This event took place in Moss on August 9. Report by Ole Andreas Gresholt:

This year’s National Championship unfortunately had a lower player count than expected, as we only ended up with 8 players (6 of them locals from our same city) this year it was quite the different tournament than previous NC in Norway. Despite this we still had a great day of playing VTES matches at Tabletopbattle! I have attached images with the standings after the final, seating for the final and the handover of our wandering trophy witch I signed as this year’s winner. 
 
In the final the following decks were represented:
Top seed: Pander swarm vote (Joachim Randa)
2nd seed: Hecate Aggressive zombies rush (my deck, see below)
3rd seed: V5 Lasombra spectral servitors and bleeds. (Jonas Johnasson, defending champion)
4th seed: Howler toolbox (Frode Løining)
5th seed: V5 Tzimisce with War Ghouls (Asbjørn Holmgren)

The early game was dominated by the Panders repeatedly trying to establish the vote lock, but in total 3 Delaying Tactics and a few combined blocks from both me and from the Howler pilot made the Panders aggressive low stealth voting tactics insufficient. Even with some voting help from his grand pray (Lasombra player) he could not deal me enough damage before the zombies started eating most of his 1 and 2 caps (those who managed to get archbishop titles went down first).

Meanwhile the Lasombra player had been chunking away at the Tzimisce player with some hefty bleeds, preventing him from getting anything going with his expensive war ghouls. After the panders where slowed down sufficiently I was able to deal with both the Lasombra and the weakened Tzimisce player in quick succession.

Howler took out the panders while this was going on, but by that point the zombies had reached critical mass, and I was able to clutch it out. Quite the heavy allies presence in this year’s finals, even our resident bleeder packed quite the few. When the dust settled though, the fast zombies took it home this year. Below is the deck list I used for this year’s NC:
 
The tourament winning deck: “Fast Zombies” by Ole Andreas Gresholt

Crypt (12 cards)
2x Mora, the Death Seer  7 AUS FOR OBL ani  Hecata:6
1x Monica Giovanni   6 AUS FOR OBL   Hecata:6
2x Gebeyehu Abdu    5 AUS OBL for   Hecata:6
2x Holliday "Burgundy" Hall 5 FOR OBL aus   Hecata:6
1x Hiromitsu Asano   4 aus for obl   Hecata:6
2x Alek König     3 OBL     Hecata:6
2x Peter St. John    2 obl     Hecata:6

Library (84 cards)
Master (17; 9 trifle)
1x Biotech Company Hunting Ground
1x Cappadocian Crypt
1x Charisma
1x Fame
9x Family Gathering
1x Line, The
2x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Munich

Event (3)
1x Dragonbound
2x Unmasking, The

Action (7)
3x Shroud of Decay
4x Split the Veil

Ally (16)
13x Aggressive Corpse
3x Rotting Behemoth

Equipment (2)
2x Heart of Nizchetus

Action Modifier (18)
2x Paths in Two Worlds
3x Shadow Cast
4x Shadow Cloak
4x Stygian Shroud
5x Where the Veil Thins

Combat (11)
6x Target Vitals
5x Trap

Reaction (10)
2x Delaying Tactics
3x Shadow Sentinel
5x Telepathic Misdirection

Congratulations and thanks for this report, and thanks to all organisers, sponsors and players!

Finalists - the winner in red!

This event was played with 19 players in Gulfport Mississippi on August 23. Reported by Kelly Lyons, Dean Garrison and Parth Patel:

Another great weekend in the south. Methuselahs were bleeding away at the 3rd Leg of the Gulf Coast Roast II in Gulfport, Mississippi. Friday night got kick started with a Water Dog victory at the Revelation of Wrath Tournament. His Nosferatu Antitribu Vote Dirt Deck muddied the playground for the win.

Sunday, saw the Prince of New Orleans, Devin Villegas, win an exciting final round during the Revelation of Despair Tournament. Devin’s Daughters Deck sang the song that makes Shattering Crescendo worth singing. The vocals he sang lead to a victory that was years in the making.

But, the big event was Saturday Night. GCR II – Gulfport Grand Prix was on the line. Just like in Dallas and in Lafayette, it was the New Bloods that were doing all the bleeding. The young guns came prepared and whooped up on the veterans.

