Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter August 2025

 
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

Sorry for being late with this newsletter - there are a lot of things happening that need attention! Cardwise, of course, the upcoming four Sabbat preconstructed decks are the main thing. There is no shortage of excitement about this judging from the amount of questions pouring in and discussions everywhere. Even though the release is close at hand, on October 26, all has not been revealed properly yet, but will be within shortly. Here are some previews, all from the Path of Caine deck:

 

Berenguela, The Vicious has art by Krasen Maximov. Vicious indeed, this Nosferatu is the all-in clan disiciplines 6-cap that we know and love.

Twisted Bloodhound has art by Peter Scholtz. Everything but a cute puppy, this is perfect to mix with the previously previewed Dread Mastiff for a full nightmare kennel theme deck!

Ensnare the Beast, with art by Paolo Puggioni, can come in handy when that rushed minion tries to hunt after being rescued from torpor. No blood, no nasty strike card = smack down again!

If you missed it, read Alex Romano´s report from the preview tournament in June - he won with the Path of Caine deck!

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Introducing the official Vampire: The Eternal Struggle V5 format

It has now been five years since the release of the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (“V5”) boxed set. After that, Black Chantry Productions have made 28 products that players have come to recognise as “V5” products, i.e. non-Legacy products.

The V5 format is intended to serve the needs of new player groups and local game shops who don’t have access to the full range of VTES cards spanning over 30 years of sets. Many of these cards are not available in game shops or have yet to be made available through our print-on-demand partners.

The V5 format is intended as an alternate option and will not replace the Standard Constructed format. The Standard Constructed format will remain the format used for major VEKN-sanctioned tournaments, including Continental Championships, National Championships, and Grand Prix tournaments.

The V5 format includes all cards found in the following:

Fifth Edition preconstructed decks (14 decks):
Banu Haqim
Brujah
Gangrel
Hecata
Lasombra
Malkavian
Ministry
Nosferatu
Ravnos
Salubri
Toreador
Tremere
Tzimisce
Ventrue

Fifth Edition New Blood packs (11 packs):
Banu Haqim
Brujah
Gangrel
Hecata
Lasombra
Malkavian
Ministry
Nosferatu
Toreador
Tremere
Ventrue

Other releases (3 packs):
Fall of London
Shadows of Berlin
30th Anniversary

In addition, the following promotional cards not yet printed in other products are also included:
Bolesław Gutowski (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Conquer the Beast (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Depravity (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Fiorenza Savona (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Gabriel Tremblay (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Gilbert Duane G6 (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Island of Yiaros (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Jake Washington (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Karl Schrekt (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Maila (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Malkavian Rider Clause (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Mind of the Wilds (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Nosferatu Bestial (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Okulos (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Tegyrius, Vizier (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
The Meddling of Semsith (Promo pack 4 – Rebels)
Tremere Convocation (Promo pack 3 – Icons)
Victoria Ash G7 (Promo pack 3 – Icons)

New releases that will be added upon their release date:
Sabbat Fifth Edition preconstructed decks (26th October 2025):
Path of Caine
Path of Cathari
Path of the Dead and the Soul
Path of the Power and the Inner Voice

New Blood decks (Release date to be confirmed):
Ravnos
Salubri
Tzimisce

Clarifications
Any Vampire. The Eternal Struggle legal print version of the above cards is legal e.g.:
A Latin Govern the Unaligned from Malkavian Fifth Edition New Blood - legal
Govern the Unaligned from 1994 Jyhad base set - legal

For an easy way to check on what cards are in what products, try vdb.im.

The official VEKN tournament calendar tool has been adjusted - just pick “V5 Constructed” if you run a V5 format event.

Don´t forget: At the European Championship 2025 in Aarhus, Denmark, there will be a V5 tournament on Friday October 17!

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Sabbat decks available at EC 2025 in Aarhus!

