Reported by Daniel Bravo, VEKN National Coordinator of Chile (to the left above), with comment from the champion (to the right above):
On November 31st, at the Piedra Bruja store, the Chilean National Tournament was held, bringing together 20 players. The event ran smoothly and showcased a high level of competition. Points started being distributed from the very first round, but in the second round some tables ended in a tie. All of this made the third round crucial in determining who would advance to the final table.
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In first place, Consuelo Anguita qualified with 2 GW and 8 VP using her Malkyarishat deck. Agustín von Schnake secured second place with 2 GW and 7 VP, playing his Toreador V5 deck. Third place went to Jackson Iribarren with 1 GW and 7 VP and his Gangrel V5 deck. Also qualifying were Sebastián Aguayo with his Barons deck with Protean V5, and lastly, almost missing the cut, Walbert Ibarra with his Shalmat deck.
The final table was very exciting. With time running out, Agustín managed to take Consuelo out of the table, and Walbert went for the whole table. Walbert Ibarra is the new national champion, taking home two commemorative trophies and a bottle of wine.
This are the words from Walbert:
"Something I greatly appreciate in a tournament is having a comfortable, centrally located venue that’s easy to reach—and in my opinion, this was fulfilled exceptionally well. Speaking more about the organization, I can say the event was very well run. Round launches were quick and orderly, and having a huge, clearly visible timer was fantastic. It was a competitive and pleasant event, with an attentive judge and an organizing team that showed a lot of care in every detail.
As for the final table, it was challenging. In my favor was the fact that I already knew three of the decks, since I had faced them in the preliminary rounds. One of the advantages of being the only combat deck at the table is that you can control the tempo of the game, since you decide the exact moment a minion leaves play, which heavily influences that player. There’s also the constant threat of being able to cross-rush political decks if they start directing the tails of their political actions at you; this pushes them to hurt the table instead and leave you alone. I feel I had a bit of luck with the seating, as being between two intercept decks—and their fear of the temporis combo that sends a minion to torpor when blocked—allowed me to play all my actions calmly and without major issues.
It was a tight table, and once one of the political decks was eliminated, I was able to execute the plan I had from the beginning: quickly remove my prey and grand-prey, knowing that my predator could deal very little damage to me while I took out two players in consecutive turns. With the round close to ending, my opponent conceded, giving up the chance to earn half a point. This was a great display of sportsmanship and strong competitive spirit."
Walbert Ibarra´s tournament winning deck: “Shalmath”
By Nerijus Mikalajūnas and Bram Van Stappen, also won the EC 2025.
https://vdb.im/decks/384c375ca
Crypt (12)
5x Shalmath 10 POT PRE TEM True Brujah:6
1x Andre LeRoux 3 aus Toreador:5
1x Alu 2 obf Banu Haqim:5
1x New Blood 2 san Blood Brother:ANY
1x Alex Wilkins 1 cel Caitiff:5
1x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY
1x Donald Cargill 1 aus Caitiff:5
1x Walker Grimes 1 ani Caitiff:5
Library (70)
Master (13; 2 trifle)
1x Archon Investigation
6x Ashur Tablets
1x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Secure Haven
1x Tabriz Assembly
1x Vessel
1x Wider View
Action (7)
7x Summon History
Ally (3)
1x Gregory Winter
1x Nephandus
1x Tye Cooper
Equipment (2)
1x Eye of Hazimel
1x Heart of Nizchetus
Retainer (3)
1x Mr. Winthrop
1x Omael Kuman
1x Twisted Bloodhound
Action Modifier (8)
6x Domain of Evernight
2x Enkil Cog
Combat (34)
5x Decapitate
7x Disarm
8x Majesty
10x Outside the Hourglass
4x Taste of Vitae
This was the first national tournament in which a woman reached the final table. Consuelo is a milestone in the history of Chilean VTES.
Many thanks to the players for making the tournament so enjoyable, and to Piedra Bruja and Casio for hosting the event.
Thanks for this report, and thanks to all the players, sponsors and anyone else that helped out!
This event took place on November 8. Reported by Rudolf Scholz:
24 motivated players, among them guests from the Netherlands and Austria, gathered at the Evangelical Church Parish of Southern Darmstadt-Eberstadt, welcomed by non-playing organisor Jan Sonnenberg and Germanys National Coordinator and Prince of Darmstadt Rudolf »The Bard« Scholz.
