This tournament was played in Budapest on January 26 with 65 players from 6 countries. Reported by Máté Vaka, VEKN National Coordinator of Hungary, with comment by the champion:

Standings after three preliminary rounds:
1. Márk Virsinger 2 GW 10,5 VP
2. Tamás Glied 2 GW 8,5 VP
3. Balázs Sebestyén 2 GW 8,5 VP
4. Gyula Erdős 2 GW 8 VP
5. Goran Damjanic 1 GW 7 VP

Report by the winner: "Vampires were revealed, and I felt like a goner. I was second seed, so had some wiggle room where to sit. With four combat decks on the table my best shot was with Goran (Warghoul) as my prey, since his combat is weakest against Strike: Combat Ends, and Warghouls costing a pretty penny, probably the easiest for me to oust. I was also happy with Gyula (Banu Haqim) as my predator, as he is probably our best player, and I assumed he didn't want to turn the whole table against himself by killing me too quickly.

I was 3rd, and didn´t draw any ramp in my opening hand, but had a Monastery of Shadows so on my second turn I found Information Highway that lead to a 2nd turn Anson. Márk (Montano) had a opening Zillah's Valley, so I was somewhat happy with my decision to let one retainer arrive in front of me, as I had 2 Second Traditions in my hand, but blocked only Anarch Convert, and my gamble somewhat paid off, as Warghouls first 3-4 attacks was forward.

Mufti (Shalmath) had a slow start, took 6 bleed from Montano before anything happened. My next 2 vampires out was Alexandra and Leandro. I was doing the usual Villein, Ashur and Liquidation that the deck does, as for actions I rescued my vampires that Banu Haqim deemed unworthy.

My game had 2 big problems (besides the fact that there were four combat decks at the table 😅), one being the fact that my deck usually deal in pool for favors, unfortunatly pools were not much under pressure with combat boys, and the second one is that Gyula's first prince was Oluwafunmilayo, who's with the extra intercept plus Second Tradition was hurting a lot. Turning point of the game came in about an hour, as in one turn my dear Alexandra was torporized and eaten by the collective efforts of Banus and Warghouls, and Montano's good friend Nahir learned the hard way that True Brujahs not only deal you 2 aggravated damage before range, but they can Decapitate you too. From that point on, Shalmath was ready to go forward, picked up Enkil Cog and Eye of Hazimel which torporized some Banus.

My game was about laying low, and letting the combat decks go for each others throat. I was able to assemble Monastery of Shadows, Creepshow Casino and Camarilla Conclave so as far as stealth I was good for one sure vote per turn, but needed either my Anneke up to have the vote lock, or my Perfect Paragons. All of my 6 Perfect Paragons were on the bottom 1/3 of my deck, and having zero shot at getting the Edge my game was about false actions, I had like 3 votes in a row that didn't pass, trying to cycle.

By the time Anneke arrived, Gyula was able to transfer out Kasim Bayar, vote lock was not mine once more, so back to waiting for the Perfect Paragons. Goran was at 6 with a Failsafe in play, so i needed to oust him in one turn. Thankfully he was in a position needing to do something as time was slowly running out on us, so he had another Warghoul come into play.

As per usual if a card is missing for a long time, they arrive in numbers, and I drew like 3 Perfect Paragons in 5 cards. I had Anarchist Uprising on 4 stealth plus the Perfect Paragon for vote, and no Delaying Tactics meant oust. By the time I was able to oust, there was only 5 or so minutes left. Mufti was able to oust Gyula, but I was higher seed and at 18 pool he and Márk offered me the hand.

I got incredibly lucky how the table turned out, and laying low with Inner Circles was a hard task, but the combat decks turned on each other in just the right time for me. Huge grats to the four other finalists, it was a pleasure playing with you guys. Shout out to the Kecskemét community who helped me with testing the deck, Martin Weinmayer for general advice, Zsolt Gonda for staying with me during the finals, Alex Krizsán and Ferenc Kósa for their incredible support, and Máté Vaka for organizing the nationals. In general thanks for everyone who showed up, it's incredible that we had a 65 people national championship and it was a very fun and challenging tourney. Really happy to be Hungarian national champion. Hope to see as many of you in other tournaments throughout the year 🥰🥰"

Final result: Balázs 1.5 VP, Tamás 1.5 VP, Márk 0.5 VP = Tamás won by higher seeding, congratulations!

