Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
We start this month's newsletter with preview art by Carlos Díaz. It will appear on the reprint version of a card from The Sabbat set, maybe in one of the New Blood packs for the Sabbat paths, otherwise in Anthologies. Great work Carlos, moody and powerful!
Noites Brasileiras and Secrets of New York are now in stores!
Yes! Finally, the two brand new sets are in stores - the official release date was October 31, so now all new cards are legal for tournament play.
Check out the announcement, with a list of all the artists and links to them!
Watch out! Watchlist update!
Below you see an updated watchlist for VEKN organised tournament play of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. This list will be updated every six months, to give a minimum of six months' notice of a potential ban or errata. Please note that a card's inclusion on this list does not mean that it will necessarily be banned or receive errata in the future. Rather, these are the cards currently being considered for potential action.
Check out the official Black Chantry announcement for images of the cards too!
Becoming of Ennoia. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Functionally weak.
British Museum, London. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Overperforming.
Carfax Abbey. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Overperforming.
Coterie Tactics. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Mechanically flawed.
Garibaldi-Meucci Museum. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Overperforming.
Guard Duty. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Functionally weak.
Imbued – All cards. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Publishing issues.
Life Boon. Added to watchlist: November 2025. Reason: Mechanically flawed.
Maleficia – All cards. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Publishing issues.
Mask of a Thousand Faces. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Mechanically flawed.
Organized Resistance. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Overperforming.
Striga – All cards. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Publishing issues.
Tupdog. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Overperforming.
Veil of Darkness. Added to watchlist: November 2025. Reason: Mechanically flawed.
Winged Second. Added to watchlist: November 2026. Reason: Mechanically flawed.
Desso Alastor is the 2026 South American champion!
This tournament was played in Brasília on October 11 with 30 Methuselahs.
Read the full report: SAC 2026
Simon Reed is the 2026 Oceanian champion!
36 players turned up for this event in Brisbane on October 17.
Read the full report: Oceania Championship 2026
Roberto Montero is the 2026 champion of Chile!
22 players played this national championship in El Tabito on September 12.
Read the full report: National Championship Chile 2026
Karl Schaefer wins Grand Prix Pittsburgh!
Played on October 17 with 21 players.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Pittsburgh 2026
Hernán Rodríguez wins Santiago GP3!
Played in Santiago, Chile, on October 3 with 16 Methuselahs.
Read the full report: GP3 Santiago 2026
Ke Carlton is the 2026 Grand Prix Oceania champion!
This GP final took place in Brisbane, Australia, on the same weekend as this year's Grand Prix Brisbane.
Read the full report: Oceania Grand Prix final 2026
Brad Cashdollar wins the Appalachian Assault 2026 Grand Prix final!
Played in Monroeville, Pennsylvania on October 18 with the top five players from this GP circuit.
Read the full report: Appalachian Assault 2026 final
Errors spotted after tournaments will stand
Words by Hugh Angseesing, VEKN Chairman:
Hello! This is a quick update on some questions we have had regarding errors spotted in events after the event or via remote viewing. These errors have been spotted more since games have started to be broadcast live.
Broadly, results of games where errors are spotted will generally stand, unless:
- It is clear the error materially distorts the original event.
- There is a reason to suspect cheating.
It’s quite easy as a Brit, to talk about these sorts of events, as there are two notable ones in English football:
- First example: 1966 World Cup final England versus West Germany – did the ball cross the line? Later modelling suggests yes but it is a great example of the judge (linesman in that case) making a decision at the time and the result standing.
- Second example: In 1986, Diego Armando Maradona used his hand to score against England in the quarter final of the World Cup. That result again stood because none of the judges could see it being a foul at the time.
We do not expect judges to wind back time and try and fix things post-event, if issues are spotted soon enough, they can be adjusted and the game can continue normally.
Where results are submitted to the Ethics Committee to examine for suspected cheating, those determinations in themselves may change results. However, the Ethics Committee is not there (and as a group of volunteers does not have the resources) to look at results caused by errors.
The Netherlands has a new VEKN National Coordinator: Maarten Rijnbeek
After more than 10 years as the National Coordinator of the Netherlands, Jeroen van Oort (above to the left) signs off. Thanks for your services to the community Jeroen!
