Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter October 2023
Preview art by Ginés Quiñonero from Fifth Edition: Tzimisce.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
Our worldwide network of active Vampire: The Eternal Struggle tournament players is now 2 182. That means 2 182 unique persons have played a tournament in the last 18 months. Wow!
JONAS STÅHLE IS THE VTES 2023 EUROPEAN CHAMPION!
The European Championship took place in Barcelona, Spain on October 13-15, and it had a record attendance: 269 players!
As usual, the main tournament was preceded by a series of "Week of Nightmares" tournaments, which were won by these nice folks:
• Monday: Jesper Bøje of Denmark
• Tuesday: Márcia Mota of Portugal
• Wednesday: Sergio Bolsico Silverio of Spain
• Thursday: David Luhaæær of Denmark
Then the real fun began. This year's special promo card was Piper with new art by Ginés Quiñonero. It was awarded in both English and Spanish versions to all participants.
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Hugh Angseesing and the rest of the Black Chantry ghouls honoured the event with their presence, as did Chico and Lalo all the way from Mexico, and some other wonderful long way travelers - extra thanks to you for attending!
Also worthy of praise are all those that took the test to become sanctioned VTES judges - you are all heroes!
As we have grown accustomed to, Marko Saari of Finland took some extra nice pictures of this EC too:
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Check out the details about each EC event in these separate VEKN.net articles:
LINK: Friday "Last Chance" tournament: 221 players
LINK: Saturday EC 2023 Day 1: 269 players
LINK: Saturday European Grand Prix final
LINK: Sunday EC 2023 Redemption: 140 players
LINK: Sunday EC 2023 Day 2: 85 players
Thanks to all players, organisers and sponsors - hope to see many of you in Warsaw next year!
PLAYER INTERVIEW: JONAS STÅHLE, 2023 EUROPEAN CHAMPION
Interview by Henrik Klippström. Full transparence: I play with this guy almost every week. Strangely, he doesn´t win that much when I´m around :) For more about this tournament, check out the full report.
OK, lets start from the beginning … How long have you played VTES?
- I started back in 2003-2004, I think. Anarchs had been released recently and Kindred Most Wanted was one of the first new releases for me. One of my friends, Randal Rudstam, introduced the game to me by playing 1-on-1 and rushing my vampires, or at least that's how I remember it, but I still got hooked. In the beginning we were just a small group of highschool friends, but after a few years I migrated to play more with the rest of the current Stockholm group.
What do you enjoy most about the game?
- I primarily enjoy the social aspect, sharing stuff that happens on the table and just general blabbering. I also have a soft spot for deck building and exploring less used card interactions.
How do you generally behave at the table?
- I think I can take on a bit of an agitator role against whoever I perceive as my main threat, regardless of table positions. I'm no stranger to passing on a victory point to get an easier game win. I do think I have more success when I actually keep a low profile, however. You (Klippström) play with me every Wednesday so you probably have a more objective view than I do, so feel free to fill in. (Yes, he can be an agitator, but yes, I don´t always think that role suits him :))
Do you prefer a certain type of deck?
- I do like decks that are active and focused on ousting, so bleed decks are probably the closest to my heart. I think it's important to try out all kinds of archetypes to understand how they function, though. For less competitive play I love trying out underplayed cards, or new card interactions, as mentioned.
The European Championships Day 2 is the 85 best players around. You played Ministry Dabbler stealth-bleed. Why did you choose that deck?
- Most of all it's a deck I'm very comfortable with, I played it a lot and it has performed well before. I also expected a lot of the new Fifth Edition decks, e.g. Gangrel, Banu Haqim and Brujah, and I think that Ministry has a quite favorable matchup against those. There's also a lot more intercept in it compared to other popular stealth bleeders, which allows you to block key actions – like Raven Spy, Bowl of Convergence – and dictate the game more. It is quite weak to aggressive bleeding, but that tends to be less represented on Day 2, although I'm not sure how true that was this year with so many players, thus requiring more victory points for finals.
Are there any special prey and predators you like or don´t like when playing this deck?
