This national championship was played in Coimbra on March 7 with 57 participants. Reported by Tiago Gonçalves, VEKN Prince of Coimbra, with comment from the champion:

Here's the final table with standings from preliminary rounds and final results:
1. Alejandro Rodriguez  (Spain) 3 GW 11 VP
2. Augusto Ponce de León (Spain) 2 GW 8 VP
3. Marco Mata (Portugal) 2 GW 7 VP
4. Raúl Perfecto (Spain) 2 GW 7 VP
5. Sandro Rodrigues  (Portugal) 2 GW 6.5 VP

Augusto Ponce de León kindly provided a report of the final:

I had played before against Alex's deck and I know how fast it is, so had little expectations about the final. Being second seed allowed me at least to be predator of the 2 ravnos decks. If spectres wanted to be my predator, they would have to fight with Raul's brujahs: I hoped maybe that would reduce some pressure over me. Alex placed himself as my predator.

I was 4th player to influence (really bad as I got no Dreams to get Juliet out on the second turn). My crypt wasn't brilliant as I got 2 Juliets, 1 Andi and 1 Donny (only Juliet with superior OBF).

Juliet got out at 3rd turn and next turn played Govern superior, so Andi was out. By then, my situation was already bad: Only 8 pool and 3 vampires and 3 Spectres behind...

I asked the other players if any chance to collaborate in ousting Alex, as next turn I was dead and the 2 Ravnos had little chances as prey.

Raúl asked Sandro to not to put pressure on him til Alex was dead and Sandro accepted. Sandro bled for 5 and was deflected by Raúl to Alex, who was left on 10 pool. Then, Raúl played 2 Reckless Agitation that ended Alex: A new world opened in front of me.

I started doing malkavian things getting Donny out thru Govern superior and putting some pressure on my prey. Raúl had accepted to leave me alone a couple of turns to defend himself against his predator. My prey, Marco and Sandro had been putting a lot of pressure on their preys and Sandro was low of pool so that any mistake could be the last.

Final was decided really fast: Raúl rushed me with his 2 vampires but I had in hand 1 Second Tradition and 2 Obediences so he could not torporice my vampires or rotate cards.

My prey ousted Sandro and I deflected twice back to Raúl (I didn't mind who died as I only had to get 2VPs to win). Finally ousted my prey and Raúl was only 1 pool left. He torporized Juliet and bled.

I was left with only the 2 princes and no stealth in hand and Raúl had 2 barons and the edge. I had 1 KRC in hand and Camarilla Conclave in play, but no stealth in hand, so no big chances to take his last pool. I chose go big or go home and Donny launched the KRC... Huge surprise: Raúl said "No block..." KRC passed as I reduced the votes of his barons with Camarilla Conclave and I won the final.

Thanks a lot to all players that came to Coimbra to enjoy a great VTES weekend and to Tiago for taking care of us and organizing a great NC. Hope I didn't bore you too much and see you in Alcalá!

Tournament winning deck: “Malkavian Pols” by Heghemon

Crypt (12 cards)
4x Juliet Parr      9 AUS DOM OBF cel pot   justicar   Malkavian:7
3x Alexander Silverson    8 AUS DOM OBF pre       prince     Malkavian:6
2x Jason "Son" Newberry   7 AUS DOM OBF pre       primogen   Malkavian:6
2x Andi Liu       6 DOM aus obf pre       prince     Malkavian:6
1x Donny Kowalczyk        6 AUS cel dom obf       prince     Malkavian:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (10)
2x Camarilla Conclave
1x Dark Influences
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion

Event (1)
1x Waiting Game

Action (14)
14x Govern the Unaligned

Political Action (17)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
5x Camarilla's Iron Fist
1x Expulsion
4x Kine Resources Contested
1x My Kin Against the World
4x Parity Shift

Action Modifier (24)
2x Bonding
3x Conditioning
5x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
1x Foreshadowing Destruction
4x Forgotten Labyrinth
5x Lost in Crowds
2x Telepathic Vote Counting

Action Modifier/Combat (1)
1x Hide the Mind

Reaction (23)
8x Deflection
2x Eyes of Argus
1x Mental Maze
4x Obedience
3x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
4x Second Tradition: Domain

And, since I'm allowed to add a few words, my own wrap up:

As the long night of Æminium unfolded, the fate of the Regent, and perhaps of the city itself, was finally revealed.

On March 7th 2026, 57 Kindred heeded the call of Æminium and gathered to discover the Regent’s fate. The Custodian welcomed them and moderated the heated discussions, but as the night progressed and the intrigues unfolded, only five remained when the final hour approached. And then, as the ritual concluded, four faded into torpor… and only one remained to learn what the future held for the city.

The event took place at Taberna TopDeck, with players attending from five different countries, all eager to claim the title of Portuguese Champion.

Participants faced each other across three preliminary rounds, where some players quickly stood out, securing strong game wins and accumulating impressive victory point totals.

