This event was played at the Origins game fair in Columbus, Ohio on June 21 with 62 players. Reported by Ben Peal:

Finalists after Round 3:
1. Mark Figuerola (2 GW 8.5 VP)
2. Adrian Ruiz (2 GW 7 VP)
3. Martin Weinmayer (2 GW 6.5 VP)
4. Marcus Acevedo, Sr. (2 GW 6 VP)
5. Kelly Shultz (2 GW 5.5 VP, won die roll)

Finalists: Mark, Adrian, Martin, Marcus and Kelly.

Final table seating order and deck types:

Read all about the exiting final in the interview below!

Final result: Martin Weinmayer 1 GW 4 VP, Marcus Acevedo, Sr. 1 VP. Congratulations Martin!

Tournament winning deck: “Gangrel Death Star” by Martin Weinmayer

Crypt (12 cards)
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 André the Manipulator 6 FOR PRO Gangrel:5
1x Martina Srnankova 6 FOR PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for 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 (22; 4 trifle)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Backways
1x Carfax Abbey
2x Club Illusion
2x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Ecoterrorists
2x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Life Boon
1x Papillon
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
4x Villein

Action (9)
1x Fee Stake: Seattle
8x Thing

Political Action (2)
2x Revolutionary Council

Equipment (2)
2x Heart of Nizchetus

Retainer (5)
1x Crypt's Sons
1x Mr. Winthrop
3x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (4)
1x Daring the Dawn
2x Earth Control
1x Monkey Wrench

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

Combat (18)
12x Earth Meld
6x Form of Mist

Reaction (24)
6x Bait and Switch
9x Deep Ecology
9x Organized Resistance

Thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!

Player interview: Martin Weinmayer, North American champion 2025

Congratulations Martin! And thanks for agreeing to answer some questions. 

Let’s start with the Week of Nightmares. Did you get a chance to play any of those side events this year?
- I played all of them. I flew in on Sunday and started playing Monday morning—there was no way I was going to miss a single event. I came here to play :D

How did they go for you?
- At first, I used the events to experiment with different deck types. The American meta was very bleed-heavy—around 60% of the decks I saw were some form of stealth-bleed. I tried Lutz von Hohenzollern vote and a Diana vote deck, but I got ousted quickly. In my first 9 games, 8 were against bleed decks. It was wild.

And—be honest—isn’t it exhausting to play VTES for that many days in a row?
- It is. Especially at my advanced age of 48! I was staying in a ten-player house with Karl Schaefer, Darby Keeney, and the rest of the crew. Those crazy guys even had energy left at night to play Battlestar Galactica after a full day of VTES. I was honestly a little sad I didn’t join them, but my mind was all in on VTES—I wanted to conserve every bit of focus for the next day.

Do you treat these events more like warmups or serious testing grounds?
- Very serious. I’d been chasing Darby Keeney on the world rankings for almost a year. Every win in the Week of Nightmares events brought me closer to my goal of reaching World Rank #1. So while the atmosphere is fun, I took each tournament with full focus.

You picked a Gangrel “Death Star” deck for the NAC main event this time (see deck list above). You’ve piloted everything from Tremere walls to Stanislava legends—so what drew you to this archetype?
- The Gangrel Anarch deck is one of the most versatile decks you can play right now. I still consider it god-tier—just a little bit ahead of anything else competitively viable.

Honestly, I also left my Nephandus wall deck back in Austria by mistake. Once I saw how bleed-heavy the American meta was, the Gangrel deck felt like the natural choice. It was absolutely a meta call.

Have you played this build a lot before?
- Yes, I’ve played it in several European tournaments. But it’s usually a highly contested archetype. In one event in Hungary, four out of five finalists were on some version of this deck. Needless to say, the one person not playing it ended up winning :D

What were you expecting in the metagame—and did that line up with what actually showed up?
- I didn’t expect quite so much bleed. That definitely caught me by surprise. But then again, it’s been seven years since I last played in the U.S., so I had to re-learn the meta a bit.

I think the prevalence of two-round formats in the U.S. pushes the environment to be more aggressive. When you only have two chances to make the final, it's better to bring a deck that can sweep a table than one that just survives.

What are core strengths of this Gangrel deck? What gives it trouble?
- Its biggest strength is consistency. It’s very hard to oust and performs well against most archetypes. But it has a serious risk of running into timeouts, especially at slower tables. It also struggles against dedicated block decks or the right kind of combat-heavy predator.

