Report by Norman Brown, with comments from the winner:

So Gulf Coast Roast Weekend Started with a bang Thursday Night, March 7th, Vidor, Texas. We followed up with a tournament Friday Night on March 8th with the Fire Dance in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Main Event, The Gulf Coast Roast Leg 1- Lafayette LA was all day on Saturday March 9th. On Sunday March 10th, we hosted the final tournament of the weekend, Wind Dance Lafayette, Louisiana. It was like a miniature Week of Nightmares.

We began Saturday with Burgers and Daiquiris at Daiquiris Supreme.

The Gulf Coast Roast kicked off at 1 PM with 3 rounds of 2 hours each and an untimed Finals at Sanctuary Games and Comics.  We had 22 players in attendance with the farthest traveling player, Ian Lee, traveling all the way from San Jose, California to participate.

It was a brutally fought tournament, but we took our time after the second round to enjoy some crawfish etouffee that was home-cooked in my kitchen by Paula Brown.

The final contestants were
1. Justin Shackleford (Ghede Typhonic Beast) 2 GW 8.5 VP
2. Sidney Conklin (Ravnos Powerbleed) 2 GW 8 VP
3. Kelly Lyons (Gangrel Skullduggery) 2 GW 7 VP
4. Clint Jordan (V5 Malkavian Stealth & Bleed) 1 GW 6 VP
5. Ian Lee (Presence 8-cap Vote) 1 GW 5 VP

Kelly Lyons emerged victorious with 4 VP in the final!! Sidney got 1 VP.

Here is Kelly’s winning deck and his comments on the finals:

Deck Name: "Water Dog - Unscrupulous Behavior in the Wild"

"I started with skullduggery. I just wanted a skullduggery deck. But, like most Gangrel Anarch Decks it morphed into more and more THINGS. The card is just too good. But, I stuck to my guns and kept the premise. Skullduggery Bleed into a Monkey Wrench. The crypt is based on Protean. Best discipline for Anarchs 5th Edition in my opinion. Just so versatile.

FINAL TABLE: Just like anything else in life you have to get a little lucky but you also need to make your own luck. I set myself up in the seating to possibly get some help from another combat rush deck (GHEDE). 1.) Clint - Malkavain Bleed 2.) Me - Gangrel Skullduggery 3.) Sid - Ravnos Bleed 4.) Ian - Politics 5.) Justin - Ghede... This seating arrangement favored me. Thing could happen unopposed. The nail in the coffin was when Sid decided he had enough Gangrels and he wanted help, so he propelled the situation by playing Club Illusion. It helped his vampires but it also helped mine. Sid crushed Ian and weakened Justin. Clint was never able to totally ruin me. Ghede had done his job. However, I did take four 6-Bleeds (reduced to 4) in a row (Malkavians can be resilient) . Deep Ecology and the use of Thing to transfer up gave me elbow room. I took Sid and Justin out in one turn. I finished Clint a turn later.

Thanks to Norm Brown for hosting. Congrats to my Vidor Vampires. Three Vidorians at the final table. Shout out to Black Chantry!!! Great Playmat and Promo!!! Thanks!!!"

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Casey Snyder 6 PRO ani cel for baron Gangrel:6
1x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x Martina Srnankova 6 FOR PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Crow 5 ANI for pro tha Gangrel:5
1x Dario Ziggler 5 FOR ani pro tha Gangrel:6
1x Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for Gangrel:6
1x Mickey Wheeler 5 ani cel for pro Gangrel:6
1x Hanna Nokelainen 4 ani for pro Gangrel:6
1x Nathan Turner 4 PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Indira 3 PRO Gangrel:6
1x Joaquín de Cádiz 3 for pro Gangrel:6
1x Ruslan Fedorenko 2 pro Gangrel:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (16; 2 trifle)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Backways
1x Club Illusion
1x Ecoterrorists
7x Effective Management
1x Ennoia's Theater
1x Information Highway
2x Wash

Action (28)
2x Rewilding
2x Shattering
6x Skullduggery
18x Thing

Action Modifier (12)
4x CrimethInc.
2x Earth Control
6x Monkey Wrench

Action Modifier/Combat (4)
2x Form of the Cobra
2x Rapid Change

Action Modifier/Reaction (2)
2x Form of the Bat

Combat (12)
4x Donnybrook
6x Earth Meld
2x Form of Mist

Reaction (16)
10x Deep Ecology
3x Delaying Tactics
3x Eyes of the Wild

Thanks to Norm for the report - next up in the Guld Coast Roast is Dallas on April 27!

Happy organiser to the left, happy winner to the right.

Report by Tito Teixeira, National Coordinator of Portugal:

On the ninth of March 2024 64 Methuselahs gathered in Lisbon for this year's edition of the Iberian Grand Prix - a few last minute registrations pushed us over the expected limit, but we managed to squeeze another table into the room and find a place for every player. Different decks showed up: many flavours of 'regular' stealth & bleed (Ravnos, Ministry, Malkavian, Lasombra), grinder (Salubri), rush/bleed (Banu Haqim), wall (Gangrel), and also star vampire decks (Enkidu and the Unnamed were seen at a few tables, and the 'Hesha Ruadzhe bleeds for a lot' deck made quite an impression).

