Played on April 25 with 16 Methuselahs, reported by Ben Fox, VEKN National Coordinator of Ireland:

This year Ireland got to hold its very first Dublin Nationals, moving away from the usual Galway location, trying to balance showing visitors the best of Ireland with ease of access to the event, and tap into the largest native player base. 

Tragically in making the event location too convenient we seemed to lose some sense of occasion, and ended up having a lower attendance than previous year from the Dublin players, which thankfully was able to be balanced by the travelling crowd, with heroes from all over Europe and even beyond able to turn up despite flight prices shooting up from Israel's war of aggression in the Middle East. The magical 20 number of players continues to elude us for now, but we can settle for being perhaps the smallest international event worthy of Martin Weinmayer's attention. 

The event on the day got a fantastic variety of decks with no contests through the entire day and most major archetypes except for breed represented. The new venue was also excellent with very easy access by public transport and lots of room to be able to host even a significantly bigger event. 

Heading into the finals we had:
1. Jesper Boje (Nergal Megableed) 2 GW, 8 VP
2. Norbert Flasko (Aaradhya votes) 2 GW, 6 VP
3. John Jalaluddin Jennings as the great Irish hope (Toreador Votes) 2 GW, 6 VP
4. Captain Eduardo Carona (Magaji wall) 1 GW, 5 VP
5. Tiago Souto (Brujah fightness) 1 GW, 4 VP

The qualifications brought us to a fairly familiar finals format, with the traditional 2 Portuguese players, 1 British Prince, a local hero, but this time also Jesper coming over the the finest playmat since the fantastic EC he hosted in 2025, claiming the top seed spot heading into the finals.

Jesper as top seed wasn't aware the old Banu were a heavy intercept deck, placed himself as their predator.

The vote decks spread across from each other for potential deals, and to force the Brujah to make the decision whether to go backwards to avoid getting ousted or forwards to try and get his prey first.

The red cards decks ended up as cross-table allies, hoping to slow down the table to their own pace.

In the finals the two fighty decks were largely successful in slowing the game down to their own pace, with Nergal getting Diablerised from trying to be the accelerant of the table. For a long time the event hung in the balance with just the 1VP going to Norbert's Sabbat Votes deck, but in a final lunge he was able to break through the Banu wall and claim the full GW in the finals. So to quote the winner "life is hard", but it smiles on you once in a while. 

Final result: Norbert took down the finals with 2.5 VPs, with John and Tiago as the survivors.

The tournament winning deck: "Life is Hard" by Norbert Flasko

Crypt (12 cards)
4x Aaradhya, The Callous Tyrant  10 ANI DOM FOR POT PRE  cardinal  Ventrue:6
1x Carolina Vález    9 DOM OBT POT PRE aus  archbishop  Lasombra:5
1x Damian    8 DOM OBL POT for pre  archbishop  Lasombra:6
1x Dark Selina     9 CEL POT PRE dom for  cardinal  Brujah antitribu:5
1x De Sade   9 AUS DOM FOR PRE  archbishop  Ventrue antitribu:5
1x Khin Aye   7 POT PRE dom for  priscus  Ventrue:6
1x Rexton "Savage" Abernathy  8 DOM POT PRE cel  archbishop  Brujah:6
1x Üresség      8 CEL POT PRE dom for  archbishop  Brujah:6
1x Věnceslava, The Implacable  9 DOM FOR POT PRE cel  archbishop  Brujah:6

Library (85 cards)
Master (17; 7 trifle)
1x Creepshow Casino
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
2x Monastery of Shadows
1x Papillon
2x Ventrue Headquarters
7x Villein

Action (8)
8x Govern the Unaligned

Political Action (17)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
2x Banishment
4x Cold War
6x Kine Resources Contested
2x Neonate Breach
1x Reins of Power

Action Modifier (29)
4x Dominant Personality
4x Iron Glare
4x Perfect Paragon
5x Relentlessness
6x Unthinkable Humiliation
6x Voter Captivation

Combat (6)
6x Majesty

Reaction (8)
8x Deflection

Lots of excitement for next year, with an exclusive artwork by the fan favourite Anastasiia Horbunova coming up, as ever featuring a legendary Irish location, pending the Irish conclave to decide the date and venue.

Thanks to Ben for this report, and thanks to the sponsor Press to Continue, other helpers and the lovely players!