Champion in the middle.

Reported by RichE, VEKN Prince of Melbourne and Head Judge:

The Oceania Continental Championship (OCC) was held in Melbourne on Saturday, 25 October. We would like to thank Plenty of Games for hosting, Black Chantry for the beautiful price support, Mots Imports, Australia’s Online VTES card store, Steve Harris, Keith Lim, Bert Perry, all the organizers for their help, and all attendees.

Such a great turnout of 31 people for the championship and a greatly run event. Of the archetypes I saw today, the most prevalent was Malkavian (4), followed by Banu Hakim, three Ventrue, three Hecata and three Tzimisce.

About 55% of the decks were V5 decks, the rest legacy decks. Stealth Bleed was probably the most prevalent of the five main archetypes, and nominally combat was pretty close. Vote was a little bit behind that. There were four Ally decks and two wall decks that I saw. Overall, it was a wide range of archetypes and the way they were played. As head judge, I saw a lot of smiles and fun had by all.

The OCC annual coaster for all participants.

Pre-finals standings:
1. Benjamin Szymkow 2 GW 7.5 vp
2. Ke Carlton 2 GW 6 vp
3. Bert Perry 1 GW 6.5 vp
4. Stephen Harris 1 GW 6 vp
5. Andrew Stott 1 GW 6 vp

The champions report AKA “What’s a girl to do all alone in the PoG?”:

I’ve top seeded and identify no good seats. The choice to sit as Hecata prey was based on the idea that if I spend the first chunk of the game concentrating on survival then hopefully the table can collapse around me and then I can use my tech to control the votes and close out the game.

I see Catalina, Diana, Diana, and Mkhokheli in my uncontrolled region. I decide to influence out a copy of Catalina so I can quickly Groom and Enchant to get an almost free Mkhokheli and be off to the races. Unfortunately for me I blunder and place counters on Diana. Much laughter on the table all round as I do my best cry of doooom!

Diana will be the only vampire I influence for the entire game.

Steve is doing his best to put me down quickly as the rest of the table sets up and goes about doing their business. I Parity Shift backwards with a Voter Cap as my first action which is supported by Ke. My first turn ends with a Forced March into Enchant Kindred and quickly transfer off.

I spend the next forty minutes or so desperately nursing the little pool I have left with the help of Enchant Kindreds. My predator brings out more minions and gets closer and closer to killing me. I manage to call an Anarchist Uprising with Diana cancelling Steve’s delaying tactics. My game looks pretty hopeless, but I hold on for dear life.

Bert Camarilla Iron First forward, I secure a precious pool by voting for it. Ke does not like this, but does Banish forward to help me survive. His intention was to Banish backwards but I threatened him with a Scalpel tongue and I think he needed that Amici Noctis for his maths to work. Steve can’t quite oust me on his next turn but gets very close.

Andy is firing on all cylinders as he has no predator. Bert defends admirably with Carlton but eventually succumbs. Ke has only managed to get two vamps out.

Andy uses Inside Dirt plus Marajava Thugee to bin one of Ke’s minions (great combo!).

Worth noting at this point that one of Andy’s minions with Guarded Rubrics is taking a dirt nap. Ke makes some tough decisions and decides to throw a vote backwards onto Andy to assist me getting the oust.

I get the oust with another Anarchist Uprising which allows Ke to make quick work of Steve’s remaining pool. On the turn I got the oust I play a risky Art Museum with the hope that will help me win heads up.

Heads up does not take too long as instead of eating Ke’s torpored minion I just focus onbleeding, unlocking and holding Scalpel. Very hard position for Ke at this point and I manage to take the game win.

Somehow I manage to win with a single vampire. It was a great day all round and thanks to all the finalists and spectators for a great experience!

Final result: Ben won with 1.5 vp (and highest seed tie breaker). Andrew had 1 vp and Ke had 1.5.

Tournament winning deck: “Girl walks into PoG” by Ben Szymkow
Comment: Diana with tap/bleed module using Scalpel and Under the Skin. Predicted a wide-board meta so ran extra Anarchist Uprising and a Neonate Breach instead of KRC. Expulsion was to have an answer for baron flick and reduce.

Crypt (12 cards)
4x Diana Iadanza 9 AUS CEL FOR PRE justicar Toreador:7
3x Catalina Vega 8 AUS CEL PRE for prince Toreador:6
2x Flávio Gonçalves 7 CEL PRE aus for prince Toreador:6
2x Mkhokheli 6 PRE aus cel for prince Toreador:6
1x Maila 6 AUS PRE cel primogen Toreador:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (16)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
2x Art Museum
1x Camarilla Conclave
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fortitude
5x Grooming the Protégé
1x Monastery of Shadows
2x Visit from the Capuchin

Action (9)
7x Enchant Kindred
2x Entrancement

Political Action (17)
2x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
2x Banishment
3x Camarilla's Iron Fist
1x Expulsion
1x First Tradition: The Masquerade
1x Neonate Breach
6x Parity Shift

Action Modifier (30)
2x Aire of Elation
6x Forced March
3x Freak Drive
5x Loup
4x Perfect Paragon
3x Under the Skin
7x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Combat (4)
4x Resist Earth's Grasp

Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Scalpel Tongue

Combat (6)
2x Charismatic Aura
4x Majesty

Reaction (4)
2x Second Tradition: Domain
2x Telepathic Misdirection

https://vdb.im/decks/07732accb

Photo opportunity with two fresh champions: Micon Garcia, who won the Asian Continentals last month in the Philippines popped in to say hi over the weekend.