Who’s the ideal prey? Worst predator?
- Ideal prey is any kind of bleed deck—its comparable easy to oust and creates cross-table pressure. Worst predator is efficient combat. You don’t have great answers to consistent Immortal Grapple rush.

What do you think is most misunderstood about playing it well?
- People think it’s just a powerful bleed machine, but it really requires smart tempo management. Timeout is a very real threat, especially if your table is slow.

You can also get jammed on masters or actions early on—so your discard phase decisions are critical. You need to sculpt your hand carefully from the first turn.

What was your experience during the prelims? You’re no stranger to big tournament tables—how did these ones treat you?
- The usual pattern held true. In most major tournaments, you can expect something like: one table you should win, one where you really have to fight for it, and one where winning is unlikely. That was exactly my experience here.

Any tough matchups or wild moments that stood out?
- My toughest table was definitely Round 2—Darby Keeney, the world’s #1 ranked player, was sitting directly as my prey. That matchup essentially decided which of us would make the finals.

Fortunately, I found an ally in my grandpredator, and after a brutal mid-game struggle, we managed to get Darby ousted. I won the resulting 1v1 to secure the game win. It was a high-pressure table—exactly the kind of challenge you remember.

Was there a table where things went completely off-script?
- Yes—my first table was a disaster. I had a Cock Robin multi-rush deck coming straight for me, with Immortal Grapples and Carrion Crows. I was inches away from getting ousted early but managed to hold on just long enough to scrape out 0.5 VP on a timeout.

Not pretty—but surviving those kinds of tables is what keeps you alive in the tournament.

Walk us through the final. The lineup was
Martin Weinmayer (3rd Seed): Gangrel Anarch toolbox > 
Mark Figuerola (Top Seed): Ministry Anarch bleed > 
Kelly Schultz (5th Seed): Lutz von Hohenzollern vote > 
Marcus Sr. Acevedo (4th Seed): Malkavian G6 bleed > 
Adrian Ruiz (2nd Seed): Tremere G6 bleed > 
Did you get a say in seating, and what was your thinking behind your spot?
- As the 3rd seed, I had the opportunity to choose my spot after Kelly and Adrian were placed. I chose to have Kelly's vote deck as my prey, hoping the two top-seeded bleed decks would end up sitting as my prey. That setup gave me the best odds of staying alive long enough to position myself for the win.

Were there any players or decks that worried you in that setup?
- The biggest potential threat was Mark’s Ministry bleed deck—as top seed, if he got momentum early, he could oust three players before anyone could stop him.

On the other side, Kelly’s Lutz deck had the tools to bloat hard and lock the table down if left unchecked. If he managed to set up comfortably with Protected Resources or heavy voting power, things could spiral fast.

So I had to keep both of them in check without drawing too much heat myself.

How was the early game shaping up?
- Honestly, everything was going according to plan. Mark (Ministry bleed) couldn’t quite oust Kelly (Lutz vote), but he got him low enough that Kelly was willing to strike a deal with me to take Mark out. That gave me my first VP—and control of the pacing from that point forward.

What was your sense of the table mid-game?
- With one VP from Mark already secured, and Kelly’s vote engine never really kicking in, I was feeling super confident. It became a matter of staying calm and not making any unforced errors. The pieces were in place—I just had to execute cleanly.

Did you feel confident early on—or was there a turning point where you thought, “Okay, I can take this”?
- I felt confident from the start. And by mid-game, I thought: I can only lose this if something completely insane happens.

Of course, this is VTES we’re talking about—the game where insane things do happen :D So I kept reminding myself: stay focused, don’t get cocky, and don’t get caught off-guard by something weird.

Stepping back—how did you get into VTES? You’ve been part of the game since the mid-90s, right?
- Yeah—back in 1993, a friend introduced me to Magic: The Gathering. About a year later, that same group of friends started playing VTES. It was brand new at the time, and we were totally hooked—just 4 or 5 of us, exploring all the crazy cards and combinations together. It was something special right from the start.

Was it love at first play, or did it grow on you?
- Definitely love at first sight. It’s hard to describe what makes the game so compelling—it’s the whole package.

What really sets VTES apart is how emotionally engaging it is. You’re constantly navigating tension, risk, politics, betrayal… it feels like more than a card game. That emotional rollercoaster is what’s kept me coming back for decades.

