This event was played in Osijek on November 30. Reported by Denes Kocis, VEKN National Coordinator of Croatia, with comments by Dominik Trupcevic:
First, finally after many, many years, we had a Nationals Tournament organized in Croatia, mainly in Osijek. Goran Damjanic and I organized the tournament.
As it was fairly announced early, I managed to acquire the players coming to the tournament early, so the actual check in was painless. The players came from Croatia – Osijek and Zagreb, Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia, 29 total. And we started on time – success!
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After the first round, we organized a barbeque lunch break for all the players. To practice some social skills and to share stories and laughs.
Top 5 before the final was:
1. Goran Ivanovic 2 GW, 7.5 VP
2. Dusan Kosanovic 2 GW, 6 VP
3. Lovre de Grisogono 1 GW, 7 VP
4. Goran Damjanic 1 GW, 6.5 VP
5. Dominik Trupcevic 1 GW, 6 VP
Now, the report from the view of a finalist – Dominik Trupcevic:
Firstly, a bit about playing the V5 Lasombra - pure, dumb S&B version, but with a bit of a bigger crypt to maybe help me negotiate something/have some table presence with a few votes.
Somehow I managed to find myself as the 5th seed in the finals. The first two rounds I only managed to snag 1 VP in each game - with a huge blunder in the second game that cost me 2 additional VPs and a GW, where I didn't see I had a Bonding in my hand that would have killed my prey who was at 2 pool and instead on his next turn he was the one to get the GW & 3VP instead.
In the 3rd round I had to go all in and somehow managed to just brute force through a Matasuntha, a V5 Gangrel and was looking at Gyula who managed to kill my predator with my 2VPs against his 1VP and around 20 pool. Dominate did what it's made to do and I somehow managed to barely kill him, even with 4 minions out and around 20 pool. He had spent a lot of resources on his V5 Gangrel predator, piloted by Milos Krstic, which in the end, all things considered probably cost him the game and gave me the 5th seed in the finals, and kept him at 6th seed.
As luck would have it, the 2nd final seed had to leave as it was getting late so Gyula got in as the 5th player behind me. After all the positioning decisions and dice rolling for seating order we ended up with (Dusan Kosanovic had to withdraw from the final):
I wasn't really feeling confident about the seating, as my only combat defence is 6 Pass Through Shadow and 2 Arms of Ahriman, and I was the predator to a Nephandus deck that is most certainly packing a bunch of bounce with my grandprey having virtually zero bleed defence outside of just rushing backwards. My "professional" assessment of the situation was that I'm either going to die really quick to my predators rush as his first vampire that came into controlled was Theo Bell, or I'm going to kill my grandprey since pretty much all my deck does is bleed for ridiculous amounts at 2-4 stealth and block fails anyone that actually manages to produce that kind of intercept. At one point in turn 3 I actually thought about not getting a vampire out at all against Theo, but in the end I got Gnaeus out and just hoped for the best. There's only one thing I can do and that's bleed, for a lot, at a lot of stealth and just hope for the best.
The game, unexpectedly, started very good for me - I had Jake Washington out, my prey got FBI Special Affairs Division out, and the first Theos rush after a 4 blood Villein was blocked by Jake, which caused additional 2 damage after resolution to Theo and had my predator just a tiny bit more careful. My prey was going strong with setting up his Nephandus, I had my first few Governs going down to uncontrolled and let the game develop. The !Brujah was, as expected, going forward strong at Gyula but did no real damage to him. In the meantime, V5 Brujah was consistently rushing me, but with no Immortal Grapple on his end and a good draw of Pass Through Shadow on my end, I was avoiding combat and just stackin stealth on my vampires for the future.
The game was going pretty well for me, unexpectedly, so it was time to start going left and hope it goes even better. Where the Veil Thins was very strong against 6 Nephandus that were hanging out in my preys controlled region, effectively completely shutting down their blocking capabilities and I managed to even get a few bleeds connect, but my prey ousted the !Brujah which got clogged with rush actions and no red cards to spend. Gyula crosstable saw what my deck could do to him in R3 so he was focused on preparing and bloating, and just doinga few 1 point bleeds here and there to my predator who was still having bad luck with grapple draw so he couldn't really kill me, but we were both below 10 pool and anything could happen at that point. Despite all odds, I managed to catch my prey without bounce and with Where the Veil Thins doing the brunt of the work getting Nephandus out of the equation completely I kill my prey and get 1VP – much more than I expected to accomplish when the seating was decided.