The tournament winning deck: “Vége van kicsi - it's over little one” by Tamás Glied

Crypt (12)
1x Alexandra 11 ANI AUS CEL PRE dom inner circle Toreador:2
1x Arika 11 DOM FOR OBF PRE aus cel inner circle Ventrue:2
1x Leandro 11 AUS OBF PRE cel dom inner circle Malkavian:2
1x Anneke 10 AUS CEL PRE dom justicar Toreador:1
1x Democritus 10 DOM PRE aus cel for justicar Ventrue:1
1x Don Cruez, The Idealist 10 CEL POT PRE ani dom pro justicar Brujah:1
1x Queen Anne 10 DOM FOR PRE aus obf prince Ventrue:2
4x Anson 8 CEL PRE aus dom prince Toreador:1
1x Emerson Bridges 8 DOM FOR PRE pot prince Ventrue:1

Library (90)
Master (45; 5 trifle)
9x Ashur Tablets
2x Camarilla Conclave
1x Creepshow Casino
2x Direct Intervention
1x Elysium: The Palace of Versailles
1x Giant's Blood
3x Information Highway
4x Liquidation
3x Minion Tap
2x Monastery of Shadows
1x Papillon
1x Parthenon, The
3x Protected Resources
5x Villein
7x Zillah's Valley

Political Action (18)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
4x Banishment
3x Camarilla's Iron Fist
7x Parity Shift
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power

Action Modifier (10)
6x Perfect Paragon
4x Voter Captivation

Reaction (11)
4x Redirection
7x Second Tradition: Domain

Combat (6)
6x Majesty

Thanks to all players, organisers and sponsors!

Played on December 15, reported by Márcio Pinheiro, VEKN National Coordinator of Brazil:

Once again, we have played the Cearense Championship, traditionally since 2013, being held in mid-December. 41 players from all corners of the state and our brothers from Piaui. It was an exciting 3 rounds, with two players with less than two years of playing in the Final.

Standing after round 3:
1. Lucas Teixeira 2 GW and 8,5 VP
2. Diego Rodrigues 2 GW and 7,5 VP
3. Bruno Hobbit 1 GW and 6,5 VP
4. Lucas Rocha 1 GW and 6 VP
5. José Felipe 1 GW and 5,5 VP

In the final, Lucas Teixeira put a lot of pressure on Diego, leaving Lucas Rocha free to attack José Felipe, who had to play against Malkaviano V5. The players then came together against Lucas Teixeira. Diego then took a vote that almost gave him the VP, but it hurt the rest of the players more than Lucas Teixeira, thus ending the union to remove Nephandus. Lucas Rocha went all or nothing, with Bleed, but José Felipe passed Bleed to Bruno Hobbit, who ended up leaving. Then Lucas Teixeira took out the others, guaranteeing 4 VPs and the Championship.

The tournament winning deck: “New deck” by Lucas Teixeira

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Ladislas Toth, The Torch 7 AUS DOM THA for archbishop Tremere antitribu:3
1x Elena Mendoza Vasquez 6 AUS THA dom obt Tremere antitribu:3
1x Selena 6 AUS DOM THA Tremere antitribu:3
1x Yasmin the Black 6 AUS THA dom pre Tremere antitribu:3
5x Antonio d'Erlette 5 THA dom for pot Tremere antitribu:4
1x Ember Wright 3 aus dom Tremere antitribu:3
1x Lectora 3 aus tha Tremere antitribu:4
1x Martin Franckel 3 AUS tha Tremere:3

Library (79 cards)
Master (23; 2 trifle)
9x Ashur Tablets
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Haven Uncovered
1x Infernal Pact
1x Jake Washington
3x Liquidation
2x Parthenon, The
1x Secure Haven
1x Shard, London, The
1x Wash
1x Wider View

Event (3)
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
2x Unmasking, The

Action (2)
2x Magic of the Smith

Ally (9)
9x Nephandus

Equipment (3)
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Sniper Rifle

Action Modifier (8)
2x Conditioning
6x Mirror Walk

Combat (7)
2x Molotov Cocktail
3x Target Vitals
2x Trap

Reaction (24)
5x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
5x Eyes of Argus
2x My Enemy's Enemy
5x On the Qui Vive
5x Telepathic Misdirection

The other decks of the final:
 
“!Salubri Fragile” by Bruno Hobbit

Crypt (12 cards)
4x Nuriel 8 AUS FOR VAL cel dom Salubri antitribu:6
3x Michaela 7 AUS FOR PRE VAL Salubri antitribu:5
3x Ariel 6 AUS FOR VAL Salubri antitribu:6
1x Azrael 5 AUS VAL for Salubri antitribu:6
1x Lailah 4 VAL aus Salubri antitribu:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (15; 4 trifle)
1x Archon Investigation
1x Code of Samiel
1x Direct Intervention
1x Fame
1x KRCG News Radio
3x Path of Retribution, The
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Tension in the Ranks
2x Vessel
2x Villein
1x Yawp Court

