Dear players, store owners, and everyone involved in VtES,
I feel that this letter has been necessary for some time now, especially after the latest releases from Conclave. I am a store owner in Brasília, and I started working with (and playing) VtES in 2021, when the first V5 decks were arriving in Brazil. Since then, I’ve noticed several issues that, in my opinion, are preventing the game from growing — and these problems have only been getting worse.
The first issue is how the game is sold and distributed. Today, we basically have two official ways to purchase cards: through Márcio Pinheiro, who, according to Black Chantry, is the official distributor of English cards in Brazil; or through Conclave, which officially translates and sells the cards in Portuguese.
Let’s start with the distribution of English cards: although Márcio is the official distributor, he acts as a retailer for the final customer and does not serve — or at least not adequately serve — stores in Brazil. The prices he offers to retailers and to the final consumer are the same, which makes it unfeasible for stores to work with the English product. This may seem great for players, who can buy cards at a lower price, but in terms of visibility and community growth, it’s terrible. Stores should function as showcases and gathering spaces for the local community, but they are being completely left aside by the official distributor here in Brazil.
Now, regarding Conclave, it’s no surprise that the company has been falling short lately. When I made my first purchases from them, there was nothing to complain about — either as a store or as a player. They delivered the products within the proposed timeframe and included stores in their pre-sales. As for the product itself, it was of good quality since it was printed by Copag, a reputable company here in Brazil.
But then the problems started: there were months of delay in delivering the Companion and New Blood decks, and to make matters worse, the quality was far below expectations (more details below). We had several customers complaining about missing cards, and the overall product quality was inferior to previous releases.
As a store owner, I was also very disappointed by another issue: the total exclusion of stores from the pre-sales of the bundles and the first New Blood releases in Brazil. After the pre-sale ended, I had to insist for them to even sell me New Blood decks — products that are supposedly targeted at new players. What I feel is a total disregard for the few stores that still try to support the game.
A good example of this is the promotional cards, which in my view should be used for events, but are instead given as gifts to customers who buy directly from Conclave — and even sold directly to anyone. Stores receive no kind of support or incentive to sell the products or organize events, giving the impression that Conclave doesn’t care about retailers at all.
But I believe we’ve crossed the line with this latest batch — the Sabbat decks. As both a player and a store owner, I felt completely disrespected by the terrible quality of the product that was delivered. The cards came damaged straight from the factory (in some cases, over 50%), with printing issues such as color misalignment, low resolution, bad cutting, and poor paper quality. To be honest, I felt like I was opening a counterfeit product rather than an official VtES deck. It shows a total lack of respect toward the players/customers and the game as a whole to allow a product like that to reach the market.
In short, I feel that the game is not being treated with the seriousness it deserves here. I see very few — almost no — stores in Brazil working with VtES, while other card games that hit the market explode in popularity thanks to full retailer support. Other TCGs have store-exclusive products, event kits with promos, banners, flyers, and official promotion through websites and apps.
Meanwhile, VtES seems to be deliberately kept within a small clique, where new players need to be “initiated” by veterans. I see almost no effort from Conclave, Márcio, or Black Chantry to promote the game broadly, bring it into stores, and help local communities grow here in Brazil.
Vitor Guedes
P.S. — Timeline of Conclave’s Issues:
Delays in product arrivals in Brazil
NB 2022 and Companion 2023 were initially expected to release only in October 2024.
NB and Companion launches were pushed back to Jan/Feb 2025.
Card material was changed without prior notice to retailers or players.
Release of Hecata, NB Lasombra, and NB Hecata
Stores had to beg to join the pre-sale, which had already begun for end customers.
The Hecata Crypt was released without background art, resulting in players returning the product to Conclave.
Sabbat
Factory-damaged cards.
Open Letter about Brazil's situation
