes on the clock.

Interesting facts:
•    The legionnaire denial was real on this table. They didn't see any relevant play until Giotto swarmed seven of them in the last five minutes of the final.
•    First turns with Secure Haven and Enkil Cog were nearly enough for Lukas to defend his Austrian Champion crown from last year's victory. (playing the same deck)
•    Don't block The Unnamed if you have only one Legionnaire. (Lukas used his two aggravated damages to great effect.)
•    Direct intervention is a game-winner. (used by Milos on Lukas Form of Mist following an Entrancement action to deny his swarm oust)”

Milos Krstics tournament winning deck: “99 Problems”
Creator comment: "Son, do you know why I'm stopping you for? Are you carrying an Ashur Tablets on you, I know a lot of you are?"

Crypt [12]
4x Giotto Verducci 7 DAI OBF for pot pre Baali:2
3x Maris Streck 9 AUS OBF ani dem dom justicar Malkavian:3
2x Rachel Brandywine 10 AUS DEM OBF PRO ani prince Malkavian:3
1x Victoria 5 AUS cel obf Malkavian:2
1x New Blood 2 san Blood Bro:ANY
1x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY

Library [90]
Master [31]
1x Archon Investigation
12x Ashur Tablets
1x Asylum Hunting Ground
1x Coven, The
2x Direct Intervention
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington
6x Liquidation
1x Madness Network
3x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion

Event [2]
2x Unmasking, The

Action [12]
1x Army of Rats
6x Clan Impersonation
1x Contagion
4x Unleash Hell's Fury

Ally [7]
7x Emerald Legionnaire

Equipment [5]
5x Kaymakli Fragment

Retainer [1]
1x Homunculus

Action Modifier [21]
4x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
4x Faceless Night
8x Freak Drive
4x Lost in Crowds

Action Modifier/Combat [4]
4x Swallowed by the Night

Reaction [7]
2x Delaying Tactics
5x Telepathic Misdirection

Martin again: “Traditionally, we had a lot of nationalities joining us in Vienna. 24 players hailing from Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Austria. Thank you all for coming and making this such an enjoyable event.

Big thanks to our Artists Noora Hirvonen and Markéta Munduchová and our sponsors Ultra Pro and Arthur Machac.

Last but not least, big thanks to Richard Utner and Arnold Riegler for organising the 4th Middle European Cup. I hope to see some of you at the Milan GP December, 9th. If you are not able to travel, join Igor Beslin and me Online on LackeyCCG in the December League. Let´s keep bleeding!"