Hecata preview art: Ginés Quiñonero - Consign to Oblivion.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
It´s been another year of VTES - and what a year!
THE 30-DAY NEW CARD LEGALITY LIMIT FOR TOURNAMENTS IS NO MORE
Some words from Vincent Ripoll, VEKN Rules Director:
Dear Methuselahs. In the past few years, the card distribution model has changed a lot. We release more new products each year, and updated cards are available as print-on-demand. As official release dates are harder to track of (even for us), we have decided, with the support of the National Coordinators to remove the 30-day rule between the release date and the moment you can play the card in a tournament. This means as soon as you grab a new card, you can play it. Bear in mind that card changes on reprints are also immediately effective. So be sure to check vekn.net/card-lists for the official card list and vekn.net/card-rulings/470-bcp-card-changes for the list of changes.
ANDY SMITH WINS GULF COAST ROAST GRAND PRIX 2024!
After tournaments in Lafayette, Dallas, Gulfport and New Orleans, the final of the Gulf Coast Roast circuit 2024 took place in Vidor with the five top players. There were also three other events this weekend!
Read the full report: Gulf Coast Roast Vidor 2024
DATES FOR 2025 GULF COAST ROAST GRAND PRIX REVEALED!
Dallas: March 22
Lafayette: May 24
Gulfport: August - Exact date to be determined
New Orleans: October - Exact date to be determined
Vidor: December 6
FINALS (Vidor): December 7
Point system: Winner 25 points, Finalists 15 points, 6th 10 points, 7th 9 points, 8th 8 points, 9th 7 points, 10th 6 points, all other participants: 3 points.
More information will appear on the official Gulf Coast Roast Facebook page and other places!
GYULA ERDŐS IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF CROATIA!
This tournament gathered 29 players to Osijek on November 30.
Read the full report: National Championship of Croatia 2024
This tournament was played with 24 players in Montréal on November 23.
Read the full report: National Championship of Canada 2024
SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE RULES?
Now you can take the official VTES Judge test online! Reach out to the coordinator of the Judge Program - all info is at the Official VEKN Judges page.
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THE 2024 VTES AND VEKN RECAP
Let´s take a brief look in the rearview mirror, and appretiate this VTES 30th celebration year and the greatest accomplishments of the VEKN:
January: Cards are finally available on print-on-demand in Europe, from Gamepod.es.
February: A revised rulebook is published.
March: Edouard Menneson wins the Iberian Grand Prix in Lisbon, piloting a Gangrel G6 Barons wall.
Daniel Sales wins Grand Prix Fortaleza with a Gangrel G6 Thing toolbox.
Kelly Lyons wins Grand Prix Lafayette with a Gangrel G6 Thing deck.
April: Ismael Díaz Valverde is the 2024 champion of Spain after besting 120 (!) Methuselahs in Avilés. He played a toolboxy G6 Tremere bleeder - simple but efficient.
Arturo Parise played Ministry Platinum Protocol bleed to become the champion of Italy after a bloody battle in Caldonazzo.
VTES top influencer Martin Weinmayer wins Grand Prix Paris with a nasty Antonio & Carna Nephandi swarm.
Darby Keeney wins Grand Prix Dallas 2024, playing Tzimisce G7 British Museum bleed.
May: Sebastian Fredenberg wins Grand Prix Aarhus playing a Tremere G6 toolbox.
Marcin Zakrzewski uses a unholy Ravnos + The Unnamed alliance to become the champion of Poland.
June: The North American championship was played in Columbus, Ohio, and Bill Troxel was victorious with a Tzimisce G7 bleed-deck.
Vinícius Costalonga is the 2024 champion of Brazil. The tournament was played in Belo Horizonte and his deck was a classic Arika Ventrue with obfuscate vote/bleed deck.
July: Teemu Sainomaa wins Grand Prix Helsinkii in Finland with Lutz & Undele vote deck.
One of the top peaks of this celebration year is the release of the 30th Anniversary deck, featuring “The Endless Dance” deck, new Justicars and more goodies.