Some words by Maarten Rijnbeek (above to the right):
A new National Coordinator has entered the Eternal Struggle. After deliberation among the Dutch Princes, the Praxis has been decided.
I am honoured to take on the role of National Coordinator for the Netherlands, alongside my role as Prince of Vleuten.
First of all, I want to thank my fellow Princes for their trust. I will do my best not to immediately abuse that trust for extra transfers, political actions, or questionable deals with the Sabbat.
But this role is about much more than Princes and politics.
VTES in the Netherlands exists because of everyone who plays the game, teaches new players, organises tournaments, hosts casual games, travels across the country for events, builds ridiculous decks, argues about card interactions and keeps coming back to the table.
As National Coordinator, I want to help strengthen that whole community. To connect players and organisers. To support tournaments and local playgroups. To welcome new Methuselahs into the game. And to make sure the Eternal Struggle in the Netherlands remains very much alive.
So to every Dutch VTES player — whether you have been playing for decades or just sleeved your first crypt: Keep playing. Keep organising. Keep bringing new players to the table.
Your prey is temporary. The Eternal Struggle is forever.
Meet the VEKN: Tiago Gonçalves, National Coordinator of Portugal
Hello Tiago! You are the new VEKN National Coordinator of Portugal – congratulations on the prestigious position.
Thank you!
Thanks for letting us ask you some questions to present you to the community. Let’s start from the beginning: When did you start playing VTES?
I don't quite recall the year I started playing, but it was around the release of Third Edition, so 2005-2006-ish. I was playing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines at the time and was loving the lore and the atmosphere. I also had a couple of friends who played VTES back then – and by "a couple" I mean two! – so I asked one of them to teach me how to play. He helped me bash up a Third Edition Malkavian antitribu with a Black Hand one, and there it was: my first deck.
What do you like most about the game?
The first thing that hooked me on the game was the lore. I was a sucker for RPGs and VTES seemed the right fit for me, although I barely played VTM itself.
After that, I went through a phase of trying to reinvent the wheel by building several new decks with little to no success at actually making something playable. Brinksmanship, I'm looking at you.
That frustration, mostly created by my own inexperience, fueled my desire to play for several years. Eventually I started focusing more on tournament decks, even though I wasn't playing many tournaments at the time.
Nowadays I do a little bit of both: clunky decks to make me laugh and less clunky decks to try to win tournaments.
What deck are you most comfortable playing?
I don't think I have an all-time favorite deck, but I'd say a Tremere toolbox is the closest thing to one. It was the first deck I tried to tweak by myself and I've been playing it on and off in one form or the other for what feels like forever, so I'm particularly fond of it. When I started playing it, it was a heavy wall with almost no ousting power, totally clunky and inadequate to the meta at the time. Eventually it shifted to a toolbox and I really loved the versatility of it. I've never won a tournament with it, though. Someone else did; maybe it's a skill issue...
What other decks do you currently play?
At the moment I'm playing Tzimisce and Brujah barons, and trying to make a Banu Haqim plus Victoria Ash deck to work properly, pretty standard stuff. I've also been working on some fat-cap decks involving Serpentis, but that's all I can say for now. Hopefully, you'll see one at a Portuguese tournament soon.
How are you at the table?
I usually talk a lot because VTES is a social game above all else. At tournament level, people sometimes forget to have fun, so I try to make them enjoy the game a little more by getting them to talk and feel more at ease. I enjoy the negotiations and table talk that naturally come with the game. Even though I don't particularly enjoy playing political decks, I probably enjoy negotiating against one more than I enjoy playing one.
In terms of deck style, I tend to prefer decks that are more prey-centric and with a clear game plan. I like having an active role at the table rather than sitting back and waiting for things to happen, maybe that's my main flaw as a player: not enough patience. I'm also a big fan of decks that have several ways to tackle problems, which is probably why I've always liked toolbox decks.
Now you are a National Coordinator. What do you plan to do to spread VTES in Portugal?
I'm still very new to the role, so I won't pretend that I have a grand master plan. Fortunately, I'm taking over at a good time. The Portuguese player base has grown considerably over the last few years, thanks to the work of the previous National Coordinators and the Princes, who have put a lot of effort into growing their local communities. So it seems logical to build upon that work.
One thing I'd like to improve is the way we connect and promote those communities. We have some players already volunteering to help centralize information and create a more coordinated national network, which I think is great.
