Finalists: Justin Bedford, Alastair Pearson, James Snowball, Henrik Schalekamp, Yancke Van Tonder.

South African VTES Nationals at Dragonfire: Cyberdrive ’25 (16 and 17 August 2025)

This year our champion is James Snowball! Coming through with a well-balanced V5 Brujah Anarch deck, James survived a gauntlet of three brutal rounds against murderous opponents before taking the final table from Justin’s Lasombra Oblivion/Dominate bleed dynamo. Here’s how it went down:

Round 1:
Yancke > James > Hendrik > Jaco > Claudi
Yancke, with his v5 Gangrel net-deck, was James’s (V5 Brujah) predator. Claudi was poised to strike with her Ravnos deck, fresh off the last tournament win. Jaco – the visiting Prince of Johannesburg – sat with a Toreador Grand Ball toolbox, while Hendrik’s Tzimisce wall anchored the table. Early pressure from Hendrik stifled Jaco, leaving Claudi largely unchecked. She consistently bled Yancke, with some pressure redirected onto James through Bait and Switch. Forced into a corner, Yancke fired off a Revolutionary Council, destroying Hendrik’s Yawp Court, Ivory Bow, and some of Claudi’s pool, but only shaving a single pool from James.
    From there, James found himself steadily whittled down by the Gangrel’s small bleeds, eventually pushed to a single pool after a Monkey Wrench with Kamille. Claudi’s meddling – such as a Delaying Tactics on a decisive vote – prolonged James’s survival. In the end, Yancke finally ousted James with an unblockable bleed for one via Daring the Dawn. The game timed out with Jaco about to fall to Hendrik, leaving Yancke’s Gangrel on top with 1.5 VP and the rest of the table at 0.5 each.

Round 2:
Kris > Jaco > James > Martin
Martin’s Giovanni Real Estate deck stumbled badly, drawing neither Deflections nor Villeins. A devastating Monkey Wrench bleed for six from James hit just after Martin’s 9-cap arrived, leaving him reeling. James swore he only packed a single Monkey Wrench, but the Giovanni’s poor luck sealed his quick oust. Meanwhile, Jaco’s Toreador Grand Ball toolbox clashed with Kris’s Nosferatu Baron wall in a thematic battle over Creeping Sabotages. Lore bled into gameplay here: Nosferatu destroying the Toreador Grand Ball gave them -1 stealth, crippling their strategy against the unblockable Toreador sabotage engine.
    With pressure mounting, James ground Kris down and landed another “miraculous” Monkey Wrench bleed for the oust, suggesting perhaps he had been less than honest about his decklist. With six Brujah in play – including the full-art Theo Bell – James then dismantled Jaco’s Toreador, carefully torporising key vampires while leaving a helpless weenie untouched. The cruelty paid off: James swept the table with 4 VP + GW.

James Snowball Mantis Style Kung-fu realized in VTES play.

Round 3:
Claudi > Al > Michael > James
This table featured Michael’s Hecata Zombies, James’s Brujah Barons with Theo Bell, Claudi’s Ravnos bleeders, and Al’s Banu Haqim Princes. Claudi immediately pressured Al’s pool while James tooled up cautiously. Al walled hard with Second Traditions, but Ravnos tricks like Memory Rift denied him combat. Fishing for Hunter’s Mark, Al instead back-rushed the Hecata, only to be foiled again by Phaibun’s special dodge. Priority Contracts gave temporary respite, but overall the Banu struggled to impose control.
    James, meanwhile, farmed resources, camped Powerbase Montreal, and waited for the right moment. A key back-rush let Theo Bell dunk Michael’s 9-cap Hel-Bla before a Rotting Behemoth could arrive. Even so, the standout moment came when Theo, red cards in hand, was suddenly invited for a tea and some chill-out time by Claudi’s Doc Martina at the Garibaldi Museum. As Al’s pool evaporated, the Hecata struck a desperate deal with the Banu, but betrayal soon followed as the assassins backstabbed their temporary ally for a VP. Ultimately, James outlasted Claudi through patience and precision farming, claiming the well-deserved GW.