Since the reigning German Champion Alexander Tüschen was not present, a new champion would arise. Former European Champion Joscha Düll was very well prepared, featuring an old-school Lasombra deck updated by the options provided by the new Sabbat cards and the Path of Power and the Inner Voice. Combined with excellent play, this allowed him to collect unmatched 3 game-wins in the preliminary rounds, granting him the last choice during the seating dance.
Standings before finals:
1) Joscha Düll, 3 GWs and 8.5 VPs
2) Steffen Waschul, 2 GWs and 8 VPs
3) Michael Jakoby-Bicanic, 1 GW and 6 VPs
4) Erica Ferreira de Souza, 1 GW and 5 VPs
5) Ali Almadhi, 1 GW and 4 VPs
Joscha chose the best seat possible, and his starting hand allowed him to grab the reins and set the pace of the final table right from the start. However, he needed to keep persistance until 2 hours and 5 minutes of play (of 2h 15 min), when he could secure his victory by achieving a second victory point. Congratulations!
Final results: Joscha GW with 2.5 VPs, Steffen 1 VP and Ali 0.5 VP.
The winning deck list: “Lasombra Path of Power v2” by Joscha “Yosha” Düll
Deck comment: See VTES forum
Crypt (12 cards)
4x Ambrosio Luis Monçada, Plenipotentiary 10 DOM OBT POT PRE aus for cardinal Lasombra:2
3x Antonio Delgado 9 DOM OBT POT tha archbishop Lasombra:2
1x Alvaro, The Scion of Angelica 9 OBT POT dom pre archbishop Lasombra:2
1x Francisco Domingo de Polonia 9 DOM OBT POT PRE pro archbishop Lasombra:2
3x Gratiano 8 DOM OBT obf pot priscus Lasombra:2
Library (78 cards)
Master (22; 6 trifle)
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elysian Fields
1x Fear of Mekhet
1x Giant´s Blood
1x Gurchon Hall
1x Information Highway
1x Power Structure
1x Powerbase: Madrid
1x Privileged Position
1x Regent
6x Unholy Sacrament
6x Villein
Action (6)
6x Govern the Unaligned
Political Action (18)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Banishment
4x Cold War
4x Empires Fall
5x Kine Resources Contested
1x Neonate Breach
1x War of Ages
Action Modifier (19)
1x Blanket of Night
2x Dominant Personality
4x Magnetic Authority
6x Shadow Play
4x Shroud of Absence
1x Shroud of Night
1x Unthinkable Humiliation
Action Modifier/Reaction (1)
1x Ominous Chorus
Combat (4)
1x Oubliette
3x Shadow Body
Reaction (8)
8x Deflection
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There was plenty of prize support, thus every player could return home happy. Special thanks go to Black Chantry Productions for various decks, Ultra Pro for deck boxes, sleeves, and card holders, Jesper Bøje and the EC 2025 team for EC gifts, Jan Sonnenberg for German Nationals deck boxes for every participant, Ginés Quiñonero and Noora Hirvonen for signed cards, and Michael Jakoby-Bicanic for signed artwork picked up at the EC. Additional thanks go to Kristian Willenbacher and Ali Almadhi for sweets and chocolate.
Thanks for this report and thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!
My Story of EC2025 Aarhus
By Jesper Bøje, Event Organizer. Photos by Niels Steinmeier (Instagram.com/steinmeier) and Marko Saari.
About 15 months ago, I was asked if I’d be interested in hosting EC 2025. I spent the summer thinking about it, doing some research, and eventually came back with a pitch: an EC in Aarhus. Black Chantry Productions accepted it – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Looking back now, I’m filled with gratitude. I’m thankful for everyone who joined, for all the positive feedback I received, and for the sight of smiling faces everywhere I turned. My own experience of the week – and the weekend – was truly unique. I can’t fully speak for how it felt to attend, but for me, it was an absolute blast. Seeing over a year of planning and teamwork come together was incredible. Watching players be surprised at how smooth registration went, or seeing the first social media posts just minutes after the doors opened saying things like “wow” and “this has real Succubus Club vibes” – that made every hour of preparation worth it.
Of course, in the lead-up to the event there were some debates:
“Can you really host an EC in a city without a major airport?”
“Why have a V5 contest fest?”
“Why bring back the multi-deck format?”
