This national championship was played in Coimbra on March 7 with 57 participants. Reported by Tiago Gonçalves, VEKN Prince of Coimbra, with comment from the champion:

Here's the final table with standings from preliminary rounds and final results:
1. Alejandro Rodriguez  (Spain) 3 GW 11 VP
2. Augusto Ponce de León (Spain) 2 GW 8 VP
3. Marco Mata (Portugal) 2 GW 7 VP
4. Raúl Perfecto (Spain) 2 GW 7 VP
5. Sandro Rodrigues  (Portugal) 2 GW 6.5 VP

Augusto Ponce de León kindly provided a report of the final:

I had played before against Alex's deck and I know how fast it is, so had little expectations about the final. Being second seed allowed me at least to be predator of the 2 ravnos decks. If spectres wanted to be my predator, they would have to fight with Raul's brujahs: I hoped maybe that would reduce some pressure over me. Alex placed himself as my predator.

I was 4th player to influence (really bad as I got no Dreams to get Juliet out on the second turn). My crypt wasn't brilliant as I got 2 Juliets, 1 Andi and 1 Donny (only Juliet with superior OBF).

Juliet got out at 3rd turn and next turn played Govern superior, so Andi was out. By then, my situation was already bad: Only 8 pool and 3 vampires and 3 Spectres behind...

I asked the other players if any chance to collaborate in ousting Alex, as next turn I was dead and the 2 Ravnos had little chances as prey.

Raúl asked Sandro to not to put pressure on him til Alex was dead and Sandro accepted. Sandro bled for 5 and was deflected by Raúl to Alex, who was left on 10 pool. Then, Raúl played 2 Reckless Agitation that ended Alex: A new world opened in front of me.

I started doing malkavian things getting Donny out thru Govern superior and putting some pressure on my prey. Raúl had accepted to leave me alone a couple of turns to defend himself against his predator. My prey, Marco and Sandro had been putting a lot of pressure on their preys and Sandro was low of pool so that any mistake could be the last.

Final was decided really fast: Raúl rushed me with his 2 vampires but I had in hand 1 Second Tradition and 2 Obediences so he could not torporice my vampires or rotate cards.

My prey ousted Sandro and I deflected twice back to Raúl (I didn't mind who died as I only had to get 2VPs to win). Finally ousted my prey and Raúl was only 1 pool left. He torporized Juliet and bled.

I was left with only the 2 princes and no stealth in hand and Raúl had 2 barons and the edge. I had 1 KRC in hand and Camarilla Conclave in play, but no stealth in hand, so no big chances to take his last pool. I chose go big or go home and Donny launched the KRC... Huge surprise: Raúl said "No block..." KRC passed as I reduced the votes of his barons with Camarilla Conclave and I won the final.

Thanks a lot to all players that came to Coimbra to enjoy a great VTES weekend and to Tiago for taking care of us and organizing a great NC. Hope I didn't bore you too much and see you in Alcalá!

Tournament winning deck: “Malkavian Pols” by Heghemon

Crypt (12 cards)
4x Juliet Parr      9 AUS DOM OBF cel pot   justicar   Malkavian:7
3x Alexander Silverson    8 AUS DOM OBF pre       prince     Malkavian:6
2x Jason "Son" Newberry   7 AUS DOM OBF pre       primogen   Malkavian:6
2x Andi Liu       6 DOM aus obf pre       prince     Malkavian:6
1x Donny Kowalczyk        6 AUS cel dom obf       prince     Malkavian:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (10)
2x Camarilla Conclave
1x Dark Influences
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion

Event (1)
1x Waiting Game

Action (14)
14x Govern the Unaligned

Political Action (17)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
5x Camarilla's Iron Fist
1x Expulsion
4x Kine Resources Contested
1x My Kin Against the World
4x Parity Shift

Action Modifier (24)
2x Bonding
3x Conditioning
5x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
1x Foreshadowing Destruction
4x Forgotten Labyrinth
5x Lost in Crowds
2x Telepathic Vote Counting

Action Modifier/Combat (1)
1x Hide the Mind

Reaction (23)
8x Deflection
2x Eyes of Argus
1x Mental Maze
4x Obedience
3x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
4x Second Tradition: Domain

And, since I'm allowed to add a few words, my own wrap up:

As the long night of Æminium unfolded, the fate of the Regent, and perhaps of the city itself, was finally revealed.

On March 7th 2026, 57 Kindred heeded the call of Æminium and gathered to discover the Regent’s fate. The Custodian welcomed them and moderated the heated discussions, but as the night progressed and the intrigues unfolded, only five remained when the final hour approached. And then, as the ritual concluded, four faded into torpor… and only one remained to learn what the future held for the city.

