The details and schedule for the VTES Online World Championship 2021 have been announced. The online tournament will take place on three weekends in November 2021 on Lackey (VTES main online gaming platform). You can find the full details on VTES LackeyCCG Facebook page, and ask any questions there.
On September 21st, Black Chantry has revealed the contents (decklist) of the new Gangrel starter deck for VTES 5th Edition. As usual, the deck consists of 89 cards total, and 12 crypt cards and 77 library cards.
Crypt (12 cards)
1x Crow
1x Dario Ziggler
1x Hanna Nokelainen
1x Indira
1x Joaquín de Cádiz
1x Kamile Paukstys
2x Martina Srnankova
2x Massimiliano
1x Nathan Turner
1x Ruslan Fedorenko
Library (77 cards)
Master: (12 cards)
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Backways
4x Blood Doll
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Fame
1x Haven Uncovered
1x Rack, The
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x Zoo Hunting Ground
Action: (13 cards)
2x Constant Revolution
6x Deep Song
1x Rewilding
4x Thing
Ally: (1 card)
1x Double Deuce
Retainer: (4 cards)
2x Murder of Crows
2x Raven Spy
Action Modifier: (6 cards)
4x Earth Control
2x Form of the Bat
Combat: (16 cards)
2x Bear’s Skin
6x Carrion Crows
2x Claws of the Dead
2x Form of the Wolf
4x Hidden Strength
Reaction: (25 cards)
4x Cats’ Guidance
6x Deep Ecology
6x Eyes of the Wild
5x On the Qui Vive
4x Protection Racket
More details on the starter deck of the Gangrel can be found on the Black Chantry website. Besides the decklist, there are some visual card previews of both crypt and library cards.
Today Black Chantry has revealed the contents (decklist) of the new The Ministry starter deck for VTES 5th Edition. As usual, the deck consists of 89 cards total, and 12 crypt cards and 77 library cards. In VTES 5th Edition, The Ministry are replacing the Followers of Set from previous editions. Furthermore the (defacto) clan disciplines have changed from Obfuscate, Presence and Serpentis to Obfuscate, Presence and Protean.
Crypt (12 cards)
1x Aluc Romas de Leon
1x Crystal Lynn
1x Doctor Morocco
1x Elisha Tucker
1x Faruq Abd al-Qadir
1x Hesha Ruhadze
1x Jenny Silver
1x Marcel
1x Melech
1x Milton Fox
1x Nonu Dis
1x Vivian VI
Library (77 cards)
Master: (9 cards)
4x Blood Doll
1x Club Illusion
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Opium Den
1x Temple Hunting Ground
1x Wider View
Action: (17 cards)
7x Enchant Kindred
2x Entrancement
1x Heart of the City
7x Platinum Protocol, The
Equipment: (3 cards)
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
Action Modifier: (30 cards)
6x Enchanting Gaze
4x Faceless Night
4x Form of the Cobra
4x Lost in Crowds
6x Revelation of the Serpent
4x Spying Mission
2x True Love’s Face
Combat: (9 cards)
5x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist
Reaction: (9 cards)
4x On the Qui Vive
5x Party Out Of Bounds
More details on the starter deck of the The Ministry can be found on the Black Chantry website. Besides the decklist, there are some visual card previews of both crypt and library cards.
Today Black Chantry has revealed the contents (decklist) of the new Brujah starter deck for VTES 5th Edition. As usual, the deck consists of 89 cards total, and 12 crypt cards and 77 library cards. The deck is straightforward rush combat deck. I wish there were (at least) two copies of Theo Bell in the deck, since with his built-in rush action & +1 strength he’s clearly the star in the deck.
Crypt (12 cards)
2x Aline Gädecke
1x Ariane
2x Atiena
1x Brandon Grime
1x Elen Kamjian
1x Octane
1x Rayne
1x Siarhei Levchenko
1x Theo Bell
1x Valeriya Zinovieva
Library (77 cards)
Master: (12 cards)
1x Anarch Free Press, The
4x Blood Doll
1x Carfax Abbey
1x Carver’s Meat Packing and Storage
1x Fame
1x Frontal Assault
1x Guardian Angel
1x Haven Uncovered
1x Warzone Hunting Ground
Action: (16 cards)
6x Enchant Kindred
2x Heroic Might
6x Line Brawl
2x Show of Force
Ally: (1 card)
1x 47th Street Royals
Action Modifier: (2 cards)
2x Monkey Wrench
Combat: (34 cards)
4x Dust Up
6x Immortal Grapple
2x Pursuit
5x Quickness
4x Roundhouse
4x Slam
4x Taste of Vitae
5x Torn Signpost
Reaction: (12 cards)
2x Bait and Switch
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive
6x Organized Resistance
More details on the starter deck of the Brujah can be found on the Black Chantry website. Besides the decklist, there are some visual card previews of both crypt and library cards.