All players received t-shirts, playmats, and new art and full bleed promo cards. Noora Hirvonen was also present to sign and sell her prints between rounds. The preliminary rounds were very well balanced - after 2 rounds no player was able to get more than one GW and several tables had timed out, so the field was still very much open for round 3.

Finally, at the end of round 3 four players had managed to get their second GW - the fifth seed qualified for the final with 1 GW and 6.5 VPs.

Standings before final (top 5 players + their GWs and VPs from the first rounds):
1. Edouard Menneson 2 GW, 7.5 VP
2. João Miguel Rodrigues Servolo 2 GW, 8 VP
3. Magnus Söder 2 GW, 5.5 VP
4. Hector Javier Ordonez Garcia 2 GW, 5.5 VP
5. Rodinei Teixeira de Camargo 1 GW, 6.5 VP

The Gangrel made a good showing and managed to get three spots in the final (each using different strategies) - the remaining spots were secured by Magnus Söder with a Capuchin star deck and João Sérvolo with a Ravnos S&B deck.

All the Gangrel players initially agreed on which minions to bring out to avoid contesting with each other. It was soon apparent that João had put himself in a tough spot - he had difficulty getting much past his prey's defenses while Magnus was gearing up for big bleeds and suffering little from his own predator. Hector and Edouard tested each other with claws early on, but quickly recovered and got back to a balanced position. After a few rounds João was running out of pool and defenses and had to lunge for the oust, but Rodinei was able to defend himself and survive with a bit of pool to take his own shot - he made significant damage to his prey and got his VP. Edouard kept chipping away at his prey with small bleeds, but Magnus still had a significant amount of pool and was looking at 2 quick VPs: João ran out of bleed reduction cards and was bled out, but Edouard was keeping a Major Boon in hand for most of the game - he played it on João for 9 pool, giving him enough to survive the onslaught.

João had another shot at his prey and this time he managed to get him (giving Edouard his first VP) - Edouard had also given him a friendly push by contesting one of Rodinei's defenders. Edouard had managed to run his prey out of wakes, but Magnus was still looking strong enough to get his VP and turn it around so he didn't attempt to block any of Edouard's bleeds of 2, until Edouard surprised him with a Monkey Wrench on his final bleed to push him out. João still tried to mount a final offensive, but he was out of cards and unable to do any significant damage before Edouard finally bled him out.

So, 4 VPs to Edouard and 1 VP to Rodinei. Congratulations Edouard!

The tournament winning deck: “PROWall post-EC”

Crypt (12)
1x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel:6
2x Casey Snyder 6 PRO ani cel for baron Gangrel:6
2x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x Martina Srnankova 6 FOR PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for Gangrel:6
1x Mickey Wheeler 5 ani cel for pro Gangrel:6
1x Hanna Nokelainen 4 ani for pro Gangrel:6
1x Nathan Turner 4 PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Indira 3 PRO Gangrel:6
1x Ruslan Fedorenko 2 pro Gangrel:6

Library (78 cards)
Master (18; 2 trifle)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
1x Carfax Abbey
2x Club Illusion
2x Direct Intervention
1x Ecoterrorists
2x Gangrel Revel
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Life Boon
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
2x Villein
1x Zoo Hunting Ground

Action (9)
1x Constant Revolution
8x Thing

Equipment (1)
1x Ivory Bow

Political Action (2)
1x Domain Challenge
1x Reckless Agitation

Retainer (4)
4x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (1)
1x Monkey Wrench

Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Form of the Bat

Combat (16)
2x Claws of the Dead
6x Donnybrook
3x Earth Meld
4x Hell-for-Leather

Reaction (24)
5x Bait and Switch
6x Deep Ecology
2x Eyes of the Wild
9x Organized Resistance
2x Protection Racket

Black Chantry and Ultra Pro provided valuable support and sponsorship. Many thanks also to VIP Zurique Executive Hotel, Mercadia, and Versus Gamecenter for their hosting and support.

Also, about the Portuguese League tournament:

The following day 29 players came back for seconds: there was a Portuguese League tournament scheduled at Versus Gamecenter, and many GP players showed up for a few more rounds. This was a 2R+final tournament, but non-rated tables were set up for those who wanted another round while the top 5 players played the final - prizes were given out to the winners of these tables, so most participants ended up getting a deck or pack.

Rodinei was again amongst the finalists, along with Samuel Santos and three Austrian players: Martin Weinmayer, Richard Utner (father) and Richard Utner (son, image below). Richard took 4 VPs playing a Capuchin deck (quite similar to the one that made the final the previous day) while Martin got 1 VP with his Nephandi.

Thanks to Tito for this report, and thanks to all players and organisers for this great event. The next Grand Prix is in Paris on April 20!