Another challenge in Portugal, and one we've always had, is the uneven distribution of players. Lisbon is a very large city and its player base is probably comparable to the rest of the country combined. Getting players from the north and south together regularly is difficult. One of the things we're going to experiment with next year is strengthening the communities in the centre-north and creating a parallel league for them alongside the existing Lisbon league. Hopefully, that will give the less populated parts of the country regular competitive play and more dynamism.
There are also some more straightforward things we can do to increase exposure. This year, for example, we took VTES to a board game convention, which gave us the opportunity to show the game to people who otherwise would never hear of it. I'm also working on some posters to be displayed in some game stores. We have some good roll-up banners from VEKN, but they're expensive, so we need more simple, practical promotional material that local organizers can put in a store or venue and say: "This is VTES, come play with us."
Of course, one of VTES's biggest challenges is teaching the game and retaining people who try it. The most common feedback I get from new players, especially those who have little to no previous experience with games, is that it's too overwhelming at first, so it's very important to make the first experience welcoming and manageable. Having someone who can teach the game properly is fundamental, even more important than any advertising campaign.
Ultimately, I agree that the community in VTES is its greatest strength. The people actually growing the game are the players, Princes and local organizers. I think VEKN and Black Chantry's biggest role is to support them, through direct promotion of the game and by giving local promoters the tools and material they need to do their job better.
So, to sum up, the goal isn't necessarily to change what we're doing in Portugal, but to build upon what has already been made. To make it easier for the people already doing good work to do even more of it, while making it easier for new players to find us and take that first step into the game.
Thank you for this interview Tiago, and thanks also to your predecessor Ricardo Marta - great job!
Emerald Legionnaires march into Madrid!
While this is not a tournament at national, continental or Grand Prix level, we want to share this extra report with you. It was the first tournament organized by a new, third Prince in the Madrid area of Spain. It was also the first tournament of the Madrid League 2025-2026 season. 33 players – check out the report and the tournament-winning deck!
Recruitment Exercise: Novi Sad 2026
Words by Milan Popovic, VEKN Prince of Belgrade:
Hi all, we would like to tell you about some local progress here. We want to thank Dice and the Fun crew in Novi Sad for the great help that we got with the promo event that was held on 17th of October.
At the start of the year, we had only Petar Kalmar, the Prince of Novi Sad, who was promoting the game, but with the help of Instagram, we managed to organise two events in Novi Sad this year.
We are now happy to report that a 10-person playgroup has been established after all our efforts. With similar effort, we expect to see more players in Serbia overall.
Have you done a demo event or similar and want to report it in the newsletter? Contact the editor!
Recruitment Exercise: MondoCon Hungary
Words by Gábor Endler:
Hi everyone! The Hungarian VTES community once again participated in MondoCon, held on October 17–18, 2026, in Budapest. MondoCon is one of Hungary's largest conventions dedicated to anime, manga, gaming, cosplay, and pop culture, attracting thousands of visitors and providing a great opportunity to introduce tabletop and card games to a wider audience.
Throughout the two-day event, we welcomed quite a lot of interested visitors to our stand. Many stopped by to learn more about Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, asked for flyers and informational materials, and picked up some of our full-art promotional cards. In fact, the promos proved so popular that we almost ran out of them!
It was another great opportunity to promote VTES, introduce the game to potential new players, and increase its visibility within the Hungarian gaming community.
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Reminder: The VEKN Newsletter Contribution Award promo card
If you are expected to deliver an article for the VEKN newsletter, and do so within a reasonable time, you will be awarded the official VEKN Newsletter Contribution Award promo card. It is currently the super cool Malkavian Rider Clause depicted above - VERY rare, printed only for this particular cause. If this article is a tournament report, "reasonable time" is usually within 7 days after the event. So don´t sleep on it, rip off that band-aid immediatelly after the tournament, and thanks for contributing!
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 list 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 2026
• Noites Brasileiras and Secrets of New York are in stores! See above in this newsletter.
• Product Director Ben Peal attended the South American Championship in Brasilia, Brazil on October 10-11. His presentation is published online, and will eventually be turned into a roadmap 2027 article.
• In cooperation with the Swedish game clubs association Sverok and the game store Alphaspel, Black Chantry has donated 150 Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition boxes to Swedish gamers! The campaign is called “Spellovet”, which means that every year a big box of game materials is sent to the 150 most active game clubs in Sweden.