Just one week before the official release date, the four new Sabbat preconstructed decks will be available for purchase at the European Championship venue in Aarhus, Denmark. If you already know you want to pick up your order at the EC, place it on the webshop Blackschantry.shop now and choose “Pick up at EC2025 in Aarhus” – that way, it’ll be ready and waiting for you.

PLEASE pre-register for the EC at vtes-ec2025.org!

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Martin Weinmayer wins Grand Prix Herne 2025!

49 proud Methuselahs battled it out in Herne, Germany, on August 16.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Herne 2025

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Parth Patel wins Gulfport Grand Prix 2025!

This was the 3rd leg of the current Gulf Coast Roast series of tournaments, played on August 23 by 19 participants.

Read the full report: Gulfport Grand Prix 2025

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Simon Reed is the 2025 champion of New Zealand!

This event had 14 players in Auckland on August 30.

Read the full report: New Zealand National Championship 2025

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James Snowball is the 2025 champion of South Africa!

13 players attended this tournament in Cape Town on August 17.

Read the full report: South Africa National Championship 2025

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Ole Andreas Gresholt is the 2025 champion of Norway!

8 players turned up for this in Moss on August 9.

Read the full report: Norway National Championship 2025

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Benjamín Rojas wins Grand Prix Santiago!

8 Methuselahs played this event on August 23.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Santiago 2025  

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Reminder: Please join the World of Darkness Community Map!

Please, advertise your VTES playgroup and/or VTES events on the World of Darkness Community Map! This is important to help the game grow. But only things that happen in public places where anyone is welcome (nothing played at someone´s home) and no online events.

Check out the map here: World of Darkness Community Map

Submit here: Map submission form

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Sabbat preview report: Brad Cashdollar

Above we mentioned Alex Romano winning the Sabbat preconstructed preview tournament in June. Someone else who played that event was veteran VTES aficionado Brad Cashdollar. Here are some words from him:

The Sabbat pre-release was a highly anticipated and fun event – not that I won either of my games.

 

In game 1, I ended up with the Path of Cathari deck, which I felt would do fine, as stealth-bleed definitely does well. And I did do well, especially initially. I had Jürgen, The Libertine, who has a cool special that vampires must burn a blood lid to block, but he costs 8, and it took me 3 turns to influence him out. He started bleeding immediately, and his special was nice too. Seeds of Terror was nice, with an occasional Swift Cover for stealth. My prey was playing the Path of Death and Soul deck, and he had hard time trying to block.

Unfortunately, while I whittled him down, my predator was playing the Path of Caine deck which is just brutal. He was rushing me almost every turn and if I didn’t have a dodge, I got hit hard. Once I got 3 vampires in torpor, he played an Augury of Doom, which is better than Dragonbound – for the person who plays it!

I got my prey down to 2 pool but couldn’t quite finish the job, and I died. The Path of Caine deck won the table.

 

In game 2, I got Agnieszka out with her built-in combat ends, and though, man, if I’d had her first game, I might’ve won. Her ability is awesome, unless of course you’re facing Immortal Grapples.

I was preying on a Path of Caine deck, who was easy for me to get most bleeds though, but of course when I got rushed backwards, it was a challenge.

I was first one out, dying to an Empires Fall of a Path of Power and the Inner Voice deck with vote lock.

The tournament was very fun, with lots of new cards and vampires with new possibilities and strategies for winning. It seemed that overall, the Path of Caine decks did very well which was kind of refreshing, because pure combat is hard to win with.

I am really looking forward to the new decks, especially the Path of Caine ones.

It was also nice having a limited format tournament again – the dual-purpose text on some of the cards gave a feel for old style draft tournaments.

Well done, Black Chantry!

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Black Chantry Summary: August 2025

• As mentioned above, the official release date for the four new Sabbat preconstructed decks is October 26, but they will we available on EC 2025 in Aarhus. Full deck lists have been revealed at the product pages on Blackchantry.com. Please, tell your favourite store to preorder for you!

