Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
The Sabbat precons are upon us - but no rest for the preview editor! Allow us to introduce this breathtaking piece of art by Francisco Tébar, and the actual card, a fairly competent Ravnos gentleman available early next year:
Nerijus Mikalajūnas is the European champion of VTES 2025!
142 Methuselahs turned up in Aarhus, Denmark, for the continental championship.
Read the full report: EC 2025
Rulings of the VEKN Ethics Committee - November 3, 2025
All tournament organisers need to read this statement. One player is suspended, one is banned.
Ben Szymkow is the 2025 Oceania champion!
31 people turned up for this tournament held in Melbourne, Australia on October 25.
Read the full report: Oceanian Championship 2025
Gino Sepulveda is the 2025 South American champion!
Chile and Brazil take turns hosting this, and this year it was Chile's time - 19 Methuselahs turned up in Santiago.
Read the full report: SAC 2025
Richard Aumann is the 2025 Oceania Grand Prix winner!
This was when the top five players from this season's Oceania Grand Prix circuit met up to battle it out. Four combat decks and one brave stealth-bleeder!
Read the full report: Oceania Grand Prix final
Andy Smith wins Grand Prix Metairie 2025!
Time for the 4th leg of the Gulf Coast Roast tour, this time in Louisiana.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Metairie 2025
The Week of Sabbat – Italy celebrating the new release
Some words from Miro Albertazzi, VEKN National Coordinator of Italy:
The Italian VTES community, thanks to the efforts of our national distributor, Mistlore, successfully organized The Week of Sabbat — a nationwide celebration marking the release of the new Sabbat preconstructed decks.
From October 18th to 26th, 2025, players across Italy gathered in their local Domains to play sealed format events using the new Sabbat decks. Each local event contributed to a national ranking, creating a shared competitive experience that connected players across regions.
Participation and coverage
• 16 Domains hosted official events
• Nearly 100 players participated nationwide
• Format: Sealed deck (using the four Sabbat precons)
• Structure: 3 rounds per event, without final, results reported to a national scoreboard
• The goal was celebrating the new expansion, and the return of an entire sect, engaging both veteran and new players through a unified, story-driven experience.
Results summary
| Path | National score | Victories |
| Path of Power and the Inner Voice | 155.5 | 4 |
| Path of Death and the Soul | 100 | 4 |
| Path of Cathari | 95.5 | 3 |
| Path of Caine | 72.5 | 2 |
Highlights by City (Domains)
| Path | Domains |
| Path of Power and the Inner Voice | Bologna, Parma, Torino, Genova, Treviso |
| Path of Death and the Soul | Barga, Massa, Milano, Modena |
| Path of Cathari | Firenze, Prato, Roma, Verona, Mantova |
| Path of Caine |
Pordenone, Trento |
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Community impact
The Week of Sabbat confirmed the strength and vitality of the Italian VTES network:
• Local groups coordinated under a shared national event structure.
• Dozens of old and new players joined through the preconstructed format.
• Thematic and narrative cohesion (the “Paths” competition) boosted engagement and storytelling, without losing the amusing and funny side of the main theme of the event: “let’s try together new cards! wohoooo!”
• Players interacted daily through national chats and live ranking updates, sharing opinions and experience on gameplay, situations and of course rulings. But all these things enhanced the sense of unity between us.
Product impact
As a standalone product, for many players it was immediately clear that the four decks have different levels in ousting power and card flow; apart from the final ranking, Power and Inner Voice turned out to be the “easy button”; so the general standing was that totally fresh players could find the game boring after three or four games.
But we all know that VTES is not only a card game, where metagame and social part can take the scene totally, so our national coordinator could say, at the end of all the events, “there were days and night running our beloved game together, debating and struggling as the game itself calls for, having a lot of fun, and that’s what matters the most!”
Media coverage
The Week of Sabbat received excellent online coverage, with daily updates and photo posts published on Facebook by players, Domain organizers, and the national VTES Italy page. These posts showcased the enthusiasm and atmosphere of the events across Italy – from first unboxings and table setups to final standings and group photos – helping to spread awareness and attract interest from new and returning players alike. The coverage effectively turned the event into a nationwide storytelling thread, connecting all Domains under one shared narrative week.
Conclusions
The event demonstrated how narrative-driven, decentralized initiatives, far from standard constructed tournaments, can successfully mobilize local communities. It was also a phenomenal opportunity to promote the game in shops, gaming clubs, pubs, and other public venues, where curious onlookers could see the game – and in some cases, start playing with us. Let us be proud and pleased with the results: the Italian network proved capable of coordinating multi-city, synchronized play with enthusiasm and reliability.
