Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter December 2022
SAC 2022 players honouring the great Fernando "Sydnelson" Cesar.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
LEONARDO VILLELA IS THE 2022 SOUTH AMERICAN CHAMPION!
This tournament was played on November 12-13 at Play Easy in São Paulo, Brazil. Day 1 had 16 players.
Day 1 standings before the final:
1. Kleber Martins 2 GW 7,5 VP
2. Desso Alastor 1 GW 7 VP
3. Leonardo Villela 1 GW 6 VP
4. Thyelles Yoshitomi 1 GW 5 VP
5. Roxy Cíih 1 GW 4 VP
Congratulations Leonardo Villela, winning by being top seed at 1,5 victory points. Thyelles got 1,5 and Desso 1.
Leonardo´s tournament winning deck: “Calma e bleed”
Crypt (12)
2x Ayelech 7 AUS DOM THA prince Tremere:6
1x Bituin 6 THA ani cel dom baron Tremere:6
1x Inês Tristão 6 THA aus dom pre prince Tremere:6
1x Lloyd Brooks 6 DOM THA aus pot primogen Tremere:6
1x Trevon Parker 6 AUS DOM THA Tremere:6
1x Chrysanthemum 5 AUS THA dom primogen Tremere:6
1x Zane 5 THA aus dom primogen Tremere:5
1x Lauren 4 aus dom tha Tremere:6
1x Nassir 4 THA aus Tremere:6
1x Tarrence Moore 4 aus dom tha Tremere:5
1x Monica Chang 3 dom tha Tremere:5
Library (73)
Master (12; 4 trifle)
1x Academic Hunting Ground
2x Arcane Library
1x Chantry
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
4x Vessel
Action (13)
8x Govern the Unaligned
5x Magic of the Smith
Ally (2)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
1x Ponticulus
Equipment (6)
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
1x Kevlar Vest
1x Sniper Rifle
1x Sport Bike
Action Modifier (14)
6x Conditioning
8x Mirror Walk
Combat (6)
1x Burst of Sunlight
5x Theft of Vitae
Reaction (20)
6x Deflection
2x Eagle's Sight
2x Enhanced Senses
3x Eyes of Argus
1x My Enemy's Enemy
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Telepathic Misdirection
Day 2 had 15 players. Standings after the preliminary rounds:
1. Leonardo Villela 1 GW 6,5 VP
2. Thiago Nespoli 1 GW 5 VP
3. Fernando Grossi 1 GW 4,5 VP
4. Desso Alastor 1 GW 4,5 VP
5. Ed Gonçalves 1 GW 4 VP
Congratulations AGAIN Leonardo Villela, winning this final with 4 victory points. Fernando got 1.
Leonardo´s tournament winning deck: “Power of Princes 2”
Crypt (12)
1x Alice Chen 7 FOR PRE dom obf prince Ventrue:6
1x Benjamin Rose 7 AUS OBF ani pot prince Nosferatu:5
1x Graham Gottesman 7 DOM FOR obf pre tha prince Ventrue:5
1x Karen Suadela 7 CEL POT obf pre prince Brujah:5
3x Arishat 6 DAI OBF PRE 1 vote Baali:6
1x Andi Liu 6 DOM aus obf pre prince Malkavian:6
1x Belinde 6 OBF ani aus pot prince Nosferatu:6
1x Benedito, a Lanterna 6 POT ani aus obf baron Nosferatu:6
1x Donny Kowalczyk 6 AUS cel dom obf prince Malkavian:6
1x Jacques Rouge 6 OBF ani pot pre baron Nosferatu:6
Library (71)
Master (24; 2 trifle)
9x Ashur Tablets
1x Creepshow Casino
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elysium: The Palace of Versailles
1x Giant's Blood
4x Information Highway
3x Parthenon, The
2x Villein
Action (1)
1x Unleash Hell's Fury
Political Action (19)
1x Ancilla Empowerment
8x Kine Resources Contested
7x Parity Shift
2x Reckless Agitation
1x Rumors of Gehenna
Action Modifier (16)
2x Bewitching Oration
2x Faceless Night
4x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Lost in Crowds
2x Perfect Paragon
2x Spying Mission
2x Voter Captivation
Action Modifier/Combat (2)
2x Swallowed by the Night
Combat (6)
6x Majesty
Reaction (3)
3x Second Tradition: Domain
Leonardo Villela, winner of both SAC game days!
Thanks to players, sponsors and organisers!
Words by Simone Zanni:
This year 42 players showed up on December 10 to compete in a great and very friendly tournament.
Filippo's heavy back rush on Enrique quickly unbalanced the final, leaving two VP´s to Danilo when he felt to take them. At the time out, only Enrico survived to celebrate Danilo´s win.
Congratulations to Danilo Torrisi, and thanks to every player who attended, especially those who came from a long distance. Stats, players and finalists decks are available on bcncrisis.com/tournament/92.
Danilo´s tournament winning deck: “Carnawall”
Crypt (12)
1x Elena Mendoza Vasquez 6 dom obt AUS THA Tremere antitribu:3
1x Eugenio Estevez 6 dom for AUS THA Tremere:3
1x Hannigan 5 dom AUS THA Tremere antitribu:2
1x Martin Franckel 3 tha AUS Tremere:3
1x Selena 6 AUS DOM THA Tremere antitribu:3
1x Valois Sang, The Watcher 6 nec tha AUS DOM Tremere:3
5x Carna, The Princess Witch 7 AUS DOM THA Tremere:3
1x Aisling Sturbridge 5 dom AUS THA Tremere:2
Library: 90
Master (21)
1x Arcane Library
1x Academic Hunting Ground
1x Chantry
1x Dark Influences
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Life Boon
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Powerbase: Montreal
2x Rack, The
3x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
6x Vessel
1x Wider View
Action (9)
8x Magic of the Smith
1x Atonement
Equipment (11)
1x .44 Magnum
2x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
1x Kevlar Vest
2x Sawed-Off Shotgun
2x Sniper Rifle
1x Sport Bike
1x Bowl of Convergence
Action Modifier (2)
2x Conditioning
Combat (8)
4x Rego Motum
4x Theft of Vitae
Reaction (39)
4x Enhanced Senses
8x Eyes of Argus
3x Forced Awakening
2x My Enemy's Enemy
3x On the Qui Vive
4x Telepathic Misdirection
8x Deflection
3x Delaying Tactics
4x Eagle's Sight
Miro and Simone.
Report by Richard Unter:
For the third time players from all over Europe gathered to battle it out for the Middle European Cup in Vienna. And boy, oh boy, a battle it was. With 42 players from Hungary, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Finland, Spain, Germany and, of course, Austria (including some of the legends of the game), the battle was fierce.