Today Black Chantry has revealed the contents (decklist) of the new Banu Haqim starter deck for VTES 5th Edition. As usual, the deck consists of 89 cards total, and 12 crypt cards and 77 library cards. In VTES 5th Edition the Banu Haqim are replacing the Assamite from previous editions. Furthermore the (defacto) clan disciplines have changed from Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus to Celerity, Obfuscate, Thaumaturgy, and their “default” sect seems to be Camarilla from now on (instead of Independent).
Crypt (12 cards)
1x Asmin Kobane
1x Bijou
1x Farah Sarroub
1x Greg Mazouni
1x Kalinda
1x Kasim Bayar
2x Kassandra Tassaki
1x Khadija Al-Kindi
1x Nayarana
2x Warmaksan
Library (77 cards)
Master: (11 cards)
4x Haqim’s Law: Retribution
1x Market Square
1x Tension in the Ranks
1x Underworld Hunting Ground
4x Villein
Action: (12 cards)
1x Biothaumaturgic Experiment
2x Fleetness
4x Hunter’s Mark
4x Priority Contract
1x Rutor’s Hand
Political Action: (2 cards)
2x Parity Shift
Retainer: (1 card)
1x Mr. Winthrop
Action Modifier: (8 cards)
2x Resist Earth’s Grasp
6x Swallowed by the Night
Combat: (31 cards)
2x Blood Rage
5x Flash
10x Hunger of Marduk
4x Pursuit
4x Quickness
2x Rego Motum
2x Soul Burn
2x Walk of Flame
Reaction: (12 cards)
4x On the Qui Vive
8x Second Tradition: Domain
More details on the starter deck of the Banu Haqim can be found on the Black Chantry website. Besides the decklist, there are some visual card previews of both crypt and library cards. Especially take notice of the master card named Haqim’s Law: Retribution.
On September 6th, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for August 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the introduction of the Gangrel Anarchs, a new rule for the final round seating in tournaments (in playtest), the announcement of the Week of Nightmares & NAC 2021 at GenCon in late September, a discussion of the Mexican Anarca League during the COVID pandemic, a rules Q&A, and (as usual now), four prominent tournament winning decks (from August 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015)
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for August 2021 on VEKN.net.
On July 29th, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for July 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely an introduction of the The Ministry (as a clan), a rules Q&A, a list of recent card text changes, and (as usual now), four prominent tournament winning decks (from June 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015)
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for July 2021 on VEKN.net.
On June 29th, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for June 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the announcement for the next batch of promo vampires, a tournament report of the Atlantic Cup XXI (including an interview of the winner, Bram van Stappen), a short obituary for Brazilian Fernando Cesar, four prominent tournament winning decks (from June 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015), and finally some thoughts on combat as strategy in VTES.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for June 2021 on VEKN.net.
On June 3rd, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for May 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the reveal of the starter box art of the upcoming 5th Edition decks (Bani Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel, The Ministry), the announcement of the Atlantic Cup XXI, and (as usual now), four prominent tournament winning decks (from May 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015).
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for May 2021 on VEKN.net.
On May 10th, 2021 Black Chantry (as publisher of VTES) launched its first kickstarter campaign, Unleashed. As most of you will know, Kickstarter is a crowd-funding platform, where project initiators can present their upcoming product, and people can pledge their support at various levels. Once the funding goals are met, the project initiator will produce the physical product(s), and deliver it to the customers.
VTES Unleashed Kickstarter campaign
The VTES Kickstarter Unleashed will bring the three expansions that were originally created by the VEKN, but only produced as PDFs, as physical products into existence. The expansions are Danse Macabre (2013), The Unaligned (2014), and Anarchs Unbound (2017).
The cards from these expansions will be published in four 90 card bundles (links to the Black Chantry product pages):
The exact card list can be found on the project’s kickstarter page.
The amount needed for funding the project has already been reached, and the first of several (so called) stretch goals also has been met. Again the exact details can be found the Unleashed Kickstarter page. The campaign has also been announced on the Black Chantry website.
The Unleashed Kickstarter campaign will end on June 9th, 2021 (9:05 AM CEST). So if you’re interested in supporting the project, and acquiring the expansion packs, don’t wait for too long …
On January 31st, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for April 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the announcement of the first kickstarter campaign, the Spanish gaming Youtube channel “La Mazmorra de Pacheco”, which featured some VTES content in early 2021, a strategy article about Stealth-Bleed, and (as usual now), four prominent tournament winning decks (from April 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015)
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for April 2021 on VEKN.net.
On April 4th, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for March 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely an article on the South American VTES Championship 2020 from a Mexican perspective, a VTES rules Q&A, four prominent tournament winning decks (from March 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015).
