Preview art by Ginés Quiñonero.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
Cold winds are blowing, chilling the bones of even the most cold-blooded of ancient Methuselahs. Great that we have the Eternal Struggle to keep us warm!
BILL TROXEL IS THE 2020 WORLD ONLINE CHAMPION!
The 2020 World Online Championship was played on Lackey during November with 80 preliminary games with a total of 103 players. 64 of these games ended with a Game Win. The top five players gathered on November 28 for the final table:
1. Rodrigo Iturrieta - Faroock from Chile: 5 vp (GW), 5 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 1 vp, 0 vp, 0 vp
2. Bartosz Daciuk - BartDCI from Poland: 5 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 1.5 vp, 0.5 vp
3. Sebastian Meurer - Menteith from Germany: 5 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 1 vp, 0 vp, 0 vp
4. Bill Troxel - Killiam from USA: 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 2 vp
5. Joab Rogerio - Joab Roger from Brazil: 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 4 vp (GW), 3 vp (GW), 0 vp, 0 vp
The game can we watched on Twitch. This is Bill´s own report: "Joab removed a lot of counters from the game with Smiling Jack and 2 Anarch Revolts early on. Jack accumulated 4 counters before it was destroyed by Farook with the help of Shadow Body. Faroock had brought out Lord Leopold Valdemar (Priscus), so did not have the option to go Anarch and suffered heavily. Bart decrypted an Anarch Convert, and Menteith was also able to get an Anarch in his ready region. Killiam with a pure Tupdog crypt took the full brunt of the damage. Once Faroock had Lord Leopold ready with vote lock, Killiam took the actions to remove the Revolts.
Joab played aggressively, bleeding frequently with Deep Song. Faroock needed a second minion and brought out Badr, Shadow of Grenada, bringing himself down to 1 pool! Joab then played an Anarch Revolt, which would have ended Faroock had he not had a Vessel on Lord Valdemar. Joab holds on for another turn, then Governs down with Badr and scoops back a couple more pool.
Meanwhile, Killiam had started going forward with his Emerald Legionnaires and was making a dent in Joab. Killiam had made a terrible mistake in his third turn by forgetting to bring up two Legionnaires during his unlock phase, so he was a couple bleeds behind. Fortunately for Killiam, he had suffered virtually no early or mid-game pressure from his predator Menteith, whose deck appeared to be designed as more of a late-game swarm, so Killiam was able to just barely oust Joab with his final bleed before Joab could oust his prey.
With Joab out, Faroock at 3 pool, and Killiam finally sporting a large army of allies, the second VP for Killiam was inevitable.
Meanwhile, BartDCI had finally brought out his star vampire, Cybele. He had to dig into his crypt for her, and also had to Golconda Nana Buruku in order to afford her. He was fairly low on pool, so it looked like Killiam would have a reasonable shot at ousting him with all his allies.
Down to three players, Bart and Menteith form an alliance to oust Killiam, such that Bart would bloat with masters and put no pressure on Menteith, while Menteith accumulated an army of weenies and equipment that was truly frightful. After a lot of Founders of the Ebony Kingdom, Guruhi are the Land (GATL), and a Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers, it was clear that if Killiam ever got fully tapped out, he would be vulnerable to an oust.
Killiam played aggressively for awhile trying to secure that 3rd victory point, but after some run-ins with Menteith's Laibon and their Animalism combat, his numbers began to dwindle. When Bart pulled a Villein into his hand upon popping a set of Ashur Tablets, Killiam's prospects for ousting Bart looked bleak.
Eventually it got to where Menteith might only need a good 2 or 3 turns to oust his prey, maybe 3 or 4 if Killiam walled up---although if Killiam were ever to tap out, a single turn of Darby-dancing the Codex with GATL would have done it. However, by that time the clock only had about 15 minutes left on it, and BartDCI was playing very methodically, with his turns lasting a while. Killiam ultimately decided to fully wall up, taking no further forward actions, and Menteith only got to see 1 of the turns he needed before the game timed out."
Results: Killiam (Bill Troxel) GW with 2.5 VP
BartDCI: 0.5 VP
Menteith: 0.5 VP
Congratulations Bill! Below is his tournament winning "Tupdog Legionnaire" deck, also found on Amaranth.
Crypt (45):
x45 Tupdog
Library (90):
Master (39)
x10 Agent of Power
x2 Archon Investigation
x2 Direct Intervention
x10 Inceptor
x8 Liquidation
x7 Parthenon, The
Action (22)
x7 Scrounging
x15 Summon History
Ally (13)
x1 Cry Wolf
x10 Emerald Legionnaire
x1 Gianna di Canneto
x1 Veneficti
Action Modifier (10)
x10 Skin of the Chameleon
Reaction (6)
x6 Delaying Tactics
Thanks to organizers Igor Beslin and Rudolf Scholz, others that helped out and of course all the players!
DECKS TO BEAT: NOVEMBER
A retrospect by Henrik Klippström.
So, what happened in November? If you talk about November 2020: Not much, as the live VTES tournament scene is stiffer than a mummy´s tounge, because of the pandemic. But in November other years, o´boy, there have been A LOT of action. So what about a trip down memory lane? Maybe even before your own VTES career begun? This will be a look at the most prominent tournament winning decks of each November in the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015, all presented with some 2020 comments. With “prominent” we mean the winning deck in the tournament with most participants. Sure, these decks have sometimes aged badly and would have hard to compete at the same level today. Some also has cards based on the local metagame that might seem odd for us today. But hopefully having a look will inspire your deck construction!
Year 2000
“Gangrel Wall of Untap” by Josh Duffin
Deck type: Gangrel toolbox
Crusade: Philadelphia – Philadelphia, USA - November 4 - Number of players unknown
2000 organizer´s comment: “Josh's deck is a fiendishly clever block and untap monstrosity. Cats´ Guidance, Raven Spies, Forced Awakenings, and Atonement make for constant blocks, and Earth Meld keeps your people alive and ready for more. Smiling Jack the Anarch takes down entire tables while pool management keeps his damage to you to a minimum. Millicent Smith, Puritan Vampire Hunter is also a really nice addition to this blocking machine. (I didn't get Josh's comments on the final, or on his deck, so I hope he'll respond to this mail with any words of wisdom on playing this thing.)”
Crypt (12)
2x Bear Paw 5 ANI for pre pro Gangrel:1
1x Camille Devereux 5 FOR PRO ani Gangrel:1
1x Raven 5 FOR PRO ani Gangrel:1
2x Chandler Hungerford 3 PRO Gangrel:2
1x Basilia 10 ANI FOR PRO obf pot primogen Gangrel:1
1x Ingrid Rossler 9 ANI FOR PRO dom prince Gangrel:2
1x Gitane St. Claire 7 ANI FOR PRO primogen Gangrel:1
1x Badger 6 FOR PRO ani pot Gangrel:1
1x Mirembe Kabbada 5 PRO SER ani Gangrel:2
1x Anastasia Grey 3 ani pro Gangrel:1
Library (90)
2x Animalism
4x Blood Doll
3x Blood Puppy
2x Ecoterrorists
1x KRCG Radio Station
1x London Evening Star
3x Millicent Smith, Puritan Vampire Hunter
1x Powerbase: Chicago
1x Protean
3x Smiling Jack the Anarch
2x The Parthenon
2x The Rack
2x Zoo Hunting Ground
2x Atonement
3x Army of Rats
1x Restoration
1x Shepherd's Innocence
2x Flak Jacket
1x Homunculus
1x Mr. Winthrop
1x Palatial Estate
3x Raven Spy
2x Sport Bike
2x Earth Control
2x Bone Spur
2x Canine Horde
15x Earth Meld
3x Form of Mist
3x Superior Mettle
1x Wolf Claws
10x Cats Guidance
7x Forced Awakening
1x Wake with Evening's Freshness
2020 comment:
• 15 is a lot for most cards, but Earth Meld is so very versatile that it works.
• 27 master cards, however, is a bit scary, especially in the pre-Trifle era. Would probably clog your hand after a while unless you are lucky or a very skilled player like Mr Duffin. Today I´ll might switch a handful of those masters for some mixed intercept reactions and some Delaying Tactics (to have some crosstable say).
• While this is a Millicent Smith wall deck, not a tap’n’bleed deck, one would maybe be tempted too run some Deep Songs and Freak Drives for an "plan B", and slim it down to 82-ish, probably with Janey Pickman & friends instead of group 1+2.
