2024-25 North American Cup Series

2025 NA CUP UPDATE

Happy New Year, folks. We're at it again, with the same rules as the last series (attached at the bottom of this message). Currently, we have 3 event weekends confirmed.

Gap, PA - Jan 18-20
Los Angeles, CA - Feb 15-16
Dallas, TX - Mar 22-23

Of the remaining 2 unscheduled events, I have a fairly high confidence that one will be confirmed soon. I'll update again as more info becomes available.

If your group is interested in hosting a Cup event either for this abbreviated 2024-25 cycle,or for the July '25 - June '26 season, please respond here or reach out to me directly and we can chat about options.

Cheers!
Darby

---

Tournament Format:
All tournaments in the Cup Series shall be standard constructed format with proxies (correct format) allowed. Tournaments may be either 2 or 3 rounds plus a 2-hour final, though 3R+F is encouraged to reflect the higher Cup Series' ratings coefficient.

Tournament Organizers and Steering Committee Members are allowed to play under the VKEN tournament rules' multi-judge clause.

Cup Series tournament reports should be forwarded to (in addition to normal VEKN submission). ACS standings will be published on a BCP web page which will be developed later.

2019-2020 Cup Series Points System (based on 5 Cup Series events).
• Winner: 100 points (de facto finals entry)
• Other Finalists: 15 points
• 6th: 10 points
• 7th: 9 points
• 8th: 8 points
• 9th: 7 points
• 10th: 6 points
• All other participants: 3 points

The Cup Final will consist of the 5 highest-ranking players in attendance at the 2025 Week of Nightmares (timing TDB). There will be no seeding for this final and player positions will be randomly determined.

If that game ends in a tie, all players involved will be roundly heckled and the winner's prize support will be awarded to the next year's Cup winner.

Steering Committee:
The US ACS is currently managed by three long-time US tournament players:
• Darby Keeney (Denver)
• Mark Loughman (Columbus)
• Matt Hirsch (Boston)

Steering Committee Membership may be changed with approval from a 2/3rds majority of Committee members.

All correspondence with the Steering Committee should be addressed to .

Update #1: We're up to 4 fully scheduled events, with the first completed and the fifth awaiting venue confirmation.

Gap, PA - COMPLETED with Albert Presto winning
Los Angeles, CA - Feb 15-16
Dallas, TX - Mar 22-23
Montreal, CAN - Apr 26-27
UNDISCLOSED PENDING VENUE - May 17-18 Tentative dates

Standings after one event are:
Albert Presto : 100
Karl Schaefer : 15
Will Matson : 15
Alex Romano : 15
Mike Minker : 15
Erik Albenze : 10
Peter Kapsalis : 9
Brad Cashdollar : 8
John B. Whelan : 7
Matthew Heslin : 7
Ray Lambert : 3
Shaun Crocker : 3
Guy Russo : 3
Kyle Grandinetti : 3
Wilbert Bishop : 3
Ben Peal : 3
Nick Fofonoff : 3
Warren Bell : 3
Tim Cafferty : 3
Vincent Castellaneta : 3

Update #2.

Mark Jasper wins the Los Angeles Cup event with an Unmada bleed deck. I don't have the Archon yet, so can't update the standings more than just giving kudos to Mark for his win.

Our 2025 schedule is now completely full.

May 17-18 is confirmed as the resurgence of tournament VTES in..........Madison Wisconsin!!!!

North American Cup Update

We just completed the last leg of the North American Cup Series. It highlighted the return of tournament VTES in Los Angeles CA, Montréal QC and Madison WI while supporting continued play in Gap PA and Dallas TX.

The 5 events winners are qualified to play in the Cup Finals. They are Alexandre Bustros, Matt Hodsdon, Mark Jasper, Albert Presto and Karl Schaefer. Congratulations gentlemen!

If one or more of those individuals is unable to attend Origins or participate in the finals, the following people are alternates for their positions at the final table: Darby Keeney (48 pts), Matt Hatch (18 pts), Sagan Jameson-Hatch (18 pts) and Brad Cashdollar (17 pts).

We won't schedule in the Cup Final for any specific time. We will try to find convenient timing during a tournament final where none of the Cup Finalists are participating. Since tournament attendance grows as the WoN proceeds, it is more likely to occur Thursday, Friday or during/after the NAC Finals on Saturday. Failing that, we'll get folks together early on Sunday morning.

Remember, we have an unusual Final process - no seeding, random seating and if no player clearly wins, there would be no Cup Champion for the season.

Just like last time, where Karl, Darby, Brad, Kelly Schutlz and Marshall T. Hogue could not reach a definitive win and have therefore been roundly heckled, 2025 Cup Finalists should be prepared for many side-eyed glances if the game ends without a win.

Again, congratulations to our Finalists! Looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks at the Week of Nightmares.