Congratulations to Lukáš Simandl for winning the 3rd Middle European Cup! He played an incredible tournament, dominated the first two rounds with his Unnamed/Protocol deck and took a well-deserved victory. In a tense final, he took the necessary VP twenty seconds before the time was over by ousting Markéta Munduchová, who needs a special shout out. Not only is she an incredible artist that you should check out, but also she started playing only two months ago and showed an astonishing feat of fair play, when she did not stall the last 20 seconds, when otherwise SHE would have won the tournament by having the only other oust so far when she eliminated Martin Weinmayer earlier on.
Lukáš Simandl.Crypt (12)
5x unnamed, The 10 CEL DAI OBF PRE PRO Baali:6
1x Nonu Dis 8 OBF PRE PRO for Ministry:6
1x Crystal Lynn 6 OBF PRE PRO Ministry:6
1x Elisha Tucker 6 PRE cel obf pro baron Ministry:6
1x Marcel 4 obf pre pro Ministry:6
3x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY
Library (90)
Master (16; 9 trifle)
1x Anarch Railroad
2x Archon Investigation
3x Dabbler
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Secure Haven
2x Vessel
3x Villein
1x Wash
Action (18)
1x Entrancement
14x Platinum Protocol, The
3x Unleash Hell's Fury
Ally (1)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
Retainer (2)
2x Homunculus
Action Modifier (35)
6x CrimethInc.
6x Enchanting Gaze
4x Enkil Cog
4x Faceless Night
2x I am Legion
3x Instantaneous Transformation
2x Lost in Crowds
8x Revelation of the Serpent
Action Modifier/Reaction (1)
1x Sense the Sin
Combat (10)
1x Donnybrook
5x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist
7x Party Out Of Bounds
We hope everyone had a great tournament and we will see all of you the next time again in Vienna!
This year we finally had a more normal tournament scene again, after a couple of years of pandemic terribleness. 328 events are reported in the VEKN Event Calendar so far this year, compared to 218 in 2021 and 133 in 2020. The last non-pandemic year was 2019, which had 292 events. This means the game is growing!
Lets have a look at the most interesting stuff that happened this year:
April: The five New Blood introductory decks are released, with some new vampires and desirable reprints for clans Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue.
April: Panders, Salubri and Tzimisce are made available for print-on-demand at Drivethrucards, totally 159 cards, including many player-favourites such as War Ghoul, Legacy of Pander and Neutral Guard.
June: Bill Troxel is the new North American champion, wielding a Daughters of Cacophony deck with (of course) Emerald Legionnaires.
June: The Spanish National Championship has 139 players! Ricardo Filipe Marta wins with a rather classic “Girls” MMPA bleed deck.
July: Otso Saariluma of Finland wins the European Championship (again!) with a master-heavy Enkidu/Matasuntha deck. Day 1 of this tournament had 99 players, a nice number considering everything.
October: The Fall of London expansion hits the stores, accompanied by a storyline constructed by the set's main designer Mike Nudd.
October: Ke Carlton wins the Australian & New Zealand Continental championship, playing an Arishat & Barons vote deck.
November: This month had the most National championships: Finland, Sweden, Portugal, UK and Germany.
December: Leonardo Villela is the new South American champion (see this newsletter).
December: The Black Chantry webshop (www.blackchantry.shop) celebrates one year, located in Denmark and run by Jesper Bøje. He says this has been “both a blast and at times exhausting work”. Among his accomplishments are sending cards to 40 countries in six different continents, sending over 8 000 promo cards, sending over 1 000 units of the Unleashed packs, and sending prize support to all the 2022 Atlantic Cup participants. Peak week was week 38.
We have also reported about a lot of demo games this year – these are really welcome efforts to show the game to new people. The VEKN thanks all these organisers and hope more will come.
Of course, these were just the highlights. If you´re not a frequent reader of the VEKN newsletter, we really encourage you to browse through the newsletter archive for lots of interesting content, primarily event reports (with deck lists) and strategy articles. We would like to thank everyone that has helped out with content for the newsletter this year (sometimes even on deadline!), and hope for your continued aid in 2023.
Happy new VTES year!
This is a story of a Magic: The Gathering player for over 25 years to eventually find another worthy game.
I’ve been a Magic player since around 1995. Throughout the years, I became aware that Richard Garfield continued to develop other games after Magic and that VTES was one of them. Unfortunately, I knew nobody who was playing this game in South Moravia, Czech Republic, and I don’t remember seeing any VTES products anywhere either (though some were apparently available nonetheless).
In any case, one aspect of Magic was really rubbing me the wrong way – its mana system. On top of the normal deck randomization, it creates a secondary luck factor so that even if you draw the best combination of cards, you also need to draw the right amount of land cards to be able to play at all. The dreaded “mana screw”, “mana flood”, and “color screw” situations were plaguing me and everybody else playing the game. Not only was it unavoidable by design, it was particularly painful after investing a lot of money and testing into your tournament deck, then losing a couple of games due to mana issues.
I eventually started to research various other trading card games, living card games, and card-based board games, and learned that Magic was for the most part all but alone in having this kind of crucial game resource management. Most notably, at least for this article, I learned that Richard Garfield himself moved away from this mana system right after finishing the design of Magic, when he started to design Jyhad [1]. I ended up creating a couple of Magic variants that circumvented the mana system [2][3] for casual play but despite wanting to try out VTES, my sense of it at the time was that the game was obscure, nearly dead, and not really available or accessible. Though I browsed some VTES card pictures out of curiosity, being a Magic player used to very quick matches, long multiplayer games with possible early player elimination was not exactly appealing to me either.
Then about 10 years ago I got familiar with the World of Darkness by playing and later localizing (because the writing was that good) the Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines video game by Troika Games. Though it was still no VTES for me, I was primed to get into it at an opportune moment.
Fast forward to autumn of 2020 when I randomly noticed a relatively new offer at my local game store [4], featuring First Blood starters and some Anthology sets. I was like “Whaaaa…?!” and started to scour the internet for how that could be. After finding and reading through the Black Chantry website, I eventually found VEKN.net and the list of princes available there [5].
I was glad to find out that the city I live in, Brno, had a prince. Without a lot of expectations, I wrote an e-mail. To my surprise, I got a reply very quickly so I proceeded to gather a couple of friends who were also interested to learn something about VTES and invited everyone for a demo. This was also during the pandemic when game stores and restaurants were closed so it had to be a house party. For me, it was a success and I knew my time had come to start playing.
I learned that there were dozens of players all across the Czech Republic, and though many of them have been in torpor lately, the Czech community had been organizing regular regional tournaments. I even learned that I already knew at least three VTES players in Brno alone, I just didn’t know that about them before!
I was kind of all in since then. I bought all the Black Chantry precons and bundles that I could get. I was also able to get a bunch of spare cheap cards from my local group to get started with deckbuilding. And I have to admit, VTES does have a steep learning curve. For me, learning the basic rules was nothing compared to actually understanding how to navigate a 5-player game, tracking game states, triggers, etc. I also learned that while being generally very supportive, my play group was not really keen on playing with starter decks with me. So right from the beginning, I was exposed to Anarch Converts, contracts, Palla Grande, and all the other advanced stuff I needed to wrap my head around. I concluded that my precons could not really keep up so I started to build my decks. Someone suggested that I should start with something easy to pilot, like the Dementation stealth & bleed deck based on the First Blood starter. I went with the idea though it was not the only archetype I wanted to explore.