• Ginés Quiñonero, Black Chantry Art Director among other things, tells us that this month he has been translating the Sabbat starters into Latin, updating the Spanish translation of the Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce New Blood decks, and working on the art direction of the New York set (first stages), and on the development of the two·player format and related products.

• Vincent Ripoll, Black Chantry Rules Director among other things, reports that he has been busy finalizing the upcoming New Blood decks (Ravnos, Salubri, Tzimisce), producing playtest files, and working on the Brazilian version of the Sabbat decks. He´s also caught up on archiving tournament winning decks, and is now tackling updating the VEKN website.

• So product-wise, those above mentioned New Blood decks are getting near printing, and the playtest of the New York and Brazil sets are in their second round.

• Please, join the open playtest of VTES 1v1! No registration needed for this one. All rules are at the dedicated playtest site. Many thanks for any feedback. So far most seem positive to the format.

• Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Gamepod, Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
Lost Kindred bundle (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Anthology I bundle
VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
25th Anniversary
First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French) (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Promo Pack 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
Promo Pack 3 (For promotion only)
Promo Pack 4 (For promotion 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)
Fifth Edition: Ravnos (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Salubri (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Tzimisce (Also Spanish, French)
30th Anniversary (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Lasombra (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Hecata (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Hecata (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Lasombra (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.

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Recent news in the World of Darkness

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be released October 21. Previews and reviews are everywhere, and a video roadmap has been released so you don´t miss the official messages:


We want to highlight the recent two clan-themed trailers, for Tremere and Ventrue respectively, where you quickly get a good look at a loot of relevant stuff.

Also, Vampire: The Masquerade is being published in Ukranian - a wonderful initiative from Paradox!

Check out the episode on the World of Darkness Youtube channel

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Calendar

Major events coming up:
September 6: Asian Championship, Mandaluyong, Philippines
September 6: Grand Prix Sul Americano (Campina Grande, Brazil)
September 6: National Championship Czech Republic
September 13: Grand Prix Harmelen
October 4: Grand Prix New Orleans, Louisiana
October 13-16: Week of Nightmares Aarhus
October 17: European Championship Aarhus
October 25: Oceania Championship, Melbourne, Australia
October 25: South American Championship, Chile
November 8: French National Championship
November 8: German National Championship
November 15: UK National Championship
November 22: National Championship Sweden, Stockholm
November 22: National Championship Canada, Montreal
December 6: Grand Prix Vidor, Texas
December 14: Grand Prix Cearense

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia x2
Brazil x5
Chile
Denmark x9
Deutschland
Hungary x2
Online x2
Philippines
Portugal
Serbia
Spain x3
UK
USA x4

For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar. Also, check out the World of Darkness Community Map.

Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!

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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, the official VEKN X (Twitter) account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.

Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny.

Simon Reed is the 2025 champion of New Zealand!

This event was held at Hobby Master Events Centre in Auckland on August 30. Report by Ke Carlton and Simon Reed:

Fourteen players gathered for the Auckland Grand Prix which doubled as the New Zealand Nationals, eight locals joined by two up from Wellington and four Aussies crossed the ditch, three from Melbourne and one from Brisbane. Preliminary rounds were ruthless with hardly a timeout and in the end only five players had at least one game making the final table cut off a game win. A good cross section of decks, some new oblivion & Lasombra decks, some old school bleed, Nergal made an appearance, and overall a surprising amount of violence.

Standings before final:
1. Ke Carlton Auckland New Zealand 2 GW 10 VP
2. Andrew Stott Auckland New Zealand 2 GW 7 VP
3. Andrew Young Auckland New Zealand 1 GW 7 VP
4. Riley Willimott Auckland New Zealand 1 GW 3 VP
5. Simon Reed Wellington New Zealand 1 GW 3 VP

 

All Kiwi final. Ke was top seed choosing to sit away from Massassi and the Zombies taking Banu as the least bad option.