Year 2005
“Sabbatspex 2005” by Jay Kristoff
Deck type: Auspex weenie
EC 2005 Last Chance Qualifier – Budapest, Hungary – November 5 – 150 players
Crypt (12)
1x Billy 5 AUS dom for Ventrue antitribu:2
1x Colonel, The 5 AUS cel dem obf Malkavian antitribu:3
1x Devin Bisley 5 ANI AUS vic Tzimisce:2
1x Elizabeth Westcott 5 AUS ani cel vic Tzimisce:3
1x General Perfidio Díos 5 AUS dem obf bishop Malkavian antitribu:3
1x Idalia, Prophet of Guadalajara 4 AUS dem Malkavian antitribu:2
1x Mercy, Knight Inquisitor 5 AUS cel dom pre Toreador antitribu:2
1x Nicholas Chang 2 aus Toreador antitribu:3
1x Piotr Andreikov 2 aus Tzimisce:3
1x Remilliard, Devout Crusader 4 AUS pre Toreador antitribu:2
1x Richard Tauber, Ayelea's Puppet 4 AUS tha Tremere antitribu:2
1x Wendy Wade 3 ani aus Tzimisce:2
Library (90)
6x Blood Doll
2x Effective Management
1x The Barrens
1x The Hungry Coyote
1x Metro Underground
1x Pentex Subversion
1x Police Department
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
4x Anima Gathering
1x Arson
4x Atonement
4x Zillah's Tears
5x .44 Magnum
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Palatial Estate
6x Procurer
2x War Ghoul
4x Change of Target
4x Aura Reading
5x Concealed Weapon
4x Delaying Tactics
4x Eagle's Sight
4x Enhanced Senses
6x Forced Awakening
10x Telepathic Misdirection
6x Wake with Evening's Freshness
2020 comment:
• A rather classic Auspex weenie wall, but with enough Tzimisce in the crypt to bring out those surprise War Ghouls, who will most certainly cause havoc in otherwise stale games. The problem is to get them out there without much stealth or other tricks (like Piper) – you need to gun down any potential blockers first, so “real combat decks” with slight intercept is always the nemesis of the Auspex wall.
• Interesting metagame choices are Zillah´s Tears (against Sleeping Mind?) and Atonement (really shuts down other weenie decks).
• This deck type got Eyes of Argus now, and most probably could not resist adding some Anarch tech.
• Probably rather stable today, if you like being in the way :)
Year 2010
“Action oriented Ventrue g4-g5” by Guido Canciani
Deck type: Ventrue lawfirm variant
Italian NC 2010 – Bologna, Italy – November 28 – 51 players
Crypt (12)
1x Graham Gottesman 7 DOM FOR obf pre tha prince Ventrue:5
1x Emily Carson 5 DOM for pre primogen Ventrue:5
1x Lodin (Olaf Holte) 8 DOM FOR PRE aus pro prince Ventrue:5
1x Mustafa, The Heir 6 FOR PRE cel dom prince Ventrue:4
1x Reginald Moore 4 PRE primogen Brujah:4
1x Tara 6 POT PRE cel prince Brujah:5
1x Vasily 6 CEL aus pre ser prince Toreador:5
3x Victor Pelletier 5 PRE cel dom for Ventrue:4
2x Victor Donaldson 6 DOM for pre prince Ventrue:5
Library (70)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
6x Ashur Tablets
1x Coven, The
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
3x Information Highway
1x Island of Yiaros
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Temptation of Greater Power
1x Fourth Cycle, The
3x Entrancement
5x Govern the Unaligned
1x Alastor
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Conservative Agitation
1x First Tradition: The Masquerade
5x Kine Resources Contested
7x Parity Shift
1x AK-47
1x Carlton Van Wyk
3x Heart of Nizchetus
9x Freak Drive
2x Force of Personality
5x Majesty
6x Deflection
2020 comment:
• This is a interesting early variant of the classic group 4-5 Ventrue princes, but without sticks and Fortitude presses, instead with Majestys and Freak Drive for tap’n’bleed action.
• 6 Ashur Tablets in a deck without multiple Master Phase actions is also an interesting choice, probably not adviceable today.
• The crypt is also interesting, with 5 Victors and singles of the rest. Obviously a really early vote lock with Justicar Pelletier was priority, to get those Parity Shifts going, maybe followed by Freak Drive and Heart of Nizchetus. Parity Shift was nerfed last year, but is still playable, although maybe not worth to base your whole game plan on.
• Bonus hero points for “the boxer island” and AK-47 (“When you absolutely, positively got to kill every ************ in the room; accept no substitutes”).
• This got 3 victory points in the final, not easy but surely still possible today.
Year 2015
Untitled deck by Mirko Oliveira
Fee Stake: Ceará III Brazilian NCQ – Ceará, Brazil – November 5 – 21 players
Crypt (12)
2x Arcadian, The 8 DOM MYT OBT chi for Kiasyd:5
2x Roderick Phillips March 7 DOM MYT cel obt tha Kiasyd:4
2x Isanwayen 6 DOM MYT OBT Kiasyd:4
1x Pherydima 8 DOM MYT NEC obt pot bishop Kiasyd:4
1x Omme Enberbenight 7 MYT OBT cel dom priscus Kiasyd:4
1x Dame Hollerton 5 DOM OBT myt Kiasyd:4
1x Ermenegildo, The Rake 5 DOM OBT pot Lasombra:4
1x Leila Monroe 4 dom obt pre Lasombra:4
1x Lucy Markowitz 3 dom obt Lasombra:4
Library (80)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Great Symposium
2x Jake Washington
1x Life in the City
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Bitter and Sweet Story, The
15x Govern the Unaligned
4x Song of Pan
2x Aura Absorption
4x Bonding
2x Command of the Beast
4x Conditioning
3x Fae Contortion
4x Foreshadowing Destruction
5x Shadow Play
3x Shroud of Absence
3x Stone Travel
1x Carlton Van Wyk
1x Heart of Nizchetus
4x Nocturn
5x Shadow Body
3x Deflection
3x On the Qui Vive
2x Redirection
2020 comment:
• 4 victory points in final, and not surprising. Looks really stable.
• Song of Pan is a bit tricky, but sometimes needed for those real monster bleed turns.
• Metagame choices are the rather low level of bleed-bounce, but instead rather high level of combat defense, with both Shadow Bodies, Nocturns and double Jake.
• I would not change anything else in this deck – as a matter of fact I won a Swedish Championship the same weekend with a very similar deck!
Who knows, maybe we take a look at some December decks in the next newsletter?
RECENT GREAT VTES CONTENT
• Yet another site that collects VTES decks is vtesdecks.com
• Card search and deck building tool VTES-DB has a successor: VDB. You find it at vdb.smeea.casa
• Mike the Neonate struggles on at The Neonate Diaries – latest entry is about ”Growing the Coterie”
• Codex of the Damned starts a series of advanced strategy articles. The first are "The Game of the Game" by Mark Loughman and "Playing Montano Baltimore Purge" by Rudolf Scholz.
• In French: Francois Deslauriers makes videos for new players, most recently one about the turn sequence, master cards and the bleed action.
• In French: Events for Games has started to collect various resources at a special VTES page.
Have you seen any other new good VTES content? Share at VEKN.net forum or VEKN Facebook!
WE NEED NEWSLETTER CONTENT!
Do you want to create content for the VEKN newsletter? Things that might be interesting to publish are:
- tournament reports
- strategic articles on a deck or deck archetype
- player interviews
- just about anything else that relates to VTES that is reasonably well written and not too long (2,000-6,000 characters including blanks seems about right)
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: NOVEMBER 2020
• Fifth Edition is now in stores! November 30 is the official release date, which means the new cards in the set will be tournament legal on December 30th. The most common question to Black Chantry customer service is still "How do I buy VTES?", and the answer is still: Ask your friendly local game store to stock it! If that fails, turn to your favourite online store. Black Chantry care about the local stores, because that is where people can meet and play the game (in non-covid times). You can also turn to any of the distributors listed at Blackchantry.com, they know more about stores that have VTES.
• The rulebook and the five helpsheets from the Fifth Edition box have been published for download under "Utilities" at Blackchantry.com. Also check out the interview with Rules Director Vincent Ripoll!