Do you have a regular local group, or do you mostly play online these days?
- I’m very proud of our local group in Vienna. Our prince, Richard Stefan Utner, has done an amazing job growing and organizing the community. And his father, Richard Utner, has been around as long as I have—he’s guided the Austrian VTES scene for nearly three decades as National Coordinator.

In addition to local games, I also play a lot of online VTES to stay sharp and expose myself to different metas. It’s been great for training and refining strategies beyond the local environment. One of my long-term goals is to travel and play in Brazil, Asia, and Australia over the next decade. I’ve already learned a few tricks from those regions just by playing with them online.

Are there any strong local meta trends in Austria?
- Like in many local scenes, combat is a big factor—no surprise there. But when we’re training for major tournaments, we’ll often set up practice tables tailored to competitive deck archetypes, to simulate real tournament conditions. It’s a great way to prepare and evolve.

But you’re famous everywhere. You’ve played (and won!) tournaments across Europe, North America, and online. People always wonder: how do you manage that?
- The short answer? I’m single.

Freedom has always been important to me—but I’ll be honest, I never really found it in the few relationships I’ve had. I’m a fan of Taoist philosophy: no light without darkness, no joy without sorrow. So if someone envies the freedom I have to travel and play VTES nonstop, they should also know—it can be lonely at times, too.

What keeps you traveling and playing so consistently?
- It’s simple: passion and competition. Even after more than 30 years, I’m still hungry to play and improve. The game still excites me.

Is it the competition, the community, or something else?
- It’s definitely both. I love the challenge, but I also deeply enjoy the community. One thing I’ve especially cherished is traveling with my mother to tournaments. While I’m playing cards, she’s exploring the city. Afterward, we usually take a day to enjoy it together—it’s a perfect balance of fun, family, and travel.

How do you balance that with life outside the game?
- There is no balance :D

You won NAC back in 2017 as well—how has VTES evolved since then? Let’s start with the U.S. scene—what’s different now?
- One big change is the rise of net decking. Top players are sharing their decklists more often, and social media spreads them fast.

VTES still has an insane amount of diversity—that’s one of its core strengths—but you can definitely see more people playing “templates” rather than building and innovating from scratch. It’s made the scene a bit more streamlined, especially in Europe but U.S. is not far behind.

Globally, do you think players are stronger? Are metas tighter?
- In some ways, yes—veteran players are stronger than ever, with more tools and experience at their disposal.

But at the same time, we’ve seen a huge influx of new players, which is great for the game’s future. They still have a lot to learn, and that gap in experience can really show at big events—but the energy they bring is refreshing.

And with Black Chantry in charge now, how has deck diversity or game tempo changed?
- I’m honestly very happy with what Black Chantry has done. Getting the game back in print was a massive achievement—and having five dedicated, passionate VTES players running things is probably the best thing that could’ve happened. They've managed to modernize the game without losing its soul, and that’s not easy.

Looking ahead: what do you see in VTES’s future? You’ve seen eras rise and fall. Do you think VTES is still growing?
- Absolutely. I think we’re in a great spot, with a very bright future ahead. Everywhere I go—whether in Europe, the U.S., or online—I see returning veterans and new players sitting down at the same tables. Tournament attendance is up across the board. That’s a sign of a healthy, growing game.

What can Black Chantry or VEKN do better?
- I’d love to see more support for the game’s volunteers—especially Princes, National Coordinators, and tournament organizers. These are the people who keep the game alive at the grassroots level. More recognition or product support could really help them feel appreciated and stay motivated.

I’d also like to see closer ties with the World of Darkness community. The vampire theme is such a powerful hook—it’s a great way to get new people curious about VTES.

What role should players take to help grow the game?
- It’s simple: bring a friend. Introduce someone to the game. And if you’ve got a local Prince, help them out—organizing events takes a lot of energy, and a little support goes a long way.

Are there specific formats or innovations you think could help?
- I’m really curious to see what the 1v1 format brings. It probably won’t appeal as much to us veteran players, but it could be a great entry point for new folks who want to learn the game in a more accessible way.

If someone wants to get really good at VTES—what’s one habit or mindset that makes the difference?
- That’s not just a VTES lesson—it’s a life lesson: Motivation and passion are the keys to success. If you love the game, and you care enough to improve, everything else will follow.

Thanks for the interview Martin, and good luck in the future!