The final was an up and down affair with at one point or another all players looking likely. All players got off to reasonable starts except for Andy playing Massassi guns, he had a combat in which 21 cards were played via several infernal pursuits which still did not produce the required .44 ! Once Massassi found her weapon of choice, a quick fame dunk and Dragonbound put Andrew and his zombie horde under some pressure and he was immediately on the back foot. Andrews prey Riley was looking good against Ke who was under some pressure, not helped by Simon playing two Condemnation Mutes backwards to deny blood and an Unleashed Hell's Fury lurking with intent. Simon managed the odd vote but didn't have the required stealth to get past Massassi on a regular basis. Andrew was saved by a cross-table diablerie of a famous minion by Simon, cue long discussion about burning Atiena as Ke tried to remove one of his prey's minions, ultimately Atiena survived and the diablerie was enough to just stop Andy from getting Andrew. 

Riley eventually got over the top of Ke via bleeds with Andy's Dragonbound doing the final couple of pool. At this point Riley looked pretty good, he just needed to not let Andy get Andrew or Simon get both Andy and Andrew and he was good. Andy was stalled as the fame was gone and Simon didn't have enough stealth still and now also didn't have a voting friend so was having to wait to build a hand. Then out of nowhere Andrew managed to get some cards going and all of a sudden, Riley had a collection of vampires in torpor and Dragonbound was suddenly not his friend. From 13 pool and 5 minions, he was in danger of getting ousted with 3 minions in torpor and low pool. Simon went for a lunge on Andy but the Reckless that would oust was blocked by Riley, several of Simons minions went to torpor as a result of rescues and blocks, but he was able to fetch them all at the end of his turn and the influence out another minion leaving himself on 2. Andrew then had a massive bleed turn and left Riley to be ousted unless he could do the two pool to oust Simon. Unfortunately for Riley, Simon had bounce in hand and was able to survive which then ousted Riley as Dragonbound claimed it's second victim. Then Simon had the turn he had been attempting to build a hand towards and ousted Andy with a Reckless and then same turn called the Ancilla Empowerment to oust the Zombie hoard and claim the win with around 2 minutes to go.

Final result: Simon Reed 3, Andrew Young 1 and Riley Willimott 1. 

Great to see four Aussies travel over and we hope that they had a great time - results not withstanding of course.

The tournament winning deck: ”Arishat Barons” by Simon Reed
Creators comment: Classic Arishat - Barons deck, nothing too tricky or unexpected. Deliberately avoiding bleeding with this version to jam my prey on flick as best I can, previous versions have had 3 copies of Protected Resources but it's not always a good investment of 2 pool, two copies might be better though as I really wanted it out in a couple of games and didn't get it.

Crypt (13 cards)
5x Arishat 6 DAI OBF PRE Baali:6
2x Jacques Rouge 6 ani pot pre OBF Nosferatu:6
1x Atiena 6 obf pot pre CEL Brujah:6
2x Elisha Tucker 6 cel obf pro PRE Follower of Set:6
2x Vivian VI 7 obf tha PRE PRO Follower of Set:6
1x Sergio Bueno 8 aus pot OBF PRE PRO Follower of Set:6

Library: 82 cards
Master (20 cards)
1x Ferraille
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
3x Information Highway
1x Opium Den
1x Protected Resources
6x Villein
2x Wider View
1x Direct Intervention
3x Dreams of the Sphinx

Action (11 cards)
2x Entrancement
3x Unleash Hell's Fury
1x Conceal
5x Condemnation: Mute

Action Modifier (22 cards)
2x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
6x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Lost in Crowds
4x Bewitching Oration
6x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Combat (2 cards)
2x Swallowed by the Night

Political Action (17 cards)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
8x Kine Resources Contested
4x Reckless Agitation
1x Disputed Territory
2x Eat the Rich

Combat (4 cards)
4x Majesty

Reaction (6 cards)
2x On the Qui Vive
4x Bait and Switch

Thanks to Hobbymaster.co.nz and Australia's Online VTES Card Store for their support.

Thanks for this report, and thanks to all participants!