- As mentioned, an aggressive bleeder, especially a stealth-bleeder, can be rough since the deck doesn't pack all that much defense. Like with most decks a prey with very dedicated minion-rush is always a problem, since even if you could oust it, you'll do so crippled.
How were your preliminary rounds on Day 2?
- I managed to snag two game wins ending in very close heads-up situations. In the first my Gangrel opponent got roughed up too much the round before the heads up by Sniper Rifle wielding predator, giving me too much of an edge. A shared Club Illusion also worked well in my favor. In the third table, second game win, a very timely Pentex Subversion removed the star blocker from the Akunanse player – sporting Jubal with extra intercept against Ministry! – giving the oust from a mandatory pool to Smiling Jack.
Watch this final at Youtube: BCNcrisis.
About the final, what were your thoughts for the seating?
- I did not really know what Javi played, but assumed it was more control-focused than aggressive forward. Banu Haqim is also a pretty decent prey for ministry, hence my choice of seating. I think Otso got the impression that Kari played a more traditional voting Arika deck and wanted to sit close enough to control. At the time, I also saw his positioning as a way of letting me and Tomasz go at each other and then just delete however emerged from that.
As the game begun and evolved, how did you feel about it?
- Things mostly went my way to be honest, and my main job was to not fumble it away. I did try to not throw everything at Tomasz but rather try to build a board first, but not sure how others perceived it. The game overall was suprisingly relaxed though, and even when it went well I never really counted anyone out. I never had the energy to overthink the situation, and expected more resistance with Direct Interventions and dealing to get me off the table. Sometime after my second victory point it looked too good to ignore, but then it felt more like a matter of time when I'd get the last oust since my board was so strong.
So, now you are the best player in Europe, maybe on planet Earth. What are your thoughts on the future of VTES tournament play?
- Not sure if I feel like the best player, but I'm very happy with my performance! I can't say I have too strong of an opinion on future tournaments, other than that I'll try to keep playing and enjoying the game.
What are your personal VTES goals right now?
- I'm really looking forward to future sets, in particular because Ravnos is a favorite clan of mine, and I want to find a way to make them work. There is going to be a lot of new stuff to explore. The current meta game is still evolving a lot and as things get shaken up there's old stuff suddenly being viable, which I think is exciting.
Thanks to Jonas for the interview, and we wish him good luck in the future!
NEW STRUCTURE FOR VEKN NEWSLETTERS
As you probably already have noticed, we are trying a new routine for official Vampire: The Eternal Struggle event reports. The reports will be published as separate articles on VEKN.net – only a short summary with a link to the full article will appear in the newsletter. In this way we lift some stress from the newsletter writing at the end of each month and get more room for other fun stuff in the newsletter.
But still, please remember: If you organise a tournament of National Championship level or higher, it is important that you send in the requested event information to the newsletter editor. Do it at the same time that you upload The Archon!
NERIJUS MIKALAJUNAS IS THE 2023 VTES CHAMPION OF POLAND!
45 players turned up in Warsaw. Read the full report: Polish National Championship 2023
ANOTHER ROAD TO PULLED FANG ENDS
Words by Lukáš Simandl:
On the eve of the Czech Nationals (reported in the last newsletter), the culmination of the Czech Road to Pulled Fang league also took place. This league consisted of a series of five tournaments, with the winners receiving unique playmats, and all players earning points for the overall ranking.
The first of these tournaments was held in Prague in November, and its winner was Tomáš Kubec. The second was in January, won by Jan Kočí in Ostrava. March saw another victory for Jan Kočí in Lichnov. The fourth tournament took place in Hradec Králové, and its winner was Jan Liška. The conclusion, as in the previous year, took place in Brno, with Lukáš Vrbický emerging as the victor.
Points from individual tournaments were added up for the overall ranking. This was done by summing up game wins and victory points (as a secondary scoring metric) from the three most successful tournaments of each participant. An interesting note this year was that two tournament winners did not make it to the top five due to their absence from other Road tournaments.