Acknowledgments
A special mention goes to Mistlore Publishing, which wholeheartedly embraced this project and made a great effort to secure and distribute a large number of decks to each city in advance.
Thanks, Patrizio! The Week of Sabbat – Italy stands as a strong model for global launch events that combine organized play, community storytelling, and marketing impact for future expansions. For us, it’s a huge yes to having this kind of product launch – four or five decks released at once – to make the game shine!
Thanks Miro for this very uplifting report. Good times in Italy, great heart and commitment to the game!
From the deepest VTES video vaults...
From the depths of TheLasombra's collections comes this fabulous documentation of the 2002 European Championship finals, surely of interest to true VTES aficionados. Have a look, and see if you can spot any modern day VTES "celebrities" looking like newborn, fuzzy kittens. One of the finalists is Walter Paolini, an Austrian player who passed away and whose likeness has been used for the Osvaldo Kühnemann crypt card in the recent Path of Cathari Sabbat deck. Also notice the spectacular startup show. Winning decklists in the shownotes!
Since earlier, you can also watch the 2004 European Championship final on the same magnificent channel.
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: October 2025
• The Sabbat precons are FINALLY in stores and seem appreciated. Also available in Latin, of course.
• Another new promo card was presented: Orgy of Blood, for participants in all National Championships 2026.
• Product Director Ben Peal held a short but sweet presentation at the EC in Aarhus, caught on tape too. He talks about what has been done, what is coming soon, and what the plans for VTES in the future are. We´ll try to edit this into an article later, maybe with some more details and a timeline.
• Some previews from the upcoming New Blood packs for Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce were previewed in Ben's talk, repeated below. Note the fantastic art by Peter Scholtz, Raquel Cornejo and Krasen Maximov. January was mentioned for release, but now it looks more like February.
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• Black Chantry is preparing a real Sabbat legacy card bonanza for print-on-demand on Drivethrucards and Gamepod, starting with Malkavian Antitribu and Dementation, and then with the rest of all old Sabbat goodies during 2026.
• The second round of playtesting of the two Brazil- and New York-themed sets is being sent to the playtesting groups really soon. These are currently set for an April/May release.
• Join the open playtest of VTES 1v1! No registration needed, and all rules are on the dedicated playtest site. All kinds of feedback are welcome, and now we know that at least one actual product is planned, a 2-deck pack, ideal for a first try of VTES.
• 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)
Path of Cathari (Also Spanish, French)
Path of Death and the Soul (Also Spanish, French)
Path of Power and the Inner Voice (Also Spanish, French)
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
The White Wolf team over at Paradox ended their “Month of Darkness” with some really cool stuff, much of course centered around the highly anticipated and FINALLY launched Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 game. Among many other things, we got the official release trailer, more Outstar playthrough, the offical game soundtrack and a Halloween update with new ways to customize your character visually.
Maybe of even more interest for VTES fans, there´s two new lines of t-shirts available. All the classic cover art by Tim Bradstreet and John Van Fleet available for your torso once again! Need thicker materials? Have a look at the fantastic new VTM winter clothes. No joke!
Calendar
Major events coming up:
November 8: French National Championship, Vitrolles
November 8: German National Championship, Darmstadt-Eberstadt
November 8: Russian National Championship, Moscow
November 15: UK National Championship, Leeds
November 22: National Championship Sweden, Stockholm
November 22: National Championship Canada, Montreal
November 22: Slovakian Championship, Bratislava
November 22: North American Cup, San Diego
November 29: National Championship Chile, Santiago
November 29: Iberian Grand Prix, Lisboa
November 30: Mexian National Championship, Mexico City
December 6: Grand Prix Vidor, Texas
December 14: Grand Prix Cearense
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia
Brazil x18
Canada
Chile
Croatia
Czach Republic
Finland x3
France x2
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy x2
Mexico
Netherland
Online x5
Philippines
Poland
Portugal x4
Russia x3
Serbia
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain x12
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
USA x7
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.
Be as you wish to be perceived.
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.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
Sorry for being late with this newsletter - there are a lot of things happening that need attention! Cardwise, of course, the upcoming four Sabbat preconstructed decks are the main thing. There is no shortage of excitement about this judging from the amount of questions pouring in and discussions everywhere. Even though the release is close at hand, on October 26, all has not been revealed properly yet, but will be within shortly. Here are some previews, all from the Path of Caine deck:
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Berenguela, The Vicious has art by Krasen Maximov. Vicious indeed, this Nosferatu is the all-in clan disiciplines 6-cap that we know and love.