• Words from CEO Hugh Angseesing: “On 24th October, I was fortunate to brave Storm Boelo to travel from Black Chantry HQ in Nottingham to Norwich UK for a 17-person tournament. I took the exact Hecata deck Martin Weinmeyer had posted, originally produced by the esteemed Nina Nilsson and had a lot of fun enjoying the simplicity of Oblivion. Norwich is a city of fine church spires and endless pubs and creeping out of the darkness to host this event was Simon George - interviewed here. Thank you to Simon and Athena Games for hosting and congratulations to Mikey Ferguson for his tournament win.”
• The third round of playtesting of two preconstructed decks for a 2-player variant of VTES is ongoing and will end on November 15. Please, if you are a playtester, make sure to hand in your feedback on time!
• The first round of playtesting of the New Blood decks for Paths of Caine, Cathari, Death and Power started on October 15! 56 brand new cards are tested in this round. Hopefully the playtesters can handle testing two sets simultaneously.
• The design of "Anthology II" continues. It's not clear yet if it will be one, two or three 89-card packs, collecting cards that need reprinting but haven't yet found a slot in a Black Chantry release.
• 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)
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)
New Blood: Ravnos (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese)
New Blood: Salubri (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese)
New Blood: Tzimisce (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese)
Noites Brasileiras (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese)
Secrets of New York (Also Spanish, French)
Do you have opinions about 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 Month of Darkness is over! In the understandable absence of concrete news about the future of Vampire: The Masquerade and its game setting that we depend upon so much, we have seen a plethora of fun World of Darkness things during the month. Go to the Month of Darkness site to browse all of this!
• The second round of alpha playtesting of the next edition of Vampire: The Masquerade will appear on November 9, available on Demiplane, Roll20 and as PDFs on DrivethruRPG. We will also get a new developer diary entry detailing the changes between the first and second alpha rounds.
• On October 20, the much-awaited “Courts of the Damned” was released, maybe the last installment in the fifth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade. This sourcebook covers political intrigues in vampiric societies and offers all kinds of advice to Storytellers about this.
Looking for more World of Darkness in your channel of choice? Check out the Linktree!
Calendar
Major events coming up:
November 7: National Championship Sweden, Stockholm
November 7: National Championship Switzerland, Zürich
November 7: National Championship Slovakia, Bratislava
November 7: National Championship Denmark, Køge
November 7: National Championship Norway, Moss
November 15: National Championship Mexico, Mexico City
November 21: National Championship Canada, Montréal
November 28: National Championship Germany, Herne
November 28: National Championship Hungary, Budapest
November 28: National Championship South Africa, Johannesburg
December 5: Grand Prix Vidor, USA
December 13: Grand Prix Cearense, Brazil
Tournaments for the coming month (registered at the time of writing) are in:
Brazil x7
Canada
Chile
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland x2
France x2
Germany
Hungary x5
Italy x2
Mexico
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Serbia
South Africa
Spain x13
Sweden
Switzerland
USA
For details about these events, see Archon.vekn.net. Also, check out the World of Darkness Community Map.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just register it as an online tournament when you add it to Archon!
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 account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.
Before coffee I hate people, after coffee I feel good about hating people.
Reported by Julio García, VEKN Prince of Alcalá de Henares:
Last Saturday, October 24th, a new season of the Madrid League of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (VTES) kicked off, and it did so with a fantastic turnout: 33 players gathered at Ludus Belli, in Móstoles, to enjoy a day of strategy, negotiation, cards and, above all, a great atmosphere.
The competition was very close and kept the excitement going throughout the day. In VTES, each game is much more than just playing cards: you have to negotiate, read the table, calculate risks and know when to make an alliance... and when to break it! Players enjoyed highly contested games in which every decision could change the course of the match. In the end, Julio García took the victory, on a day in which the high general level and participation were the main highlights.
In addition to the prizes, all participants received two full-art promotional cards, a nice touch to start the season with new pieces for their decks. The event was organized by Javier Flores, the new Baron of the southern area of the Community of Madrid, who is making his debut by promoting this gathering and helping the community to continue growing.