The final five players gathered on the evening before the Nationals to conclude this year's Road to Pulled Fang. An interesting situation occurred when two Carna met at the table, leading to a contest. This might lead to a slight change in deck selection for the final table in the future. Nevertheless, the players who made it to the final table were: Jan Kočí (5 GW; Gangrel anarch) -> Jiří Paska (4 GW; Carna) -> Lukáš Vrbický (6 GW; Carna) -> Lukáš Simandl (4 GW; Lasombra Animalism) -> Michal Faldyna (5 GW; !Tremere). The ultimate winner was Jan Kočí.
Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! (The King is dead, long live the King!). We are already looking forward to the next series of Road to Pulled Fang, which will have one more tournament this time.
BRATISLAVA RISING
How do you grow a player community? Let´s take a look at an example. Earlier this year Radovan Vitek from Bratislava, Slovakia, was in contact with the VEKN regarding torpor rescue of the Bratislava community. Now we can tell how it is going!
What they have achieved in 9 months:
- They grew the community from 4-6 regulars to 8-10 regulars plus a few new players.
- They ran their first weekly league (similar to the one in Stockholm, based on an earlier German one) for 10 weeks with rating points and "crowning" of a champion.
- They established regular playing times: every Tuesday plus first Saturday in every month. That attracted the community from Vienna and the two groups regularly visit each other for tournaments and marathon sessions of VTES.
- They attended two tournaments with more experienced players in Vienna.
- They did a bundle order from the Polish Vtes.store and got some perks for it and are planning to do another one plus singles from Drivethrucards.com to tackle the shipping cost.
What they hope to do in the next 12 months:
- organize a first tournament of standard constructed to get feeling of what needs to be done and how to run things. The guys from Vienna will help with it as they have more experience.
- Continue with the league games, and this years league will award the top five participants with a storyline game with custom event cards.
- They would like to build cube limited environment for mostly “V5” (Fifth Edition) cards that will serve as a repeatable option for drafting and playing VTES. This will be explored and tested first. So far, the beta list and ratios with limited testing can be found here: the list and the ratios.
- There is also the option to do some sort of "prerelease" tournament with upcoming Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce decks.
If anyone has any questions or ideas for Radovan, contact him at .
The VEKN really appreciates initiatives like this, and will, together with Black Chantry Productions, do whatever possible to support similar ventures. Good luck to the Bratislava community!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: OCTOBER 2023
• Yes, all the Black Chantry partners were once again gathered at the European Championship. A very rare occasion, when you have a Swede, an American, a Brit, a Frenchman and a Spaniard joining to form a card game company!
Henrik, Ben, Hugh, Vincent and Ginés.
• In Barcelona that weekend, Hugh and Ben held a presentation where the product roadmap was revealed and explained, and Ben then put it into writingover at www.blackchantry.com - a must-read if you are interested in the future of VTES.
• Believe it or not, the “preview season” for the next three Fifth Edition preconstructed decks is still ongoing. The clans are Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce. Release date is not set, but hopefully in December. All previews are collected at these product pages:
• Many have questions about what really is going on with all the VTES promo cards that Black Chantry put out, so now a promo card policy has been published.
• While the second round of playtest of the Hecata and Lasombra preconstructed decks is prepared, the playtesters are trying out the first draft of a two-player variant of VTES. This is very exciting, for it is one of the most sought-after things according to Black Chantry customer service.
Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
- Lost Kindred bundle
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
VTES card sleeves
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Stores only)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
Fifth Edition: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
The Fall of London (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Echoes of Gehenna
Shadows of Berlin (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
This year's "Month of Darkness" has come to an end, as usual LOADED with exciting news and content for fans of Vampire: The Masquerade and the rest of the World of Darkness. We would like to highlight:
• the launch of Vampire Nexus, the official digital toolset for Vampire: The Masquerade
• the World of Darkness News show interview with the guys behind Clans of London, an upcoming mobile-first card game
• the global PDF release of Vampire: The Masquerade - Blood Sigils, a sourcebook devoted to blood sorcery and thin-blood alchemy
• the brand new Hunter: The Reckoning wiki over at Paradoxwikis.com
• a Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - Narrative & RPG Stream reveal video.
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Austria
Belgium
Brazil x14
Chile
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Italy x3
Mexico
Online x5
Philippines x2
Serbia
Spain x8
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
USA x3
For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!
