Introduction:

Welcome to Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (or VTES for short)! VTES is a multi-player collectable card game based on the award-winning Vampire: the Masquerade role playing game in which players take on the role of ancient vampires known as a Methuselahs. Considered mere legend by many, Methuselahs rule everything from the shadows, engaging in a eons-long Machiavellian conflict that encompasses political, social, and even physical warfare. The struggle is won or lost based on the actions taken by your minions – younger vampires who unknowingly do your bidding. In this way, the game can allow for deep and immersive storytelling as your minions purchase equipment, hire retainers, and even suggest legislative changes to vampiric society, all in the service of your dark plots.

Although the last official card set was released in 2010 by White Wolf, VTES is still played and enjoyed by players around the world. Tournaments still draw large groups of attendees, and some continental championships see more than 100 players attend. The game is currently supported by Vampire: Elder Kindred Network™ (VEKN), the official player organization responsible for sanctioning and regulating VTES tournaments, recording V:TES players’ ratings (and rankings), as well as designing and releasing new digital expansions featuring professional artwork.

This guide will provide you with the information that you need to quickly and easily get involved with the game.

  1. What kind of game is VTES, and why would I want to play it?
  2. How do I play VTES?
  3. How do I find people to play with?
  4. Where can I acquire cards?
  5. What are some good beginner decks that I can play?
  6. How do I build my first deck?
  7. What else do I need to know?
  8. Where can I find more information?

By Brett Schofield

Introduction:

Welcome to Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (or VTES for short)! VTES is a multi-player collectable card game based on the award-winning Vampire: the Masquerade role playing game in which players take on the role of ancient vampires known as a Methuselahs. Considered mere legend by many, Methuselahs rule everything from the shadows, engaging in a eons-long Machiavellian conflict that encompasses political, social, and even physical warfare. The struggle is won or lost based on the actions taken by your minions – younger vampires who unknowingly do your bidding. In this way, the game can allow for deep and immersive storytelling as your minions purchase equipment, hire retainers, and even suggest legislative changes to vampiric society, all in the service of your dark plots.

The game is currently published by Black Chantry Productions.

This guide will provide you with the information that you need to quickly and easily get involved with the game.

  1. What kind of game is VTES, and why would I want to play it?
  2. How do I play VTES?
  3. How do I find people to play with?
  4. Where can I acquire cards?
  5. What are some good beginner decks that I can play?
  6. How do I build my first deck?
  7. What else do I need to know?
  8. Where can I find more information?

Vampire: Elder Kindred Network™ is the Official V:TES Players' Organization dedicated to the continued health of V:TES. The V:EKN endeavours to help V:TES grow in popularity through the embracing of new players as well as through the support of the existing fans.

The V:EKN is the organization responsible for sanctioning and regulating official V:TES tournaments, recording V:TES players' ratings (and rankings).

V:EKN Princes are volunteers who promote V:TES at the local level by, for example, coordinating tournaments and demos.

Membership

All players who register with V:EKN shall be assigned a unique V:EKN membership number. Only registered players with an active standing shall be able to hold Volunteer Officer Positions. A player must play in at least one officially sanctioned event within the past 18 months to be considered active. Lapsed players shall be again considered active for the next 18 months after participating an officially sanctioned event.

Organization and Officers of V:EKN

Inner Circle

National Coordinators

Princes

 
_

Vampire: Elder Kindred Network™ is the Official V:TES Players' Organization dedicated to the continued health of V:TES. The V:EKN endeavors to help V:TES grow in popularity through the embracing of new players as well as through the support of the existing fans.

The V:EKN is the organization responsible for sanctioning and regulating official V:TES tournaments, recording V:TES players' ratings (and rankings), and sponsoring the creation of monthly Clan Newsletters.

V:EKN Princes are volunteers who promote V:TES at the local level by, for example, coordinating tournaments and demos. _

Membership

All players who register with V:EKN shall be assigned a unique V:EKN membership number. Only registered players with an active standing shall be able to hold Volunteer Officer Positions. A player must play in at least one officially sanctioned event within the past 18 months to be considered active. Lapsed players shall be again considered active for the next 18 months after participating an officially sanctioned event.