The event took place at Taberna TopDeck, with players attending from five different countries, all eager to claim the title of Portuguese Champion.

Participants faced each other across three preliminary rounds, where some players quickly stood out, securing strong game wins and accumulating impressive victory point totals.

In the end, congratulations go to Augusto Ponce de León, the new Portuguese Champion, for his victory. We look forward to welcoming you again next year to defend your title.

As a final note, I would like to thank all the players for their excellent sportsmanship throughout the entire event. Their attitude greatly contributed to the friendly atmosphere and helped make the tournament an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I'd also like to thank our sponsors: Cónclave Ibérico, Estalia Córdoba, Tokens & Tales and UltraPro for their awesome prize support and Meeple Armor for the finalist deckbox and trophies.

Thanks to Tiago, Augusto and everyone else involved in this event and report!

Finalists: Norman (winner), Chance, Brad, Dean and BJ.

These events took place on March 6-8, reported by Kelly Lyons, VEKN Prince of Vidor, with comments by Norman Brown:

The Gulf Coast Roast III kicked off in Lafayette, Louisiana on Friday, March 6 with the Vozhd of Szczecin tournament. It also happened to be Darby Keeney’s birthday. The final table was Joey Theriot, Devin Villegas, Justin Shackelford, Darby Keeney, and Dean Garrison. Norm Brown breaks down the action:

“Joey Theriot scored the first victory point on a vote, damaging every Methuselah on the table. He ousted Devin Villegas with a KRC called by Marcos Belegrad.

Darby Keeney ousted Justin Shackelford next with 2 bleeds for 3 powered by Haqim’s Law Retribution.

Darby has 1vp and Joey has 1 vp at the two hour mark in an untimed finals.

Joey Parity Shifts Darby backwards to put him perilously close to being ousted at 4 pool.

Darby survives a deal between Joey’s votes and Dean’s bleeds by torporing all of Joey’s Toreador princes, but is prevented from ousting Joey by Protected Resources which caps his bleeds at 2.

Darby ousts Joey with Camarilla’s Iron Fist sealing his victory in first seed in the finals.  Dean conceded when a tie would not secure the win because of seeding.”

Darby takes it down with his V5 Banu Haqim deck. Happy Birthday Darby!!!

Sunday was the Vozhd of Juiz de Fora Tournament. The table featured Hall of Famers; Brad Cashdollar, Norm Brown, Darby Keeney, and Kelly Lyons. Lafayette standout, Justin Shackelford took the fifth spot. After it was all said and done it was Brad Cashdollar collecting another tournament victory with a v5 Brujah deck.

The main event of course was held on Saturday, May 7. The Gulf Coast Roast III – Lafayette is the first leg of the GCR III Grand Prix circuit. The finalist were:
1. Norman Brown 2 GW 6 VP
2. Chance Thebeau 1 GW 5 VP
3. B J Rice 1 GW 4 VP 138 TP
4. Dean Garrison 1 GW 4 VP 108 TP
5. Brad Cashdollar 1 GW 4 VP 106 TP

Norm Brown breaks down the action:

“After everyone transferred out their initial vampires, Dean Garrison began to bleed into Norman Brown with his Cathari Gangrel Antribu which he had upgraded with laptop computers using Synner-G and Luke Fellows.

B.J. and Brad made a deal to not contest vampires in the Path of Power and Inner Voice crypt.

Chance bled very heavily into Dean.

Norman recruited Spectral Servitors and Aggressive Corpses. He Villeined his large caps and then played Golconda on them when they ran out of blood.

Chance ousted Dean using Shroud of Decay and Spectral Servitors.

Norman, realizing that he couldn’t stand that much pressure, knocked Chance’s vampires into torpor with Aggressive Corpses.

Brad ousted Chance leaving three players on the table.  B.J. and Brad Cashdollar were contesting one then two vampires.

Once Dean and Chance were ousted, it left the 3-way of Norman bleeding into B.J. bleeding into Brad.

Brad called a Ancilla Uprising which did 12 pool damage to Norman and followed up with another point from the Path of Power and Inner Voice Master, Privileged Position for a total of 13 pool damage leaving Norman on one pool.

Norman rushed and torpored Brad's vampire with multiple Aggressive Corpses. Tye Cooper burned the vampire, leaving Brad with only contested vampires.

Norman spent his turn playing Villein and Golconda on his large cap Hecata, Hel-Blá.  He began to influence out another vampire.