August: Kelly Lyons wins Grand Prix Gulfport with a Gangrel G6 Thing toolbox.
Playtest of the VERY anticipated 2025 Sabbat cards starts.
September: Danilo Torrisi is the 2024 European Champion. This event gathered 168 Methuselahs to Warsaw, Poland. Danilo won Day 2 playing a Malkavian & Arishat vote deck.
José Roberio Barbosa Da Silva is the new South American champion, helming a cool Gangrel G6 toolbox, including Renegade Garous!
October: The Fifth Edition Lasombra preconstructed deck is released.
Kelly Lyons wins Grand Prix New Orleans with a Toreador G7 vote deck.
Vincent Ripoll is the 2024 French champion, playing G6 Protean Barons breed toolbox.
Keith Lim becomes champion of Australia/New Zealand with a Tzimsice G7 Living Manse bleeder.
November: Miguel Vega wins the Iberian Grand Prix in Palma de Mallorca with a highly original !Tremere toolbox.
Gonzalo Rojas wins Grand Prix Santiago with a Tzimisce G7 toolbox.
Troy Espiritu is the 2024 Asian champion, piloting a Potence midcap rush deck.
December: Andy Smith is this year´s total Gulf Coast Roast Grand Prix winner – see this newsletter.
Congratulations to all the winners, thanks to ALL the players, and an extra warm thanks to all the volunteers that make VEKN events possible. You ROCK!
A 2024 VTES SOUTH AFRICA RECAP – LETTER FROM THE PRINCE
The South African Methuselahs are VERY passionate about our game, so we want to share this lovely annual report from the very dedicated Prince of Cape Town, Skye Segal. Thanks for your devotion!
Read the full report: A 2024 VTES South Africa recap
PRAXIS SEIZURES
It´s been a while since we´ve done this summary - below are the latest Prince and NC additions. Some replace old volunteers - thanks for your service!
• Belgium - National Coordinator: Maaike Kerschot
• Brazil - National Coordinator: Márcio Pinheiro
• Brazil - Prince of Águas Claras: Lucas Linard
• Brazil - Prince of Brasília: Bruno Peixoto Moreira
• Brazil - Prince of Caucaia: Lucas Raphael
• Brazil - Prince of Florianópolis: Erick Schuenck Fava Mokdeci
• Brazil - Prince of Guarulhos: Dayane Rodrigues
• Brazil - Prince of Itaocara: Christian Camara
• Brazil - Prince of Jaboatão dos Guararapes: Gabriel Ferreira
• Brazil - Prince of Londrina: Renan Uchida
• Brazil - Prince of Ponta Rossa: Moises Savlas Silveira
• Brazil - Prince of Recife: Luiz Henrique Santos Vieira de Melo
• Brazil - Prince of Santos: Bruno Paramo Meleiro
• Brazil - Prince of São Luís: Raylson Oliveira
• Brazil - Prince of Vile Velha: Vinicius do Espirito Santo Costalonga
• Chile - National Coordinator: Daniel Bravo
• Chile - Prince of Entre Juegos store, Santiago: Manuel Fuentes
• Chile - Prince of Magic Sur store, Santiago: Pedro Figueroa Belmar
• Finland - Prince of Karjaa: Janne Lönnqvist
• Germany - Prince of Karlsruhe: Kevin Heise
• Greece - Prince of Athens: Xenophon Moutzoglou
• Italy - Prince of Bologna: Arturo Parise
• Italy - Prince of Parma: Leonardo Margri
• Japan - Prince of Saitama: Kazuyiki Okuda
• Philippines - Prince of Muntinlupa City: Justine Peralta
• Philippines - Prince of Pasig City: Jon Benjamin Corrioso
• Philippines - Prince of Quezon City: Richard E. Barnett
• Poland - Prince of Katowice: Paweł Domański
• Poland - Prince of Zielona Góra: Marcin Pastuszko
• Portugal - National Coordinator: Ricardo Marta
• Portugal - Prince of Almada: Marco Fernandes
• Portugal - Prince of Braga: Luis Pires
• Portugal - Prince of Coimbra: Tiago Gonçalves
• Portugal - Prince of Lisbon: Tito Teixeira
• Portugal - Prince of Rio de Mouro: João Sérvolo
• Russia - Prince of Moscow: Denis Nikolaev
• Serbia - Prince of Novi Sad: Petar Kalmar
• Slovenia - National Coordinator: Dominik Trupčević
• Slovenia - Prince of Brežice: Dominik Trupčević
• Spain - Prince of Alboraya: Albert Hidalgo
• Spain - Prince of Altea: Francisco José Gil Alcañiz
• Spain - Prince of Badalona: Jordi Albiol
• Spain - Prince of Barcelona: David Rojas