• Black Chantry CEO Hugh Angseesing gave a long interview for the Midnight Express podcast, talking (among other things) about how VTES is produced, how the cooperation with Paradox Interactive works, and the future of the game. Well worth your time!
•Chief Marketing ghoul Henrik had the great privilege to interview none other than Richard Garfield, the original creator of VTES. He had many nice and interesting things to say - read it all in the article titled “If Magic is a hand of poker, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a poker tournament”.
• The second round of playtesting of the next unnamed set and the four preconstructed decks (Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel and The Ministry) has been delayed somewhat, but will soon start. Concerning that, Banu Haqim have a new clan symbol:
• A new reprint round of older products was received last week and will be distributed to stores. Also more Barons promos now in stock - tell your local prince to get some!
• Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
- Lost Kindred bundle
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
- Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Anthology I bundle
- VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
- 25th Anniversary
- First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
- VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
- VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
- VTES card sleeves
- Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Currently stores only)
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Some highlights from the last month:
• BIG NEWS! The Vampire: The Masquerade Companion will be released as a free download on December 16. It will contain three "new" clans: Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce, as well as more about ghouls and mortals, new Merits and other goodies. Happy holidays came this year too!
• Paradox Interactive are reorganizing how they work. Renegade Game Studios is now their main publishing partner for tabletop role playing games, but "core content" (like the Companion mentioned above) will once again be produced in-house at Paradox.
• Learn more about these changes in the very nice announcement video, starring all members of the World of Darkness brand team.
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
Follow local regulations on what physical events are possible. Notice that online tournaments are possible - just note "ONLINE" in the event name when you add the event to the calendar!
For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.
CONTACT VEKN
You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the VEKN Facebook group, the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official VEKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
"Politics is the art of the possible."
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition
Fifth Edition: Malkavian
The Children of Malkav are called the lunatics of Kindred society, but just as often they are its oracles. They see the unseen and speak the unspoken truths that will haunt your mind. Make no mistake: they might seem eccentric, but the vampires of Clan Malkavian are serious players in The Eternal Struggle.
This deck is a fast machine of devastation. Your vampires use Obfuscate stealth tactics to sneak past blockers and deliver heavy bleed attacks powered by Dominate. Your combat defense is limited, but who needs protection when your rivals are already ousted?
Contents are detailed below. The number before each card is the number of copies of that card in the deck.
Crypt: (12 cards)
1 Ashley
1 Dr. Stephen Norton
1 Sully
1 Colette
1 Gelasia Fotiou
1 Meaghan
2 Andi Liu
2 Alexander Silverson
2 Donny Kowalczyk
Library: (77 cards)
1 Asylum Hunting Ground
1 Barrens, The
4 Blood Doll
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Elder Library
2 Life in the City
1 Wider View
12 Govern the Unaligned
4 Revelations
4 Bonding
4 Cloak the Gathering
4 Conditioning
4 Faceless Night
2 Foreshadowing Destruction
4 Lost in Crowds
4 Spying Mission
4 Swallowed by the Night
5 Deflection
5 Eyes of Argus
5 On the Qui Vive
5 Telepathic Misdirection
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu
The vampires of Clan Nosferatu are the creeping horrors of the night. Called “Sewer Rats” by some, they hide their grotesque appearance in the dark, using animals as spies and guards. They often take a passive part in The Eternal Struggle, but when they attack, they do so with immense force – their enemies never know what hit them.
This deck starts slowly, building a domain with animal servants and other precautionary measures. You scare off early aggressors or lay traps for them. When the time is right, your vampires strike your enemies’ weak spots with their Potence and Animalism powers. Establish control over the game and put down your rivals one by one.
Contents are detailed below. The number before each card is the number of copies of that card in the deck.
Crypt: (12 cards)
1 Aunt Linda
1 Baixinho
2 Belinde
1 The Dowager
1 Horace Radcliffe
2 Larissa Moreira
2 Lenny Burkhead
1 Ryan
1 Wauneka
Library: (77 cards)
1 Fame
1 Guardian Angel
1 Haven Uncovered
1 The Labyrinth
1 Rebel
1 Slum Hunting Ground
1 Smiling Jack, the Anarch
1 Warsaw Station
4 Vessel
4 Creeping Sabotage
6 Deep Song
2 Preternatural Strength
2 Underbridge Stray
2 Murder of Crows
2 Raven Spy
4 Lost in Crowds
2 Carrion Crows
4 Immortal Grapple
8 Roundhouse
4 Taste of Vitae
4 Cat’s Guidance
4 Guard Dogs
4 Instinctive Reaction
5 On the Qui Vive
4 Protected District
4 The Warrens
Fifth Edition: Toreador
The vampires of Clan Toreador are the creatives and divas of Kindred society, always seeking pleasure and adoration in unlife. They are obsessed with beauty and sensation, weaving their political plots into works of art. While every bit as bloodthirsty as any other kindred, they engage in The Eternal Struggle in style.
This deck will establish political control of the game and reap heavy rewards. Trick opponents to block the “wrong” actions to sneak through devastating blows. Defensive measures are at a minimum – instead focus on overwhelming your prey and maximize profit.
Contents are detailed below. The number before each card is the number of copies of that card in the deck.
Crypt: (12 cards)
1 Nik Sicko
1 Min-Seo
1 Massimo Falconi
1 Bret Stryker
1 Tamoszius
1 Kathy Glens
2 Mkhokheli
2 Flávio Gonçalves
2 Catalina Vega
Library: (77 cards)
1 Art Museum
1 Creepshow Casino
1 Elysium: The Palace of Versailles
1 Society Hunting Ground
4 Toreador Grand Ball
6 Villein
6 Enchant Kindred
4 Consanguineous Boon
8 Kine Resources Contested
4 Parity Shift
1 Toreador Justicar
2 Aire of Elation
4 Bewitching Oration
2 Change of Target
4 Perfect Paragon
6 Voter Captivation
8 Resist Earth’s Grasp
4 Scalpel Tongue
6 Majesty
4 Second Tradition: Domain
Fifth Edition: Tremere
Clan Tremere was once the most secretive clan among vampires, jealously guarding their powers of Blood Sorcery. Now the clan is shattered by internal conflicts, but make no mistake: the Warlocks are still more than active in The Eternal Struggle, and nothing will stand in their way of gaining more power.
This deck is a flexible toolbox. You can either build slowly, getting equipment and mustering many vampires, or put constant pressure on your prey with Dominate-powered bleed actions. Your vampires can either avoid unhealthy encounters or choose to battle when your hand is full of Blood Sorcery combat cards. Your defense is strong – your vampires are always on high alert!
Contents are detailed below. The number before each card is the number of copies of that card in the deck.
Crypt: (12 cards)
2 Ayelech
1 Chrysanthemum
2 Inez Tristao
1 Lauren
1 Lloyd Brooks
1 Nassir
1 Patrik Söderberg
1 Rosalina Cortez
2 Trevon Parker
Library: (77 cards)
1 Academic Hunting Ground
1 Arcane Library
1 Chantry
1 Misdirection
1 Pentex Subversion
1 Wasserschloss Anif, Austria
4 Vessel
1 Wider View
12 Govern the Unaligned
2 Magic of the Smith
1 .44 Magnum
1 Bowl of Convergence
1 Kevlar Vest
1 Sport Bike
6 Bonding
6 Mirror Walk
4 Apportation
10 Theft of Vitae
4 Deflection
6 Eyes of Argus
4 On the Qui Vive
2 Precognition
2 The Spirit’s Touch
4 Telepathic Misdirection
Fifth Edition: Ventrue
Since ancient times, Clan Ventrue have been the royalty of the night, holding the reins of both mortal and undead society. They master every aspect of The Eternal Struggle with political skill and powers of will-bending and thrall-making. If there is a city that the Ventrue don’t already rule, you can be sure that plans are being made…
This deck applies constant pressure with both nefarious politics and heavy bleeding using Presence and Dominate. Your vampires are tireless, fueled with Fortitude powers, and can hail multiple actions towards your enemy each turn. Your defenses are sturdy, with resilient minions and abilities to redirect attacks.
Contents are detailed below. The number before each card is the number of copies of that card in the deck.