The new area is a barony, not a principality, but it represents an important step to continue expanding the VTES map in Madrid. The arrival of new players and activity in locations beyond the usual spots shows that there is a desire to grow the community and bring the game to more people.
Many thanks to Ludus Belli in Móstoles for hosting us, to Cónclave Ibérico for the sponsorship, and to all the people who participated and helped make the tournament possible. A special thanks to Javier Flores for taking this step and to the new players joining the community: we hope to see you at many more tables!
With this first event, a new season begins and we continue to move forward in the fifth edition of the Madrid League. The goal is to bring together players from all over the region again, add new faces and continue building an active, close-knit community that is eager to play.
Let the blood flow, let the votes fly, and may no one be left without a table! See you at the next one!
Winning deck: "Legionario's back"
Crypt (13)
5x Erlik
1x Babalawo Alafin
2x Erebus
1x Mina Grotius
1x Zygodat
2x Nicomedes
1x Solomon Batanea
Library (83)
Master (11)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Archon Investigation
2x Direct Intervention
1x Giant's Blood
3x Liquidation
1x The Coven
2x Villein
Action (13)
11x Disciple of Lazarus
2x Soul Feasting
Ally (10)
10x Emerald Legionnaire
Action Modifier (20)
2x Acheron Vortex
2x Breath of Thanatos
4x Call of the Hungry Dead
8x Freak Drive
2x Spectral Divination
2x Trochomancy
Combat (8)
8x Spiritual Intervention
Reaction (19)
3x Delaying Tactics
3x Eyes of Argus
3x My Enemy's Enemy
3x On the Qui Vive
7x Telepathic Misdirection
Event (2)
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x The Unmasking
Thanks for this report Julio, and good luck to the Madrid community with future events!
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
Welcome to this newsletter. Above you see the group photo from the European Championship of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, held in Vilnius on September 19-20 with 196 players. Thanks to all of you lovely people, and thanks to the organisers. Hope to see everyone again next year in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The European Championship 2027 will be in Gelsenkirchen, Germany!
In Vilnius, it was announced that next year's EC will be played in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, on October 29–31. We will continuously report the most important updates about this event, as will other channels, but for the most recent, updated information always consult the official website ec27.vtes.de!
The Archon app is now the official way to handle VEKN tournaments
Here is the official statement from Vincent Ripoll in full:
"Dear Methuselahs, dear organizers,
The Archon app is now the official way to handle your tournaments!
The app passed its trial by fire during the 2026 European Championship in Vilnius and is now replacing the old Excel-based tournament management system after nearly 25 years of loyal service.
Let’s take this opportunity to thank one last time those who have worked on it over the years: LSJ, Dominic Catanzariti, François Alix, Stéphane Lavrut, Jeff Thompson, Jussi Hattara, Karl Schaefer, David Tatu, Kevin Mergen, Vincent Ripoll, Pascal Bertrand, Emiliano D’Onofrio, and Lionel Panhaleux (if I’ve forgotten anyone, please raise your hand!).
It is no longer possible to create new tournaments using the old system, but tournaments that have already been created can still be finalized using the old system if necessary.
Thanks to Lionel “Phoenix” Panhaleux for his excellent work!
If you haven't reclaimed your VEKN number on the app, now is the right time!
This also means that updates to the Tournament Winning Decks (TWD) will primarily be done through the app, which will speed up the process since there should no longer be any data entry errors and the process can therefore be fully automated.
There are still a few details to finalize regarding the TWDs, which explains the delay in the update; we’ll keep you posted.
The VEKN team"
So that's it - the old calendar will be removed in a while, and the old Excel Archon is not to be used any more. The Archon is dead, long live the Archon!
Héctor Javier Ordoñez is the 2026 European champion!
This tournament was played in Vilnius, Lithuania on September 19-20 with 196 players.
Read the full report: European Championship 2026
Player interview: Héctor Javier Ordoñez, European champion 2026
Congratulations, Hector! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. A little background first: how long have you been playing this fantastic game that you obviously now have mastered?
- I used to go to a game club to play Magic, Dungeons & Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade, among other things. For a while, I even ran Vampire roleplaying sessions! It was around 2002 when my friends and I were introduced to VTES, and we started playing among ourselves.
Our English wasn’t very good back then, so we did what we could. I remember playing Voter Captivation not knowing that you can only take 2 pool! Awe + Voter Captivation was a pretty nice combo haha!
