TWD - North American Championship (NAC) 2026, Columbus OH (20 June 2026)

North American Championship 2026
Greater Columbus Convention Center
20 June 2026
Standard Constructed
3R+Finals
TO: Ben Peal
59 Players
www.vekn.net/event-calendar/event/13220

Round 1: 0VP
Round 2: 1GW + 4VP
Round 3: 2GW + 3VP
Final: 1GW + 3VP

Deck Name: Oderint dum metuant
Author: apoapsis
Description: "Let them hate, so long as they fear"

Crypt (12 cards, min=29 max=40 avg=8.75)
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4x Aaradhya, The Callous Tyrant 10 ANI DOM FOR POT PRE cardinal Ventrue:6
2x Dark Selina 9 CEL POT PRE dom for cardinal Brujah antitribu:5
2x Věnceslava, The Implacable 9 DOM FOR POT PRE cel archbishop Brujah:6
1x Rexton "Savage" Abernathy 8 DOM POT PRE cel archbishop Brujah:6
1x Üresség 8 CEL POT PRE dom for archbishop Brujah:6
1x Khin Aye 7 POT PRE dom for priscus Ventrue:6
1x Concordia 6 DOM PRE for pot bishop Ventrue:6

Library (90 cards)
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Master (26; 8 trifle)

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1x Creepshow Casino
1x Dark Influences
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elder Library
1x Giant's Blood
1x Gurchon Hall
1x Information Highway
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Papillon
1x Privileged Position
1x Secure Haven
4x Unholy Sacrament
2x Ventrue Headquarters
6x Villein
2x Wash

Action (8)

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8x Govern the Unaligned

Political Action (16)

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1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
4x Banishment
6x Cold War
2x Kine Resources Contested
1x Political Stranglehold

Action Modifier (28)

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4x Dominant Personality
2x Enkil Cog
4x Iron Glare
4x Perfect Paragon
4x Relentlessness
6x Unthinkable Humiliation
4x Voter Captivation

Reaction (6)

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6x Deflection

Combat (6)

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6x Majesty

Tournament Recap

Rounds 1-3

I played my Power and Inner Voice politics/bleed deck, Oderint dum metuant, named for Aaradhya, The Callous Tyrant. “Let them hate, so long as they fear.” A lot of my decks start with the name and then I work backwards. That might be the old Vampire player in me.

After round one, I honestly thought my tournament was dead. My seat would have been fine under normal circumstances, but my predator had no meaningful pressure and was able to build, bloat, and bleed until I was gone. The Lasombra eventually won, and I figured that was probably it for my finals chances. 0VP

Round two changed everything. It was a 4 player table and the big turn was a cross-table Banishment on an 8 cap who had been nearly emptied of blood and another Banishment on my prey in the same turn, which opened my prey up for the oust. A few turns later I was able to eliminate the last two players and sweep the table, which was a huge confidence boost after such a rough start. 1GW 4VP

Round three was about staying cool once I realized what kind of predator was behind me (Malk stealth/bleed). I ousted my prey, my grand-predator ousted his and once we were down to three players, I was worried about time. I made a deal with my prey to help him eliminate his prey so we could go head-to-head. Giving him a VP felt like the only way for me to get two more, and it ended up being the right call. 2GW 7VP

After three rounds, I had 2 GW and 7 VP. That felt good, but I still wasn’t sure it would be enough. I had gotten nothing in round one and only had four possible VPs available in round two, so I assumed enough other people had probably done better but I was wrong.


Final

There was a three-way tie for seats four and five, so we had to roll off for it. Chris and I won the roll, but we were still the bottom two seeds and had no real seating choices. I was just happy to be in the final. Once the initial excitement wore off, I felt overwhelmed, a little shocked, and very out of my depth. I was trying to stay competitive while also hoping I wouldn’t make basic play mistakes under pressure.

The final seating was:

Me, Power and Inner Voice politics/bleed (first player)
Karl, Power and Inner Voice politics/bleed
Kelly, Cybele/Baali Scobax
Ned, Enkidu Path of Caine
Chris, Oblivion bleed (I think? I didn't really get to see much of it)


What follows is my best recollection of what happened. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by the moment for a lot of the match - this was only my second final table ever. If any of the other players in that game or observers have any different recollections, please share them!

I was very relieved that Ned’s Enkidu deck wasn't my predator. I was also nervous because Karl and I were playing the same crypt, and I knew we would both want The Tyrant. I figured we both ran enough copies that drawing her in the opening flip was likely. I wasn’t sure what it would be like having Karl’s version of the deck in front of me. I knew I would have to be careful about bleeding, but while acting I could probably still vote. I also had no idea what to expect from Kelly’s Cybele/Baali deck. I had hardly ever played against any of those cards, and for most of the game we didn't interact much directly.

I had enough beads on The Tyrant, but I was so overwhelmed by the moment that I forgot to move her into the ready region and skipped to my discard. I realized it immediately. I said something like, “Oh damn... wait...” but it was already too late. Oof.

I managed to find some grace for myself and move on. It was still early. My predator didn't have anyone out yet, though my prey was moving along quickly with Information Highway. I eventually righted course, influenced out my priscus and tried to keep playing the game in front of me.