Event (1)
1x NRA PAC

Action (13)
2x Abbot
2x Blessing of the Name
9x Sense Death

Equipment (10)
6x Blade of Bellona
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Ivory Bow
1x Joumlon's Axe

Retainer (1)
1x Mr. Winthrop

Action Modifier (5)
5x Gift of Bellona

Combat (36)
6x Armor of Caine's Fury
5x Blessed Blade
2x Blissful Agony
4x Death Seeker
2x Righteous Aura
6x Rolling with the Punches
4x Sword of the Righteous
2x Taste of Vitae
4x Telepathic Tracking
1x Vengeance of Samiel

Reaction (9)
5x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Telepathic Misdirection


“Cailean Rush” by José Felipe

Crypt (12 cards)
3x Cailean 10 ANI OBF POT PRE dom archbishop Nosferatu antitribu:2
3x Julio Martinez 9 ANI DOM OBF POT nec bishop Nosferatu antitribu:3
3x Len Konopka 8 ANI OBF POT dom ser Nosferatu antitribu:3
3x Beast, The Leatherface of Detroit 7 OBF POT ani cel Nosferatu antitribu:2

Library (90 cards)
Master (18; 6 trifle)
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fame
1x Giant's Blood
2x Guardian Angel
1x Information Network
1x Nosferatu Kingdom
1x Powerbase: Barranquilla
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Shanty Town Hunting Ground
1x Tension in the Ranks
2x Vessel
3x Villein
1x Wider View

Action (12)
1x Abbot
7x Deep Song
2x Heroic Might
2x Under Siege

Equipment (2)
1x Kevlar Vest
1x Mark V

Retainer (2)
2x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (2)
2x Conditioning

Action Modifier/Combat (3)
3x Shadow Boxing

Combat (31)
2x Canine Horde
4x Disarm
8x Immortal Grapple
8x Roundhouse
4x Song of Serenity
5x Taste of Vitae

Reaction (20)
4x Cats' Guidance
6x Deflection
2x Guard Dogs
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Redirection
4x Sense the Savage Way


“Mini Lutz” by Diego Rodrigues

Crypt(12 cards)
4x Lutz von Hohenzollern 11 pot AUS DEM OBF PRE Malkavian:4
3x Undele 9 obf pre ser CEL FOR Ishtarri:5
1x Adana de Sforza 11 aus CEL OBF POT PRE PRO Brujah:4
1x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE Toreador:4
1x Unmada 10 cel for AUS DEM OBF VIC Malkavian:5
1x Dmitra Ilyanova 9 obf CEL FOR POT PRE Brujah:5
1x Stavros 7 dem AUS OBF PRE Malkavian antitribu:4

Library: 62 cards
Master (29 cards)
6x Ashur Tablets
5x Minion Tap
4x Zillah's Valley
3x Parthenon, The
3x Protected Resources
1x Coven, The
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Secure Haven
1x Wider View
1x Camarilla Conclave

Action (1 cards)
1x Entrancement
 
Political Action (13 cards)
3x Banishment
2x Kine Resources Contested
2x Camarilla's Iron Fist
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Disputed Territory
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power
1x Rumors of Gehenna

Action Modifier (17 cards)
4x Voter Captivation
3x Forgotten Labyrinth
3x Into Thin Air
2x Perfect Paragon
1x Approximation of Loyalty
1x Awe
1x Bewitching Oration
1x Elder Impersonation
1x Lost in Crowds

Action Modifier/Combat (2 cards)
2x Force of Personality


“Somente Amor” by Lucas Rocha

Crypt:
4 Morel
2 Apolonia Czarnecki
2 Osric Vladislav
2 Arthur Denholm
1 Gem Ghastly
1 Bela

4 Blood Doll
4 Grooming the Protege
1 Asylum Hunting Ground
1 Barrens, The
1 Golconda: Inner Peace
1 Sudden Reversal
1 Wider View

16 Kindred Spirits

10 Confusion
8 Lost in Crowds
6 Eyes of Chaos
6 Mind Tricks
4 Cloak the Gathering
4 Spying Mission
2 Faceless Night
4 Random Patterns
4 Deny

8 Telepathic Misdirection
5 On the Qui Vive

Thanks to our sponsors Conclave and Black Chantry!

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