CONTACT VEKN
You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official VEKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
Impossible is for the unwilling.
Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter September 2023
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
INTRODUCING: THE 2023-2024 LEAGUE PROMO CARDS
Black Chantry Productions has prepared a number of promotional cards primarily for league or other continuous play rewards, but they can of course be used for other event promotion as needed. The cards can be ordered by VEKN National Coordinators from Drivethrucards.com using special links provided from upon request.
The cards are full art versions of crypt and library cards that are already available in a normal version:
• .44 Magnum
• Alice Chen
• Karl Schrekt
• Kalinda (Group 6)
• Oskar Anasov
EC 2023 COMING UP!
If you have the opportunity, don´t miss the chance to attend what we think can be the greatest Vampire: The Eternal Struggle event of all time: the European Championship 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. The dates are October 13-15, and when this is written over 200 Methuselahs from 18 different nations have already registered at the VTES.es site. All kinds of pre-events, side events and social events are of course happening. This will be a blast, hope to see you there!
Happy finalists, with Jeroen in the middle.
JEROEN VAN OORT WINS GRAND PRIX GERMANY 2023!
31 players turned up for Grand Prix Germany at the White Rabbit game store in Essen on September 17.
Standings before the final table:
1. Jeroen van Oort - 2 GW 10.5 VP
2. Roy Opitz - 2 GW 9,5 VP
3. Milan Matthes - 1 GW 6 VP
4. Kevin Mullen - 1 GW 5 VP
5. Emiliano Imeroni - 1 GW 4.5 VP
Congratulations Jeroen van Oort, securing 3 victory points in the final, over Emiliano's Imeroni 1 and Roy Opitz 1.
Jeroen's tournament winning deck: "Ministry G56 boring is better"
Crypt (12)
2x Sergio Bueno 8 OBF PRE PRO aus pot baron Ministry:6
1x Nonu Dis 8 OBF PRE PRO for Ministry:6
2x Vivian VI 7 PRE PRO obf tha baron Ministry:6
2x Elisha Tucker 6 PRE cel obf pro baron Ministry:6
1x Crystal Lynn 6 OBF PRE PRO Ministry:6
1x Aluc Romas de Leon 5 PRE aus obf pro Ministry:6
1x Doctor Morocco 5 PRO cel obf pre Ministry:6
1x Jenny Silver 5 PRE PRO obf Ministry:6
1x Marcel 4 obf pre pro Ministry:6
Library (89)
Master (17; 9 trifle)
2x Club Illusion
1x Coven, The
5x Dabbler
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
Read more: Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter September 2023
Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter August 2023
Preview art by Camille Défarge for a upcoming Vampire: The Eternal Struggle card.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
We apologize for this late newsletter - sometimes unlife gets in the way! But forget about that now and focus on the artwork above, by VTES newcomer artist Camille Défarge. Isn´t it fantastic?!
SPRECHEN SIE DEUTSCH?
A message from Black Chantry CEO and VEKN Chairman Hugh Angseesing:
We are happy to announce our first Vampire: the Eternal Struggle cards in German, or Deutsch: Aline Gädeke and Horst von Brühl.
Why these two?
Well, they’re German vampires in the best set of Vampire: the Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition - so it seemed appropriate!
Why any German cards?
These have been created to celebrate the German Grand Prix in Essen on 17th September 2023 and to reward the German players for the effort they have put into creating a, nearly, fully operational rulebook. Thank you, team Deutschland!
A German rulebook you say?
A German rulebook has been drafted and it will need some final adjustments as we reprint and tidy up the English rulebook first.
What happens in the future?
In terms of whether we will be printing more German cards in the future, we intend to get the rulebook available as a PDF and then see what demand is like for a local print, either through our traditional printers or via a print-on-demand facility.
What is the scale required?
Minimum volumes through our traditional printers would be around 1,000 copies.
Partnership
We have discussed working with other partners to make a German language product, at the moment there is nothing happening there, but we will continue looking at options. A pre-order or crowdfunding option is likely to be the best way to make a larger volume, especially for retailers.
What about other languages?
I don't want to steal from the success of the German team, but we have also been working with our Italian friends and would hope to release a PDF rulebook and again some rewards as a minimum and go from there.
