Print
VTES Benidorm GP 2022 finalists
Grand Prix Benidorm finalists Jaddou, César, Javier, José Juan and Tero.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
 
JAVIER NARANJO WINS GRAND PRIX BENIDORM 2022!
 
98 players attended this tournament at Hotel Melia Benidorm on October 22.
 
VTES GP Benidorm 2022 floor
 
VTES GP Benidorm 2022 prizes
The prize support for this tournament was fantastic!
 
Standings before the final round:
1. Javier Naranjo Ortiz 2 GWs 9.0 VPs
2. José Juan Ortiz Fuentes 2 GWs 8.5 VPs
3. Jaddou Nasra 2 GWs 8.0 VPs
4. César Ruipérez 2 GWs 7.0 VPs
5. Tero Aalto 2 GWs 7.0 VPs
 
VTES Benidorm GP 2022 final table

In spite of the interesting mix of decks in the final, it timed out with no ousts, so each player received 0.5 VPs. As the top seed, Javier Naranjo is the champion, congratulations!

The final is available on stream at www.twitch.tv, and if you would like the standings and statistics, check out bcncrisis.com.

Javier´s tournament winning deck: "Malk '22"

Crypt (12)
2x Alexander Silverson  8 AUS DOM OBF pre  prince  Malkavian:6
2x Jason "Son" Newberry  7 AUS DOM OBF pre  primogen  Malkavian:6
1x Gilbert Duane  7 AUS DOM OBF  baron  Malkavian:6
1x Nathaniel Bordruff  7 DOM OBF POT ani  Nosferatu:6
1x Andi Liu  6 DOM aus obf pre  prince  Malkavian:6
1x Gelasia Fotiou  6 AUS DOM obf pre  Malkavian:6
1x Colette  5 AUS OBF dom  Malkavian:6
1x Evan Klein  5 OBF aus dom pre  Malkavian:6
1x Sully  4 aus dom obf  Malkavian:6
1x Ashley  3 dom obf  Malkavian:6

Library (76)
Master (14; 4 trifle)
1x Asylum Hunting Ground
1x Barrens, The
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Sudden Reversal
3x Vessel
1x Wider View

Action (14)
14x Govern the Unaligned

Ally (2)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
1x Muddled Vampire Hunter

Equipment (2)
2x Heart of Nizchetus

Action Modifier (26)
4x Bonding
5x Conditioning
2x Elder Impersonation
3x Faceless Night
2x Foreshadowing Destruction
3x Lost in Crowds
4x Seduction
3x Spying Mission

Action Modifier/Combat (2)
2x Swallowed by the Night

Combat (4)
4x No Trace

Reaction (12)
8x Deflection
2x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
 
Thanks to all players, organisers and sponsors. Hope to see you in Bologna in December! (see below)
 
 

 
 
VTES Grand Prix Italy 2022 
WELCOME TO GRAND PRIX BOLOGNA!
 
The second event in the 2022-2023 European Grand Prix series is Grand Prix Bologna, Italy, to be held on December 10th. More information will soon be available in all kinds of social media and on the Italian blog Death by The Coven, and we will update the VEKN.net Grand Prix page when we know more about coming events.
 

 
VTES Italy 2022 finalists
Ivan, Danilo, Alessandro, Giulio and Diego (kneeling).
 
ALESSANDRO DONATI IS THE 2022 CHAMPION OF ITALY!
 
A report by Alessio Bianchi, Prince of Bologna:
 
On 15th October was the Italian national tournament, attended by 40 players and held at Circolo Barbanera in Bologna. The metagame was pretty balanced, as you can see in the graphic below. We came out from a tournament season dominated by combat decks, so this could be a physiological response.
 