Crypt (12 cards):
1 Alexa Draper
2 Alice Chen
1 Brock Sterling
1 Chelsea Blake
2 Horst von Brühl
1 Madison
1 Naomi Stewart
1 Oshri Dahan
2 Sybren van Oosten
Library (77 cards):
1 Anarch Troublemaker
3 Blood Doll
1 Information Highway
1 Misdirection
1 Uptown Hunting Ground
1 Ventrue Headquarters
1 Visit From the Capuchin
2 Wider View
8 Enchant Kindred
4 Intimidation
1 Ancilla Empowerment
7 Kine Resources Contested
5 Parity Shift
4 Bewitching Oration
4 Conditioning
1 Daring the Dawn
6 Freak Drive
2 Voter Captivation
4 Hidden Strength
6 Majesty
6 Deflection
4 The Second Tradition: Domain
4 Wake with Evening’s Freshness
2016 December
- VTES is back in print
- EC 2017 in Berlin
- Design team news
- Rules team news
- The VEKN 2016 recap
2017 January
- New cards soon at the printshop
- EC 2017 update
- Rules team news
- Interview of the month: Desso Alastor about player engagement
2017 February
- Anthology card list revealed!
- Anthology for non-Europeans
- EC 2017 update
- Interview of the month: Ginés Quiñonero about the art of VTES
2017 March
- Important news about the Anthology set
- Two storyline tournaments coming up
- Design team news
- Contribute to the Tournament Winning Deck Archive
- Archon 1.5f is available
2017 April
- Great European Championship attendance
- Anthology previews are ongoing
- Two storylines revealed
- More about World of Darkness Berlin
- What´s designing VTES like?
2017 May
- European Championship 2017 summary
- Interview of the month: Danilo Torrisi, European champion 2017
- NAC and Week of Nightmares coming up
- Design team news
2017 June
- In memoriam: Stewart Wieck 1968-2017
- North American Championship 2017 is over
- Storyline news: “Ascension of Caine” and future storyline material
- Design team news
2017 July
- EC 2018 is played in Warsaw, Poland
- Design team news
- Rules Q & A
2017 August
- World of Darkness.com is here
- Design team news
- Artist in focus: Carmen Cornet
- Player interview of the month: Martin Weinmayer
2017 September
- V:tes European Grand Prix circuit
- A new chance to buy Anthology!
- Design team news
- Artist in focus: Riccardo Fabiani
2017 October
- Happy birthday Vampire: Elder Kindred Network 20 years
- Anthology still for sale
- More about VTES European Grand Prix circuit
- South American Continental Championship 2017
- Australian Continental Championship 2017
- Artist in focus: Noora Hirvonen
2017 November
- Rules changes under consideration
- Anthology still for sale
- Player interview of the month: Kari Hyll
2017 December
- Grand Prix Belgium 24-25 February
- Anthology still for sale
- Player interview of the month: Nicola Lonardi
- The VEKN 2017 recap
2018 January
- Reminder: Grand Prix Belgium 24-25 February
- The first newsletter found!
- Anthology still for sale
- Classic decks part 1: The Ventrue lawfirm
2018 February
- New set update: Lost Kindred
- Official rules changes April 2018
- VEG sponsor: Ultra Pro
- Double VEG tournaments in april!
- VEG Belgium 2018 is concluded
- VTES artist Leif Jones needs your help
- Anthology still for sale
2018 March
- A mysterious letter
- Official rules changes April 2018
- EC 2018 Warsaw registration is open!
- Double Grand Prix weekend coming up
- Storyline spotlight: Antipodean Awakening
- Classic decks part 2: Kindred Spirits stealth-bleed
2018 April
- Our game is back in print
- EC 2018 is being prepared
- Results of double Grand Prix events coming up
- German Championship 2018 in Bochum
2018 May
- Reminder: Official rules changes May 2018
- 51 players at VEG Ibérico España 2018!
- … and the same weekend: VEG Hungary!
- New Brazilian champion: Fernanda Nunes
2018 June
- North American Championship 2018
- Player interview: Bob Joseph, North American champion 2018
- VTES discipline symbols now in VTM
2018 July
- Reminder: Official rules changes August 2018
- Reminder: European Championships 2018 in Warsaw August 24-26
- Mika Nurmikolu wins VEG Helsinki 2018!
- What are the most popular cards in tournament winning decks?
2018 August
- European Championship 2018 summary
- Interview of the month: Ivan Chebunin, European champion 2018
- New VTES blog: Information Highway
- Classic decks part 2: Auspex weenie wall
2018 September
- VEKN is now officially on Facebook
- VTES online on Lackey – how does it work?
- Rules questions from EC 2018
2018 October
- Anthology 1 – Frequently Asked Questions
- Distributor list revealed – and constantly updated
- VEKN Facebook group = success!
- Rules questions
2018 November
- EC Paris will be played August 16-18 2019
- VEG 2018-2019 tournament sites revealed!
- Artist in focus: Ken Meyer Jr.
- One month – three Nordic national championships
2018 December
- Four new pre-constructed decks early 2019 release
- VEG Czech Republic 2019 set
- VEG Bologna 2018 results
- Video introductions to VTES
- Chile National Championship 2018
- Artist in focus: Heather Kreiter
2019 January
- What about the Anthology 1 art?
- Clarification: Cards allowed
- VTES content coming on strong
- Artist in focus: Mark Kelly
2019 February
- Four new precons and Anthology I now in stores
- Official card changes
- Next Grand Prix tournament: Brno, Czech Republic March 16th
- Reflections and rulemongering
- Artist in focus: Javier Santos
2019 March
- VTES product update March 2019
- The EC site is up
- Daniel Gargulak wins Czech Grand Prix 2019
- Enrico De Stefano is the Italian champion 2019
- Frequently asked questions about VTES Card Creator
2019 April
- Mariano Carbonero Roman wins Grand Prix Iberia 2019
- Mailton Silva is the 2019 Brazilian champion
- Major events in May
- Accommodation in Paris for EC 2019
- Rules Q & A
2019 May
- Happy 25th birthday VTES!
- VTES soon in both Portuguese and Russian
- New alternate art promo: Entrancement
- In june: North American Championship 2019
- Radek Wróblewski wins GP Poland 2019
- Jorge Delgado is the 2019 champion of France
- Spanish champion 2019: Gabriel Ron
- Ralf “Extrala” Lammert 2019 German champion
2019 June
- Register for EC 2019 now!
- North American Championship 2018
- Player interview: Corwin Brindley, North American champion 2019
- Meet the VEKN: Kleber Bertazzo, National Coordinator Brazil
2019 July
- First Blood – new intro decks soon available
- European Championship in Paris coming up
- Martin Weinmayer wins Grand Prix Helsinki 2019!
- More video content from Spain
2019 August
- European Championship 2019 summary
- Interview of the month: Otso Saariluoma, European champion 2019
- Gilles Molina is the 2019 Belgian champion
2019 September
- Reminder: VEKN now have a code of ethics
- Australian/New Zealand Continental Championship coming up
- Esa-Matti Smolander is the champion of the wrong country 2019!
- New great VTES content
2019 October
- 2019-2020 European Grand Prix revealed
- VTES North American Cup series revealed
- VTES South American Cup series revealed
- Steven Baldwin is the 2019 Australian/New Zealand Continental champion
- Johann Louie Ong is the 2019 Asian champion
- Rules spotlight: Action modifiers
- Meet the VEKN: Rudolf Scholz, National Coordinator of Germany
2019 November
- Alessandro Donati wins Grand Prix Bologna 2019
- Rivanildon Frazão is the 2019 South American champion
- Karl Schaefer wins North American Cup 2019: Denver
- Tommi Hakomaa is the Finland 2019 champion
- Zsolt Ciraki is the Hungarian champion 2019
- Ricardo Marta is the champion of Portugal 2019
- Nikolaj Wendt is the 2019 Danish champion
- Meet the VEKN: Mark Loughman, National Coordinator of USA
2019 December
- VTES product update December 2019
- Single card buffet on Drivethrucards!
- Important dates now set!
- Bill Troxel wins North American Cup Ohio 2019!
- 2019 in retrospect – A great year for vtes
2020 January
- Get ready for VTES Fifth Edition “spoiler season”!
- The European Championship site is up!
- Major tournaments in February: Chile and Canada
- Clarification: Limited tournaments
- Classic decks: The Goratrix wall
2020 February
- Major tournaments in March: Grand Prix in Spain and Germany
- Gonzalo Del Río wins South American Cup Santiago 2020!