B.J. then called a vote, Empires Fall, trying to back oust Norman, who was on 4 pool. Norman had Golconda'd his nine capacity vampire so there wasn’t a good target for the additional pool damage. Norman then ousted B.J.  and Brad to win the finals with 3 VPs.”

Congratulations to Norm Brown, GCR III – Lafayette Grand Prix winner!!!

Here is his winning deck list: "Popping open some Coldgondas GCR Lafayette"

Crypt (14 cards)
2x Hel-Blá     9 AUS FOR OBL POT obf      Hecata:6
2x Marchesa Liliana      9 ANI AUS FOR OBL dom      Hecata:6
2x "Mother" Anja Giovanni   8 AUS FOR OBL dom pot      Hecata:6
2x Huldu, The Desecrator    8 AUS FOR OBL obf tha      Hecata:6
2x Alek König    3 OBL       Hecata:6
2x Nadezhda     3 aus obl      Hecata:6
2x Peter St. John     2 obl     Hecata:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (23; 16 trifle)
7x Family Gathering
7x Golconda: Inner Peace
7x Villein
2x Wash

Event (2)
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x Unmasking, The

Action (10)
10x Split the Veil

Ally (23)
10x Aggressive Corpse
1x Ambrosius, The Ferryman
1x Ponticulus
10x Spectral Servitor
1x Tye Cooper

Equipment (1)
1x Talbot's Chainsaw

Action Modifier (22)
6x Freak Drive
4x Paths in Two Worlds
3x Shadow Cast
3x Shadow Cloak
3x Stygian Shroud
3x Where the Veil Thins

Combat (5)
3x Pass Through Shadow
2x Weighted Walking Stick

Reaction (4)
2x Poison Pill
2x Telepathic Misdirection

Next up for the Gulf Coast Roast III is Dallas, Texas, April 10-12.

Thanks Kelly and Norm for this report, and thanks to all participants!

Reported by RichE:

The Oceania Grand Prix circuit is made up of five tournaments including Auckland (NZ), Perth (WA, Aus), Melbourne (Vic, Aus), Brisbane (Qld, Aus) and Sydney (NSW, Aus). Points are awarded based final standings. The top five face off on day two of the Oceania Continental Championship (OCC) in the Grand Prix Final.

This year, the first tournament was held in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 21.

Leading into this tournament I thought the meta would be combat heavy with the new sets recently released. While this is my preferred archetype, combat v combat is fraught and challenging. I settled on an ally deck based around the Hecata card Bone Shambler.

Thirteen Methuselahs contested the day. I saw three combat Salubri decks, three Gangrel decks, one vote deck, one weenie combat, one Nana combat, one Anarch Brujah debate combat, one Ravnos stealth bleed, and two ally decks (including mine).

Round 1
I was seated first. Hecata Bone Shambler (0.5 VP) > Nana Combat (0.5 VP) > Weenie Oblivion Ally (1.5 VP) > Gangrel defensive combat bleed (0 VP)

A hard first round where combat was quite dangerous for my deck. I hung in for 0.5 VP.

Round 2
I was seated second. Weenie Oblivion Ally (1 VP) > Hecata Bone Shambler (0 VP) > Gangrel tricks with torpor (0.5 VP) > Salubri Combat (1.5 VP) > Ravnos SB (1 VP)

A poor crypt draw (2x7 / 2x8) lead to a quick demise and I was gone in 55 minutes.

I continued to watch, and witnessed a cross table oust with stealth as the Gangrel tricks deck added stealth to a previously failing lunge from the Ravnos SB deck on the Weenie Oblivion Ally deck. Brutal!

Game wins were hard to come by. A GW in round three would be enough.

After round two I was rather low. I quietly spoke to a fellow Melbournite, and mentioned I needed to channel my “inner Bradbury”.

If you don’t know Bradbury, please look up “Bradbury Gold Medal”. 

Round 3
I was seated third. Salubri Combat (0 VP) > Salubri Combat (0 VP) Hecata Bone Shambler (3 VP) > Weenie Potence Combat (1 VP)

This was my worse nightmare! Stuck between two combat decks and another combat deck cross table. I had a good start but then I realised my prey was weenie potence and he was coming to stop me dead. Bone Shamblers died, two of my three vampires in torpor, and just my 2 cap Hecata with two Bone Shamblers remained, dire times.

It was so bleak my predator was happy to watch and contain his predator.

My cross table was then squashed in a combat feast. It was ugly.

Around this time, I drew into a Giants Blood and Unmasking. My predator had been weakened substantially in the combat feast, and his new predator saw an opening.

My two cap rescued my now full capacity seven cap and with Unmasking, I now had some defence. The Bone Shamblers had been on full defence.

