Rulings of the VEKN Ethics Committee - November 3, 2025
The VEKN Ethics Committee met on 25th and 26th of October to discuss the reports submitted by the Tournament Organiser and Head Judge at Aarhus European Championship 2025.
Ethics Committee
This body is made up of senior VTES players and volunteers, drawn from the wider community. During each ethics case, the National Coordinator for any impacted player is also added as a voice to the Committee.
Event Timeline
Friday 17th October 2025: Last Chance Qualifier 2025. Issue noted at a table, judge called.
Saturday 18th October 2025: Grand Prix Final 2025. Issue noted on stream, judge informed during game.
Sunday 19th October 2025: EC Day 2 Final 2025. Issue noted on stream, judge informed about halfway through the game.
Monday 20th October 2025: Statement from Tournament Organiser about submitting a report.
Tuesday 21st October 2025: Tournament Organiser report shared with Ethics Committee.
Wednesday 22nd October 2025: Players asked for statement of facts.
Thursday 23rd October 2025: Player statements received.
Saturday 25th October 2025: Ethics Committee meeting.
Sunday 26th October 2025: Ethics Committee meeting.
Wednesday 29th October 2025: Draft conclusions sent to Ethics Committee for agreement. Iteration of wording between members.
Saturday 1st November 2025: Draft statement sent to affected players.
Monday 3rd November 2025: Statement published.
RULINGS
Of the three cases considered, one player will face no official sanction from the Ethics Committee.
Given no sanctions were applied, the identity of this player does not need to be disclosed.
The evidence for the Committee's decision-making was as follows:
• The Tournament Organiser and Head Judge reports
• The available video evidence
• The player statements
After evaluating the evidence for the two other cases, one player, Marius Iscru (VEKN #3200246), faces a 12-month suspension from VEKN-sanctioned play ending 17th October 2026, with a further probationary period extending to 17th April 2027.
This sanction was put in place for acts the Ethics Committee determined to be material and repeated misstatement (Section 5.1 Cheating of the tournament rules) during the Grand Prix 2025 final.
The Committee’s decision was based upon the following plays during the final of the Grand Prix event:
• Not taking pool damage from Reckless Agitation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwFe3PHnu10&t=15420s)
• Not taking pool damage from Kine Resources Contested (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwFe3PHnu10&t=18680s)
• Firmly stating that he had paid for the Kine Resources Contested when queried by the Head Judge, which amounts to deliberate material misstatement.
In addition, when reviewing the camera footage, a further error was noted in Round 3. Here, he attempted to deal 5 hand damage rather than 4; this was corrected by another player at the table. Although not material by itself, this adds weight to the overall decision.
One player, Ruben Feldman (VEKN #8840001), is banned from VEKN-sanctioned play.
This sanction has been put in place for acts the Ethics Committee determined were breaches of: 3.2 Pre-Game Procedure, non-randomised shuffling; 4.4 Card Elevation and Disposition, namely parts of his library going below table level during shuffling, and 4.6 Card Sleeves which allowed identification of significant parts of his crypt (sections 5.1 Cheating and 5.4 Marked Cards of the tournament rules).
The Committee’s decision was based upon the following plays during the Day 2 European Championship 2025 final:
• There were several irregularities during the shuffling of the library, which were confirmed by an independent expert witness as a clear manipulation of the hand/library. More concretely:
• The shuffling of the library started with an initial slow shuffle, keeping the top section unchanged. Then the deck was moved below the table, which in itself is already a violation of the tournament rules (Section 4.4). The library was then shuffled more vigorously. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oie74hke0s8&t=32411s)
• After that, five cards were drawn from the top. These cards were again moved below the table. When they reappeared again, there were too many cards for the starting hand, and a card was put back on top of the library. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oie74hke0s8&t=32523s)
• Using a marked crypt, where it could be determined if a card was likely to be a Tremere antitribu or not with a high degree of certainty (Five Tremere antitribu and one Tupdog versus two Tremere antitribu and twenty Tupdogs, as asserted by the Head Judge, the Event Organizer, and a bystander who all repeated the test for double-check.)
The Ethics Committee will use these recent cases to review the standards and update the VEKN Code of Ethics as necessary. We would expect any potential changes to the VEKN Code of Ethics to be based on community feedback.
FAQ
Q: Why was the Day 2 final not stopped immediately upon discovering an issue?
A: The Head Judge was informed approximately halfway through the final. Swapping in for the 6th place player was not considered viable due to the impact on the game each of the decks would have had, restarting the final was considered not possible with onward transport and other time constraints at the venue. The Head Judge waited to see the impact on this game. Additionally, the Head Judge had only been able to view one small set of the actions on the Twitch stream and wanted to investigate further. The issue of marked sleeves was discovered after the game had concluded.