But the situation going forward seemed sketchy at best. I manage to get a 3rd vampire out with the 6 pool I got from ousting my prey, but I'm predator to Gyula with Carfax, Rack, 3 or 4 barons (don't recall correctly) and 6 minions in total out and somewhere around 12 pool - hard, but still within lethal range for 3 vampires with superior dominate and oblivion. I spend some reactions, some deflections before my turn, get a bleeding hand ask my predator if he'd be okay with me tapping 2 of Gyula's barons with my Anarch Troublemaker, as that will mean his two barons will get tapped in Gyula's unlock phase, but he's on 6 pool and we agree that's not a good idea, and we agree for me to bleed and he will trade Bait and Switches with Gyula and just hope he has more than he does.
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I manage to sneak thrugh a bleed for 6 with a Govern + Conditioning, 5 Bait and Switches get spent on that one bleed, but the last one is Gyulas and he gets his VP and 3 pool. I sadly didn't draw anything relevant for the next 2 actions, so I just bleed for (now with Gyula getting 6 extra pool) some irrelevant amounts, my vampires being drained from the blood cost of Govern + Conditining, on Gyulas next turn he gets me down to 3 pool, but with all the blood/pool gain and Gyula having 7 minions out, I just try to cycle some cards and finish my next minion phase without really making a dent into his 7 pretty much full blood vampires and somewhere between 15-20 pool (if not more), we shake hands and Gyula comes out on top with 3 VP and a GW.
Gyula is the new National Champion of Croatia and a huge congratulaions to him, but a final spot and even the 1VP I got in the finals was much more than I expected.
I would like to thank the hosts from Osijek and people that organized the tournament - Denes Kocis and Goran Damjanic - the venue was great, the food was amazing and the prize support/participation trophies were a steal, especially considering everything was included (the amazing grill lunch with a bunch of side dishes as well) for a measly 10€ tournament fee.
I would also like to thank everyone that came, everyone from Serbia, Zagreb, Hungary and our own Slovenian players.
The tournament winning deck: “Baron with anim 1.0” by Gyula Erdős
Crypt (12 cards)
2x Adrino Manauara 8 ANI DOM PRO pot baron Tzimisce: 6
2x Ángel Guerrero 7 ANI DOM PRO baron Tzimisce: 6
2x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel: 6
1x Branimira 6 ANI dom pre pro baron Tzimisce: 6
1x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel: 6
1x Neserian 6 ANI DOM cel pro Tzimisce: 6
1x Gathii 5 ANI PRE obf Ravnos: 7
1x Whisper 5 ANI DOM pro Tzimisce: 6
1x Trung Chau Pham 3 ANI Ravnos: 7
Library (90 cards)
Master (19; 7 trifle)
1x Carfax Abbey
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Ennoia's Theater
1x Fame
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Papillon
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
1x Vessel
5x Villein
1x Wider View
Action (13)
1x Army of Rats
6x Deep Song
6x Govern the Unaligned
Political Action (1)
1x Eat the Rich
Retainer (2)
1x Mr. Winthrop
1x Raven Spy
Action Modifier (1)
1x Conditioning
Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Form of the Bat
Combat (31)
11x Aid from Bats
10x Carrion Crows
1x Donnybrook
3x Groundfighting
1x Target Vitals
3x Taste of Vitae
2x Voracious Vermin
Reaction (19)
4x Bait and Switch
3x Deep Ecology
3x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
1x On the Qui Vive
6x Organized Resistance
Fairly without any great need for judging, we managed to complete the tournament in peace. Gyula is a new Croatian National Champion!
I am very grateful for all the players that came to Osijek to participate in our event, and hope that they will come back next time. Our event was greatly sponsored by Ultra Pro and Black Chantry Productions!
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE CONTINUES
… most notably by a HUGE number of organised events. November had 75 events registered in the VEKN Calendar, in 22 different nations! That is a massive number indeed, possibly the most for a single month ever in the history of the game. A record number of these were also National championships or other high level events, reported in this newsletter. Good times to be undead!
Another preconstructed deck is now at the print shop, and we would like to do another preview from the upcoming Fifth Edition Hecata preconstructed deck. The fantastic art is by Francisco Tébar, depicting a character from the "Trails of Ash and Bone" sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade. The Hecata crypt card template is by Ginés Quiñonero.