Organization and Officers of V:EKN

Inner Circle

National Coordinators

Princes

 

V:EKN ANNOUNCEMENTS

VAMPIRE: ELDER KINDRED NETWORK FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  1. V:TES Rulebook

  2. VEKN Tournament Rules

  3. VEKN Judges' Guide

VTES Official Clarifications, Rulings and Errata

2011 Season

Effective January 1, 2011

 

Introduction

The Vampire: Elder Kindred Network (V:EKN) Tournament Rules help maintain fair and consistent worldwide sanctioned tournament play for all Vampire: The Eternal StruggleTM (V:TES) games. In order to maintain this tournament system, participants and officials must treat each other in a fair and respectful manner, following both the rules themselves and the spirit in which they were created. Players who violate sections of the V:EKN Tournament Rules will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the V:EKN Judges' Guide.

Note: Please see appendix B of the V:EKN Tournament Rules for definitions of terms in this document.


Full Card Lists

Here are lists of files and resources containing all of the VTES cards ever printed with their most recent wordings:

OFFICIAL

Français

Español

Others

Card Lists by Expansion

Jyhad (1994)

Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (1995)

Dark Sovereigns (1995) iconmiscsetds

Ancient Hearts (1996) iconmiscsetdah

The Sabbat (1996) iconmiscsetsabbat

Sabbat War (2000) iconmiscsetsw

Final Nights (2001) iconmiscsetfn

Bloodlines (2001) iconmiscsetbl

Camarilla Edition (2002) iconmiscsetce

Demonstration decks (2002) iconmiscsetdemo

Anarchs (2003) iconmiscsetan

Black Hand (2003) iconmiscsetbh

Gehenna (2004) iconmiscsetgehenna

Tenth Anniversary (2004) iconmiscset10th

Kindred Most Wanted (2005) iconmiscsetkmw

Legacies of Blood (2005) iconmiscsetlob

Nights of Reckoning (2006) iconmiscsetnor

Third Edition (2006) iconmiscset3e

Player's Kit (2006)

Sword of Caine (2007) iconmiscsetsoc

Lords of the Night (2007) iconmiscsetlotn

Blood Shadowed Court (2008) iconmiscsetbsc

Twilight Rebellion (2008) iconmiscsettr

Keepers of Tradition (2008) iconmiscsetkot

Ebony Kingdom (2009) iconmiscsetek

Heirs to the Blood (2010) iconmiscsethttb

Danse Macabre (2013) iconmiscsetdm

The Unaligned (2014) iconmiscsettu

Storyline Rewards 2015

Anarchs Unbound (2016)

Anthology (2017) 

Lost Kindred (2018)

Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1 (2018)

Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2 (2018)

Heirs to the Blood Reprint Bundle 1 (2018)

Heirs to the Blood Reprint Bundle 2 (2018)

Anthology I (2019)

Den of Fiends (2019) 

Libertine Ball (2019) 

Pact with Nephandi (2019) 

Parliament of Shadows (2019) 

25th Anniversary (2019)

First Blood: Malkavian (2019)

First Blood: Nosferatu (2019)

First Blood: Toreador (2019)

First Blood: Tremere (2019)

First Blood: Ventrue (2019)

Fifth Edition (2020)

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Unleashed (2021)

Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (2021)

Fifth Edition: Brujah (2021)

Fifth Edition: Gangrel (2021)

Fifth Edition: The Ministry (2021)

New Blood: Malkavian (2022)

New Blood: Nosferatu (2022)

New Blood: Toreador (2022)

New Blood: Tremere (2022)

New Blood: Ventrue (2022)

Fall of London (2022)

New Blood: Banu Haqim (2023)

New Blood: Brujah (2023)

New Blood: Gangrel (2023)

New Blood: Ministry (2023)

Companion: Ravnos (2023)

Companion: Salubri (2023)

Companion: Tzimisce (2023)

Promo Cards

Banned Cards


Rarity indicators

The rarity of each card is indicated in the card lists above by a letter code sometimes followed by a number. For boosters (random packs), the letter code indicates whether the card is Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Vampire rarity (that is, it indicates on which sheet the card is printed). Some lists also include rarity indicators for the Preconstructed starter deck cards. If the rarity letter is followed by a number, that number represents the number of times the card appears on that sheet. So an R2 would be twice as common as an R1. If the letter is not followed by a number, that means the card appears only once on the sheet. For bundles (fixed content), the rarity number indicates the number of copies of the card in the bundle.

