The finalists: Tommi, Jani, Bram, Otso and Teemu.

This event took place at the Ropecon game convention in Helsinki, Finland on July 25. Reported by Petri Wessman, VEKN Prince of Espoo and tournament organiser:

The Ropecon 2026 VTES tournament was a Grand Prix event this year, and with the label "30 Years of VTES" it also marked the 30th year we've run VTES tournaments at Ropecon - a nice milestone. We got a total of 48 players this year, from 6 different nationalities, battling it out over the long day to determine the GP winner.

To celebrate the "party like it's '94!" theme we actually had two players with all-Jyhad decks (both with Malk '94 variants), very nice! In addition to those, we had a grand total of 11 Gangrel decks, a totally ridiculous percentage - 7 were anarch Gangrel, most of the rest were Stanislava decks. The rest of the decks had very nice variance, with all sorts of deck types represented, both old known archetypes and new V5 shenanigans.

Standings before the final:
1. Jani Malmi 2 GW, 7.5 VP
2. Teemu Pulkkinen 2 GW, 7 VP
3. Otso Saariluoma 2 GW, 7 VP
4. Tommi Hakomaa 2 GW, 6.5 VP
5. Bram Van Stappen 1 GW, 6 VP

The final round featured three pure vote decks, one anarch Gangrel deck, and one Banu bleed deck (with guns). Bram managed to pilot his weenie Toreador voter to decisive victory, with about 8 minutes left on the game clock.

Final result: Bram 4 VPs, Otso 1 VP.

The two photos above by Marko Saari, others by Petri Wessman.

Winning deck list: "Antti's woodchopping and blueberries selecting practice" by Gotcha (Bram Van Stappen)

Crypt (13 cards)
4x Maila  6 AUS PRE cel primogen Toreador:6
1x Mkhokheli  6 PRE aus cel for prince Toreador:6
1x Regina Blake 5 AUS PRE   Toreador:6
1x Bret Stryker 4 CEL PRE   Toreador:6
1x Massimo Falconi 4 aus cel pre   Toreador:6
1x Rose Abawi 4 aus obf pre   Toreador:6
1x Silvian Popescu 4 PRE cel   Toreador:7
1x Nik Sikko  3 cel pre   Toreador:6
1x Valentina Osako 3 PRE    Toreador:7
1x Mateo García 2 pre    Toreador:6

Library (65 cards)
Master (14; 5 trifle)
1x Art Museum
6x Ashur Tablets
1x Coven, The
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Powerbase: Montreal
3x Villein
1x Wider View

Action (3)
3x Soul Scan

Political Action (26)
5x Camarilla's Iron Fist
5x Consanguineous Boon
5x Kine Resources Contested
1x Praxis Seizure: Boston
1x Praxis Seizure: Chicago
1x Praxis Seizure: Cleveland
1x Praxis Seizure: Dallas
1x Praxis Seizure: Dublin
1x Praxis Seizure: Frankfurt
1x Praxis Seizure: Monaco
1x Praxis Seizure: Paris
3x Toreador Justicar

Action Modifier (17)
4x Bewitching Oration
5x Loup
3x Perfect Paragon
5x Voter Captivation

Combat (5)
4x Majesty
1x Staredown

Thanks to our sponsors Black Chantry Productions, Ultra Pro and the Ropecon convention (plaques for finalists).

Thanks for this report Petri, congratulations Bram, and thanks to all participants, sponsors and organisers!