Reported by Kenan Emilijan Kulenović, VEKN Prince of Zagreb, with comment by the winner:

Hi everyone, Kenan, Prince of Zagreb here. On April 18th 2026, the Croatian VTES community hosted the country's first ever Grand Prix tournament. The event was held at Hotel Dubrovnik in the heart of the capital city of Zagreb, on Ban Jelačić Square – a venue we chose despite the higher price tag, wanting our debut as Grand Prix hosts to mark a special occasion.

54 Methuselahs gathered for the main event, travelling from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Slovakia and Finland – twelve countries in total. Many were old friends and acquaintances, but a large number of players were in a Zagreb tournament for the first time, and we were very happy to meet them.

Now, over to Milos for the full weekend from the winner's perspective:

Hello everybody, this is Milos Krstic with the GP Zagreb report.

Introduction

So we start our journey from Belgrade to Zagreb (some 430 km) by car on Friday afternoon with the intention of settling down in an Airbnb and having a good rest before the Saturday GP. 

My roadmates Milan Popovic (designated driver) Goran Ivanovic (accommodation expert) and Petar Kalmar (Slovak representative in Serbia, whose special insight was invaluable later on) made the travel and stay pleasant and were a great source of support for me in the upcoming tournaments. The trip took a little longer than we anticipated, and after some Burger King meals we went to a great ABNB apartment chosen by Goran, some 10 minutes' walk from the tournament venue at the center of Zagreb in Hotel Dubrovnik. We talked a bit and were still choosing decks for tomorrow when fatigue overtook us, so we went to sleep. The morning sun brought with it a promise of a productive day, so off we were to the Grand Prix Zagreb. I was piloting my reliable Gangrel Anarch deck, refined over the years and prepared to take on any player and any deck. Registration went smoothly and without much delay, so soon it was time for the first round. 

Round 1

Martin Weinmayer AUT (Stanislava) -> Dominik Trupcevic SVN (Wall Tremere?) -> Jozef Patrnciak SVK (Animalism Barons) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Djordje Bjelajac SRB (Juliet Parr Vote/Bleed)

With the number 1 player in the world on my table from the start, things did not look good. I opened with some Things and locations while my predator was bleeding me from the 2nd turn and my prey was setting up politics that will do damage to me. Meanwhile, Stanislava gets out and starts setting up her stuff uncontested. Martin then starts speaking against his fellow Gangrel, and I am forced to let Djordje go forward in an attempt to survive the political onslaught with as little damage as possible. 

Dominik soon falls due to lack of reaction cards, and Martin promises his new prey not to attack him until I am ousted. But the problem is that Jozef's deck has no real solution for the defenses that Gangrels pack, so some bleed gets redirected to Martin (in an attempt to eliminate at least one deck trying to kill me), some are reduced, and few are taken. 

With the help of my votes and his Governs, Djordje manages to oust Martin, and now I am ready to go for my GW, but alas, time is soon called and no one wins. Oh well, at least it was time for buffet lunch to sink our teeth into. -0.5 VPs

Round 2

Norbert Tompa HUN (Aaradhya Path of Power Vote/Bleed) -> Édouard Menneson FRA (Stealth & Bleed) -> Goran Damjanic HRV (Arika Vote/Bleed) -> Benjamin Lovrenović HRV (Banu Haqim Bruise-bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel)

This table looks more promising, but again there are two nasty political decks that are able to destroy my locations. Hoping that I can block Norbert and not become the prey of Arika quickly, I open up with Things, static intercept, and locations and prepare for a long game. But that plan gets thwarted when Édouard promptly kills his prey after only one Arika action and proceeds to threaten to take 2 quick VPs and knock on my door. Meanwhile Banus attacks me a bit, some combat and bleeds, but nothing special, so I am able to control my predator and, with static intercept, my prey.

I do not feel any immediate danger. But that S&B strong forward motion forces me to let my prey do some damage forward in hopes of slowing him down before coming to me. A few turns later Banu is dead, I manage to oust my prey with Club Illusion and being well set, I prepare to battle Édouard in a heads-up. Two turns later I am still standing and his resources are spent, so he concedes, and we are off to the deciding round. -1 GW 3 VPs

Round 3 

Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Drazen Meznaric HRV (Enkidu Path of Caine Multi-rush) -> Kristijan Rukavina HRV (Nefertiti Stealth & bleed) -> Nikola Mitic SRB (Alonso Petrodon Bruise-bleed) -> Richard Farkas HUN (Hecata Corpses)

No politics on this table — great. Surrounded by multi-rush combat decks with grapple — not so great. The first order of the day is to let my Enkidu prey know that there is no moving forward on my part anytime soon and that he is free to go forward while I defend against the ever-growing zombie apocalypse. The deal is made on a turn-by-turn basis, and it holds for some 8-9 turns. 

