This tournament was played with 41 players in Lisbon on November 29. Reported by Ricardo Marta, VEKN National Coordinator of Portugal:

Standings before the final:
1. Pedro Luis 2 GW, 9 VP
2. Mikhail Klokov 2 GW, 7.5 VP
3. Martin Weinmayer 2 GW, 7.5 VP
4. Hilario Cabello 1 GW, 7 VP
5. Paul Direktor 1 GW, 5 VP

Round 1
Hilário: 1 transfer (29 pool)
Paul: 2 transfers (28 pool)
Pedro: 3 transfers (27 pool)
Mikhail: 4 transfers (26 pool)
Brings out Suwira (2 on Aaradhya)
Martin: 4 transfers (26 pool)

Round 2
Hilário: Plays Wider View (28 pool). 4 transfers (24 pool). Brings out Lubomira Hradok and Old Neddacka.
Paul: 4 transfers (24 pool). Brings out Branimira.
Pedro: 4 transfers (23 pool). Brings out Roberto Rivamonte.
Mikhail: Plays Uptown Hunting Ground (24 pool). Suwira calls successful KRC 2 on Martin (24 pool) and 2 on Pedro (21 pool). Transfers 2 back to pool (26 pool).
Martin: 4 transfers (20 pool)

Round 3
Hilário: Plays Vessel and Shanty Town HG (21 pool). Old Neddacka bleeds Paul for 2 with Enthrall, bounced to Pedro (19 pool). Lubomira plays Inside Dirt on Paul (21 pool). 4 transfers (17 pool). Brings out Skulk.
Paul: Villein Branimira for 3 (24 pool). Branimira Deep Song backwards, Direct Intervention from Hilário (16 pool). New Deep Song, Branimira on Lubomira, Lubomira goes to torpor. 4 transfers (20 pool).
Pedro: Roberto bleeds for 3 with Break the Bonds and Power of One, Mikhail (25 pool). 4 transfer (15 pool). Brings out Oleg.
Mikhail: Plays Wider View and Unholy Sacrament (22 pool). Suwira bleed with Entrancement, Martin (18 pool). 4 transfers (18 pool). Brings out Khin Aye.
Martin: 4 transfers (14 pool). Brings out Aaradhya.

Round 4
Hilário: Lubomira plays Inside Dirt (blood) on Branimira. 2 transfers (14 pool). Brings out Bloodfeud.
Paul: Plays Anarch Revolt. 4 transfer (16 pool). Brings out Adrino Manauara.
Pedro: Oleg bleeds for 1, Mikhail (17 pool). Roberto bleeds for 2 with Break the Bonds Mikhail, deflected to Martin (12 pool). 4 transfers (11 pool). Brings out Luciano.
Mikhail: Pays AR (16 pool). Suwira calls vote to break AR, successful. Khin Aye calls Cold War on Martin, out voted. No transfers (16 pool).
Martin: Aaradhya governs down. 4 transfers (8 pool). Brings out Dark Selina.

Round 5
Hilário: Plays Forward Momentum. Bloodfeud plays Night Moves on Paul. Adrino deflects to Pedro. Luciano reduces with Visions of Zapathasura. Old Neddacka bleeds for 1, Paul (15 pool). Skulk plays Inside Dirt on Paul (12 pool). Lubomira bleeds for 1, Paul (11 pool) and untaps with Forward momentum. Lubomira plays Inside Dirt on Paul (8 pool). 4 transfers (13 pool) – draw from crypt.
Paul: Plays Villein for 5 Adrino (13 pool). Plays Carfax Abbey (11 pool). Adrino plays Deep Song rush on Skulk, Skulk goes to torpor
Branimira equips Ivory Bow (10 pool). No transfers (10 pool).
Pedro: Luciano bleeds for 2 with Break the Bonds on Mikhail (14 pool). Roberto bleeds for 3 with Visions of Gehenna on Mikhail (11 pool). 4 transfers (10 pool) – draw from crypt.
Mikhail: Plays Dreams of the Sphinx (10 pool). Khin Aye calls Cold War on Pedro, Oleg plays Delaying. Transfers 1 back to pool from Dreams (11 pool).
Martin: Plays Privileged Position. Aaradhya calls Banishment on Bloodfeud, superior voter cap (10 pool). Uses Privileged Position to burn pool on Hilário (12 pool). Dark Selina Govern bleed for 3, Hilário (9 pool). Aaradhya plays Eternal Vigilance. No transfers (10 pool).