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for March 2021 on VEKN.net.
On March 1st, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for February 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely an interview with Bill Troxel about the TupDog/Emerald Legionnaire deck he was using when winning the VTES Online World Championship last year, an article about using deck archetypes, and four prominent tournament winning decks (from February 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015).
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for February 2021 on VEKN.net.
New version of Summon The Abyss
On February 3rd, 2021, the VEKN has published its newsletter for January 2021. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the changes of VTES card texts (that came along side with the publication of 470 VTES cards to DriveThruCards shop), a report of the Brazil VTES National Championship 2020 (including the tournament winning deck), the announcement that the latest revision of VTES rulebook (5th edition) is now available online as PDF, and four prominent tournament winning decks (from January 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015) with comments from 2021).
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for January 2021 on VEKN.net.
On December 31st, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for December 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely a report how a new player started with VTES, an article about VTES in Mexico, four prominent tournament winning decks (from 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015), and a list of the most popular post in the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Facebook group.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for December 2020 on VEKN.net.
On December 6th, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for December 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely a tournament report of the VTES Online World Championship 2020 (which was won by Bill Troxel), four prominent tournament winning decks (from 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015), a list of links to interesting new VTES content, and finally the usual Black Chantry new product summary.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for November 2020 on VEKN.net.
On November 4th, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for October 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely an overview of recently published VTES information, the publication of VEKN newsletter index, an overview of the latest Black Chantry activities, and finally the call for contribution of content for the newsletter.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for October 2020 on VEKN.net.
On October 29th, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for September 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the announcement of the VTES World Championship 2020 (played online), an overview of the latest news in the world of VTES online, and the tournament winning deck played by Aldo Fernandez D’Ambrosio with which he won the invitational tournament of the Catalan VTES league.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for September 2020 on VEKN.net.
Here’s the updated list of the cards that are (or were) banned for VTES tournaments in 2020. For each of the cards I will briefly explain why (and when) they have been banned:
- Playing for Keeps — since January 9th, 1995
- High Stakes — since January 9th, 1995
- Cunctator Motion — since January 9th, 1995
An ante is a forced bet in which each player places a card from his deck into the pot before the game begins. The player who ousts another players actually wins the forfeited card from the losing player. The concept was (as in Magic The Gathering) never really popular, and the concept was dropped very soon after the release of VtES. So cards relating to ante, as those three above were banned for this reason. - Madness of the Bard — since July 1st, 1999
The judgment of this card varies from “downright silly” to “very much fun“, but in the end it prevents most players from freely communicating to each other, which is one of the cornerstones of a multi-player game. - Return to Innocence — since March 14th, 1999
A card which allows a vampire to bleed for 10+ is just too good for the game. In a typical tournament the comfort level in terms of having pool is something like 10-12. With that amount of pool you need two high-level bleed come through, but this requires considerable setup and/or amount of cards being played during these actions, or you need at least 3-4 Kine Resource Contested/Conservative Agitations, but this also needs some setup. With RtI you can just bleed with Daring the Dawn and the only thing you’ll have to worry about is bleed bounce. - Succubus Club — since January 1st, 2005
Mass trading resources, especially with the now defunct tournament rules about table-splitting (at least for practical purposes), this led to absurd situation. Players Bob and John made a table split deal, with one of the them having a Succubus Club in play. After the deal both trade regularly their whole set of resources of vampires, master cards and other permanents back and forth, until they succeed in having ousted the other players. - Kindred Restructure — since January 1st, 2005
The abusive technique for using Kindred Restructure (and to a lesser extent) Dramatic Upheaval was called VP Sniping. The player with the Kindred Restructure in hand would wait where some predator was in sure ousting range (i.e. down to less than 5 pool or something similar) for the next turn. Then the KR would be played, and his new player, while having done nothing all the while, ripped off the reward for ousting from the original player. Furthermore with Kindred Restructure this player could arrange the table in manner which was most suitable for him, e.g. having a weak predator or prey or both. But LSJ’s publicly stated reasoning for the ban was simpler — it gives a player two predators at the same time, their real predator and the guy who’s going to jump right in there. Which is pretty unfair. - Dramatic Upheaval — since January 1st, 2005
The same arguments as for Kindred Restructure applies to Dramatic Upheaval as well, but to only slightly lesser extent, since it allowed to change seats with one player only. - Edge Explosion — since January 1st, 2008