I played the deck several times to learn the archetype and a few months later I joined the Czech National tournament, called Pulled Fang, just to get to learn the community a bit more. And what do you know, it wasn't a complete wash. My first table looked as follows: Aksinya as my prey, Stanislava as my predator, with Lasombra powerbleed and Toreador CEL-guns across the table. Long story short, I somehow managed to oust two players while the Lasombra ousted Stanislava. In the heads up and in the last minute of the time limit, I managed to DI a crucial Conditioning, saving enough pool to finish the game the next turn. Talk about beginner’s luck! In the following games, I encountered many decks that I did not recognize and had no idea how to play against, scoring no more points but it was already worth it.
For each subsequent regional tournament, I improved my deck a little bit and tweaked it based on its previous performance and advice I got from others but I realized that it won’t be that simple. I keep encountering decks unfamiliar to me which is a good thing. But combined with weird and unexpected interactions and errors players make randomly, there does not seem to be a silver bullet to learning VTES other than just playing and failing better. This is truly a far cry from how Magic is played competitively, with short and explosive games followed by instant gratification.
On the other hand, I learned that even in VTES, if you are unlucky, you get to play very little or not at all. For example, I was recently on the wrong end of a couple of Brainwashes followed by multiple 419 Operations and was unable to accomplish anything in that game.
And so I’m building various decks, trying various archetypes, learning from TWDA [6], the Information Highway blog [7], and other resources. However, I’ve put several constraints for myself on what (not) to play. As I started my card collection with BCP products, I decided not to play groups 1-3. In fact, my sense of the game is that these old groups include some very efficient if not unbalanced vampires from when the game was very young and which would probably not be designed today. I am also avoiding playing 11-caps, as to me, they appear as too archetype-defining, susceptible to fast decks but otherwise hard to deal with. Case and point, very early on, I did not get why the Stanislava precon was considered to be very strong. I played one game with it in a pub. With a bit of hand-holding, I managed to score a GW without a lot of effort and had to admit it’s not a very fun deck for casual play. On the other hand, the new Mithras appears to be designed specifically to allow a broader range of strategies to build around.
I for one appreciate the changes Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition (“V5”) is bringing to the table as it basically allows VTES to be reimagined from the ground up, with all the experience from the past 20+ years. That enables the Black Chantry team to not only design new cards for new or updated deck archetypes, but also to update existing cards that are compatible with V5 and that previously saw little or no play.
For now, my signature (and also marginal and incidental) “tech” for my Malkavian stealth & bleed is something I did not see anyone play thus far, though I’m sure I was not the first to discover it: multiple Information Highways in the deck, burnable by Osric Vladislav for profit :)
I’m looking forward to playing new cards, new clan decks, and new reprints for post-Fifth-edition VTES (which I also call “Modern”). I’d like to see the format grow until it is big enough to draw in more of the veteran players. If I could make two wishes for the game, one major and one minor, at this stage in my VTES “career”, they would go like this:
• To me, it seems that Dominate bleed & bounce is very often, well, too dominant. I’d appreciate to see a combination of an erratum to address this reality, a few cherry-picked reprints for Modern VTES like Narrow Minds, and/or several newly-designed cards to nerf the archetype a bit, a Touch of Clarity type of thing.
• I’d like to see Victim of Habit tweaked to be playable. In my view, the card has a tremendous potential in many non-bleed deck archetypes but unfortunately, due to its current wording, it has been and continues to be virtually unplayable.
In closing, I’d like to thank the Black Chantry team for their time and effort, and wish them to be able to go full-time soon, and both the Czech VTES and international VTES Discord communities for supporting and cherishing new players like me. VTES is hard but many folks I’ve met personally or virtually really make it fun. I pass my turn.
Tomáš (“charmer” on Discord)
[1] https://vtesone.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/vtes-history-richard-garfield-interview/
[2] https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/other-formats/homebrew-and-variant-formats/177476-magic-2-0-aka-screw-the-mana-screw
[3] https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/custom-card-creation/custom-card-rulings/585781-joker-wild-card-for-magic
[4] https://www.rishada.cz/vampire-tes
[5] https://www.vekn.net/vampire-elder-kindred-network/prince-list
[6] http://www.vekn.fr/decks/twd.htm
[7] https://vtesinformationhighway.wordpress.com/
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: DECEMBER 2022
• There is to be an alternate art version of Archon Investigation handed out as a promo at the Spanish National Championship in Sevile in March. The art by Ginés Quiñonero shows a historic flashback scene with later Justicar Alonso Petrodon working as an Archon in 15th century Seville. And yes, Archon Investigation will see print again in other ways soon, but not with this special artwork.
• Round 2 of playtesting of the upcoming Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce preconstructed decks is ongoing. The playtesters now get to try both modified versions of the cards from round 1 and some all new ones. The aim is to do at least three rounds of playtesting in time for a second quarter release of these decks.
• Black Chantry wants to direct a special thanks to all you who created fresh online content for VTES during the past year. We see more and more of this, both tools like Codex of the Damned and VDB.im, and video content like that of Reading Between the Lyons and SuakuOZ, or like the very nice game overview by Jenders Gaming recently. If possible, Black Chantry will gladly help out if you want to create VTES content, for example with artwork and proofing.
• The next batch of print-on-demand Legacy Card Singles is a bit delayed, but hopefully ready soon, possibly even when you read this!
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)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
The Fall of London (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
Some cool stuff in December:
• The official digital for Vampire: The Masquerade called Vampire Nexus continues to grow, now with three more titles in the online library: “Chicago By Night”, “Cults of the Blood Gods” and “Auld Sanguine”.
• Also growing is the new Vampire: The Masquerade wiki over at Paradox Wikis. If you have a user (or creates on), feel free to add content! For example the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle entries need more words :)
• The World of Darkness News Show had some interesting episodes with an interview with the Milan Uprising developers and showcase of Vampire Jam 2022 (two episodes).
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x3
Chile
Denmark
Norway
Online x2
Spain x5
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 V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
Everything you can imagine is real.
Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter November 2022
For the first time in three years, players gathered for the Aussie & NZ Continental Championships this year in Melbourne. Joining the locals were travellers from Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Wellington and Auckland. The games were all played in excellent spirit with a general vibe of everyone enjoying being able to gather again to play. Wins were spread around with a total of 10 players gaining a game win and a coin toss being required to decide fifth place – Alistair the most unlucky 6th player.
In the end the final table was nothing short of brutal with almost no intercept on display, in a little over an hour Ke Carlton emerged triumphant taking the final with 4 victory points.
Check out both the video of the game and the comment video of the game. Also read Ke´s full tournament report at VEKN.net forum.