Note: An "uncut card sheet" is a 10x10 sheet of cards.

History of the Rules Team Rulings

  • Rules Team Rulings - 23 June 1998
  • Rules Team Rulings - 7 July 1998
  • Rules Team Rulings - 28 September 1998
  • Rules Team Rulings - 5 January 1999
  • Rules Team Rulings - 12 July 1999
  • Rules Team Rulings - 1 October 1999
  • Rules Team Rulings - 6 December 1999
  • Rules Team Rulings - 1 May 2000
  • Rules Team Rulings - 20 October 2000
  • Rules Team Rulings - 11 July 2001
  • Rules Team Rulings - 1 May 2002
  • Rules Team Rulings - 19 May 2003
  • Rules Team Rulings - 1 May 2004
  • Rules Team Rulings - 2 December 2004
  • Rules Team Rulings - 7 July 2007
  • Rules Team Rulings - 8 August 2008
  • Rules Team Rulings - 9 September 2009
  • Rules Team Rulings - 2 December 2011
  • Rules Team Rulings - 22 April 2013
  • Rules Team Rulings - 7 July 2016

Storyline Events

The V:tes Storyline Events are a series of worldwide tournaments and special events that allow V:tes players to influence the outcome of critical conflicts in the classic World of Darkness. These events have special rules in addition to the normal tournament rules, feature special promotional cards created just for them, and chronicle the victories and defeats to the V:tes clans, factions, and characters.

 

Build-Your-Own Storyline Events

Ongoing: The creative talents of Princes and players worldwide continue the stories of the classic World of Darkness.

 

October 4, 2017

The VEKN, the Inner Circle, the National Coordinators and all tournament organizers involved are proud to introduce you the V:TES European Grand Prix Circuit 2017/2018, also known as the VEG for those who like acronyms.

The VEG is a circuit where you can get
great prizes for winning,
get exclusive surprises,
get ranking points,
get direct qualification for events,

but above all, gather 5 great tournaments in a general circuit for a lot of additional fun.

In general, when referring to a circuit, we are thinking:
- Common structure
- Global ranking
- Exclusive rewards

I’ll now introduce the places where we are all going to have fun in Europe during the years 2017/2018, and then I’ll explain you precisely what you will be able to get at the tournaments.

I also want to tell you that we are doing an announcement now so that everybody can anticipate those tournaments, even if all details are not carved in stone or decided yet. It will give you a generic idea of what we are aiming at with the VEG.


Bologna – Italy (9 and 10th of December 2017)
The Italian V:tES Community is glad to invite you at the first Grand Prix ever held in Italy. The tournament will be organized in Bologna, a great city in the northern part of the country, on December 9th and 10th. On Saturday, 9th, a Standard Constructed tournament with some special prizes will be run. On Sunday, 10th will be held the Grand Prix.
Bologna is a destination for Ryanair flight. If you are planning a short vacation, you are 1 hour away from Florence and Venice, 2 from Milan and less than 4 from Rome (by train).

The local community is already choosing the best location for the tournament and a selection of suitable accommodations. Keep track for Simone’s announcement, coming very soon.

Brussels (to be confirmed) – Belgium (February 2018 – to be confirmed)

When you think V:tES, you can’t miss Belgium in the background picture, especially as a Nosferatu. As travelers, they set foot on every European championship since the beginning of the game. As hosts, they will now get the chance to show you with the legendary Belgian hospitality, fifth tradition.
Come and discover the wonderful Belgian life, have great time playing during a whole week-end in a great Belgian city. Brussels is not confirmed yet but I know that we will have more details soon, and it’s going to be great.

Madrid (in fact Alcalá de Henares) – Spain (28th and 29th April 2018) – The Ibérico GP
Organized by the coordinators of Spain and Portugal of V:EKN, the cultural association Alcala nocturnal and sponsored by the store Alcala comics and the city council of the city of Alcala de Henares.
Alcala de Henares, a World Heritage City, is a central town located 30 kilometers from Madrid, the capital of Spain.

The tournament will be held on Saturday 28th in its format prix, in addition to another tournament on Sunday 29th if the attendance is important enough.