VTES Italy 2022 decks
 
 

After three rounds, the final standings were:
1. Giulio De Cicco – Deck: Lo famo strano - Cesewayo Wall 2 GW 6 VP
2. Ivan Candioli – Deck: Zlegion - Erlik&The Legionaries - Ally 1 GW 7 VP
3. Danilo Torrisi – Deck: ***-> <-*** - Malkavian Reversal of Fortune - Political 1 GW 6.5 VP
4. Alessandro Donati – Deck: The Asylum - Weenie Dementation – Stealth & Bleed 1 GW 5.5 VP
5. Diego Di Nicolantonio – Deck: Ghosts of Bath - Matthias &The Legionaries - Ally 1 GW 5.5 VP
 
VTES Italy 2022 final vamps
 
VTES Italy 2022
From the very beginning, worried by the annihilating power of Danilo's deck, all finalists took efforts to stop Reversal of Fortunes by any means (playing Direct Intervention or Delaying Tactics). Giulio also played a quick Smiling Jack the Anarch to prevent people from having too much pool, especially the two Legionnaires decks with Liquidation.

Eventually all players were able to have at least one minion in play, except from Alessandro who had 3 due to their very low capacity.

After a long talk, there was an agreement on Alessandro ousting Danilo cross table, because no one wanted the dreaded Reversal deck to even have a chance. After some thoughts, Alessandro accepted the table deal, asking wisely that no one was to burn Smiling Jack...

And so, with Danilo out, and helped by the Smiling Anarch grown to 6 counters, Alessandro started his bleed hammering, first against Ivan who was ousted after two turns, then against Diego who resisted a little more thanks to a couple of Liquidations, but eventually unable to stop the wave of Dementation.

Giulio had lack of Eagle's Sights. He tried to pull out another big cap vampire to stop Alessandro, but it was too late: without enough wakes he fell under Alessandro's bleeding machine. When you have to deal with more than one “Monster” deck the risk of unbalance in the table is really high, and Alessandro was there to catch the opportunity of a great swing.

Final results: Alessandro Donati 4 VP and Ivan Candioli 1 VP.
 
Alessandro´s tournament winning deck: The Asylum
 
Crypt (12 cards)
1x Apache Jones 5 DEM aus for obf  Malkavian antitribu:4
1x Persia, The Beautiful Statue  5 DEM aus obf  Malkavian:3
1x Uncle George  5 DEM aus dom obf  Malkavian antitribu:3
2x Jackie  3 DEM  Malkavian antitribu:4
2x Midget  3 DEM obf pre  Malkavian antitribu:3
1x Marta  3 aus dem  Malkavian antitribu:4
2x Cassandra Langely, The Waif  2 dem  Malkavian:4
2x Eddie Gaines  1 dem pot  Caitiff:3

Library (90 cards)
Master (14; 3 trifle)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
4x Dementation
1x Direct Intervention
3x Effective Management
1x Misdirection
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Wash
1x Wider View
 
Event (1)
1x Bitter and Sweet Story, The

Action (31)
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
30x Kindred Spirits

Action Modifier (32)
16x Confusion
14x Eyes of Chaos
2x Mind Tricks

Action Modifier/Combat (8)
8x Deny

Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Touch of Clarity

VTES Italy 2022 Prizes
Thanks to organisers, sponsors and players!

 
South American Cup 2022 finalists 
HERNÁN RODRÍGUEZ IS THE SOUTH AMERICAN CUP CHAMPION 2022!
 
South American Cup 2022 prizes
 
The grand final of the South American Cup was played on October 8 in Santiago, Chile. Sadly none of the qualified Brazilian players could attend this year, so it was played with only players from Chile.
South American Cup 2022 final table
 
Hernán Rodríguez got 3 victory points in the final, Walbert Ibarra got 2. Congratulations Hernán!
 