Ke´s tournament winning deck: “Baalicious Barons”
Comments: Mutes + Arishat + Barons for vote lock and attrition. Fairly light stealth. Added 2x Organised Resistance and 2x Monkey Wrench for a bit more flexibility. 6x Bait and Switch likely better than Organised Resistance however prey jamming on bounces works. Xeper for anti ally/legionnaries. Museum for Recursion. Thanks to Karl Schaefer for convincing me on the power of Eat the Rich.
Crypt (12)
4x Arishat 6 DAI OBF PRE Baali:6
2x Xeper, Sultan of Lepers 7 ani dai pro OBF PRE Baali:6
1x Jacques Rouge 6 ani pot pre OBF Nosferatu:6
1x Atiena 6 pot pre obf CEL Brujah:6
2x Elisha Tucker 6 cel obf pro PRE Ministry:6
2x Vivian VI 7 obf tha PRE PRO Ministry:6
Library: 73
Master (16)
1x Anarch Railroad
2x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
3x Information Highway
6x Villein
2x Wider View
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Direct Intervention
Action (8)
3x Unleash Hell's Fury
5x Condemnation: Mute
Political Action (19)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
11x Kine Resources Contested
3x Reckless Agitation
3x Eat the Rich
Action Modifier (20)
2x Faceless Night
5x Forgotten Labyrinth
5x Lost in Crowds
2x Monkey Wrench
2x Bewitching Oration
4x Voter Captivation
Combat (4)
4x Majesty
Reaction (6)
4x Bait and Switch
2x Organized Resistance
All the finalists decks: Ke, Shan, Stu, Nathaneal and Craig.
Thanks to Stu “Disco” MacLeod for organising, Steve Harris for running and judging on the day, MotS Imports for prize support, and our host Midaan Games for the tables as well as the streaming service.
Crypt (12 cards)
2x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel:6
2x Casey Snyder 6 PRO ani cel for baron Gangrel:6
2x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x Martina Srnankova 6 FOR PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for Gangrel:6
1x Hanna Nokelainen 4 ani for pro Gangrel:6
1x Nathan Turner 4 PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Indira 3 PRO Gangrel:6
1x Joaquín de Cádiz 3 for pro Gangrel:6
Library (87 cards)
Master (14; 4 trifle)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Backways
1x Carfax Abbey
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Ennoia's Theater
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x Society of Leopold
4x Vessel
Action (14)
1x Constant Revolution
2x Rewilding
4x Shattering
7x Thing
Equipment (3)
1x Camera Phone
2x Sniper Rifle
Political Action (1)
1x Revolutionary Council
Retainer (4)
4x Raven Spy
Action Modifier (3)
3x Earth Control
Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Form of the Bat
Combat (14)
10x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist
Reaction (30)
10x Bait and Switch
5x Deep Ecology
6x Eyes of the Wild
9x Organized Resistance
Finalists: Antti, Robert, Erik, Jyri and Jonas.
ERIK MOSSBERG IS THE 2022 CHAMPION OF SWEDEN!
This tournament was played in the bar of at the excellent game store Alphaspel in Stockholm on November 26. 33 Methuselahs turned up, including 6 Finnish ones.
Standings after the three preliminary rounds:
1. Robert Doktorow 2 GW 10 VP
2. Erik Mossberg 2 GW 9,5 VP
3. Jyri Puhakka 2 GW 6 VP
4. Jonas Ståhle 1 GW 7,5 VP
5. Antti Penttilä 1 GW 6 VP
Crypt (12)
2x Kasim Bayar 9 CEL OBF THA aus pot justicar Banu Haqim:6
2x Farah Sarroub 7 CEL THA aus obf prince Banu Haqim:6
3x Kassandra Tassaki 6 CEL THA obf prince Banu Haqim:6
1x Khadija Al-Kindi 6 CEL OBF THA primogen Banu Haqim:6
2x Warmaksan 5 THA cel obf prince Banu Haqim:6
1x Nayarana 4 THA cel Banu Haqim:6
1x Bijou 3 cel tha Banu Haqim:6
Library (79)
Master (16; 8 trifle)
1x Giant's Blood
4x Haqim's Law: Retribution
1x Market Square
1x Papillon
3x Priority Contract
1x Underworld Hunting Ground
5x Villein
Event (1)
1x Narrow Minds
Action (6)
2x Hunter's Mark
4x Magic of the Smith
Equipment (4)
1x .44 Magnum
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x IR Goggles
1x Kevlar Vest
Political Action (5)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
3x Parity Shift
Action Modifier/Combat (10)
5x Resist Earth's Grasp
5x Swallowed by the Night
Combat (24)
11x Hunger of Marduk
7x Pursuit
3x Quickness
1x Walk of Flame
2x Zip Gun
Reaction (13)
2x On the Qui Vive
11x Second Tradition: Domain
Thanks to organisers, sponsors and players!
2. Joaquim Correia 1 GW 6 VP
3. Joel Monteiro 1 GW 5,5 VP
4. Adriano Miranda Gangrel Wall 1 GW 5 VP
5. Sérgio Martins 1 GW 4,5 VP
To my surprise, I reached the finals with 5.5 VPs, 4 of which were collected during round 3 where my Banu Haqim took by surprise an ever-bloating Girls deck sitting at 12 pool, followed by Legionnaires, and, finally, a very hard-to-take-down Helena (Adv) with reactions for days. I must have spent 4 or 5 turns hurling 4 vampires at the Helena player, which kept blocking everything.
For the finals, I chose the Mak S&B as my prey since that deck focus on quickly taking out their prey, often plays few intercept cards and its deflections could be mitigated by the single copy of Narrow Minds if I ever drew it. To my right was a player I had faced a couple of times during the tournament, always as my prey, running a Gangrel Anarchs Wall. The wall is very good at blocking but needs time to build its board presence, so this was a position that favored both of us, although mostly him if the game ran long enough. My crypt was Kassandra, 2x Warmaksan and Bijou. Not ideal since CEL is the deck’s backbone, but I had to manage.
I started by influencing Kassandra, which I took out the following turn. My prey took out Alexander Silverson, a cap 8 and his largest vampire. The Nosferatu player had a great start, influencing Alonso Petrodon thanks to a turn 1 Information Highway. The Legionnaires player started summoning the namesake allies by turn 2, a problem far from my radar since I was running 14 copies of Hunger of Marduk. The Gangrel had a great start, as usual, using his 3 and 4 caps to influence larger vampires with Thing. I drew the game’s first blood with my Kassandra and thanks to Second Tradition: Domain I blocked a Constant Revolution, a card that took me out on Round 2 of this tournament. After Kassandra, I spent 4 transfers on Warkmaksan and the following turn took him and Bijou out. By this time, both my prey and predator also had 3 vampires out, with the Gangrel building his board faster than expected while denying the Legionnaires player. I needed an extra vampire to block the Gangrel horde, so the next turn I spent 4 transfers to draw a card from my crypt. Another Kassandra. I did the same the following turn - a third Warmaksan. I couldn’t believe my bad luck, which was obvious to anyone at the table. By the time I finally drew a new vampire - Khadija - I was already at 7 pool, thanks to an Army of Rats I didn’t block because I was eyeing my prey’s diminishing pool. Thanks to Haqim’s Law: Retribution and Swallowed by the Night, I had been steadily bleeding my prey for 2 for the past turns. I had Narrow Minds out so he didn’t bother deflecting such low bleeds. Eventually, when his pool went to single digits, he started deflecting or blocking. I always used the same trick during combat: Hunger of Marduk coupled with a maneuver and additional strikes. Blur, in particular, allowed me to clear the way for future bleeds by sending a couple of his vampires to torpor, although the cap 8 Alexander remained in play.