Meanwhile, Nefertiti and a helper get torporized and none are bold enough to get on Enkidu's kill list by rescuing any of Kristijan's vampires from torpor. Nikola does what he can to slow down the corpses who grow in numbers every turn, so I am sentenced to a never-ending cycle of rescue from torpor-hunt-combat ends-take bleed damage in hopes of staying alive until next turn (many turns being reduced to 2-3 pool and without Massimiliano's +1 str). 

Then a chance opens up! My prey is down to only 8 pool so with the help of (my predator's) Anarch Troublemaker and Club Illusion I manage to have just enough tap & bleed to oust Enkidu in one turn and not suffer the blowback. Since Drazen opted for not rushing the newly rescued Nefertiti from torpor and wanted to just bleed instead, I find myself with a functional new prey and still no solution for the zombie apocalypse. 

Actions happen, of bleed variety, but I survive for one more turn, and with Kristijan being all tapped out, Club Illusion does its thing again. Still, we are not closer to the zombies solution, so I let Nikola go forward a bit with the hopes that Richard, who is now running low on pool, will be forced to defend or gets ousted. 

This goes on for 2-3 turns, and when I realize that Nikola's deck is no longer able to oust Hecata, I am forced to go for the kill. After the table is reduced to only two players, Richard is unable to resist my regenerating anti-zombie coalition and is quickly drained of his last pool. This was the hardest game I played all weekend. - 1 GW 5 VPs

After three preliminary rounds, the final round was almost entirely Serbian, with Aleksandr Mandrichenko of Slovakia securing the top seed on a near-perfect 3 GW.

Standings before the final:
1. Aleksandr Mandrichenko (Slovakia) 3 GW, 9 VP
2. Nemanja Jovicic (Serbia) 2 GW, 11 VP
3. Nikica Novaković (Serbia) 2 GW, 9 VP
4. Milos Krstic (Serbia) 2 GW, 8.5 VP
5. Milan Popović (Serbia) 2 GW, 8 VP



Milos about the final:

Unsure whether or not 2 GW 8.5 VPs will be enough for the Finals, I wait and hope until standings come up, and there we are faced with a bizarre situation. Namely, out of 54 players, the 4 finalists are from Serbia (a total of 9 Serbian players partook in this tournament), with Aleksandr of Slovakia towering over us as the top seed.) Well, better the devil you know, I think to myself while sitting with Milan at the table and letting fate take us where it wills since both of us as the 5th and 4th seed have no say in the seating. Nemanja elects to sit in front of Gangrel with the plan of having a slow predator. Nikica elects to sit in front of Gangrel. Aleksandr, as the top seed, in a shocking twist of events... elects to sit in front of Gangrel. The head judge shuffles everyone's decks, the pool is counted, cards are drawn, and the timer starts counting down. 

Milan Popović SRB (Lasombra G6 Stealth&Bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Aleksandr Mandrichenko SVK (Ravnos G7 Stealth&Bleed) -> Nikica Novaković SRB (Lasombra G2 Path of Power Vote/Bleed) -> Nemanja Jovicic SRB (Tzimisce G6 Toolbox)

I open up with some Things, permacept and Masters, while Milan builds up with Governs in preparation of defense against two Dominate decks behind him. Aleksandr brings his Ravnos bleeders up and starts doing the same thing that brought him 3 GWs in the pre-rounds. Nemanja builds up preparing to face the Ravnos horde since Nikica is slow and drew no crypt acceleration. Nikica brings his first vampire up but is promptly hit with a Mind Numb, ending any chance of him resisting the bleeders at his back. The name of the game is survive, and things seem to go Aleksandr's way. But. He is forced to discard Week of Nightmares, which he drew too early and when he draws his second copy, along with some combat ends, reactions and stealth he realizes that the only way forward is to play WoN and hope for a quick 3 VP win before everyone sets up their defenses. 

Some WoN counters later, Nikica is ousted after unsuccessfully trying to pass Anarchist Uprising as his only action in the game (?), stopped by Aleksandr's Delaying Tactics, who is now trying to cycle all the cards he can and reduce the obvious hand jam. Soon Milan is ousted by Tzimisce's tap & bleed combo of Deep Song/Earth Meld untap/Govern, and the table is reduced to three players with Ravnos threatening a quick win, despite having only two WoN counters left. Nemanja prepares for the final real turn of the Ravnos, who must win before all of them explode after WoN is removed. 