Thanks for the report, and thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!

This event was played on September 6 in Mandaluyong, Philippines. Report by Joscar Malacaman, Tournament Organizer and VEKN Prince of Taguig:

Asian Continental Championships 2025 will be one for the books! Last Saturday, we had 39 players battle it out for over 10 hours to achieve the coveted title of Asian VTES Champion. This has been one of the largest Vampire the Eternal Struggle tournaments in Asia and showcases just how far the Philippine VTES community has grown over the last couple of years. 

Before the final:
1st seed Micon Garcia Computer Hacking (2 GW, 9 VP)
2nd seed Johann Louie Ong Tzimisce Toolbox (2 GW, 6 VP)
3rd seed Dante Gagelonia Boleslaw Barons (2 GW, 5.5 VP)
4th seed Toni Dela Pena Ministry Platinum Protocol (1 GW, 8 VP)
5th seed Aurelio Icasiano Salubri Antitribu (1 GW, 5.5VP)

The final table starts with Dante playing Failsafe into Information Highway. Toni play a Dreams of the Sphinx to accelerate while Aurelio and Johann just had their regular transfers. Micon, however, exploded into the scene with an Effective Management and influencing out 4 1-caps.

Turn two allowed the others to bring out their first vampires Dante with a Leumeah, Toni with a Elisha Tucker, Aurelio with Michaela, Johann with Meshenka. Micon bled for a total of 4 for the round and then brought out a New Blood and another 2-cap. That's six minions on turn two for the top seed. 

Turn 3 is pretty aggressive with bleeds flying everywhere and Aurelio getting a Blade of Bellona in play. Micon continues his momentum with an 8 bleed turn although he lost a minion in the process. Dante attempts to stabilize with Failsafe triggering and getting an Aranthebes in play. Toni continues to get some bleeds in with Platinum Protocol. Aurelio rushes back with Michaela but Toni had a pair of dodges to keep her minions ready. Johann bleeds with Meshenka for 2 but Micon manages to deflect it to get some pool damage in despite the Aranthebes. Micon is really being slowed down by the Aranthebes but is still able to deal 4 pool worth of damage dropping Dante to 2 pool. 

Just as things to have seem to have slowed down, Micon gets a double oust netting him 2 VPs in rapid succession. With the Computer Hacking swarm behind him, Aurelio attempts to stabilize by sending 4 out of the 7 ready minions on Micon's side to torpor. Johann continues to put pressure on Micon but the 12 pool gain is proving to be a huge speed bump. 

Aurelio then shocks the table by playing his own Aranthebes. With Micon's deck really thin, there were already murmurs of whether he had enough gas to get one more oust to lock the victory. Through clever balancing of Computer Hacking bleeds and Leverages, Micon manages to get the final two pool damage he needed to get the oust and the tournament win. He wouldn't have enough gas to fight through Johann's Tzimisce though and the Philippine National Coordinator managed to get some VPs in the final table but ultimately, it was not enough to stop the techy weenie swarm from taking the Asian Continental Championships for Micon! 

Final result: Micon Garcia 3, Johann 2.

Tournament winning deck: “Leveraging my Hacking Skills” by Micon Garcia

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Christine Boscacci 2 dom vic Pander:2
1x Mustafa Rahman 2 dom Tremere:2
1x New Blood 2 san Blood Brother:ANY
1x Ohanna 2 dom Malkavian:2
1x Samson 2 dom Ventrue antitribu:2
1x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY
1x Antoinette DuChamp 1 cel pre Caitiff:2
1x Franciscus 1 aus Caitiff:2
1x Julius 1 qui ser Caitiff:2
1x Navar McClaren 1 ani Caitiff:1
1x Royce 1 dom Pander:2
1x Smudge the Ignored 1 Caitiff:1

Library (62 cards)
Master (15)
2x Anarch Revolt
2x Antediluvian Awakening
6x Effective Management
2x Information Highway
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Sudden Reversal

Action (20)
20x Computer Hacking

Political Action (1)
1x Ancient Influence

Action Modifier (6)
6x Leverage

Combat (10)
10x Dodge

Reaction (10)
4x Deflection
3x Delaying Tactics
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Acknowledgements: I'd like to thank the Philippine VTES Community and our guests from Japan and Taiwan for making ACC MNL 2025 a smashing success. Huge props as well to Paul Jonathan Sia Tio, James Lin, and Black Chantry Productions for our prizes. Of course, this also wouldn't have been possible without Whimsy Game Cafe.

Congratulations again to Micon Garcia for winning the main event.

Hope to see you at the Asian Continental Championships being planned for Japan next year!

Thanks to Joscar for this great report, and thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!