One of the driving engines of an Imbued deck, since it both allowed him to have a power for which he hasn’t had the appropriate Virtue, but may gain a Conviction for a successful action once each turn. - Memories of Mortality — since January 1st, 2008
Very powerful when playing an ally deck, not only wasn’t an opposing vampire with this card no longer allowed to block any ally, he couldn’t hurt him anymore and the card was hard to get rid off. - Protect Thine Own — since January 1st, 2008
This card provided a very cheap way to remove any non-Camarilla vampire, though it requires an Inner Circle member for using the card’s full effect. - Lilith’s Blessing — since April 22nd, 2013
This is the first (and only) promo card on the ban list. The card provided very easy (and repeatable) access to 3 blood, and is somewhat abusive when used with Villein (or Minion Tap with multiple master phase actions). - Anthelios, the Red Star — since February 16th, 2016
The card is problematic not of its own, but predominantly in combination with multiple Master Phase actions the card can easily be abused. So to speak, the cards suffers from the dial-a-card syndrome, repeatedly. - Temptation of Greater Power — since February 16th, 2016
The issue with is that the use of the card often influence the outcome of a game dramatically when played (even if that can only happens once per game). Even if the player using the card isn’t put into a winning position , the target player surely cannot win the game anymore, either because he lost one his key vampires, or loses so much pool, that he is ousted much more quickly. - Seeds of Corruption — since February 16th, 2016
The reason for the ban of Seeds of Corruption seems to be more of a technical issue rather than the power of the card. It’s not always easy to figure out, what exactly happens with the target vampire (and what happens after the Seeds of Corruption has disappeared). - Gypsies, Rom Gypsy, Tarbaby Jack, Terrorists, Tsigane — since August 1st, 2020
These cards have been banned in the wake of the Black Life Matters movement in 2020, because the cards contain words or images that are associated with real world racist caricatures.
Earlier Card Bans and Revokes
- Rowan Ring — from January 9th, 1995 to January 1st, 2000(?)
- Stake — from January 9th, 1995 to March 14th, 1999
The cards were banned because the corner-case paralyzation rules which were dropped in VtES (as opposed to the Jyhad rules). Since extensive rewording would have been necessary the rules team decided to ban the cards. With the new wording of the VtES version of Wooden Stake and the Camarilla Edition (CE) version of Rowan Ring the paralyze mechanic was dropped and replaced by “send to torpor“, so the ban could be lifted after the new version had been released. - Monocle of Clarity — from January 9th, 1995 to January 1st, 2000(?)
The wording of Monocle of Clarity allowed easily to break the game, thus it was banned. For an example see the following thread. With the new wording of the CE version which limited the card’s functionality to the current game state, not a future one, the card was allowed again.
On September 3rd, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for August 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the decision not to change the vampire contest rule, the ability to create library cards on DriveThru cards, and an interview with the national VTES coordinator of Crotia, Deneš Kociš.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for August 2020 on VEKN.net.
On August 2nd, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for July 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely a FAQ on the August 2020 card bans, an interview with the VTES national coordinator of South Africa, Neil Muller, and some additional news from Black Chantry.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for July 2020 on VEKN.net.
On July 5th, 2020, the Black Chantry published a statement about diversity and inclusivity with regards to VTES. The statement also included the latest Rules Team Rulings (RTR 05/07/2020), which bans 5 cards from tournament play from August 1st, 2020 onward. The reason why Black Chantry banned these cards, is that contain words or images that are associated with real world racist caricatures. The 5 banned cards are:
- Gypsies
- Rom Gypsy
- Tarbaby Jack
- Terrorists
- Tsigane
You can read about the details on the issued statement and the included RTR on the Black Chantry website and the RTR on the VEKN website.
On July 1st, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for June 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely an update of the current VTES tournament situation and an interview Gonazalo del Río (national coordinator of Chile).
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for June 2020 on VEKN.net.
On June 2nd, 2020, the VEKN has published its newsletter for May 2020. The newsletter covers a number of topics, namely the open playtest for contesting vampires, a Q&A with regards to the VEKN Facebook group, and interview with Tomasz Izydorczyk (National VTES Coordinator for Poland), along with his favourite deck.
Read the complete newsletter here: VEKN Newsletter for May 2020 on VEKN.net.
Black Chantry has released a second promo pack of VTES cards, which is intended to be handed out as rewards for participating in tournaments. This second pack consists of crypt that were previously only available as promo cards during VTES Continental Championships, and a few selected crypt and library for which the card text has been changed recently (or the card was misprinted in a recent expansion (Murmur of the False Will). The first block of cards have a quantity of 10 each, while the second blcok only has a quantity of 1 each.
- 10 Benedito, a Lanterna
- 10 Bituin
- 10 Casey Snyder
- 10 Jacques Rouge
- 10 Leumeah
- 1 Una
- 1 The Ankara Citadel, Turkey
- 1 Black Metamorphosis
- 1 Murmur of the False Will
- 1 Parity Shift
- 1 Pentex Subversion
The tournament packs are not intended for the regular distribution channels and resale, but for tournament organizers as prize support for participating in or winning a tournament.
You can read the original post on the Black Chantry website.