In the end, congratulations go to Augusto Ponce de León, the new Portuguese Champion, for his victory. We look forward to welcoming you again next year to defend your title.

As a final note, I would like to thank all the players for their excellent sportsmanship throughout the entire event. Their attitude greatly contributed to the friendly atmosphere and helped make the tournament an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I'd also like to thank our sponsors: Cónclave Ibérico, Estalia Córdoba, Tokens & Tales and UltraPro for their awesome prize support and Meeple Armor for the finalist deckbox and trophies.

Thanks to Tiago, Augusto and everyone else involved in this event and report!

Reported by Miro Albertazzi, VEKN National Coordinator of Italy:

During the weekend of February 27 to March 1, the Italian community of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle gathered in Trento for one of the most anticipated events of the year: the Italian Championship 2026. The event took place at Hotel Paoli, in Lochere, that became for three days a true domain for 47 Methuselahs from all around our country, filled with intense games, old friends meeting again, and new players ready to face their first great challenge!

The tournament was organized by Giulio De Cicco (Prince of Trento) together with the National Coordinator Miro Albertazzi. 

In the three preliminary rounds the gamewins were spread amongst a lot of players, proving that competition was very high and tables had different balances across the rounds. The race for a spot in the final was tight until the very last victory point!

So this was the final standing:
1. 1 GW 7 VP - Federico “Rip” Ferrarini (180 TP)
2. 1 GW 7 VP - Daniel “The fresh demon” Pergola (162 TP) 
3. 1 GW 6 VP - Damiano “Dam” Ghiaroni 
4. 1 GW 6 VP - Filippo “Taxi Driver” Del Re
5. 1 GW 5,5 VP - Giulio “The elevator’s wizard” Roffi

As you can see, there were a tie for first and second place, a tie for the third and fourth, both resolved with the Table Point… but also the fifth place was a total tie: Giulio Roffi and Dario Manzo had the same GWs, VPs and table point too! So it was a coin toss to give Giulio the final table, a special mention to Dario, who couldn’t reach the final for a pinch of luck!

The finalists: Daniel, Filippo, Federico, Giulio and Damiano.

The fear of the Ravnos deck put the politicians on the defensive, leaving an easy point to Federico. After that, the !Ventrue! grinder put up a talkative strategy that filled the game of uncertainty, Daniel was a bit unlucky and suffered from an unexpected lack of stealth for all the game long, so Giulio got his VP at last; but with few minute left on the clock the game ended at the time, and Federico Ferrarini from Bologna emerged victorious, claiming the title of Italian Champion. Federico piloted his deck, an old archetype, with patience and built his victory around table control, steady offense and defense, and strong long-term resource management.

The tournament winning deck: “ventrue grinder” by Federico Ferrarini

Crypt (12 cards)
2x Owain Evans, The Wanderer 8 AUS DOM FOR cel pre Ventrue antitribu:3
2x Blackhorse Tanner 7 AUS DOM FOR Ventrue antitribu:3
1x Edward Neally 7 DOM FOR aus pre Ventrue antitribu:3
1x Jefferson Foster 6 AUS DOM for tha bishop Ventrue antitribu:4
1x Mariel St. John 6 AUS FOR dom pro Ventrue antitribu:4
2x Neighbor John 5 AUS dom for Ventrue antitribu:4
1x Jephta Hester 5 DOM FOR aus Ventrue antitribu:4
1x Lana Butcher 3 dom for Ventrue:3
1x Ulrike Rothbart 3 dom for Ventrue antitribu:4

Library (90 cards)
Master (15; 5 trifle) 
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Channel 10
1x Corporate Hunting Ground
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Effective Management
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Montreal
3x Vessel
1x Wider View

Action (14) 
13x Govern the Unaligned
1x Under Siege

Equipment (2) 
1x .44 Magnum
1x Heart of Nizchetus

Action Modifier (8) 
4x Bonding
3x Conditioning
1x Daring the Dawn

Combat (23) 
1x Aura Reading
4x Hidden Strength
1x Lessons in the Steel
8x Rolling with the Punches
3x Soak
6x Weighted Walking Stick

Reaction (28)
5x Deflection
4x Delaying Tactics
1x Eagle's Sight
5x Eyes of Argus
3x My Enemy's Enemy
4x On the Qui Vive
6x Telepathic Misdirection

During the weekend, there was also time for the traditional Saturday evening dinner, which concluded with a VTES-themed cake celebrating the event.

The Side Event took place the day after, with the 33 remaining Methuselahs. In the final, the Trento player  Thomas “Thomu” Marchiori, successfully defended the honor of the host city and won the awesome Signpost ready to be torn!

A big thank to the organizers, a bigger one for Mistlore, the Italian VTES distributor, for sponsoring and supporting the events, along with Black Chantry, Ultrapro and CardGamegeek.

The biggest thank goes to all the players who attended, and to the Italian community that continues to keep the game alive, amusing and competitive.

And congratulations again to Federico Ferrarini, the new Italian Champion, and see you all at the next major Vampire: The Eternal Struggle event!

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