Standings after three rounds:
1. Justin Shackleford 3 GW 180 12 VP
2. Parth Patel 1 GW 6.5 VP
3. Joey Theriot 1 GW 5.0 VP
4. Logan Jameson-Hatch 1 GW 4.0 VP 112 TP
5. Josue Torres 1 GW 4.0 VP 102 TP

It was Parth Patel who rose up to conquer them all. In just his second tournament ever, Parth wins a Grand Prix Event. I don’t know what their princes are teaching these neonates down south but they better stop before they take over.

Parth´s tournament deck, with comments: “Scouse politics”

Crypt (12 cards)
3x Diana Iadanza 9 AUS CEL FOR PRE justicar Toreador:7
2x Catalina Vega 8 AUS CEL PRE for prince Toreador:6
2x Flávio Gonçalves 7 CEL PRE aus for prince Toreador:6
2x Maila 6 AUS PRE cel primogen Toreador:6
1x Bret Stryker 4 CEL PRE Toreador:6
1x Valentina Osako 3 PRE Toreador:7
1x Kazuki Hanabira 2 aus Toreador:7

Library (90 cards)
Master (18; 4 trifle)
1x Art Museum
1x Creepshow Casino
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington
1x Protected Resources
6x Toreador Grand Ball
3x Villein
1x Wider View

Action (8)
6x Enchant Kindred
1x Entrancement
1x Heart of the City

Political Action (14)
2x Banishment
4x Camarilla's Iron Fist
4x Kine Resources Contested
4x Parity Shift

Action Modifier (23)
2x Aire of Elation
2x Awe
2x Bewitching Oration
4x Forced March
4x Loup
2x Perfect Paragon
7x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Combat (4)
4x Resist Earth's Grasp

Action Modifier/Reaction (2)
2x Scalpel Tongue

Combat (6)
2x Charismatic Aura
4x Majesty

Reaction (15)
4x Eyes of Argus
4x Second Tradition: Domain
7x Telepathic Misdirection

So, I started playing V:TES at the end of April. I played twice at Miles 2 Adventure learning the game and borrowing a few decks before heading back to the U.K., where after a few weeks I found a group in Liverpool.

I played a game or two of stealth-bleed but decided I really liked the Toreadors from the V5 starter box I ordered, and with a lot of help from the community in Liverpool, Mikey Ferguson especially, the deck went through many iterations as I learnt the game and got better. I took it to my first tournament in Bletchley in mid-July where unfortunately I only managed 0.5 VP. I believe it wasn’t tournament ready and I was nowhere near a good enough player.

After I returned to the USA I started playing at Miles 2 Adventure again as well as online. I kept tweaking the deck slightly through over 40 iterations before I finally arrived at one I was happy with 3 days before the Gulf Coast Roast, and I’m incredibly pleased with how it worked out. Even before the tournament I was not very confident. I told people I just wanted to beat my previous 0.5 VPs and maybe if I’m lucky I could win 1 table over the 3 day weekend.

When I won my first table on Saturday with 4vp, I thought maybe I just got lucky but my confidence grew throughout the day, and by the time I sat down for the finals table I had a feeling I could be in with a good chance, although I had played with both Justin and Joey before and knew they would be difficult opponents.

I had a very strong start, and about an hour in I managed to get the oust on my prey with a big Aire of Elation bleed, but now I was in a predicament as my predator and grand predator were on 3 pool each and I didn’t want Justin to get the double oust, so I decided to make a deal with Joey. If I used my last vampire to call an Camarilla’s Iron Fist and back oust to give him 6 pool, he would commit to going backwards until the 1v1. It was risky, as a 1v1 vs a Hecata swarm deck is difficult but ultimately it turned out to be the game winning move. Even despite giving Joey the buffer, Justin managed to bleed him out on the next turn. However, I had prevented the double oust which meant that he only got 6 pool instead of 12, so I was able to ultimately win out in the 1v1.

Winning my second ever tournament felt unreal, I still have no idea how I managed it but I’m incredibly happy, and I had a ton of fun playing throughout. I'd like to shout out my fellow “Scousers” who trained me in a trial by fire when I was learning with them so I was prepared for anything. I hope to do them proud by winning many more tournaments here in the U.S.

A big shout out to Terry Miles for hosting at Miles to Adventure. It’s a great store and Terry is a great host. Go check them out. Next stop for the GCR II Grand Prix is New Orleans on October 3-5. We hope to see you there.