With my prey at 5 pool, I could almost taste that extra 6 pool that would help me influence Khadija, but a Political Stranglehold from the Nosferatu player let everyone but me recoup 3 pool, which set me back a couple of turns. The following turn I got a bleed through, but my prey had a deflection that sent me fighting the Legionnaires player, which still wasn’t putting any pressure on the Gangrel. I started the following turn at 6 pool after a Smiling Jack joined the army of Rats and 4 Gangrels at the table. I had only 1 Second Tradition: Domain in my hand so without Khadija, I wouldn’t last more than a couple of turns. I really needed that 6 pool so decided to risk an alpha strike with my 3 vampires. At this point, I had 3 Haqim’s Law Retribution out so all I needed was a single bleed to go through. I tapped Dreams of the Sphinx to increase my hand size and started bleeding. The first was blocked and I finally left Silverson dry, but not in torpor. Not enough. The second bleed was deflected. With only Bijou left, I locked her, hoped my prey didn’t have an On the Qui Vive and went for it. The bleed went through and I discarded 3 combat cards to Haqim’s Law: Retribution to increase the bleed to 4. I got the 6 pool and brought Khadija to the table. With her and Second Traditions for both Kassandra and Warmaksan, I was confident I could hold the incoming bleeds for the time remaining in the game.
Aware that the time was running out, the Gangrel player, which had 4 or 5 vampires out and somewhere between 15 and 20 pool, started bleeding me with everything. I blocked 2 vampires and let another one through. When my turn started, I only had time to attempt to bleed the Nosferatu player once, which deflected to the Legionnaires. He blocked, time for the round ran out, I maneuvered to long and we waved at each other (hand strike at long). I was the new Portuguese National Champion.
Crypt:
2x Farah Sarroub
3x Kassandra Tassaki
1x Khadija Al-Kindi
3x Warmaksan
1x Greg Mazouni
1x Nayarana
1x Bijou
Library:
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
6x Haqim's Law: Retribution
1x Khabar: Community, The
1x Market Square
3x Priority Contract
4x Villein
1x Wider View
4x Hunter's Mark
4x Judgment: Camarilla Segregation
1x Heart of Nizchetus
4x Resist Earth's Grasp
5x Swallowed by the Night
2x Blood Rage
5x Blur
2x Fast Hands
14x Hunger of Marduk
5x Psyche!
8x Pursuit
4x Quickness
4x Rego Motum
I’d like to thank everyone who made the trip to Porto to play in the Portuguese National Championship, Smartmove Games for hosting our event, and Ultra Pro and Black Chantry for sponsoring it. We hope to see everyone next year at Grand Prix Lisbon 2023!
TIBOR MÓROCZ IS THE 2022 UK CHAMPION!
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2nd table: I did what I came for: I managed to convince Tara (my first vampire of the game) to abandon the futile and shallow efforts of the Camarilla and join the revolution as the Baron of San Diego (Anarch Secession) Aline, the baroness of Mannheim did not fail me with her super ability this time either. With the vote lock and repeated multi action bleed-vote combos I quickly managed to oust Matt. Marcin laid heavy pressure of continuous bleeds on Mark. By the time the stream roller of the Brujah revolution gobbled up the Malkavian horde, Mark was already on his knees, but even in his weakened state he managed to put up quite a resistance for a surprisingly long time. 4Vp 1 GV
3rd table (the unfortunate game): James sat in front of me with weenie AUS blocker. The maximum I could master was 2 stealth (having the Anach Railroad in play) and these attempts gave no challenge to the blocker deck. Mark had his deck rolling, so he was going forward full throttle. Michael wanted me to commit myself against James’s deck (which I did valiantly), and he did not go fully medieval on my backside with his Baali minions. In retrospect I think it was a mistake, he should have vanquished me earlier, because he would have had more chances against James with Unnamed’s quality aggravated damage than I had with my Majesties... I pressed James hard, Michael weakened me. Mark ousted Michael and James was desperate to strike a bargain against Mark, but I had nothing (reasonable) to offer to either of them in a game of three. Marked swept the table for a 4Vp 1 GV. 0Vp for me.
1. Mark Hammond 2 GW 8 VP
2. Tibor Mórocz 2 GW 7 VP
3. Warren Clarke 2 GW 7 VP
4. Simmy Singh Rayat 1 GW 5 VP
5. Marcin Jankiewicz 1 GW 4 VP
Tibor´s comments on the final:
When I saw the 3 mini-stealth bleed and Mark’s Cybelle and Co deck, I knew the game will be a quick and intense. I decided to roll a die to determine between which 2 low cap bleeder would I sit. Mark chose to be my grand-prey. We sat down and Mark started the game. Warren had no bleed protection, only pool gain from Kindred Spirits bleeds. Somehow with the help of the „Heart of Cheating” I managed to cycle my hand enough to be able to get a Reckless Agitation through (vote lock again), which was the final nail to the Malkavian antitribu’s coffins. To my surprise I managed to oust Warren with only two vampires at my disposal. Not too much later I managed to oust Mark, who was under heavy pressure from Warren previously, and about the same time Marcin ousted Simmy despite the bleed reductions he played. Marcin managed to start the game with a Specialization that brought him countless pool and the opportunity to cycle the unnecessary stealth out of his hand. He had more minions than me, but I had the multi-action capability of 3 vampires that was enough that turn to oust him, despite my mistake of overlooking Persia, The Beautiful Statue’s special ability for +1 intercept for a blood.
Congratulations Tibor, winning the final with 4 VP (Marcin got 1).
Tibor´s tournament winning deck: “Brand New Carthage 2022 UK Nat [by Badgerfun]”
Comment: The heart of the deck was the New Carthage, luckily I managed to draw and play it in time during all the matches I played (no wonder there are 5 of it in the deck). I kept discarding even from perfect-looking hands until I could play it. Aline Gädeke’s (4 in the crypt) special ability, the bleeds with Illegalism and Power of One ensured me to be able to pull the votes off during the same turn with my barons which had 3 votes each. The Bait and Switch bounce was excellent choice and the Voter Captivations saved me in the finals too. Since it was a deck that I had in mind since a while but only assembled the day before the tournament and was untested, there were some cards that I would swap out: Grooming the Protégé for Blood Dolls, and since the 2x Field Training does not work on titled vampires, I would just ditch them. The deck’s main aim is to go forward with Illegalism bleeds, Kine Resources Ccontested and Reckless Agitations, while regaining pool with the numerous Villeins and Voter Captivations, „tank” the small bleeds, bounce the big ones. Majesty is not only a combat solution, but more preferably an unlock option too.