In my turn I decide the only way to win this game is to go hard into Ravnos, hoping for them not to kill their prey and doing the same next turn while defending against Dominate with reactions as best as I can. Bleed for two is announced, and there Aleksandr makes a fatal mistake of trying to block in hopes of cycling Majesty before cycling bleed-reduction cards after untapping. But since I control Powerbase: Savannah (usually reserved against combat decks), I can tap a location to end combat before the range, he is robbed of a chance to play CE and untap, so without any untapping reactions of his, all the following bleeds for two pass, and he is ousted (it was precisely enough to a pool). After that Nemanja takes my stealable locations in hopes of winning a long attrition war (around 50 minutes is left on the clock at that moment). 

Unfortunately for him, the resilience of Gangrel shines through and after much blocking and taking of all the locations back, he is tapped out, so I try to push to finish the game. He is stuck with useless cards and has no reactions while fully tapped, so he extends the hand, and just like that the Finals are over. Thus, I win my first Grand Prix; so many congratulations and some contra-fibularities are given with the award ceremony and photoshoot following them. Hard finals, skilled opponents, and a strong reminder never to give up, even when the table situation is dire.

The after-tournament party continued in the "Medvedgrad" beer hall, organized by our friend and local gourmand Lovre, with food and drinks flowing well into the night. After that, and with hopes of no hangover, we rush to sleep since the next day is bringing a new chance for glory. 

So at the end of the day, it was Milos Krstic who walked away with the title of first Grand Prix Zagreb champion. Final table result: Milos Krstic 3 VP (GW), Nemanja Jovicic 1 VP, Aleksandr Mandrichenko 1 VP, Nikica Novaković 0 VP, Milan Popović 0 VP. Congratulations Milos!

Tournament winning deck: "Be like Gangrel" by Milos Krstic
"Be like Gangrel making its way through cards. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the opponent, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your deck, be formless. Shapeless, like Gangrel. If you put Gangrel into a bleed, it becomes the bleed. You put Gangrel into a wall and it becomes the wall. You put it in a toolbox, it becomes the toolbox. Now, Gangrel can flow or it can crash. Be Gangrel, my friend."

Crypt (12 cards)
2x 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 Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for 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 (27; 5 trifle)
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Backways
1x Barrens, The
1x Carfax Abbey
2x Club Illusion
3x Direct Intervention
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Ennoia's Theater
2x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Information Highway
1x Papillon
1x Parthenon, The
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Powerbase: Montreal
2x Powerbase: Savannah
1x Rack, The
3x Vessel
2x Villein
1x Zoo Hunting Ground

Action (9)
9x Thing

Equipment (2)
2x Heart of Nizchetus

Retainer (6)
1x Mr. Winthrop
5x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (3)
3x Earth Control

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

Combat (14)
10x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist

Reaction (25)
7x Bait and Switch
5x Deep Ecology
4x Delaying Tactics
9x Organized Resistance


Dance of the Dead – The 2R+F Sunday tournament

On Sunday, 20 of us - including me, freed from weightier organizer duties - gathered for the "Dance of the Dead" companion tournament. Congratulations to Predrag from the Croatian city of Rijeka, who took the title with The Unnamed stealth & bleed in a tightly contested final. A great way to round off the weekend (and bring a title to the hosting country).

Milos comment on this event:

Eat, sleep, Vtes, repeat. New day, new challenges, old deck. Because who has the strength to learn new decks when you've got Gangrel ready? And besides — "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Fewer players elected to stay for this tournament, but still a respectable 20 people registered. Only 5 Serbian players were ready to play since I guess others were too tired and chose "Slow Sunday" instead.

Round 1

Predrag HRV (The Unnamed Stealth & Bleed) -> Goran Ivanovic SRB (Hecata Stealth & Bleed) -> Kenan Emilijan Kulenović HRV (Brujah Debate Barons) -> Drazen Meznaric HRV (Ravnos G7 Stealth & Bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel)

Standard opening moves from everyone with Hecata, Baali, and Ravnos bleeding while Brujah and Gangrel try to defend long enough to turn the game in their favor. Goran and Kenan fall to the Unnamed bleeds and Drazen relying on small bleeds chips away at me while denying me the chance to redirect a few big bleeds at stealth to my prey for a chance at GW. Time runs out with Predrag at one pool, making him the winner. -0.5 VPs

Round 2

Kristijan Lenac HRV (Path of Cathari bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Jennifer Fuss DEU (Hecata/Lasombra Stealth & Bleed) -> Norbert Tompa HUN (Aaradhya Path of Power Vote/Bleed) -> Kristijan Rukavina HRV (Giovanni G2 Anarch Bleed)

Similar to the first round, my prey bleeds forward and destroys my grand-prey, while the little help I can offer to him is far from enough to keep him alive. Meanwhile, Kristijan does some free bleeding, having no predator, and Mr. Lenac does the same (some are blocked, some reduced, and some redirected). Soon Hecata is low on pool with no real chance at ousting their new prey, so over the course of two turns I manage to finish them. Giovanni are able to kill their prey with some assistance from me, and in a heads-up I manage to prevail on the merit of being the more defensive deck prepared for such situations. -1 GW 3 VPs

Finals

Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Predrag HRV (The Unnamed Stealth & Bleed) -> Nikica Novaković SRB (Lazverinus Wall) -> Jennifer Fuss, DEU (Hecata/Lasombra Stealth & Bleed) -> Goran Ivanovic, SRB (Hecata Stealth & Bleed)

So, out of 5 Serbian players, JUST 3 manage to get to the finals, taking 1st, 4th, and 5th seeds. Not bad, I say to myself, it's better the Devil you... wait, there is a real Devil at the table and I do not want him sitting in front of me! Anyway, Goran and I have no say in the seating, so Jennifer sits in front of the Gangrel. Predrag sits in front of the Gangrel (there is a pattern here, it occurs to me). Nikica, after much deliberation, sits in front of Predrag, being afraid of my blocking powers and him not passing any undirected action while also trying to ride the S&B wave in front of him and deflecting the bleeds coming from behind.

My first action in the game (a Heart of Nizchetus) is canceled with a DI by Nikica, whose plan for winning this game relies on Goran and me getting ousted, which paints a target on his sole Lazverinus. So the two Hecata battle each other while The Unnamed and myself are getting set. But the problem is Goran draws almost no Spectral Servitors, while Jennifer draws all of them and soon he is out of the game with no way to defend against the "death by a thousand cuts."

Nikica is soon low on pool and decides that he cannot win anymore, so he lets Predrag bleed him out without defending. At this point my prey has way too much pool for me to bleed out in the time remaining even if Club Illusion shows up, but I still have to try something. I bring out another baron and reduce myself to 3 pools in hopes that I can deflect enough bleeds for 3 to have a chance at ousting. No such luck, but when faced with a lethal bleed, I ask the judge if I'm forced to try to block those bleeds since there is no way for me to win anyway. The answer is "Yes, you need to defend the best you can," so I do just that, and that makes me alive for one more turn. After one more turn of my defense time is called and Predrag is the winner with 1.5 VPs, same as Jennifer but with a higher seed from the pre-rounds.

Closing thoughts

All in all, good tournaments at a nice location, great organization by Kenan and the rest of the staff, a nutritious Saturday buffet, and snacks/refreshing beverages during both days made these VTES event a very pleasant experience for me (Zagorske štrukle were especially tasty). Hopefully others feel the same so we will meet at the same place next year in even greater numbers.

I would like to thank everyone who made this fine weekend possible — the organizers, the judges, the hotel staff, Lovre for being a kind host, and of course The Players, without whom all of this would not be possible. And special shoutout to the Serbian Vtes Community, represented here by no less than 9 players with 7/10 finals spots over two tournaments and a GP winner. This shows how much our community has grown in numbers and quality in recent years due to hard work and dedication and that the best results are yet to come. Never give up and stay thirsty, my friends.

And now everyone back to their work assignments, and always remember: STEALTH. BLEED. WORKS.

And now just a few more words from the organizing side. Beyond the usual logistics, we put effort into a customised event website with automated registration, a commissioned illustration for our event playmat, and securing a local sponsor — and we worked hard to keep check-in and morning payment as quick as possible so the rounds could start on time. The goal was a level of casual professionalism, and we hope it added to the event passing more smoothly and enjoyably.

The streaming of the finals was done by our honoured guest Jennifer Fuß of @WODnews on Twitch, who showed us great support both before and during the event. You can watch the stream of the finals on her channel: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2751202468 — thank you Jennifer!

Huge thanks to many members of the community and our NC for helping carry the weight of organisation. Two of us from Zagreb did not play and were available to judge and keep an eye on things throughout the day, and along with a hotel waiter assisting on the floor, the setup ran well for an event of this size.

A very special thanks to our sponsors: Black Chantry, and our local TCG shop, SkupiSve (skupisve.hr), for supporting us with promos, prizes and helping with logistics. The photos of the players taken by SkupiSve were especially well-made and carry palpable emotional weight (visible on our FB page).

But most of all, thanks to the 54 players who honoured us by showing up and making this event what we hoped it would be. See you at future events!

Big thanks for this report, and of course thanks to the participants, helpers and sponsors!