The weenie combat deck lunged and binned the last remaining Salubri but failed to oust. This left him open.  All of a sudden, I could see victory. I lunged successfully and with about twenty plus minutes remaining and my new prey on about six pool and all vampires in torpor, he conceded. 

Final
The final standings were Weenie Oblivion Ally (1 GW 6.5 VP), Cockroach Gangrel (1 GW 6 VP), Gangrel tricks with torpor (1 GW 5 VP), Hecata Bone Shambler (1 GW 3.5 VP), Anarch Brujah Debate (0 GW 2.5 VP). There was tie for fifth place. Usually this would be a coin toss, but I just want to acknowledge Simon Reed (Nana Combat) for generously conceding his position and letting a new player have a chance.

I was seated fourth, finally an optimal position for my deck. Gangrel tricks with torpor (0 VP) > Cockroach Gangrel (1.5 VP) > Weenie Oblivion Ally (0 VP) > Hecata Bone Shambler (2.5 VP) > Anarch Brujah Debate (0 VP)

This was a super tight game. Every turn each player pressured their prey and was pressured by their predator. It was noted that at one point twenty-eight minions were on the table. I think I topped out at about nine with four vampires and five Bone Shamblers. With seven minions on my back, I needed to be cautious.

With about thirty minutes remaining, the table was finely balanced. The cockroach deck bled for two which was then flicked into me. I had been sitting on two Telepathic Misdirection’s waiting for this moment. The flick went into my prey whose defence was questionable in my mind. This proved fatal. He let it through going from eight to six pool. I subsequently played a Pentex Subversion I had been holding for a turn and lunged successfully.

I was in a little shock at this point. First oust after the day I had had.

Coming back around, my predator really wounded me. But… My hand was now really bleak. I think there was six masters in my hand at this point.

If my cross-table buddy didn’t oust now, I was gone.

My predator went down to four pool then two pool. Bleed, then flick into me. Direct Intervention. Oust.

The only card I could play had saved me and ousted my predator.

There was about twelve minutes left at this point. With my predator ousted, the numbers game fell in my favour, and I lunged successfully.

Eight minutes remained with two Melbournites jostling it out for the chance of the first non Kiwi to win a VTES Kiwi title.

The cockroaches came hard. It was now or never. I was down to my last pool, but this was enough. With about two minutes left, my hand opened up and the Bone Shamblers finally flourished to hold on.

The tournament winning deck:

Crypt (12 cards)
3x Alek Konig     3 OBL       Hecata:6
1x Gebeyehu Abdu     5 for AUS OBL      Hecata:6
1x Peter St. John     2 obl       Hecata:6
3x Tommaso Sforza       7 dom for AUS OBL THA      Hecata:6
3x Huldu, The Desecrator         8 obf tha AUS FOR OBL      Hecata:6
1x Nadezhda       3 aus obl       Hecata:6

Library: 76 cards

Master (22 cards)
1x Giant's Blood
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Vessel
1x Line, The
1x Biotech Company Hunting Ground
4x Cappadocian Crypt
5x Family Gathering
1x Powerbase: Munich
1x Cursed Abattoir
1x Coven, The
3x Direct Intervention

Ally (16 cards)
15x Bone Shambler
1x Fiorella, Empty One

Action Modifier (14 cards)
2x Shadow Cast
2x Shadow Cloak
6x Stygian Shroud
4x Where the Veil Thins

Combat (8 cards)
4x Pass Through Shadow
4x Dodge

Reaction (13 cards)
4x Eyes of Argus
2x My Enemy's Enemy
2x On the Qui Vive
3x Telepathic Misdirection
2x Shadow Sentinel

Event (3 cards)
3x Unmasking, The

I would like to thank Black Chantry for the playmat sponsorship, Hobby Master for hosting, Ke, TJ and the NZ crew for your amazing hospitality. I would also like to thank the GP organisers, with a special shout out to Rathpex for organising the playmats. It was a great weekend, and I think Auckland’s reputation as the friendliest GP remains the benchmark. Thanks guys!

Thanks for this report! Next up in this circuit is Perth on April 4!

Reported by Kenan Emilijan Kulenović, VEKN Prince of Zagreb, with comment by the winner:

Hi everyone, Kenan, Prince of Zagreb here. On April 18th 2026, the Croatian VTES community hosted the country's first ever Grand Prix tournament. The event was held at Hotel Dubrovnik in the heart of the capital city of Zagreb, on Ban Jelačić Square – a venue we chose despite the higher price tag, wanting our debut as Grand Prix hosts to mark a special occasion.