Crypt (12)
1x Carlak 8 CEL PRE dom pot prince Brujah:5
4x Aline Gadeke 7 POT PRE cel baron Brujah:6
2x Valeriya Zinovieva 7 POT cel pre pro baron Brujah:6
2x Atiena 6 CEL obf pot pre baron Brujah:6
2x Leumeah 6 PRE cel for pot baron Brujah:6
1x Tara 6 POT PRE cel prince Brujah:5
Library (90)
Master (20; 8 trifle)
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Carfax Abbey
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
2x Grooming the Protégé (was a bad idea – include Blood Doll instead)
5x New Carthage
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
6x Villein
2x Wider View
Action (12)
1x Anarch Secession
2x Field Training (Misread, useless in this deck – remove this!!!)
9x Illegalism
Equipment (1)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
Political Action (19)
1x Anarchist Uprising
4x Consanguineous Boon
1x Firebrand
7x Kine Resources Contested
1x My Kin Against the World
1x Patsy
3x Reckless Agitation
1x Revolutionary Council
Action Modifier (18)
1x Perfect Paragon
10x Power of One
7x Voter Captivation
Action Modifier/Reaction (2)
2x Scalpel Tongue
Combat (8)
8x Majesty
Reaction (10)
6x Bait and Switch
4x On the Qui Vive
Thanks to organisers, sponsors and players!
Finalists: Jan, Roy, Thomas, Marius and Robert. |
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Standings before the final:
1. Thomas Stellmach 2 GW 8 VP
2. Robert Ingenlath 2 GW 7 VP
3. Marius Iscru 1 GW 7 VP
4. Jan Etzel 1 GW 6 VP
5. Roy Opitz 1 GW 5,5 VP
Marius own comments:
I didn't have much of a choice for seating since I entered the final 4th, missed a game win and 4 victory points by just 1 pool during the 2nd round. So my predator was a rushing Assamite, but he had no rush cards in his hand for ages. I didn't want to cycle his Second Traditions, so I went full forward on my prey, Cybele/Great Beast – I was able to make the oust with luck on Ashur Tablets and Wash on a Villein.
My new prey was a Malkavian stealth-bleeder who was putting a decent amount of pressure on his prey; Emerald Legionnaires with Erlik. The Banu Haqim stole a Powerbase: Montreal and kept it for ages. The Emerald Legionnaires hadn't enough defense to resist the rushes of the Banu Haqim and the Malkavian's bleeds and got ousted.
We were then in a 3-player configuration, and I felt I could not resist the Banu Haqim combat and the Malkavian's bleeds. I asked the Malkavians if they could destroy the 13 pool of Banu Haqim, and the Malkavian player said he could. With this information, I was OK to let them kill the Banu Haqim, but I wanted to lower his pool with some bleeds so I could have a chance in the final duel. But to my surprise he decided to block my bleeds and go to torpor with one vampire. Therefore he could not oust his prey anymore. I had no other choices than ousting him, even if I knew the duel against the Banu Haqim would be very hard.
In the face to face that followed I took 17 pool damage in one turn which left me at 1 pool. The next turn I stayed full unlocked to block the bleeds, and all my vampires but 2 were burned or torporized. I survived thanks to a wake blocking the last bleed and the time limit got reached. One more turn would have meant I was dead! Thomas, the Banu Haqim player, would have also deserved to win since he is a nice person inside and outside the game.
I had a very good time seeing old players and talking with some others. I think most of the players had a good time playing this tournament. German players are nice!
Marius' tournament winning deck: “Bleeding Anson”
Crypt (13)
5x Anson 8 CEL PRE aus dom prince Toreador:1
1x Gideon Fontaine 3 PRE Ventrue:1
1x Jazz Wentworth 5 PRE dom for Ventrue:1
1x Mariana Gilbert 4 PRE cel Toreador:1
1x Rake 6 PRE aus cel pot prince Brujah:1
1x Ramiel DuPre 5 PRE aus cel dom Toreador:1
1x Ranjan Rishi, Camarilla Scholar 5 DOM PRE for Ventrue:2
1x Victoria Ash 6 PRE aus cel dom primogen Toreador:2
1x Violette Prentiss 4 PRE dom Ventrue:1
Library (90)
Master (43; 7 trifle)
2x Anarch Troublemaker
15x Ashur Tablets
1x Barrens, The
1x Coven, The
1x Direct Intervention
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
1x Jake Washington
2x Life in the City
5x Liquidation
1x Misdirection
3x Parthenon, The
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Wash
2x Wider View
Event (1)
1x Scourge of the Enochians
Action (17)
9x Enchant Kindred
4x Entrancement
1x Intimidation
3x Mind Numb
Action Modifier (7)
6x Aire of Elation
1x Conditioning
Action Modifier/Combat (3)
3x Force of Personality
Combat (8)
7x Majesty
1x Staredown
Reaction (11)
7x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive
Crypt (12)
2x Genevieve 10 aus dom ANI FOR PRO Gangrel antitribu:2
2x Hartmut Stover 10 dom for CEL OBF PRO Gangrel antitribu:3
1x Iliana 7 tha DOM FOR PRO Gangrel:2
2x Ingrid Rossler 9 dom ANI FOR PRO Gangrel:2
1x Mark Decker 8 ani for obf pot CEL PRO Gangrel:3
4x Stanislava 11 ANI CEL DOM FOR PRO Gangrel:2
Library: 90
Master (21)
2x Information Highway
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Papillon
5x Villein
5x Zillah's Valley
1x Zoo Hunting Ground
1x Campground Hunting Ground
1x City Gangrel Connections
1x Coven, The
2x Dominate
1x Ecoterrorists
Action (9)
9x Govern the Unaligned
Political Action (15)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
6x Kine Resources Contested
4x Parity Shift
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power
Equipment (1)
1x Signet of King Saul, The
Action Modifier (17)
1x Enkil Cog
3x Freak Drive
3x Instantaneous Transformation
2x Seduction
1x Beast Meld
2x Conditioning
5x Earth Control
Action Modifier/Combat (2)
2x Rapid Change
Combat (11)
7x Form of Mist
4x Earth Meld
Reaction (14)
2x Obedience
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Rat's Warning
6x Deflection
Thanks to Hobby Master games for hosting us and providing prize support as well as special thanks for being the first store in NZ to have VTES products on shelves after many years! Thanks also to Ke Carlton for the custom play mats which were prize support for all players making the final table, and to Jason Farley for organising the event.