The tournament winning deck:
 
Crypt:
3 Kassandra Tassaki
3 Warmaksan
2 Kasim Bayar
2 Farah Sarroub
1 Kalinda (G6)
1 Khadija Al-Kindi

Library:
5 Villein
4 Haqim's Law: Retribution
3 Priority Contract
2 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Alamut
1 Khabar: Community, The
1 Market Square
1 Vessel
1 Wider View

4 Hunter's Mark
2 Magic of the Smith

1 Heart of Nizchetus
1 Reliquary: Shango Remains
1 Sport Bike

3 Parity Shift
2 Anathema
1 Ancilla Empowerment

5 Resist Earth's Grasp
4 Swallowed by the Night

12 Hunger of Marduk
6 Pursuit
4 Psyche!
4 Quickness
4 Rego Motum
2 Blur
2 Soul Burn

10 Second Tradition: Domain
 
Thanks to players, organisers and sponsors!
  

 
VTES VEKN Finland transfer of power
 VEKN Finland transfer of power - Janne and Jani. Photo: Marko Saari.
 
MEET THE VEKN: JANI MALMI, NATIONAL COORDINATOR OF FINLAND

Firstly: BIG thanks to Janne Lönnqvist, the former National Coordinator of Finland, for many, many years of excellent service to the VEKN and the game. You are one of the players who have done most for this game in many ways, with the 2022 European Championship in Helsinki as a final, brightly shining jewel in your crown of achievements!
    
Janne is succeeded by Jani Malmi, so we decided to ask him some questions.

Hello Jani! Lets take it from the beginning: When did you start playing VTES?
- I started playing VTES in 2011 when I started studying in university. I was told that this would be “a casual and fun party game”. Maybe a bit of lies!

My first deck was a Keepers of Tradition Ventrue starter, which I bought from the local game store, Fantasiapelit. Hardestadt caught my eye and I also bought blue blood tokens, because aristocrats have blue blood, right? I had a bit of troubles to get my first game win, as most other players were playing stealth-bleed. I was euphoric when I caught Marconius with three intercept and mowed his pointy ears to the ground!

What do you like most about the game?
- VTES is the best game I have ever played. The game changes drastically from table to table. New allies, new enemies, new situations. Different deck types, counters to different metas. Change and evolution of the game is what keeps me playing and trying to solve the puzzle of winning the table time and time again.

With different people the meta changes in swings. In our last tournament we had five combat decks duking it out. In this year´s EC there were many stealth-bleed or voting decks. Constant change keeps the game alive and the people playing the game are the best community I have ever met. Tournaments are also gatherings of friends!

Do you have a special “style” of playing?
- I usually play combat-oriented decks. My reasoning is that your predator can not oust you if he or she is too afraid of you or has no minions. And your prey has to use more pool for minions if minions tend to go to torpor or ash heap.

Still, combat decks are tough to play. With wrong choices you just make a “meteor crater” around you and give the table to someone else. You have to be careful with your rushes. And even if you can beat everyone else, you still have to have some way to rapidly oust a player that chooses not to bring out new minions.

Another type of deck I like to play are political decks. I like to talk at the table and interact with other players. As it is, I tend not to make pure stealth-bleed decks as I think they usually have no other game plan than to oust their prey as quickly as possible without thinking about anything else.
 
Salubri antitribu cardsWhat is your favorite deck?
- My all-time favourite is “Die By The Blade”, and my variants of the deck. Salubri antitribu vampires with burning swords, the best rush card in the game and a way to get constant bleeds of three is a good game plan for most situations. And I have never contested a minion with my deck. A combat deck with solid plan to oust is a deck most opponents have to be very careful with. And they can not even trust their combat cards to work in critical moments because of Death Seeker!

In tournaments I have heard players saying things like “it’s always going to be aggravated damage”. I take that as a compliment. That is what other players should be afraid of.

Any other decks do you currently like playing?
- In my last tournament I played Al-Ashrad, Amr of Alamut -deck with Hunger of Marduk and Haqim's Law: Retribution. Quietus shenanigans in combat with damage prevention and blood stealing was good way to strike a lot of damage without getting hit back.