54 Methuselahs gathered for the main event, travelling from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Slovakia and Finland – twelve countries in total. Many were old friends and acquaintances, but a large number of players were in a Zagreb tournament for the first time, and we were very happy to meet them.

Now, over to Milos for the full weekend from the winner's perspective:

Hello everybody, this is Milos Krstic with the GP Zagreb report.

Introduction

So we start our journey from Belgrade to Zagreb (some 430 km) by car on Friday afternoon with the intention of settling down in an Airbnb and having a good rest before the Saturday GP. 

My roadmates Milan Popovic (designated driver) Goran Ivanovic (accommodation expert) and Petar Kalmar (Slovak representative in Serbia, whose special insight was invaluable later on) made the travel and stay pleasant and were a great source of support for me in the upcoming tournaments. The trip took a little longer than we anticipated, and after some Burger King meals we went to a great ABNB apartment chosen by Goran, some 10 minutes' walk from the tournament venue at the center of Zagreb in Hotel Dubrovnik. We talked a bit and were still choosing decks for tomorrow when fatigue overtook us, so we went to sleep. The morning sun brought with it a promise of a productive day, so off we were to the Grand Prix Zagreb. I was piloting my reliable Gangrel Anarch deck, refined over the years and prepared to take on any player and any deck. Registration went smoothly and without much delay, so soon it was time for the first round. 

Round 1

Martin Weinmayer AUT (Stanislava) -> Dominik Trupcevic SVN (Wall Tremere?) -> Jozef Patrnciak SVK (Animalism Barons) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Djordje Bjelajac SRB (Juliet Parr Vote/Bleed)

With the number 1 player in the world on my table from the start, things did not look good. I opened with some Things and locations while my predator was bleeding me from the 2nd turn and my prey was setting up politics that will do damage to me. Meanwhile, Stanislava gets out and starts setting up her stuff uncontested. Martin then starts speaking against his fellow Gangrel, and I am forced to let Djordje go forward in an attempt to survive the political onslaught with as little damage as possible. 

Dominik soon falls due to lack of reaction cards, and Martin promises his new prey not to attack him until I am ousted. But the problem is that Jozef's deck has no real solution for the defenses that Gangrels pack, so some bleed gets redirected to Martin (in an attempt to eliminate at least one deck trying to kill me), some are reduced, and few are taken. 

With the help of my votes and his Governs, Djordje manages to oust Martin, and now I am ready to go for my GW, but alas, time is soon called and no one wins. Oh well, at least it was time for buffet lunch to sink our teeth into. -0.5 VPs

Round 2

Norbert Tompa HUN (Aaradhya Path of Power Vote/Bleed) -> Édouard Menneson FRA (Stealth & Bleed) -> Goran Damjanic HRV (Arika Vote/Bleed) -> Benjamin Lovrenović HRV (Banu Haqim Bruise-bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel)

This table looks more promising, but again there are two nasty political decks that are able to destroy my locations. Hoping that I can block Norbert and not become the prey of Arika quickly, I open up with Things, static intercept, and locations and prepare for a long game. But that plan gets thwarted when Édouard promptly kills his prey after only one Arika action and proceeds to threaten to take 2 quick VPs and knock on my door. Meanwhile Banus attacks me a bit, some combat and bleeds, but nothing special, so I am able to control my predator and, with static intercept, my prey.

I do not feel any immediate danger. But that S&B strong forward motion forces me to let my prey do some damage forward in hopes of slowing him down before coming to me. A few turns later Banu is dead, I manage to oust my prey with Club Illusion and being well set, I prepare to battle Édouard in a heads-up. Two turns later I am still standing and his resources are spent, so he concedes, and we are off to the deciding round. -1 GW 3 VPs

Round 3 

Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Drazen Meznaric HRV (Enkidu Path of Caine Multi-rush) -> Kristijan Rukavina HRV (Nefertiti Stealth & bleed) -> Nikola Mitic SRB (Alonso Petrodon Bruise-bleed) -> Richard Farkas HUN (Hecata Corpses)

No politics on this table — great. Surrounded by multi-rush combat decks with grapple — not so great. The first order of the day is to let my Enkidu prey know that there is no moving forward on my part anytime soon and that he is free to go forward while I defend against the ever-growing zombie apocalypse. The deal is made on a turn-by-turn basis, and it holds for some 8-9 turns. 

Meanwhile, Nefertiti and a helper get torporized and none are bold enough to get on Enkidu's kill list by rescuing any of Kristijan's vampires from torpor. Nikola does what he can to slow down the corpses who grow in numbers every turn, so I am sentenced to a never-ending cycle of rescue from torpor-hunt-combat ends-take bleed damage in hopes of staying alive until next turn (many turns being reduced to 2-3 pool and without Massimiliano's +1 str). 