Q: Why was a Game Loss not issued in Day 2 final immediately upon discovering an issue?
A: A game loss would have definitively impacted game state, perhaps acting as a king-making situation. Any effect of errors or manipulation on the overall game outcome at that time was still uncertain. This situation differs from the Grand Prix final, where essentially the pool damage applied at that time (3 + 1 damage for a total of 4) acts as an elimination for Marius.
Q: Why was a player who was later banned able to leave with prizes?
A: The Tournament Organiser and Head Judge had decided at that point that an Ethics Committee submission was needed. As an investigation was required, it was decided that little value would be gained from a confrontation at that time.
Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter September 2025
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
The Sabbat is soon upon us! The bogeymen of the cainites have been lying in torpor for a while when it comes to Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, but now it´s time for their splendid return. No less than four preconstructed decks will hit store shelves all over the world on October 26. One of them is the Path of Death and the Soul deck, which will contain 12 new crypt cards and 10 new library cards. Here are some previews:
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As you notice, this deck is a lot about recruiting spooky allies - very appropriate for this time of the year.
Frau Schädel features art by veteran VTES artist Lawrence Snelly, illustrating for the game since the very beginning in 1994. If you missed it earlier this year, read a nice interview with him at Blackchantry.com.
Freakish Conglomeration is yet another zombie friend - and this one has bleed! The terrifying art is by Peter Scholtz, a returning artist since 2021.
Huldu, the Desecrator has art by newcomer Pau López Vila, and can burn blood to make your zombies much harder to wear down.
EC 2025 is coming up
Registration has closed for the European Championship in Aarhus. All of you who are joining - very welcome! The schedule:
Monday October 13: "Monday Madness" Standard constructed tournament
Tuesday October 14: "Tuesday Turmoil" Standard constructed tournament
Wednesday October 15: "Midweek Mayhem" Standard constructed tournament
Thursday October 16: "Throwdown Thursday" Standard constructed tournament
Thursday October 16: "Tactical Thursday Draft" (BCP draft cube)
Friday October 17: “Last Chance Qualifier" Standard constructed tournament
Friday October 17: "Welcome to EC" V5 format tournament
Saturday October 18: European Championship Day 1
Sunday October 19: European Championship Day 2
Sunday October 19: "Rebound" Multi-deck tournament
Get all the details at www.vtes-ec2025.org.
Updated tournament rules – what has changed?
This month the official Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Tournament Rules for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle were updated, but the announcement didn´t list exactly what was new. Here is a more detailed description:
Change of governing organisation from White Wolf inc. to Black Chantry Productions limited
This means exactly what it says: White Wolf is no longer the governing organisation behind the VEKN nor its tournament rules – now Black Chantry Production handles that. Black Chantry produces Vampire: The Eternal Struggle on license from White Wolf, the publishing entity of all World of Darkness games (of which Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is one). White Wolf is a part of Paradox Interactive.
Clarification on when releases are legal (Section 2.1 Event Knowledge Responsibilities)
Now all new cards and game rules take immediate effect for V:EKN tournaments on the release date, or earlier for pre-release events. Before that there was a 30-day delay.
Changes to the multi-deck system (Section 3.1.5 Multi-Deck System)
Previously, there was a 12-attendee limit for using the multi-deck system – now the limitation is instead that it may be used on any event that is not of Grand Prix, National Championship or Continental Championship level. For the final, the organiser may choose either the “Best-Performing Deck Method” or the “Free Choice Method” to determine what deck a finalist should play. Thus, a player cannot play a deck they haven´t yet played in the same tournament.
Reminder of when proxy cards are allowed and that custom cards are not allowed unless representing token cards (Section 4.5 Proxy Cards)
Any event that is not of Grand Prix, National Championship or Continental Championship level may be played with proxy cards. How this works is described in detail in this section – one new thing is that custom-artwork or custom-text cards are not allowed except when they are representing a game token, e.g. The Embrace or another card that creates a minion in game. Also, it is added that the term "proxy" includes counterfeit cards or any non-genuine game card, and that counterfeiters will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Introduction of the V5 constructed format (Section 6.4)
This is a new section describing this new tournament format.
Apart from this, some extra proofreading was done and small cosmetic things changed here and there.
All changes take effect on September 21, 2025.
The illustration is Michele Bertilorenzi´s art for Soulgrinder, a new card in the Path of Caine Sabbat preconstructed deck.
The official Grand Prix promo card 2025-2026: Psyche!
This beauty will be awarded to all participants of the Grand Prix circuit 2025-2026. The fantastic art is by Krzysztof Bieniawski.
Micon Garcia is the 2025 Asia champion!
This continental championship was played with 39 Methuselahs in Mandaluyong, Philippines, on September 6.