Round 6
Hilário: Old Neddacka plays Night Moves on Paul (9 pool). 1 transfer (8 pool). Brings out Bloodfeud (again).
Paul: Branimira plays Mr. Winthorp. Adrino plays Deep Song rush on Bloodfeud, both end up in torpor after mandatory press to continue. No transfers (9 pool).
Pedro: Plays Week of Nightmares.
Renato plays Field Training on Luciano.
Luciano bleeds for 4 with Break the Bonds and Power of One, Mikhail (7 pool). Renato bleeds for 4 with Visions of Gehenna, Direct Intervention from Martin (9 pool), moved to 3 with True love’s Face, Mikhail (4 pool). Transfers 1 back to pool (11 pool).
Mikhail: Plays Purchase Pact. Khin Aye calls Cold War on Pedro (8 pool), superior voter cap (6 pool). Khin Aye plays Freak Drive and plays Under Siege (5 pool). Khin Aye plays Freak Drive. Suwira calls Anarchist Uprising: Hilário burns 4 (4 pool), Paul burns 2 (7 pool), Pedro burns 3 (5 pool), Mikhail burns 2 (3 pool) and Martin burns 2 (7 pool). Khin Aye bleeds for 1, Martin (6 pool). Transfers 2 back to pool (5 pool).
Martin: Aaradhya calls Cold War on Pedro (2 pool) and burns Shanty Town HG from Hilário, superior voter cap (8 pool). Dark Selina calls Cold War on Pedro (0 pool) and burns Carfax Abbey from Paul, superior voter cap (10 pool). First VP for Paul (13 pool). Uses Privileged Position to burn pool on Hilário (3 pool). Aaradhya bleeds for 2 Hilário (1 pool) and plays Enkil Cog. No transfers (10 pool).

Round 7
Hilário: Vessel back (2 pool). Old Neddacka plays Night Moves on Martin (9 pool), untaps with Forward Momentum. Old Neddacka plays Inside Dirt on Paul (10 pool). Lubomira bleeds for 2 with Enthrall, Paul (8 pool). No transfers (2 pool).
Paul: Plays Fame on Suwira. Branimira rescue Adrino. Adrino hunts. No transfers (8 pool).
Mikhail: Plays Dreams of the Sphinx (4 pool). Khin Aye hunts. Martin’s Aaradhya Enkil Cog bleed for 3, Hilário (0 pool). First VP for Martin (15 pool). No transfers (4 pool).
Martin: Gains from Edge (16 pool). Villein for 5 on Dark Selina (21 pool). Plays Monastery of Shadows (18 pool). Aaradhya bleeds for 3 Paul, Adrino fails to block, sends to Mikhail, Khin Aye blocks. Dark Selina bleeds for 1, Paul (7 pool). 4 transfers (17 pool) – draw from crypt.

Round 8
Paul: Branimira hunts. No transfers (7 pool).
Mikhail: No actions.
Martin’s Aaradhya Enkil Cog bleed for 3, plays Direct Intervention (16 pool) on Organized Resistance but Branimira still blocks. Transfers 1 back to pool from Dreams (5 pool).
Martin: Gains from Edge (17 pool). Dark Selina calls Cold War on Paul (4 pool), superior voter cap (19 pool). Uses Privileged Position to burn pool on Paul (3 pool). Aaradhya bleeds for 3 Paul, Adrino sends to Mikhail, Khin Aye blocks. 4 transfers (18 pool) – draw from crypt.

Round 9
Paul: Plays Garibaldi-Meucci Museum. Adrino hunts. Branimira hunts. Martin’s Aaradhya Enkil Cog bleed for 3. Paul (0 pool). Second VP for Martin (24 pool).
Mikhail: Khin Aye bleeds for 5 with Legal Manipulations and Iron Glare, Martin (19 pool), Mikhail (6 pool). Khin Aye plays Freak Drive and calls KRC with Magnetic Authority (for 2 pool), Martin (16 pool), Mikhail (5 pool). Suwira bleeds for 3 with Legal Manipulations, Martin (13 pool). Transfer 2 back from Magnetic Authority (7 pool).
Martin: Plays Villein for 2 Dark Selina paying 1 (14 pool). Plays Ventrue Headquarters (13 pool). Dark Selina governs bleed for 3, Mikhail (4 pool). Aaradhya calls Cold War on Mikhail (1 pool). Uses Privileged Position to burn pool on Mikhail (0 pool). Third VP for Martin (19 pool)

Martin wins with 4 VPs and GW. Paul 1 VP.