Then a chance opens up! My prey is down to only 8 pool so with the help of (my predator's) Anarch Troublemaker and Club Illusion I manage to have just enough tap & bleed to oust Enkidu in one turn and not suffer the blowback. Since Drazen opted for not rushing the newly rescued Nefertiti from torpor and wanted to just bleed instead, I find myself with a functional new prey and still no solution for the zombie apocalypse. 

Actions happen, of bleed variety, but I survive for one more turn, and with Kristijan being all tapped out, Club Illusion does its thing again. Still, we are not closer to the zombies solution, so I let Nikola go forward a bit with the hopes that Richard, who is now running low on pool, will be forced to defend or gets ousted. 

This goes on for 2-3 turns, and when I realize that Nikola's deck is no longer able to oust Hecata, I am forced to go for the kill. After the table is reduced to only two players, Richard is unable to resist my regenerating anti-zombie coalition and is quickly drained of his last pool. This was the hardest game I played all weekend. - 1 GW 5 VPs

After three preliminary rounds, the final round was almost entirely Serbian, with Aleksandr Mandrichenko of Slovakia securing the top seed on a near-perfect 3 GW.

Standings before the final:
1. Aleksandr Mandrichenko (Slovakia) 3 GW, 9 VP
2. Nemanja Jovicic (Serbia) 2 GW, 11 VP
3. Nikica Novaković (Serbia) 2 GW, 9 VP
4. Milos Krstic (Serbia) 2 GW, 8.5 VP
5. Milan Popović (Serbia) 2 GW, 8 VP



Milos about the final:

Unsure whether or not 2 GW 8.5 VPs will be enough for the Finals, I wait and hope until standings come up, and there we are faced with a bizarre situation. Namely, out of 54 players, the 4 finalists are from Serbia (a total of 9 Serbian players partook in this tournament), with Aleksandr of Slovakia towering over us as the top seed.) Well, better the devil you know, I think to myself while sitting with Milan at the table and letting fate take us where it wills since both of us as the 5th and 4th seed have no say in the seating. Nemanja elects to sit in front of Gangrel with the plan of having a slow predator. Nikica elects to sit in front of Gangrel. Aleksandr, as the top seed, in a shocking twist of events... elects to sit in front of Gangrel. The head judge shuffles everyone's decks, the pool is counted, cards are drawn, and the timer starts counting down. 

Milan Popović SRB (Lasombra G6 Stealth&Bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Aleksandr Mandrichenko SVK (Ravnos G7 Stealth&Bleed) -> Nikica Novaković SRB (Lasombra G2 Path of Power Vote/Bleed) -> Nemanja Jovicic SRB (Tzimisce G6 Toolbox)

I open up with some Things, permacept and Masters, while Milan builds up with Governs in preparation of defense against two Dominate decks behind him. Aleksandr brings his Ravnos bleeders up and starts doing the same thing that brought him 3 GWs in the pre-rounds. Nemanja builds up preparing to face the Ravnos horde since Nikica is slow and drew no crypt acceleration. Nikica brings his first vampire up but is promptly hit with a Mind Numb, ending any chance of him resisting the bleeders at his back. The name of the game is survive, and things seem to go Aleksandr's way. But. He is forced to discard Week of Nightmares, which he drew too early and when he draws his second copy, along with some combat ends, reactions and stealth he realizes that the only way forward is to play WoN and hope for a quick 3 VP win before everyone sets up their defenses. 

Some WoN counters later, Nikica is ousted after unsuccessfully trying to pass Anarchist Uprising as his only action in the game (?), stopped by Aleksandr's Delaying Tactics, who is now trying to cycle all the cards he can and reduce the obvious hand jam. Soon Milan is ousted by Tzimisce's tap & bleed combo of Deep Song/Earth Meld untap/Govern, and the table is reduced to three players with Ravnos threatening a quick win, despite having only two WoN counters left. Nemanja prepares for the final real turn of the Ravnos, who must win before all of them explode after WoN is removed. 

In my turn I decide the only way to win this game is to go hard into Ravnos, hoping for them not to kill their prey and doing the same next turn while defending against Dominate with reactions as best as I can. Bleed for two is announced, and there Aleksandr makes a fatal mistake of trying to block in hopes of cycling Majesty before cycling bleed-reduction cards after untapping. But since I control Powerbase: Savannah (usually reserved against combat decks), I can tap a location to end combat before the range, he is robbed of a chance to play CE and untap, so without any untapping reactions of his, all the following bleeds for two pass, and he is ousted (it was precisely enough to a pool). After that Nemanja takes my stealable locations in hopes of winning a long attrition war (around 50 minutes is left on the clock at that moment). 