Report by Daniel Bravo, VEKN National Coordinator of Chile:

On Saturday, August 23, the coldest day of the month, with snow in areas where it had never snowed before and heavy rain the day before, GP 2 took place at the Magic Sur store. The 12 players who were supposed to attend were reduced to 8, mainly due to work commitments and the weather itself.

The two GP tables were played very quickly, and after three clean rounds, the final table was set with Pemar, who qualified with 2 VPs using his Stanislava deck; Gino with Arishat princes and barons with 1 GW and 4 VPs; Maxwell with 1 GW and 5 VPs using his Malkavian G6 Bleed and Stealth deck; Benjamin with a Toreador G6 Political Bleed deck with 1 Gw  and 7 Vps; and Hernan with a Lasombra Purge deck, with 2 GW and 6 VPs.

Three vote decks and two decks with titled crypts. Everything suggested it would be a very close and serious final, but with the first comment being 'We all agree that we don’t want Hernan at this table,' the room burst into laughter, making it one of the funniest finals so far in 2025. Hernan made the wise decision to tone down his deck and not play Purges at the beginning, since during political turns all the extra damage was directed at him, regardless of the votes he had.
After almost 45 minutes, Benja ousted Maxwell and his Malkavian princes, which reshaped the vote table. After nearly 1 hour and 40 minutes, Pemar ousted Hernan, leaving only the three political decks in play. It was the only moment when the laughter stopped and the tension could be felt in the air. But Benja managed to make the Rose clan prevail and secured the remaining points, finishing with 4 VPs at the final table. A very good closing for GP 2025.

This is are the words from Benjamin himself:

About the tournament:
"I was a bit nervous going into it as I had not played the game on any competitive level since 2024. I only had a month of playtesting with my deck so I really only went there to play some rounds and see what would happen. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed with the player count, although competitive level was fairly good in my opinion and I had a great time. Just wish more players would participate there's quite a lot of amazing deckbuilders in the community and getting the chance to see what everyone comes up with is the best part about playing this game."

About the final:
"I'd say last table was one of the most hilarious and yet frustrating matches I've ever played. It was quite a display at how table politics and vote distribution can shift the tide of a game or just drive it to a stalemate. I knew being the prey of Purge was a terrible position to start in so I really tried my best to drain my predator of resources, but in the end I went too hard on that point and should just let my Malkavian prey kill his prey (Arishat) so the vote lock would disappear, since killing Malkavian Bleed would be quite easy with the tools on my deck. Ultimately, I think I made a lot of mistakes that I could cover up with help crosstable and that proved to be a pain later."

About the deck:
"I had been testing V5 Camarilla Toreador decks since around 2022 (starting with Grand Ball), but I really always had an interest in playing around with Aching Beauty, since it's pretty common on the meta here to face at least 1 or 2 decks per table that have options to try and block actions with little to no stealth. Thanks to 30th Anniversary the clan got a lot of cards I really loved, like Loup which works wonders with Change of Target and Majesty. The deck aims to multiact with those cards if blocked, else you play Forced March and go again, which puts your prey in a position where no matter what they do they take pool damage anyways. I do find it funny that Aching Beauty was almost useless during the games, as there were only 2 decks dedicated to blocking and final seating had NONE. I do think that nowadays Toreador have decent enough stealth generation (who would've thought!) and you could run this deck without Beautys and just run stealth masters like Creepshow Casino and Monastery of Shadows and increase the amount of vote generation and bloating."

The tournament winning deck: “Question Mark Bleed” by Benjamín Rojas

Crypt (12 cards) 
3x Diana Iadanza 9 AUS CEL FOR PRE justicar Toreador:7 
2x Catalina Vega 8 AUS CEL PRE for prince Toreador:6 
2x Flávio Gonçalves 7 CEL PRE aus for prince Toreador:6 
2x Maila 6 AUS PRE cel primogen Toreador:6 
2x Mkhokheli 6 PRE aus cel for prince Toreador:6 
1x Carmelita Neillson 5 AUS cel pre Toreador:7 

Library (90 cards) 
Master (16; 4 trifle) 
5x Aching Beauty 
1x Art Museum 
1x Camarilla Conclave 
2x Dreams of the Sphinx 
1x Giant's Blood 
2x Perfectionist 
4x Villein

Action (7) 
6x Enchant Kindred 
1x Judgment: Camarilla Segregation 

Political Action (15) 
5x Camarilla's Iron Fist 
5x Kine Resources Contested 
5x Parity Shift 

Equipment (1) 
1x Heart of Nizchetus 

Action Modifier (30) 
3x Aire of Elation 
2x Awe 
5x Change of Target 
6x Forced March 
5x Loup 
4x Perfect Paragon 
5x Voter Captivation 

Action Modifier/Combat (4) 
4x Resist Earth's Grasp 

Combat (7)
7x Majesty

Reaction (10) 
3x On the Qui Vive 
7x Telepathic Misdirection

Big thanks to organisers, sponsors and players!