WHO WILL BATTLE IN THE 2023 VTES EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX FINAL?
A message from Orian Gissler, the VEKN Organized play coordinator:
Fellow cainites,
First of all, a reminder: The last GP is this weekend in Essen, Germany - more information about that is at the related VEKN forum thread.
With that said, it’s time to see where we are standing for the finals of GP circuit to be held during European Championship 2023 in Barcelona, from 13th to 15th October (Book your tickets at the vtes.es site.)
This year’s GP winners were the following:
• First, in September, Bartosz Kalinczuk beat a field of 30 players to claim GP Poland in Warsaw,
• He was soon followed in October by Javier Naranjo Ortiz winning over a very impressive field of 98 players in GP Spain in Benidorm, Valencia.
• Then the Italian lord Danilo Torrisi decided to claim the annual Italian GP held in Bologna in December over 42 players (next year Italian GP will be in Milan, stay tuned for more information!)
In 2023, we had two GP’s so far:
• Kim Nilsson was the first foreign GP winner, claiming title in Liverpool in May over 27 players for the very first GP UK,
• And finally during summer, another national legend decided to claim his GP with Bram Van Stapppen claiming the Belgian GP in Brussels over a very nice attendance of 49 players.
Before Essen, we have the following top 7 (with a bunch of players at 15 points behind them):
Player Total points
Javier Naranjo Ortiz 43
Tero Aalto 33
Bartosz Kalinczuk 25
Bram Van Stappen 25
Danilo Torrisi 25
Kim Nilsson 25
Filippo Mengoli 18
Reminder of what this means:
• GP winners are all qualified to EC Day 2
• 5 GP winners are automatically qualified for GP finals. If 6 GP winners show up, then we rank them according to points, then to attendance during their victory,
• To complete the GP final if less than 5 winners show up, we use total points;
So for the moment everything remains to be done: being first seed in the GP finals might be a big deal, and so far Javier holds this position. Then other GP winners might contest for the 5 spots in the finals, and attending a second GP might secure them a spot in the finals. Finally for other players, everything is still open from 2nd to 5th seed in the finals.
I hope to see you in big numbers for our next events in the GP series and for our next announcements! Thanks for supporting us!
JOAB ROGERIO WINS GRAND PRIX CAMPINA GRANDE 2023!
24 players turned up for this Grand Prix tournament in Campina Grande on August 5.
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Standings before the final:
1. Joab Rogério 3 gw 11 vp
2. José Robério 2 gw 6 vp
3. Rafael Barbosa 2 gw 9 vp
4. Maycon Alves 2gw 6vp
5. Cleriston Oliveira 1 gw 5,5 vp
Congratulations Joab Rogério Barbosa da Silva, crushing all opposition in the final, taking home all the 5 victory points! Well done!
Joab’s tournament winning deck: “Lobos de Winterfell”
Crypt
2x Casey Snyder 6 PRO ani cel for baron Gangrel:6
1x André the Manipulator 6 FOR PRO Gangrel:5
1x Hanna Nokelainen 4 ani for pro Gangrel:6
1x Indira 3 PRO Gangrel:6
1x Joaquín de Cádiz 3 for pro Gangrel:6
1x Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for Gangrel:6
1x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x Lillian 3 ani pro Gangrel:5
1x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel:6
1x Nathan Turner 4 PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Ruslan Fedorenko 2 pro Gangrel:6
1x Vivian VI 7 PRE PRO obf tha baron Ministry:6
Library (90)
Master (24; 7 trifle)
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Backways
1x Carfax Abbey
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Ecoterrorists
5x Effective Management
1x Ennoia's Theater
1x Giant's Blood
2x Information Highway
2x Parthenon, The
1x Powerbase: Montreal
7x Villein
Action (15)
1x Rewilding
14x Thing
Political Action (5)
2x Consanguineous Boon
3x Revolutionary Council
Action Modifier (10)
1x Daring the Dawn
4x Earth Control
5x Propaganda of the Deed
Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Form of the Bat
Combat (16)
3x Claws of the Dead
9x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist
Reaction (16)
6x Bait and Switch
2x Deep Ecology
6x Organized Resistance
2x Poison Pill
Thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!