Do you have a regular local group where you live?
- I mostly play around Utrecht, in the Netherlands. We have a pretty regular group, usually with one table per week, sometimes two. The meta is quite diverse, with competitive players and more casual. You can encounter anything from Tupdogs to Ravnos bleed.
Did you get a chance to play in the Week of Nightmares this year, or the Friday Grand Prix?
- I have never attended a Week of Nightmares, but I did play the Friday GP and reached the final. That was very nice, because it meant I could play Saturday with less pressure. So I wasn't that exhausted – I think I was mostly ok, but by the time I was playing the final on Day 2 I was starting to glitch :)
So how was your EC Day 1?
- Since I was already qualified through the Friday GP final, I approached Saturday with less pressure and tried to conserve energy for Sunday. I played a fairly conventional G6 Tzimisce deck with eleven bounce cards, hoping to take advantage of the bleed-heavy meta I expected on Day 1.
I didn’t fare so well, at one table I was sandwiched between two politicals (one of them Nikica’s), and in another I was the unfortunate prey of a Path of Caine rush deck. Neither was really something the deck is prepared for!
How did you decide on a deck for the EC Day 2 tournament? Tell us all about it!
- Mainly I wanted to play something of my own design that I would enjoy, no matter if I won or lost. I expected a very diverse meta with experienced players bringing personal variations of known archetypes and some surprises.
I had played my deck “Baby meeting” around ten times, but only on Lackey, no in-person games. I liked the idea that people seeing my Ministry crypt would think “It is just a Platinum Protocol deck”, although by the final, other players probably knew what I was doing!
As for strengths, the deck is very explosive, which is a strength but also a weakness, since it tends to draw attention. You need to know how to manage that. Also, in late game the deck has many, many options. If you have a Garibaldi or a Sargon you can be quite creative with what you can do.
About weaknesses... Early pressure can be problematic, especially before you can develop your board and play strong Consanguineous Boons. It is also difficult if there are votes at the table in the hands of people who want you out. Another problematic point is consistent blockers. The deck is very slippery, since it does many actions per turn, so it is hard to block everything. It does not pack much stealth, which I think should be saved for key actions like Heart of Nizchetus, Consanguineous Boon or Revolutionary Council.
What are the key cards?
- Heart of Nizchetus is particularly valuable because the order of the cards matters, even though the deck already cycles plenty of cards. You want the right sequence: Childe of the Revolution, CrimethInc, Waters of Duat. If you have Waters and CrimethInc, and Childe arrives later, it does not work.
What are the ideal prey and predator?
- The ideal prey is a strong bleeder, since they will get the aggro and I might even get encouragement from the table to kill them.
All predators are bad :D but if I had to choose, anything that does not block too much or is too fast.
What was your experience during the 3 preliminary rounds of Day 2?
- At the first table, Marcus was bleeding me with his Ravnos and my prey Denes was playing Brujah Debate. It was a tense game. At one point I played a Consanguineous Boon for Marcus to keep him in the game in exchange for him not bleeding me.
Second table was tough, with Richard piloting his Capuchin deck as prey and Tomasz with a Nephandi deck as predator. At some point Tomasz played Frontal Assault and torporised all 6 of my minions!
Third table was with Norbert, with Ravnos bleed, as prey and Leonardo with an original Lasombra breed deck that unfortunately struggled to develop until late in the game.
All games were very nice and enjoyable. Even when positions or negotiations were difficult, we laughed and had a really good time!
In the final, what was your seed and what did you think of your position at the table?
- As third seed in the final, I felt my seating options were limited. I sat as predator of Bram, preferring the scenario where he had to backrush me to defend himself rather than him having to rush me to get his point.
Were you familiar with the other players?
- With Nina and Tero I have played a few times before, with Lech only online. Bram and I have played countless games over many years, and I consider him a friend. His Qawiyya multi-rush deck worried me a lot. Looking at the table, I honestly thought my fate was already determined.
How was the early game shaping up?
- My opening was explosive. I brought out a six-cap who had a perfect first turn: Fee Stake, CrimethInc, Childe, CrimethInc, Waters. By the time Qawiyya could act, I had four minions.
Bram wanted to talk before torporising everything on my board. Going backwards would probably mean ruining both our games while the rest of the table develops. So I offered not to do anything forward until he gets his first victory point.