Tournament winning deck: “Cold War” by Martin Weinmayer

Crypt (12 cards)
5x Aaradhya, The Callous Tyrant 10 ANI DOM FOR POT PRE cardinal Ventrue:6
2x Dark Selina 9 CEL POT PRE dom for cardinal Brujah antitribu:5
2x Věnceslava, The Implacable 9 DOM FOR POT PRE cel archbishop Brujah:6
1x Rexton "Savage" Abernathy 8 DOM POT PRE cel archbishop Brujah:6
1x Üresség 8 CEL POT PRE dom for archbishop Brujah:6
1x Khin Aye 7 POT PRE dom for priscus Ventrue:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (22; 6 trifle)
1x Creepshow Casino
2x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elder Library
1x Giant's Blood
1x Gurchon Hall
1x Information Highway
2x Monastery of Shadows
1x Papillon
1x Privileged Position
1x Secure Haven
2x Ventrue Headquarters
6x Villein

Action (10)
2x Eternal Vigilance
8x Govern the Unaligned

Political Action (16)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
4x Banishment
8x Cold War
1x Political Stranglehold

Equipment (2)
2x Heart of Nizchetus

Action Modifier (28)
4x Dominant Personality
2x Enkil Cog
4x Iron Glare
4x Perfect Paragon
4x Relentlessness
6x Unthinkable Humiliation
4x Voter Captivation

Combat (6)
6x Majesty

Reaction (6)
6x Deflection

Thanks for this report, and thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!

 
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

Newsletter time again, and as has become tradition, we start with an art and card preview. Righteous Blade is a new library card in the upcoming New Blood Salubri pack, planned for a late February release. The Salubri preconstructed deck has a more bleedy approach, but these new additions lean more into the clan being out to hunt down "fiendish" Kindred (their definition, of course!), and to do so wielding melee weapons, particularly swords, just like holy warriors of old. The fantastic art is by Pablo D. Hidalgo.

 
Randal Rudstam is the 2025 champion of Sweden!

40 players participated in this event in Stockholm on November 22.

Read the full report: Sweden National Championship 2025

 
Vincent Keenaghan is the 2025 UK champion!

This tournament was played in Leeds with 27 Methuselahs on November 15.

Read the full report: UK National Championship 2025

 
Joscha Düll is the 2025 champion of Germany!

... this was determined in Darmstadt on November 8, with 24 Methuselahs.

Read the full report: Germany National Championship 2025

 
Walbert Ibarra is the 2025 champion of Chile!

20 playes turned up to battle it out at the Piedra Bruja store in Santiago on November 31.

Read the full report: Chile National Championship 2025

 
Christian Chénard is the 2025 champion of Canada!

18 players played this event in Montreal on November 22.

Read the full report: Canada National Championship 2025

Armen Khachikyan is the 2025 champion of Russia!

10 players turned up for this tourament in Moscow on November 8.

Read the full report: Russia National Championship 2025

Change to the European Grand Prix circuit 2025-2026

A new Grand Prix tournament has been added to the European circuit: Vilnius! These means there is a total of seven GP tournaments now, plus the final.

Also: The winner of the Vilnius GP tournament will automatically qualify for the GP final in Vilnius. So four finalists are determined by the GP ratings, and one is this special Vilnius winner.

Dates and locations so far:
November 29, 2025: Lisbon, Portugal
Feb/March 2026: Florence or Bologna, Italy
April 18, 2026: Zagreb, Croatia
May/June, 2026: France
July 25, 2026: Helsinki, Finland
July 18, 2026: Vienna, Austria
September 18, 2026: Vilnius, Lithuania (at the EC)
September 19, 2026: Final Vilnius, Lithuania (at the EC) 

Watchlist Update November 2025

The announcement of November 27:

This is a short announcement about two cards. A full announcement about Vampire: The Eternal Struggle cards and rules on the watchlist will be published towards the end of the year. No changes are expected for cards that are currently banned.

Life Boon
The card Life Boon joins the watchlist.

