Finalists: Ruben Feldman, Ruben Vidaña, Miguel Vega, Jaddou Nasra and Martin Weinmayer.
Reported by Ginés Quiñonero, VEKN Inner Circle:
On Saturday, November 16, 2024, 89 Methuselahs gathered in Palma de Mallorca to participate in the Iberian Grand Prix, held at the Meliá Marina Hotel.
In addition to Spanish Methuselahs, the event also welcomed participants from Austria, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Canada.
Rumor has it that some attendees believed they spotted Gnaeus Aemilius Augustinus, Rinaldo Albizzi, and even the justicar Ian Carfax among the event’s organizers. However, these rumors remain unconfirmed.
Organizers (from left to right): Gaspar Vaquer (judge), Ginés Quiñonero (head judge),
Moisés Ferrer (graphic designer), Carlos Lucas (judge and programmer), José María Prieto
(judge and streamer), Xavier Ortiz (programmer), and Selene Cifre (photographer).
PREPARATIONS
The tournament had a dedicated website, created by Carlos Lucas and Xavier Ortiz, which displayed a countdown to the event, available slots, and allowed players to submit their decklists directly to the organizers. This feature helped expand the archive of tournament decks.
Knowing that some players had evening flights on Saturday, it was crucial for the tournament to start on time and for each round to adhere to the scheduled times.
A common cause of delays in large tournaments is the manual player check-in process, where organizers confirm attendance one by one, often leading to long queues.
For this event, an ad hoc check-in system was implemented using QR codes. Players received a QR code after registering through the website, which they showed upon arrival. The app, developed by Xavier Ortiz and Carlos Lucas, scanned the codes and automatically registered the players into the Archon spread sheet.
To avoid delays between rounds, the seating arrangements for each table were published on the event website, allowing players to quickly locate their table and seating position.
THE TOURNAMENT
Once all the Methuselahs were seated in two conference rooms (one with 14 tables, the other with 4), the battle for victory began. Each Methuselah displayed tactics honed over centuries of practice, making for a fierce competition.
Despite the intensity of the games, the atmosphere remained friendly, filled with camaraderie and humor. After all, it’s best to bare your fangs only when the moment is right.
During each round, one of the games was live-streamed. These recordings are available on YouTube via the following links:
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After the first two rounds, players took a break to replenish their strength before continuing the struggle.
At the start of the third round, it was announced that winners of this round would receive a special prize. Additionally, Raúl Perfecto (Prince of Zaragoza) shared an emotional announcement about an initiative led by the Spanish player community to raise funds for victims of the torrential rains that hit Valencia on October 29. Copies of a fundraising card were distributed among several Methuselahs to share with players in their respective communities.
Once the third round concluded, the general standings and finalists were announced via the event website. In the larger conference room, prizes were awarded to non-finalist players, followed by a raffle for additional prizes among participants who had not won awards.
While preparations for the final round were underway in the smaller room, many players took the opportunity to play casual games, which continued until the conference rooms officially closed.
FINAL
The finalist Methuselahs, in order of ranking, were as follows:
1. Miguel Vega Piniella – 3 GW, 9 VP
2. Ruben Feldman – 2 GW, 9.5 VP
3. Rubén Vidaña – 2 GW, 8.5 VP
4. Martin Weinmayer – 2 GW, 7 VP
5. Jaddou Nasra – 2 GW, 6.5 VP
And the seating order was as follows:
The final was live-streamed and can be watched on YouTube.
Martin Weinmeyer’s comments on the final:
As expected, my position as the 4th seed wasn’t exactly ideal. (Note to self: aim for a higher seed next time you try to win a Grand Prix. 😅) My seating placed me with Matasuntha as my prey and the infamous Ravnos Clown Car as my grandprey.
The problem with the Clown Car deck is that if you don’t shut it down early, it eventually reaches a point where ousting it becomes nearly impossible. To secure the game win, I needed to oust both my prey and the Clown Car. This resulted in a slow, tightrope-like game where I had to let my prey keep the Clown Car in check while carefully managing my own position.
Meanwhile, the top seed, a !Tremere deck, put a lot of pressure on the Ravnos Anarch bleed deck. The latter found itself in trouble against my arsenal of 16 bleed-bounce cards, which made bleeding me a nightmare.
At one point, I offered Rubén (playing the Ravnos Anarch bleed deck) a Life Boon in exchange for his help in ousting my prey. With few other options to shift the table dynamics, he agreed. Unfortunately, Matasuntha proved too strong for our plans, blocking every bleed attempt and sending everyone to torpor. Over the course of the game, Matasuntha generated about 10 pool thanks to her incredible ability, completely frustrating any attempts to break through.
While it was a bit disheartening to lose to her, I was genuinely impressed by the deck’s synergy and the creative card combinations. Both the top seed (!Tremere) and the Matasuntha player are from Asturias, in northern Spain—a fantastic showing for their region.
Congratulations to the winner and all the finalists for an amazing game!
The tournament winning deck: “Lerne & CO” by Miguel Vega
Crypt (12 cards)
4x Lernean 10 AUS CEL DOM THA for pro cardinal Tremere antitribu:4
3x Orlando Oriundus 9 AUS DOM THA obf bishop Tremere antitribu:4
2x Ladislas Toth, The Torch 7 AUS DOM THA for archbishop Tremere antitribu:3
1x Eric Kressida 8 AUS DOM PRO THA cel bishop Tremere antitribu:4
1x Frondator 5 AUS dom tha bishop Tremere antitribu:4
1x Selena 6 AUS DOM THA Tremere antitribu:3
Library (90 cards)
Master (19; 7 trifle)
1x Black Forest Base
1x Coven, The
1x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Erciyes Fragments, The
1x Fortitude
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Sudden Reversal
1x Vessel
4x Villein
1x Wider View
1x Zillah's Valley
Action (17)
1x Abbot
1x Biothaumaturgic Experiment
1x Dominate Kine
1x Far Mastery
7x Govern the Unaligned
1x Magic of the Smith
3x Scouting Mission
2x Under Siege
Political Action (4)
2x Banishment
1x Reinforcements
1x Reins of Power
Ally (2)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
1x Mylan Horseed
Equipment (4)
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
1x Seal of Veddartha
Retainer (1)
1x Mr. Winthrop
Action Modifier (19)
1x Daring the Dawn
1x Enkil Cog
2x Forced March
3x Foreshadowing Destruction
7x Freak Drive
4x Mirror Walk
1x Seduction
Action Modifier/Reaction (1)
1x Murmur of the False Will
Combat (3)
2x Theft of Vitae
1x Wind Dance
Reaction (20)
5x Deflection
5x Eyes of Argus
3x My Enemy's Enemy
2x Obedience
2x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
2x Telepathic Misdirection
Many thanks to everyone for coming and making this a memorable event!
Event sponsored by:
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