I planned on honouring that deal. I expected Bram to push forward against Nina, and I also had the possibility of ousting her with Revolutionary Council myself, giving Bram his point and releasing me from the deal.
What was your sense of the table mid-game?
- Mid-game was frustrating. Lech played a Direct Intervention and four (!) Delaying Tactics against my attempts to play Consanguineous Boon.
Tero’s The Unnamed wasn’t putting much pressure on Lech’s Harbingers, so Lech had room to develop his board. I had to block Emerald Legionnaire bleeds, which meant spending many actions rescuing vampires from torpor and hunting.
In the meantime Bram did not seem to get close to ousting Nina, and Revolutionary Council was not showing up.
At some point I was at seven pool and in danger of being ousted by Lech. Bram intervened with cross-table rushes to keep me alive. If Lech obtained a victory point, Bram would need two points to win.
Then Revolutionary Council shows up, and at seven minutes left, my turn begins. I know I will not have another turn after this. I will have to make a decision: to honor the deal until the end and lose, or break the deal and win.
I play Revolutionary Council. Lech plays Direct Intervention. I trust the God of cards; play Childe, play Dual Form, bleed with Propaganda, and here it comes: a Sargon Fragment. I play Sargon Fragment, unlock with CrimethInc paying a pool, use it to fetch the Revolutionary Council, play Revolutionary Council.
Target: Bram.
That was dramatic indeed. So to round this off, what do you see in VTES’s future? For you, and for the game?
- Having seen VTES in its darkest years, I am very happy to see how strong the community and the competitive scene are.
For me the appeal is still discovering ideas, building new decks, seeing whether I can make it work. The upcoming sets and the Sabbat paths give us more possibilities for that, and I enjoy seeing the meta change.
Regarding helping the game grow: I think we should make it as easy as possible for interested people to find a game in their city. They need to know who to contact, where to borrow decks, etc.
And for a game so complicated, I would love to see some outstanding tutorials. For example, there is a Netrunner tutorial that is immersive, accurate, and interesting. Something similar for VTES could help turn interest into players, in my opinion.
Finally, a big thank you to the organisers, judges and players. It was an amazing EC. I am grateful that every year we all agree we should go somewhere, sit together, stab each other in our hearts, and laugh about it. To share this unique, extraordinary game with you all is an honour. Thank you.
Thank you, Héctor. A very strong weekend for you – good luck in the future!
Daniel Magda is the 2026 Czech champion!
Played in Pelhřimov on September 5 with 53 players.
Read the full report: Czech Republic National Championship 2026
Alex Shoemark is the 2026 UK champion!
Played in Nottingham on September 5 with 25 players.
Read the full report: UK National Championship 2026
Nick Miller wins Grand Prix Sydney 2026!
Played with 16 Methuselahs on September 5.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Sydney 2026
Louis Emerson Tong is the 2026 champion of Singapore!
The tournament was played at Gamersaurus Rex (!) in Singapore City on September 19. Only 9 players in the battle - better luck next year!
Read the full report: Singapore National Championship 2026
Welcome to Festivo dello Estinto 8 in Zaragoza!
On November 6-8, Festivo dello Estinto returns for its eighth edition. In this VTES storyline tournament, special rules favour the Sabbat and the results feed back into the World of Darkness narrative. Black Chantry created a special full art version of Crusade: Aragon for this event, but that is far from all you get by attending - there will be special tournament cards, VTES artist guests, side events, tin deck boxes, barbecues, Vaulderie (!) and all kinds of other fun in this Zaragoza weekend. The winner gets the prize ring, a complete Sabbat Wars set, and the chance to become the face of next year's Sabbat Convert card.
For more details and to register, check out vtes-zaragoza.com!
CometCon 2026 - a VTES celebration!
On September 5-6, the game convention CometCon was held in Gijón, Spain. This time it had two nice VTES events, a standard constructed tourament and a 2-player variant one that was extra successful - people loved it! Read all about it in the report by Daniel Méndez, VEKN Prince of Gijón.
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Succubus Club to the left, Elysium to the right.
Great VTES content
A few years ago, it was rather easy to keep up with great VTES-related content online - especially if you were mainly interested in English-language content. Now, to our great joy, it's practically impossible! But here are some recent picks:
• The Thessalian Scrolls gathers some interesting statistics on tournament games.