Unfortunately for him, the resilience of Gangrel shines through and after much blocking and taking of all the locations back, he is tapped out, so I try to push to finish the game. He is stuck with useless cards and has no reactions while fully tapped, so he extends the hand, and just like that the Finals are over. Thus, I win my first Grand Prix; so many congratulations and some contra-fibularities are given with the award ceremony and photoshoot following them. Hard finals, skilled opponents, and a strong reminder never to give up, even when the table situation is dire.

The after-tournament party continued in the "Medvedgrad" beer hall, organized by our friend and local gourmand Lovre, with food and drinks flowing well into the night. After that, and with hopes of no hangover, we rush to sleep since the next day is bringing a new chance for glory. 

So at the end of the day, it was Milos Krstic who walked away with the title of first Grand Prix Zagreb champion. Final table result: Milos Krstic 3 VP (GW), Nemanja Jovicic 1 VP, Aleksandr Mandrichenko 1 VP, Nikica Novaković 0 VP, Milan Popović 0 VP. Congratulations Milos!

Tournament winning deck: "Be like Gangrel" by Milos Krstic
"Be like Gangrel making its way through cards. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the opponent, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your deck, be formless. Shapeless, like Gangrel. If you put Gangrel into a bleed, it becomes the bleed. You put Gangrel into a wall and it becomes the wall. You put it in a toolbox, it becomes the toolbox. Now, Gangrel can flow or it can crash. Be Gangrel, my friend."

Crypt (12 cards)
2x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel:6
2x Casey Snyder 6 PRO ani cel for baron Gangrel:6
2x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x Kamile Paukstys 5 PRO ani for Gangrel:6
1x Hanna Nokelainen 4 ani for pro Gangrel:6
1x Nathan Turner 4 PRO ani Gangrel:6
1x Indira 3 PRO Gangrel:6
1x Joaquín de Cádiz 3 for pro Gangrel:6
1x Ruslan Fedorenko 2 pro Gangrel:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (27; 5 trifle)
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Backways
1x Barrens, The
1x Carfax Abbey
2x Club Illusion
3x Direct Intervention
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Ennoia's Theater
2x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Information Highway
1x Papillon
1x Parthenon, The
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Powerbase: Montreal
2x Powerbase: Savannah
1x Rack, The
3x Vessel
2x Villein
1x Zoo Hunting Ground

Action (9)
9x Thing

Equipment (2)
2x Heart of Nizchetus

Retainer (6)
1x Mr. Winthrop
5x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (3)
3x Earth Control

Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Form of the Bat

Combat (14)
10x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist

Reaction (25)
7x Bait and Switch
5x Deep Ecology
4x Delaying Tactics
9x Organized Resistance


Dance of the Dead – The 2R+F Sunday tournament

On Sunday, 20 of us - including me, freed from weightier organizer duties - gathered for the "Dance of the Dead" companion tournament. Congratulations to Predrag from the Croatian city of Rijeka, who took the title with The Unnamed stealth & bleed in a tightly contested final. A great way to round off the weekend (and bring a title to the hosting country).

Milos comment on this event:

Eat, sleep, Vtes, repeat. New day, new challenges, old deck. Because who has the strength to learn new decks when you've got Gangrel ready? And besides — "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Fewer players elected to stay for this tournament, but still a respectable 20 people registered. Only 5 Serbian players were ready to play since I guess others were too tired and chose "Slow Sunday" instead.

Round 1

Predrag HRV (The Unnamed Stealth & Bleed) -> Goran Ivanovic SRB (Hecata Stealth & Bleed) -> Kenan Emilijan Kulenović HRV (Brujah Debate Barons) -> Drazen Meznaric HRV (Ravnos G7 Stealth & Bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel)

Standard opening moves from everyone with Hecata, Baali, and Ravnos bleeding while Brujah and Gangrel try to defend long enough to turn the game in their favor. Goran and Kenan fall to the Unnamed bleeds and Drazen relying on small bleeds chips away at me while denying me the chance to redirect a few big bleeds at stealth to my prey for a chance at GW. Time runs out with Predrag at one pool, making him the winner. -0.5 VPs

Round 2

Kristijan Lenac HRV (Path of Cathari bleed) -> Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Jennifer Fuss DEU (Hecata/Lasombra Stealth & Bleed) -> Norbert Tompa HUN (Aaradhya Path of Power Vote/Bleed) -> Kristijan Rukavina HRV (Giovanni G2 Anarch Bleed)