• Spain - Prince of Barcelona: Marc Terrats
• Spain - Prince of Bilbao: Manuel García
• Spain - Prince of Bilbao: Aitor Candelas
• Spain - Prince of Burgos: Víctor Abarca Temiño
• Spain - Prince of Burgos: Eduardo Hurtado
• Spain - Prince of Oviedo: Miguel Vega
• Spain - Prince of Salamanca: David Fernández
• Spain - Prince of Sóller: Carlos Lucas
• Spain - Prince of Villafranca de Córdoba: Ismael Díaz
• UK - National Cordinator: James Freimueller
• USA - Prince of Canton, Ohio: Brandon Gillespie
• USA - Prince of Heath, Ohio: Alex Romano
• USA - Prince of Lorton, Virginia: James Alston
• USA - Prince of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin: Chad Wetterneck
• USA - Prince of Reynoldsburg, Ohio: Mike Monosky
• USA - Prince of Salt Lake City, Utah: Jonathan Reeves
• USA - Prince of San Diego, California: Jason Ketcham
If you need to talk to your local prince, check out the VEKN Prince list. If you want to become a Prince and start organising tournaments, contact your VEKN National Coordinator.
VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE ARTIST IN FOCUS: EDWARD BEARD JR.
As a part of the game´s 30 year anniversary, another one of the original VTES artist was interviewed by Black Chantry. Check it out at Blackchantry.com!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: DECEMBER 2024
• The Hecata previews are ongoing! The official release date of this Fifth Edition preconstructed deck is Ferbruary 28, and most stuff has already been shown by various sources, all collected at the product page at Blackchantry.com. Here you can see the actual card for the Ginés Quiñonero art preview at the top of this newsletter:
•The old 30-day legality limit for new card use in VEKN sanctioned tournaments has been abolished (see above in this newsletter). This means the new cards in the Hecata preconstructed deck are legal for tournaments on February 28.
• Some of the Hecata previews have been sprinkled into Black Chantry articles during December: As part of the 2024 celebrations, two articles were published - in "30 years of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle: The rules of the game" rules ghoul Vincent Ripoll discusses rules changes over the years, and in "30 years of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle: The art of the game" art ghoul Ginés Quiñonero reflects on the illustrations over the years. In "Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Product Roadmap 2024-2025", product ghoul Ben Peal presents the plans for VTES releases the coming year - an absolut must-read!
• The second round of playtest of the 2025 Sabbat cards has concluded. Now the design team will take part of all the exciting playtester feedback and prepare for the next round.
• Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Gamepod, Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
Lost Kindred bundle
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
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) UPCOMING!
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
In December we got a deep dive in the sounds and the music of the upcoming Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 game. In the Dev Diary chapter titled “Sounds of Seattle” you can learn more from audio director and sound designers, and in the World of Darkness Youtube channel you find no less than seven fresh clips with the artists behind the score of the game, including composer Craig Stuart Garfinkle and cellist Adrian Mantu. Awesome stuff!
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x14
Czech Republic x2
Finland x2
France x2
Greece
Hungary x2
Italy x2
Mexico
Netherlands
Online x3
Philippines x2
Poland
Portugal
Spain x11
Sweden
USA x7
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 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.
The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.