Why?
This card is very 1994 with its design as it breaks one of the fundamental rules of the game, the Predator-Prey relationship. It has similarities with Kindred Restructure and Dramatic Upheaval.

What next?
The card is under watch and the Design and Rules teams will continue listening to feedback on Life Boon. An update in this matter is expected in May 2026.


Veil of Darkness
The card Veil of Darkness joins the watchlist and is expected to be banned from organised play.

Why?
The card provides a limited effect, and it is problematic to handle at the table with a large amount of rollback issues on tables despite its limited use. It was created based on the old Gehenna End Times storyline, so it is difficult to change in the current storyline.

What next?
The card will not be banned before May 2026. The Design and Rules teams will continue listening to feedback, but it is not expected that any errata would be viable for Veil of Darkness.

Well-thought feedback about this is welcome to !

 
New VEKN Judges´s Guide is in the works

A draft of the new version of the Judges' Guide has been submitted to judges on Discord for their feedback.

Are you a judge, organiser or normal mortal with ideas about this? Reach out via !

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: November 2025

• The preview season for New Blood Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce is ongoing, as you can see on the top of this newsletter. Spoilers have been distributed, or will be, to a number of sources that have expressed interest in helping spread the word, and everything will of course be collected at the respective product pages at Blackchantry.com.

• Round 2 of the playtest of the Brazil and New York sets was recently sent out to playtesters. This round will end January 4. In the meantime, commissioned art is being delivered – exciting times at the art department! Three of these were already previewed in Ben Peal's presentation at EC 2025 – two pieces by Anastasiia Horbunova (left) and one by Krzysztof Bieniawski (right):

• BCP is playing tournaments, believe it or not! Some words from CEO Hugh Angseesing:

"On 15th November I was lucky enough to attend the UK Nationals at Patriot Games in Leeds. Leeds is quite a busy city and it was nice to see the Chrismtas decorations up already as I passed through it, making it seem even more exciting.

I did not have time to do a lot of preparation with my recent change in circumstances so cribbed a deck from Estel in Brazil and then changed a few things to try and test the new Path of Caine cards.

In round 1 I had Martin Weinmeyer and Mark Roberts as cross table buddies neither of whom saved me from Hecata/Lasombra ally swarm that Mikey Ferguson piloted to kill me before they split the table 2-2, with Mark ousting Mikey and Beth after I was killed.

Round 2 had more Martin but this time as a predator and I could not convince my prey to help stop his votes leading to my death - cannot rush everyone all of the time especially when banished!

In Round 3 the deck worked much better (or I did), but sadly I was unable to oust my prey before timeout.

I got to use the new cards and really enjoyed Abuse of Power and Márcio sent me some Brazilian-Portuguese versions to use:

Hugh ended up with 0.5 VP and a proud 22nd place in this event, so lets talk about something else ...

• Legacy Malkavian antitribu and Dementation cards for print-on-demand are in the very last stages of proofing as this is written. They will be up on both Drivethrucards and Gamepod really soon now, keep watch for that announcement.

• Ginés Quiñonero has started to work on the structure of a version of the VTES rulebook for the two-player variant of the game. Did you know that you still can help out with the playtesting? No registration is needed, just check out the playtest site, try the format and leave feedback.

• The following Black Chantry products are currently available through Gamepod, Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
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 or Twitter.

Recent news in the World of Darkness

Two things that caught our attention from White Wolf this month:

• “Hunter: The Reckoning - A Time of Monsters” is an interactive novel by Paul Wang, set in the World of Darkness, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. Get it at Choiceofgames.com, or check out the five part playthrough at the World of Darkness Youtube channel.

• “The Three Knives at Midnight”, a Vampire: The Masquerade New Year’s Eve story, is out now as a free PDF. This is a short Chicago-based scenario, including a coterie of six powerful, pre-generated characters, but also has advice for use in a longer chronicle. You find this at Renegade Game Studios

Also, we want to mention again the new but classic lines of t-shirts available. Good stuff!

Calendar

Major events coming up:
December 6: Grand Prix Vidor, Texas
December 14: Grand Prix Cearense

Tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia
Brazil 8
Chile
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary 2
Italy
Japan
Online 6
Portugal 5
Serbia
Spain 10
USA 6

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.

It´s fine. I´m fine. Everything is fine.