New Gangrel and Brujah barons have been an interest of mine, especially the latter with Fall of London and Chun Hei. Maybe my next big thing is Finnish politics with Potence!

You are the newly appointed National Coordinator for Finland – congratulations on this honorable assignment! What do you do to spread VTES in your country?
- Thank you very much! It has been an honour to have been elected as National Coordinator for Finland. We even had the ceremony of transferring power in most Finnish way possible. In sauna! We also destroyed the sauna with superior potence while at it (sorry about that).

Communicating with Princes is the number one priority to keep tournaments going. Organizing tournaments is the way people keep playing and brewing new decks. Maybe we should think something like the Czech “Road to Pulled Fang” to spice things up.
 
Biggest concern for success in VTES is of course to keep our current player base and attract new neonates to local playgroups. Finland is a country of long distances and local area playgroups are the most important communities for new players and old timers alike. Tournaments are something that gathers people from different playgroups to compete against each other.

Now that Black Chantry is printing new cards and there are regular tournaments, I feel that VTES community in Finland is like an Antediluvian that has risen and having a never-ending thirst for new games!
 
We wish Jani good luck with this and all kinds of "Finnish politics"!
 

Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: OCTOBER 2022

The Fall of London is in stores! The official release date was October 14, so it will be legal for use in normal tournaments on November 15. Many play special Fall of London storyline events, and for that the cards of course are legal - you actually need a copy of the new group 6 Mithras and a Ritual Goblet to play storyline games. Please report such games to the storyline coordinator Mike Nudd!

• Note that the storyline rules now have a FAQ to help sort some things out.

• Black Chantry could not attend Spiel 2022 game fair in Essen this year, but the German VTES distributor Blackfire was kind enough to hand out some VTES promo cards in their "demo bag" - hopefully some of you who attended got some before they ran out!

• CEO Hugh Angseesing and Art Director Ginés Quiñonero had the pleasure to attend Grand Prix Benidorm. Really nice to meet the lovely players, as usual!

• A brand new layout are being tried for VTES promo cards. They are "full art", showing as much as possible of the art. The first one will be quite rare (at least for now), awarded only to the organisers of this summer´s excellent European Championships in Helsinki. Do you have opinions about this layout? Please talk to Black Chantry by mail, Discord or any social media!

VTES Maila full art promo

• The second round of playtesting of the next preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce) is being prepared, but in the meantime the playtesters have been asked to review a bunch of rule changes and errata suggestions. Exciting times!

VTES Fifth Edition

Black Chantry Products 2022 October

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:

Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mailFacebookInstagram or Twitter.

 


Werewolf The Apocalypse Fifth EditionRECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Wow! Just like last year, the World of Darkness crew over at Paradox saved up for a "Month of Darkness" in October, with announcements and other fun stuff every day. This is what we found most interesting:

• Big news about Werewolf: The Apocalypse Fifth Edition, including what tribes are "dropped" or changed. The coming version of the game will be a "re-imagining" of the original game, not a continuation of previous editions, so there will be plenty of changes of both setting and system. The first article is about tribes and renown, the second is about auspices and forms. Creative Lead Justin Achilli is interviewed about all this in an episode of the World of Darkness News show (continued at discord.gg/worldofdarkness).

"Hunter Garage" is a new actual play steaming show, this time with Hunter: The Reckoning being played. It premiered on October 8 and airs every Saturday.

• The "Storyteller System Expanded Mechanics and Permutations" is a free download document with expanded options and guidelines for the rules system - very handy!

• The Daughters of Cacophony return to Vampire: The Masquerade! Kind of. At least there is now a loresheet for free download.

• There will be a new, official Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition wiki! It will appear in November on Paradox Wikis.

Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!


 

CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x8
Chile

Czech Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Mexico
Poland x3
Portugal

Spain x4
Sweden
UK x2
USA

For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.

Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!



CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES 

 

We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.