This national championship was played in Coimbra on March 7 with 57 participants. Reported by Tiago Gonçalves, VEKN Prince of Coimbra, with comment from the champion:
Here's the final table with standings from preliminary rounds and final results:
1. Alejandro Rodriguez (Spain) 3 GW 11 VP
2. Augusto Ponce de León (Spain) 2 GW 8 VP
3. Marco Mata (Portugal) 2 GW 7 VP
4. Raúl Perfecto (Spain) 2 GW 7 VP
5. Sandro Rodrigues (Portugal) 2 GW 6.5 VP
Augusto Ponce de León kindly provided a report of the final:
I had played before against Alex's deck and I know how fast it is, so had little expectations about the final. Being second seed allowed me at least to be predator of the 2 ravnos decks. If spectres wanted to be my predator, they would have to fight with Raul's brujahs: I hoped maybe that would reduce some pressure over me. Alex placed himself as my predator.
I was 4th player to influence (really bad as I got no Dreams to get Juliet out on the second turn). My crypt wasn't brilliant as I got 2 Juliets, 1 Andi and 1 Donny (only Juliet with superior OBF).
Juliet got out at 3rd turn and next turn played Govern superior, so Andi was out. By then, my situation was already bad: Only 8 pool and 3 vampires and 3 Spectres behind...
I asked the other players if any chance to collaborate in ousting Alex, as next turn I was dead and the 2 Ravnos had little chances as prey.
Raúl asked Sandro to not to put pressure on him til Alex was dead and Sandro accepted. Sandro bled for 5 and was deflected by Raúl to Alex, who was left on 10 pool. Then, Raúl played 2 Reckless Agitation that ended Alex: A new world opened in front of me.
I started doing malkavian things getting Donny out thru Govern superior and putting some pressure on my prey. Raúl had accepted to leave me alone a couple of turns to defend himself against his predator. My prey, Marco and Sandro had been putting a lot of pressure on their preys and Sandro was low of pool so that any mistake could be the last.
Final was decided really fast: Raúl rushed me with his 2 vampires but I had in hand 1 Second Tradition and 2 Obediences so he could not torporice my vampires or rotate cards.
My prey ousted Sandro and I deflected twice back to Raúl (I didn't mind who died as I only had to get 2VPs to win). Finally ousted my prey and Raúl was only 1 pool left. He torporized Juliet and bled.
I was left with only the 2 princes and no stealth in hand and Raúl had 2 barons and the edge. I had 1 KRC in hand and Camarilla Conclave in play, but no stealth in hand, so no big chances to take his last pool. I chose go big or go home and Donny launched the KRC... Huge surprise: Raúl said "No block..." KRC passed as I reduced the votes of his barons with Camarilla Conclave and I won the final.
Thanks a lot to all players that came to Coimbra to enjoy a great VTES weekend and to Tiago for taking care of us and organizing a great NC. Hope I didn't bore you too much and see you in Alcalá!
Tournament winning deck: “Malkavian Pols” by Heghemon
Crypt (12 cards)
4x Juliet Parr 9 AUS DOM OBF cel pot justicar Malkavian:7
3x Alexander Silverson 8 AUS DOM OBF pre prince Malkavian:6
2x Jason "Son" Newberry 7 AUS DOM OBF pre primogen Malkavian:6
2x Andi Liu 6 DOM aus obf pre prince Malkavian:6
1x Donny Kowalczyk 6 AUS cel dom obf prince Malkavian:6
Library (90 cards)
Master (10)
2x Camarilla Conclave
1x Dark Influences
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
Event (1)
1x Waiting Game
Action (14)
14x Govern the Unaligned
Political Action (17)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
5x Camarilla's Iron Fist
1x Expulsion
4x Kine Resources Contested
1x My Kin Against the World
4x Parity Shift
Action Modifier (24)
2x Bonding
3x Conditioning
5x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
1x Foreshadowing Destruction
4x Forgotten Labyrinth
5x Lost in Crowds
2x Telepathic Vote Counting
Action Modifier/Combat (1)
1x Hide the Mind
Reaction (23)
8x Deflection
2x Eyes of Argus
1x Mental Maze
4x Obedience
3x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
4x Second Tradition: Domain
And, since I'm allowed to add a few words, my own wrap up:
As the long night of Æminium unfolded, the fate of the Regent, and perhaps of the city itself, was finally revealed.
On March 7th 2026, 57 Kindred heeded the call of Æminium and gathered to discover the Regent’s fate. The Custodian welcomed them and moderated the heated discussions, but as the night progressed and the intrigues unfolded, only five remained when the final hour approached. And then, as the ritual concluded, four faded into torpor… and only one remained to learn what the future held for the city.
The event took place at Taberna TopDeck, with players attending from five different countries, all eager to claim the title of Portuguese Champion.
Participants faced each other across three preliminary rounds, where some players quickly stood out, securing strong game wins and accumulating impressive victory point totals.
In the end, congratulations go to Augusto Ponce de León, the new Portuguese Champion, for his victory. We look forward to welcoming you again next year to defend your title.
As a final note, I would like to thank all the players for their excellent sportsmanship throughout the entire event. Their attitude greatly contributed to the friendly atmosphere and helped make the tournament an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I'd also like to thank our sponsors: Cónclave Ibérico, Estalia Córdoba, Tokens & Tales and UltraPro for their awesome prize support and Meeple Armor for the finalist deckbox and trophies.
Thanks to Tiago, Augusto and everyone else involved in this event and report!