Standings before final:
1. James Snowball 2 GW, 6 VPs
2. Hendrik Schalekamp 2 GW, 5.5 VPs
3. Yancke van Tonder 1 GW, 5 VPs
4. Justin Bedford (Biggy) 1 GW, 5 VPs
5. Alastair Pearson 1 GW, 4.5 VPs

The final saw Alastair (Banu Haqim) sitting first with, Justin’s Lasombra sitting second. Yancke’s positioned his Gangrel downstream of Al, and Hendrik wanted to build his Tzimisce wall downstream of Yancke. And so James, with the advantage of being 1st seed, positioned himself as the Gangrel’s predator and the Banu’s prey. 
    The table settled into a tense equilibrium, with cautious bleeds and probing actions. Al’s Princes were forced to focus backward on Justin’s bleed engine, giving James precious breathing room to build.
    Yancke’s Gangrel pressed hard on Hendrik, nearly ousting the Tzimisce, but misplays and attrition cost him dearly. Forgetting that a Giant’s Blood had already been played, Yancke Villeined without safe recourse for his vamp to fill-up again, and was downed on the hunt action. Hendrik’s blocking and back-play eventually doomed the Gangrel him to James’s relentless New Carthage bleeds. With Yancke gone, James strengthened his grip, slipping in another unexpected Monkey Wrench bleed to hammer Hendrik.
    Justin looked poised to close out the game with a Dominate/Oblivion swarm, but James revealed a surprise Eat the Rich that could have eliminated both Justin and Al in one blow. Al’s Banu, however, blocked with Second Tradition, saving Justin long enough to seize a VP from Alastair’s collapse. This left James and Justin heads-up. By then, the Brujah were firmly entrenched, fueled by 12 extra pool from fallen Methuselahs. James stayed composed, pressing his bruise-and-bleed strategy faster than Justin could bleed. And with that, James Snowball claimed victory and the title of South African National Champion 2025!

Final result: Justin Bedford 1 VP, James Snowball 4 VPs.

The tournament winning deck: “Brujah anarchs” by James Snowball

Crypt (12 cards)
3x Theo Bell 8 CEL POT PRE aus dom Brujah:6
2x Aline Gädeke 7 POT PRE cel baron Brujah:6
1x Valeriya Zinovieva 7 POT cel pre pro baron Brujah:6
2x Atiena 6 CEL obf pot pre baron Brujah:6
1x Leumeah 6 PRE cel for pot baron Brujah:6
1x Elen Kamjian 4 CEL POT  Brujah:6
1x Ariane 3 cel pot pre  Brujah:5
1x Rayne 2 pot  Brujah:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (17; 7 trifle)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
2x Carfax Abbey
2x Fame
1x KRCG News Radio
2x New Carthage
1x Powerbase: Montreal
5x Villein
1x Warzone Hunting Ground
2x Wider View

Action (16)
2x Heroic Might
3x Illegalism
6x Line Brawl
3x Make the Misere
2x Show of Force

Political Action (2)
2x Eat the Rich

Ally (1)
1x 47th Street Royals

Action Modifier (3)
3x Monkey Wrench

Combat (35)
7x Dust Up
2x Flash
6x Immortal Grapple
2x Pursuit
5x Quickness
4x Roundhouse
4x Taste of Vitae
5x Torn Signpost

Reaction (16)
4x Bait and Switch
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive
8x Organized Resistance

Tale of two princes - Skye (Cape Town) and Jaco (Johannesburg)

We would like to thank Pandemonium Games for providing prize support as always! We would also like to thank the committee of Cape Legion of Adventurer’s and Wargamers (CLAWs), and the University of Cape Town, for hosting a very successful Dragonfire ’25: Cyberdrive! It has always been a tradition to host the South African National VTES Championship at this convention, amidst our geeky friends. Thank you for keeping up the tradition! 

Also, it was unfortunate that I (Skye) could not participate this year, due to work obligations, but the fact that we had Jaco, Prince of JHB, visiting Cape Town during this time, and playing with a deck which contains a Mkhokheli, Prince of Cape Town, I do not feel quite so bad… and I got to have a bird’s eye objective view over the whole tournament.

And to Michael, Yancke, Kris and Alastair, I want to thank you guys for your assisting me putting this report together, and to Neil, our National Co-ordinator, for running the show on Day 1, when I had work obligations.