Finalists: Justin Bedford, Alastair Pearson, James Snowball, Henrik Schalekamp, Yancke Van Tonder.

South African VTES Nationals at Dragonfire: Cyberdrive ’25 (16 and 17 August 2025)

This year our champion is James Snowball! Coming through with a well-balanced V5 Brujah Anarch deck, James survived a gauntlet of three brutal rounds against murderous opponents before taking the final table from Justin’s Lasombra Oblivion/Dominate bleed dynamo. Here’s how it went down:

Round 1:
Yancke > James > Hendrik > Jaco > Claudi
Yancke, with his v5 Gangrel net-deck, was James’s (V5 Brujah) predator. Claudi was poised to strike with her Ravnos deck, fresh off the last tournament win. Jaco – the visiting Prince of Johannesburg – sat with a Toreador Grand Ball toolbox, while Hendrik’s Tzimisce wall anchored the table. Early pressure from Hendrik stifled Jaco, leaving Claudi largely unchecked. She consistently bled Yancke, with some pressure redirected onto James through Bait and Switch. Forced into a corner, Yancke fired off a Revolutionary Council, destroying Hendrik’s Yawp Court, Ivory Bow, and some of Claudi’s pool, but only shaving a single pool from James.
    From there, James found himself steadily whittled down by the Gangrel’s small bleeds, eventually pushed to a single pool after a Monkey Wrench with Kamille. Claudi’s meddling – such as a Delaying Tactics on a decisive vote – prolonged James’s survival. In the end, Yancke finally ousted James with an unblockable bleed for one via Daring the Dawn. The game timed out with Jaco about to fall to Hendrik, leaving Yancke’s Gangrel on top with 1.5 VP and the rest of the table at 0.5 each.

Round 2:
Kris > Jaco > James > Martin
Martin’s Giovanni Real Estate deck stumbled badly, drawing neither Deflections nor Villeins. A devastating Monkey Wrench bleed for six from James hit just after Martin’s 9-cap arrived, leaving him reeling. James swore he only packed a single Monkey Wrench, but the Giovanni’s poor luck sealed his quick oust. Meanwhile, Jaco’s Toreador Grand Ball toolbox clashed with Kris’s Nosferatu Baron wall in a thematic battle over Creeping Sabotages. Lore bled into gameplay here: Nosferatu destroying the Toreador Grand Ball gave them -1 stealth, crippling their strategy against the unblockable Toreador sabotage engine.
    With pressure mounting, James ground Kris down and landed another “miraculous” Monkey Wrench bleed for the oust, suggesting perhaps he had been less than honest about his decklist. With six Brujah in play – including the full-art Theo Bell – James then dismantled Jaco’s Toreador, carefully torporising key vampires while leaving a helpless weenie untouched. The cruelty paid off: James swept the table with 4 VP + GW.

James Snowball Mantis Style Kung-fu realized in VTES play.

Round 3:
Claudi > Al > Michael > James
This table featured Michael’s Hecata Zombies, James’s Brujah Barons with Theo Bell, Claudi’s Ravnos bleeders, and Al’s Banu Haqim Princes. Claudi immediately pressured Al’s pool while James tooled up cautiously. Al walled hard with Second Traditions, but Ravnos tricks like Memory Rift denied him combat. Fishing for Hunter’s Mark, Al instead back-rushed the Hecata, only to be foiled again by Phaibun’s special dodge. Priority Contracts gave temporary respite, but overall the Banu struggled to impose control.
    James, meanwhile, farmed resources, camped Powerbase Montreal, and waited for the right moment. A key back-rush let Theo Bell dunk Michael’s 9-cap Hel-Bla before a Rotting Behemoth could arrive. Even so, the standout moment came when Theo, red cards in hand, was suddenly invited for a tea and some chill-out time by Claudi’s Doc Martina at the Garibaldi Museum. As Al’s pool evaporated, the Hecata struck a desperate deal with the Banu, but betrayal soon followed as the assassins backstabbed their temporary ally for a VP. Ultimately, James outlasted Claudi through patience and precision farming, claiming the well-deserved GW.