PRAXIS SEIZURES
• USA - Atlanta: Sean O´Brian
• Brazil - Visconde do Rio Branco: Igor Castro de Souza
• Norway - Vestby: Jon Martin Fjeld
• Spain - San Pedro Alcántara: Fernando Delgado Gómez
• Mexico - Coacalco: Alberto Brown y Mier
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: NOVEMBER 2022
• It´s been a bit quiet since Fall of London, but don´t worry, a lot of things are happening in the BCP workshop! The big thing is of course the next set of preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce) that has been on one round of playtesting and soon will be ready for the next round. Three rounds of testing are needed, so even though most art is completed, a 2022 release is impossible. Now it looks more like a early Q2 release, let´s hope for that.
• Playtesters also have had a look at some suggested rules changes and card errata. Those reports are in, so now relevant powers are thinking deep and hard about what to do. If test results are not very clear, more testing and discussions will be needed. More about that when something can be said!
• Not one, but TWO new promo packs are being prepared. These will have the "lost" ten cards from the Berlin Anthology that were not in Anthology 1 (André the Manipulator, Joseph Fischer, etc.) together with some other much sought after cards that don´t seem to fit in any normal upcoming products. These will be announced as soon as the content is nailed.
• More content for VTES Legacy Card Singles are ready, but launch has been delayed just a bit. You know it´s soon Christmas? :)
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)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
The Fall of London (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
Our favorites to highlight this month:
• The official Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition wiki is now online! Great to keep up to date with current lore, and good easily accessible help on the game rules too. Check it out at vtm.paradoxwikis.com/VTM_Wiki
• "Milan Uprising" is a new interesting blend of physical and digital games - it´s a board game with digital support, to put it simple. And it´s set in Italy - we all love Italy! Learn more at Teburu.net
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Austria
Chile
Brazil x4
Finland
France
Italy
Poland
Portugal
Spain x4
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 V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
Don´t be afraid. You are not that dangerous.
Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter October 2022
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
1. Javier Naranjo Ortiz 2 GWs 9.0 VPs
3. Jaddou Nasra 2 GWs 8.0 VPs
4. César Ruipérez 2 GWs 7.0 VPs
5. Tero Aalto 2 GWs 7.0 VPs
In spite of the interesting mix of decks in the final, it timed out with no ousts, so each player received 0.5 VPs. As the top seed, Javier Naranjo is the champion, congratulations!
The final is available on stream at www.twitch.tv, and if you would like the standings and statistics, check out bcncrisis.com.
Javier´s tournament winning deck: "Malk '22"
Crypt (12)
2x Alexander Silverson 8 AUS DOM OBF pre prince Malkavian:6
2x Jason "Son" Newberry 7 AUS DOM OBF pre primogen Malkavian:6
1x Gilbert Duane 7 AUS DOM OBF baron Malkavian:6
1x Nathaniel Bordruff 7 DOM OBF POT ani Nosferatu:6
1x Andi Liu 6 DOM aus obf pre prince Malkavian:6
1x Gelasia Fotiou 6 AUS DOM obf pre Malkavian:6
1x Colette 5 AUS OBF dom Malkavian:6
1x Evan Klein 5 OBF aus dom pre Malkavian:6
1x Sully 4 aus dom obf Malkavian:6
1x Ashley 3 dom obf Malkavian:6
Library (76)
Master (14; 4 trifle)
1x Asylum Hunting Ground
1x Barrens, The
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Sudden Reversal
3x Vessel
1x Wider View
Action (14)
14x Govern the Unaligned
Ally (2)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
1x Muddled Vampire Hunter
Equipment (2)
2x Heart of Nizchetus
Action Modifier (26)
4x Bonding
5x Conditioning
2x Elder Impersonation
3x Faceless Night
2x Foreshadowing Destruction
3x Lost in Crowds
4x Seduction
3x Spying Mission
Action Modifier/Combat (2)
2x Swallowed by the Night
Combat (4)
4x No Trace
Reaction (12)
8x Deflection
2x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
After three rounds, the final standings were:
1. Giulio De Cicco – Deck: Lo famo strano - Cesewayo Wall 2 GW 6 VP
2. Ivan Candioli – Deck: Zlegion - Erlik&The Legionaries - Ally 1 GW 7 VP
3. Danilo Torrisi – Deck: ***-> <-*** - Malkavian Reversal of Fortune - Political 1 GW 6.5 VP
4. Alessandro Donati – Deck: The Asylum - Weenie Dementation – Stealth & Bleed 1 GW 5.5 VP
5. Diego Di Nicolantonio – Deck: Ghosts of Bath - Matthias &The Legionaries - Ally 1 GW 5.5 VP
From the very beginning, worried by the annihilating power of Danilo's deck, all finalists took efforts to stop Reversal of Fortunes by any means (playing Direct Intervention or Delaying Tactics). Giulio also played a quick Smiling Jack the Anarch to prevent people from having too much pool, especially the two Legionnaires decks with Liquidation.
Eventually all players were able to have at least one minion in play, except from Alessandro who had 3 due to their very low capacity.
After a long talk, there was an agreement on Alessandro ousting Danilo cross table, because no one wanted the dreaded Reversal deck to even have a chance. After some thoughts, Alessandro accepted the table deal, asking wisely that no one was to burn Smiling Jack...
And so, with Danilo out, and helped by the Smiling Anarch grown to 6 counters, Alessandro started his bleed hammering, first against Ivan who was ousted after two turns, then against Diego who resisted a little more thanks to a couple of Liquidations, but eventually unable to stop the wave of Dementation.
Giulio had lack of Eagle's Sights. He tried to pull out another big cap vampire to stop Alessandro, but it was too late: without enough wakes he fell under Alessandro's bleeding machine. When you have to deal with more than one “Monster” deck the risk of unbalance in the table is really high, and Alessandro was there to catch the opportunity of a great swing.
Final results: Alessandro Donati 4 VP and Ivan Candioli 1 VP.
1x Apache Jones 5 DEM aus for obf Malkavian antitribu:4
1x Persia, The Beautiful Statue 5 DEM aus obf Malkavian:3
1x Uncle George 5 DEM aus dom obf Malkavian antitribu:3
2x Jackie 3 DEM Malkavian antitribu:4
2x Midget 3 DEM obf pre Malkavian antitribu:3
1x Marta 3 aus dem Malkavian antitribu:4
2x Cassandra Langely, The Waif 2 dem Malkavian:4
2x Eddie Gaines 1 dem pot Caitiff:3
Library (90 cards)
Master (14; 3 trifle)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
4x Dementation
1x Direct Intervention
3x Effective Management
1x Misdirection
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Wash
1x Wider View
1x Bitter and Sweet Story, The
Action (31)
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
30x Kindred Spirits
Action Modifier (32)
16x Confusion
14x Eyes of Chaos
2x Mind Tricks
Action Modifier/Combat (8)
8x Deny
Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Touch of Clarity
Thanks to organisers, sponsors and players!