Read the full report: Asian Championship 2025
Matej Lenarth is the 2025 Czech Republic champion!
This event was played in Sázava on September 6 with 57 players.
Read the full report: Czech National Championship 2025
Lasse Aagaard is the 2025 champion of Denmark!
17 power-mad participants turned up to show who was the best in Lellinge on September 13.
Read the full report: Denmark National Championship 2025
Great VTES content
This time we want to highlight three awesome blogs:
• Respawn at Midnight is labeled as “a neonate’s journey through cards, skirmishes, and screens”, and that is what it is, a new player´s notes about his game experience.
• Damian's Quest VTES is a newish blog by Antonio from Spain, who used to live in France, but now lives and plays in the UK. He is also the model for the Damian card art in the upcoming Path of Power and the Inner Voice deck!
https://vtesdamiansquest.wordpress.com/
• Garou Rim Gazette has been going on for the longest of the three, by Finnish player Rune, or Kraus. All kinds of articles here, including a full Sabbat 2025 spoiler page.
Do you have any tips on VERY GOOD VTES content, please contact the editor at . Please only VERY GOOD VTES content!
Reminder: Please join the World of Darkness Community Map!
Please, advertise your VTES playgroup and/or VTES events on the World of Darkness Community Map! This is important to help the game grow. But only things that happen in public places where anyone is welcome (nothing played at someone´s home) and no online events.
Check out the map here: World of Darkness Community Map
Submit here: Map submission form
Black Chantry Summary: September 2025
• The four Sabbat preconstructed decks will be in stores on October 26, and available for presale at the European Championship in Aarhus just prior to that.
• The Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce New Blood packs will most likely be released in January 2026 - watch out for previews soon!
• The first round of playtest of the New York- and Brazil-themed sets has concluded, and the design team is evaluating the results to prepare the next round.
• Dementation and Malkavian Antitribu cards are ready for VTES Legacy Card Singles and will appear on Drivethrucards and Gamepod soon. Next up are more legacy Sabbat and Antitribu cards, of course handy for use with the new Sabbat cards in the four soon-to-be-released preconstructed decks.
• Join the open playtest of VTES 1v1! No registration needed, and all rules are on the dedicated playtest site. Many thanks for any feedback!
• The following Black Chantry products are currently available through Gamepod, Drivethrucard
Lost Kindred bundle (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Promo Pack 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Promo Pack 3 (For promotion only)
Promo Pack 4 (For promotion 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 (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
The Fall of London (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Echoes of Gehenna
Shadows of Berlin (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Ravnos (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Salubri (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Tzimisce (Also Spanish, French)
30th Anniversary (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Lasombra (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Hecata (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Hecata (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Lasombra (Also Spanish, French)
Path of Caine (Also Spanish, French) Release October 26
Path of Cathari (Also Spanish, French) Release October 26
Path of Death and the Soul (Also Spanish, French) Release October 26
Path of Power and the Inner Voice (Also Spanish, French) Release October 26
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
Recent news in the World of Darkness
Finally! Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 launches on October 21, and it will be even better than first announced, as the Lasombra and Toreador clans are now confirmed to be included at release. Six playable clans!
Pre-orders have started for Live from the Succubus Club, an upcoming addition for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition RPG. This is the most odd and appealing we have seen yet for the game in many years – a sourcebook focused on you being vampires playing in a band! Check out the details at Renegade Game Studios. Release will be in March 2026.
If this wasn´t enough: The annual “Month of Darkness” has just started as this is written, but it´s already full of all kinds of goodness, check it out at the official site. One thing is an INCREDIBLY generous charity offer of World of Darkness stuff available at Humble Bundle. For less than $40 you get 57 items, including just about everything ever created for Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Hunter: The Reckoning for the last seven years. If you were ever even a bit interested in anything of this but hesitated, this is the time to act. And for charity!
Check out the episode on the World of Darkness Youtube channel
Calendar
Major events coming up:
October 4: Grand Prix New Orleans, Louisiana
October 13-16: Week of Nightmares Aarhus
October 17: European Championship Aarhus
October 25: Oceania Championship, Melbourne, Australia
October 25: South American Championship, Chile
November 8: French National Championship, Vitrolles
November 8: German National Championship, Darmstadt-Eberstadt
November 15: UK National Championship, Leeds
November 22: National Championship Sweden, Stockholm
November 22: National Championship Canada, Montreal
November 29: National Championship Chile, Santiago
December 6: Grand Prix Vidor, Texas
December 14: Grand Prix Cearense
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia x2
Brasil x21
Chile
Denmark x9
Germany
Greece
Hungary x3
Italy
Online x2
Portugal
Russia
Serbia
Spain x7
UK
USA x4
For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar. Also, check out the World of Darkness Community Map.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!