The cultural center "La galatea" hosts both tournaments. This cultural center is located just 500 meters from the commercial park "Atenea"

Helsinki Ropecon – Finland (end of July 2018 – date to be confirmed)
The Helsinki Grand Prix is held at Ropecon gaming convention which is the largest gaming convention in Finland (and Europe's largest convention organized by volunteers) with around 4000 people having a non-stop experience of all things gaming related during one weekend.
Ropecon has it all: lectures, presentations, discussions, RPGs, LARPs, card-, board and miniature gaming. Both casual and competitive tournaments. The overall feel to the convention is extremely casual and approachable.

Attendance fee for the whole weekend has been around 40 euros and daily passes around 25 euros. The convention also offers free accommodation in the form of large hall where you can sleep in your own sleeping bag so budget attendance is possible.
The VTES tournament in Ropecon has traditionally been second only to European Championships in attendance, often with more or less just Finnish players. And besides the big tournament, a draft tournament has been also run during one the other convention days.

Budapest (to be confirmed) – Hungary (date to be confirmed)
Budapest has been home to the first Grand Prix of history, and, as such, we would not leave the first VEG without them.
As for now, we don’t really know exactly where and when the tournament will be held, but giving the two wonderful European Championships in Budapest, and the successful Grand Prix organized there, I can only prepare myself for a huge experience next year.
More details to come.

OK That’s cool to have a circuit, but what is the benefit of the VEG?
For months, the VEKN, with the help of organizers, has given deep thoughts about how to give players a real great experience during each Grand Prix weekends. Here is the list of things you will be able to win during the Grand Prix season.

Through each Grand Prix
- Exclusive prizes for each Grand Prix that will complement each other
- Points for the Grand Prix ranking,
- Points for the VEKN ranking, Grand Prix will each have the level of ECQ as for points obtained,
- Winner to be qualified for the Grand Prix final which will be held during the European Championship in Warsaw,
- Winner to be invited for the entrance fee of EC and qualified for legendary vampire tournament (if any) and EC day 2 directly.

Through the global ranking and the participation
As previously said, players will be qualified for the GP final if they win a Grand Prix. As a Grand Prix Final must have 5 players, if a player win 2 GP or if some winners are not in Warsaw, the final will be completed with the best players in the global GP ranking.
The finals will give
- Exclusive prizes to all finalists
- A great prize for the winner
- A crypt card representing him/her for the winner of the final

In addition, there will be a special – and hopefully very nice prize – for all players that will attend the 5 Grand Prix and the players ranked 1 to 10 in the VEG ranking overall.

Ranking will be given as such:
Winner 25 points
Finalists 15 points
6th: 10 points
7th: 9 points
8th: 8 points
9th: 7 points
10th: 6 points
all other participants: 3 points

You get the general idea of what we are trying to do here. I hope everything will run smoothly this year, and I’ll add more detail from now on, so please follow us on the different VEKN pages to get updated on the tournaments.

Best regards
TTC_master, Inner circle in charge of Tournament Coordination.


IC Organized play coordinator
Please contact me with any OP query using the mail in my profile

 

August 5, 2018

Each year, the V:EKN organizes open Continental Championship tournaments.

Championship Formats

There are two formats for the Championship tournaments. Each Championship will be run in one of these formats:

Standard Championship Format

The standard format is a normal 3-rounds tournament with a final round, following the standard V:EKN rules for constructed deck tournaments (in which any players are allowed to play, since it's an open event).

Tiered Championship Format

The tiered format is basically two tournaments. The top X (25 in the case of the North American Championship and 40 in the case of the European Championship) players from the first tournament (Day 1) continue on to the second (Day 2). Players may change cards or whole decks before the second tournament. Each tournament is three rounds. The final, if any, of the first tournament has no bearing on the second.

  • Who is qualified for Day 2?
    • The top X players in the Day 1 tournament.
    • The 5 finalists of the Last Chance Qualifier tournament (which is run before Day 1), if any.
    • The winners of any Grand Prix tournament.

Designers' Diary

Latest news about the design of the new V:TES sets to be released by the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network.

Latest news about Storyline events.
Latest news about Storyline events.

If you are interested in sending your card ideas to us or in showing your art to us, please follow these guidelines: