The Danish Nationals was played by 17 Methuselahs in Lellinge on September 13. The organiser was David Luhaäär. Reported by the champion himself:

Pax started out hard with his Ravnos stealth/bleed and Andreas had no chance. After that a few bleeds were bounced to me and not being able to draw much of my own defence, that hurt. But he kept I fairly reasonable, so it did make me feel a little bad, when some of my bleeds were bounced to him and contributed a lot in ousting him. Michael, being pretty scared of Kaspers Arika deck, ended up bouncing back to him and that allowed me to oust him.

With only the two of us left, I took control of edge, Powerbase Montreal and The Rack and with no answers for my Carlton and Ponticulus, Michael could not take them back. I then attempted to oust him, but me lacking any serious stealth or combat and him being a real block deck (something like 30 Organized Resistance and also Ashur Tablets) I made no real headway. So, the game kind of stalled out and after 35 min i was the victor. Not a pretty win, but I will take what I can get. 

Final result: Pax 1, Michael 0.5, Kasper 1 and Lasse 1,5.

Tournament winning deck: “Tremere deck” by Lassegringmuth

Crypt (12 cards)
3x Karl Schrekt  10 AUS DOM FOR PRE THA 2 votes Tremere:6
2x Gerald Windham 9 AUS DOM FOR THA  Tremere:5
2x Ayelech   7 AUS DOM THA   prince  Tremere:6
2x Inês Tristão  6 THA aus dom pre  prince  Tremere:6
1x Lloyd Brooks  6 DOM THA aus pot  primogen Tremere:6
1x Chrysanthemum  5 AUS THA dom   primogen Tremere:6
1x Zane    5 THA aus dom   primogen Tremere:5

Library (90 cards)
Master (18; 6 trifle)
1x Academic Hunting Ground
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Arcane Library
1x Chantry
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Powerbase: Montreal
4x Villein
1x Wasserschloss Anif, Austria
2x Wider View

Action (23)
10x Govern the Unaligned
3x Magic of the Smith
4x Rutor's Hand
6x Scouting Mission

Ally (2)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
1x Ponticulus

Equipment (4)
1x Ankara Citadel, Turkey, The
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Sniper Rifle

Action Modifier (17)
6x Bonding
2x Conditioning
1x Foreshadowing Destruction
8x Mirror Walk

Action Modifier/Reaction (5)
5x Murmur of the False Will

Combat (6)
4x Theft of Vitae
2x Unflinching Persistence

Reaction (15)
2x Deflection
5x Eyes of Argus
1x My Enemy's Enemy
2x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
2x Second Tradition: Domain
2x Telepathic Misdirection

Thanks for the report, and thanks to all volunteers, sponsors and players!

This event was held at Hobby Master Events Centre in Auckland on August 30. Report by Ke Carlton and Simon Reed:

Fourteen players gathered for the Auckland Grand Prix which doubled as the New Zealand Nationals, eight locals joined by two up from Wellington and four Aussies crossed the ditch, three from Melbourne and one from Brisbane. Preliminary rounds were ruthless with hardly a timeout and in the end only five players had at least one game making the final table cut off a game win. A good cross section of decks, some new oblivion & Lasombra decks, some old school bleed, Nergal made an appearance, and overall a surprising amount of violence.

Standings before final:
1. Ke Carlton Auckland New Zealand 2 GW 10 VP
2. Andrew Stott Auckland New Zealand 2 GW 7 VP
3. Andrew Young Auckland New Zealand 1 GW 7 VP
4. Riley Willimott Auckland New Zealand 1 GW 3 VP
5. Simon Reed Wellington New Zealand 1 GW 3 VP

 

All Kiwi final. Ke was top seed choosing to sit away from Massassi and the Zombies taking Banu as the least bad option.

The final was an up and down affair with at one point or another all players looking likely. All players got off to reasonable starts except for Andy playing Massassi guns, he had a combat in which 21 cards were played via several infernal pursuits which still did not produce the required .44 ! Once Massassi found her weapon of choice, a quick fame dunk and Dragonbound put Andrew and his zombie horde under some pressure and he was immediately on the back foot. Andrews prey Riley was looking good against Ke who was under some pressure, not helped by Simon playing two Condemnation Mutes backwards to deny blood and an Unleashed Hell's Fury lurking with intent. Simon managed the odd vote but didn't have the required stealth to get past Massassi on a regular basis. Andrew was saved by a cross-table diablerie of a famous minion by Simon, cue long discussion about burning Atiena as Ke tried to remove one of his prey's minions, ultimately Atiena survived and the diablerie was enough to just stop Andy from getting Andrew. 

Riley eventually got over the top of Ke via bleeds with Andy's Dragonbound doing the final couple of pool. At this point Riley looked pretty good, he just needed to not let Andy get Andrew or Simon get both Andy and Andrew and he was good. Andy was stalled as the fame was gone and Simon didn't have enough stealth still and now also didn't have a voting friend so was having to wait to build a hand. Then out of nowhere Andrew managed to get some cards going and all of a sudden, Riley had a collection of vampires in torpor and Dragonbound was suddenly not his friend. From 13 pool and 5 minions, he was in danger of getting ousted with 3 minions in torpor and low pool. Simon went for a lunge on Andy but the Reckless that would oust was blocked by Riley, several of Simons minions went to torpor as a result of rescues and blocks, but he was able to fetch them all at the end of his turn and the influence out another minion leaving himself on 2. Andrew then had a massive bleed turn and left Riley to be ousted unless he could do the two pool to oust Simon. Unfortunately for Riley, Simon had bounce in hand and was able to survive which then ousted Riley as Dragonbound claimed it's second victim. Then Simon had the turn he had been attempting to build a hand towards and ousted Andy with a Reckless and then same turn called the Ancilla Empowerment to oust the Zombie hoard and claim the win with around 2 minutes to go.

Final result: Simon Reed 3, Andrew Young 1 and Riley Willimott 1. 

Great to see four Aussies travel over and we hope that they had a great time - results not withstanding of course.

The tournament winning deck: ”Arishat Barons” by Simon Reed
Creators comment: Classic Arishat - Barons deck, nothing too tricky or unexpected. Deliberately avoiding bleeding with this version to jam my prey on flick as best I can, previous versions have had 3 copies of Protected Resources but it's not always a good investment of 2 pool, two copies might be better though as I really wanted it out in a couple of games and didn't get it.

Crypt (13 cards)
5x Arishat 6 DAI OBF PRE Baali:6
2x Jacques Rouge 6 ani pot pre OBF Nosferatu:6
1x Atiena 6 obf pot pre CEL Brujah:6
2x Elisha Tucker 6 cel obf pro PRE Follower of Set:6
2x Vivian VI 7 obf tha PRE PRO Follower of Set:6
1x Sergio Bueno 8 aus pot OBF PRE PRO Follower of Set:6

Library: 82 cards
Master (20 cards)
1x Ferraille
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
3x Information Highway
1x Opium Den
1x Protected Resources
6x Villein
2x Wider View
1x Direct Intervention
3x Dreams of the Sphinx

Action (11 cards)
2x Entrancement
3x Unleash Hell's Fury
1x Conceal
5x Condemnation: Mute

Action Modifier (22 cards)
2x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
6x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Lost in Crowds
4x Bewitching Oration
6x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Combat (2 cards)
2x Swallowed by the Night

Political Action (17 cards)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
8x Kine Resources Contested
4x Reckless Agitation
1x Disputed Territory
2x Eat the Rich

Combat (4 cards)
4x Majesty

Reaction (6 cards)
2x On the Qui Vive
4x Bait and Switch

Thanks to Hobbymaster.co.nz and Australia's Online VTES Card Store for their support.

Thanks for this report, and thanks to all participants!

This event was played in Sázava on September 6. Report by Jan Koci, VEKN Prince of Jihlava with comment from the champion:

Pulled Fang #14 – a great weekend full of VTES

Another edition of Pulled Fang, this time with the number 14, is behind us. The tournament once again brought exciting battles, creative strategies, and most importantly, a gathering of players from all over Europe.

Friday – the climax of the year-long league

On Friday, we held the finals of the year-long league, with Petr Muller, Daniel Gargulák, Jakub Hrbáček, Martin Weinmayer, and Jakub Rýpar making it to the table. In the end, Petr Muller emerged as the winner, showing the strength of his Hecata deck – congratulations! It’s just a pity that such a final can’t be turned into an Archon report.

Saturday – the main tournament with international attendance

On Saturday, an impressive 57 players gathered in the venue. Participants came from Poland, Hungary, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, and of course the Czech Republic.

Standings before final:
1. Matej Lenarth 2 GW, 9.0 VP
2. Richard Stefan Utner 2 GW, 8.5 VP
3. Richard Utner 2 GW, 8.0 VP, 168 TP
4. Maciej Frankowiak 2 GW, 8.0, 144 TP
5. Gyula Erdős 2 GW, 8.0 VP, 124 TP

Final report by Matej Lenarth:
The seat choice was logical: a slower predator (The Capuchin) and a prey who wasn’t an ANI Baron, and moreover, I could deal damage both forward and backward through Revolts. At the same time, I could let the other two animalism decks beat each other up.

The first round was mostly about negotiating who would bring out what. I drew Trung (Ravnos, 3 ANI), Massimiliano, Kuyen, and Angel. Gyula wanted Angel, Maciej wanted Kuyen, so I said OK. First turn: Master – Anarch Revolt. Trung popped out for me, and before Cappucin could come out, I managed to bring out Massimiliano.

The Revolt cut into everyone on turn two and a few players for several more turns. Richard brought out a 9-cap Assamite, I rushed him, dealt 6 over 2 turns (Villein, of course), leaving him with 3 blood. Then he brought out his second and third vampires.

The Capuchin then became Anarch, the Assamite didn’t. On top of that, Maciej rushed Richard’s vampires backwards because Richard hadn’t given him a good enough answer to the question whether he was going to bleed him the next turn.

There was one attempt to remove the Revolt, but it ended 6:6, since Gyula supported me across the table, as it suited him (he was planning to rush The Capuchin, which he then did, sending him to torpor, but Maciej rescued him and restored him to full with Giant’s Blood).

Richard’s Assamites then died, and I contested Angel, so Maciej was left with Doc Martina and Kuyen, while I had Massimiliano and Trung.

Maciej rushed Massimiliano, but I sacrificed Trung, who dropped Doc Martina into torpor (and went down himself). I then planned to contest Kuyen, since he was Maciej’s last vampire, so that the Anarch Revolts (at least two at that point) would cut him down. But Richard with The Capuchin helped me instead – he decided to bleed for 5 at 2 stealth, and since I had Bait and Switch and Maciej didn’t, I gained 6 pool. On my turn I think I rushed two of Gyula’s vampires, torporized one, dropped Angel myself, and brought out Kuyen.

I wasn’t drawing Tastes or any other lifegain, until finally next turn I drew Poacher’s Hunting Ground, which worked thanks to Gyula’s Papillon. Gyula then finished off Richard’s The Capuchin, who still managed to bring out Gerald Windham, only to go straight into torpor after combat with Gyula’s Baron. That left us in heads-up.

It didn’t look good for me at all. I was missing lifegain and Tastes.

I kept bringing out more Revolts, so there were 4 on the table. Tension in the Ranks showed up, and I played Villeins on vampires in torpor for 0 just to cycle and not reduce Kuyen’s and others’ blood.

It was pretty dramatic, because Gyula had the Sphinx, Papillon, Rack… and The Edge. I had only Poacher’s HG. After the game, Karel told me that Gyula forgot to add 2 from the Rack to Branimir and gave her only Papillon. In that turn I managed to get into combat with her, torporized her (Massimiliano went down too), and contested Adrian (Gyula’s last vampire). Since by the end of my turn Gyula had 6 pool, and there were 4 active Revolts plus we were contesting Adrian, Dreams of the Sphinx, and the Rack, I managed to win :)

The final table was tough, with animalism strategies dominating the field. After a long and demanding fight, Matej Lenarth claimed victory with his Ani Baron deck. Congratulations not only to him, but to all the finalists for their excellent performance.

Tournament winning deck: “Czech nationals 2025 – BarAni” by Matej Lenarth (credits to Jozef Patrnciak)

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Adrino Manauara 8 ANI DOM PRO pot baron Tzimisce:6
2x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel:6
1x Ángel Guerrero 7 ANI DOM PRO baron Tzimisce:6
2x Branimira 6 ANI dom pre pro baron Tzimisce:6
2x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x Whisper 5 ANI DOM pro Tzimisce:6
1x Trung Chau Pham 3 ANI Ravnos:7
2x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY

Library (90 cards)
Master (20; 7 trifle)
6x Anarch Revolt
1x Carfax Abbey
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fame
1x Poacher's Hunting Ground
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
1x Tension in the Ranks
6x Villein
1x Wider View

Event (1)
1x NSA Trio

Action (12)
12x Deep Song

Equipment (1)
1x Ivory Bow

Retainer (3)
1x Mr. Winthrop
2x Raven Spy

Combat (34)
12x Aid from Bats
12x Carrion Crows
2x Drawing Out the Beast
4x Taste of Vitae
4x Terror Frenzy

Reaction (19)
6x Bait and Switch
3x Deep Ecology
1x Delaying Tactics
9x Organized Resistance

The troph made by Pavel Matoušek, with pedestal that works as a cards box made by Markéta Munduchová.

Thanks and looking ahead

A huge thank-you goes to all the players who came and helped create such an amazing atmosphere. Without you, Pulled Fang wouldn’t be what it is – not just a tournament, but also a gathering of friends and enthusiasts of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. We look forward to seeing you next year at PF#15, or perhaps even earlier at one of the Roadsto Pulled Fang #15 league events.

Thanks for the great report, and thanks to all organisers, sponsor Stanislaw Szczepaniak and participants!

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!