Standings before final:
1. James Snowball 2 GW, 6 VPs
2. Hendrik Schalekamp 2 GW, 5.5 VPs
3. Yancke van Tonder 1 GW, 5 VPs
4. Justin Bedford (Biggy) 1 GW, 5 VPs
5. Alastair Pearson 1 GW, 4.5 VPs

The final saw Alastair (Banu Haqim) sitting first with, Justin’s Lasombra sitting second. Yancke’s positioned his Gangrel downstream of Al, and Hendrik wanted to build his Tzimisce wall downstream of Yancke. And so James, with the advantage of being 1st seed, positioned himself as the Gangrel’s predator and the Banu’s prey. 
    The table settled into a tense equilibrium, with cautious bleeds and probing actions. Al’s Princes were forced to focus backward on Justin’s bleed engine, giving James precious breathing room to build.
    Yancke’s Gangrel pressed hard on Hendrik, nearly ousting the Tzimisce, but misplays and attrition cost him dearly. Forgetting that a Giant’s Blood had already been played, Yancke Villeined without safe recourse for his vamp to fill-up again, and was downed on the hunt action. Hendrik’s blocking and back-play eventually doomed the Gangrel him to James’s relentless New Carthage bleeds. With Yancke gone, James strengthened his grip, slipping in another unexpected Monkey Wrench bleed to hammer Hendrik.
    Justin looked poised to close out the game with a Dominate/Oblivion swarm, but James revealed a surprise Eat the Rich that could have eliminated both Justin and Al in one blow. Al’s Banu, however, blocked with Second Tradition, saving Justin long enough to seize a VP from Alastair’s collapse. This left James and Justin heads-up. By then, the Brujah were firmly entrenched, fueled by 12 extra pool from fallen Methuselahs. James stayed composed, pressing his bruise-and-bleed strategy faster than Justin could bleed. And with that, James Snowball claimed victory and the title of South African National Champion 2025!

Final result: Justin Bedford 1 VP, James Snowball 4 VPs.

The tournament winning deck: “Brujah anarchs” by James Snowball

Crypt (12 cards)
3x Theo Bell 8 CEL POT PRE aus dom Brujah:6
2x Aline Gädeke 7 POT PRE cel baron Brujah:6
1x Valeriya Zinovieva 7 POT cel pre pro baron Brujah:6
2x Atiena 6 CEL obf pot pre baron Brujah:6
1x Leumeah 6 PRE cel for pot baron Brujah:6
1x Elen Kamjian 4 CEL POT  Brujah:6
1x Ariane 3 cel pot pre  Brujah:5
1x Rayne 2 pot  Brujah:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (17; 7 trifle)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
2x Carfax Abbey
2x Fame
1x KRCG News Radio
2x New Carthage
1x Powerbase: Montreal
5x Villein
1x Warzone Hunting Ground
2x Wider View

Action (16)
2x Heroic Might
3x Illegalism
6x Line Brawl
3x Make the Misere
2x Show of Force

Political Action (2)
2x Eat the Rich

Ally (1)
1x 47th Street Royals

Action Modifier (3)
3x Monkey Wrench

Combat (35)
7x Dust Up
2x Flash
6x Immortal Grapple
2x Pursuit
5x Quickness
4x Roundhouse
4x Taste of Vitae
5x Torn Signpost

Reaction (16)
4x Bait and Switch
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive
8x Organized Resistance

Tale of two princes - Skye (Cape Town) and Jaco (Johannesburg)

We would like to thank Pandemonium Games for providing prize support as always! We would also like to thank the committee of Cape Legion of Adventurer’s and Wargamers (CLAWs), and the University of Cape Town, for hosting a very successful Dragonfire ’25: Cyberdrive! It has always been a tradition to host the South African National VTES Championship at this convention, amidst our geeky friends. Thank you for keeping up the tradition! 

Also, it was unfortunate that I (Skye) could not participate this year, due to work obligations, but the fact that we had Jaco, Prince of JHB, visiting Cape Town during this time, and playing with a deck which contains a Mkhokheli, Prince of Cape Town, I do not feel quite so bad… and I got to have a bird’s eye objective view over the whole tournament.

And to Michael, Yancke, Kris and Alastair, I want to thank you guys for your assisting me putting this report together, and to Neil, our National Co-ordinator, for running the show on Day 1, when I had work obligations.