MIGUEL VEGA WINS THE IBERIAN GRAND PRIX 2024!
89 players participated in this event in Palma de Mallorca on November 16.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Iberia Mallorca 2024

34 players turned up for this tournament on November 30.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Santiago 2024
JONAS STÅHLE IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF FINLAND!
30 participants played this event in Kervala on November 9.
Read the full report: Finnish National Championship 2024
EDUARDO MATEUS IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF PORTUGAL!
33 players appeared for this event in Lisbon on November 2.
Read the full report: Portugal National Championship 2024
TOMASZ KLOCZKO IS THE 2024 UK CHAMPION!
26 Methuselahs battled it out on November 9 in Leeds.
Read the full report: UK National Championship 2024
ROY OPITZ IS THE 2024 NETHERLANDS CHAMPION!
24 players on November 24 can´t be a coincidence right?
Read the full report: Netherlands National Championship 2024
JUDGE RULINGS: NETHERLANDS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Hugh Angseesing, VEKN Chairman among other things, helps judge this event:
In November I was fortunate enough to travel to the Dutch nationals in Wijchen. As well as playing some excellent VTES with players from Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany and of course the Netherlands, I was lucky enough to visit Wijchen Castle where they were also holding a Circus exhibition as well as enjoying some Dutch craft beers courtesy of Robin, our host.
I only had to answer two questions but they’re both very common ones, so I repeat them and their answers here.
Q: Can a locked vampire play superior Cloak the Gathering to give another minion + 1 stealth?
A: Yes, generally a minion will be locked when playing action modifiers. Contrast this with Veil the Legions, which has explicit text “Only usable by a ready unlocked vampire other than the acting minion. Only one Veil the Legions can be played each action.”
Q: Can I play a Direct Intervention on the same turn as I played a Wash?
A: No, even though the Wash is giving you back a master phase action in your next turn, this does not allow you to spend a second out-of-turn master phase. See page 9 of the rulebook.
TROY ESPIRITU IS THE 2024 ASIAN CHAMPION!
15 players turned up for this continental championship in Singapore on November 2.
Read the full report: Asian Continental Championship 2024
VTES RULEBOOK IN JAPANESE NOW FOR DOWNLOAD
The rules of the game are already available for download in English, French, Spanish and Latin, but now also Japanese is added to this list of languages. The translation is by Kazuyuki Okuda - many thanks to you Kaz! Check it out at blackchantry.com > Utilities > Rulebook.
VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE ARTIST IN FOCUS: LAWRENCE SNELLY
In the long row of VTES 30 years celebration activities, Black Chantry published an interview with Lawrence Snelly, an artist who has been with the game since the very beginning in 1994. Check it out at Blackchantry.com!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: NOVEMBER 2024
Apart from stuff you could see above (Hugh visited the Netherlands Nationals, Ginés organised the Grand Prix on Mallorca), the ghouls are working hard:
• The Fifth Edition Lasombra preconstructed deck is now in stores, and legal for tournament play since November 30. One of those fancy 1-page strategy guides is available now.
• The second round of playtest of the four 2025 Fifth Edition Sabbat decks has started! This time 98 cards was presented to the playtest groups to try out and give feedback. This round ends January 2.
• The Fifth Edition Hecata preconstructed deck preview season is ongoing, and the product page will be up soon at Blackchantry.com. The deck is scheduled for a January 2025 release.
• The five next New Blood packs (Lasombra, Hecata, Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce) are planned for late first quarter 2025.
• Sadly, more old legacy single cards for print-on-demand will not be up for Christmas shopping. Early 2025 is the new aim, with Dementation and Temporis stuff first.
• The 2-player VTES variant is still on hold for now.
• A reminder: Draft is coming back to VTES! Black Chantry has given VEKN National Coordinators the chance of testing a print-on-demand draft kit for 8-10 players. Are you interested in testing this experience?, talk to your National Coordinator.
• 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)
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
This month our friends at the World of Darkness crew over at Paradox Interactive published a FREE Vampire: The Masquerade story: "Reins of Power" available for PDF download at Renegade Game Studios.
"It is New Year’s Eve, and the times are changing. The old Baron, a corrupt and wicked fellow, has been unseated by the players’ coterie, leaving a power vacuum that must be filled. The characters must replace the Baron immediately. They may seize the city for themselves or assume the role of kingmaker, throwing their support behind another Anarch."