Well, it turns out, you can have an EC in Aarhus, and a pretty great one at that. Everyone I spoke with on-site seemed puzzled about the supposed travel problems. With direct trains and buses from Denmark’s two largest airports, it didn’t seem to be an issue for anyone who actually made the trip.
As for the V5 “contest fest”? I didn’t get to watch much of the tournament myself, but from what I heard, the finals featured five different decks and clans. Sounds diverse to me!
And regarding the multi-deck tournament: my goal for Sunday was to create a more relaxed event. By that point, some players had already competed in six tournaments, maybe missed out on Day 2, and just wanted to play something lighter. Some stuck with one deck, some swapped around – but everyone seemed to enjoy a more easygoing atmosphere. It was my tournament, after all. 😉
But to be honest, there was a deeper reason behind many of these decisions. I wanted to push BCP, VEKN, and the community a bit – to highlight things I personally cared about. Maybe the V5 format or the updated multi-deck rules would have arrived eventually, but I’m quite sure it wouldn’t have happened as early as it did without EC Aarhus putting a spotlight on them. The positive reactions I’ve heard since make me confident it was the right call.
All of this is just a small part of what EC 2025 Aarhus meant to me. While everyone else was focused on cards, games, and the meta, here’s a glimpse into my week:
• Getting (almost) all tournaments started on time.
• Improvising when 14 players didn’t show up.
• Finding cables for the stream 30 minutes before going live.
• Handling and delivering 135 individual webshop orders.
• Seeing old friends after more than 10 years – and having no time to talk (sorry!).
• Being first on-site and last to leave.
• Welcoming everyone from players, bartenders, streaming crew and illustrators to my family and even my boss.
• Buying food for the helpers and sandwiches for everyone on Thursday so we could make our dinner.
• Having tears in my eyes when my kids took the stage on Sunday – and again on Monday, when I had to write reports about cheating.
• And, of course, trying to keep everyone on schedule (finalists are still terrible at following simple directions!).
All those little moments made the experience unforgettable. I honestly don’t know what it was like to attend EC2025 – but for me, organizing it was something I’ll never forget.
My hope now is that people will keep sharing their own stories from Aarhus, so that next year, even more players will be inspired to join us in Vilnius.
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Tournament results:
Friday V5
Number of players: 26
Finalists:
Tero Aaltp (1 VP) Tzimisce toolbox
Henrik Klippström (1 VP) Tremere stealth-bleed
Pasi Karjalainen (1 VP) Toreador bleed
Jan Etzel Malkavian stealth-bleed
Jeroen van Oort (2 VP) Lasombra vote Tournament winning deck
Friday Standard Constructed
Number of players: 112
Finalists:
Martin Weinmayer (1 VP winner – Life Boon) Barons Chameleon
Marius Iscru (0.5 VP) Brujah rush
Mårten Cederholm (0.5 VP) Juliet Parr Cavalier bleed/vote
Gerhard Range (0.5 VP) Samedi Reanimated Corpses
Mikhail Klokov (0 VP) Hecata Shroud allies
Saturday EC Day 1
Number of players: 142
Finalists:
Ruben Feldman (2 VP winner by highest seed) Kiasyd stealth-bleed
Jeroen Evenepoel Juliet Parr vote
Kalle Blomgren (1 VP) Lasombra G3-4 stealth-bleed
Martin Weinmayer Barons Protean wall
Lech Ivanov (2 VP) Ministry Barons breed-vote
Video
Sunday rebound tournament (Multi-deck)
Number of players: 76
Finalists:
Tamás Glied (0.5 VP)
Erica Ferreira de Souza (1.5 VP)
Ferenc László Kósa (0.5 VP)
Miguel Andrés Ripoll Ramis (0.5 VP)
Nikica Novaković (0.5 VP)
Sunday EC Day 2
Number of players: 50
Finalists:
Ruben Feldman (0.5 VP DQ) Tupdogs & Rock Cats
Nerijus Mikalajūnas (3.5 VP) Shalmath rush Tournament winning deck
Peitsa Suominen Banu Haqim Kalinda bleed
Michael Holmström Barons Gehenna wall
Otto Kallokoski Hecata zombie toolbox
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Congratulations to Nerijus! (Photo of him above by Marcus Berg.) Thanks to the sponsors Ultrapro, Black Chantry Production and Black Chantry Distribution, and thanks to Jesper and his whole crew and all players who attended!
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