3 Kassandra Tassaki
3 Warmaksan
2 Kasim Bayar
2 Farah Sarroub
1 Kalinda (G6)
1 Khadija Al-Kindi
Library:
5 Villein
4 Haqim's Law: Retribution
3 Priority Contract
2 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Alamut
1 Khabar: Community, The
1 Market Square
1 Vessel
1 Wider View
4 Hunter's Mark
2 Magic of the Smith
1 Heart of Nizchetus
1 Reliquary: Shango Remains
1 Sport Bike
3 Parity Shift
2 Anathema
1 Ancilla Empowerment
5 Resist Earth's Grasp
4 Swallowed by the Night
12 Hunger of Marduk
6 Pursuit
4 Psyche!
4 Quickness
4 Rego Motum
2 Blur
2 Soul Burn
10 Second Tradition: Domain
Firstly: BIG thanks to Janne Lönnqvist, the former National Coordinator of Finland, for many, many years of excellent service to the VEKN and the game. You are one of the players who have done most for this game in many ways, with the 2022 European Championship in Helsinki as a final, brightly shining jewel in your crown of achievements!
Janne is succeeded by Jani Malmi, so we decided to ask him some questions.
Hello Jani! Lets take it from the beginning: When did you start playing VTES?
- I started playing VTES in 2011 when I started studying in university. I was told that this would be “a casual and fun party game”. Maybe a bit of lies!
My first deck was a Keepers of Tradition Ventrue starter, which I bought from the local game store, Fantasiapelit. Hardestadt caught my eye and I also bought blue blood tokens, because aristocrats have blue blood, right? I had a bit of troubles to get my first game win, as most other players were playing stealth-bleed. I was euphoric when I caught Marconius with three intercept and mowed his pointy ears to the ground!
What do you like most about the game?
- VTES is the best game I have ever played. The game changes drastically from table to table. New allies, new enemies, new situations. Different deck types, counters to different metas. Change and evolution of the game is what keeps me playing and trying to solve the puzzle of winning the table time and time again.
With different people the meta changes in swings. In our last tournament we had five combat decks duking it out. In this year´s EC there were many stealth-bleed or voting decks. Constant change keeps the game alive and the people playing the game are the best community I have ever met. Tournaments are also gatherings of friends!
Do you have a special “style” of playing?
- I usually play combat-oriented decks. My reasoning is that your predator can not oust you if he or she is too afraid of you or has no minions. And your prey has to use more pool for minions if minions tend to go to torpor or ash heap.
Still, combat decks are tough to play. With wrong choices you just make a “meteor crater” around you and give the table to someone else. You have to be careful with your rushes. And even if you can beat everyone else, you still have to have some way to rapidly oust a player that chooses not to bring out new minions.
Another type of deck I like to play are political decks. I like to talk at the table and interact with other players. As it is, I tend not to make pure stealth-bleed decks as I think they usually have no other game plan than to oust their prey as quickly as possible without thinking about anything else.
What is your favorite deck?- My all-time favourite is “Die By The Blade”, and my variants of the deck. Salubri antitribu vampires with burning swords, the best rush card in the game and a way to get constant bleeds of three is a good game plan for most situations. And I have never contested a minion with my deck. A combat deck with solid plan to oust is a deck most opponents have to be very careful with. And they can not even trust their combat cards to work in critical moments because of Death Seeker!
In tournaments I have heard players saying things like “it’s always going to be aggravated damage”. I take that as a compliment. That is what other players should be afraid of.
Any other decks do you currently like playing?
- In my last tournament I played Al-Ashrad, Amr of Alamut -deck with Hunger of Marduk and Haqim's Law: Retribution. Quietus shenanigans in combat with damage prevention and blood stealing was good way to strike a lot of damage without getting hit back.
New Gangrel and Brujah barons have been an interest of mine, especially the latter with Fall of London and Chun Hei. Maybe my next big thing is Finnish politics with Potence!
You are the newly appointed National Coordinator for Finland – congratulations on this honorable assignment! What do you do to spread VTES in your country?
- Thank you very much! It has been an honour to have been elected as National Coordinator for Finland. We even had the ceremony of transferring power in most Finnish way possible. In sauna! We also destroyed the sauna with superior potence while at it (sorry about that).
Communicating with Princes is the number one priority to keep tournaments going. Organizing tournaments is the way people keep playing and brewing new decks. Maybe we should think something like the Czech “Road to Pulled Fang” to spice things up.
Biggest concern for success in VTES is of course to keep our current player base and attract new neonates to local playgroups. Finland is a country of long distances and local area playgroups are the most important communities for new players and old timers alike. Tournaments are something that gathers people from different playgroups to compete against each other.
Now that Black Chantry is printing new cards and there are regular tournaments, I feel that VTES community in Finland is like an Antediluvian that has risen and having a never-ending thirst for new games!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: OCTOBER 2022
• The Fall of London is in stores! The official release date was October 14, so it will be legal for use in normal tournaments on November 15. Many play special Fall of London storyline events, and for that the cards of course are legal - you actually need a copy of the new group 6 Mithras and a Ritual Goblet to play storyline games. Please report such games to the storyline coordinator Mike Nudd!
• Note that the storyline rules now have a FAQ to help sort some things out.
• Black Chantry could not attend Spiel 2022 game fair in Essen this year, but the German VTES distributor Blackfire was kind enough to hand out some VTES promo cards in their "demo bag" - hopefully some of you who attended got some before they ran out!
• CEO Hugh Angseesing and Art Director Ginés Quiñonero had the pleasure to attend Grand Prix Benidorm. Really nice to meet the lovely players, as usual!
• A brand new layout are being tried for VTES promo cards. They are "full art", showing as much as possible of the art. The first one will be quite rare (at least for now), awarded only to the organisers of this summer´s excellent European Championships in Helsinki. Do you have opinions about this layout? Please talk to Black Chantry by mail, Discord or any social media!
• The second round of playtesting of the next preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce) is being prepared, but in the meantime the playtesters have been asked to review a bunch of rule changes and errata suggestions. Exciting times!
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)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
The Fall of London (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
Wow! Just like last year, the World of Darkness crew over at Paradox saved up for a "Month of Darkness" in October, with announcements and other fun stuff every day. This is what we found most interesting:
• Big news about Werewolf: The Apocalypse Fifth Edition, including what tribes are "dropped" or changed. The coming version of the game will be a "re-imagining" of the original game, not a continuation of previous editions, so there will be plenty of changes of both setting and system. The first article is about tribes and renown, the second is about auspices and forms. Creative Lead Justin Achilli is interviewed about all this in an episode of the World of Darkness News show (continued at discord.gg/worldofdarkness).
• "Hunter Garage" is a new actual play steaming show, this time with Hunter: The Reckoning being played. It premiered on October 8 and airs every Saturday.
• The "Storyteller System Expanded Mechanics and Permutations" is a free download document with expanded options and guidelines for the rules system - very handy!
• The Daughters of Cacophony return to Vampire: The Masquerade! Kind of. At least there is now a loresheet for free download.
• There will be a new, official Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition wiki! It will appear in November on Paradox Wikis.
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x8
Chile
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Mexico
Poland x3
Portugal
Spain x4
Sweden
UK x2
USA
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 V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.
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