- Marshall Hogue wins North American Cup Hamilton 2020!
- Card changes and clarifications in VTES Legacy Card Singles
- Artist in focus: Samuel Araya
2020 March
- A word from Hugh
- Tomás López Jiménez won Grand Prix ibérico 2020!
- Artist in focus: Amy Wilkins
2020 April
- Black Chantry FAQ, april 2020
- EC 2020 cancelled or postponed
- Play VTES online!
- Meet the VEKN: Wes Weston, National Coordinator of Canada
2020 May
- Yes, online tournaments can be VEKN ranked!
- Open playtest of potential rules change: Contesting vampires
- The VEKN Facebook group is growing
- Recent great VTES content
- Meet the VEKN: Tomasz Izydorczyk, National Coordinator of Poland
2020 June
- The current tournament situation
- VTES in the news!
- The Fifth Edition set symbol: The Camarilla ankh
- Meet the VEKN: Gonzalo Del Río, National Coordinator of Chile
2020 July
- August 2020 card bans – Frequently Asked Questions
- Meet the VEKN: Neil Muller, National Coordinator of South Africa
2020 August
- No change of vampire contest rule
- Create your own library cards!
- Changes for VEKN mailing list
- Meet the VEKN: Deneš Kociš, National Coordinator of Croatia
2020 September
- VTES Online World Championship 2020
- VTES Online 2020 so far
- An update about prize support
- Aldo Fernández d'Ambrosio wins Torneig Invitacional Lliga Catalana 2019-2020
- We need newsletter content!
October 2020
- Recent great VTES content
- At last, a newsletter index!
- We need newsletter content!
November 2020
- Bill Troxel is the 2020 World Online Champion!
- Decks to beat: November
- Recent great VTES content
- We need newsletter content!
December 2020
- The memoirs of a former new player
- Chronicle of the Lost Tribe
- Decks to beat: December
- VEKN on Facebook now 1.918 members!
January 2021
- New Legacy cards added – some with significant changes!
- Delmar Sittoni wins the Brasilian National Championship!
- The Fifth Edition online VTES rulebook is now available!
- The advantages of being a new player today
- Decks to beat: January
February 2021
- Deckbuilding with the champion
- Walking the path of the archetype
- Decks to beat: February
March 2021
- SAC 2020 on Lackey: Connecting with the community
- Rules Q & A
- Decks to beat: March
April 2021
- VEKN sets on Kickstarter in May!
- Great content spotlight: La Mazmorra de Pachero
- Decks to beat: April
- VTES Strategies: Stealth-bleeding
May 2021
- Preconstructed decks box fronts revealed
- Atlantic Cup this weekend!
- Decks to beat: May
June 2021
- The return of iconic vampires
- Bram van Stappen wins Atlantic Cup 2021!
- Winner interview: Bram van Stappen
- In memoriam: Fernando Cesar
- Decks to beat: June
- VTES strategies: Combat doesn´t win
July 2021
- Introducing: The Ministry
- Rules Q & A
- Official card text updates
- Decks to beat: July
- VEKN on Facebook now 2,059 members!
August 2021
- Introducing: Gangrel Anarchs
- Final seating rule change in playtest
- 13 tournaments in the North American Championship week!
- VTES in pandemic times: The Mexican Anarca League
- More VTES in pandemic times: Sede de Vitae
- Rules Q & A
- Decks to beat: August
September 2021
- The return of live undead tournaments
- VTES has a new official Discord server!
- The Spanish national championships will be massive!
- Decks to beat: September
- VTES strategies: The subtlety of politics
October 2021
- Four new preconstructed decks soon at your store!
- Reminder: VTES Online World Championship 2021 coming up
- Reminder: The Spanish National Championship
- Ultra Pro sponsors European tournaments
- Player interview: Alex Romano, North American Champion 2021
- Decks to beat: October
November 2021
- Juan Rodriguez is the 2021 South American champion!
- David Fraile Zamorano is the 2021 Spain national champion!
- Akseli Jalava is the 2021 Finland champion!
- Emiliano Imeroni is the 2021 Belgium champion!
- The best VTES cards ever?
December 2021
- New rule for final round seating
- New tournament ranking categories
- Vader Dorian is the Online World Champion 2021!
- Łukasz Ho Thanh is the 2021 Middle European Champion!
- Even more new promo cards!
- Send in cool VTES content!
January 2022
- Save the date: European Championship 2022 in Helsinki, Finland July 29-31
- Gianluca Bianco is the 2021 Italian Champion!
- Rudolf Scholz wins New Year´s Rumble!
- Interview with a vampire legend
- Crafting Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
February 2022
- The Fight Club (Part 1)
- Rules Q & A
- Recent great VTES content
March 2022
- New Blood release and legality dates are set!
- Grand Prix tournaments starts again - first out: Malmö, Sweden
- James Salt is the UK VTES 2021 champion!
- Do you want to organize the VTES Online World Championship 2022?
- The Fight Club (Part 2)
April 2022
- More VTES now on print-on-demand!
- European Championship 2022 in Helsinki is _ON_!
- Several national championships coming up!
- Atlantic Cup 2022 coming up!
- New great VTES content
- VTES demonstration games at Ficzone
May 2022
- Vampire: The Eternal Struggle production update May 2022
- Time to pre-register for the European Championship!
- Bill Troxel is the Atlantic Cup 2022 champion!
- Double demo games in Zaragoza!
- Demo games at Modena Play!
- Sealed deck tournament in Mexico City!
- Rules Q & A
- Vampire: The Eternal Struggle stool of the month
June 2022
- Don´t forget to pre-register for the European Championship!
- Bill Troxel is the 2022 North American champion!
- Noora Hirvonen is the European Grand Prix Hyvinkää champion!
- Alain Greiner is the European Grand Prix Aix en Provence champion!
- Ricardo Felipe Marta is the 2022 National champion of Spain! (139 players!!)
- Thomas "Nuggetz" Cornaz is the 2022 National champion of France!
- Demo games all over the world!
- Great VTES content
July 2022
- European Championship 2022 summary
- Interview of the month: Otso Saariluoma, European champion 2022
- EC 2023 will be in Barcelona, Spain
- Sebastian Fredenberg wins Grand Prix Malmö!
- Bram Van Stappen is the 2022 Belgian champion!
- South American Grand Prix circuit set!
August 2022
- Håvard Skjevling is the 2022 Norwegian champion!
- Ricardo Molina Sobreira is the 2022 Brazilian champion!
- VTES has new playtest coordinators!
- How to tackle a VTES tournament
- Artist in focus: Mitch Mueller
September 2022
- Michal Drahokoupil is the 2022 Czech champion!
- The Road to Pulled Fang - Why is Czech organized play so successful?
- The European Grand Prix season 2022-2023 started with GP Warsaw!
- Alternate art anarch convert!
- Upcoming tournaments
October 2022
- Javier Naranjo wins Grand Prix Benidorm 2022!
- Welcome to Grand Prix Bologna!
- Alessandro Donati is the 2022 champion of Italy!
- Hernán Rodríguez is the South American Cup champion 2022!
- Meet the VEKN: Jani Malmi, National Coordinator of Finland
November 2022
- Ke Carlton is the 2022 Australia & New Zealand continental champion!
- Teemu Sainomaa is the 2022 champion of Finland!
- Erik Mossberg is the 2022 champion of Sweden!
- Joel Monteiro is the 2022 champion of Portugal!
- Tibor Mórocz is the 2022 UK champion!
- Marius Iscru is the 2022 champion of Germany!
- Michael Carter is the 2022 New Zealand champion!
- Praxis seizures
December 2022
- Leonardo Villela is the 2022 South American Champion!
- Danilo Torrisi wins Grand Prix Bologna 2022!
- Lukáš Simandl is the 2022 Middle European Cup champion!
- The VTES year 2022
- The magic of VTES – A beginner`s tale
January 2023
- EC 2023 in Barcelona is played on 14-15 October
- Welcome to Grand Prix Liverpool on May 13!
- Other upcoming major tournaments
- VEKN ethics committee notice
- Important VEKN documents now also in Spanish
- Praxis seizures
February 2023
- What country has most VTES players?
- Baali and Daughters of Cacophony now on Drivethrucards
- 150 players registered for Spanish national championships!
- Great VTES content
- Worth a slot #1: Blood Tears of Kephran
- Recruitment exercise in Milwaukee
March 2023
- The VTES EC 2023 site is up - with registration!
- More European Grand Prix 2023 dates set!
- Arnau Díez Sans is the Spanish champion 2023!
- The first official VEKN judge test
- Q & A with Black Chantry CEO Hugh Angseesing
- Want to help at UK Games Expo?
- Worth a slot #2: Scalpel Tongue
April 2023
- Rafael Barbosa is the 2023 Brazil champion!
- The first official VEKN judges
- Do you want to host the 2024 European Championship?
- Who is the best player ever?
- This game never ends: VTES in Philadelphia
May 2023
- Are you the best VTES player in North America?
- Please register for EC 2023 to get the exclusive playmat!
- Nina Nilsson wins Grand Prix Liverpool 2023!
- Bram van Stappen is the 2023 Belgian champion!
- Print-on-demand promo cards are now available for National coordinators
- Do you want to host the 2024 European championship?
June 2023
- Kelly Schultz is the 2023 North American champion!
- Reminder: Register for EC 2023 before July 15 to get the exclusive playmat
- Reminder: Grand Prix Brussels coming up
- Demo games at Mega XP game fair
- 29 years after release: Jyhad sealed tournament
- Gehenna comes to Chile!
- Great VTES content
- Do you want to host the 2024 European championship?
July 2023
- Bram Van Stappen wins Grand Prix Brussels 2023!
- Marius Iscru is the 2023 Swiss champion!
- Eduardo Mateus is the 2023 Portugal champion!
- Player interview: Kelly Schultz, North American Champion 2023
- Greetings from Casablanca, Chile
- Do you want to host the 2024 European championship?
August 2023
- Sprechen sie Deutsch?
- Who will battle in the 2023 VTES European Grand Prix final?
- Joab Rogerio wins Grand Prix Campina Grande 2023!
- About the Spanish VTES league 2023-2024 and regional leagues
- Jon Grønset is the 2023 Norwegian champion!
- Lotte Siebert is the 2023 Irish champion!
September 2023
- Introducing: The 2023-2024 league promo cards
- EC 2023 coming up!
- Jeroen Van Oort wins Grand Prix Germany 2023!
- Who will be the Grand Prix Europe 2023 champion?
- Pick up your European Grand Prix playmat!
- Are you really good at VTES rules, and want to prove it?
- Keith Lim is the 2023 Australia/New Zealand continental champion!
- Daniel Gargulák is the 2023 Czech champion!
- Bram Van Stappen is the 2023 Netherlands champion!
October 2023
- Jonas Ståhle is the VTES 2023 European Champion!
- Player interview: Jonas Ståhle, 2023 European Champion
- New structure for VEKN newsletters
- Nerijus Mikalajunas is the 2023 VTES Champion of Poland!
- Another Road to Pulled Fang ends
- Bratislava rising
November 2023
- Hernán Rodríguez is the 2023 South American champion!
- Jens Johansson is the 2023 champion of Sweden!
- Akseli Jalava is the 2023 champion of Finland!
- Mikey Ferguson is the 2023 United Kingdom champion!
- Milos Krstic is the 2023 Austrian champion!
- Rodinei Teixeira de Camargo is the 2023 German champion!
- Eduardo García is the 2023 champion of Mexico!
- Great volunteering, great content and other great things going on
December 2023
- 2023 recap
- Three new preconstructed decks in stores
- Danilo Torrisi wins Grand Prix Milan 2023!
- Luis Espejo is the 2023 Chilean champion!
- Pablo Andrade wins Grand Prix Cearense 2023!
- Ashur Tablets and Emerald Legionnaire have official errata
- A new Grand Prix circuit revealed: The Gulf Coast Roast 2024
- Recruitment Exercise: France
- Event posters for download!
- In memoriam: Julius Stonis
January 2024
- Finally! Vampire: The Eternal Struggle on print-on-demand in Europe!
- Welcome to the Iberian Grand Prix 2024!
- Who will be the Atlantic Cup champion 2024?
- This Gulf Coast Roast 2024 trailer is fantastic!
- The King of the Dead - A Manaus storyline event
- VTES in the Philippines - The return of the game
- Who doesn´t want to win that?!
February 2024
- The 30th year of VTES continues
- Bartosz Kulinczuk is the 2024 champion of Lithuania
- More GP dates set!
- Playing like it´s 1994 - A Zaragoza Sealed deck chronicle
- Do you want to host EC 2025?
March 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- Edouard Menneson wins Grand Prix Iberia 2024!
- Daniel Sales wins Grand Prix Fortaleza 2024!
- Kelly Lyons wins Grand Prix Lafayette! (Gulf Coast Roast leg 1)
- Great VTES content
- Do you want to host EC 2025?
April 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues!
- Date set for European Championship 2024: 27-29 September
- Ismael Díaz Valverde is the 2024 champion of Spain!
- Arturo Parise is the 2024 champion of Italy!
- Martin Weinmayer wins Grand Prix Paris 2024!
- Darby Keeney wins Grand Prix Dallas 2024!
- Praxis Seizures
- Do you want to host EC 2025?
May 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- NAC 2024 coming up
- Another way to ask rules questions + Ruling of the month
- Marcin Zakrzewski is the 2024 champion of Poland!
- Sebastian Fredenberg wins Grand Prix Aarhus 2024!
- Joscar Malacaman is the 2024 champion of the Philippines!
- Milos Krstic is the 2024 champion of Serbia!
- Do you want to host EC 2025?
June 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- Bill Troxel is 2024 North American champion!
- Player interview: Bill Troxel, North American champion 2024
- Pre-registration for EC 2024 is open!
- Vinícius Costalonga is the 2024 champion of Brazil!
- Paul Direktor is the 2024 champion of Austria!
- Special report: André Luiz wins Rio Rookie League 3!
- Ruling of the Month: Eagle´s Sight timing
- Great VTES content
- Do you want to host EC 2025?
July 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- Pre-registration for EC 2024 is open!
- Teemu Sainomaa wins Grand Prix Helsinki 2024!
- Who wins the European Grand Prix?
- Axel Huet is the 2024 champion of Belgium!
- Clement Langenhoven is the 2024 champion of South Africa!
- Iberian association dedicated to VTES created!
- Recruitment exercise: Gran Canaria
August 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- Get your EC 2024 tickets!
- Kelly Lyons wins Grand Prix Gulfport/Biloxi 2024!
- Lotte Siebert is the 2024 champion of Ireland!
- Pieres O´Shea wins The Vics 2024!
- Martin Mezzabotta wins Clockwork Convergence!
- Rules explained: Polling and bidding
- Brazil now has more Methuselahs than Spain!
September 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- Welcome to EC 2025 in Denmark!
- José Roberio Barbosa Da Silva is the South American champion 2024!
- Alexander Tüschen is the 2024 German champion!
- Recruitment Exercise: Thessaloniki
- Walbert Ibarra wins Twilight Camp 2!
- Recruitment Exercise: Gijón
- Recruitment Exercise: Bratislava
October 2024
- The 30th anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- European Championship 2024 summary
- Player interview: Danilo Torrisi, European champion 2024
- Kelly Lyons wins Grand Prix New Orleans 2024!
- Vincent Ripoll is the 2024 champion of France!
- Keith Lim is the 2024 champion of Australia/New Zealand!
- Marcus Berg is the 2024 champion of Sweden!
- Festivo Dello Estinto part 6 - a Sabbat storyline tournament
November 2024
- The 30th Anniversary of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle continues
- Miguel Vega wins the Iberian Grand Prix 2024!
- Gonzalo Rojas wins South American Grand Prix Santiago 2024!
- Jonas Ståhle is the 2024 champion of Finland!
- Eduardo Mateus is the 2024 champion of Portugal!
- Tomasz Kloczko is the 2024 UK champion!
- Roy Opitz is the 2024 Netherlands champion!
- Judge rulings: Netherlands National championship
- Troy Espiritu is the 2024 Asian champion!
- VTES rulebook in Japanese now for download
- Vampire: The Eternal Struggle artist in focus: Lawrence Snelly
December 2024
- The 30-day new card legality limit for tournaments is no more
- Andy Smith wins Gulf Coast Roast Grand Prix 2024!
- Dates for 2025 Gulf Coast Roast Grand Prix revealed!
- Gyula Erdős is the 2024 champion of Croatia!
- Jérôme Goyet is the 2024 champion of Canada!
- So you think you know the rules?
- The 2024 VTES and VEKN recap
- A 2024 vtes South Africa recap – Letter from the Prince
- Praxis Seizures
- Vampire: The Eternal Struggle artist in focus: Edward Beard Jr.
January 2025
- Tamás Glied is the 2025 champion of Hungary
- Lucas Teixeira wins Grand Prix Cearense!
- Reminder: The 30-day new card legality limit for tournaments is no more
- All dates for 2025 Gulf Coast Roast Grand Prix nailed!
- Rules Q & A: Hecata Edition
February 2025
- Hecata is in stores!
- The North American Cup continues!
- Remember: Promo cards are available on print-on-demand
- Very easy rules questions
- Black Chantry summary: February 2025
- Recent news in the World of Darkness
- Calendar
March 2025
- Registration for EC 2025 is open!
- Frédéric Pin wins Grand Prix Modena 2025
- Rodinei Camargo is the 2025 champion of Portugal
- Vadim Grigorev is the 2025 champion of Lithuania
- Hugh Aldous wins Grand Prix Melbourne 2025
- Destyn Bowers wins Gulf Coast Roast Dallas 2025
- Matt Hodsdon wins North American Cup Dallas 2025
- Remember: Promo cards are available on print-on-demand
- Black Chantry summary: March 2025
- Recent news in the World of Darkness
- Calendar
April 2025
- Welcome to the open playtest of two-player VTES!
- The VTES rulebook is now available inIitalian!
- Filippo Mengoli is the 2025 champion of Italy!
- Gonzalo Andrés Del Río Díaz wins Grand Prix San Bernardo 2025!
- Mark James wins Grand Prix Western Australia 2025!
- 16 new promo cards now available for event organisers
- Black Chantry summary: April 2025
- Join the World of Darkness community map!
- Calendar
May 2025
- NAC 2025 upcoming – with very special preview event!
- Register to EC 2025 before July 31 – get a bonus gift!
- Martin Weinmayer is the 2025 champion of Serbia!
- Rathpex wins Grand Prix Sydney 2025!
- Karl Schaefer wins Grand Prix Madison 2025!
- First Athens tournament ever!
- Recruitment excercise: Welcoming new Methuselahs in Niort, France
- Reminder: Welcome to the open playtest of two-player VTES!
- Black Chantry summary: May 2025
- Recent news in the World of Darkness
- Calendar
Preview art by Ginés Quiñonero.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
The second wave is over us, so of course activity is low. The VEKN ask you to be careful with live VTES events – make sure to follow local regulations and recommendations. But while things are as they are, please contribute to the community online, discuss cards, rules and strategy, and try VTES on Lackey or Tabletop Simulator. Stay safe!
RECENT GREAT VTES CONTENT
• V:TES Mexico is a very nice site in Spanish by and for the Mexico community, with articles, decks, tournament results and more.
• KGS Cards is a US VTES store and distributor that also has a blog with articles about VTES strategy – most recently Karl Schaefer wrote a piece about the upcoming Toreador Fifth Edition deck, and how to modify it!
• The French VTES blog Information Highway (written in English) did a preview article of the Fifth Edition Nosferatu deck – great insights by Serge Cirri!
• The massive and very useful VTES One blog has some new material, for example the article “Banned Cards in VTES (2020 Update)”.
Have you seen any other new good VTES content? Share at VEKN.net forum or VEKN Facebook!
AT LAST, A NEWSLETTER INDEX!
Sometimes search engines act strange, so we created a index page for the VEKN newsletters at VEKN.net. It will be completed with additional tags, but for now, use Ctrl+F in your browser to search the headlines for a specific interview, tournament report, article, etc. The blue title is the link! Some older newsletters might be added later.
WE NEED NEWSLETTER CONTENT!
Do you want to create content for the VEKN newsletter? Things that might be interesting to publish are:
- tournament reports
- strategic articles on a deck or deck archetype
- player interviews
- just about anything else that relates to VTES that is reasonably well written and not too long (2,000-6,000 characters including blanks seems about right)
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: OCTOBER 2020
• The official release date of Fifth Edition had to be postponed to November 30th, which means the new cards in the set will be tournament legal on December 30th.
• Printing proofs of Fifth Editions were received, and Black Chantry CEO Hugh Angseesing was kind enough to do some sneak peek unboxing videos.
• All new cards for Fifth Edition have now been spoiled, and there was quite a bit of discussion about the Nosferatu card Creeping Sabotage. What do you think? Please tell, for example at the VEKN.net forum, VEKN at Facebook, or by mail or social media.
• Playtest round 2 of the next four preconstructed decks (Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel and The Ministry) is soon to begin.
• A small, yet unnamed new expansion set (with a possible accompanying storyline) has been sent to the playtesters. These cards are generally more advanced than the ones in Fifth Edition.
• As stated since 2018, it is the aim of Black Chantry to make as many old VTES cards as possible available for you to buy, as soon as possible (see the updated FAQ). In particular, many players ask for the “VEKN print sets” to appear for sale soon. However, none of this is as easy as it sounds. Currently, art director Ginés Quiñonero is processing all available artwork files. Some art cannot be used, either because the files are lost or corrupt, or because the art is deemed not appropriate. For the VEKN print sets, Black Chantry want to make sure that yet unpaid artists are paid for their work before printing – that was a reasonable chunk of money to save up for. At the top of this newsletter, you see a new piece for a card that needed replacement art, by Ginés himself.
Then rules director Vincent Ripoll is updating card texts to the most recent wording template, and these changes are proofed both inhouse and by selected playtesters. And then the cards will be fitted into reasonable batches to appear on print-on-demand at Drivethrucards and/or in upcoming store products, as deemed appropriate by product director and lead designer Ben Peal. As you see, this is a somewhat protracted process – Black Chantry appreciate your patience!
• Some products (Heirs of Blood bundles, Sabbat precons, etc.) are sold out and are being reprinted. Some card texts in these have to be changed slightly, so the team is reproofing those files.
• Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
- Lost Kindred bundle
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
- Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Anthology I bundle
- VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
- 25th Anniversary
- First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
- VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
- VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
- VTES card sleeves
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Some highlights from the last month:
• A teaser trailer for a yet unnamed Vampire: The Masquerade-themed computer game was released. It is set in Prague and developed by the Swedish company Sharkmob.
• There is now a Vampire: The Masquerade mod for grand strategy game “Crusader Kings 3”! It is called “Princes of Darkness” and allows you to play or encounter many iconic Dark Ages characters, such as Hardestadt, Mithras, Montano, Vladimir Rustovitch and Augustus Giovanni.
• The previously unannounced “The Orpheus Device” is now out, playable on many devices. It is a voice-controlled horror game by Dave Grossman and Richard Dansky – completely free!
• The visual novel RPG video game “Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest” from Different Tales was released on October 13.
• A brand-new official World of Darkness merchandise store is up. Buy t-shirts, pins, blankets (!) and other stuff with your favourite Vampire sect or clan symbol at store.worldofdarkness.com
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
Follow local regulations on what physical events are possible. Notice that online tournaments are possible - just note "ONLINE" in the event name when you add the event to the calendar!
For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.
CONTACT VEKN
You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the VEKN Facebook group, the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official VEKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
"Youth is wasted on the young."
Preview art by Ginés Quiñonero.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
We apologize for this delayed newsletter. The physical tournament activity is low, but some things are happening!
VTES ONLINE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2020
Igor Beslin and Rudolf Scholz will organize this 6 week event, played using LackeyCCG and Discord. It begins on Sunday 18th of October and runs each Sunday ending on the 22th of November. Black Chantry supports with prizes! For details, check out the related VEKN.net forum thread.
VTES ONLINE 2020 SO FAR
In the absence of physical events, quite a lot of the community turn to online VTES, especially on LackeyCCG. With the help of Igor Beslin and Rudolf Scholz we have compiled this summary of online events this year:
In 2020, so far 24 online competitions, tournaments or leagues, have been played. Igor Beslin has organized four of these events:
• The first competition of the year was a league testing a new crypt contest rule, that was later officially announced and tested again by Black Chantry Productions. It started on the 13th of January and ended on the 23rd of February. Igor caught this idea from a Brazilian player, who had posted it on VEKN.net in 2019 and wanted to see how it would work. 31 players in total attended; 18 from Europe, 9 from North America, 2 from New Zealand, and 1 each from Mexico and Brazil. The winner was Marcin Krom from Poland, playing a Black Hand toolbox versus Malkavian´94 bleed, Massassi combat, Dom-Obf bleed and a Imbued toolbox.