Then I made what felt like in the moment a big mistake.

I influenced out Rexton without realizing Karl already had him out. I was focused on maintaining voting power and missed what was already on the table. At first, I thought the contest was probably bad for me. I had Enkidu chewing on my predator, but that wouldn't last forever, and I didn't know if a contest would actually help me while I was still trying to stabilize. I felt like I was still down pool and didn't feel confident about votes yet.

But the contest ended up mattering in a way I didn't fully appreciate at the time. Karl had three archbishops, and I had a cardinal and controlled the priscus block. Contesting Rexton took him down to four votes while I retained six. It also forced him to respond by investing more resources into bringing out another minion if he wanted to stay competitive in the vote game.

I was able to use Karl's Black Forest Base to help pay for the contest, and once I had Ventrue Headquarters down, I knew I could definitely pass any one vote, even though Karl eventually pulled Dark Selena. A timely Banishment on a recently Villain’d minion, a little bleeding, and eventually a Cold War finished him off.

Nearly the entire time this was happening, I was having to navigate my impending Enkidu problem.

It felt like every turn I had to negotiate with Ned to keep Enkidu from rushing me. My predator had only influenced out two vampires, and both were promptly torpored, but Enkidu was still having trouble actually finishing the oust because he was only bleeding for around two a turn. At least one deal was very explicit: if I called a Cold War backwards and put the damage on his prey, he wouldn't rush me for a turn.

That wasn't exactly a comfortable position, but it felt manageable. I knew that as long as I was useful to Enkidu’s game, I might stay alive. In a heads-up, he would dominate me. So I tried to stay useful and unassuming. Some of my best cards, like Banishment, didn't really affect his game anyway. So I threw damage backwards.

Eventually, Enkidu and Cybele started really fighting. That was when I began to think I might actually have a chance. Kelly started his push before Enkidu had finished my predator. It seemed like it was possible that Kelly might be able to get both VPs if the timing broke right.

Cybele having a sniper rifle felt significant as well - every combat had to go at least two rounds before Enkidu could even hit her, which meant he needed the right cards in hand just to get to the point where he could do what Enkidu wants to do.

More importantly for me, that conflict meant they both had to invest cards and blood. If Enkidu was fighting Cybele, he wasn't moving forward toward me. If Cybele was reacting to Enkidu, she was spending resources too. That interaction bought me the thing I needed most: time.

The whole time, I was trying to shape my hand into something that could break through. I needed either lethal votes or lethal bleeds. I drew votes. I had also been holding two Washes for some time, and on two consecutive turns I prevented Kelly from completing a set of Tablets.

On what would be the last turn, I looked at my hand and still didn't immediately see the win. I didn't know how much time was left, but I knew that if I passed, it was likely my last turn. Kelly was the higher seed, so if the game ended in a draw, he'd win.

Then I realized he had a lot of minions.

“How many minions do you have?”

Seven? Seven's not a small number.

I don't exactly remember who called what but I do remember that Rexton's ability mattered with Carlton on the board. I called an Anarchist Uprising, the vote got through, Kelly took 7, I took 4. He had twelve pool at the start of the turn, and 5 felt very manageable.

A Cold War followed - I don't remember the exact block attempt, if there was one, but the action went through. Kelly took three more damage, and I destroyed his Parthenon. I agonized over the last move - I felt like he was holding something back to prevent my last vote from going through and wasn't sure I had what I needed to squeeze it by his potential blockers/scobaxs. I called a KRC, it wasn't blocked - 3 to him, 1 to me.

And that was the game. 3VP

Lessons Learned

To know the deck, you have to play the deck (a lot). I don't think there is anything especially magical or special about the deck I played. In fact, I can think of at least two things it is missing and probably should have. But I played it a lot, and in a lot of different situations. I knew what to expect from it. I had a good sense of what I might see based on what I had already seen. And I knew that because I had played it a lot.

Staying composed matters. I made what felt like two unforced errors in the final. I could have let the embarrassment take hold, given in to despair, and just been grateful that I got to sit at the table - but I didn't. I tried to be kind to myself, accept the mistakes, and keep playing. Unless you accidentally oust yourself, you're still in the game. And as long as you are still in the game, you may still have a chance to recover or, at the very least, play the best game you can.

Wash wins games. This isn't really a new lesson, but Wash was a new addition to the deck. I swapped them in on Friday out of two other decks I had with me. I was never sad to see a Wash in my hand instead of something else. In the final, they helped stop Kelly from completing a set of Tablets on back-to-back turns, and that mattered.

Honorable mention: While I didn't have any meaningful seating decisions in the final, but I recognize how important my seat was to my ability to play the game I played. Having Enkidu and Cybele cross-table meant I didn't have to directly interact with either of them for most of the game. Interacting with Enkidu meant sitting out for two hours. Interacting with Cybele meant having a bunch of empty vampires.

I thought I was out after round one. I decided to keep playing my best even though I didn't think I had a real finals chance. In the final, I made mistakes, stayed composed, played the best game I could from the table position I had, and eventually found the path to the win.

Sometimes that is all you get: a narrow path, a little time, and one turn where the math finally works out in your favor.