• Succubus-club.net seems like a strong competitor to Lackey for playing VTES online.
• Elysium is another new tool for the same thing - which one is best?!
• Ratcat is a newish Youtube channel that helped out with streaming games from the Vilnius EC. Also has funny memes!
• If you are a fan of old-school card game art, check out artist Randy Gallegos's Substack - sometimes about VTES.
Do you know about something we should highlight in this section? Contact the editor at !
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 list 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 2026
• Noites Brasileiras and Secrets of New York now have an official release date, October 31. Your local store might sell them before that, but that is the first date when the new cards are allowed in VEKN sanctioned tournaments. Also, check out the announcement post for a listing of all the set artists!
• Henrik, Hugh and Vincent of Black Chantry attended the EC in Vilnius and would like to thank the hosts for a very well-organised event. There was a small presentation and Q&A focused on the recent survey results and current plans for the game. Great times as usual, playing games and talking to players and artists!
• Product Director Ben Peal will appear at the South American Championship in Brasilia, Brazil on October 10-11, and would love to see you there! He has prepared a presentation - make sure to prepare some tricky questions to ask him!
• The full art promo card Crusade: Aragon, made for Festivo dello Estinto (see above in this newsletter), has been added to the print-on-demand at Gamepod and can be ordered by any National Coordinator.
• The third round of playtesting of two preconstructed decks for a 2-player variant of VTES has just started. Several art pieces for this are already completed, which will be used one way or another.
• Design of "Anthology II" and New Blood packs for the four Sabbat paths continues. New art for some Anthology cards that need it has been commissioned or is already delivered. New Blood playtesting will start shortly.
• Want to know more about future releases? Dates are a bit off, but the product roadmap article at Blackchantry.com is still relevant.
• 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)
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)
New Blood: Ravnos (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese)
New Blood: Salubri (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese)
New Blood: Tzimisce (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese)
Noites Brasileiras (Also Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese) (Upcoming)
Secrets of New York (Also Spanish, French) (Upcoming)
Do you have opinions about 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 annual “Month of Darkness” is on! This year there is a lot going on, all summarised in this post on Worldofdarkness.com. Sales, creative prompts, BEAUTIFUL metal dice and many other things.
A third Dev Diary on the next edition of Vampire: The Masquerade was published. In it, Creative Director Jess Lanzillo describes some of what the team learnt during the 1.0 Alpha playtest and some of the plans moving into 2.0. Most of these are game-mechanical things with very little obvious effect on VTES. The most interesting thing is maybe that the most mentioned discipline in the playtest feedback was Protean – a discipline that was not in the playtest, was heavily emphasised in V5 (and thus also VTES Fifth Edition), and that now seems to be removed from the game. Interesting times indeed!
Looking for more World of Darkness in your channel of choice? Check out the Linktree!
Calendar
Major events coming up:
October 10: Continental Championship South America, Brasilia, Brazil
October 11: Continental Championship Asia, Tokyo, Japan
October 17: Continental Championship Oceania, Brisbane, Australia
October 17: Grand Prix Pittsburgh, USA
October 18: Appalachian Cup Grand Prix final, Bethel Park, USA
October 24: Grand Prix New Orleans, USA
October 31: National Championship France, Nancy
October 31: National Championship Netherlands, Doorn
November 7: National Championship Sweden, Stockholm
November 7: National Championship Switzerland, Zürich
November 7: National Championship Slovakia, Bratislava
November 7: National Championship Denmark, Køge
November 15: National Championship Mexico, Mexico City
November 21: National Championship Canada, Montréal
November 28: National Championship Germany, Herne
November 28: National Championship Hungary, Budapest
December 5: Grand Prix Vidor, USA
December 13: Grand Prix Cearense, Brazil
Tournaments for the coming month (registered at the time of writing) are in:
Australia x4
Brazil x8
Canada
Chile x2
Croatia
Finland x3
France x2
Germany x2
Greece
Hungary x5
Italy x3
Japan
Netherlands
Online x2
Portugal x3
Serbia x2
Spain x10
South Africa
Sweden
UK
USA x9
For details about these events, see either Archon.vekn.net or the VEKN Event Calendar - the Archon app will gradually replace the 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 account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.
Wisdom comes with age. But sometimes age comes alone.
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