A one session scenario made for Anarch player characters with this setup, sounds very interesting!
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Austria
Australia
Brazil x16
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Greece
Italy x2
Japan
Mexico
Online x4
Philippines
Poland
Portugal x3
Serbia
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.
One day you will die. All of this will end. All there is to do is play.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE CONTINUES
… even though these newsletters are a bit off schedule. The best way to celebrate is of course to play the game, and many of the big annual tournaments are played in this season, September - November. Some you see reported below, and some are coming up next month, like the Asian continental championship, the Iberian Grand Prix in Spain, SA Grand Prix in Chile and national championships in Portugal, Finland, UK, Denmark, Slovakia, Canada and the Netherlands. And the Fifth Edition Lasombra preconstructed deck is now on store shelves. Good times!
Above you see a preview sketch art by Yanis Cardin, for a brand new card for the discipline Oblivion that will be in the upcoming Fifth Edition Hecata preconstructed deck, scheduled for January 2025 release. Spooky! The final art version on the actual card:
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 SUMMARY
Seven tournaments and one Grand Prix finale was played in Warsaw, Poland, between September 24-29.
All good photos by Marko Saari.
Note: The reports linked below contain all the finalists´ deck lists!
Danilo Torrisi is the 2024 European champion!
Read the full report: EC 2024 Day 2
Simone Parmeggiani wins EC 2024 Day 1! (168 players!)
Read the full report: EC 2024 Day 1
Marius Iscru wins the EC 2024 “Last Chance” Friday tournament! (153 players!)
Read the full report: EC 2024 Friday
Sebastian Fredenberg is the 2023-2024 European Grand Prix champion!
Read the full report: 2023-2024 European Grand Prix finale
Michał Kochanowski wins EC 2024 Sunday 30th Anniversary tournament!
Read the full report: EC 2024 30th Sunday Anniversary tournament
Jorge Delgado wins EC 2024 Week of Nightmares 1!
Read the full report: EC 2024 Week of Nightmares 1
Tommi Hakomaa wins EC 2024 Week of Nightmares 2!
Read the full report: EC 2024 Week of Nightmares 2
Tero Aalto wins EC 2024 Week of Nightmares 3!
Read the full report: EC 2024 Week of Nightmares 3
Thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players - hope to see you all in Aarhus 2025!
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Congratulations to your second EC victory! Thanks for agreeing to an interview. So, this was a two day event. How was the Day 1 tournament for you? What deck did you play?
Thanks. On Day 1 I played my Tupdog rocket deck. I got 1 GW and 5 VP. Unfortunaly, in the second round my prey was a deck with too much damage prevention, so not a good result for that day for me.
OK, so what about Day 2 – how did you choose your deck for this tournament?
The deck I played on Day 2 is an idea that I tried when I saw the spoiler of the new Malkavian Justicar. I´ve played some games in my city with it, and then I played it in one of the Week of Nightmares tournaments in Warsaw and got 0 VP´s :-) There were too many combat decks in my games. I chose to play it on Day 2 because in my opinion political decks are very weak in this meta, so probably no one was ready to fight them (not that many Delaying Tactics and not many Auspex intercept decks. And that worked! :-)
The tournament winning deck: “Politico malkarishat ASHUR”
Crypt (12 cards)
4x Juliet Parr 9 AUS DOM OBF cel pot justicar Malkavian:7
2x Alexander Silverson 8 AUS DOM OBF pre prince Malkavian:6
1x Gilbert Duane 7 AUS DOM OBF baron Malkavian:6
4x Arishat 6 DAI OBF PRE 1 vote Baali:6
1x Andi Liu 6 DOM aus obf pre prince Malkavian:6
Library (78 cards)
Master (16; 5 trifle)
6x Ashur Tablets
1x Asylum Hunting Ground
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Information Highway
2x Villein
2x Wider View
Action (14)
4x Condemnation: Mute
8x Govern the Unaligned
2x Unleash Hell's Fury
Political Action (16)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
6x Kine Resources Contested
2x My Kin Against the World
6x Parity Shift
Equipment (2)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Sargon Fragment, The
Action Modifier (16)
2x Elder Impersonation
7x Forgotten Labyrinth
7x Lost in Crowds
Reaction (14)
8x Deflection
6x Obedience
Tell us about the deck! What is a good table for this deck?
