VTES EC 2026 Day 2 finalists: Bram, Tero, Héctor, Lech and Nina.

Words by Nerijus Mikalajunas, VEKN National Coordinator of Lithuania:

Thanks to all those that took part in EC 2026 in Vilnius!

A few years ago, the idea of bringing the EC to Vilnius seemed... ambitious. After the success of our Nationals, Daniel Bogdanovič, Prince of Vilnius, and I started wondering what could come next. What followed was a lot of planning and preparation – and eventually, the European Championship arrived in Vilnius.

We are very grateful to everyone who came and made it possible.

Players travelled from across Europe and beyond, making this one of the biggest European Championships in VTES history – and the biggest EC in terms of international visitors.

The week also saw some impressive numbers:
- The biggest VTES Grand Prix ever, with almost 200 players. Diego Di Nicolantonio won the SuperGP, while Martin Weinmeyer took the overall GP Circuit victory.
- The biggest Week of Nightmares tournament ever, with more than 90 players, won by Tero Aalto.
- Nikica Novaković won EC Day 1, a 196-player tournament.
- Héctor Javier Ordoñez became the new European Champion after the 80-player Day 2.

VTES EC 2026 Day 1 finalists: Norbert, Balázs, Nikica, Ivan and Édouard.

But the numbers are only part of the story. What made the week special was having the VTES community together in Vilnius – playing games, meeting old friends, making new ones and spending time together outside the tournaments.

We were also very happy to hear how much so many of you enjoyed Vilnius and Lithuania. We wanted the EC to be a great VTES event, but we also hoped that those visiting from abroad would get a chance to experience the city and the country. It means a lot to us that so many of you enjoyed your time here.

A great deal of work also happened behind the scenes, and we would like to thank the people who helped make the event possible.

A special thank you to our Archons, Ben Fox and Teemu Pulkkinen, and to our Head Archon, Peitsa Suominen, for their work in running the tournaments. Ben Fox deserves a special mention for going well beyond his role as an Archon. He was heavily involved in organising the streaming, helped make the live coverage happen, and provided commentary for the finals throughout the event.

All tournament streams and recordings are available on the Rat Cat Youtube channel. Thank you to Marcin Zakrzewski for hosting the recordings and helping promote the event and its coverage.

We would also like to thank Lech Ivanov for hosting the Week of Nightmares, and Marius Žeimantas together with the entire Vilnius Circle and Wargamer.lt community for their help, support and hospitality throughout the event.

A special thank you to Jesper Bøje, the host of last year's EC in Denmark, for sharing his experience and advice and for supporting us with VTES-related event materials and resources.

The community also came together to support Ukraine through the charity auctions, raising €2,560. Thank you to everyone who donated, bid, bought items or helped spread the word, and especially to Ginés Quiñonero, Anastasiia Horbunova, Krzysztof Bieniawski, Ken Meyer Jr. and Lawrence Snelly for their generous contributions.

A special thank you also goes to Hugh Angseesing, who donated a collection of historical VTES artefacts and helped bring a piece of the game's history to the event.

None of this would have been possible without our sponsors and partners. Thank you to Black Chantry, Wampirowo, 4vgames.com, Battery, DeepCut and Ultra PRO for supporting the event and helping us bring it to life.

EC Day 2 Final – by Martin Weinmeyer

One of the most accomplished and active players in the VTES community, Martin Weinmeyer, has shared his thoughts from the EC Day 2 Final.

Finalists:
1. Nina Kim Nilsson (Sweden) 3 GW 10 VP Hecata Corpse Toolbox 0.5 VP in finals
2. Lech Ivanov (Lithuania) 2 GW 8 VP Legionnaire Swarm Bleed 0.5 VP in finals
3. Héctor Javier Ordoñez (Netherlands) 2 GW 5.5 VP Ministry Childe Toolbox 1.5 VP in finals
4. Tero Aalto (Finland) 1 GW 6.5 VP The Unnamed Bleed 0.5 VP in finals
5. Bram van Stappen (Belgium) 1 GW 6.5 VP Qawiyya el-Ghaduba Combat 0 VP in finals

Surrounded by swarm decks, Bram has to make a difficult choice to trust Héctor on the deal, allowing Bram to go forward. His deck doesn’t have enough resources to go against Héctor and still have a meaningful way to oust his top seed prey. Eventually the deciding moment comes for Héctor with 7 minutes on the clock. Would he honour his deal and let Bram win, or break it and claim victory for himself? What would you do?

Watch the final on the Rat Cat Youtube channel, and check out Héctor´s decklist and winner interview in the VEKN September 2026 newsletter.

And, most importantly, thank you to everyone who travelled to Vilnius and spent the week with us.

We are humbled that so many of you chose to be here. It was a privilege to host you, and we hope you enjoyed your time in Vilnius as much as we enjoyed having you here.

For us, the best part of the whole experience was simply seeing so many familiar faces in one place, meeting people we had only known through the game, and sharing a few days together around the tables.

We will remember this week for a long time. Thank you for making it special.

The Iron Wolf has howled.

See you at the tables – and see you in Germany.

Best regards,
Nerijus

The Judge team: Teemu, Ben and Peitsa.

Artist Anastasiia Horbunova, organiser Nerijus Mikalajunas and artist Krzysztof Bieniawski.

Sunday Club Torpor finalists.

Thanks for hosting this glorious event Nerijus, and thanks to all the other organisers, sponsors and players. And thanks to Marko Saari for the nice photos!