Twisted Bloodhound has art by Peter Scholtz. Everything but a cute puppy, this is perfect to mix with the previously previewed Dread Mastiff for a full nightmare kennel theme deck!
Ensnare the Beast, with art by Paolo Puggioni, can come in handy when that rushed minion tries to hunt after being rescued from torpor. No blood, no nasty strike card = smack down again!
If you missed it, read Alex Romano´s report from the preview tournament in June - he won with the Path of Caine deck!
Introducing the official Vampire: The Eternal Struggle V5 format
It has now been five years since the release of the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (“V5”) boxed set. After that, Black Chantry Productions have made 28 products that players have come to recognise as “V5” products, i.e. non-Legacy products.
The V5 format is intended to serve the needs of new player groups and local game shops who don’t have access to the full range of VTES cards spanning over 30 years of sets. Many of these cards are not available in game shops or have yet to be made available through our print-on-demand partners.
The V5 format is intended as an alternate option and will not replace the Standard Constructed format. The Standard Constructed format will remain the format used for major VEKN-sanctioned tournaments, including Continental Championships, National Championships, and Grand Prix tournaments.
The V5 format includes all cards found in the following:
Fifth Edition preconstructed decks (14 decks):
Banu Haqim
Brujah
Gangrel
Hecata
Lasombra
Malkavian
Ministry
Nosferatu
Ravnos
Salubri
Toreador
Tremere
Tzimisce
Ventrue
Fifth Edition New Blood packs (11 packs):
Banu Haqim
Brujah
Gangrel
Hecata
Lasombra
Malkavian
Ministry
Nosferatu
Toreador
Tremere
Ventrue
Other releases (3 packs):
Fall of London
Shadows of Berlin
30th Anniversary
In addition, the following promotional cards not yet printed in other products are also included:
Bolesław Gutowski (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Conquer the Beast (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Depravity (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Fiorenza Savona (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Gabriel Tremblay (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Gilbert Duane G6 (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Island of Yiaros (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Jake Washington (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Karl Schrekt (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Maila (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Malkavian Rider Clause (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Mind of the Wilds (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Nosferatu Bestial (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Okulos (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Tegyrius, Vizier (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
The Meddling of Semsith (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Tremere Convocation (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Victoria Ash G7 (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
New releases that will be added upon their release date:
Sabbat Fifth Edition preconstructed decks (26th October 2025):
Path of Caine
Path of Cathari
Path of the Dead and the Soul
Path of the Power and the Inner Voice
New Blood decks (Release date to be confirmed):
Ravnos
Salubri
Tzimisce
Clarifications
Any Vampire. The Eternal Struggle legal print version of the above cards is legal e.g.:
A Latin Govern the Unaligned from Malkavian Fifth Edition New Blood - legal
Govern the Unaligned from 1994 Jyhad base set - legal
For an easy way to check on what cards are in what products, try vdb.im.
The official VEKN tournament calendar tool has been adjusted - just pick “V5 Constructed” if you run a V5 format event.
Don´t forget: At the European Championship 2025 in Aarhus, Denmark, there will be a V5 tournament on Friday October 17!
Sabbat decks available at EC 2025 in Aarhus!
Just one week before the official release date, the four new Sabbat preconstructed decks will be available for purchase at the European Championship venue in Aarhus, Denmark. If you already know you want to pick up your order at the EC, place it on the webshop Blackschantry.shop now and choose “Pick up at EC2025 in Aarhus” – that way, it’ll be ready and waiting for you.
PLEASE pre-register for the EC at vtes-ec2025.org!
Martin Weinmayer wins Grand Prix Herne 2025!
49 proud Methuselahs battled it out in Herne, Germany, on August 16.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Herne 2025
Parth Patel wins Gulfport Grand Prix 2025!
This was the 3rd leg of the current Gulf Coast Roast series of tournaments, played on August 23 by 19 participants.
Read the full report: Gulfport Grand Prix 2025
Simon Reed is the 2025 champion of New Zealand!
This event had 14 players in Auckland on August 30.
Read the full report: New Zealand National Championship 2025
James Snowball is the 2025 champion of South Africa!
13 players attended this tournament in Cape Town on August 17.
Read the full report: South Africa National Championship 2025
Ole Andreas Gresholt is the 2025 champion of Norway!
