This part of the North American Cup was played in Madison. Report by Josh Whelan, Prince of Madison, Wisconsin:

The Midwest Mayhem National Cup Qualifier drew 14 players, from 5 states, for Wisconsin’s first national tournament in over a decade.

The weekend (which included the Tainted Spring standard tournament - winner Darby Keeney) brought 20 methuselahs together at the University of Wisconsin’s Memorial Union. The final table was a mix of Anarchs, unbreakable S&B, walls & toolboxes, but Karl Schaefer's 5th ed. Ravnos went home with a sweep, the UW Madison cup & the cheese. Special thanks to Darby & Karl for helping bring VTES back to the midwest and Francisco Renteria for bringing Madison back from torpor. Keep an eye on us for more events in 2026.

Standings before the final:
1. Darby Keeney 2 GW 9 VP
2. Karl Schaefer 1 GW 5 VP
3. Chris Laraia 1 GW 4.5 VP
4. Devin McDermott 0 GW 1.5 VP
5. Jeff Lake 2 GW 9.5 VP

 
Final result: Karl Schaefer 5 VP

The tournament winning deck: "My Version" by Darby Keeney and Karl Schaefer

Karls comment: When you're drinking with Darby in Montreal and realize that Anarch Convert is better than Sreelekha, you end up with this version.  The Converts allow you to remove the duplicates; however, to prevent an all Convert opening crypt, Gathii (with the best special) is duplicated.  Phaibun is another good choice, but Gathii's ANI allows you to give ani via Field Training and that's worth more pool damage over the course of the game than Phabun's ability to hand out PRE.  However, Phaibun is better positioned for combat with her special and may be a meta-appropriate choice. Some influence from Andy Smith and Kelly Lyons in earlier versions, but this one eschews most of those changes because the Convert is very multi-purpose for the deck.

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Doc Martina         6 ANI OBF for pre      Ravnos:7
1x Luciano Carvalho    6 ANI OBF pre          Ravnos:7
1x Roberto Rivamonte   6 ANI OBF PRE          Ravnos:7
2x Gathii              5 ANI PRE obf          Ravnos:7
1x Phaibun             5 OBF PRE ani          Ravnos:7
1x Jean-François       4 ani obf pre          Ravnos:7
1x Zafira              4 PRE obf              Ravnos:7
1x Oleg Kaprizov       3 obf pre              Ravnos:7
3x Anarch Convert      1                      Caitiff:ANY

Library (78 cards)
Master (17; 9 trifle)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Club Illusion
3x Dabbler
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
6x Villein
2x Week of Nightmares

Action (21)
18x Break the Bonds
3x Field Training

Action Modifier (36)
3x Elder Impersonation
3x Faceless Night
2x Lost in Crowds
12x Memory Rift
4x Power of One
2x True Love's Face
10x Visions of Gehenna

Action Modifier/Combat (4)
2x Hide the Mind
2x Swallowed by the Night

Thanks to Josh for reporting, and thanks to all organisers, sponsors (Black Chantry Productions and KGS Cards) and of course the players!