“During high school in 1994 I had a group of friends that I played a bunch of nerdy games with (Warhammer Fantasy Battle, RPGs, etc). When Magic: the Gathering came out we jumped on that and like many people at the time we were blown away by this new concept. Since there was usually four or five of us, the year Jyhad came out it only seemed natural to try it. We had tried various multiplayer modes in Magic but now playing a game that was specifically designed for that experience was super exciting.

We played pretty consistently, but after high school (which we call gymnasium in Denmark) when I was 18-19 because I moved away from the group. I think maybe a year or two I didnt play. Then I met other people that also played it, and when I moved to Copenhagen to study, a bunch of them did too, so I started playing there in a new group.

I have always played what I call ‘Johnny’ decks. In the first group the decks we played were horrendous, if you could even call them decks. I had a deck with 30 or 40 masters because I liked the different disciplines. And no, Anson was not in it and neither was Parthenon.

I think the first change was when I our Copenhagen group ‘merged’ with another group. It was my first game in a while and we all got destroyed by a guy playing Theo Bell and Beast, the Leatherface… I still play mainly Johnny decks today. The number of masters just seems to be a little more adjusted.

I love playing in tournaments. I like that there is something at stake, even if it is only bragging rights. I think the perfect mix for me would be if every fourth play session was a tournament. And every eighth was a major one. I experiment A LOT with new decks, and tournaments are the main thing that drives me to actually play a deck multiple times.

Perhaps 80% of my decks are centered around star vampires and vampire specials. So I often end up playing decks focusing on mid- and high-capacity vampires. The remaining 20% is trying to explore some ‘brilliant’ library card combo that I think no one has thought of (they usually have…). For these reasons, for the last year or two that I spent in New Zealand, I have been known as Mr Temporis.

Playing in NZ and Australia is way friendlier and more casual than playing at the ECs, I find. And than playing in France as well, where I was living for three years. When I started in NZ, it felt comparable to how we played in Copenhagen. Maybe a bit friendlier. They were struggling with numbers to get regular games, but when I and shortly after Ke joined, we were able to get (roughly) bi-weekly games. The full proxy period brought a couple of players out of torpor, which was awesome. Unfortunately now after five years, there are about as many Pentexes being played in NZ as in Europe. There is a reason its called “Euro stealth”…

The thing I love about VtES is unlimited deckbuilding opportunities, for sure. To this day I still come up with 2-3 decks a week. Only 1 in 3 ever gets created, and maybe 1 in 5 ever gets played. But it is hands down the most interesting CCG when it comes to deckbuilding in my opinion. I try (almost) all other CCGs as they come out, but the fact that VtES has no set rotation and therefore way may possible combinations than other games, keeps me coming back. That and of course the social bonds that have formed. It is the most social CCG I have ever played.”