It´s an old style political deck with Obfuscate. I try to get the vote lock with Arishat´s ability and Condemnation: Mute. I have Obedience and Unleash Hell´s Fury against rush decks, and Deflection against bleed decks.
New wall decks like Gangrel and similar are not able to block this kind of deck – with just one card I go to 4 stealth, it´s too much for them.
The only trick is the two My Kin Against the World. No one expected three bleeds with Govern and three Kine Resources Contested on the same turn :-)
I like a seating with no combat, that´s it :-)
You got 2 GW 9 VP in the preliminary rounds. How were does games for you?
In game 1 I got the vote lock easily without Arishat, so I was waiting for the right moment and let my prey take his VP against a War Ghoul deck and my grand predator take his VP against a wall combat deck (my predator), then I closed the game in a single turn.
Game 3 was very hard with four political decks and one combat deck. I made a deal with Martin Weinmeyer to get me 1 VP and 1 GW 4 VP to him. I did that because with 2 GW 9 VP I had a very good chance to became top seed in the final.

When you saw the final table decks and players, what did you think about your chances?
In the final I knew Marius and Nerijus (my grand predator in game 1), but I didn´t know the other two guys. But I saw their decks so I thought I had two strategies to win: Strategy number 1 was to win on timeout – to try to resist my predator and with Parity Shift and some table talk trying to keep every player alive. Strategy number 2 was to save a lot of Deflections in my hand – before my last turn I had 4 – and use those to bounce every bleed on my prey to make him use his defence and maybe take some damage, then on my turn vote and bleed him to death.
The only deck that I feared was Marius because of his rush power.
How did the final play out?
Strategy number 2 didn´t work as I didn´t get many bleed against me, but strategy number 1 worked well for me :-) There wasn´t many interesting moments to tell you about.
Thanks again for taking time for this interview. Do you have any closing words, maybe some thoughts about the future of VTES?
I think we have a lot of new players, and that is great. I hope our number of players grow a lot – many players means much fun :-) The only exception of that is Day 2 at the EC. I prefer a Day 2 tournament woth fewer players. 50 is better than 90 or 70 for me.
KELLY LYONS WINS GRAND PRIX NEW ORLEANS 2024!
The fourth installment of the Gulf Coast Roast Grand Prix circuit was played on October 14 with 18 players.
Read the full report: Grand Prix New Orleans 2024
VINCENT RIPOLL IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF FRANCE!
This tournament was played in Villeurbanne on October 19 with 50 players.
Read the full report: France National Championship 2024
KEITH LIM IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND!
36 players gathered in Sydney, Australia, for this event on October 26.
Read the full report: Australia/New Zealand Continental Championship 2024
MARCUS BERG IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF SWEDEN!
30 Methuselahs turned up in Stockholm for this tournament on October 26.
Read the full report: Sweden National Championship 2024
The full art promo created for this event.
FESTIVO DELLO ESTINTO PART 6 - A SABBAT STORYLINE TOURNAMENT
Some words from Jorge Cerdá and friends, the organisers of Festivo dello Estinto, a big storyline event in Zaragoza, Spain, that took place on October 16:
More than eighty blood-thirsty souls arrived at the venue to battle to the death at the sixth edition of the Festivo dello Estinto. Next day, those very same souls left with a sense of joy and community, full to the brim. Let me show you:
The Festivo dello Estinto is not your typical European, national, or whatever big tournament you name; it’s a call to brothers to experience the living history surrounding our beloved game. Among the attendees were families, partners, newcomers, and children, all gathered to enjoy a weekend with friends that you’re lucky to see even a few times each year. In some sense, VTES is just an excuse for this big family to come together for a weekend.
Two new blood cainites with their sires!
The event was held at Camping de Zaragoza, a wonderful spot surrounded by nature where you can rent a bungalow or stay at the cozy hostel. This, of course, was the perfect opportunity for cheeky nocturnal visits from one place to another, waking up a bunch of friends to share experiences and pints of beer. It was also a fantastic place to explore the city for those who didn’t attend the main matches of the tournament.
Let me explain a bit: the Festivo dello Estinto is an annual tournament based on an unofficial storyline, and it’s the only storyline-based tournament still active in the world. In fact, organizers record anecdotes that happen at the tables in an effort to include some in the chronicles that are written after the event, to be shared in the following year.