Similar to the first round, my prey bleeds forward and destroys my grand-prey, while the little help I can offer to him is far from enough to keep him alive. Meanwhile, Kristijan does some free bleeding, having no predator, and Mr. Lenac does the same (some are blocked, some reduced, and some redirected). Soon Hecata is low on pool with no real chance at ousting their new prey, so over the course of two turns I manage to finish them. Giovanni are able to kill their prey with some assistance from me, and in a heads-up I manage to prevail on the merit of being the more defensive deck prepared for such situations. -1 GW 3 VPs

Finals

Milos Krstic SRB (Gangrel) -> Predrag HRV (The Unnamed Stealth & Bleed) -> Nikica Novaković SRB (Lazverinus Wall) -> Jennifer Fuss, DEU (Hecata/Lasombra Stealth & Bleed) -> Goran Ivanovic, SRB (Hecata Stealth & Bleed)

So, out of 5 Serbian players, JUST 3 manage to get to the finals, taking 1st, 4th, and 5th seeds. Not bad, I say to myself, it's better the Devil you... wait, there is a real Devil at the table and I do not want him sitting in front of me! Anyway, Goran and I have no say in the seating, so Jennifer sits in front of the Gangrel. Predrag sits in front of the Gangrel (there is a pattern here, it occurs to me). Nikica, after much deliberation, sits in front of Predrag, being afraid of my blocking powers and him not passing any undirected action while also trying to ride the S&B wave in front of him and deflecting the bleeds coming from behind.

My first action in the game (a Heart of Nizchetus) is canceled with a DI by Nikica, whose plan for winning this game relies on Goran and me getting ousted, which paints a target on his sole Lazverinus. So the two Hecata battle each other while The Unnamed and myself are getting set. But the problem is Goran draws almost no Spectral Servitors, while Jennifer draws all of them and soon he is out of the game with no way to defend against the "death by a thousand cuts."

Nikica is soon low on pool and decides that he cannot win anymore, so he lets Predrag bleed him out without defending. At this point my prey has way too much pool for me to bleed out in the time remaining even if Club Illusion shows up, but I still have to try something. I bring out another baron and reduce myself to 3 pools in hopes that I can deflect enough bleeds for 3 to have a chance at ousting. No such luck, but when faced with a lethal bleed, I ask the judge if I'm forced to try to block those bleeds since there is no way for me to win anyway. The answer is "Yes, you need to defend the best you can," so I do just that, and that makes me alive for one more turn. After one more turn of my defense time is called and Predrag is the winner with 1.5 VPs, same as Jennifer but with a higher seed from the pre-rounds.

Closing thoughts

All in all, good tournaments at a nice location, great organization by Kenan and the rest of the staff, a nutritious Saturday buffet, and snacks/refreshing beverages during both days made these VTES event a very pleasant experience for me (Zagorske štrukle were especially tasty). Hopefully others feel the same so we will meet at the same place next year in even greater numbers.

I would like to thank everyone who made this fine weekend possible — the organizers, the judges, the hotel staff, Lovre for being a kind host, and of course The Players, without whom all of this would not be possible. And special shoutout to the Serbian Vtes Community, represented here by no less than 9 players with 7/10 finals spots over two tournaments and a GP winner. This shows how much our community has grown in numbers and quality in recent years due to hard work and dedication and that the best results are yet to come. Never give up and stay thirsty, my friends.

And now everyone back to their work assignments, and always remember: STEALTH. BLEED. WORKS.

And now just a few more words from the organizing side. Beyond the usual logistics, we put effort into a customised event website with automated registration, a commissioned illustration for our event playmat, and securing a local sponsor — and we worked hard to keep check-in and morning payment as quick as possible so the rounds could start on time. The goal was a level of casual professionalism, and we hope it added to the event passing more smoothly and enjoyably.

The streaming of the finals was done by our honoured guest Jennifer Fuß of @WODnews on Twitch, who showed us great support both before and during the event. You can watch the stream of the finals on her channel: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2751202468 — thank you Jennifer!

Huge thanks to many members of the community and our NC for helping carry the weight of organisation. Two of us from Zagreb did not play and were available to judge and keep an eye on things throughout the day, and along with a hotel waiter assisting on the floor, the setup ran well for an event of this size.

A very special thanks to our sponsors: Black Chantry, and our local TCG shop, SkupiSve (skupisve.hr), for supporting us with promos, prizes and helping with logistics. The photos of the players taken by SkupiSve were especially well-made and carry palpable emotional weight (visible on our FB page).

But most of all, thanks to the 54 players who honoured us by showing up and making this event what we hoped it would be. See you at future events!

Big thanks for this report, and of course thanks to the participants, helpers and sponsors!