• The next league was “Camarilla Revolution”, which started on the 13th of March and ended on the 27th of April. It was played with regular Standard Constructed VEKN rules. 37 players attended; 28 from Europe, 3 from North America, 3 from Brazil, 2 from Mexico and 1 from New Zealand. The winner was Igor Beslin from Serbia, playing The Unnamed bleed in the final, against Montano Baltimore Purge, Black Hand toolbox, Toreador AAA vote and Emerald Legionnaires wall.
• The third league was “Not Unique Vampires”, running from the 10th of May to the 22nd of June. This league used a special crypt contest rule, where all contested vampires remain in play but still requiring Methuselahs to pay for contesting. It was officially supported by Black Chantry with prizes for every participant and additional prizes for all finalists and the winner. Even though there was a lot of discussion in forums about the contest rule test, a record of 53 players in total participated, among them EC 2019 champion Otso Saariluoma and 2019 Online World champion Milutin Melka. 43 players were from Europe, 3 from North America, 6 from Brazil and 1 from Saudi Arabia (who now lives in Germany again). The winner was Marius Iscru from France, playing Emerald Legionnaires toolbox in the final against True Brujah toolbox, Fanchon & Malgorzata toolbox, Shambling Hordes rush and Jost & Rebekka bleed.
• The fourth event was “4 Eternal Nights”, a Standard Constructed 2 rounds + final multi-deck tournament that started on the 11th of September and ended with the finals played on the 20th of September. 14 players attended; 8 from Europe, 2 from North America, 1 each from Chile, Mexico, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. The winner this time was Jay Kristoff from USA, playing a Gangrel toolbox facing Malgorzata & Tzimisce toolbox, Blood Brother Chicago rush, Ventrue antitribu grinder and The Unnamed toolbox.
The German National Coordinator Rudolf Scholz has organized five competitions during summer time. Four of them were VEKN Standard Constructed 2 rounds + final events called “Summer Rumble I–IV”, with between 10 and 16 players per tournament. In total 27 different players from 13 different countries participated. Countries (and player numbers) were: Australia (1), Belgium (1), Denmark (1), France (1), Germany (5), Mexico (1), Poland (2), Saudi-Arabia (1), Serbia (2), Spain (1), Sweden (1), UK (7), USA (3).
• Summer Rumble I was won by Joscha Duell from Germany, playing Pander plus Inner Circle vote against The Unnamed Maleficia toolbox, Vlad Tepes & Malgorzata toolbox, Pander & Gehenna events vote and Enkidu rush.
• Summer Rumble II was won by Nikica Novakovic from Serbia, playing Malkavian anarch Madness wall against Anson Presence bleed, Dracon wall, Lasombra bruise-bleed and Dominate Vicissitude bruise-bleed.
• Summer Rumble III was won by Nikolaj Wendt from Denmark, playing Eurayle, Gotsdam & Maris toolbox against Ravnos breed-boon, Black Hand wall, Toreador antitribu Undue Influence bleed and Lutz bleed.
• Summer Rumble IV was won by Lionel Pandaleux from France, playing a “Girls will find” bleed deck against Mary Anne Blaire grinder, Auspex biggies wall, Toreador antitribu breed-vote and Guillaume Real Estate toolbox.
• The fifth event was the Storyline League “Mad World”, with a prologue written by Jan Erik Söderman. It was played from the 10th of July up to the 28th of August, with the usual Storyline crypt rule (75% from one single clan) and the special rule that the first vampire or Imbued put into play by every player started with a Vampiric Disease counter. 12 rounds were played, 31 players attended in total. The winner in a final described as a “5 player chess game” was the German player Jens Niemann, with Toreador AAA wall against Guillaume Real Estate toolbox, Emerald Legionnaires wall, Emerald Legionnares bleed and Malgorzata & Tzimisce toolbox.
On the 13th of June, UK National Coordinator Paul Jones organized the “Bleedfest”, a VEKN Standard 2 rounds + final tournament with 18 players attending. The final was won by Rudolf Scholz from Germany, piloting a Giovanni bleed deck against Kiasyd bleed, Dementation bleed, weenie Computer Hacking bleed and yet another Dementation bleed.
In addition to all these events, an additional 7 tournaments (that we know of) have been organized in Brazil, 4 in Spain, 1 in North America and 2 leagues in Mexico.
We thank Igor and Rudolf for this summary, and of course hope for many more online events in the future. Thanks to all of you who organize events – remember that you can have an online tournament sanctioned by adding them to the VEKN calendar, just tag it with "online"!
AN UPDATE ABOUT PRIZE SUPPORT
Black Chantry Products want to convey two bits about prize support:
• Black Chantry will continue helping with promo cards and products as prizes. This is normally at a “raw cost”, but sometimes for free, mainly to large events like continental and national championships, Grand Prix events, etc.
• There are many queries around custom prizes. If you want to make custom prizes (edges, counters, deckboxes, playmats, t-shirts, etc.), ask . These are the requirements:
- In the mail, be specific about what you want to make, for what event/events and (if any) what art you want to use.
- Never sell the item. Entry fee for an event is fine!
- After the event, mail in photos of the product for the company records.
The Catalan league has been running since last year, with a total of nine events gathering about 70 players. On October 3rd, the top 25 players were invited to the final tournament in Reus, Spain.
Congratulations to Aldo Fernández D'Ambrosio, 4 vp winner in the final! This is his master heavy tournament winning deck:
Crypt: 12
3x Annazir
4x Cybele
3x Nergal
2x Petaniqua
Library: 90
2x Archon Investigation
12x Ashur Tablets
3x Direct Intervention
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fear of Mekhet
1x Giant's Blood
4x Golconda: Inner Peace
4x Information Highway
4x Liquidation
8x Minion Tap
1x Monastery of Shadows
5x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Ruins of Charizel
1x Wash
7x Zilla's Valley
2x Call the Great Beast
4x Entrancement
3x Unleash Hell's Fury
4x Cloak the Gathering
4x Elder Impersonation
4x Faceless Night
4x Lost in Crowds
3x Sense the Sin
4x Swallowed by the Night
Thanks to organizer Miquel Jorge Tortajada, sponsors and others that helped!
WE NEED NEWSLETTER CONTENT!Do you want to create content for the VEKN newsletter? Things that might be interesting to publish are:
- tournament reports
- strategic articles on a deck or deck archetype
- player interviews
- just about anything else that relates to VTES that is reasonably well written and not too long (2,000-6,000 characters including blanks seems about right)
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: SEPTEMBER 2020
• As many of you probably noticed, Fifth Edition has run into more printing problems and is delayed. A new, hopefully final, release date will be communicated in mid October.
• The very meaty round 1 report from playtest coordinator Darby Keeney just landed in Black Chantry mailboxes. The four preconstructed decks (Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel and Ministry) received mixed reviews, and the design team led by Ben Peal will now adapt them and prepare for round two of playtesting.
• In the beginning of September, the Library card section of the Drivethrucards VTES Card Creator was officially launched. Try it out if you haven´t already!
• The preview art by Ginés Quiñonero at the top of this newsletter is for one of the circa 400 cards that soon will be added to VTES Legacy Card Singles at Drivethrucards. Stay tuned for more news about this!
• Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
- Lost Kindred bundle
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
- Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Anthology I bundle
- VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
- 25th Anniversary
- First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
- VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
- VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
- VTES card sleeves
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Some highlights:
• #VTMtober is community art challenge for anyone who want to draw something Vampire-related.
• "Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road" is an interactive horror novel by Kyle Marquis, now available on Steam.
• The second issue of the Vampire: The Masquerade comic is in stores.
• "Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York" is out now for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch!
• The main themes of the World of Darkness News show in the recent weeks have been Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife! (September 3), VTM novella writer Caitlin Starling (September 17), Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road (September 25), Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest (October 1) and artist Amy Wilkins (October 8).
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
Follow local regulations on what physical events are possible. Notice that online tournaments are possible - just note "ONLINE" in the event name when you add the event to the calendar!
For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.
CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the V:EKN Facebook group, the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
"Losers focus on winners, winners focus on winning."
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