ABOUT THE SPANISH VTES LEAGUE 2023-2024 AND REGIONAL LEAGUES
Some words from Spanish National Coordinator Arnau Diez:
The Spanish V:TES leagues aim to foster interaction among different gaming groups in the Spanish community while establishing a recognizable competitive schedule. The 2023-2024 Spanish V:TES League builds on previous editions to engage players, both newcomers and veterans, beyond local groups. With the growth of the game, flexibility is allowed in modifying league rules.
The league includes 7 regions, with Galicia having a specific modifier due to distance. The winner of the Spanish League becomes the Spanish Archon for the subsequent season. An invitational tournament concludes each regional league, open to regular tournament winners and high-ranking players. The invitational follows a 2 or 3 rounds plus final format and has separate prizes.
League committees, chosen by prior committees and the National Coordinator, manage league functions, including finances, prize selection, and addressing unforeseen issues. Player conduct is expected to be exemplary, fostering a supportive environment for learning and competition. The league's organizing Prince remains responsible for tournament logistics.
Prizes are determined by each committee, using collected funds, with no specific demands from players. Prizes are awarded as sealed materials or merchandise, with organizers not receiving monetary compensation. The aim is to encourage participation and healthy competition, with top participants receiving distinct rewards.
To learn more about the rules of the Spanish League and the regional leagues, please refer to this PDF file.
The champion to the left, with NC and organiser Joachim Randa.
JON GRØNSET IS THE 2023 NORWEGIAN CHAMPION!
15 players turned up in Moss for this year’s Norwegian championship on August 5.
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Standings before the final:
1. Björn Rohm 2 GW, 6 VP
2. Jon Grønset 1 GW, 6 VP
3. Nicklas Lallo 1 GW, 6 VP
4. Richard Sandvik 1 GW, 5.5 VP
5. Ole Andreas Gresholt 1 GW, 4 VP
Congratulations Jon Grønset, taking home the championship with 4 victory points in the final. Ole Andreas Gresholt got 1 victory point.
Jon´s tournament winning deck: “The Strokes”
Comment: “Original work by Bill Troxel. Added a few more bounces and a Monkey Wrench. Worked out perfectly.”
Crypt (13)
5x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY
4x Babalawo Alafin 7 AUS FOR NEC ani Harbinger of Skulls:4
2x Crow 5 ANI for pro tha Gangrel:5
1x Monica Chang 3 dom tha Tremere:5
1x Mordechai Ben-Nun 8 ANI AUS FOR NEC Harbinger of Skulls:5
Library (90)
Master (27; 2 trifle)
2x Direct Intervention
11x Liquidation
3x Maabara
1x Metro Underground
5x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Sudden Reversal
2x Wider View
Event (5)
2x FBI Special Affairs Division
3x Unmasking, The
Ally (11)
11x Emerald Legionnaire
Action Modifier (6)
5x Call of the Hungry Dead
1x Monkey Wrench
Action Modifier/Combat (4)
4x Breath of Thanatos
Action Modifier/Reaction (2)
2x Spectral Divination
Reaction (35)
5x Delaying Tactics
15x Detect Authority
5x Eyes of Argus
3x On the Qui Vive
7x Telepathic Misdirection
Thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!
LOTTE SIEBERT IS THE 2023 IRISH CHAMPION!
Not a normal national championship tournament, but anyway, here are some words by the organiser Ben Fox:
Sadly didn't even get up to 11 players. Three people had to cancel the day before with life viciously conspiring to try and derail the event by wild means including somebody managing to find covid in 2023 (I assume from a nostalgia-scented scratch-and-sniff calendar), a dead dog, and more medical misadventures, with a further 1 dropping the morning of the event. So had to jump into the action with an intrepid 7, which put us under the threshold to do a final, and so just played the 3 rounds to fulfill the core goal of the event – getting people to play more games.