Some of the rules set by Zaragoza’s archbishopric (remember, this is the haven of Lucita, Owain Evans, and other powerful Cainites!) for Saturday were as follows: players needed to fill at least 25% of their crypt with Sabbat vampires, and Sabbat minions could hunt with +1 to hunt and +1 stealth. There were also a few other mechanics not seen in the official VTES rule set, enough to drastically alter the metagame (for further reading, visit this website).
After three rounds and a grand finale, Francesc Ros emerged as the conquering winner with his Tremere, fighting against Oriol Pubill’s anarchs, who strove to control the city. Iván Bernal’s Tzimisces, Guillermo Lluch’s Blood Brothers, and Javier de Haro’s crazy-ass Maris Streck were also in the final fight.
Finalists: Guillermo Lluch, Iván Bernal, Javier de Haro, Francesc Ros and Oriol Pubill.
On Sunday, with our undead brains filled with alcohol and memories from the previous day, we held yet another tournament called Blood buff (inspired by the “Fast Hands” format), also with unique rules. This one transformed the game into an absolute frenzy of bleed and speed: twelve transfers were given to each player before the game even began, along with other changes to make the tables turn at a diabolical pace. For example, the final game lasted only 17 minutes!
After all, the real highlight that day was the massive barbecue feast we had for everyone. Massive queues, let me tell you. Did I not say that VTES was only an excuse?
I mean, they had to do something of use during the weekend, right?
At the end of the day, we know what this game is really about. It’s just a channel, a conduit, if you will, for friends to reunite. A perfect opportunity to meet new people (shout-out to all the geeks who made the journey from all around the country, and even from Portugal!). I’d like to end this report by thanking the Quinto Elemento and Estalia Córdoba stores for making the prizes not only possible but very appealing too.
I can’t forget Mariia Todorova, who did a stunning job illustrating some special cards, nor Txogitxu and Jonathan, who provided the unstoppable flood of meat for the barbecue.
Jonathan, Mariia Todorova and Iñigo.
Zaragoza’s primogeniture: Esto es más que un juego (It’s more than a game).
Special thanks to Black Chantry for making our dreams come true once again with the creation of a full-art version for Festivo dello Estinto – truly a masterpiece!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: OCTOBER 2024
• A FANTASTIC team of German volunteers showed VTES to many interested people at Asmodee´s booth at the Spiel Essen 2024 game fair. This was a great success - BIG thanks to these noble souls!
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• Essen held the "prerelease" sale of the Fifth Edition Lasombra preconstructed deck, officially released on October 31. This is a very special set for Black Chantry, because it is the first one with a new discipline, Oblivion, that is wholly designed by the Black Chantry design team lead by Ben Peal.
• A reminder: Draft is coming back to VTES! Black Chantry has given VEKN National Coordinators the chance of testing a print-on-demand draft kit for 8-10 players. Are you interested in testing this experience?, talk to your National Coordinator.
• Other projects are in progress: 2025 Fifth Edition Sabbat preconstructed decks are moving towards a second round of playtesting soon, the Hecata preconstructed deck will hopefully be in stores in January, the five next New Blood packs (Lasombra, Hecata, Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce) are planned for late first quarter next year.
• More old legacy single cards for print-on-demand will hopefully be up before Christmas shopping is over – Dementation and Temporis stuff have priority.
• The 2-player VTES variant is still on hold for now.
• 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)
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
The annual Paradox World of Darkness "Month of Darkness" has ended. The full list is at the dedicated page, but our top 5 picks to highlight are:
• Vampire: The Masquerade released for Alchemy Virtual Tabletop
• Double Bloodlines 2 Dev Diary entries; #19 about #19 about hunting and feeding and #20 about #20 about blood resonance
• In Memoriam was revealed - a sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade taking the game to another level
• The 20 inch LED Neon wall ankh - a must-have for all true vampires! And yes, there´s a Sabbat ankh too!
• Massive high quality merch-on-demand offer on Amazon: Your choice of World of Darkness graphics on thirts, hoddies and sweaters.
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brasil x25
Canada
Chile
Croatia x2
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland x3
France x2
Germany
Hungary x3
Italy x2
Mexico
Netherlands
Online x2
Poland
Philippines x2
Portugal x3
Singapore x2
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain x13
United Kingdom x2
USA x4
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.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
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