Contact VEKN
You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using the contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, the official VEKN X (Twitter) account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.
Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.
Micon Garcia is the 2025 Asia champion!
This event was played on September 6 in Mandaluyong, Philippines. Report by Joscar Malacaman, Tournament Organizer and VEKN Prince of Taguig:
Asian Continental Championships 2025 will be one for the books! Last Saturday, we had 39 players battle it out for over 10 hours to achieve the coveted title of Asian VTES Champion. This has been one of the largest Vampire the Eternal Struggle tournaments in Asia and showcases just how far the Philippine VTES community has grown over the last couple of years.
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Before the final:
1st seed Micon Garcia Computer Hacking (2 GW, 9 VP)
2nd seed Johann Louie Ong Tzimisce Toolbox (2 GW, 6 VP)
3rd seed Dante Gagelonia Boleslaw Barons (2 GW, 5.5 VP)
4th seed Toni Dela Pena Ministry Platinum Protocol (1 GW, 8 VP)
5th seed Aurelio Icasiano Salubri Antitribu (1 GW, 5.5VP)
The final table starts with Dante playing Failsafe into Information Highway. Toni play a Dreams of the Sphinx to accelerate while Aurelio and Johann just had their regular transfers. Micon, however, exploded into the scene with an Effective Management and influencing out 4 1-caps.
Turn two allowed the others to bring out their first vampires Dante with a Leumeah, Toni with a Elisha Tucker, Aurelio with Michaela, Johann with Meshenka. Micon bled for a total of 4 for the round and then brought out a New Blood and another 2-cap. That's six minions on turn two for the top seed.
Turn 3 is pretty aggressive with bleeds flying everywhere and Aurelio getting a Blade of Bellona in play. Micon continues his momentum with an 8 bleed turn although he lost a minion in the process. Dante attempts to stabilize with Failsafe triggering and getting an Aranthebes in play. Toni continues to get some bleeds in with Platinum Protocol. Aurelio rushes back with Michaela but Toni had a pair of dodges to keep her minions ready. Johann bleeds with Meshenka for 2 but Micon manages to deflect it to get some pool damage in despite the Aranthebes. Micon is really being slowed down by the Aranthebes but is still able to deal 4 pool worth of damage dropping Dante to 2 pool.
Just as things to have seem to have slowed down, Micon gets a double oust netting him 2 VPs in rapid succession. With the Computer Hacking swarm behind him, Aurelio attempts to stabilize by sending 4 out of the 7 ready minions on Micon's side to torpor. Johann continues to put pressure on Micon but the 12 pool gain is proving to be a huge speed bump.
Aurelio then shocks the table by playing his own Aranthebes. With Micon's deck really thin, there were already murmurs of whether he had enough gas to get one more oust to lock the victory. Through clever balancing of Computer Hacking bleeds and Leverages, Micon manages to get the final two pool damage he needed to get the oust and the tournament win. He wouldn't have enough gas to fight through Johann's Tzimisce though and the Philippine National Coordinator managed to get some VPs in the final table but ultimately, it was not enough to stop the techy weenie swarm from taking the Asian Continental Championships for Micon!
Final result: Micon Garcia 3, Johann 2.
Tournament winning deck: “Leveraging my Hacking Skills” by Micon Garcia
Crypt (12 cards)
1x Christine Boscacci 2 dom vic Pander:2
1x Mustafa Rahman 2 dom Tremere:2
1x New Blood 2 san Blood Brother:ANY
1x Ohanna 2 dom Malkavian:2
1x Samson 2 dom Ventrue antitribu:2
1x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY
1x Antoinette DuChamp 1 cel pre Caitiff:2
1x Franciscus 1 aus Caitiff:2
1x Julius 1 qui ser Caitiff:2
1x Navar McClaren 1 ani Caitiff:1
1x Royce 1 dom Pander:2
1x Smudge the Ignored 1 Caitiff:1
Library (62 cards)
Master (15)
2x Anarch Revolt
2x Antediluvian Awakening
6x Effective Management
2x Information Highway
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Sudden Reversal
Action (20)
20x Computer Hacking
Political Action (1)
1x Ancient Influence
Action Modifier (6)
6x Leverage
Combat (10)
10x Dodge
Reaction (10)
4x Deflection
3x Delaying Tactics
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness
Acknowledgements: I'd like to thank the Philippine VTES Community and our guests from Japan and Taiwan for making ACC MNL 2025 a smashing success. Huge props as well to Paul Jonathan Sia Tio, James Lin, and Black Chantry Productions for our prizes. Of course, this also wouldn't have been possible without Whimsy Game Cafe.
Congratulations again to Micon Garcia for winning the main event.
Hope to see you at the Asian Continental Championships being planned for Japan next year!
Thanks to Joscar for this great report, and thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!
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