8 players turned up for this in Moss on August 9.
Read the full report: Norway National Championship 2025
Benjamín Rojas wins Grand Prix Santiago!
8 Methuselahs played this event on August 23.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Santiago 2025
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
Sabbat preview report: Brad Cashdollar
Above we mentioned Alex Romano winning the Sabbat preconstructed preview tournament in June. Someone else who played that event was veteran VTES aficionado Brad Cashdollar. Here are some words from him:
The Sabbat pre-release was a highly anticipated and fun event – not that I won either of my games.
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In game 1, I ended up with the Path of Cathari deck, which I felt would do fine, as stealth-bleed definitely does well. And I did do well, especially initially. I had Jürgen, The Libertine, who has a cool special that vampires must burn a blood lid to block, but he costs 8, and it took me 3 turns to influence him out. He started bleeding immediately, and his special was nice too. Seeds of Terror was nice, with an occasional Swift Cover for stealth. My prey was playing the Path of Death and Soul deck, and he had hard time trying to block.
Unfortunately, while I whittled him down, my predator was playing the Path of Caine deck which is just brutal. He was rushing me almost every turn and if I didn’t have a dodge, I got hit hard. Once I got 3 vampires in torpor, he played an Augury of Doom, which is better than Dragonbound – for the person who plays it!
I got my prey down to 2 pool but couldn’t quite finish the job, and I died. The Path of Caine deck won the table.
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In game 2, I got Agnieszka out with her built-in combat ends, and though, man, if I’d had her first game, I might’ve won. Her ability is awesome, unless of course you’re facing Immortal Grapples.
I was preying on a Path of Caine deck, who was easy for me to get most bleeds though, but of course when I got rushed backwards, it was a challenge.
I was first one out, dying to an Empires Fall of a Path of Power and the Inner Voice deck with vote lock.
The tournament was very fun, with lots of new cards and vampires with new possibilities and strategies for winning. It seemed that overall, the Path of Caine decks did very well which was kind of refreshing, because pure combat is hard to win with.
I am really looking forward to the new decks, especially the Path of Caine ones.
It was also nice having a limited format tournament again – the dual-purpose text on some of the cards gave a feel for old style draft tournaments.
Well done, Black Chantry!
Black Chantry Summary: August 2025
• As mentioned above, the official release date for the four new Sabbat preconstructed decks is October 26, but they will we available on EC 2025 in Aarhus. Full deck lists have been revealed at the product pages on Blackchantry.com. Please, tell your favourite store to preorder for you!
• Ginés Quiñonero, Black Chantry Art Director among other things, tells us that this month he has been translating the Sabbat starters into Latin, updating the Spanish translation of the Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce New Blood decks, and working on the art direction of the New York set (first stages), and on the development of the two·player format and related products.
• Vincent Ripoll, Black Chantry Rules Director among other things, reports that he has been busy finalizing the upcoming New Blood decks (Ravnos, Salubri, Tzimisce), producing playtest files, and working on the Brazilian version of the Sabbat decks. He´s also caught up on archiving tournament winning decks, and is now tackling updating the VEKN website.
• So product-wise, those above mentioned New Blood decks are getting near printing, and the playtest of the New York and Brazil sets are in their second round.
• Please, join the open playtest of VTES 1v1! No registration needed for this one. All rules are at the dedicated playtest site. Many thanks for any feedback. So far most seem positive to the format.
• Currently these Black Chantry products are 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)
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
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be released October 21. Previews and reviews are everywhere, and a video roadmap has been released so you don´t miss the official messages:
We want to highlight the recent two clan-themed trailers, for Tremere and Ventrue respectively, where you quickly get a good look at a loot of relevant stuff.
Also, Vampire: The Masquerade is being published in Ukranian - a wonderful initiative from Paradox!
Check out the episode on the World of Darkness Youtube channel
Calendar
Major events coming up:
September 6: Asian Championship, Mandaluyong, Philippines
September 6: Grand Prix Sul Americano (Campina Grande, Brazil)
September 6: National Championship Czech Republic
September 13: Grand Prix Harmelen
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
November 8: German National Championship
November 15: UK National Championship
November 22: National Championship Sweden, Stockholm
November 22: National Championship Canada, Montreal
December 6: Grand Prix Vidor, Texas
December 14: Grand Prix Cearense
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia x2
Brazil x5
Chile
Denmark x9
Deutschland
Hungary x2
Online x2
Philippines
Portugal
Serbia
Spain x3
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 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.
Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny.
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