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The top five decks after those three games:
G6 Malks – 2 GWs, 8 VPs
G5-6 Gangrel – 2 GWs, 5 VPs
Lasombra Nocturns bleed – 1 GW, 3 VPs
G6 Ministry – 0 GW, 2 VPs
Gargoyles combat – 0 GW, 2 VPs
Seems like people were worried about it being our first proper timed super official tournament, so turned up with power bleed all over, planning to just race through the event like Ricky Bobby, leaving minimal defense to just focus on being first across the line. This plan mostly worked, as the winning Malkavian got into a great flow and very nearly swept every table, and over the course of the day bled out everybody except for the Gangrel at least once over the event.
Congratulations Lotte Siebert!
Lotte´s tournament winning deck: “Malkavians Go Fast”
Crypt (12)
2x Evan Klein 5 OBF aus dom pre Malkavian:6
1x Abraham Mellon 8 AUS DOM OBF for tha Malkavian:6
1x Alexander Silverson 8 AUS DOM OBF pre prince Malkavian:6
1x Andi Liu 6 DOM aus obf pre prince Malkavian:6
1x Ashley 3 dom obf Malkavian:6
1x Colette 5 AUS OBF dom Malkavian:6
1x Darius Shirazi 6 AUS DOM obf Malkavian:5
1x Gelasia Fotiou 6 AUS DOM obf pre Malkavian:6
1x Gilbert Duane 7 AUS DOM OBF baron Malkavian:6
1x Jason "Son" Newberry 7 AUS DOM OBF pre primogen Malkavian:6
1x Sully 4 aus dom obf Malkavian:6
Library (75 cards)
Master (7)
2x Barrens, The
2x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elder Library
Action (17)
1x Conceal
16x Govern the Unaligned
Equipment (1)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
Action Modifier (32)
4x Cloak the Gathering
8x Conditioning
4x Elder Impersonation
4x Faceless Night
4x Foreshadowing Destruction
4x Lost in Crowds
4x Spying Mission
Action Modifier/Combat (4)
4x Swallowed by the Night
Combat (2)
2x No Trace
Reaction (12)
5x Deflection
2x Eyes of Argus
4x On the Qui Vive
1x Wake with Evening's Freshness
Since in the World of Darkness you always have sneakiness behind the scenes, Ministry seem to have been the unspoken winners, as in her victory speech the winner declared that having mastered Malkavians, is moving on to experiment with another clan, that being the Ministry, in a move entirely unrelated to the corruption counters received...
Thanks for the effort Ben, and thanks to sponsors and players – good luck with future events!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: AUGUST 2023
• The tournament legality date for the new cards in the Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel and Ministry New Blood packs has been set to August 31. So by the time you read this it´s time to try them out!
• On August 25, 57 new old Tremere Antitribu cards were added to VTES Legacy Singles at Drivethrucards.com. Next up is Dementation cards, then more cards for bloodlines.
• The first ever VTES cards in the German languages have been printed, see above. German versions of Horst von Brühl and Aline Gädeke will be awarded to participants in the Essen Grand Prix tournament on September 17.
• The next preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce) are now 100 % ready for print. When the exact print time is set, we can tell you an approximate launch date. Spoilers start now, with the top image in this newsletter – stay tuned to Black Chantry social media and site for more previews!
• The first round of playtesting of the next two preconstructed decks is ongoing! It is clans Lasombra and Hecata, who both share the common discipline of Oblivion, brand new for VTES. Read more about it at the Vampire: The Masquerade wiki.
Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
- Lost Kindred bundle
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
VTES card sleeves
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Stores only)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
Fifth Edition: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
The Fall of London (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Echoes of Gehenna
Shadows of Berlin (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Finally! News about Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2! The long awaited sequel to the classic Bloodlines game from 2004 will be released “fall 2024”. The new, previously undisclosed developer is The Chinese Room, until now most known for exploration games such as Dear Esther. A bunch of fresh visuals were shown in the new trailer, so check it out if you haven´t already!
Also, a new mobile game was revealed: Vampire: The Masquerade - Clans of London, developed by Well Played Games.
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Brazil x13
Chile x3
Czech Republic
Denmark
Deutchland
France x2
Hungary
Italy
Netherlands
Online x2
Poland x2
Spain x14
Sweden
USA x4
For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!
CONTACT VEKN
You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official VEKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
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